Summary: A fluffy Christmas one-shot complete with snowball fights and kisses under the mistletoe. "Scorpius decided it was safe to resume his trip into the kitchen, but found that he was rooted to the spot. Not from fear, he soon discovered; someone had left the stupid enchanted mistletoe in the middle of the room and he had inadvertently stepped under it. Fantastic."

Rating: PG

Warnings: Fluff, tonnes of it! So sweet it'll rot your teeth.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings that you recognise; they belong to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I am not making any money from this story.

A/N: Merry Christmas x

-x-

"Merry Christmas, Scorpius!" Scorpius winced as Molly Weasley pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. "Do help yourself to more turkey, dear, there's plenty to go around."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley, I will," the blond replied, ignoring the amused looks that James was throwing him over his grandmother's shoulder. "Everything is delicious, as always."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you," she said with a wink before making her way back into the kitchen.

Scorpius watched as James approached him, shaking his head. "What?"

"Is it hard to talk with your lips pressed against my gran's arse?"

"I was just being polite!" Scorpius said indignantly. "We can't all be as rude as you, James."

"I'm not rude," James took a swig of butterbeer. "You're just a pansy."

Scorpius ignored this last comment. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to find Rose."

"She was outside having a snowball fight with Al, Lily and the twins last time I checked," Harry offered as he passed on his way to the buffet table. "And don't listen to James."

"Be careful out there, Scorpius," James warned. "The snow might mess up your hair."

"As always, it's been a pleasure," Scorpius said dryly, earning him a chuckle from Harry.

He pushed his way through the crowds of various Potters, Weasleys, in-laws and family friends until he was standing in the kitchen, watching through the window as his friends frolicked in the snow, laughing and hurling snowballs at each other. He jumped as the back door was flung open to reveal Lily Potter, who was soaked to the skin but grinning ear to ear, holding a handful of snow.

"Come on, Scorpius!" she cried. "It's really fun!"

"I – I don't think so," he stammered, eyeing the snowball warily. "It's freezing out there."

"So? Come on!" she grabbed his arm and he suddenly found himself sitting in a huge snow drift that the girls had built as a shelter from the boys and their ammunition.

"Lily!" he shrieked, scrambling to stand up. "My trousers are soaked!"

The girls exploded into peals of laughter and he opened his mouth to retort when something collided with the back of his head, knocking him off-balance. "What the -" he was cut off by another snowball, this time hitting his shoulder. He turned slowly, drawing his wand; Lorcan's face dropped instantly. With a flick of his wrist, five snowballs flew in the young boy's direction, each hitting a different part of his body with a satisfying thud. Scorpius turned away and began stalking towards the house but had taken no more than three steps when several snowballs made contact with his back, one after the other, and he stumbled forward and lost his footing. He rolled onto his back to see Albus standing over his, grinning, his wand still in his hand.

"Rosie and I agreed that we wouldn't use our wands as the others aren't of age, but I'd be more than happy for a one-on-one with you, Scorp."

Scorpius felt his face flush, knowing that Al had no idea of the effect those words had on him. He cleared his throat and shakily got to his feet. "No thanks," he mumbled. "I think I've had enough excitement for one night."

"You're not going home, are you?" the raven-haired boy asked.

"No," Scorpius shook his head. "I think I'll just go inside and dry off," he walked quickly towards the house and into the kitchen, where he had a clear view of Al's mum, immobilised under the mistletoe. He watched with mild amusement as her husband rushed over to kiss her, ending the spell and allowing her to move again.

"I wish they wouldn't do that in public," came Al's voice from behind him.

"It's hardly public if it's just your family," Scorpius reasoned but Al merely sighed.

"It's still disgusting. They don't seem to have any self-control."

"At least your parents like each other," the blond said quietly. "My mother lives in the south of France and hasn't spoken to my father in over a year. I can't remember ever seeing my parents like that," he gestured towards Al's father, who was laughing loudly, his arm slung comfortably around his wife's waist. There was a long moment of silence in which Scorpius realised that he had well and truly killed the mood and he cast a surreptitious glance at Al, who was looking slightly awkward and seemed to be searching for something to say. Scorpius cleared his throat uncomfortably. "What happened to the snowball fight?"

"It's too cold to be outside," a slight pause. "And I felt a bit guilty for knocking you over like that. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you were just having a bit of fun. If it's alright with you though, I think I'm going to go upstairs and get ready for bed."

"That sounds like a good idea, I think I'll join you."

"Pardon?" Scorpius' eyes widened.

"I mean, I'm going to use the shower next to my room. You can use the one in the guest room," Al hastened to explain, his face red.

Scorpius felt a blush creep across his nose and cheeks. "Oh, of course. Yes. I - I'll just... excuse me."

"Wait, Scorpius -"

But the blond had already disappeared into the crowd of redheads.

