A/N: I'm back! :DDD

First off, I'd like to apologise for being so MIA this year. Started at a new school, which was selective, and piles and piles of work, and other personal issues, so I haven't had time for writing or even reading. But now it's summer, and I hopefully will have a little more time to read and write some fanfiction.

Okay, so this story, as mentioned in the title, involves eggnog. As an Australian (and Vietnamese) I don't drink and have never drunk eggnog. So I really don't know what it's like. A brief scroll through Wikipedia, though, and I found out that, as I thought, alcohol can be added to eggnog. However, whiskey isn't one of the options. BUT, I have elected to ignore that, because I don't know of any other alcohol in the wizarding world other than Firewhiskey.

But enough rambling on from me. ENJOY!

~oOo~

Of Eggnog and Fountains

'Hermione?'

Hermione looked up at the familiar voice to find Fred peering at her curiously.

'Hi, Fred,' she said, turning back to her abysmal drawing in the snow on the ground. She didn't exactly want to show her miserable self to him right now, and the last thing she needed was to present herself to her crush with crazy wind-swept hair and tomato cheeks. Didn't help her spotty cheeks that she blushed every time she saw him.

'What are you doing out here?' Fred asked. It was midday, a week before Christmas, and he had seen Ron and Harry in the Great Hall playing chess. 'Ron and Harry are inside you know.'

'I know,' she answered, still dragging the little stick in her hand along the snow, drawing what he thought was quite a pretty snowflake. 'Just…wanted to be on my own, I suppose.'

Fred thought she sounded sort of gloomy, not her cheerful bubbly self. Her face, which usually took his breath away with a bright smile, was dragged down with lines that he was sure wasn't there before. He plopped down next to her and - to her indignant 'oi!' - plucked the stick out of her hand and started drawing his own snowflake in the snow.

'You know, for being a week from Christmas, you sound awfully glum.'

She watched his hand move over the snow. 'I guess I have been a bit…grumpy…the past week.' And she thought her snowflake was bad…

He glanced at her. 'Want to vent?'

She looked up to avoid his eyes. The December sky was the colour of doves, soft snow falling like in a snow globe. She laughed softly.

'It's…it's a little stupid, I suppose,' she said. 'I mean, I should be happy, right? It's nearly Christmas. But I wish I could…' She trailed off.

'What exactly is the problem, Hermione?' Fred asked.

Hermione sighed.

'My parents are on a holiday. In Italy. With all its beautiful beaches and amazing food and Milan,' she explained. "And I was supposed to go with them and celebrate Christmas. But then Dumbledore told me I can't, for safety reasons. So I'm stuck here.' She picked up another stick and began despondently drawing in the snow again.

'Well, I get where you're coming from,' Fred said. 'But being stuck here isn't all that bad y'know?'

She looked back at him. 'Yeah?'

'Yeah. Your parents aren't here, so you might just have to celebrate Christmas with us peasants.' He grinned at her and poked her arm. 'Come on, there are loads of things you can do.' He glanced down at the snow. 'Other than drawing snowflakes.' Oh geez, his snowflake was terrible.

Hermione made a noncommittal sort of 'mmm' noise. 'Also,' she went on, 'last week your brother told me a guy would have to be…completely, utterly, hopelessly desperate to think of going out with me.' She glanced at his incredulous face and chuckled. 'His words, not mine.'

His mouth dropped. 'Ron?'

Hermione laughed humourlessly. 'Who else?'

'That bastard…' he mumbled. 'Hermione, he's an ignorant ass who can't see what he's got when it's right in front of him. Honestly, he doesn't appreciate you enough for saving his ass multiple times now, academically or otherwise. Don't listen to him, okay? You're beautiful and so smart and honestly one of the best people I've met, and any guy would be, should be, honoured to be seen with you. I…I would be, at least.' He stared into her eyes, pleading her to believe him. Especially the last comment.

Hermione smiled at him. She could pretend to believe him, at least. 'Thanks, Fred.'

He couldn't stand the thought of her being down. He was going to go give Ron a punch or two, once he was finished with his mission – decided in that split moment – to cheer Hermione up was completed. His mild crush on his little brother's best friend had manifested a long time ago, it has grown significantly, and wasn't going away anytime soon. The thought of her sitting by herself out here in the cold nearly broke his heart.

