Due to the amount of people who had stayed behind, the D.A. had decided to throw themselves a Christmas party in the Room of Requirement that night. Dobby had taken it upon himself to help decorate, once again, so the room was very cheery. Harry was just thankful there were no decorations dedicated to him again. It ended up being quite fun and continued on late into the night, long after the eggnog and cookies were gone. Harry had mingled the whole time, wandering from group to group and talking to all his peers. He'd caught sight of Ron, Seamus, and even Zacharias Smith at one point, snickering throughout the night, pointing to something that Harry could never really figure out. Eventually, at some time past eleven, people began filtering out of the room, until just the Gryffindors were left. They all sat chatting around the fireplace for a little while longer, but then Ginny suddenly remembered something and rushed out of the room, Dean following her. Seamus, Neville, Lavender, and Parvati retired right after that, which left Harry, Hermione, and Ron sitting in a comfortable silence.
"Do you think if we just require the room to be clean, it'll pick up everything itself?" Hermione asked eventually, snuggled into her corner of the couch. Ron was sitting next to her, but not too close, and he kept fidgeting with his hands. Harry chuckled.
"It's a nice thought," he said from his position on the floor where he was leaning against another armchair. "But I expect the house elves will probably clean it or something." Hermione 'hmmed' in agreement, looking just a bit guilty about leaving the work for the house elves. Ron sat on his hands, nodding absently. He was flushed slightly, but then Harry cheeks also felt hot, and he figured it was from sitting so close to the fire or something. Of course… The green-eyed boy glanced back and forth between his friends, and eventually smirked. He stood, stretching his arms above his head, and headed towards the door. "Well, I'm beat, I think I'll turn in," he said lightly. "Happy Christmas, you two!"
"Wait- Harry!"
"Stop, no, don't leave yet!"
Harry sighed in exasperation, turning in the open doorway and leaning against the side. "Yes?" he asked, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows expectantly. His two friends looked sheepish, mouths opening and closing like a couple of fish as they searched for a response.
"Oh, how quaint." Harry frowned as he heard that drawling voice interrupting one of his conversations for the second time that day, and he looked to his side to find Malfoy leaning against the opposite door jam. He vaguely heard a muffled exclamation from inside the room, but ignored it.
"You again?" Harry asked with a sneer. "What do you want now?"
"I was bored," Malfoy shrugged, "and wandering through the castle when I suddenly heard annoyingly loud voices coming from this direction. I saw your dorm mates walking away, and remembered that this is where we caught you lot last year. So I decided to come and make sure you weren't…up to anything." The blonde smirked and crossed his arms, glancing into the room, before his smirk faded a little. "Instead I see you were just having a party that I wasn't invited to."
"Why would we invite you?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised. Malfoy frowned, brow furrowing.
"Was it just you Gryffindors, or were the other Houses here as well?" he asked sharply.
"They were here."
"…I see." Something about his tone made Harry feel uncomfortable and…slightly guilty? The Slytherin was still looking about the room. "Seems like you had fun," he commented, sounding only slightly bitter. Harry suddenly felt the need to explain or defend himself or something.
"Ah…well it- it was just the D.A., really," he stuttered, feeling nervous for no reason he could comprehend. Malfoy didn't respond right away, staring at Harry's friends instead, as they appeared to be whispering urgently to each other. In fact, they'd been awfully quiet since the boy had arrived…
"Is there something wrong with your friends, Potter? I'm assuming you were trying to give them some alone time. So sorry I interrupted," Malfoy said, not sounding sorry at all. Harry finally looked towards his friends, surprised to see their horrified faces.
"Ron, Hermione, what-" He broke off there, noticing that their gazes were directed…directed above…them… Harry swallowed, and at the same time he and Malfoy glanced up.
Right above them, hanging innocently in the doorway, was a single sprig of mistletoe.
Draco burst out into a callous laughter, while Harry's eyes began to widen and his face paled.
"Oh, please!" Malfoy cried, reaching for the mistletoe. "If you honestly expect me to-"
"No, Malfoy, don't!" Harry tried to warn, but the boy was already grabbing at the sprig. He immediately yanked his hand away, yelping and shaking it out, before glaring at the Gryffindors.