-x-

After a hot shower, Scorpius felt much better. Well, he still felt nauseous with embarrassment every time he remembered his exchange with Albus but at least the initial horror had worn off. He pulled on his green silk pyjamas and lifted the sheets of the guest bed, sliding into the inviting space between. As he lay on his back, staring at the ceiling in the dark, he cringed again at the memory of Al standing over him as he lay covered in snow and with his mouth hanging open like a moron. And why in Merlin's name had he told him about his parents' situation? What a fantastic way to impress the boy you're in love with - randomly tell him at a Christmas party that your parents hate each other, it won't make it awkward at all! He groaned aloud and pulled the sheets up over his head. Why was he such an idiot? Why was it so hard to form a coherent thought around Al? Every time those amazing green eyes were focused on him, he suddenly forgot how to breathe. He pressed the heels of his hands hard against his eyes, willing away the tears that threatened to fall; Malfoys didn't cry. Deciding suddenly to distract himself by getting a glass of water, he sat up and pulled back the duvet. He got to his feet as quietly as possible and padded across the room, opening the door to the guest room and sliding noiselessly out into the pitch-black corridor. Doing his best to make as little noise as possible, he crept down the stairs, making sure to miss the third step from the bottom, which he knew would groan loudly at the slightest pressure. Casting one last glance around, he tiptoed across the living room, side-stepping the numerous overturned butterbeer bottles and dirty dishes on his way towards the kitchen, but a sudden noise caused him to jump out of his skin and he froze, his heart pounding, straining to hear where it had come from. When a few moments had passed with nothing but silence pressing in on him, Scorpius decided it was safe to resume his trip into the kitchen, but found that he was rooted to the spot. Not from fear, he soon discovered; someone had left the stupid enchanted mistletoe in the middle of the room and he had inadvertently stepped under it. Fantastic. He was suddenly flooded with panic; what if nobody came down for a drink or to use the toilet? He could be stuck, immobilized, in the dark all night! Just as he was considering yelling for help, he heard another noise from out in the hallway, followed by the click of a lightswitch being flicked. Squinting against the bright light that suddenly flooded the room, he saw a rumpled-looking Al standing in the doorway, a smile slowly appearing on his freckled face as he took in the sight before him.

"I thought I heard someone come downstairs," he whispered. "I was just in the loo and thought I might as well make a turkey sandwich while I was up," he grinned.

"I am going to kill your Uncle George!" Scorpius hissed. "Why is this stupid thing still on the ceiling when everyone has gone home?"

"If you had turned the light on, you would have seen it," Al countered, leaning casually against the doorframe.

"Yes, but I was trying to be stealthy," the blond rolled his eyes. "I didn't want to wake everybody up."

"Well, it's a good thing that I was up, otherwise you would be stuck here until the morning," Al's grin turned wicked. "And then you'd be at the mercy of my little sister."

Scorpius suppressed a shudder at the thought of kissing Lily. "Point taken."

"So," Al took a step forward. "I suppose you'll be wanting out from under that," he gestured to the sprig of mistletoe above Scorpius' head.

"As fun as standing here in your freezing living room all night sounds, I think I'd rather be upstairs in my nice, warm bed," he replied.

Al took another step forward, looking thoroughly unfazed by what he obviously knew he had to do. Scorpius licked his lips, feeling his heart frantically thumping against his ribcage. He was about to kiss Al. Al was about to kiss him. This had to be a dream. He tried to pinch himself but his arms were frozen by his sides.

By this time, Al's face was inches from Scorpius', his warm breath caressing the blond's cheek, before he pressed a chaste kiss to the Ravenclaw's mouth; short and sweet, but also crushingly disappointing. This must have shown on his face because, suddenly, Al looked worried.

"Was that too weird? I know you're Rose's friend and I'm just Rose's geeky cousin but I still consider you my friend and I hope I didn't make it weird! I just thought... maybe – erm – earlier, it sounded like, well... I -"

Whatever Al had been about to say was silenced by Scorpius' lips on his. He hummed contentedly as the Slytherin opened his mouth, his lips warm and wet and perfect on his; it was exactly as he had pictured yet a thousand times better at the same time. When they finally parted, Al grinned and rested his forehead against Scorpius'. "I've been wanting to do that for longer than I'd care to admit."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to look like an idiot," Al admitted, his cheeks pink.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore - I think I've officially earned the title of 'idiot' by getting stuck under your Uncle's dodgy mistletoe in the middle of the night!"

"And here I was, thinking that Ravenclaws were clever!" Al teased.

"I am clever!" Scorpius said indignantly. "I didn't see you getting straight O's in your OWLs."

"Can I point out that insulting my intelligence isn't the best way into my pants?" Al said warningly, earning a blush from Scorpius.

"Who said I wanted into your pants?" he asked defiantly, his cheeks pink.

Al gave a short laugh. "Ouch! I was going to ask if you wanted to come up to my room but I don't think I'll bother now!"

"Well -"

"No, no!" Al grinned. "You had your chance!"

"Oh, shut up," Scorpius rolled his eyes, pulling the other boy in for another kiss. "Now, let's go upstairs before your dad comes down and finds us."

Al laughed again. "Yeah, that would be fun. How does 'merry Christmas, I'm gay!' sound?"

Scorpius grinned. "Sounds good to me."

-x-

A/N: Fluff! Cheesy endings! What more could you wish for at Christmas? I hope you enjoyed it! x