~*~
Bill had watched Harry watch his sister for the last three evenings. He watched the way Harry's eyes drifted to her of their own accord when she was laughing, or when she made a sarcastic remark, or even when she was just studying her nails, not saying anything.
Bill thought it was cute.
He knew Ginny had a boyfriend, but he still didn't understand why Harry didn't make a move. After all, Harry was here and the boyfriend was not. And if Bill's baby sister had to be shagging anyone, it might as well be Harry Potter.
So he plotted. He tried to find opportunities to get the two of them together, to get them alone and then leave them that way.
Unfortunately, this proved difficult. His mother and Fleur were still sniping at each other, and he was far too often needed to come between them. Ron hardly ever left Harry's side, to the extent that Bill began to wonder if his brother's interest in Harry was entirely friendly. Ginny seemed oblivious to it all, which wasn't typical for her. Bill reckoned she was playing hard to get.
Good for her, but frustrating for him. He watched Harry pine silently for her, watching her twist a long strand of hair around her finger as she laughed at something George said, her smile radiant in the firelight. Harry sighed wistfully. Bill frowned. It was time for drastic action.
The next day, he spent two hours walking through the snowy woods with Fleur before he found what he was looking for -- a sprig of wild mistletoe. He kissed her under it, then severed it from the tree with his wand and tucked it into his pocket, grinning at Fleur's exclamations of how sweet and romantic he was.
He affixed it to the doorframe that led to the stairs after dinner, and waited.
His parents turned in early, as usual. Bill engaged Harry in an intense game of chess as soon as he saw Ron start to yawn, and he even managed to convince Fleur to go to bed without him. He made his excuses to stay up while everyone else disappeared one at a time, and by midnight, there were finally just him, Harry, and Ginny left.
Bill stood and stretched, smiling at them. "Well, I'm knackered. You two stay up as long as you like." He gave the mistletoe above the door a meaningful glance and winked at Harry, then turned to leave.
"I'm tired, too," Ginny said, yawning and tossing her book aside. She crossed to the doorway.
Bill turned and blocked it, his mind racing. "You don't have to leave on my account. Stay up if you like."
Ginny shrugged. "I have to get up early to help Mum with breakfast." She gave the mistletoe a sardonic glance and pushed past him into the corridor. Bill gritted his teeth in frustration as her footsteps grew distant on the stairs, leaving him alone with Harry.
"Um," he heard behind him. He turned around to see Harry staring up at the mistletoe above his head.
"Ah," he replied, grinning at Harry. "Well… good night then."
But Harry continued to stare at him, biting his lower lip and wringing his hands. He looked adorably flustered, Bill thought, as if--
Oh, shit.
Harry stepped forward with the look of someone who had just drummed up a great deal of courage. "You're standing under the mistletoe, you know."
"Yes," Bill replied, feeling his cheeks grow warm.
"You've been up to something all week, haven't you?" Harry asked, stepping even closer. "And you stayed up late, just to stand under that. You can't have meant for Ginny to kiss you."
"I…" Bill felt himself flush even more, now understanding exactly what Harry must be thinking. He could hardly blame him. It was a perfectly logical conclusion, after all -- Bill had been watching Harry for days now, nearly obsessed with him, if truth be told. "Harry--"
Harry kissed him, cutting off his words, and Bill couldn't have been more surprised. Was this really the same boy who'd been pining for his sister all week, unwilling to say more than three words to her? Had Bill misjudged it all?
Harry's tongue wormed between Bill's lips and he heard himself moan in response. It was a sweet kiss, the kind only inexperienced people gave, and it melted something inside Bill. He twined one hand in Harry's hair and deepened the kiss, tasting spiced wine on Harry's tongue, and warmth and wetness and a glorious sense of possibility.
He'd never kissed a bloke before. He'd thought about it, certainly, but he'd never actually done it, and here he was kissing Harry Potter, his little brother's best friend, under the mistletoe while his entire family slept above.
He pulled away at the thought of Fleur in his bed upstairs, where she'd been sleeping ever since the second night when he'd told his mother it was none of her business who slept where. And he was down here, kissing someone else.
"I'm sorry," Bill whispered, stepping away. "That was completely stupid."
Harry grinned. "It's just mistletoe, you know." He moved past Bill and started climbing the stairs. "Good night."
Bill sighed and leaned against the door frame, wondering how that had backfired so spectacularly.
~*~
Story Notes: