Fic: Christmas Spell

[alisanne]

Title: Christmas Spell
Author: alisanne
Rating: PG
Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Summary: A spell gone awry makes it a perfect Christmas.
Word Count: 2084
Genre: Romance, humor.
Warnings: Fluff
A/N: Written for dracoharry100'c challenge to write a fic incorporating all thirty-one of the Christmas challenge prompts.
Beta: sevfan
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.



Snowflake
Icicle
Reindeer
Wise Men
Christmas Tree
Star
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
New Year's Eve
Yule
Manger
Advent
Ivy
Wreath
Presents
Wrapping
Mistletoe
Garland
Egg Nog/Baileys
Holly
Santa Claus
Stockings
Chestnuts
Mince Pies
Tinsel
Angels
Elves
Christmas Lights
Christingle
Christmas Cards
Nativity


~

Christmas Spell

~

Harry stared at the snowflakes that drifted down from the sky. It had been a brutal winter, made all the worse by the fact that he was stuck at Hogwarts for the holidays. An icicle was hanging from the top of the window and as Harry watched, it broke off, crashing down onto the ground below.

The entire castle was redolent of the holidays. Roasted chestnuts, mince pies and warm sugared biscuits clearly proclaimed the season to anyone who’d missed the plethora of holly and other yule decorations. By all rights, Harry should have been thrilled to be there.

“On the lookout for Santa Claus and his reindeer?” a drawling voice asked from behind him.

Biting his lip, Harry turned to face the main reason he was so out of sorts.

Why did his life have to be so complicated? As one of the newest professors at Hogwarts, Harry had been assigned the dreaded Christmas holiday duty, which hadn’t been so bad, until he’d realised that Malfoy would be the other professor staying with him to supervise the children.

His appeal to the Headmistress had come too close to the end of term for her to make any other arrangements, and now he and Malfoy had the run of the place, in charge of the half-dozen or so students who were staying over the Christmas break.

“Did you need something, Malfoy?”

Malfoy moved fully into the staff room, and Harry once again had to tamp down on his instinctive reaction to the man. God, why can’t I be attracted to someone other than him?

“The Christmas tree collapsed again,” Malfoy said. “Minerva is away at Advent services, so I fixed it, repaired all the ornaments, and restrung the garland. I even had to replace the broken Christmas lights, but the star that used to be topping it has mysteriously disappeared.”

Harry sighed. Of course, since all the students staying over the break were Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, all pranks tended to be ascribed to the lions. Harry had to admit it was a just assumption. “You’re sure it’s not one of the Ravenclaws?”

Malfoy rolled his eyes. “Honestly, Potter. They’re too busy studying for their NEWTs in three years to be concerned with petty larceny.” He smirked. “I’ve done my duty, which is to ask the Ravenclaws. You know the rules. You get to interrogate the Gryffindor hooligans.”

Harry sighed. Unfortunately, Malfoy was right. This really was his responsibility. “Fine. I’ll talk to them today.”

Malfoy didn’t move and eventually, Harry looked up at him. “What?”

Malfoy’s eyes narrowed. “You really are an arse, Potter,” he sneered before whirling and walking out.

Harry blinked. That had been quite vitriolic, even for Malfoy. Then, he froze. Right above where Malfoy had been standing, a sprig of mistletoe was hanging. Harry bit his lip. Had he missed an opportunity? Surely Malfoy hadn’t been expecting a kiss, had he? “I am an idiot,” he muttered, walking out of the room.

He found the Gryffindors in the Great Hall, gazing up at the enormous tree Hagrid had brought in before going on his own holiday to visit Madame Maxime. He’d even sent Harry a wizarding Christmas card that was sitting on his bureau.

“All right,” he said, smiling inwardly when they all jumped. “The star for the top of the tree is missing. Any of you lot know where it is?” As he spoke, Harry surveyed the room, taking in the large manger adorning the base of the tree, as well as the copious amounts of ivy and holly scattered about. Gaily wrapped presents were piled beneath the tree, and as Harry watched, one of the students replaced a box as if he’d been caught out.

