Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Christmas Loan ❯ Mistletoe ( Chapter 12 )

The Christmas I Loaned My Sons

By: Ellipsis the Great

DISCLAIMER: The idea is from `Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul.' Harry Potter and all things affiliated with him belong to the amazing J.K. Rowling. I own the Potter twins, and all of the plot outside what I garnered from CSFTCS.

Summary: After losing his wife and son to a magical disease, Draco Malfoy puts an ad in an editorial to borrow a son for Christmas. Harry Potter answers.

Rated: T just in case. May change later on.

Spoilers: Five years post-Hogwarts. Compliant with all books, sans the epilogue in DH.

Warnings: CONTAINS SLASH! There WILL be shounen-ai in this story! Maybe actual yaoi later on, but definitely shounen-ai!

 

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CHAPTER TWELVE: Mistletoe

 

“Did he `splode, Draco?” Was Nix's first question as we reentered the sitting room.

I shot an inquiring look at Mal—Draco, who smirked at me briefly before smiling at my younger son.

“Not too badly, Nix.” He said. “Although your Nana might be a bit cross with him for a while.”

“Okay!” Nix said, throwing his arms around Draco's legs. “Thanks, thanks, thanks!”

Byrne nodded wordlessly in agreement, placing himself in between Draco and I so as to latch onto both our legs.

“It's your turn to open a present, Uncle Harry!” Val said, grabbing my hand and pulling all four of us (though Nix released Draco's legs and settled for his hand instead) back to the couch.

“Actually, I was going to wait until tomorrow to open mine.” I said. I knew I was only going to have one or two gifts, and also knew that the boys would be upset if I didn't have anything to open Christmas morning.

“Oh, go ahead and open one, Harry.” Luna said.

“Here, open ours.” Blaise said, summoning my gift from them and tossing it to me.

My eyes narrowed as I caught it, not missing the mischievous glance that passed between the couple. “What is it?”

“You can't ask, Uncle Harry!” Val admonished, as if the very thought of asking was as bad a scandal as if the Minister of Magic had slept with one of his interns. “You gotta open it!”

“Alright, Val.” I sighed, smiling softly at her as I sat down next to Draco, the boys sitting in our laps (Byrne in mine, Nix in Draco's). I opened mine almost as carefully as Byrne had opened his, chuckling a little at Val's impatient growl.

And once it was opened, I blinked, pulling a small sprig of mistletoe out of the box.

“…Thanks?” I said, though it was more of a question than statement.

“It's called `First Crush Mistletoe.'” Luna explained with a demure smile. “If it's activated with your first crush in the room, it hovers over their head until you kiss them. If they aren't in the room, it projects a little picture of them. We thought it looked fun, and I've always wondered whether Cho or Ginny was your first crush.”

I coughed awkwardly, feeling my cheeks heat up. “I'd, erm, best not activate it here, I think.”

“Why not?” Luna scoffed.

“Because, ah, neither of them was my first crush.” I explained, my blush deepening. “And…I don't really think my first crush would appreciate everyone knowing who he is…or was, rather…”

There was a pregnant pause as even the twins gaped at me.

“Your first crush was on a…boy?” Luna asked, blinking confusedly.

“Yeah, I'm gay.” I said, then corrected myself. “Well, okay, so I'm technically bisexual…but mostly I'm gay.”

“I'm confused. What?” Theodore asked, giving me a blank look.

“Erm…” I pursed my lips, trying to think of how to explain this. “Okay, right. When I first came to Hogwarts I got a crush on this boy. I hadn't really thought about it before, because back with my aunt and uncle I was never really allowed outside except for school, and at school everyone tended to avoid me because of Dudley, not to mention that most kids are concerned about cooties and whatnot in primary school. It took me a while to realize it was a crush, because…well, just because, and when I finally started accepting it I heard people talking about homosexual relationships and stuff. And, you know, I already stand out in the Wizarding World because of this scar and all,” I touched the scar on my forehead softly before continuing, “So I didn't really want to be different in yet another way. So when I started to get a crush on Cho in fourth year I sort of…I dunno, threw myself at it in hopes of being normal, I think.”

“I doubt that helped much in your `I'm going to try to be straight' campaign.” Theodore said with a wince.

I laughed a little. “No, not really.”

“But what about Ginny?” Luna asked. “Did she know you were…you know?”

I nodded. “She was the first person I told.”

“When?” She asked.

“Just before we started dating again after the war. I wanted to make sure she was alright with it, because I wanted her to be happy.” I shrugged. “We both knew I didn't and never would love her romantically, the way she loved me, but I did love her, and I definitely didn't want to hurt her.”

“Of course you didn't.” She said. “But…why would you marry her if you didn't love her?”

“Because it was expected of us, I suppose.” I said with a small frown. “We talked about it for a long time, and she sort of decided that she was going to marry me so that I could have some amount of stability in my life. And…I think that made her happy.”

“But what if you had found someone else?” Narcissa asked suddenly. “Either of you?”

