A/N: Okay, okay, so I've taken AGES to update…it's true. It took getting my wisdom teeth out to give me enough time to finish this fatty chapter, though. And it's EXCITING, something that hasn't happened in a while, so I hope you'll forgive me ;) Anyway, here it is!

/Open your eyes, kid…

She's crazy over you./

-- 3

Before I knew it, I was standing outside Hogsmeade with Fred. Amazingly enough, although it was 10:30 at night, most of the shops were still open. Sweet. Who knew a place like Gladrags Wizard Wear would be open at this time of night? Maybe in case some unfortunate soul suddenly set his pyjamas on fire and needed a new pair…hmm…Anyway, it was snowing, the little cottages were lit, and the whole thing would have been endearingly peaceful if it wasn't for the fact that my heart was racing about a million miles an hour because a certain redhead was grinning down and me and holding out this hand for me to take it.

"Where are we going?" I asked, a little suspiciously. The last time he'd done this, it was my 16th birthday and he'd dragged me to a troll wrestling show. Not as painful as the House Elf ballet experience, but still fairly distasteful. Then again, that was probably why he'd taken me there…one never knows.

"Well," Fred said slowly, as though he were addressing a two year old instead of the very mature and comprehending me, "I was planning on getting you changed out of those clothes first."

"What's wrong with my clothes!" I demanded indignantly, stamping my foot for good measure. Oddly, I noticed my feet were suddenly cold and wet. Fred stared at me, and I looked down. I was in the middle of Hogsmeade standing in my little yellow duck pyjamas and slippers.

"Right," I said, as dignified as possible, "Point taken."

He just laughed and grabbed my hand. "Come on then, Bell!" he shouted and took off running.

"Honestly!" I cried, in between puffs of breath and laughter, "Do you ever walk! Anywhere!"

"Nope!" he yelled, dragging me alongside.

I let out a happy burst of laughter and tried to keep up. I was glad he was running…the mood I was in, I'd die if he did anything else. I was just sad for poor Gladrags. They didn't know what they were in for.

"Hellooo!" Fred called to the old, plump, and tired looking witch at the counter.

"Oh, not you again," she moaned.

"Don't worry, Gladys," Fred said cheerfully. "That was my twin who set fire to the decorative sock collection. And he's sorry, it was accident. He swears, honest."

"There's two of you?" the woman moaned, looking even more distressed.

Fred nodded sadly, while he leaned over and whispered in my ear, "It was me…but it was an accident."

"Oh, I have no doubts…"I said, raising my eyebrow just to piss him off. He glared at me, while the woman paused for a second and muttered to herself "If it was his twin…how did he know my name?"

I guess Fred heard her too, because he quickly steered me to the back of the store.

"Okay," he said, going through the aisles of clothing, "What do we have that will be big enough to fit Katie…"

I punched him in the arm. He shoved me back, and then took off.

"Okay, here's this, this, and…this."

He shoved a pair of tattered and patched jeans, a sparkly purple top that had my favorite quidditch team (Pride of Portee!) printed across the front, and a pair of matching high tops. Everything was in my size.

"Merlin, you're good," I said, amazed.

He did a little bow with lots of hand twirling, and then took me by the shoulders again and shoved me toward the dressing rooms.

"Come on, come on, we can't spend all in night in here," he said impatiently. "Go get dressed—" and he practically threw me at a curtain covered dressing room. I flew sideways into the curtain and then into an old wizard that was in his underdrawers.

"Oh dear!" he cried as we both toppled out of the dressing room. Horrified, I leapt up to my feet as Fred howled with laughter. I had no idea what to do, so I fled into the next closest enclosure. I couldn't help but laugh, though, when I heard the poor old men swear at Fred about disrespect and propriety. And it's difficult to dress when your would-be-boyfriend is getting cursed out by a man that's about eighty years old with pink wighty-tights.

I emerged and watched as Fred cowered under the little man's pointed finger. The woman that was behind the counter was running over.

"What on earth happened here?" she demanded, surveying the scene. "Sylvester! What are you doing in your underdrawers?"

"Well, Gladys! I shall tell you!" he squeaked. "I was simply trying on these new robes when this young man shoved this young lady into my dressing room! See if I ever shop here again!"

And he grabbed his things and stomped out into the snow in his underdrawers. Fred and I cracked up.

"You!" she yelled, swelling up like a bullfrog and pointing her fat finger at Fred. "You! Just cost me my best customer!" And she grabbed a broom and started chasing him with it.

"No!" I cried, trying to rush to the rescue, "it was an accident, I fell!" And I tried to grab the broom from her, but somehow managed to whack her in the head with it. She toppled over and knocked over a display of neckties. As the colorful articles fell around her, she leapt up and got very red in the face.

"OUT!" she screeched. "Out! You both have a lifetime ban from Gladrags, OUT!"

We didn't need telling twice. We ran out of the store, hysterical with laughter.

"Nice going!" Fred called, doubling over.

"Me!" I demanded, tossing some snow at him. "You were the one who—"

But neither of us could finish, we were laughing too hard. He caught me around the waist and we both fell over into the snow bank. He shoved snow into my face, and I tried to tackle him but we ended up rolling down a hill. We both fell, laughing and exhausted.