“No, sir.”

Harry sighed. “Why are you in here?” he asked.

“The Headmistress said we could hang our stockings from the main fireplace,” Adams piped up.

Brown, who’d never met a joke he didn’t want to play, blustered of course. “Dunno what you mean, Professor,” he muttered, his eyes darting towards the base of the tree.

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” He pursed his lips. “Do you really want me to have to report this to the Headmistress?”

“We didn’t do anything,” Smythe muttered, also glancing guiltily towards the tree.

“Is that so?” Harry bent down to peer under the tree. “That means you won’t care if I check under here, then...”

As Harry reached his hand into the foliage-created shadows, one of the students cried, “Sir--!”

As darkness rushed towards him, Harry had just enough time to think, Oh shit, before he knew no more.

~

Draco had just sat down to relax in the staff lounge with a glass of heavily brandied eggnog when he sensed, rather than heard, a problem. Head snapping up, he looked towards the doorway even as a student came barrelling through, the force of his entrance dislodging the wreath from its position on the door. “Professor Malfoy, it’s Professor Potter!” he gasped, out of breath. “He’s...”

The glass of eggnog fell from Draco’s suddenly nerveless fingers. “What happened?”

“He’s collapsed under the Christmas tree!”

Somehow, Draco had the presence of mind to call for one of the house-elves. When it appeared, he directed it to contact Madam Pomfrey then hustled the boy out the door. “Show me,” he demanded.

On the way down to the Great Hall, Draco was mentally cursing. Potter, you fucking moron! You’d better not be really hurt or I’ll kill you myself! I haven’t been flirting with you for months just to lose you now.

Several students were clustered around Potter when they arrived, and just as he stepped through the door, Pomfrey appeared in the fireplace. “What happened?” she asked, stepping into the room and hurrying over. Draco pushed past a student to stand close behind.

“He just...fell,” one boy said.

Pomfrey’s eyes narrowed. “Mr. Smythe, healthy professors do not spontaneously collapse without provocation. Now, what exactly happened?”

As she extracted the story, Draco glared at the Gryffindor boys. This was taking too long, and the sight of Potter lying there was making him tetchy. “He was investigating what happened to the star that used to be on top of this tree,” Draco drawled. “Did that have something to do with this?”

The guilty looks they all exchanged were all the proof he needed. “What did you do?” he snarled.

“It wasn’t supposed to work like that,” Brown muttered.

“What wasn’t?” Draco and Pomfrey ground out simultaneously.

A minute later, Brown had confessed that they had cast a type of Sleep Spell. “It’s called the Sleeping Beauty Charm. The book said it can only be reversed by a kiss,” Smythe added. Eyes darting from Pomfrey back to Draco. “So that’s easy to fix, right?”

Pomfrey sighed. “Did you change anything about the charm?” she asked, passing her wand over Potter.

Brown shook his head. “Don’t think so.”

“You don’t think so?” Draco was rapidly losing patience. “How did you think this would play out, exactly? Attacking a professor, sabotaging school property--”

“It wasn’t meant for a professor!” Brown’s eyes were wide as if he’d suddenly realised how much Draco wanted to shake the truth from him. “I thought Morris would be caught and I could, um...”

“Kiss her awake?” Pomfrey snapped, looking over to where MaryAnn Morris was watching.

Brown coloured and nodded timidly.

Pomfrey leaned forward and kissed Potter’s forehead, and Draco was shocked at the curl of jealousy that spread through him. Nothing happened. “It doesn’t work,” she said flatly. “You must have changed something about the charm.”

“Well, I wanted to be sure she liked me...”

“Idiot!” Draco growled. “How are we going to wake him up?”

“Well, the answer is clear,” Pomfrey said. “Someone who really likes him has to kiss him.”

“You don’t like him?”

Pomfrey smiled. “Not in a--” her eyes darted to the children gathered around, “--prurient way.”

Draco flushed. Had he been that obvious? “I don’t--”

“Desperate times, Professor,” Pomfrey said, briskly gathering her potions. “All students come with me. We’re going to see the Headmistress.”

