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Dean thought it strange when the mistletoe showed up early. He and Seamus were bustling about their flat preparing for the holiday party they had agreed to host that year when the blasted thing appeared in the kitchen archway. He was entering and Seamus was exiting when it caught them.
“Oi, lads! Give us a smooch!” the charmed mistletoe crowed. Dean stopped and glared up at the weed. Seamus walked right into his chest.
“Er, Sea, what’s the mistletoe doing here?” he asked, never taking his eyes off the offending object. “No one’s meant to be here for an hour yet.”
Seamus turned bright red. “Not sure, mate. Must be buggy.”
“I’m right here, y’know! I think you owe me a proper show for such an insult,” the mistletoe whined above them, vines flailing about in distress.
Seamus glanced up at the mistletoe and then at Dean. “I suppose we’d better, don’t you? I’ve heard horrible stories about people refusin’ mistletoe.”
Dean looked down at his best mate and felt his entire body go hot. Bloody mistletoe. It wasn’t fair, having to kiss Seamus when he was mad for him and couldn’t say a word.
“I s’pose…” he replied, his heart pounding in his ears.
Seamus shrugged and pressed up on his toes while Dean bent down. He quickly pressed his lips to the corner of Seamus’s mouth, where it was safest, and then pulled away.
“Spoil sports,” the mistletoe grumbled and disappeared from the archway.
Seamus was looking up at him with wide eyes, his cheeks faintly pink. Dean found himself momentarily unable to speak at the sight. His words had all dried up and his tongue felt thick and clumsy in his mouth. Bloody mistletoe, bloody Seamus, bloody everything.
“I s’pose I’d better go finish the - uh - the thing,” Seamus stammered and gave him a grin. He maneuvered himself around Dean and out of the kitchen.
*
The next time the mistletoe showed up was not long after Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had all shown up. Dean had been standing under the archway that led to their tiny living room helping them with their coats when Seamus passed through to greet them.
“Hello again, boys!” the mistletoe crowed triumphantly. “Surely you can do better this time!”
Ron laughed at the looks on their faces until Hermione gave him a neat jab in the ribs. “It’s not funny, Ron, Dean looks absolutely horrified. Ignore it, Dean, it’s just a bit of holiday nuisance.”
“It isn’t smart to ignore mistletoe, you know,” Ginny said with a shake of her head. She was looking between him and Seamus in that knowing way of hers that always made Dean’s stomach feel funny. “Not if you want to make it to new years with all your limbs, at least.”
Seamus coughed and Dean glanced over to find him watching him with wide eyes. “Perhaps if we give it what it wants, it’ll leave us alone… yeah?” he asked, shifting from foot to foot.
“Er. Okay.” Dean’s jumper felt suffocating.
“C’mon, everyone, this isn’t a stage play,” Ginny announced. She gave Dean a small smile and shuffled the others into the kitchen.
Dean turned his attention back to Seamus and cleared his throat. “Sure Justin won’t mind?” he asked, hating how breathless he sounded.
A funny look crossed Seamus’s face and then it was gone. “I doubt it,” he replied with a shrug.
It stung a bit to think that Seamus kissing him wouldn’t be enough to make his boyfriend jealous.
“I’m not getting any younger up here!”
Seamus sort of bounced upwards and pulled Dean’s head down in the same motion so that their lips touched. Dean’s heart pounded loud in his ears for the brief moment they were kissing before he pulled away. He took a step back from where Seamus had begun to lean into him.
“Right. Think that did it?” he asked breathlessly, hoping Seamus couldn’t see the flush on his cheeks.
The mistletoe snorted and disappeared.
Seamus almost looked disappointed. They stood in silence for a long, awkward moment. Seamus had just opened his mouth to speak when a knock came at the door. Dean hurried to answer it, leaving him alone in the archway.
*
The party was in full swing the third time the mistletoe attacked. Ever since their kiss Dean had been distinctly aware of his mate’s presence no matter where he was in the room. It was distracting.
It was even worse when Seamus came to stand beside him. Dean was trying desperately to pay attention to Luna, who was passionately gesticulating about Nargles to a bemused Ginny, but it was no use. He could smell him, could feel the warmth of him coming toward him in waves, and it made his heart pound hard and fast in his chest.
“Have you been avoiding me, Dean?” Seamus asked in the quiet tone he only adopted when he was being very serious.
“What? No,” Dean replied and took an unnecessarily large swig of his beer. “Isn’t Justin meant to be coming tonight?”
Seamus frowned. “Er. No.”
Dean took in the look on his face. “Did the two of you have a row?” he asked, swallowing down the protective monster threatening to crawl out of his chest.
“Look! It’s the two disappointing gits!” the mistletoe exclaimed from above them just as Seamus was opening his mouth to respond.
He glared up at it. “Oi, enough’s enough! Don’t you have anyone else to pick on?” Dean asked, jaw clenching. “It’s not amusing. He’s got a boyfriend--”
“Dean--”
“And he’s my best mate, besides! Just-- just bugger off, won’t you? I don’t want to kiss him and I doubt he wants to kiss me so just leave it,” he finished, his chest hot and tight.
Seamus was staring at him in disbelief. “Didn’t realize it was such a chore to kiss me, Thomas,” he said. His face was stormy. “Can’t you just lighten up? It’s all in good fun! Or am I that bloody repulsive to ya?”
