31st December, 1887 — Hogsmeade Hall, Medics NYE Ball
Gemma Simpson

The usual  acrid smell of the hospital had, happily, not followed those in attendance to the Ballroom and, for once, Alfred thought he had scrubbed up rather well. Gone were his time-stricken old dress robes, inherited from his father and instead he had a new set that his mother had taken one look at and raised a solitary eyebrow that had nearly frozen him in place. He had mistaken her meaning though and instead of the criticism he had expected what had followed had been a discourse on the merits of modernity verses tradition. His mother, unsurprisingly, came down on the side of the former and he had left the house buoyed by the knowledge that he had done something to make her smile, even if it did only involve a revolution in soft fabrics.

The parade of people getting stuck into the champagne when he arrived gave Alfie pause - arriving somewhere alone was always something of a challenge and he had not thought to extend his invitation to his younger sister and now he was regretting it. The chattering around him was not so bad that it made him feel stifled, instead it had a opaque quality and was something he could not quite put himself in the midst of. Feeling distinctly out of place he removed himself to the balcony where he could take the air and regroup for the larks to come.

Happily it was much quieter out here, apart from the hazy chatter below on the street and the gentle sound of glasses clanking together he could just about hear inside, and Alfie could feel his resolution to go back inside and be sociable beginning to grow. It wasn't that he didn't like his colleagues, but he often felt like the youth he was quaking before his superiors, even at gatherings such as this. Taking a deep breath he was about to turn back when he realised, startlingly, he could not move from the spot and above him mistletoe appeared.

Oh dear Merlin he hoped this was not to be like the saga at Hogwarts with Peeves and the terrible plant! He had managed to avoid embarrassing himself then, he didn't rate his chances of doing so a second time.

"Help! Is anybody there?" He called, doubting his voice would carry over the myriad chattering away inside. His only hope of rescue was another soul in need of fresh air.

  

Gemma had mixed emotions about the promotion of a new hospital director. Her father had so enjoyed his position, being forced into an early retirement did not suit him, at least that's what she thought. Of course it had been a long while since his heart attack and the subsequent retirement, but Gemma still worried sometimes. They'd lost so many people in their family over the last few years, she just knew she couldn't bear to lose him too. He had approved of Mr. Keene's promotion though, so at least Gemma knew that the hospital itself was in good hands.

The gala was quite the affair, though what she could tell about Mr. Keene, he felt a little out of place in the spotlight. These kinds of things were not Gemma's thing either, as evident by her disaster of a debut, though it had been fun. She was here more out of a sense of duty and hoping she might see Alfie here at some point. Certainly he couldn't begrudge her a clumsy dance. Or so she hoped.

She and Kath were both dodging adding people to their dance cards and while Kath had friends to distract her, Gemma was having no such luck at the present and so she eyed the wide doors to the terrace and made her escape. A few moments of fresh air would do her good. As she approached the doors with a quick glance over her shoulder, Gem heard a voice call for help from outside. Curiosity piqued, Gemma peered through the doors to find none other than Alfie standing on the terrace. "Funny, I've had my eye out for you all night! What are you doing, and why do you need help?" She bounced up to him, though instantly regretted not finding a cloak or something warm to bring with her.

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set by MJ my love

The slightly panicked feeling Alfie had been nursing in his gut quickly turned to a familiar, and still quite beguiling sense of fluttering that seemed to accompany Miss Simpson wherever she appeared. True he had been filled with adrenaline on one of those occasions, and it was not the first time they had been trapped together, but this was outside of the familiar comfort of the Hogwarts kitchens and there was no guarantee they would be found by a house elf eventually.

And then she had looked like all the other girls really: tiny in stance compared to him and mostly swaddled in the cloaks that had been their constant armour, now she looked beautiful in her colourful gown, the cold night air lending her cheeks a charming pinkness that was almost enough to distract him. Oh Merlin, she was a girl and he had never noticed!

Flushing with awkwardness Alfie tried to form words but they were momentarily lost to him so instead he grimaced and gestured upwards to the mistletoe, the leafy menace that had entrapped them both.

“I rather think it’s the same genus that Peeves used,” he said, the blush on his cheek not even slightly diminishing and leaving his grateful for the dim light and cold air.