“We took that into account, too.” I assured her. “We promised each other that if we found someone else we would go our separate ways. Actually…about the same time we found out she was pregnant, she met someone she thought she could fall in love with.”

“Did she?” Luna asked.

I nodded. “Some new guy at work; I never met him. She was just so happy when she found out she was pregnant, she let it drop without a second thought.”

“Why?” Millicent asked.

“Ginny…had problems.” I said. “Down there, I mean. I don't remember the particulars, but we'd been trying for a while to have kids. We both wanted a few, and she told me straight off that she would let me have custody if we found someone else, since if I found someone it would probably be a guy, and if she found someone, she could have more. She would be allowed to visit, of course, and she always said she'd be their favorite aunt, but…” I shook my head. “Well, anyhow, she was taking all sorts of potions to try and help. I think she felt like she was letting me down, somehow, even though I told her I didn't mind. I could adopt, y'know? But she was so stubborn about it…and then when she came home and told me the news…Merlin, she was so excited.” I put the box down so I could put an arm around the boys. “I'd never seen her so happy.”

“And then she died.” Theodore said, as blunt as ever.

I grimaced sadly. “Yeah. She did.” I fought to keep myself from looking at the twins, as I often found myself doing when I spoke of Ginny's death.

“So…who's the lucky guy?” Blaise asked, always quick to recover when there was teasing to be done, and even more so when the conversation took a particularly depressing turn.

“I…think I should leave that alone.” I said, trying to place the mistletoe back in the box, but it pulled against me. “What the…?”

“It's activated when you touch it.” Blaise explained with a smirk.

“But that's not…why didn't you tell me?” I asked, struggling to keep my hold on it.

“So that you couldn't decide not to let us see who it was.” Luna said, mirroring her husband's smug expression.

“You…that's…ah, no!” I snatched for the mistletoe when it finally wriggled away from me.

It fluttered around the room for a moment before it finally settled over its intended target.

Draco Malfoy.

 

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I stared at the mistletoe hovering above my head, not quite able to wrap my head around the implications of its chosen position.

“…Harry?” Luna was the first to break through the stunned silence.

We all turned our gazes on the deeply flushed Boy-Who-Lived, who was rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly.

“I told you he wouldn't appreciate everyone knowing…” He said, his voice tiny.

“I never said that.” I blurted, feeling my cheeks heat up just the tiniest bit (it was probably just the heat; Malfoy's do not blush!). “I…I mean, I'm just…surprised. We've hated each other from the moment we met.”

“Well…not exactly.” He said hesitantly. “I don't know that I ever really hated you, per se. It's just that…” He shook his head as if to clear it. “I'm sorry, this isn't making sense. Let me start at the beginning.” He was quiet for a moment, working out what he was going to say. “The first time we met in Madame Malkin's, I was…fascinated by you.” He frowned. “No, that's not the right word. You just…threw me off. You were a little rude about it, but…you were the first person I'd ever met who didn't immediately regard me as trash. Before then, whenever I tried to talk to someone my age they'd usually run off because of Dudley, so…meeting someone who actually confronted me instead of the other way around was…eye-opening, maybe? Amazing? Flattering?” He laughed a little. “Something like that, I guess.”

“I…see.” I said, though I wasn't entirely sure that I did.

“But the crush or whatever couldn't have lasted long.” Greg said. “You hated him when he offered his hand to you at the Sorting Ceremony.”

He wrinkled his nose, shrugging. “I didn't hate him. I've never hated him. I think I was more disappointed than anything, to tell you the truth. I mean, I'd gone from the kid everyone avoided to the one everyone wanted to be around, and you,” he looked at me before continuing, “were the only person who didn't seem to want to befriend me because I was the `Boy-Who-Lived.'” His eyes fell. “So…when you confronted me at the Sorting Ceremony, it seemed like…you had gone from wanting to befriend me because I'm Harry to wanting to befriend me because I'm Harry Potter. It…hurt. If I ever hated you, it was right then—for that brief moment when you offered me your hand.”

“And after that?” I asked softly.

“After that…you became a constant. Something…normal.” He smiled almost wistfully. “Normal has never been something I have in great supply, obviously, so even though with you it was something negative I was grateful for it. You were always, always there for me, in a weird sort of way. No matter how the rest of the school felt—and even Ron and Hermione switched between liking and disliking me at times—you were always the same. Well…at least in the way you hated me you were the same.” He smirked at me. “Sometimes it felt like you turned up to annoy me just to get my mind off of whatever the rest of the school was yammering on about at the time. Even when you were just playing off of the newest rumors—we would argue, maybe cast a few spells, and for a while I didn't have to worry about anything else. It was…really nice.” Then his mouth formed a cheeky grin. “And you know what they say about kids picking on the person they like, right?”

We all laughed, some of us a little uncertainly.

“When did it stop?” Luna asked. “I'm assuming it stopped…right?”