“Sea, you know that’s not what I meant. I-- it’s just that Justin--”
“Justin and I broke it off.”
Dean blinked at him. “What? When did this happen?”
“Last week,” he replied with a sniff and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Dean asked, his heart growing heavy with guilt.
Seamus shrugged. “You were having one of your quiet episodes,” he said, as if that explained everything. “I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”
“Sea…”
“So your big excuse is gone, Thomas,” Seamus said, looking fit to explode. “Well?”
Just because Seamus was single didn’t mean he fancied Dean and Dean couldn’t kiss him for a laugh. The very thought was repugnant. He opened his mouth as if to speak but his words, as usual, got stuck.
“Fine. Bugger off, then,” Seamus growled and pointed his wand at the mistletoe. It exploded, leaving a scorch mark on the paint, and Seamus stalked out of the room.
*
The rest of the party felt strained. Seamus made sure to keep to the opposite side of the room from Dean at all times. Before he had felt his best mate’s presence acutely but now he only felt his absence. Ginny kept giving him thoughtful, worried looks as the night wore on.
“Y’still haven’t told him then?” she asked as he helped her into her coat.
“Told him what?” Dean replied, avoiding her knowing gaze.
Ginny snorted. “You’ve survived a war, Dean, and you’re a Gryffindor. Do something about it, won’t you?”
Dean shrugged noncommittally and hugged her goodbye. He waited until everyone had left and only silence filled the flat to enter the living room. Seamus was half heartedly collecting empty cups with his wand. His eyes looked far away.
“Sea?” he asked softly and sat down in the chair beside him. He winced when a cup clattered to the floor. “Are you ready to tell me why you’re so upset? Is it Justin? Is it… is it because of something I did?”
Seamus shrugged a shoulder and continued staring intently at the stack of cups. “Nah. Justin and I mutually decided it was better to break it off, y’see.”
“But… why? Things seemed to be going well between you.”
“Something about not being what each other really wanted. Needed.”
It echoed something Ginny had said to him a lifetime ago when they had broken up. For just a second Dean let hope expand in his chest. Then he quickly squashed it. Seamus had come out to him while they were at Hogwarts and never once had he hinted that he fancied Dean at all. Not even after they had begun living together after the war.
“I’m sorry, mate, and even more sorry that you felt you couldn’t come to me about it. You can come to me with anything… even if I’m holed up in my room.”
Seamus shook his head with a small smile. “You just need time by yourself sometimes. I get it. I get you, Dean, that’s not what got me so upset. And it wasn’t Justin,” he said with a sniff.
“Then was it the bleedin’ mistletoe? I told you it was a stupid idea…”
Finally Seamus lowered his wand and turned to face him. “D’ya really think kissing me is so repulsive?” he asked, his voice softening again.
Dean shifted uncomfortably and lowered his gaze to his trainers. “What? No, f’course not.”
“Then why--”
“Because I can’t kiss you as a joke, Sea!” he blurted out without thinking. He stared at Seamus in horror as the silence descended heavily around them. “We-- we are not a joke.”
Seamus gaped at him, speechless. Generally Dean was proud of moments like this but he was too busy trying not to be sick on his trainers to focus on it right then.
“We-- you are important,” he continued around the lump forming in his throat. “Do you understand?”
“Dean, what are you sayin’?” Seamus asked, his eyes comically wide.
Ginny was right, he was a bloody Gryffindor, so Dean took a deep breath and forced himself to look Seamus in the eye properly. “I’m saying that I love you. I love you and it’s not a joke. I--"
Seamus started laughing. Dean stared at him in shock.
“What’s so funny?”
Seamus shook his head and looked over at him with a daft grin. “Bloody hell, Dean, why didn’t ya say anythin’? I could’ve put Justin out of his misery long ago if I knew y’fancied blokes.”
“I’m not sure if it’s blokes or just you,” he admitted in a rush and bit his lip. His palms were starting to sweat where they gripped his knees.
“Wait. What?”
“I only pushed the mistletoe idea because I so badly wanted a chance t’kiss ya. Even if it was only the once,” Seamus said, his cheeks tinged pink. It was the most beautiful thing Dean had ever seen. “Didn’t work out so well."
“We’re a right pair of idiots,” Dean said in wonder and shook his head.
Seamus nodded. “Fancy givin’ it a go?”
Dean stood and moved to sit on the couch beside him. “Yes,” he replied and took Seamus’s face in his hands. He took in every facet of his expression for just a second before he leaned in and pressed their mouths together.
Dean had kissed a few people in his time but never had it felt like this. A tingle ran down his spine and something warm unfurled in his stomach as their lips slid together again and again. Seamus’s fingers were in his hair and his tongue pressed into Dean’s mouth. A soft moan came from somewhere between them. He wasn’t sure if the sound belonged to Dean or himself but it hardly mattered.
When they finally pulled apart Seamus was grinning from ear to ear. “You’re brilliant, you are,” he chirped.
Dean grinned back. “You’re not so bad yourself, Finnigan,” he replied and pulled him in by his t-shirt to kiss him again. Seamus came willingly.
As they fit together on the couch and Dean revelled in the cinnamon and nutmeg taste of Seamus’s warm mouth, Dean had to admit that maybe mistletoe wasn’t so bad after all.