  

Gemma's smile turned slightly puzzled as Mr. Clearwater pointed upward toward a dangling mistletoe above them. While she was familiar with the plant (what plant wasn't she familiar with) she had a hard time recalling what it was that Peeves had to do with it. Unlike most of her fellow students who found Peeves most vexing, Gemma found him hilarious. Of course, she didn't often fall prey to his pranks, whether by sheer luck or something else, she did think he was quite clever and had told him as much on their occasional run ins. His pranks were as prolific as they were precocious, so Gemma didn't exactly remember everything he'd done in the past.

Apparently he'd done something with mistletoe. She should remember this, but honestly thought it was something that had probably gotten blown way out of proportion. Oh well.

"Peeves has taken up gardening has he? I knew I liked him." Though she knew he could not get out of the school, the thought of him wreaking havoc all over Hogsmeade was extra amusing. She tried to think back about what was specifically special about this kind of mistletoe, though she did know the traditions surrounding it. Looking through the softly falling snow and the cloud of warm air created by her breath, Gemma crossed her arms and hugged herself tight to try and absorb some warmth. "I think I'd rather ponder inside, where it's warmer." She chuckled as she tried to take a step back and was instantly hit with the memory of what made this mistletoe so magical; it forced you to kiss the other person stuck beneath it with you to escape.

Well at least there was an easy solution!

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set by MJ my love

Her good-natured flippancy in the face of something that, quite frankly, terrified the life out of Alfie, did not so much quell his general anxiety about being trapped by a plant in the cold as it did create entirely new concerns for him to dwell on. Miss Simpson didn’t seem to mind the situation and it bothered him for reasons he couldn’t quite put his finger on: why did he want her to be as panicked as he felt? Instead she was smiling and so achingly casual that it made him feel like he was fourteen again and trying to manoeuvre newly overgrown limbs. She didn’t mind kissing him out of necessity and though she didn’t seem revolted by the idea – which would have been the very worst thing – she was nonplussed.

Alfie, meanwhile, felt as though his heart was fit to burst from his chest.

“I’m sorry you’ve been caught out here with me,” he said, face flushing as he tried to look anywhere but at her, despite wanting nothing more than to do just that. Oh Merlin, this was strange. What on earth was wrong with him?

“I’m sure there are other people you’d much prefer,” his eyes widened as he realised quite what he was implying. “Not that...I didn’t mean…not with your father inside at any rate…”

  

Gemma turned wide, curious eyes up toward Alfie as he spoke. Something had changed in his demeanor all of a sudden and she was not entirely sure why. Why in the name of Merlin's beard was he sorry? It wasn't exactly his fault after all. He'd gotten stuck, called for help and she happened to hear him. The solution itself was easy enough, right?

"Why are you sorry?" She asked bluntly, one eyebrow raised curiously. Gemma realized she'd spoken too soon, as he continued. Now she was thoroughly confused. With furrowed brows and a little frown, she had more questions than she had originally. This was entirely unlike them. Of course this was a odd situation, but nothing that should be causing him to say such things.

Right?

Gemma was not one to panic, not really, the solution to this was so simple! Perhaps if she were some debutante worried about her reputation, she would worry, but she wasn't. She was a tiny, loud, obnoxious herbologist who honestly thought she would never get married. One kiss was not a big deal despite his apparent trepidation.

And so, ever the Gryffindor and one to take action rather than sit there and plan, Gemma reached up, softly framing his face with her hands. She had to push up to her tiptoes at the same time she gently pulled him down to meet her in the middle as she planted an easy kiss on his lips.  

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set by MJ my love

Somewhere in the back of his mind Alfie registered that the brief press of her lips against his could not have possibly taken more than a few seconds. Unfortunately that much more rational part of his brain was being soundly drowned out by the feelings in his chest which had no concept of time or the passage thereof, and were allowing him to experience this in a hazy, pleasantly frozen moment so wonderfully crafted he would have sworn more magic than the mistletoe possessed was at work.

He counted one heartbeat and thought only of how tiny Gemma was, and how he had never truly noticed before, though he didn't mind stooping one little bit. He counted a second thrum and caught a scent on the air, freshly clean hair and an undercurrent of something earthy that reminded him, bizarrely, of Quidditch. By the third heartbeat it was over and he heard the crackle as the mistletoe retreated, it's work done.

