There were several reasons why Hermione Granger did not like winter. First off, it was cold. Being a smaller girl, she got cold quite easily, so winter did not agree with her. Secondly, it rained a lot. Even though she was living at Hogwarts right now, and it snowed far more then it did in London, she still did not like the fact that in the winter it rained far more then it should. Thirdly, rain plus freezing temperatures equaled ice, and Hermione certainly did not get along with ice. Her last encounter with ice involved some very slippery steps and was quite embarrassing. No, she definitely did not like ice. In the winter, everything outside died and became barren. Hermione was a fan of warmth and life, not of darkness and death. Lastly, and probably the thing Hermione hated most about winter, was the fact that she could never, ever find matching mittens. True, she had several pairs, but whenever she went to find a pair, she could never find a complete pair. Most of the time she resorted to wearing mismatched mittens.
She was wearing said mismatched mittens on a winter day in the library when she was approached by a certain Hufflepuff prefect.
"Excuse me, but you do know that your mittens don't match, right?" He said, holding back a laugh. Hermione glared up at him, annoyed at not only the question, but the fact that he had the audacity to laugh at her.
"Yes, I am well aware of the fact." She said, turning back to the book she was reading. To add to her frustration, it was quite difficult to turn a page while wearing mittens.
"May I ask why?"
Looking up at him, Hermione frowned. "Well, I suppose you just did."
"Are you going to answer me?"
"No."
"Well why not?" He asked. Tired of standing, he moved to sit in the seat next to her.
"It just so happens that it is none of your business as to why I am wearing mismatched mittens. For all you know, maybe I like mismatched mittens."
"Oh, I very much doubt that."
"And how would you know?" She asked, attempting to raise an eyebrow at him. That had never been one of her talents, and she felt her cheeks turn red when he let out a quite laugh. She imagined she looked quite silly. And nothing bothered her more then when she couldn't do something correctly.
"Because you're Harry Potters perfect friend. The one who spends far more time on homework then a person should, who always has the answer to every question ever asked, and who is always so well put together that one has to wonder how she does it." He said in a matter of fact tone of voice. She simply stared at him, at a loss for words.
"So will you tell me why your mittens are mismatched?"
"No." She said again, turning back to her book. She had had quite enough of this distraction, no matter how attractive it was.
"Okay, well, then why aren't you outside with Potter and Weasley. It's unusual to see you three apart."
"I hate winter." She said, trying to ignore him but failing miserably.
"Why do you hate winter? It's such a beautiful season."
"It's cold."
"Is that your only reason?" He asked. He knew he was annoying her, and that made it all the more entertaining to him.
"I hate the rain."
"But it's not raining, it's snowing. You can't dislike snow."
"I suppose snow isn't too bad."
"What else do you hate about winter?" He was hoping he'd eventually get an answer as to why she was wearing mismatched mittens.
"Ice. I don't get along well with ice."
"Is that all? Are you ever going to tell me why you're wearing mismatched mittens?"
"No. I'm not." She said with a smile. It pleased her, knowing that he wanted to know so badly.
"Well, you know, winter has some good qualities too." He said, trying to defend his second favorite season.
"Oh yeah, name them."
"Well, as I've already mentioned, there's snow. It's really quite beautiful. And Christmas. Who doesn't love Christmas?" He said with a smile. Christmas really was his favorite holiday. He looked at her, only to find an amused smile on her face. She really did look quite adorable when she smiled like that.
"Not quite enough to outweigh its bad qualities."
"Well, there's also hot chocolate, which is quite possibly one of the best beverages known to mankind, and it's always nice to nestle beside a warm fire and read a good book."
"You might have a point about the fire, but that is about it. Winter is still the worst season out of the four, and nothing is going to make me change my mind." She said stubbornly.
That stubborn look on her face was about all Cedric could handle, and before he could stop himself, he leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her lips.
Hermione gasped in surprise when she felt his lips on hers, but her mind then proceeded to go blank and she seemed to have no control over her thoughts, or her body for that matter.
The light kiss turned a little deeper; until something in Hermione's mind told her that it might be an excellent idea to breathe.
She leaned back in her chair, breaking the kiss, and stared at him. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but she couldn't form any coherent words.
Seizing the opportunity, Cedric smiled, and grabbed one of her mitten clad hands.
"So, are you ever going to tell me why you're wearing mismatched mittens?"