'Come on,' Fred said, jumping up, grabbing her hand and pulling her up with him. 'Let's go have some fun.'

Hermione sighed. 'I don't know, Fred,' she said slowly. 'I don't really feel up to it.'

Fred let out a mock groan. 'Come on, Hermione,' he begged, putting on his best attempt at a cute puppy face. Unbeknownst to him, Hermione felt her heart skip a beat. 'Try, I'm begging you.'

Hermione, after another few minutes of persuading, grudgingly let Fred pull her up and across the snow-covered grounds. She had no idea where they were going, but she assumed he did and let him lead the way. She became slightly wary as they made their way into the Forbidden Forest, but eventually they found themselves in a secluded clearing that wasn't far away from the edge of the Forest, Fred stopped and turned around.

'Okay, what are we going to do?' he asked her.

Hermione frowned at him, not quite sure whether she should laugh. 'I thought you knew what we were going to do.'

'Well, I don't know what you usually do at Christmas,' Fred shrugged. 'Or what you think is fun.' He walked backwards into the centre of the clearing, throwing his arms out in a majestic manner. 'Any ideas? We got the whole place to ourselves.'

Hermione laughed. She looked around the clearing, breathing in the fresh air mixed with the scent of pine and snow. Snow…the clearing floor was packed thick with snow that filtered through the thin canopy overhead.

'Let's make a snowman,' she said, grinning at Fred. He grinned back.

'Let's make a snowman.'

They spent the better part of the next hour making three giant snowballs. For once, Hermione didn't care about getting her hair or her jumper soaked with snow that melted from their body heat. She let all the care and worry fall away, and only focused on making the three giant snowballs perfect, each a little smaller than the last.

Once their snowballs were perfected, they pushed the largest ball to the centre of the clearing, then together, heaved the medium ball and situated it on top of the largest ball, and then the smallest ball on top. Somehow, the idea of using magic didn't occur to them; or if it did, it was dismissed. They enjoyed doing the task by hand, enjoyed the Muggle way that was so familiar to Hermione. They stood back, both slightly out of breath, but beaming at their almost snowman.

'We need to decorate him,' Fred said.

'Yup,' Hermione agreed. She looked around and found two similarly sized twigs on the ground, and stuck them on either side of the snowman. After a little more seeking, she found a bunch of small pebbles on the ground near some trees. Walking over to pick them up, she noticed how pretty the pine trees were, branches covered in snow. She used the bigger pebbles to give the snowman some buttons, and the smaller ones to put a cute little smile on his face.

'I think we're going to need more than that,' Fred said thoughtfully.

'I'm getting there, hang on,' Hermione said, sticking her tongue at him. She looked at the snowman thoughtfully for a moment before looking up and calling out, 'Dobby?'

With a crack, the small house elf appeared in the clearing. 'Miss Hermione called Dobby?'

'Hi, Dobby,' Hermione smiled at the house elf, the prettiest smile Fred had seen in a while. 'I was just wondering, do you have any of the scarves and beanies I knit you?'

'Yes, Miss Hermione,' Dobby replied, beaming. 'Dobby keeps them all. Dobby is very grateful to Miss Hermione for giving Dobby clothes.'

Hermione smiled, and Fred couldn't take his eyes off of her. It was that smile again, the one that made her eyes crinkle at the corners, the one that made his heart beat hard and fast in his chest, and made him want to press his lips to hers.

'You're very welcome, Dobby,' she said. 'You know I enjoy knitting those for you. I was just wondering if I could borrow a scarf and a beanie?'

'Of course, Miss Hermione,' said Dobby enthusiastically. 'Dobby will be right back!'

'Oh, Dobby,' Hermione said before the house elf could Apparate away. 'While you're at it…do you think you could get us some Christmas tree decorations as well?'

'Of course Miss Hermione.' Dobby sank into the deep bow before Apparating away with a loud crack.

'Christmas tree decorations?' Fred asked Hermione. 'Why Christmas tree decorations?'

'Because,' she said, beaming. 'We're going to decorate a tree.'

