Ice

"I can't believe you've never tried this before," Fred said, gliding over to help her up.

Her feet wobbled on the thin blades of the skates. Reaching out for his hand, Hermione slowly stumbled across the ice.

"Well, for one thing, there wasn't any place to go," she replied. "You're the one with a pond near your house. I'm stuck in a Muggle suburb with houses all jammed side-by-side. There isn't enough room for a well, let alone an entire pond."

"I guess," he answered, "but I'm sure you could have practiced on the grass. It's better than it looks, I assure you," Fred finished with a mischievous grin.

"I'm sure you would know."

"Hey, you're the one who's always saying 'Don't judge a book by its cover,' Hermione. In all the books you've read, you obviously haven't learned to practice what you preach." Fred smirked, skating circles around her.

A laugh escaped her lips as Hermione struggled along the ice. "That sure is something coming from you."

"Oh yeah?" Fred questioned.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Hermione responded, turning around to face the Forbidden Forest.

All of a sudden she felt a firm pressure against her back. Thrown off balance, Hermione's arms flailed wildly in the air and her feet flew out from underneath her. With a thud, her backside landed heavily on the ice.

"Fred Weasley, I am going to kill you!" Hermione pushed up off of the ice in an effort to stand when her skates slipped out, and she collided once again with the lake. She let out a disgruntled cry, and laughter rang out behind her.

"And another spectacular performance from the lovely Hermione Granger. A ten out of ten, if I do say so myself," Fred called out. Quickly she scrambled to her feet and spun around, only to find Fred standing out in the middle of the lake.

"You get back here, Fred! That was not, in any way, the slightest bit funny!" she screamed.

"Maybe not for you," came the retort, "but I, on the other hand--"

Crack

They both froze. Fred stood far out in the lake; fine cracks reached out in all directions forming an intricate web five meters around.

"Fred?" she asked weakly.

Before he could reply, another sickening crack echoed throughout the grounds and Fred vanished beneath the surface.

"Fred!" Hermione cried. Her hand plunged into her pocket and groped madly around. My wand, where is my wand? she thought, and began to rummage through her robe. It was then realized her wand was, in fact, lying peacefully on the same nightstand that she had left it on this morning. Hermione began to skate out to him when her brain started working again. The ice will crack again - disperse the weight, her mind said, and hastily she laid flat on the ice. Hermione crawled over to the hole, praying the ice would hold. It did, and her head peered over into the lake.

"Fred!" She tried again. Her reflection danced along the surface of the murky water. Think, Hermione, think, she told herself, but she could only find one solution.

Taking a deep breath, she dove into the water.

Bloody hell.

Cold surged throughout her body. Her very brain felt waterlogged as she tried to discern anything in the darkness. She felt her clothes dragging down to the bottom of the lake and she could think of nothing but her frozen limbs. Hermione tried to swim when suddenly her foot hit something hard.

Fred.

Hermione threw her arm down and finally grabbed hold of a hand.

She kicked her legs madly about and propelled upwards. Her lungs were bursting inside of her ribcage, her mind fogging up from the lack of oxygen. Suddenly, she felt her head bash against something hard. Ice, Hermione realized with rising terror. Trying not to panic, she slammed her fist against the frozen surface. Nothing happened.

Oh, God, we're trapped. She swam madly about before noticing a faint light out of the corner of her eye. Hermione pushed herself forward, hoping against hope it was an opening.

Just a little more.... The light was barely a meter away, now. Come on....

Her head breached the surface and she gasped for air. She heaved Fred up onto the ice and quickly followed suit.

Hermione glanced down at Fred and her heart froze.

He's not moving, she realized with panic.

"No, Fred, please! You can't do this!" Hermione thrust her hand down against his stomach.

"You -- can -- do -- it -- just -- breathe!" She pleaded in between thrusts. Finally, he coughed out water, breathing again.

"Oh, Fred," Hermione squealed, throwing her arms around his neck.

"You saved my life," he breathed as she pulled away -- and then it happened.

She looked into his eyes and saw something she had never noticed before. Hermione couldn't quite put her finger on it. She stared at him, her eyes boring into his, looking for some clue as to what it was. Something was there, behind his gaze, and she wasn't sure what to think.

But when he kissed her full on the lips, a tingle ran from her hair to her toenails, and she knew she liked it.

It was that moment she knew who had been following her to the library and hiding among the bookshelves. That moment she realized why he had been acting so flustered around her recently. And that moment she knew what it was lurking behind his eyes.

It was love.