Dedicated to VenganceSurvivor for the awesome cover she submitted! Thank you so much :D

Song For This Chapter: Mr. Right - A Rocket To The Moon (I remember when this song came out - it was like love at first sight. Don't judge, I love my music xD )

Ch. 12: Mistletoe Make-out 

    "Candy, candy!" I yelled, standing on top of the couch, cupping my hands around my mouth to get everyone's attention. "Get your free candy!" I jiggled a bag in the air filled with the toffees I had just cooked up this morning. 

    Ron's eyes perked up and he jumped from his seat next to the fireplace, holding out a hand. "Alright, Granger. Cough over the candy." The way he practically begged for it made me chuckle and shake my head.

    "Sorry, Ronnie." Fred piped up, yanking me off the couch and into his awaiting arms, making me squeal a little. "But, those are for our volunteers." His brown eyes bore into my own as he held me.

    Blushing, I stepped away and rose a brow. "Oh? You managed to get volunteers?" 

    George clutched his chest and snickered. "What are you trying to say, Elle?" 

    "You don't think people trust us?" Fred finished, mirroring the look of feigned shock and disappointment on his twin's face. Dropping the act, Fred and George called out together, "Oh, first years!" They grinned devilishly as the little tots wandered inside, taking nervous glances around the room, but sitting down as instructed.

    Leaning into one of the girls, I looked her dead in the eyes. "Hun, you did volunteer, right?" Her hazel eyes widened a little, but she quickly nodded, an unsure smile spreading onto her face. "Alright then...I guess." I shrugged, walking to the front of the line. "Will you two do the honours?" I looked towards the Twins, holding up the bag of toffees.

    Grinning wickedly, they nodded and each took a random candy out of the bag, starting at the front of the line and heading down. "Here you are," Fred smirked, handing Nigel a Nose-bleed Nougat. "Enjoy, and do come again." 

    Each first year was handed out a different toffee while I made sure that I had the remedy candies on hand as soon as the reaction took a turn for the worst. Nigel was the first to be affected, his face ran pale and crimson began to drip from his nose, steadily growing more and more profuse as the time continued on. 

    Then, one by one, the first years began dropping like little flies. One threw up into a bucket, another developed a horrible rash on his face and neck, a couple fainted, and the other began seizing. "What is going on here?!" A shrill voice called out behind a rather large book. 

    Hermione jolted out of her chair and raced over to our side of the room, furious at the sight of the violently ill children. 

    "Calm down, 'Mione." I reassured her, even if I did feel a little bad for them. They did volunteer for this. "They volunteered, besides I have the remedies. Watch." Yanking Nigel out of his chair, he swooned from the loss of blood, but I shoved a bright pink toffee into his mouth, immediately stopping the blood flow. 

    Grinning, Ron nodded in appreciation. "That's bloody brilliant, guys." He nodded towards his brothers with a sort of respect, earning a glare from Hermione. "Oh, come on 'Mione. You can't tell me you don't think that's clever."

    Hermione stuck her nose up into the air, earning an eye-roll from me. "Not at all, I believe proper health and school attendance is clever. Not conning your way out of class." She gave me a small smile, showing that she harbored no ill feelings. "Elle, would you like to look through the catalog before I send it off?"

    "Catalog?" I rose a brow, eyes zeroing in on the magazine clutched in her fist, a gift catalog. "Christmas!" I blurted it out like a curse. "Shit, I totally forgot." I ran a hand through my hair and frowned. "Yeah, let me see that thing." I held out a hand while she chuckled, handing it over for me to place my orders with.

    Fred slunk over beside me and watched intently over my shoulder as I flipped through the book, thinking of what to get my friends and family. "Ooo, that one." He stopped me, pointing at something in the middle of the page. It was a new Beater's club made of cherry wood. 

    "Back off, creeton!" I giggled, shoving him away. "You must be high if you think I'll spend more than five galleons on you." Teasing, I stuck a tongue out at him, folding up the catalog and sticking it safely under my arm.

    Fred pouted a little, "Why? I spent more than that on you." 

    Quickly, I covered my ears with my hands, shaking my head. "No, no, no - you don't tell people what you spent on them, that's just fishing for better presents." Turning up my nose at him, I gave everyone a nod. "I do my shopping in private." 

    "Well, you'd better hurry." Harry pipped up, grinning at me as he leant against the wall. "Christmas is almost here, don't want the mail to get lost on the way over." He chuckled a little, but the way his eyes looked glazed over, I knew his mind was in a different place.