And so they decorated a tree. One of the shorter pine trees with its branches hanging wide and low. They added more red and gold and silver tinsel to the line of snow on each branch, added shiny baubles hanging off like rubies and diamonds, and finally, at the very end, Fred lifted Hermione up to place a large gold star at the very top. They stepped back to admire their masterpiece of silver and ruby and gold, but honestly the only gold Fred could keep his eyes on was the specks in her brown eyes, the only ruby the flush of her cheeks, the only silver her dazzling smile.

Hermione turned back to him, and he had to tell himself to hold back from kissing her this time.

'Come on,' she said. 'I have some more things I want to do.'

The rest of the day was spent having fun with Christmas activities. The rest of the day was spent doing Christmas things. They did general typical Christmas-y things, like plopping down fully clothed in the snow to make snow angels. They did sillier things, like charming a deserted classroom to play Muggle Christmas carols and losing themselves to dancing along where nobody could see. Then they did hilarious things, things that made their stomach hurt, clenched with silent laughter, such as when Fred convinced Hermione to charm snowballs to hit any professors that dared brave the bite of winter outside the castle in the back of the head. (Professor Flitwick was quite floored...literally.) She also dragged him to Hogsmeade to do the Christmas shopping she'd been neglecting. He lost her for a while after she bought Ron a magenta jumper with some distinct maroon patterns as revenge (that wicked smile made him think wicked things), but it turned out she had only wandered off to Gladrags Wizardwear to have a look at some new deliberately mismatching socks she'd heard about to buy for Dobby, while he wandered off to Zonko's to wistfully admire the delights on display.

Around five o'clock in the afternoon, when the presents were safely stowed in her dorm, Fred had the bright idea of making gingerbread houses. So they hurried down to the kitchens, Hermione stealing glances at Fred every few seconds. Hopefully, her little present for him would help make his day on Christmas.

After they asked the elves for permission and ingredients to make the gingerbread, they delved in. They were so immersed in mixing and baking and assembling and decorating and each other, that they didn't notice the time until they were done. It was well past eight, and they'd missed dinner. One of the house elves said sheepishly that she was going to warn them when dinner was about to be served, but at that moment they had seemed to be lost in each other's eyes, and 'Wendy hates to ruin your moment, Sir and Miss.' They'd blushed and avoided each other's eyes. Well, for the ten minutes when they were packing up anyway. After that, Hermione didn't know about Fred, but she couldn't help herself smiling at him again.

The house elves, much to the two's gratitude, made them a platter of food for dinner, waving away all thanks they offered. Once the two were finished with their food, the little elves even offered to make them some eggnog. But seeing as their workforce was being bogged down by the after-dinner rush, Hermione and Fred insisted they make the eggnogs themselves. With Wendy's help, they proceeded to whip up two steaming cups of foamy deliciousness.

Halfway through, Wendy had, with a mischievous look in her wide hazel eyes, procured a bottle of Firewhiskey. 'Wendy did not know how much Firewhiskey Sir and Miss wanted in their eggnog, so Wendy thought she would let Sir and Miss decide for themselves,' she had squeaked, then promptly left them with the bottle.

Fred had grinned his prankster, Marauder-like grin at her, opening the bottle with no hesitation and plenty of ease and pouring a generous amount into his mug. Hermione stopped him before he could do the same to hers with a gentle hand on his arm.

'I'm not sure about this, Fred,' she raised her eyebrows, trying her hardest to ignore the rush of heat that shot up her bloodstream at the innocent touch.

'Aw come on Hermione,' Fred whined. 'Just try it, just once. No one will know.'

'I've never been drunk before,' she said, not so much nervous for her first time being drunk as not trusting her drunk self around him.

'It's fun, I swear,' Fred said. He pulled his begging puppy face again. 'Just once, Hermione. Please? For me?'

She could never resist his begging puppy face. Could barely resist him.

'Oh alright,' Hermione said, rolling her eyes. 'If I jump off the Astronomy Tower tonight thinking it'd be fun to fly, it's on you.'

