A/N: You might notice that this story begins in October. I did this to give these two a chance to get to know each other a little, before things get serious. I promise we'll get to the Christmassy themes soon!

ooo

"FOUR!" Ginny exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, as she dropped into her usual seat in an overly dramatic fashion. "I had to break up four couples tonight. If I ever get a hold of that pesky little shit, I will hex him all the way into next year."

Gregory couldn't help but smirk as he looked up from behind the kitchen counter and was met with the sight of a rather dishevelled looking Ginny. He could tell that she was furious, and if he hadn't known that her anger wasn't directed at him, he would probably feel intimidated by her.

"Peeves?" He asked, raising a curious eyebrow at her. He had heard about the poltergeist's latest prank and wasn't surprised at all that it had caused the frustrated witch a good amount of trouble on her patrol tonight. Apparently, the evil git had exchanged half the Halloween decorations on the third floor with sprigs of mistletoe that were enchanted to trap anyone who got near them underneath, until someone took pity on them and released them with a kiss.

"Yes Peeves!" Ginny seethed. "That stupid Christmas prank is driving me nuts! I caught four couples underneath mistletoes; two of them snogging as if they were trying to eat each other's faces, and two of them arguing, because neither of them wanted to kiss the other. And on top of it all, I had to kiss Kevin Whitby on the cheek, because he got himself stuck under one of those blasted things and no one else was kind enough to save him. Me! Kissing a fifth year! I was absolutely mortified!"

Greg let out a soft chuckle. "Can't see him complaining about it." He said, barely containing his amusement. "You probably made the poor boy's day."

Ginny scoffed loudly, but looked slightly pacified when she got up and walked around the kitchen island to stand beside him. "Anyway." She said with a tone that indicated that she was more than ready to move on from their previous topic. "What are you making?"

Gregory smiled. He didn't quite know why, but the charismatic redhead seemed to have taken an interest in his hobby. It had been several weeks since the night she had caught him sneaking off to the kitchens, and she had since made a habit of joining him every time she was on prefect duties and had finished her rounds for the evening. He barely dared to believe it, but it almost felt like they had formed something akin to a friendship over the past few weeks. Not that he would think himself deserving of being friends with someone as popular as Ginny Weasley, but they did get on rather well.

"Mini apple tarts." He said, casually waving his wand to send all the dirty dishes flying to the sink. "But I've finished for today. I just have to clean up a little before I go."

"What? No!" Ginny's face fell, as she let herself sink against the countertop and physically deflated. "I was looking forward to this all evening!" She pulled her lips into a petulant pout. "Bloody mistletoes." She grumbled. "They ought to be banned from this country."

Greg let out an amused snort, ignoring the way his stomach flipped when she had said that she'd been looking forward to spending time with him, and turned to face her.

"Oh come, on." He said, a soft smirk tugging on his lips. "They're not so bad."

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "They really are." She insisted. "And anyway, it's October! They have no business being here until at least another month!"

"Maybe." Greg chuckled "But as far as Christmas traditions go, it's probably one of the nicer ones I know. I had my first kiss under a mistletoe, actually. Kissed Zoe Accrington at my uncle's Christmas party back in 5th year." He smirked. "To be fair, we'd both had a bit too much elf-made wine that evening, because I pinched a whole bottle from the kitchen, but we did end up dating for a while after that."

"Really?" Ginny's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I didn't think you …I mean … I never knew…" she trailed off, her cheeks growing pink and Greg could feel his own face heat up with embarrassment.

Of course, Ginny Weasley would be shocked to find that he had an ex-girlfriend. Everyone always assumed that he had no experience with girls whatsoever, and he really didn't understand why. Sure, he wasn't as good looking, or as popular as some of his mates, but he wouldn't exactly call himself hopeless either.

"Yeah, I'm not a complete loser, you know?" He said, struggling to keep the bitter tone out of his voice.

To her defence Ginny looked absolutely mortified at having made the wrong assumption and hastened to rectify her mistake by frantically shaking her head.