    "We will be heading out soon." Hermione added, giving me a pointed look. We'd been meeting every day now since the holidays were approaching sooner and sooner. Nodding in understanding, I raced up to my room and tossed the catalog on the mattress, deciding that I would have time for that later.

    The Room of Requirement must have assumed that we were in need of more 'Christmas spirit' since it was decked out in holly branches and a fairly large Christmas tree in the corner. Again, Harry had us review the basic spells he had taught us, making sure they we were comfortable and could use them with, quite literally, only a flick of our wands.

    "Are you quite sure you want to do this?" Fred rose a brow at me, taunting from the other side of the room. "I mean," he paused for dramatic effect, "I don't want to hurt you." 

    Raising my wand, I lifted my chin and looked him square in the eye. "Come on then, Weasley. Show me what you've got." My voice rolled off my tongue, surprising me when it came out with an English accent tacked onto it.

    "Ey, that's it Granger. Lose the American accent." George called towards me while blocking a spell Blake threw at him when she'd thought he was distracted. "Join the dark side."

    Cocking my head to the side, I gave George a curious look. "You know Star Wars?" 

    "What?" He asked, confused by the phrase I had just spat out. I just shrugged it off and turned my head back towards Fred only to be greeted by a face full of white light. Fred's spell knocked me back into the air, all the oxygen in my lungs rushed out at once.

    "Ugh." I managed to spit out as I lay down on the stone floor, back aching.

    Fred sprinted over to me, trying to bite back a grin, but failing miserably. "Letter, I am so -" He paused as a small snicker escaped between his words. Taking a breath, he continued on, eyes watering slightly do to how badly he wanted to laugh. "-Sorry. I thought- I thought you were paying attention, aha!" He let go of his laughter at the end, bending slightly as a boisterous chuckle come from him.

    "Shut up, wanker!" I yelled at him, fuming. "That hurt, you jerk off. What, you couldn't see that I was having a conversation with your better half?" I teased harshly, getting off the floor and stretching myself out.

    Fred's face scrunched up a little and he looked down at his shoes. "I guess you're right about that, Elle." His voice was so low, it made me pause my stretching and bite my lip, afraid that I had really hurt his feelings. "Georgie is my better half, I guess you could say." 

    Grimacing, I shook my head and took a step closer to him, peering into his face with a small groan. "Fred, I was only playing - I didn't mean it."

    "You don't mean that."

    I rose a brow, not sure what this was suddenly brought on by. "Are you kidding me?" 

    Fred lowered his head, taking a step closer to me and placing a hand on my shoulder. "Elle?" He asked, making my stomach turn nervously. Slowly, he lifted his head and flashed me a playful grin. "You should see your face." 

    "Jerk." I rolled my eyes, shoving him away with a snicker. "Why don't you get a life other than making me feel like crap, huh?" 

    "Oh, babe," He smirked, "That's what I live for." 

      "Ugh, 'babe'." I jut out a tongue, knowing he'd said that just to get under my skin.

    Harry called everyone's attention as I gingerly stepped out from under Fred's arm. "Well, you all are doing very well. Very well." Harry commended us. "However, this will be our last meeting until after the holidays." There was a variety of protests, but Harry only waved them off. "But, just keep practising and, great work everyone. Well done."

    We all spared him a round of applause and dispersed with a few 'Merry Christmas's being thrown about. Pocketing my wand, I walked towards a mirror in the back of the room, meeting up with Cho who was also paying respects.

    Tapered onto the mirror, was a moving picture of Cedric, grinning valiantly as if he was the king of the world. Staring into the picture, I felt a pang of hurt deep inside my chest, and my eyes prickled with salt water. It still didn't seem real to me. That he was really gone.

    "It doesn't seem real, you know?" A raspy voice murmured beside me, glancing to my left I saw Cho staring mournfully at the boy, tears brimming her eyes like mine. 

    Taking a shaky breath, I shook my head. "No, no it doesn't." I chuckled slightly, watching Cedric smile down at Cho and I. It felt symbolic, like, if he was in heaven right now, perhaps he really was smiling down on us. "It feels.." I swallowed a small lump in my throat as I scanned the articles taped next to the picture. "It feels, like he went away on a trip. It's a weird sensation."

    Cho nodded quickly, brushing a stray tear off of her cheek and giving me a smile. "Thank you, Elle." 

    "What for?" I rose a brow, not understanding why she would thank me. 

