Harry Potter and the Bucket List

Year 6 - 4

Beta: Cloudy

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Snow was swirling against the icy windows once more; Christmas was approaching fast. As with every year, the professors assisted in decorating the halls of Hogwarts into something splendid and cheery.

Although I could not help but notice that year seemed to have an abundance of mistletoe reefs. I noticed a group of girls setting them up throughout the corridors, and I wondered if perhaps they were hoping to grab Harry's attention.

It wasn't only girls setting them up and lingering underneath them. There were several boys with an air of bravado that made me snort derisively. It was vexing to see some people wink at me under them. More often than not I found my Accio ripping the mistletoes apart if I had to approach them.

The mistletoes did not bother everyone, though. Theodore gave Hermione a sweet and chaste kiss under one that made the surrounding girls go aww. Blaise kissed Millie outside of Potions. Tracey straight up snogged Lisa so passionately she made Professor Sprout turn red in the face. I was told through the grapevine Luna wore a mistletoe hat and waited for Neville outside the Gryffindor dorms, so go her.

I did get caught under one of the mistletoes by Cormac—I figured he grew it above me when I wasn't looking—but a quick Incideio burned that and his hopes to ashes. Kiddo had guts, gotta give him that.

On the bright side, Hermione and I had made good progress on our House Elf research. The House Elves of Hogwarts were delighted to be of assistance in providing us a baseline in biology.

I kind of hoped I'd find a dead House Elf to dissect soon, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

We had roped in Hannah Abbott who had a fantastic talent in sketching to put together our reports. She was delightful company, too. Perhaps not passionate about the project, but such a genuinely nice girl she was happy to help. Plus since Hermione and I couldn't draw for shit, having her sketch out the different systems of the House Elves was a huge help.

Classes progressed well enough. Alchemy, Potions, and DADA had become my favorites.

One chilly morning a week before Christmas break, I was on my way to the library for a good ol' fashion study session when—

Suddenly, I felt two hands around my waist. I let out a surprised squeak, dropping my books and whipping out my wand.

To my surprise, Tom pulled off an invisibility cloak and smiled slyly at me. "I'm disappointed you didn't immediately fire off a spell."

"Coulda been one of my friends," I said, lowering my wand and placing a hand over my heart. "Jeeze! You scared the daylights out of me. What are you doing here?"

Tom did not answer right away.

My brow furrowed. "Tom?"

"Your... list," he said. "The broom cupboard one."

It took me a moment to process what he was implying.

I let out a little gasp. "Really?"

"Yes," he said. "Merry Christmas."

"Really?"

"Yes," he repeated, a touch annoyed. "Don't make me repeat myself again."

"I just—Yay, thank you," I said, taking his hand and looking around for the nearest cupboard.

"Down the hall on the right," he mumbled, his ears turning red.

"Yay," I said again, giggling.

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