He had the most peculiar sensation of having the ground yanked out from under his feet, so abrupt was Fred's descent back into reality. It was amazing how quickly one look at the expression on Hermione's face could snap him out of that dreamy haze. Red in the face, and quite painfully mortified as he realized exactly what this little fling had rapidly been leading up to, he pulled away from the brown-haired girl, taking half a pace back. He became acutely self-conscious of how haggard his breathing was, how hot his face was, how rumpled he looked. He blinked at her. And then he stared.

Why was she looking at him like that?
Why had she stopped?
Had he done something wrong?
Had he been too... enthusiastic?
Had he not been enthusiastic enough?
Did he have something on his face?
On his shirt?
Damn it all, it was cold!

He shivvered suddenly, and crossed his arms, hugging his robe close to him as he became aware of how bloody cold it was. Flustered, confused, and downright embarrassed, the red-haired boy cast a quick look about him. It was almost as if he were searching the sparkling snow and the imposing figure of the dark castle for inspiration to break the uncomfortable feeling growing in the pit of his stomach, with some sort of witty comment, maybe. Unfortunately, no such witty comment came to mind, and he was forced to turn his eyes back to Hermione.

"Hermione?" he replied, arching an eyebrow at her. He was tempted to ask her one of the dozen questions that had just attacked him, but he settled for: "Er... It's... ah cold, isn't it? Let's head back to the castle, shall we?"

There was a pause as Hermione's turn to feel embarassed washed over her.
She looked at him worriedly, imagining all kinds of things he might have been thinking, many of which were similar to Fred's thoughts of /her/.

Why was he looking at her like that?
What had happened?
Why was he looking guilty for some reason?
Had she done something wrong in the kiss she'd given him?

Hermione quickly racked her brains for what had happened in her memory.
They had been walking through the snow... Fred brought up the fact that Gryffindor won... they flirted around the tree, then he waited for her kiss, and she gave him that brush-kiss, he wasn't happy with it and asked her for a better one... and that was the last thing she remembered!

Hermione didn't know what to expect. She had no idea what had just happened, and realized that she was probably looking stupid.
After all, for the past few minutes she had been just standing there with her unfocused eyes staring past Fred as she thought. And he had waited.
She abruptly snapped out of her reverie, knowing it was time to move instead of ponder for who knew how long.
She tried to speak a couple times, but it was so cold and she was so confused, all that came out was a couple of stutters.
Her sparkly brown eyes searched his face, and narrowed.
Yes, he certainly looked guilty. But what about?
She decided it was time to ask. The curiosity had gotten the better of her, no matter how embarassing it would look to ask.
"Fred... what happened?" She asked finally, trying to keep her voice steady and confused.

"What happened?" repeated the redhead, arching a brow. "What are you talking about? You mean to tell me you don't remember?"

Fred tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, but his insides were still squirming uncomfortably. He… did not like this game, or whatever it was - not one bit. He met Hermione's narrowed gaze reluctantly, and gave her a prying look of his own, trying to read the brunette. What was she asking… exactly? Did she mean "what happened?" in the literal sense? He certainly hoped not! If she honestly and truly did not know what happened… that was unsettling and weird, to say the very least! He did not want to think about the implications of this, so banished it quickly out of his mind. This seemed highly unlikely. Or, was she asking for explanation? If so, what did she want him to explain? Why he acted the way he did, or why she acted the way -she- did?
Neh. Females. They were so complicated! He blink once, or twice, before he finally came up with what he thought a suitable reply.

"Nothing happened, Hermione," he said, flatly.

Lying through his teeth. …It was only a white lie, though. Nothing really did happen. They kissed, and got a bit carried away, sure… but nothing actually happened. Besides… if she really didn't remember… wouldn't it be better to lie to her now, and save her from being… utterly mortified.
Neh. He simply hated this situation, and wanted it behind him as quickly as he could. The Weasley gave a theatrical sort of shiver, and then shot the girl one of his best "nothing-is-wrong-gotta-love-me" smiles, quickly smoothing over all traces of his discomfiture.

"Are you happy, now?" he queried, his voice losing the monotone, and falling into its normal cheerful cadence. "Can we go inside, before all that's left of us is a few icicles for Filch to find?"

"I thought so," Hermione replied, nodding but still looking a little skeptical. She tried to reassure herself. Nothing was wrong here. She trusted Fred…
"Y-yes, let's go inside…"
She looked at him. Past the cute loveable face of his, she could see worry. He was uncomfortable. That was apparent.
But why would he be?
Was it really because he was cold? No… he had proven that he could enjoy himself in the cold before.
Had she done something wrong?
Was he –

Oh no.

Was he really upset that she hadn't given him a decent kiss? Maybe he was…
Hermione was nervous now. He was trying to hide the fact that he was angry with her for not giving him what he wanted. Even if she didn't feel comfortable with it.
What should she do now? Should she give him a better kiss? Tell him to get over it?
She wanted so badly not to displease Fred… not to anger him… but how to do that without going past her boundaries!
All this mess and confusion…
It was a pity it was over the wrong issue.

Being the smart one, Hermione decided to approach the issue. But not with words.
In one movement, thinking it would be easier to plunge right through the ice, Hermione stood up straighter, leaned in, grabbed the front of his robes to pull him closer, and pressed her lips against his…
Only this time she didn't use her lips alone.