AN1: Hmm, I wasn't going to post anything between my last update and New Years, but I was freaking bored so here you go. This my take on the dreadfully clichéd mistletoe!

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. Harry Potter and its various characters are not mine! I am temporarily borrowing JKR's creations for my own use.

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Ugh, mistletoe is the worst!

It's the most atrocious and evil plant in the world as far as I am concerned. It looked cute and completely harmless, but that was just for show. I compare it to Lady Macbeth: "Look the flower, but be the serpent beneath." Or some such line like that. It was no flower, nor was it a serpent; in reality, it was a plant that cropped up mysteriously around the castle at Christmas time and was hell-bent to embarrass me and to antagonize me. Oh how I loathe that plant!

I myself have never been caught under its wily, nargle infested leaves, but I've seen the effects of when one becomes so unluckily trapped under it with another person. The mistletoe that my parents hang over the front door is fine, that kind isn't the evil kind. It's the enchanted stuff that Dumbledore hangs every year from what seems to be every damn passageway to every class, under every stairwell and just any other place where you would and wouldn't expect it.

If you get caught under it, then you are stuck until you kiss somebody. As soon as it sensed someone walking under it, then there would be an invisible box around said someone and they would not be able to escape. Not unless somebody else happened to walk by then they too would be trapped until they freed you both with a kiss. And it wasn't just any type of kiss; it had to be on the lips. As if it wasn't humiliating enough to be stuck under that damned plant, you had to kiss someone, a perfect stranger, just to be free.

Therefore, I studiously drew out detailed routes to avoid it. I don't care if I have to wake up an extra hour early just to be able to stay out of the mistletoe's path; and often times that is exactly what I do! I am desperate to not be caught unawares under that single green and leafy vessel of doom. Harry and Ron simply call me paranoid, and Ginny laughs at me and tells me to get over it, and that it won't be the end of the world if I just so happened to get caught under it. She thinks that it might be, and I quote, "A good experience." Pff, good experience my ass! I certainly don't think that it would be a good experience. Imagine all of the people you could get stuck with. I shudder at the thought.

No, it's better to be super careful and avoid it. After all, the mistletoe is in the same places every year since I can remember. I consider myself quite clever and quite lucky to have outsmarted that plant for six years. Not many I know can say that...and not many want to be able to say that...but that doesn't matter. I only have nine more days and then the mistletoe will be gone. It's always gone the minute that the new year begins. It is as if it spontaneously combusts. To be honest, that's actually rather fun to watch. The mistletoe bursts into colorful flames, and me, being the pyromaniac that I am, can't help but be mesmerized by it.

I do truly wish that the plant would just magically become extinct. It really has ruined my life. I was going to tell Ron that I did like him as more than I friend, and then, I found him. Under the mistletoe. With Lavender. That's not so bad anyone would say. She's just doing him a favor; she's getting him out of the trap laid oh-so-cleverly by the mistletoe. And she did. She kissed him once on the lips. That was enough to free him. But did she stop? No.

Let's just say that I watched them suck face, feeling my heart shatter for about a minute before I fled. It was too much to handle. To this day, maybe a month after that fateful encounter, he still doesn't know that I liked him, and he still doesn't know that I saw him kissing that tart Lavender. That is my most well-kept secret: not even Ginny knows. But I digress. Looking at my watch I discover that it's past ten and past the time that I should be done with my patrol shift. I turn around and head back to my dormitory.

Suddenly, I stop in my tracks. Not purposely either. I gulp and look up, fearing the worst and hoping for the best. It's the worst. I cannot believe it. I am stuck under a single branch of mistletoe. Out of my mouth come a few choice expletives and I scream in frustration. All of these years, all of those carefully drawn out maps, were as of now, wasted. Hot tears brimmed behind my eyes. Now what am I to do?

Footsteps echo in the hallway behind me. Oh thank goodness, I'm saved! I turn to look at my savior and my heart falls to my knees.

'What do we have here?' The one, the only, Draco Malfoy says in that signature snotty tone of his. 'It looks like someone is trapped beneath the mistletoe. How sad.' Here he laughs. How dare he laugh at my misery and woe!

'And I thought that you were one of the only people in this school who could say that they've never gotten caught under the mistletoe. You go studiously out of your way to avoid it and yet here you are.' He smirks at me. 'Should I help you,' he wonders aloud. 'Or should I just leave you here for Filch or someone else to find you?'

'Oh for the love of Merlin! Just help me dammit!' I yell, thoroughly aggravated with his arrogance.

He frowns at me. 'No, I don't think I will. Maybe I'll just leave. It doesn't seem like you appreciate my help and my incredible good looks. You don't realize how lucky you are. Many females in this school would give their wand to have the chance that you are presented with.'

'Well I'm not one of them.' I say to him, too late realizing that it isn't the smartest thing ever to alienate my only chance at salvation. Who knows how long it will take for someone else to find me!? And what if it's Filch, or Marcus Flint? I shudder at the dark possibilities.

'Obviously. Too bad for you then, Granger; have fun hanging out here until someone else comes along.'

He turns to leave me and I slap my forehead. That was a bad move. Is there still time to get him to come back?

'Wait—Malfoy?' He turns at my pleading voice.

'Yes?'

'Please, help me. Please?' It hurts me to beg Draco Malfoy to do anything, but at this point, there isn't much else I can do.

With a roll of his eyes, Malfoy comes back to my rescue. He stops mere inches from my face and whispers in my ear, his hot breath making me shiver. 'If you insist.'

His hands wrapped around my waist and he pulled me to him before his lips gently touched mine and then were gone. If I'd have blinked then I would have missed it. The surprise must have shown on my face and he kissed me again, this time slowly and sensuously. His tongue darted out and touched my lips. And I, being, well...a novice at kissing, didn't really have time to process what to do; much to my surprise (and joy!) it came instinctively. Of their own accord, my lips parted slightly and he slid into my mouth. Tingles zinged throughout my whole body as his tongue traced the inside of my mouth. One more primal instinct later and I had my arms around his neck and my fingers toying with his hair. It was absolutely electric.

Malfoy detached our lips and pressed his forehead against mine. Even though he had already freed me from the bonds of the mistletoe, I didn't move. His eyes searched mine and I smiled softly, letting him know that I wanted it as much as he did. As if it had never left, the self-assured smirk was back on his face and his lips were back on mine.

Mm, mistletoe...maybe it isn't quite so bad after all.

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AN2: Haha writing the first four paragraphs of this was so fun. I make myself laugh. Hope you guys thought it was at least mildly entertaining.

Next chapter will be up on or around New Years. Happy Holidays, for whatever you may celebrate! Please review.

Erica, your poem is in the next chapter. Have patience!

lovelove, Amanda