Prompt: (object) mistletoe

Underneath The Mistletoe

"Prongs, you are dead," Sirius muttered as he took down another bundle of mistletoe and threw it across the room into the fire. James had hung dozens of them around the common room in the hopes of catching Lily under one, but so far it hadn't worked. Lily was far smarter than James had thought and was avoiding the common room when he was around. It was Sirius who found himself suffering. Every girl in Gryffindor seemed to want to kiss him. Not that he would mind being kissed, but he certainly didn't want to kiss just anyone.

"Silly thing anyway," he continued. It was a good thing no one was in the common room this late at night. They would've thought him crazy for talking to himself. "Who came up with this silly tradition?"

"What are you doing, Sirius?" He stopped short and looked down. Marlene stood right in front of him. He'd been too busy looking up for mistletoe to notice her.

"I could ask you the same thing," he retorted. "It's a bit late at night to be up, wouldn't you say?" It was no secret that Marlene hated the Marauders. The feeling was mutual, at least for Sirius. She seemed to be just as rule-abiding and boring as Lily, always sticking her nose where it didn't belong.

She shrugged and set the bag she was carrying on the table next to her. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come down and work on my Potions essay. At least I'm not wandering around staring at the ceiling while talking to myself."

Sirius had to admit, the girl was sharp-witted. He really wasn't sure what to say to that, other than to tell the truth. He hated not having a good comeback. "I'm taking down all of James's stupid mistletoe while he's asleep. I'm tired of having to avoid the common room so girls won't kiss me."

"I would've thought you'd like girls trying to kiss you. You seem to be that sort."

"I'm not that sort. Just because girls like me doesn't mean anything."

"I suppose you're going to tell me you're waiting for the right girl?" She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for his answer.

"Actually, I am," he said defensively. "It may be surprising to you and Evans, but I really do want to find the perfect girl. I'm not going to snog every girl in sight to find her either." He knew Marlene didn't like him, but this was excessive even for her. Why was she interrogating him about his love life?

She looked at him suspiciously for a moment. "I believe you," she said, her tone softening. "I don't know why, but I do. And I'm glad you're not like that."

Sirius didn't know what to say to that. Before he could say anything, Marlene kissed him. A quick kiss, barely felt, but a kiss all the same. He stared at her, completely shocked. There were no words for that.

"Just...helping you out." She was blushing furiously. "You're going to...well, you have to kiss a few girls. No one said that was wrong, or that you had to kiss them all." She pointed at a spot above his head. "Besides, you missed one."

He looked up to see that there was indeed one last bit of mistletoe hanging directly above him. By the time he looked down again, Marlene had grabbed her bag and was halfway up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. She stopped halfway up and turned back to look at him pleadingly. "Promise me you won't tell Lily. Or James."

"Not a word," he said blankly, still in shock. She smiled at him, her face still red, before continuing up the stairs.

He looked up again. "I suppose leaving one won't hurt anything." He smiled and put a hand to his lips. Maybe there was more to Marlene than she let on.