Fic: Tinsel and Mistletoe

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Title: Tinsel and Mistletoe
Author: ???
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Harry Potter/Katie Bell
Prompt(s): 2009 Prompts - Tinsel, Snowfall, Snowflake, Mistletoe
Warnings: A bit of fluff, EWE
Summary: Harry hadn't expected to enjoy himself at the Slug Club's Christmas party, but then again he didn't expect to see Katie Bell as more than just an old friend either.
Word Count: 1922
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns Harry Potter.
A/N: Thanks to my accountant for looking this over twice.



In his sixth year, Harry had done everything he could to get out of going to the Slug Club meetings. So it was odd to say the least that Harry had accepted Professor Slughorn's invitation to his Christmas Party. Though if it had not been for the personal request to attend by the newly appointed Headmistress McGonagall, he probably would've just ignored the invite. Reconciliation, unity, and all that junk.

Sipping at the juice cocktail that was being served he slowly scanned the crowd for his evening's date. Hermione was supposed to have come with him, but she had backed out at the last minute on him. She'd been invited on her own, brightest witch in generations. But since Ron couldn't go, the life of an Auror cadet, I kind of doubted she wanted to go. Just wish she had said no to begin with. But this isn't too bad.

Scrambling for a last minute replacement, a few days before the party Harry had been fortunate enough to bump in to an old friend, Katie Bell having lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. After naturally giving him a hard time, 'You don't give a girl much time to prepare,' she had agreed to go. Happy to still have a friend coming with him, he relaxed and almost did not dread going.

That feeling didn't last too long. Picking her up, he had been awed at how pretty she looked in the simple black dress. 'You look gobsmacked.'

'I've just never seen you look... so... so...'

'Careful how you finish that, Potter.'

Up till now he had always seen Katie as a friend, one of the guys as it were. But having spent the past few hours with her, his opinion was changing quickly. Katie had always been a tomboy, probably part of the reason why Harry had gotten along with her so quickly and so well. She was almost always in jeans and a t-shirt out of uniform and rarely ever wearing the skirt version of her Hogwarts uniform, wearing the slacks instead. She was low maintenance and often jokingly described herself as 'wash and go.'

He knew she would look more feminine tonight, but it caught him off guard at how good she did look. A simple, modest black dress with heels and just a little makeup was all it took. In that first moment, he remembered how during third year after one of their grueling Quidditch practices in the heavy rain, Fred and George had somehow convinced him to peek into the girl's half of the change room. Angelina had practically caught him immediately and given him a rap upside the head; he also learned a little later that when Angelina had found out who had put him up to it, the twins had had a hard time sitting down for a few days. But in that few seconds glimpse he had gotten, Katie had tugged off the soaked top to her practice kit and he had caught a fleeting glimpse of Katie in just a bra and the lower half of her Quidditch uniform.

As the image flashed before him again, Harry groaned very softly under his breath as he felt himself react to the memory. Couldn't look her in the face for almost a month without the same thing happening, he thought to himself sarcastically before trying to clear his mind.

A soft voice cleared their throat next to him and Harry glanced behind him. His look must have given him away as the young woman laughed softly; then again he could not hide much from Ginny. "Hi," Harry greeted cautiously.

In all of his scenarios of how tonight could've gone, not once did he consider bumping into his recent ex-girlfriend. Though looking back, he knew she would be here. Ginny Weasley had grown into a bit of celebrity herself, outside of being Harry's ex. Slug Club member, Gryffindors' latest Quidditch captain, a part of the 2nd D.A. leadership trio last year and a powerful witch in her own right.

"Hi, Harry," she said as she stepped up next to him. "If you're looking for Katie, she's over there with," Harry’s eyes followed to where she pointed, "Gwenog Jones. Probably talking about Quidditch and all the breaks and bruises they have."

"I wasn't."

Ginny laughed again. "You were always a horrible liar. Don't worry, I'm not going to get mad. It's good, you should be moving on.

"If it hadn't happened now, it wasn’t going to happen later," Ginny said, referring to their former relationship. "You with the Aurors and now me with the Harpies. We'd never spend any time together, much less see each other. Maybe it was just never meant to be."

"I guess you're ri-... Harpies?" Harry smiled when Ginny's face lit up and she nodded. "Since when?"

"They contacted me a few weeks ago, and I thought it over. I gave my answer to Gwenog earlier tonight. Once I finish my N.E.W.T.s, I'm off to Wales."

"Congratulations," Harry said, giving her a small hug.

"Thanks. Just don't say anything to the family until after the holidays."

"You didn't tell them yet?" When she shook her head no, it was Harry's turn to laugh as he imagined Molly's reaction to her only daughter turning pro.

