"Severus?"

Professor Snape heard his name being called from above him. The voice was undoubtedly from someone a fair few years younger than himself, meaning that it was a student, and only one student dared call him by his first name. He looked up to the above staircase with a small smile on his lips.

"(Name)." He said as the girl ran down the stairs, around the corner and over to him, stopping a meter away. Without warning, she burst into tears.

"Severus! I - I can't - it won't go - help!" She tried to speak, but it was hard to between her choking sobs. Worried, he went to walk over to the girl, but she suddenly freaked out and took a huge step back.

"Y- you can't!" She yelled. "You'll get stuck too!"

"What do you mean?" She pointed to the space above her head. Hanging in thin air, was a single sprig of mistletoe.

"It won't go away! Someone jinxed it on me during breakfast, and now whenever anyone gets too close, they get stuck until they k-" (Name) stopped talking and looked away. Snape guessed what she was about to say, and a rage consumed him. (Name) was sobbing again, and instantly the rage pocketed itself away to be used on some unfortunate later. Snape moved over to her, but then remembered the jinx and stopped halfway. He sighed.

"Come along then, we'll go to the potions room and have a look at it there." She nodded solemnly and started walking. In a few minutes, the pair were sitting in the cold, damp room. It was even colder then usual, considering it was winter and there was absolutely no form of heating down here. Severus had already tried several forms of counter-jinxs and burning spells, but so far, all of them had failed.

"Specialis Revelio!" Snape yelled, getting frustrated at the hanging twig. The mistletoe bounced around in the air before fizzling and growing. It suddenly reached out, wrapping around Snape's wrist with a snapping sound and yanking him forward, before going back to hanging quietly in the air. Snape tried to move back but found himself quite stuck.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry, if I hadn't gotten you to help!" (Name) begun to shiver, little tears falling from her eyes, and Snape looked down at her. A chuckle sounded through the room and (Name) looked up to find Snape with a hand over his eyes and a smile on his face. He looked back at her, no longer laughing, but still smiling sweetly, something I'm sure has almost never happened before, and placed a hand gently on the girl's cheek.

"(Name), as strange as it is, we are in a relationship, and, I won't lie, I'd love to kiss you, but I was going to wait until you graduated at least. But, in this position..." He shook his head. "Well, I don't have much of a choice, really, do I?" Snape's eyes held a certain sadness to them, a sadness that (Name) just couldn't bare. In a brief moment of bravery, she grabbed the collar of his robes and yanked at them, pulling their lips together but using a bit too much force and hitting their teeth at the same time. The second the pain hit, (Name) pulled away, clutching her mouth. The moment of bravery was gone and (Name)'s eyes went wide in horror.

"I-I'm sorry Professor! I just- I mean I-!" Her face was painted red, which caused Severus to smirk and lean down to her. He gently pulled her hand away from her lips and kissed the palm of it, holding eye contact the whole time. He chuckled as she blushed and released her hand which fell to her side.

"Let's get rid of that mistletoe shall we?" He said, then in an instant, their lips brushed against each other, soft and slow, before one of them, they don't know who, pressed just a little bit harder, then a bit more, until finally, they were holding each other closer and closer, not wanting to let go, not knowing how to stop. It was a beautiful confusion that lasted until neither could breath and they broke apart in deep breaths, still clutching at each other's robes and holding each other close.

After their breathing returned to normal, Severus kissed her once more atop her head before they released each other and took a reluctant step back. (Name) looked up and giggled.

"Mistletoe's gone." She said, pointing up at where it had been. Severus had a soft look on his face as he stepped forward and hugged her close. They stood like that for a while, before he pulled back and took her hand, leading her over to his desk, where he sat down and then pulled her into his lap. (Name) was slightly exhausted after the chaotic day she'd had and then the tornado of emotions she'd just gone through. She cuddled up to Severus and let out a yawn, which was so 'unladylike' she had to cover her mouth, but it made Snape chuckle under his breath.

"Severus, you're awesome, so I can understand why I'd like you, but I'm pretty average, and I don't stand out much, so why do you like me?" She muttered, not really needing to speak up. There was a moment's pause.

"I don't like you, (Name)." He started. "I'm enamoured by you. You're very simple," (Name) whacked him softly and he chuckled, "Which I love. I'm not having to always treat you like a goal that I have to reach. I can be myself, well, a softer version of myself, around you, and with all the chaos going on, that is one of the greatest gifts I could ever receive. You wear your heart on your sleeve, so to speak, and you just..." He trailed off.

"What?" (Name) asked, worried. Snape looked down at her, smiling sweetly.

"You light up my black-stained life."

(Name) blushed and begun to sob, burying her face in his chest. Severus smiled a half-smile and held her close.

"(Name)?"

"Mm..." (Name) mumbled back.

"You're not average, you're special."

(Name) smiled as she fell asleep in Professor Severus Snape's arms, feeling better than she ever had before.

~Afterward~

"So you just-"

"Yes Minerva, for the last time, yes."

"You didn't think there would be any complications with that?"

"Like what?"

"The fact you did it at breakfast and she'd be forced to kiss anyone who came close to her during the day?"

"Oh."

"She cried Dumbledore. She had to kiss Miss Granger in front of Mr Ron Weasley."

"I made it so she could get away with a kiss on the cheek, though!!"

"She knew that! You really thought that would be less awkward?!"

"..."

"You'd better be glad it turned out alright."

":("

"You'd better run before Severus figures it out."