The second time was infinitely better than the first, Ambrose knew. They were less nervous for one, and Ambrose half knew what to expect - and that wasn't a bloody nose from Freddie thankfully.

"Do you think we're doing it right?" Freddie asked as they parted, she took half a step back and pulled on the end of her brown hair as she did when she was unsure. Ambrose wasn't sure where to look, and eventually reached a slightly grubby hand up to scratch the back of his head.
"I think so," He told Winifred, thinking of how his parents would kiss before dinner when he was younger, so simply, and smile at each other. Only once though, if dad turned up three times...

"D'you feel anything? In romance novels when boys and girls kiss it makes it sound like something really awesome and undescribable happens. Like music plays and the world spins and all that stuff."

Ambrose gave a look that could be interpreted as 'really?' to Freddie.
"Yeah, its... er... it makes me feel happy, but er, no music and no spinning world, no, that normally happens when I smack my head into something." Ambrose explained, a part of him wondering why Winnie wasn't feeling the tingly sensation. Was he a bad kisser?

"Its not so bad." He added semi surely, trying to put on a face. Actually, his mind was already wondering what it would be like to kiss the girl who lived down the road back in Biggleswade, who he'd always liked. She was a bit older than him, she'd know, and he bet she was a good kisser.

"Perhaps it works better when you're not like... uhm... friends with the other person like we are? Perhaps its like, uhm, different for friends?" He suggested, shoving his hands into his pocket. "Have you got another of those mints, they were pretty good..."

Different for friends? That made a lot of sense. "I guess so. I mean, you're really cool and stuff but you're not handsome like the older years. I bet if I kissed Dax Fayette I would hear music and stuff and it would be just like a romance novel. But a seventh year wouldn't want to kiss me. But I guess that would be pretty weird, wouldn't it?" They were a lot older than she was. But that was okay. She could still think that they were cute, couldn't she?

"Maybe we just need to find someone else to try it with, too, to see if it is any different." But there weren't a lot of people that Winifred would feel safe just running up to and kissing. Ambrose had really been the only person who came to mind for that particular task. And it had gone fairly well, she supposed. They hadn't gotten hurt, she had not died (as her uncle had assured she would) and it hadn't felt bad. Just not as good as she had hoped. But Ambrose was probably right. Kissing your friends was probably like kissing your family.

"Are there any girls you think are pretty?" she asked. "You could find a girl that you think is really pretty that you could try kissing instead." That sounded simple enough to Winifred, most certainly a lot easier said than it was done.

"Are there any girls you think are pretty? You could find a girl that you think is really pretty that you could try kissing instead."

Ambrose exhaled and raised his eyes in thought, running through the girls in class and at Hogwarts. Yeah, there were plenty of nice girls, he was after all, a hormone filled teenage boy. He shoved his hands further into his pockets and his mouth made a little 'oh' shape as he thought.

"Well I think you're really pretty," Ambrose explained a little dubiously, and then added hastily, "but like you said, we're friends and all." His cheeks flushed and he lowered his head.
"Roxanne's alright, but I don't know her very well, and I dunno, I don't think its right to kiss girls without askin' and all." He looked away.

"So, you like Dax then?" Ambrose mumbled.

"You... think I'm pretty?" Winifred asked, tugging at her awkwardly again. "Nobody ever told me before that I'm pretty."  Nobody other than her mum and her family, that was. But that was different. A boy had never told her she was pretty. Dax had said she was pretty cute for a third year- but that wasn't the same as just saying she was pretty. And Ambrose had said she was really pretty.

Then he asked if she liked Dax. Winifred shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I mean- he's really good looking, but he's a seventh year, you know?" She toed at the ground again, and pushed her hair out of her face. "And I'm only a third year. It's like... like when girls think that famous people are cute- like quidditch stars or stuff."

"I wouldn't kiss Roxanne anyway," Winifred said to him. "She's mean. She called me fat and is always picking on me for no reason. If you kissed Roxanne I'd be very mad at you." It was true. Likely incredibly immature and childish as well. But Winifred didn't care. Ambrose was her friend, and she didn't want him kissing people like Roxanne Cross.

"Do you... not like being my friend?" Winnie probed. She saw the way he had blushed when he said they were friends. "I thought we were really good friends. Are we... not?"

"If you kissed Roxanne I'd be very mad at you." Freddie told Ambrose, and he was a little surprised.

"Do you... not like being my friend? I thought we were really good friends. Are we... not?"

"Yes, I mean, yes I like being your friend," was that the right answer? Ambrose wondered, "I like you very much Freddie." He reiterated, "And I won't kiss Roxanne if you will get mad at me." Ambrose gave her a kind smile, not wanting to hurt his friend at all. He really did enjoy Freddie's company, and he was generally very good to his friends.

"Do you not like being mine?" He asked curiously, looking a bit hurt.