He tried to open his mouth to speak, to say anything at all, but Gemma was still so close, and so pretty that his mind would not supply him with anything. Instead it screamed at him to do the thing he most wanted and, without any mistletoe in sight, Alfie leaned in and kissed her again.

  

Gemma was woefully unprepared for the sensation of what kissing somebody was actually like; she also had absolutely no idea what she was doing right now. Her hands stayed gently resting on his cheeks, more to help her keep her balance than anything else, as she was precariously perched on her tiptoes to reach him. It seemed the natural thing to do too, she supposed.

Though she had never been trapped during the  Peeves prank, she had thought that it simply took a quick kiss to dispatch the mistletoe. Perhaps this was a bit of a stronger breed... or maybe she was starting to overthink this a little bit too much. After a moment, though it felt like longer (not in a bad way!) she heard the crack of the receding mistletoe and Alfie pulled away.

Flushed, both from the cold and the kiss, and unaware of either at the moment, Gemma smiled almost dreamily, a little breathless laugh just managing to escape. She was about to make some carefree quip about being the hero in the situation when he caught her completely off guard and kissed her again. She swayed a little, unprepared again, especially for the unexpected little tug on her heartstrings that she couldn't quite place. It wasn't entirely unwelcome, but Gemma was so far out of her depth right now all she could do was play catch-up and not fall over.

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   Elladora Black

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set by MJ my love

His hands having spent the best part of the last few moments flailing in the air Alfie was actually slightly surprised when he felt the sleeve of her dress against his fingertips. So much so that he jumped back as though he had only just realised what he was doing and stared at Gemma, guppy-like and shocked at his own actions. What on earth had come over him?!

Nothing, he thought. Or at least nothing he hadn’t been thinking about in some way for a little while now but he had never admitted as much to himself. Miss Simpson was special, that much he had always known, but he was only not beginning to think about how she might become special to him. And like a fool he had ruined it entirely.

“I’m…I…” He garbled, taking another desperate step back now that he was able to and wildly looking over his shoulder to make sure he was not about to fall over. It might lighten the moment but it wouldn’t make it any easier. “I’m so sorry Gemma,” he managed, convinced he had ruined their friendship forever because what on earth could she ever see in him?

Nothing. He would only make a fool of himself. “We should go back inside.”

  

To say Gemma was reeling in a thousand different directions was an understatement. As quickly as it had begun, it was over and Gemma found herself a little lightheaded and flustered. What exactly had just happened was still a mystery to her, but watching Alfie step back in panic had her thinking that something had gone wrong.

She was not known to keep her cool in any situation, but watching Alfie back away like that stopped her from reacting how she normally would. He apologized and Gemma wasn't entirely sure for what, but she was starting to worry. This was so far out of her realm of normal that she was still trying to figure out exactly what had just happened, but she knew that something had changed between them and a lot hinged on how she reacted next.

Gem took a breath, "Don't be sorry," She managed- and really he needn't be, it wasn't like he'd attacked her or anything and in fairness, she had kissed him first. That first kiss to clear the mistletoe was very different than the one that followed, even a girl like Gem, with absolutely not experience here, could tell that much. "Why don't you go ahead, I'll catch up in a little while, save me a dance." She needed the cold air to think this through a little bit before going back inside.

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set by MJ my love

Taking his cue from her Alfie felt a swell of gratitude that he was not being asked to explain himself. Gemma had made it easy for him and he felt his mouth go dry at the sight of her in the dim lights with the cold air making her cheeks the most fetching shade he could imagine. He had not expected this a development: why had he never noticed quite how lovely she was before?

“I will,” he stuttered, finally finding the strength to look away and head back inside. Walking as though he were in a daze he managed to reach the refreshment table and raised a glass to his dry lips before he stopped himself. He would taste of champagne and not of her if he drank this.

Merlin, he was being ridiculous. She probably wouldn’t think of him if he was the last man in the ballroom, though she had offered him a dance. He would be terrible at it, and they both probably knew it, so it was kind of her even if it was not, he realised, what he wanted.

He wanted to be back on the balcony and to know what he was doing.