"What the fuck was that?!" he cried, still shaking his burned hand. Harry swore, hands digging into his hair as he turned to meet Ron's wide-eyed stare.
"R-Ron! Is…is that…?" Ron nodded slowly as Hermione looked on helplessly. "Oh, bloody hell!"
"Seamus and I were commenting on how ironic it was that everyone was walking single-file in and out of the door. I think most people spotted it beforehand," the red-headed boy explained weakly.
"Shit!" Harry exclaimed. "Shit, shit, fuck, wanker, bugger, SHIT!" Hermione giggled and Harry shot her a glare.
"Would someone mind explaining to me just what the hell is going on?" Malfoy asked angrily. Harry ignored him, thrusting his hands out to the side, only to find them blocked from going too far. And the harder he pushed, the more the invisible wall seemed to push back, until his arms were nearly completely bent at the elbow. He quickly stopped shoving, face paling further. He heard a gasp of mixed shock and horror, and looked up to find Malfoy curiously reaching out to see what Harry had been feeling for. "What-what is this?!"
"My brothers…" Ron started to explain, but trailed off helplessly, as if that was all the explanation needed. And really, it was.
"Oh, bloody fuck!" Malfoy groaned.
"They sent Harry and Ron an early Christmas present," Hermione explained further. "One of their latest holiday products. It's…you have to kiss the person you're caught under it with. Um, as far as we know, there's no other way out…"
"You might as well do it, Harry," Ron said, trying his best not to sound disgusted. "Knowing Fred and George, there isn't another way out."
"NO!" Harry and Draco shouted at the same time. Malfoy backed himself as far against the doorway as he could, but strangely found himself being pushed forward until his feet were nearly touching Harry's. He glance bewilderedly over his shoulder, startled to find that he was now leaning against…nothing. Or something, rather, but it was invisible, apparently.
"Stop it! Malfoy, stop pushing!" Harry cried, and the blonde relaxed a bit.
"What's it doing?" he asked frantically.
"I don't know! The more you push, the smaller the…the enclosure gets! So just…don't!" The blonde let out a slow breath.
"I feel claustrophobic…" he muttered, eyes wide as he glanced around as if looking for a way out.
"What- Malfoy, you can't even tell we're trapped!"
"I can feel it!" the blonde snapped, and Harry rolled his eyes. The two boys stood quietly for a few minutes, arms crossed in similar postures as they tried to figure out what to do. Then suddenly they felt like they were shoved forward and both flew off balance, landing against each other in a tangle of arms. "What was that?" Malfoy asked quickly, sounding panicked. Harry straightened up, dropping his hold on Malfoy, only to discover that they were now even closer together. When they both leaned against their respective 'wall,' their feet were now next to each other, one of Harry's in between Draco's and vice versa.
"Um, I guess there's a sort of…time limit, as well," Hermione spoke up, though she appeared to be holding back a laugh.
"It's not funny, Hermione!"
"Right, sorry." She immediately schooled her face into a blank expression, but her eyes were dancing in amusement. Harry thought she and Ron looked as if they were watching a movie or something.
"You could try to help, you know," he said petulantly.
"I don't think there's anything we can do, mate," Ron answered.
"Well think of something!" Malfoy demanded. They all quieted down again; though there really wasn't anything they could think of doing. As luck would have, though, they could suddenly hear footsteps and voices coming from down the hall.
"Harry, Ron! Are you guys still in here?" Ginny was calling as she turned around the corner.
"Oh, thank God," Harry sighed as he saw who she was followed by. Fred and George.
"Harry, I forgot to tell you all! These two gits owled today and said they were going to visit tonight for Christmas, since we weren't going home. I found them in the common room showing off their stuff to the first and second years and- Malfoy!" Ginny halted right outside of the room, finally spotting the blonde, and her brothers pulled up behind her. "What are you doing here?"
"Ask the twin prats, why don't you?" Malfoy replied sullenly, crossing his arms and scowling.
"Harry, mate!" Fred cried, slapping the boy on the back before slinging an arm around his shoulder. "How goes it?"
"Horrible," the green-eyed boy replied, before he did a double-take on Fred's arm. "Wait, you can touch me?"
"Should I not be able to?"