"No, of course not!" She squeaked, eyes wide and her face so flushed that it almost resembled the colour of her hair. "I just don't remember ever seeing you with a girl, that's all."

"Yeah, well…" Greg huffed, fighting to reign in his frustration. It wasn't really her fault for not knowing. He had only ever told a handful of people about his relationship with Zoe, and even if he had been more open about it, the chance of Ginny Weasley finding out, would have been very slim. Zoe had been a Slytherin, and a year above Ginny, before she transferred to Durmstrang a couple years back.

"You wouldn't have known her." He said, letting out a big sigh. "She's not someone you'd be friends with."

"That bad, eh?" Ginny asked, somehow managing to look both curious and apprehensive at the same time.

He shrugged. "She's the type of girl my father would have picked for me" He said darkly. "Which speaks for itself if you ask me."

"Right." Ginny breathed, a strange look on her face. She looked like she wanted to ask something else, but then seemed to remember herself and quickly schooled her features into a self-satisfied smirk.

"Well, I guess that proves my point then. Ginny Weasley: 2, Mistletoe: 0. Take that, you parasitic excuse for a plant!" She cheered in a clear attempt to lighten the mood, but Gregory didn't quite catch on.

"What do you mean?" He asked, feeling like he was missing something.

Ginny snickered at his confused look before saying "My first kiss was under a mistletoe, too." As if that explained everything.

Greg continued to stare at her blankly, causing her to roll her eyes in exasperation, before she elaborated "We both kissed someone under a mistletoe and neither of the resulting relationships lasted, which proves that it's a stupid tradition that does not work." She gave him a triumphant look, before pulling her shoulders into a small shrug and adding "If you ask me, I'd much rather be kissed under the stars, than under a measly old mistletoe. That would be much more romantic."

"I'll keep that in mind." Greg chuckled, casting her a cheeky smile, before waving his wand and summoning a platter filled with steaming mini apple tarts.

It was a simple statement that was meant more as a tease than anything else, but the implication was there, and Ginny's reaction to it was instant. Eyes growing wide, she took a step back, looking extremely flustered all of a sudden.

"Oh Merlin, no! That wasn't… I mean… well, I didn't mean…" she stammered, looking like she wished the ground would open and swallow her whole.

Greg barked out a laugh. "Merlin, Weasley!" he huffed. "Don't get your knickers in a twist. I was only joking, okay?" He pushed the plate of baked goods towards her and added. "Now, calm down and try one of these. You look like you need it."

Relief flooded Ginny's face as she let out a shaky, slightly awkward laugh and picked up one of the offered treats.

"It's way too easy to mess with you, you know?" He teased, putting the plate down and grabbing a tart for himself.

At that Ginny screwed up here face and clicked her tongue annoyedly, before giving him a light shove with her shoulder. "That was not funny." She chided, seemingly torn between being angry and wanting to laugh at her silly reaction.

"I thought it was." Greg chuckled, flashing her a wide grin, before he sank his teeth into his apple tart.

Ginny rolled her eyes, but returned his grin with a reluctant smile. "If you say so." She grumbled, before shoving her entire mini tart into her mouth. Greg stared at her with wide eyes, as he watched her chew the sugary treat for several long seconds, before swallowing the whole thing in one go.

"Yum!" She said, smacking her lips happily. "These are delicious."

Gregory didn't know how to react. He was still ogling her with raised brows, completely mesmerised by the way her tongue flicked out to lick the residual icing sugar from her rosy lips, until he realised that he was staring and quickly shook his head to rearrange his thoughts.

"That's a yes for apple tarts then." He chuckled, trying to ignore the way his heart was thumping in his chest. The thing was, he really liked spending time with her, and he didn't want to mess things up; but there was a small and inconspicuous part of him that was beginning to wonder if the comment he had made when Ginny had talked about wanting to be kissed under the stars had been a joke after all.

There was, however, no reason to tell her that… at least not yet.