Two awkward moment filled weeks later, it was nearing the 25th of December. There wasn't a person in Hogwarts who wasn't excited about this long-awaited event. Even the Castle itself seemed to be shivering with anticipation. It decorated itself with fairy lights that changed colour every time a different student walked past, great evergreen tress that sang Christmas hymns and of course, amazing feasts. The house elves outdid themselves, with piles and piles of extravagant entrees and deserts.

Perhaps the most excited in all of Hogwarts for Christmas was Phil Lester. He skipped to every class, sung along with the trees - even if he didn't know the words, he hummed along, bless his heart - and wore a different Christmas jumper every day of the chilly month.

"Happy Christmas Eve, Dan!" Phil greeted his friend, hugging him. Dan smiled wearily, as he had just woken up. He wondered how someone could be smiling so radiantly at 8:45 am, but didn't mind as the person in question had a great smile.

They chatted all the way to the Great Hall where Chris and PJ called them over.

"Oi, Phan!" greeted Chris.

"What?" said Dan and Phil in unison.

"Oh, it's only a little name I came up with -" PJ punched his arm "- ouch, Peej and I came up with. You see, you two are together every possible waking moment. And maybe some while asleep, if you catch my drift -" Dan blushed and looked at their interlocked fingers "- And it's tiring of hearing people say 'Dan and Phil' all the time, or, god forbid, 'Phil and Dan.' So I'm just going to call you Phan until you two are universally known as Phan. We chose Phan because it just sounded right. Like, Dil? Dilip? Phaniel? PHAN! It just rolls off the tongue."

"Stop trying to make 'phan' happen, Chris. I came up with it anyway. It's your ship name."

"What the heck is a ship name?" said Phil, the only pureblood in the four.

Dan, PJ and Chris looked at each other knowingly, then at Phil with sympathy. As Chris began to explain, Dan cut him off.

"Stop. He is too pure. Too precious for the world of fandom."

They burst out in laughter, Phil sticking out his lower lip in a fake pout. Dan legitimately thought that was the single cutest thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

His thoughts were interrupted as PJ said, "Oh! I almost forgot. There's a Christmas Eve party in Ravenclaw tonight. Password's a riddle. There's a different one every time you walk in, so I'll just meet up with the three of you 'round nine and I'll help you in with my mighty Ravenclaw brain powers. Assuming you're going?" he asked 'Phan.' Phil's eyes lit up at the C-word and he bounced in his seat.

"Yes! Dan, you're coming, right?" Dan blushed at the adorable boy and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be there," he smirked.

_______

Phil almost immediately regretted his spur of the moment decision while walking to first period with Louise and Dan. He didn't want to kiss someone he would regret again. Not two weeks ago, he had done that twice within the time span of ten minutes.

He liked Dan. He really, really, really liked Dan, he decided. He smiled and touched his lips at the memory, still fresh in his mind, blushing.

Why did Dan kiss him?

Obviously he was drunk. Wizard drinks aren't as strong as Muggle ones but they're only fourteen. That doesn't explain why Dan had decided to waltz up to Phil and kiss him, then forget about it the next day. Phil was sort of glad Dan had forgetten, because then what would have happened? Phil just couldn't come up with a reason that Dan would kiss him for 15 seconds of bliss.

Phil thought perhaps Dan felt the same way, but dismissed the thought almost immediately.

How could someone as amazing as Dan want anything more to do with me than just friends? Thought Phil. I have nothing to offer to him. I'm ugly, I'm awkward, I'm useless, I'm stupid . . . God, I could go on for days. I really hate myself. How could he love me, if I can't even like myself?

Phil almost began to cry, but sniffled and stopped himself. You can't cry in front of other people. That just makes you look weak.

Dan, who had been talking to Louise but nonetheless holding his friend's hand, heard Phil sniffle and at once whispered, "What's wrong, Phil? Are you okay?" Phil smiled through his tears threatening to spill, and cleared his throat before bursting out crying. Here he had his gorgeous friend looking at him. He couldn't even stand being in his presence. He felt so much less than his beautiful boy. Beautiful in every way. Why were they even friends?

Phil dashed into the nearest empty classroom, whispered, "Colloportus," locking the door and sat on the window ledge. He cried into his hands. Why did he hate himself so much? Wasn't there some good in him? But no. All he could see when he looked at himself were flaws. Flaws, flaws, flaws. He gasped when he heard the bell ring, forgetting about first period. He decided to skip Potions today. He couldn't brew to save his life, anyway . . . He heard someone whisper "Alohomora," and Phil turned his face to the window so the figure wouldn't see his puffy eyes and tear-stained skin.

"I'm not going to first period, Filch. Leave me alone," he said, his voice cracking. He cursed himself for being so awkward.

"I hope I don't look like Filch," said a familiar voice.

Phil immediately wiped his eyes and took a deep breath then turned around to see, who else but Dan. Dan showed Phil a small smile, who melted inside and returned the favour.

