The Wild Hunt

December 21

It was a glorious winter's day and a lone voice was raised in song in the offices of the Malfoy, Abbott and Nott Wizarding Apprehension Unit.

"On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..."

"Will you stop that infernal noise? Some of us are trying to concentrate!"

"Oh, lighten up, Mr. Scrooge. The holiday is almost upon us. Get into the Christmas spirit! Be jolly!"

Draco snarled at Hannah. "I do not want to get into the Christmas spirit. I most certainly do not want to be jolly. If you want jolly, go lock yourself in the kitchen with the house elves. They're jolly as hell."

Hannah looked affronted. "Well, what has you in such a snit? Did somebody put too much starch in your underwear?"

"No, I'm going commando. And you are the one who has put me in such a snit," Draco snapped. "You, with your off-tune, jolly singing, and your damned, under-baked sugar cookies, and your eggnog which has no rum in it, and your garish, purple Christmas tree. You! NOW GET OUT!"

Hannah gasped in outrage and marched out of the room. She was so agitated that she didn't see Theodore lurking in the hallway and she ran right into him. Hannah blinked up at the startling vision that was Theodore Nott.

Theo was wearing his usual 'uniform' of heavy, black dragon-hide boots, black jeans which were almost shredded and worn over red long johns and a black dragon-hide jacket covered in pins with slogans that raged against the establishment. Only his hair was different. Instead of the eye-searing, chartreuse shag she remembered from the previous week, now his hair stood up in an array of brilliant orange and violet spikes.

Theo smirked down at her. "Hullo Hannah. Draco's in his usual fun-loving mood, I see."

Hannah brushed past him to go to her own office, Theo trailing behind her. "He's in a vile mood. Even worse than he usually is." Hannah came to an abrupt stop and whirled to face Theo. "And I really didn't need to know that he isn't wearing any underpants!"

Theo winced. "I can't say I needed to know that either."

Hannah stared up at him. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Theo's spiky hair. "Are those miniature Christmas ornaments hanging from your hair?"

"Yes. Do you like them? I wore them especially for you," he said, preening and showing off the ornaments.

She gave him a big smile and nodded. Actually, it was a bit odd looking, but it was so nice to see somebody who had some Christmas spirit. Besides, Theo was always doing and wearing odd things. After being his business partner for a year, she was used to it. Lately, she had even started to think that it was cute. Theo gave her a brilliant smile in return. Awkwardly, she began to turn away, but Theo's hand on her arm, stopped her.

"Hey now, you can't just walk away like that. It's probably bad luck or something," he said.

"Bad luck?"

Theo pointed up toward the ceiling. Hannah looked up and realised that she had come to a stop directly beneath the mistletoe. Or possibly, the mistletoe had come to a stop directly overhead. It had a tendency to wander around. She looked at Theo again. He was smiling down at her. When she tentatively smiled back he sidled a bit closer to her.

Hannah could feel pixies doing aerobatics in her stomach. She'd fancied Theo for a while, but didn't think the rebellious ex-Slytherin would ever return her interest. She didn't have a rebellious bone in her body. She didn't wear leather jackets or torn jeans. Under her robes she wore lamb's wool twinsets, and calf-length skirts. If she was feeling particularly daring she might put on a pair of comfortable, faded jeans. Should she kiss him? What if she made a fool of herself? On the other hand, he had put Christmas ornaments in his hair for her. Surely that meant something. Didn't it? Would one little kiss really hurt? Maybe it was time to act like a confident, modern witch and take the initiative. She did have the excuse of the mistletoe, after all...

Her reflections came to an abrupt stop when Theo's mouth covered hers.

***

Ron Weasley stood in the shadowed doorway and looked around the office. They had really fixed it up. It was a damn sight better than the old office, over the Magical Menagerie. Smelled better, too. Draco walked through the room on his way to the small kitchen and Ron hailed him to get his attention.

"Oi, where is everybody, Malfoy? Did you give them all time off for the Yule holiday?"