“Oh, yes, it stopped after a while. It was…fifth year, I think, when it completely went away.” He said, although I noticed that he wasn't completely looking at us. “It might never have gone away if Voldemort hadn't been brought back at the end of fourth year, but he was. And…there were so many things going on after that, you know? There was everything with Voldemort and Sirius, and Cho and Ginny,” I wasn't sure if the expression that passed over his face was nostalgic or painful. “And then the stuff with Umbridge…” He rubbed the back of his hand, though he didn't seem to notice that he was doing it. He looked at me again. “When you joined the Inquisitorial Squad it…it almost felt like you were betraying me. I know that sounds weird because we were rivals or whatever, but…before that, everything we did to each other was personal. We never really openly used professors to hurt each other. I mean, we would set each other up for stuff, especially you with Professor Snape, but that wasn't the same. With the Inquisitorial Squad someone was using you, while before that you were using others. Does that make sense?”

I nodded—and, oddly enough, I understood perfectly. “Father made me…” I stopped, frowning and shaking my head. “No, that's not a very good excuse, is it?” I smiled bitterly. “The follies of youth, eh?”

“Something like that.” He said, mirroring my expression. “After you joined up with them, I was so angry with everything that was happening…I suppose I just gave up. I tried going with Cho, but of course we all know that turned out to be a bust, so I turned to Ginny instead and…forced myself to forget.” His face scrunched up. “It was…easier to do after Sirius died.”

We were all quiet, then. I think we were all trying to digest everything he had said; even Harry seemed to be pondering his own words.

To think that I might have had a relationship with Potter, if I'd just broken free of my father and Voldemort's influence sooner! A strange thought, indeed, and one that had never occurred to me before.

The follies of youth…

“But you like Draco now, right Daddy?” Byrne piped up, breaking the silence.

“Yeah!” Valerie said. “Uncle Draco's real nice, now!”

“I suppose he is…” Harry said uncertainly. “But I don't think…”

“You gotta like him, Daddy.” Nix said with an impish grin. “'Cuz you gotta kiss him!”

“Kiss him?” He repeated blankly.

“That's the only way the mistletoe will go away.” Luna said, stifling a laugh. “And if you wait much longer it will start serenading him.”

His mouth twitched, though I couldn't tell if he was suppressing a smile or a frown. “Why do I get the feeling that this isn't some paltry joke you picked up at Zonko's?”

“Because it's a very good joke we picked up from George.” Blaise replied easily.

“Oh it is, is it?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at the faux plant hovering above my head.

“Mhm. So you might as well just go ahead and get it over with.” Luna said.

“Kiss him, kiss him!” Nix and Valerie chanted, giggling.

“Hmm.” He scowled, but finally sighed. “Fine.”

My eyes widened as he turned to face me, leaning in. The children tittered, both Byrne and Nix scrambling off of the couch to get out of the way. I moved back some, but wasn't fast enough as he suddenly thrust himself forward, his surprisingly chapped lips brushing softly against my cheek.

“Not good enough!” The mistletoe above my head yelled almost angrily, its voice annoyingly familiar. “Ya, you're gonna have to try again, there, hot stuff.”

Harry frowned up at it. “Definitely something of George's.” He mused.

“And not so easily gotten rid of.” Luna said.

“An endearing trademark of our most beloved Weasley.” Blaise added.

“Mm.” Harry's lips pursed together, and he leaned forward again. This time I didn't move away, and his lips pressed at one corner of mine.

“No, still not good enough!” The mistletoe crowed. “C'mon, Potter, try again! We're getting impatient!”

As it said all of this, the words `I'm hot for Draco Malfoy' began flashing across Harry's forehead in neon pink.

Though he couldn't read what was being broadcasted on his forehead, the expression on his face (a decidedly cute pout, I must admit) made it clear that he knew something was there.

“Give him a nice big smooch, Harry-boy!”

Harry's eyes met mine as the mistletoe continued to taunt him. One eyebrow rose a little in an unspoken question.

Maybe it was the many years of rivalry between us—years of watching each other, taking note of every little twitch no matter how insignificant, but I could practically feel the angry spark that flashed through his eyes. His infamously short temper was rearing its head again. I had been on the receiving end of that temper often enough to know that it was only by some divine grace that he hadn't already given me the kiss he was being goaded to give.

I pressed my lips together for a moment, weighing my options for a moment. Then, with far less thought than perhaps it should have taken, I returned his upraised brow with a challenging one of my own.

His movements then were frustratingly effortless. I could only gape along with everyone else as he threw one leg over mine, straddling my hips as if this was an everyday occurrence for him. His emerald orbs glanced into mine, giving me one last chance to back out, but I was already caught up in the adrenaline that seemed to overtake me whenever Harry Potter was around.

I had seen Harry at his worst—when his temper caused him to spurn even his closest friends. But even though his temper had obviously overcome him yet again, his callused hands were decidedly gentle as they grasped my face, pulling my lips closer to his own.

The only thought that was able to break through the sudden fogginess in my brain was that having a crush on Harry Potter was definitely not the worst thing that could happen to me.

 

ENDCHAPTERTWELVE