Hermione wanted to scream, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea, considering that she was in the shower and it would echo very loudly. She'd kissed Fred Weasley. Fred. Freaking. Weasley. She scrubbed the shampoo into her hair harder, wishing that it would rub out the memory of his sticky-sweet lips against hers.

She hadn't even intended to kiss him again! Or enjoy it at all! It was just to catch him off guard so that he would tell her the truth, but then he had to go and-

Fred stuttered, blushing brightly. "I…I wanted to know if you'd written about me," he mumbled, holding onto her so tight that Hermione thought she was going to faint from the sudden pleasant rush in her head. "I wanted to see if you…liked me back."

Hermione sighed dreamily. Oh, the way he'd looked so bashful…it made him completely, utterly, adorably irresistible. And she didn't even say anything! She'd just said "oh" like the idiot she was! But that was the thing- she didn't even know what she would have said. Would she have told him that she wasn't interested? She just kissed him for information?

But now that she did kiss him…she was definitely more than interested. Especially when he backed her up against a wall. She could practically feel his body against hers, still, the way his hands gripped her in a manner that made her clutch him back. It made her want to melt into a puddle on the shower floor.

And of course, just when it had been so perfect, she'd messed it up by mentioning the stupid diary again. She hadn't even written anything in there since third year! It was completely useless, which Ronald, of course, knew. He probably just wanted to watch Fred do something stupid.

Oh, but the look of joy in Fred's eyes when he said-

"I got my answer, though."

Ugh, she could still hear it in his voice, that husky whisper that made her knees weak. The way he said it, he had just sounded so sure that she liked him back. She hadn't even thought about Fred Weasley that way before this day! And what had she done? She ran away! Hermione Granger ran away after she had just been snogged senseless! How ridiculous she must have looked-

But that was the thing, wasn't it? She ran away, and while she may have felt and looked ridiculous, how did it make Fred feel? If he really was honest, and he really did like her, then that meant-

Oh, Merlin.

Hermione felt awful. Not only had she kissed him only for her own purposes, but she lead him on and then left him there all by himself! She wanted to hit her head against the tiled walls. This was why she never did things like this! This was why she had never pulled a prank before! It wasn't because of a lack of nerve, but because whenever she acted on impulse, things seemed to go wrong.

Suddenly, what she needed to do hit her.

She had to do it. She had to go find Fred and apologize. As Hermione rushed out of the shower, she weighed her options. He would be back up in his room by now, right? And George should still be busy, so he wouldn't be there. Okay, she would just go and apologize and turn right back around and leave.

Hermione threw her hair up into a hasty bun, chucked on her clothes, and ran out of the girl's bathroom. She made her way toward the boy's staircase, only to run straight into Ron.

"Blimey, Hermione! Is it run into Ron day? Fred nearly toppled me over just now!" the younger redhead complained, wiping the dust off his jumper.

Hermione's heart skipped a beat at the twin's name. "Really?" she said, trying to act natural. "Why'd he do that?"

Ron snorted. "Beats me. All I know was he looked a mess. Was frownin' a lot, too- hey wait, where are you going, 'Mione?" Ron shouted after her as she ran past him up the stairs.

Oh no, oh no, this was bad, this was very, very bad. Only something horrible could make Fred frown, something horrible like being turned down by the girl he- apparently, how was she supposed to know?- liked. How long had he even liked her, Hermione wondered. Why hadn't he shown any sign of it? Maybe she just wasn't good at picking up on these things and he had been super obvious about it. No, but he hadn't been around any more often than usual-

Hermione froze, her flood of thoughts coming to a halt. She stood in front of Fred's door, out of breath and trembling. This was a stupid idea! He wouldn't want to see her, let alone hear her useless apologies! She should just turn around-

No! Hermione decided. She was going to do it. Just walk in, apologize, and walk back out. The witch took in a deep breath. Walk in, apologize, walk out. She could do it. In fact, Hermione was so sure that she could do it that she practically marched into the room. The second she walked in, though, she stopped.

While the other two beds were empty, the third had its hangings shut. Hermione hesitated. He was probably upset, right? She looked down and saw a trail of sticky, flour-and-glitter-covered robes lying on the ground, along with a small towel that was also covered in honey. The trail ended right before what she assumed was Fred's bed. Hermione held her breath. She should leave, she should-

"George? Is that you?" Fred croaked.

Hermione jumped. She could hear him moving to get up. She should leave, run out right now before he saw her- But it was too late. Fred, dressed in non-sticky, non-glittery clothes, pulled the covers back and stared at her with wide eyes.

"…Hermione? What're you doing here?" he asked softly, not breaking eye contact.

She gulped, suddenly finding her throat to be quite dry. "I came to…apologize, for, um…" she trailed off. She cleared her throat apprehensively. "For the prank and for- what happened," she finished awkwardly.

Silence followed. Hermione grew uncomfortable with each passing second. Fred would not stop staring at her.

"Is that it?" Fred asked hoarsely. "Are you done?" She hesitated, but nodded. A weary look passed over his face. "Alright," he mumbled, finally looking away.

Just as he started to get back in bed and shut the hangings, Hermione's patience burst. "Wait!" she called. "No, that's not it," she said quickly, blushing when Fred looked back at her.

Hermione took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry for playing with your emotions like that just to get what I wanted and I'm sorry for running out and not recognizing your feelings for me-" she rambled. Her eyes grew wide as Fred began walking toward her. "-and I didn't even know, but when you kissed me all of the sudden-" He was a meter away, now. "-I realized that maybe I did like you, but-"

She was cut off by a familiar pair of lips on her own. They were no longer soaked in honey, but the lingering sweetness sent shivers through her body. Fred held her close, tangling one hand in her hair as his lips moved against hers desperately. Hermione found herself kissing him back, once more lost in a dizzying rush of pleasure that sent any of the common sense she had left far, far away.

"-and I think now I realize that I like you, too," she finished when their lips parted.

Fred laughed, a light filling up his beautiful blue eyes. "You just had to finish your sentence, didn't you?" he teased, stroking her cheek lightly with his thumb.

Hermione's heart fluttered and her breath caught. "Y-Yes," she stuttered, her eyes clouded over from the intense feelings she'd just experienced. She leaned up onto her toes and pressed another kiss to Fred's lips, as if to make sure that he was actually there.

"Mmmm," he hummed, breaking off the kiss. "You still taste like honey," he whispered with a grin.

Hermione, finally satisfied that this was reality, giggled. "My apologies, but I do believe that is partly your fault," she tossed back flirtatiously.

Fred raised an eyebrow at her. "How is it my fault? You're the one who pranked me-"

"And you're the one that was looking through my things in my room," she shot back quickly.

He scrunched up his nose and nodded. "True, but I had good reasons," he said with a dazzling smile. He pecked her lips once more, making Hermione roll her eyes.

"Next time, you could just ask me on a date, you know," she told him as she bit back a grin.

Fred just laughed. "Where's the fun in that? Now I know how good honey tastes on your lips," he said with a wink.