'Don't worry, I'll keep you safe,' Fred said, his smug smirk turning into somewhat of a sincere assuring smile. Not for the first time that night, Hermione debated pressing her lips to his. But if what Ron said was true - and it seemed to be, from her five dateless years at Hogwarts so far, devoid of even a glance from any males but her best friends – then Fred would have no need or feelings for her. Fred wasn't 'hopelessly desperate'.

She pulled her eyes away from his face, watching the alcoholic drink pour into her mug to keep herself from kissing him right then and there. If it wasn't for Ron's comment last week, she would have acted on her feelings for Fred this Christmas – hell, even today. But the fear of the imminent rejection had held her back the entire day.

When the eggnog had been produced, Fred lifted his mug, Hermione following.

'To a happy Christmas,' Fred said, his eyes exploring the depths of hers over the rim of his mug, 'full of joy.'

Hermione smiled back. 'Full of joy, full of love,' she said. I wish, she thought internally. Fred smiled a small, thoughtful smile, his gaze breaking from hers. He took a sip from his mug, and Hermione did the same.

She let out a moan at the deliciousness of the eggnog. She'd only had eggnog a few times before, at her grandparents' house the few Christmases they'd spent there, but from what she remembered, the Firewhiskey had made all the difference. The warmth from the eggnog slowly turned into the burn of the Firewhiskey in her throat. While mildly uncomfortable at first, it was a burn she kept going back for, the way one goes back for another spoonful of a hot spicy soup. The depth of flavour added by the Firewhiskey was only the cherry on top. Each sip only made her moan a little louder and lose herself a little more.

She opened her eyes to find Fred watching her intensely, his eyes smouldering. She blushed, realising how her moans must have sounded to him. She avoided his eyes as he quickly removed his gaze and sipped some more of his eggnog, his neck and ears red, his eyes noticeably darker than usual.

She can't let this get awkward. Today's been too good, too fun, too enjoyable, to let it end this way. She stood up, figuring she wasn't drunk enough to be incapable of walking just yet and grabbed his hand.

'Come on,' she said, smiling. 'Today's not done yet.'

To say she was relieved when he smiled back would be an understatement, because she felt so much more than relief.

They ran out of the kitchen into the quiet hallways of Hogwarts, deserted in the night-time close to curfew, drinking their eggnog along the way. Once they'd finished their drinks, they left their mugs by a cranky suit of armour ('Kids these days, no respect for the castle anymore,' he'd grumbled as they ran giggling away) for the house-elves to pick up, as they'd promised. (Hermione had been just a little too tipsy to care about the extra work for them when they made that promise.)

Now, though, Hermione was undeniably drunk, and she had to say she was enjoying it immensely. She could feel all the worries and grief and usual self-imposed rules leave her mind, so much so that she dragged Fred by the hand out to the snow-covered grounds, trivialities such as the cold biting through their insufficient clothes and any possible consequences dealt out by professors seeming little and insignificant. They ran through the grounds, laughing quietly, for reasons not really apparent to them, other than simply being with each other.

'Oh look, a fountain!' Hermione exclaimed quietly. It was indeed a fountain, in a little tucked-away courtyard on the less-visited side of the castle. 'And it isn't frozen!'

Fred laughed. 'That is strange isn't it?' he said. She was marvelling at the water in the fountain that was still flowing, defiant of the harsh winter, but all he could marvel at was her.

'We should jump in.'

Fred blinked. 'What?'

Hermione turned and flashed him a smile. 'We should jump in. Come on, it'll be fun.'

Fred laughed and shook his head. "Oh no, Hermione. You're drunk.' He made a move to grab her, hold her back, but she jumped back, teasingly avoiding his grasp. 'I won't be responsible for you contracting pneumonia near Christmas just because you were drunk and thought it would be fun.'

'Oh come on, Fred,' she grinned. Fred was now marvelling at the new Hermione, the fun, carefree, happy Hermione that alcohol revealed. 'It'll be fun. Just try, please.' She put on her puppy face. Fred sighed and looked up at the snowy sky, silently begging whatever deity was above to give him the strength to resist her puppy face. He glanced down and lost all resolve.

'Oh, alright,' he grinned. He laughed as Hermione let out a cheer, before running and jumping into the fountain, clothes and all. She laughed gleefully, apparently unaware of the cold that must be surrounding her. She was only wearing a jumper after all.