"Oi, Fred, look," George interrupted, grinning widely as he pointed up. Ginny gasped and Fred burst out into laughter like Malfoy first had.
"Oh, that's priceless!" he cried, bent at the waist from laughing so hard.
"Fred, George, this is not something to laugh about!" Ron exclaimed, and the twins looked up, finally spotting their brother in the room.
"Ronniekins!" Fred greeted, bounding past Harry into the room.
"This is serious, Fred, stop it!" Ron growled, pushing off his brother's advances. Hermione grinned.
"Hello Fred, George," she said happily. "Maybe you can help us out here."
"'Fraid not," George answered, also stepping past the trapped boys. Harry and Draco shared a confused glance, before they were suddenly shoved closer together again.
"Ahh," Harry said nervously, attempting to slow his breathing and wondering if he should just stop all together. With every breath they took their chests bumped against each other, and Harry was almost positive he could hear the other boy's frantically beating heart. He watched, almost mesmerized, as Draco's cheeks turned a light pink. Fred's voice interrupted his concentration.
"I expect it'll do that one more time," he was saying, "before it stops." Course by then you'll be shoved so close together there wouldn't be any room to push you closer anyway." He was rewarded with horrified looks. "Oh, and outside people can walk through the barrier. It's only the two trapped who can't get through it. Gin, come on in!" The red-headed girl shrugged at Harry, and slipped past, taking a seat on the couch next to Ron.
"Would…would you just explain the whole thing?" Harry asked desperately. "Why can't you help us?"
"Because there's only one way out, and I'm pretty sure you know what it is," George answered.
"Well explain the mistletoe, anyway," Hermione said, looking interested.
"Simple, really. We warned you for a reason, you know," said Fred.
"Yeah, obviously you get stuck with the other person, no matter who it is," George added.
"The only way out of the, eh, force field, we'll call it, is to kiss."
"If you wait too long, the 'box' you're in gets smaller and smaller."
"And if you try to resist the barrier too much, it also gets smaller."
"You can't move the mistletoe to try to get out of it, either." Fred and George glanced at each other, before grinning. "Oh, and there's one more thing."
"The longer you wait…" Fred started to say.
"The longer you have to kiss," George finished, and a shocked silence in the room.
"We…but…ah…b-but Ron and Hermione-!"
"No, Harry, remember," Hermione spoke quickly. "Ron and I kissed for…well, for a semi-long time."
"But Seamus-"
"Kissed Dean right away," Ron said. "Didn't put up any fuss at all, did he?"
"Great, I'm trapped with the boy-from-a-house-of-queers," Malfoy muttered. But he looked distinctly uncomfortable, pressed as far against his boundary as he could be without causing it to push back.
"Oh, bugger off, Malfoy," Harry snapped.
"Oh believe me, I'd be glad to, Potter, but in case you haven't noticed," Draco gestured around them, "I can't!"
"Well, as amusing as this is," George cut in, as he stood up and stretched, "I didn't come all this way to watch Harry snog Malfoy, so I think we should really leave them be."
"Right," Fred grinned, also standing. "Besides, at this point they'll be at it for so long, you'd think they were newlyweds." Harry groaned, head falling back against the barrier. Malfoy, if possible, paled even further.
"Sorry, mate," Ron said, following his brothers, "But I really don't want to watch." Ginny and Hermione nodded, giving Harry sympathetic smiles as they slipped past him through the door.
"No, wait, you…you can't just leave me with him!" Harry cried. Draco just looked like he was in pain. Ron shrugged.
"Um…well, don't bother waking me up to tell me about it," he said, smirking lightly. "Somehow I think this will be even less exciting than last year's." With that, the Weasleys and Hermione disappeared down the hall, Harry's wide eyes following them. What followed were even more minutes of uncomfortable silence, before Malfoy sighed heavily.
"Look, Potter-" He was prevented from saying anything else because it was at that moment that the walls decided to do their final shove. Both boys let out a rush of air as their chests slammed together, and Harry braced his arms on the wall behind Malfoy while the blonde's hands landed awkwardly on Harry's hips. Startled, their eyes met and went wide.