Ignoring the groans and protests of the brats, Draco somehow found himself cradling Potter’s head while everyone left. The door closed with a click and Draco, his fingers threaded through Potter’s hair, sighed. This was not the way he’d envisioned this happening at all!

Still, he thought as he lowered his head, it could be worse. Behind him, he could hear the tree elves and the angels murmuring musically as they flitted between the branches, and, as the coloured fairy lights sent shadows flickering over their skin, Draco pressed his lips to Potter’s.

~

It was a wonderful dream. Harry sighed as the person kissing him deepened the kiss, sliding their tongue into his mouth. A hand was cupping his neck, and Harry felt, well, cherished. He moaned into the mouth that was the source of such pleasure, and as those lips pulled away, Harry tried to follow.

“Potter? You back with us?”

“Mm,” Harry murmured. Of course his dream involved Malfoy. They always did lately.

“Oh? You dream about me?”

Harry’s eyes opened gradually, slowly focussing. Someone was bent over him, a blond someone, and a hand was cradling his head. “What happened?” he whispered.

“They charmed the tree,” Malfoy said. “Bloody students. I had to revive you.”

Harry nodded, rapidly regaining his bearings. “Where are we?”

“The Great Hall.” Malfoy’s face was close. “Feeling better?” he asked. A piece of silver tinsel was glittering in his hair, distracting Harry.

“I’m fine,” he said eyes dipping to Malfoy’s mouth. Had he dreamed the kiss?

Malfoy smiled, and the curve of his lips was mesmerizing. “And I believe you were saying something about your dreams...”

Harry’s eyes widened. Had that been out loud? “Um...”

Malfoy’s eyes were actually twinkling. “It’s funny, because I’ve been dreaming about you for months.”

“You-- Months?” Harry tried to sit up but the room tilted alarmingly.

“Dizzy?” Malfoy asked, arms tightening around him. “I had to revive you with a kiss, but the brats modified the charm, so maybe you need another application?”

Harry smiled. “You know,” he said softly, reaching an arm up to twine around Malfoy’s neck, “I do feel a bit faint...”

Malfoy chuckled, and as he dipped his head, Harry’s eyes fluttered closed. I suppose it would be too much to reward those students...

~

Once the last of the children had gone back to their common rooms, the staff retired to the staff room for a cocktail. Pomfrey left first, citing a headache, and, as the wireless played carols that sung about wise men and angels, everyone else relaxed, the lights from the candles in the Christingles bathing the room with an amber glow.

At about ten, Minerva got to her feet. “That went well,” she said. “It’s been a remarkably quiet holiday.”

Draco’s head shot up. “Excuse me, Minerva, but Harry was hexed if you recall.”

Minerva smiled. “But I was given to understand that the curse was easy to reverse, was it not? Unless there are details you wish to discuss?”

Both Harry and Draco flushed and looked away, Harry taking a sip of his Bailey’s.

“I thought not. Well, happy Christmas, gentlemen. I know it’s early on Christmas Eve, but it’s Christmas Day tomorrow. I plan to attend services at dawn and by the time I return, the students will be raring to go, so I thought I would retire early.” She inclined her head.

Harry nodded. “I, um, still have some additional wrapping to do,” he said, gesturing toward the staff tree with its Nativity beneath it. “A few gifts are missing yet.”

“Me, too.” Draco met Minerva’s gaze calmly. “Wrapping. Goodnight.”

Minerva raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment, and once she had left, Draco looked over at Harry. “Wrapping?” he said dryly.

Harry leered. “Or unwrapping,” he purred, gliding over to Draco. “Care to join me?”

“Perhaps we should retire early as well,” Draco murmured. “You know, conserve our strength.”

“What are you going to do when New Year’s Eve comes around?” Harry teased. “I expect you to stay up so we can snog at midnight, you know.”

Draco grinned. “I’ll manage,” he whispered. “You do seem to have a foolproof way of getting me...up.”

“And keeping you coming back for more,” Harry said, smirking as he advanced on Draco.

Outside, winter raged on, but inside, all was well.

~