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( def stole ao3's layout bc i love it sm )

rating: general audiences
fandom: harry potter
relationship: louis nox/draco malfoy
additional tags: lovers go home for christmas, draco meets louis's mom, draco also befriends the family dog
stats ━━ published: 1/29/21 — word count: 1284 — parts: 1/1

━━━━ · 。ﾟ☆ .☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ━━━━

summary:
the one where draco discovers
the muggle tradition that is mistletoe
(or he may have known beforehand)

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"YOU'RE REALLY GOING TO LET SNOW IN ALL OVER THE FLOOR? You're meeting my mother for the first time and this is how you decide to go about treating her home?"

"Don't worry, it'll melt."

"I have a dog, Draco. What if he slips?"

"Are—are you using your dog to guilt trip me? That's just evil." Draco threw Louis an incredulous look, feigning disgust as he shook out his scarf, leaving more snow to fall onto the floor before removing his hat and revealing a mess of platinum underneath.

All Louis did was shrug before he responded, running a hand through Draco's mess of hair as he did so. "Is it working?"

Draco rolled his eyes, swatting Louis's hand away, not even able to begin to comprehend the conversation they were having. "You're unbelievable."

"And that's why you fell for me."

"Among other reasons." At that came the sound of scampering paws as Jupiter scrambled his way into the foyer where Louis and Draco stood and just as predicted, Jupiter landed into the puddle and took a misstep, sliding his way into Draco's leg before bouncing back and shaking it off.

"What'd I tell you?" Louis asked, getting down to pet his dog hello before making sure he was all right.

"What do you want me to do? Apologize?" Draco questioned and Louis gave him a look as he scratched his Scottish Terrier behind his ears.

"I'm not apologizing to the dog, Lou," Draco retorted. He may have had a newfound pride built into him but it was still pride to begin with and he wasn't going to risk losing it all in one go by apologizing to his boyfriend's pet. Louis picked his dog up off of the floor so Draco could make eye contact with it, making sure their eyes met. There was a moment where Draco contemplated his all of his life choices that had brought him into this passage of time before he let out a guttural sigh and gave the Scottish Terrier a measly apology and a scratch behind the ear before getting a lick to his cheek in return.

"A little flat in tune but I suppose it'll have to do for now." Louis put his dog back down and watched it run into the kitchen.

"Why do you get to judge? You're not the one who slipped into a puddle and ran into my leg."

"My dog is an extension of me so therefore I get to judge whether or not your apology was any good."

Draco looked at Louis as though he had lost his mind. And at that moment, he might as well have. "Hogwarts couldn't have been that big if I had ended up dating you, of all people."

"And yet you still love me." Louis pulled Draco into him, close to pressing a kiss to his mouth when he heard someone's throat clear. Turning around, he saw his mother standing in the entryway that led into the kitchen, smiling knowingly. "Hi, mum."

"Hello, my little astronomer," Louis's mother, Harper, greeted him, pulling him into a hug and pressing a kiss to his temple. "Who's this?"

Louis turned to Draco, who had gone suddenly quiet, fiddling with his fingers. "This is Draco. He's my. . .he's my boyfriend."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Nox." Draco held out his hand in greeting, "I've heard nothing but great things about you."

"I would say the same about you." Harper returned the greeting, meeting Draco in the middle and shaking his hand.

"Really now? Didn't take Louis to be quite the blabbermouth."

"No, but he does write it all down in a letter every Sunday. The sap, he is."

"Mum," Louis let out a petulant whine, "can you at least try and make me look cool?"

"You must've done a good job if you got him to go out with you." Harper nodded her head at Draco, who was wearing his patented Malfoy smile.

"Getting him to go out with me was the easy part." Louis wrapped an arm around Draco's shoulder, pulling him into his side, "Getting him to stay has been an adventure, given the year's worth of opportunities I've given him to break up with me." He then pressed a lingering kiss to Draco's temple before a flash went off.

"Oh, you two are so sweet." Harper smiled, lowering her camera to see them. "Dinner's almost ready. Why don't you two get comfortable. Martin should be home soon any minute."

"I can see where you get your great hospitality from," Draco complimented, smiling softly.

"She's the best," Louis agreed, making his way into the kitchen, Draco following close behind, hands intertwining, "wouldn't trade her for anyone in the world."

"Even me?"

"Even you, amor meus." Louis left a kiss on Draco's forehead before moving on to kiss his nose. He was going in to press a kiss to his mouth when Draco stopped him.

"Wait," Draco said, pulling back for a moment, "I may have heard somewhere that it was a Muggle tradition to have at least one kiss underneath the mistletoe during the Christmas season."

Louis raised an eyebrow at that, sort of knowing where Draco was taking this but still a little lost. "Is that right? Well, we haven't got any mistletoe lying around so- "

Before Louis could finish his sentence, he looked up to see a familiar branch of mistletoe growing through the entryway above the both of their heads before looking back at Draco who had, once again, his patented Malfoy smile spread across his face.

"So did you just 'happen' to read about this or did you already know beforehand?" Louis pulled Draco into him once more, resting his forehead against his.

"I may have known about this for a while," Draco replied, trying his best to sound flippant and nonchalant but the burning sensation at the base of his neck kept him from doing so. "I may have even known about it during the Christmas we had spent at Hogwarts. A truly missed opportunity, by the way."

"Right." Louis nodded, pressing yet another kiss to Draco's forehead—his movements languid to show that he was in no such rush—before moving on to kissing the tip of his nose, feeling it scrunch the way it's always done when Louis's kissed it, still not having gotten used to the sensation.

Louis's mouth hovered over Draco's for a moment, patiently waiting for him to nod his head or a whisper that resembled a "yes" of any sort. There had been a time where Draco had gotten tired of hearing Louis asking to kiss him, knowing that he was going to reply with a "yes", anyway. It had started out that way due to the reason that Draco had been nervous as all hell the night they had kissed for the first time. Louis had asked before leaning in and slowly sealing his lips to his, giving him the chance to back out if he had wanted to.

However, slowly Draco had come to learn that it made Louis happy, hearing him say "yes" all the time. It showed that he was open to receiving the affection that was being given to him. And to have Louis be the one giving it to him, how could he say no?

With a soft nod of Draco's head, a ghost of a smile beginning to pull at the corners of his mouth, Louis then leaned in, closing the distance between the two of them and sealing his lips to Draco's, pressing a loving kiss to his mouth, feeling a smile against his mouth at the action.

"Is this what you imagined when you read about mistletoe?"

"Better."