"It's a night of new starts. Speaking of which," Ginny motioned back over towards Katie. "Why don't you wipe the drool off your chin and make one of your own."

Leaving Ginny, Harry slowly walked over. Watching Gwenog take her leave from Katie, he wondered what he was supposed to say to begin with. "Harry," she practically squealed excitedly. "This is so amazing. Thank you for bringing me."

"No problem," Harry mumbled feeling his throat dry up a little. Dark Lords he could deal with, women left him utterly clueless. Looking at her, his uneasiness temporarily disappeared as he chuckled. In the torchlight he saw something glitter for a second in her hair. Focusing a little, he saw several pieces of tinsel intertwined everywhere with her blond curls.

"What?"

Reaching up, he took a glittering gold piece of tinsel out of her hair. "Trying to become a Christmas tree?" he joked as he took another piece out.

"Must've gotten too close to the tree."

"Too close? It looks like you took a header into it." Harry smiled as Katie playfully smacked his hand away. "Come on, let me help you," he told her and the pair walked out into the hall where the light was a little better.

In the hallway, Harry tried to hold his laughter as Katie raked her fingers through her shoulder length hair. "If you were a real gentleman, you would help me."

"Never said I was," he replied sarcastically, but did step closer and picked out the small pieces that she had managed to knock loose. "You should leave it in, it kind of goes with your hair," he said casually, but once the words left his mouth he felt a bit nervous. Taking a step back, he turned away and looked out a nearby window.

"It's starting to snow," he said quickly, hoping to change the topic to avoid any awkwardness. He could not understand why he felt so uneasy all of the sudden. He had known Katie for years, but tonight he felt self conscious of everything he was doing.

Lost in his own thoughts, trying to think of what to say or do next, he felt her presence immediately behind him without her even saying a word or making a noise. It did not help any when her soft breath tickled against his neck while she peered over his shoulder to look out the window. "The snowflakes look big and heavy. I bet it's going to be a good snowfall tonight," she said.

As she talked, Harry looked over his shoulder at her. But instead of looking up at her face, or anywhere else for that matter, he found her chest at his eye level. Even though he heard her words, his mind interpreted them differently as he found himself almost mesmerized. "Um... yeah, sure."

"Right, Harry?" her question brought him crashing back to reality. "Harry, did you hear me?"

His eyes quickly looked upward to meet hers, and when he saw her amused look he turned his face to hide his embarrassment at what he thought was getting caught looking down her dress. Just great, Potter, he scolded himself. You're having a fine time and first chance you get, you try and catch a peek.

While Harry scolded himself, Katie looked down at him and saw that the back of his neck was starting to turn a light shade of red. He's blushing! But why?

"Harry, why are you-" she started to say, but as she tried to step around him she found herself unable to move. "What the devil?" she asked aloud while trying to move her feet.

"What?"

For a moment, Katie did not answer. Her brain was telling her legs to move, but it was like they were not listening. "I can't move."

"What do you-" Harry began but stopped when he found that he could not move either. His range of motion was limited to turning his upper body a little bit. They looked at each other in confusion and a little bit of panic until Katie happened to look up as something small and green caught her attention.

Katie let a small smirk show as she looked above them. "Look up," she told him with a small chuckle. "Someone must've charmed some mistletoe and we walked right up to it."

Looking upwards, Harry glared at the little plant hanging above them. Mistletoe. Well that's just great. Why do wizards have to take everything to the next level? "So now what?" he asked even though he knew the answer, though a small part of him hoped there was a different way somehow.

"You've never snogged someone under the mistletoe before?" She had only been kidding but when Harry startled babbling incoherently she found herself giggling a little. It was kind of cute and endearing and, in a strange way, attractive. Before Katie had never considered Harry as anything more than the little kid she had first met in the oversized clothes and those bright green eyes. He had always been like a little brother, and three old Chasers had been protective of him just like older sisters would be. But this was different. Not so little anymore. Or like a brother either.

"Oh, come on, Harry," she said wrapping her arms around his waist loosely and pressing up against his back. "Give us a little one," she said and lightly kissed his cheek.

After the little peck on the cheek, Katie only lifted her lips a few inches as the two stared intently at each other. Then, even though the charm had been broken and they were able to move freely, Katie quickly kissed Harry again, but this time on his lips. At the moment of contact, Harry quickly and eagerly kissed her back and her arms tightened around him.

A few moments later reality seemed to hit Katie and she tried to step away, but Harry quickly turned and caught one of her wrists. He held firm as Katie tried to pull away.

For a moment the two simple watched the other, everything else around them slowly fading in to the background. Eventually a small smile tugged at Katie's lips, " Merry Christmas, Harry."

"Merry Christmas, Katie."