Harry felt like he was having trouble breathing, and while he told himself it was because of the pressure against his chest from Malfoy, he wasn't exactly sure if that was the entire truth. It was suddenly unbearably hot in their small enclosure, and Harry's hands unconsciously fell onto Malfoy's shoulders. He'd never been so intimately close to anyone before, and just the feel of another body so close to his own was causing him to react in ways that left him feeling dizzy, hot, and confused. He drew in a shuddering breath, eyes still locked in Malfoy's mercury gaze, and vainly tried to move his hips backwards and out of contact with the other boy's.
Draco was drawing in quick, gasping breaths, his hands tightening on Harry's waist when he felt him try to move away. Not exactly sure what he was doing or what he was even trying to accomplish, he pulled Harry back towards himself, and both boys gasped when their hips ground together. Malfoy moaned, eyes sliding half-closed, and Harry's let his head fall onto the blonde's shoulder.
"Malfoy," he said breathlessly. The boy responded by pushing Harry as well as he could against his half of the wall, and his arms wrapped completely around Harry's waist. The green-eyed boy's head fell back against the wall again, eyes also sliding half-closed. Slowly, almost nervously, he too wrapped his arms completely around Draco's neck, and thrust his hips forward slightly. Malfoy grunted.
"Potter," he returned hoarsely. "What say we get this thing over with?" Harry nodded quickly before he could change his mind and leaned forward to gently meet Draco's lips.
This kiss was drastically different than the one he had shared with Cho a year ago in this exact same spot. For one thing it wasn't wet since Draco wasn't crying, and Harry was immensely grateful for that. The feel of the blonde against him was also different, from the hard, sharp angles of his chest down to the different hardness he could feel pressed against his own. Malfoy's lips were surprisingly soft, though, causing Harry to vaguely wonder if his own were. Then all thoughts flew from his head when Draco gently ran his hands up Harry's sides, and he gasped slightly.
Draco quickly took advantage of that, running his tongue along Harry's bottom lip before slipping it into his mouth and intertwining their tongues. Now, this, Harry was new to. His eyes flew open when he hadn't even realized that they'd been closed, and he groaned, nearly melting into the other boy. Their kiss deepened, mouths clashing together, and Draco's hands were now caressing Harry's jaw.
Harry was the one to break it off, but only because he needed air to breathe, and he and Draco leaned their foreheads against each other, breathing deeply.
Neither noticed the mistletoe falling softly to the floor.
"Breath through your nose," Draco instructed softly, and he felt Harry nod in response. The green-eyed boy reached up and removed his glasses, before clutching his arms around Draco's neck again and leaning in to resume their kissing.
It was more energized the second time around, mouths meeting eagerly and tongues swirling around each other and sucking gently. Draco managed to work his hands up under the shirt Harry was wearing, and was caressing the hot skin he felt there. Harry hooked a leg around Draco's knee in response, trying to pull the other boy as close as possible to himself. The problem with this, however, was that the barrier around them had disappeared when the mistletoe fell. So when Harry tried to lean back, there wasn't anything there to support him. Both boys' eyes shot open, mouths ripping apart as they tumbled to the floor, landing inside the Room of Requirement. They only paused in shock for a few seconds, panting, with Harry's shirt pushed halfway up his chest, before their mouth crashed together again.
Harry was arching up into the blonde above him when it finally hit him that they were free and really didn't need to be kissing anymore. It took a few more seconds for his body to catch up with the hazy thought process of his mind, and Harry stilled before shoving Draco off of him.
"What the-?! Oh…right," the Slytherin mumbled. He let out a huge sigh and rested his hands on his stomach, staring up at the ceiling. Harry followed suit with the sigh, absently putting his glasses back on crookedly before tucking his hands behind his head. They remained like this for a few, surprisingly comfortable, minutes of silence. Eventually, Harry pushed himself up off the ground, blushing when he remembered he had to straighten out his shirt. He attempted to smooth out his mussed up hair, but gave up on that pretty quickly, ignoring Draco's piercing stare following his every move.
"Well," Harry said, glancing around anxiously. "Er…Happy Christmas, then, Mal-…Draco? Erm, Malfoy. Happy Christmas, Malfoy." Quickly he began walking out of the room, pausing only slightly when he heard Draco respond.
"Same to you, Potter," the blonde was saying. Harry turned and met his stare briefly, lips quirking up into a slight grin, before he left the room completely.