'Come on, Fred,' she whisper-yelled, beckoning with her hands. Fred walked up to the fountain, shaking his head but smiling, before peering into the fountain when he was right at the rim. The fountain was thankfully deep enough, he noticed as he belatedly realised that whether or not Hermione would have hit her head on the bottom of the fountain should have been a concern before he let her jump in. But now that he can see that she's okay, the problem didn't worry him. He grinned, turned, and let himself fall backwards into the fountain. Instantly, cold enveloped him like a blanket. He felt his hair and his clothes (including one of his mum's famous jumpers from last year) get drenched by piercing cold water, a thousand frozen pinpricks on his face at once. Despite that, he laughed, unable to keep the absurdity of the situation from his mind.

Hermione watched Fred laugh, before joining in, feeling her hair becoming heavy with cold water. They giggled for what felt like the most pleasant forever, before the laughter died down. She turned to look at Fred again, only to find him already looking at her. Not for the first time that night, she wondered whether it was worth the risk of rejection to kiss him. She really wanted to kiss him, if she could get over the fear of being pushed away. Then again, the way he had smiled at her all those times today…maybe he wouldn't push her away…Letting her gaze explore his face, his eyes, his lips…she wondered whether he would. But of course he would, you silly girl, she told herself, tearing her gaze away, pulling herself back to reality. Fred isn't desperate, remember? Fred smiling at you doesn't mean anything. Fred was just being a good friend.

She could feel the cold now. Before, drunkenness and adrenaline had kept the cold out, but now it seeped under her too-thin jumper, biting into her skin. She felt reality settle back in. She gave Fred a smile, hoping it wasn't as weak as it felt. 'We should get back in. Before one of us actually catches pneumonia.'

Fred smiled and agreed, but internally frowned at her change in attitude. One moment she was gazing at him tenderly, full of attraction, full of – dare he say it – love; the next she had torn her gaze from his, making him feel as if she had torn out a bit of his heart as well. And now their day was ending.

They walked quietly back into the castle, no quiet laughing now, only a soft heavy tension between them. They walked through the door they exited, Hermione waiting close by as Fred turned to pull it closed. But when they turned to continue walking, they found they couldn't. They exchanged a confused glance before Fred dared look up.

Mistletoe.

Hermione realised it as soon as he did. She blushed a deep crimson, glancing away, at the walls, at the paintings, anywhere but his face. Fred felt his heart sink.

'You…we don't have to do this,' he said softly.

She glared at the mistletoe, her lips moving softly as if cursing whoever had put the mistletoe up. 'There's no way out of this, though, is there?' she sighed. Of course fate had to punish her with a kiss from the person she wanted it from the most, a kiss that would be meaningless.

'No….' Fred cocked his head. He wanted this kiss, but if she didn't, then she didn't have to do it under the pretence of romance. 'It can be…a friendly kiss.'

Hermione stared up at him, her heart cracking. A friendly kiss, that was all he wanted…

'A friendly kiss,' she agreed, biting her lip.

The movement made his eyes fly instantly to her lips, making her draw in a breath, feeling her blood watched as his eyes flickered between her eyes and her lips, held her breath as he reached a hand up and cupped the side of her face.

Fred took one more glance at her eyes, and couldn't hold himself back anymore. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, hard at first, then easing up. He could feel her surprise, but when she feverishly kissed him back, he decided she didn't mind. They kissed for what felt like too long, but when he finally pulled away, it was too short. And in that moment, he decided he didn't care anymore. What was holding him back anyway?

'That wasn't a friendly kiss, Hermione,' he said, his voice husky. Hermione made to talk, but he shushed her before she could. 'I hope you know, I don't want to be friends. I've wanted to be with you since…since forever, and today only made me want that even more. I..I really meant what I said earlier today; I'd really like to be yours, if you'll have me.'

Hermione, shocked and surprised, decided she could deal with those feelings later. For now, Fred wanted her, and she wanted him, and that's all that mattered.

'You're mine,' she whispered, before delving back in for another perfect Christmas kiss, filled with joy, filled with love.

The End