Draco stopped his progress towards the kitchen. He curled his lips into a sneer. "Hardly, Weasley. Pansy is out chasing down some artefact. We brought in a smuggler yesterday, but he didn't have all the goods with him. Apparently he has it stashed all over Yorkshire. She should be back soon. Hannah and Theo are in the hallway, snogging. Everybody else is out on assignment." In a slightly more mellow tone he asked, "So, what are you doing here? You have somebody you need us to chase down for you?"

"No. I'm here to see Pansy. I thought I might take her out somewhere, to celebrate the first day of Yule."

"Well, like I said, Pansy should be here any minute. Sit down and make yourself comfortable. If you can find a comfortable chair to sit in," Draco replied looking around the waiting room with another sneer. "Damned interior decorators. They don't have a clue." He sauntered into the kitchen, leaving Ron to his own devices.

Ron tried to find a comfortable chair to sit in. He really did try. It was his bad luck that all the chairs in the waiting room were about as comfortable as iron maidens. Instead, he wandered around the room, looking at the awful artwork while he waited for Pansy. Luckily for Ron's poor eyes, Draco was right. Pansy arrived only a few minutes later.

Ron blinked when he saw her. She was wearing bright green leggings and a violet jumper with bobbles all over it. She looked like an upside-down bunch of grapes. "Hello, Pansy. Err... you're looking very nice today."

Draco walked through the room clutching an abnormally large, purple mug with the caption "I have not loved the world, nor the world me". He paused to take a sip of the steaming coffee and glanced at Pansy. "She looks ghastly," he said. "But it's still an improvement over red and green." He walked back into his office, cradling the coffee cup as though it were the Holy Grail and darkly muttering about Christmas elves.

Pansy threw her hands up in the air. "When I got dressed this morning, I was wearing black leggings and a white jumper. Somebody at the office - I'm not even sure who it was - transfigured them as a joke. They're stuck like this, now. No matter what I do, I can't transfigure them back." She looked at Ron with a pout. "It was my favourite jumper, too." Giving him a speculative look she said, "Why don't you take me out to dinner, to make me feel better?"

Ron smiled down at her. "All right," he said agreeably, "But... First kiss me, Kate."

Pansy looked at him in puzzlement. "Did you walk into another befuddlement trap today? My name is Pansy," she said pointedly.

Ron looked at her blankly. "I know that. It was a line from a play."

"What kind of a play? I don't recognise it." Pansy said suspiciously.

"A Muggle play. By some bloke named Shakespeare."

"Since when do you read Muggle plays?"

"Hermione made me read it when she found out I was dating you."

"What? Why?"

"Err... I don't know," Ron said evasively.

Now Pansy was even more suspicious. "Really?" When Ron just shrugged, looking uncomfortable, she asked, "Maybe I should read it. What was the play called?"

"Err..."

"Tell me Weasley," she said in a low, growling voice.

Ron shivered. He loved that low, growling voice. He weighed the odds... If he didn't tell her the title of the play, she might not kiss him. If he did tell her the title of the play, she definitely wouldn't kiss him. The choice was obvious. "I'm not sure, Pansy. Be a good lass and kiss me now, why don't you?"

Pansy scowled up at him.

Ron sighed to himself. She could be so difficult sometimes. How had he ever started dating a high-maintenance witch like Pansy Parkinson? He cupped her chin in one hand and ran his thumb over her bottom lip. "Please?" he asked, with a soulful look.

Pansy kissed the pad of his thumb. "All right," she said, leaning into him, "but I shall find out the name of that play, Weasley." Ron smirked slightly and bent his head down to kiss her.

"We just got our next assignment," Draco said, walking back into the room and interrupting them before Ron could get his kiss.

"Oh, who is it?" Pansy asked, turning away from Ron to look at Draco.

Draco's next announcement surprised Ron so much that he forgot all about the kiss that he still hadn't received from Pansy. With an evil grin, Draco drawled, "Hermione Granger. She's supposed to have a trial next week and she's escaped. We've been hired to find her and drag her back here."

"Aha!" Pansy said, with a scowl. "I always knew there was something shifty about Granger."

Ron reached up a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh no, Hermione," he muttered. "What have you done now?"