Dan saw how red his friend's eyes were and immediately ran up to the other, bombarding him with questions. "What happened? Did someone do something to you? Who was it? Tell me, I'll - I'll hex them into tomorrow," Dan said, shaking with fury at the thought of someone doing this to his . . . friend. Phil smiled, tears in a constant flow down his cheeks.

"No, Dan. No one. I did this to myself. I'm such a sad person, Dan."

Dan blatantly refused to believe this.

"Phil, please," he grabbed both of Phil's cold hands. "Tell me who did this to you. I can't see you like this."

Phil just sobbed. Dan hugged him, and his cries got more intense. They sat there like that until the bell signalling the end of second period rang. Phil looked up at Dan and had to physically restrain himself to not kiss him.

"God," breathed Phil. "You're so pretty."

Dan blushed, stammering. "I-I'm not pretty, Phil. You're the pretty one here."

The raven haired boy laughed. "I'm not attractive at all."

"I disagree," said Dan quite loudly, flushing an even deeper shade of red. "I think you're attractive . . ." he mumbled.

Phil smiled and held his hand.

"Thanks," he said, pecking his cheek and running to his second period. All Dan could do was hold his cheek and smile after him.
_______

So as promised, the fantastic foursome met at the Lake around 9, Phil literally wearing a Father Christmas cap Dan had given him - his mother sent it to him and there was no way he would wear the sin. Phil was close to exploding with excitement. This was the first Christmas at Hogwarts he would spend with Dan. All he wanted was to have the perfect holiday.

The four friends walked up to Ravenclaw Tower. The painting of an old woman looked over them, then asked, "What contains one letter, begins with an 'e,' and ends with an 'e'?"

The four stopped for a minute, mulling the question over, when finally Phil said excitedly, "An envelope!"

The painting smiled down approvingly at the Hufflepuff and moved forward to let them in. Phil smiled when the other boys congratulated him.

Dan whispered, "You are pretty smart. I'm surprised you're not in Ravenclaw."

Phil rolled his eyes at Dan, stopping.

"Dan, don't you realize that you don't get Sorted on what you are? You get Sorted on traits you admire most. Gryffindors value bravery, but that doesn't mean all of them are chivalrous and valiant. Ravenclaws value intelligence, but that doesn't go to say all of them are smart or creative. Hufflepuffs value kindness but that doesn't mean we're all fair and nice. Slytherins value cunning but that doesn't say that you lot are all full of ambition. Headmistress said it the first day of school. 'Your House does not determine what kind of witch or wizard you will be.'"

Dan was surprised at Phil's sudden realization and spiel.

Dan thought it over, and finally said, "You're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for." Phil rolled his eyes again but smiled and walked with him into the party.

Louise was there, chatting with Zoella. Dan growled the the second girl and steered Phil into the other side of the room. Phil remembered what had happened two weeks ago . . . but if Dan was acting this way, that meant he had, too. At least the part where Zoe kissed Phil. Phil decided to not talk about it.

They walked over to Chris and PJ, who were a bit obviously really intoxicated. They were singing a song Dan knew the words to and he immediately joined them.

"TASTE OF YOUR LIPS I'M ON A RIDE," the three screeched. Phil wondered what he was missing out on in the Muggle word. He hummed along anyway.

"TASTE OF YOUR POISON PARADISE, I'M ADDICTED TO YOU," sang Dan to Phil, "DON'T YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE TOXIIIC?" Phil blushed and laughed. Dan already had a (half full) bottle of Firewhiskey in hand. He seemed to like that very much these days. They danced to PJ's muggle radio for some long while, that he had some way or another toggled so it would play.

"I didn't know Hogwarts had a connection," Dan said, shocked. "Next break I'm bringing every device I own," he planned to himself. Phil giggled and punched Dan, letting the other know he had heard his Internet side show.

Dan flushed and was about to open his mouth to say something when Chris said, it's a minute to midnight!"

Already? Had time passed that quickly? Chris and PJ looked at each other as though determined to do something rather mischievous. PJ grabbed hold on Dan's left arm, and dragged him to the middle of the room, while Chris grabbed Phil's right and doing the same, both of the captive protesting.

"What the hell're you doing?" asked Dan.

"5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . ."

At once, Dan and Phil's lips collided. Both boys blushed furiously, but neither stopped. It was like they were waiting for this to happen. They kissed, maybe for 30 seconds, maybe 30 minutes, maybe a week. They didn't care. They just needed this. They needed each other. The crowd cheered around them, but they paid no mind. The only people in this tenuous third space were them. It felt necessary to be doing this, being together in a romantic way after so long, they didn't want to stop. Dan discarded any of thought of "I'm not gay!" or "We're only friends." He ran his fingers through Phil's soft hair, not worrying about anything except the boy in front of him. After maybe three minutes in real time, the same people who pushed them together pulled them apart. Phil looked at Dan, this beautiful, beautiful person who he was so lucky to have, then looked up. Mistletoe.

________

A/N: Sorry for not updating for five days!! I was on a road trip and trying to think of satisfactory ideas. Anyway, this chapter is like hella long. Almost 2,000 words!! I'm proud of this one. I love fluff. x3 okay ilyall have a nice day (almost 700 reads?? wowow) xx