"You okay?" he asked, finally.

"Okay. Except I'm a little cold…you didn't grab me a jacket."

He frowned and removed his own. "Sorry," he said, offering it to me.

I hesitated. I'd worn Fred's jacket hundreds of times but tonight was different…tonight I liked him.

"Come on, you'll look great," he said casually.

I just nodded and put it on. It was huge, but it smelled good. He laughed at me. "You look hott."

"Yeah," I replied, "Like an elephant in the summertime."

"No," he said. "Don't be silly. It's winter. Let's go."

After that, we headed off to The Three Broomsticks and had a butterbeer to warm up, which Fred successfully managed to spill down his front and then at me, in retaliation for laughing, and we both got kicked out again.

"We're not having that great of luck tonight, kid," I said, looking up at him.

He nodded. "Then we'll have to go someplace else," he said, offering me his hand again.

"Where?"

He laughed. "Do you always have to know where?"

I thought about it. "Yes," I said.

"Sorry, then, kid. Tonight is not your night." And he picked me up and threw me over his shoulders. I squeaked, and begged him to let me down, but he just started walking, and I gave up, laughing all the way to wherever we were going. The moon shone brightly off the snow, and I positioned myself to the point where he would be giving me a piggy back ride. I wrapped my arms around his neck and breathed in the scent of his hair. It was good. And I was happy.

"Here," Fred said, finally, letting me down.

"What is it?" I asked, staring out at the frozen pond that was located at the edge of town.

"Well, you'll need these," he said, offering me a pair of iceskates that seemed to have come from nowhere.

"What—no. Fred, no. I can't iceskate. I'm uncoordinated enough on the ground as it is."

He laughed. "C'mon, it's easy, I'll teach you." He was already lacing up his own. Since when does a Weasley twin know how to do something like iceskating anyway?

"I learned as a kid in the country," he explained, apparently reading my look.

"Ahh," I said, unamused. "Well I grew up in London, and we don't have little cute frozen ponds in our backyards."

I crossed my arms and stood firm. He stared at me. "Am I going to have to put those on for you?" he asked.

I didn't say anything. He sighed and waved his wand. The iceskates were on my feet. And I fell over.

"See?" I cried. "This is no good."

"Kate," he laughed, helping me up, "You're not even on the ice yet."

"Exactly!"

"Come on."

That seemed to be the phrase of the night. Whoopdee. He carefully guided me onto the pond. I slipped but he caught me & helped me up.

"Now go," he said, placing on hand on my shoulder and one on my waist.

"I can't learn when you're touching me," I said irritably.

"Fine, do it how you want," he replied, releasing me. He said it in that tone like he knew what he was talking about and I was going to fall flat on my arse. Which, needless to say, I did in about two seconds.

"I told you," Fred said, looking down at me.

"Fine," I said moodily, letting him help me up. "We'll do it your way."

"Okay," he said happily. "Let me take your hand."

"What?"

"Your hand. I need it."

"You didn't need it before."

"I changed my mind."

Who was I to oppose letting Fred Weasley hold my hand? I gave it to him.

We started out slow at first, and I fell a couple more times, but after a while I started to get the hang of it.

"See?" he said happily, letting go of my hand and skating out in front of me. "It's easy." He did a couple of spins and then bowed for my applause while I skated along, probably looking like a penguin.

"You look gay," I told him.

He nodded. "You're probably right. Maybe I should hold your hand again."

I laughed, but I let him. He drug me along, trying to get me to go faster. I screeched as we sped.

"Now I'm gonna let you go, and you do this on your own," he said calmly.

"What! No," I said, gripping his hand even harder.

"Only we have to get a little faster."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"NO!" He let me go. I screamed and closed my eyes, and before I knew it I had hurtled straight into Fred and we both were down again on the snowbank. I laughed uncontrollably. "I told you!" I yelled up at the stars.

"You weren't supposed to close your eyes!" he said, messing up my hair.

"I was scared! That's what people do when they're scared!" I giggled, tackling him. We wrestled a bit more, until eventually he had forced himself on top of me. I looked at him. He looked at me, slowly bringing his hand up to brush away the stray bangs that had fallen across my forehead. His lips were very close…and it got quiet. He leaned in a little closer and I started to close my eyes, when he suddenly backed away.

"Katie, we can't do this."

"Why not?" I asked softly. I could feel my heart plummeting under the seven layers of snow that were under me.

"We just can't," he said, standing up. "I can't, you can't. We can't."

"Why, though?"

"You told me remember? This isn't what you want. You want to be friends."

"I—"

"Friends is what you want, isn't it, Katie?"

"I—" But I couldn't answer. I wondered if this was how Fred had felt when I had demanded to know what was wrong with Cedric that night we were in the common room after everyone had gone to bed. But just like I hadn't given him time to answer, neither did he.

"That's what I thought," he said, a little sadly. "I gotta go."

And instead of rushing across the ice and declaring my true feelings like any other girl would have done, I sat in the snowbank and watched him go. And then I bawled my eyes out.

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Sorry for the ending…more to come soon! I just love cliffs 