"Fred, ow, that was my foot." I hissed agitatedly. Fred and George always did have ridiculously large feet, and they always seemed to step on mine whenever we snuck about in the castle.

"Sorry dear, but maybe I wouldn't have to step on your feet if you would just stay out of the way. This passageway is small, you know." Fred spoke quietly as we stumbled down one of the dark passageways hidden throughout Hogwarts. This one was small and led to several key places in the castle, one of the places being just outside the Great Hall.

"Fred Weasley, did you just call me fat?" I stopped in my tracks and spun around to face my best friend in the dark. He bumped into me clumsily, and I pulled my foot out of the way before he could bruise it any further. We both stumbled into the stone wall, and I could feel Fred's breath on me as he spoke.

"'Course not Katesy, it's just that this little passageway is a tad cramped, that's all." I felt weird being this close to Fred in such a small dark room, but it felt almost... Nice.

I looked up at him, making out his face in what little bit of light there was. "Mhmm... And that has nothing to do with my weight?" I was still a little peeved that one of my closest friends would insinuate that I was too large to be in here. Honestly, did he have any idea what that did to my self esteem?

I felt Fred's breath as he sighed. Neither of us had made any motion to move yet, and secretly I was thankful for that. I didn't know why, but I kind of liked being this close to Fred.

"Katesy, Katesy, Katesy... How many times must I tell you that you're not fat? I think you're perfect, just the way you are." My heart skipped a beat, and Fred straightened up. I could have sworn I saw him wink at me in the dark before he took my hand in his and dragged me along the remainder of the dark passageway. My head spun with thoughts of me and Fred being that close, and how my hand fit in his, or what he meant by what he said a little earlier. By the time Fred and I stumbled into the Great Hall, I remembered why we were there in the first place.

Still holding my hand, Fred led me into the Great Hall. I quickly spotted George and Lee talking, and a little ways down the table Angelina and Alicia were talking quietly. We passed by some younger students when George and Lee looked up. Lee grinned and took another bit of some chocolate covered dessert. George had looked up at the two of us and his eyes fell on our entwined hands. I quickly released Fred's hand from mine, feeling my face flush with embarrassment. George grinned and winked at Fred who just shrugged it off and immediately sat down between George and his younger brother Ron. I smiled and greeted Ron, Harry and Hermione, and quickly sat down on the opposite side of George.

Fred and Ron were soon talking, with George throwing in the occasional comment here and there, but I was too preoccupied with my thoughts to listen to what they were saying.

"You alright there, Katie?" Lee's unmistakable voice broke me from my thoughts, and he took another large bite of his dessert.

I smiled and took George's pumpkin juice filled cup. He looked over at me and winked, and I stuck my tongue out at him before taking a large swig of the sweet juice. "I'm alright, Lee, thanks."

Lee simply shrugged and went back to eating. George had turned to me then, clearly bored with whatever his two brothers were talking about.

"So, Katie dear, what have you and my brother been up to?"

I felt my face become hotter, and took another sip of his pumpkin juice. "Ah, um, nothing. He actually brought me down here so I could talk to you."

George's face fell a little at the start of my news, but became confused by the time I had finished. "What'd you have to talk to me about?" He lowered his voice before speaking again. "He's not being a prat, is he? Someone been bothering you?"

I laughed, and shook my head. "No, no, none of that." I glanced over George's shoulder at Fred, and he gave me a weak smile. I smiled back before turning to George. "Actually, could we go for a walk?"

"Yeah, sure thing." I smiled, and the two of us got up from the table. Despite dinner being nearly over, hardly any students or teachers had left yet. As we walked out of the Great Hall, I glanced back at Fred, who gave a small nod at my retreating form. I gave a small wave, but I wasn't sure whether or not he saw it, seeing as George and I were rounding the corner out of the Great Hall.

We walked in silence for a while, neither of us knowing how to start up the conversation. Turning down one of the main halls that opened up to the courtyard, I shivered, seeing as I only had my skirt and long sleeve uniform top on. I had forgotten how cold the December air was, and didn't grab my scarf.

George laughed when he saw me shiver, and slung his long arm around my shoulders. "So, Katesy, a little cold, are we?"

I smiled up at him, and he gave me a goofy grin back in return. "Yeah, Fred dragged me down here so fast I forgot to grab a sweater or anything."

He laughed some more at this, and rolled his eyes for good measure. "Well, Fred never was the one to think things through very much."

"No, he never does. Like, remember that one time we were all in potions, and he decided to set off a string of firecrackers in front of Snape?"

George cracked up remembering this, and we both stopped walking and doubled over laughing. "Yeah, and he had to stay after class and was used as the tester for the potions that went bad in class, right?"

I nodded, gasping for breath from laughing so hard. "He did! And when he came back up to the common room that night we had to fix his hair and clean up after he got sick."

This sent George and I into another round of laughter. We both settled down after some time, and leaned against the half wall that separated the courtyard from the halls. It had begun to snow a little out, and the courtyard looked very pretty, undisturbed by the students at this time of night. The two of us stood there for a while in a comfortable silence, neither of us wanting to break it.

The snow had got me thinking back to my first Christmas at Hogwarts. I was a first year, and Fred and George were both in their second year. I was cutting through the snow filled courtyard, trying to cut my walk time back to the common room down when a snowball hit the back of my head. I had soon realized it was the Weasley twins, and this sent the three of us into a full out snowball fight. We were throwing snow back and forth with our wands until we were all too cold to continue, and headed back to the common room together. We had been best friends ever since.

George's voice brought me back from my memory.

"What was that, George?"

The freckled boy just rolled his eyes and scooped a little snow off of the ledge, and threw it at me. I scrunched up my face and laughed, and threw some back at him. He stuck out his tongue and shook his shaggy red hair out, snow splattering everywhere.

"I said, why'd you bring me out here, Kates? Any special reason, or couldn't you just wait to get me alone?" George winked and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. I laughed at this, and shoved him playfully.

"Can't I just spend some time with one of my best mates? Is that a crime these days?"

"Actually, it is." George smiled cheekily, and I rolled my eyes again.

"Oh, it is, is it? Then what's my punishment?" This made George go into what looked like a deep thought process, and he sat there contemplating it for several moments before speaking.

"Well, how about you tell me who you're going to the ball with?"

My face flushed, and I suddenly remembered that I had to ask him to the ball. "And if I don't?"

George didn't miss a beat before answering. "Well, supposing you didn't tell me, then Freddie and I would just have to make your life a living hell the next few weeks until the ball."

I sighed heavily and looked up at him. "Well, I was actually going to ask you, George."