    Cho smiled a little, lowering her head as her bangs fell over her eyes. "Thank you for not asking about him... Everyone else has asked me and I just... I don't know." 

    Raising the corners of my mouth, I spared her a small smile. "Have a merry Christmas, Cho. Okay?" She grinned a watery smile and nodded as I turned to catch up with George, Blake, and Fred.

    "We've been thinking, Harry." George began, stopping Harry as he walked towards Cho and I, well, more like just Cho. "Perhaps we could slip Umbridge some Puking Pasties in her tea," 

    "Or maybe some Fever Fudge," Fred piped up lifting a small box that he was carting around in his hands. "We just tested them on some first years, and Nigel, this morning and -" 

    Harry interrupted them, raising a hand to slow their excited talking, much to my own amusement. "That sounds... great guys. Would you.. would you excuse me?" He rose a brow, adjusting his circle glasses on the bridge of his nose. 

    Chuckling, I put a hand on Fred's shoulder and shoved them forward. "Come on, guys. Let's leave Harry to his thoughts." I hinted as Harry spared me a look of gratitude. "Let's go order some gifts for Christmas." 

    George dropped behind on our way to the Common Room, muttering something about Blake and pancakes. I swear, the more time people spent with that insane Slytherin, the more they forget all sense. "Alright, we'll see you later, George." I waved curtly, walking slowly beside Fred.

    "So, Elle." Fred started, glancing at me in the corner of his eye. "What do you want for Christmas?" 

    Shrugging, I couldn't think of anything. "I don't need anything, Fred." I smirked, knowing he would read too much into that. 

    "Ugh." Fred groaned, shaking his head as we reached the staircase. "Girls say that as a trap. They say: 'Oh, Freddie, I don't want anything for Christmas, don't worry about it.' But, when Christmas rolls around, and they find you didn't get them anything, they flip their shit." 

    Snickering, I walked up the stairs, putting all my attention on the fiery redhead. "You realize girls only say those things. They really mean that they want a surprise. Gifts are from the heart, Weasley. That's something that you boys don't seem to grasp." 

    "You don't think boys are romantic?" 

    My foot slid down, landing on the trick step and slowly began to sink in. "Shit." I cursed, groaning in displeasure. Frowning, I looked back towards Fred as he chuckled lightly at my predicament. "No, I'm saying Weasley boys aren't particularly romantic. Just look at Ron." 

    "Hey." A voice called out from above us. Leaning over the railing, Ron glared down at the two of us while Hermione chuckled on the side lines, clapping a hand over her mouth. "That's not true." He frowned, but backed away, making me giggle a little. 

    "I'm romantic." Fred smirked, stepping down the stairs so he was level with me.

    I snorted. "Oh, right. And if you were real romantic - you would've helped me out of the stair by now." I motioned down to my foot that was now ankle deep in enchanted wood. 

    "Maybe I am just waiting for the opportune moment." Fred shrugged, producing something from out of his pocket. "Fancy a holiday kiss?" He cocked his head to the side, holding up a branch of mistletoe.

    "Nope." I crossed my arms over my chest, sticking my nose in the air. "I don't kiss boys when I'm being sucked into a stair case."

    Fred placed both of his hands under my arms and gave me a large tug, yanking my foot from out of the wood and into his arms. "How about now?" 

    Frowning playfully, I thought it over. "Hmm." Looking into his eyes, I rested my hands on his shoulders and kissed him lightly on the lips. "There, happy Christmas Fred." With that, I left him standing alone on the stairwell.

    Or, at least planned to. 

    Warm arms wrapped around my torso and pulled me close as Fred grinned into the crook of my neck. "Merry Christmas, Letter." Turning me around, he planted a long, slow kiss on my lips. Slipping my eyes shut, I made sure to savor every movement. To enjoy this moment. After a minute or two, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat, making us part ways. 

    For a heart stopping moment, I almost thought it was Umbridge, but it was Harry freaking Potter. Standing awkwardly behind us, he maneuvered around the both of us, keeping his head down. However, he couldn't hide it from Fred. "Wait a minute, Potter." Fred called, arms still holding me tightly to him, making me blush.

    Harry quickly turned on his heel, as if in a daze. "Uh-h, yeah Fred?" 

    Fred smirked and spared me a small wink, turning back to Harry. "Who've you been snogging?"

    Oh. So very romantic indeed, Frederick. 

~~~~

Hi :) Watch the video on the side, I can practically SEE Fred singing this to Elle