"Who do you think would be good to kiss, out of the girls?" He asked Winifred "Like, does anyone eat a lot of mints?"

"Good. Because Roxanne is very mean and if you kissed her she would break your heart and make you very sad and you shouldn't want to kiss girls who would do that. Because it's bad for you." That was her thought process anyway. That, and of course, Winifred didn't like Roxanne much and didn't think she deserved to be kissed. (Especially not by a boy as nice as Ambrose was.)

"I don't know who would be good to kiss- or if anyone eats mints. I guess Ayla. She's kissed a lot so she kind of knows what she's doing. Maybe some fourth year girls?" she offered. "Maybe you could try kissing some of the Slytherin girls," she snorted. "I bet that would be funny. Almost as funny as me trying to kiss a Slytherin boy would be!" Not that Winifred would do that. Slytherins were gross. Especially Bilius Clogg-Spleen.

"I love being your friend, though," Winifred told him. "You're nice and fun and you don't make fun of me and stuff." Ambrose was actually a very, very good friend. He believed her and liked taking part in her silly ideas- which was important to Winnie. "I think you're a very good friend, Ambrose."

Ambrose blushed furiously and dropped his gaze, scuffing his toe.

"Aww, thanks Winnie, that's really kind," without warning, he flung his arms around her into a tight hug, and smiled broadly over her shoulder. "You're really awesome too." Then letting her go a bit, he remembered.

"I know its not for like another month, but uhm, you should come and visit at Easter. Dad said I should offer you to visit, if you er, wanted to of course. We do, er, live next door to Muggles." He shrugged, "Well, you don't need to say whether now, Easter's not for like, months or something, and who wants exams to be here quicker." Ambrose made a face.

"Hey, if Ayla's kissed lots of people, is that a good thing? Like, I thought if you kissed too many people it meant something about you wasn't right? Aren't you like only meant to kiss people you really care about?" He shoved his hands back into his pockets.

Winifred hugged Ambrose back, grinning at him when he stepped away. "Well then we get to be awesome together, and we don't have to give a hoot about anyone else or what they think." Winifred did that already, though, for the most part. There were a few people whose opinions meant a lot to her- like Uncle Archer.

"You live next door to muggles?" she asked, excited. "I love Muggles! You know Muggle Studies is my best class and my mum works with muggles. I've always wanted to meet a real muggle. Is your house warded or do you just interact with them like you're muggles too?" There was no way Winifred couldn't visit over Spring break now. She had to do it. Real live muggles! Exciting!

When he asked about kissing a lot of people, Winnie shrugged. "I dunno. I mean, they say mean things about it, but I guess everyone has different opinions about it. I guess it's good that I chose to kiss you then. Cause you're my friend and I care about you. But Ayla is nice. And as far as I know she's really liked all the boys that she has kissed."

Ambrose couldn't help but smile at Freddie's reaction to the possibility of meeting Muggles. That was a definite yes then, he'd have to tell his father.

"I dunno. I mean, they say mean things about it, but I guess everyone has different opinions about it. I guess it's good that I chose to kiss you then. Cause you're my friend and I care about you. But Ayla is nice. And as far as I know she's really liked all the boys that she has kissed."

"Oh good, because people do say stuff about people who kiss a lot of people. Well, at least the older students do. Like, you're meant to know who you like by the time you're a sixth or seventh year, and stay with one person for a while, and that its a bit weird to like more than one person at a time." Ambrose frowned, "Do you think it gets more like that, which is why adults get married and stay together all their lives?"

Ambrose folded his arms, thoughtfully.
"I think my mum and dad will be together forever, they're married." He told Freddie firmly, though really it was probably more for his own benefit than hers. The state of his mother in St Mungo's preyed on his mind even if he didn't mention it to Freddie. His aunt on his mother's side had said something to Ambrose's dad that Ambrose wasn't sure if he was meant to have heard - along the lines of 'you'll be tempted to find someone else, if she stays like that, won't you Francis?'. His aunt was a Muggle though, and Ambrose had heard that Muggles often decided not to be married and caused each other a lot of problems.

"So, if we're still alive, it means we can find people we really like to kiss, doesn't it? Freddie you're a genius." Ambrose rubbed his slightly mucky hands together and looked to the castle. "Who are you going to try to kiss first?"

Genius? Winifred beamed. It wasn't often that people told her she was a genius. Never, really. This was why she liked being friends with Ambrose so much, because he was always nice to her- and didn't make her feel bad. "I don't now who I'll decide to kiss first," she said. "Boys are supposed to kiss girls, anyway," Winifred reminded him.

"But I don't think there are any boys who want to kiss me," she told Ambrose. "I don't think many boys think that I'm pretty. Some of the Slytherin girls say that I'm fat." She wasn't really. Winifred was just on the upper end of average. A bit chubby- but she was young. She would fill out eventually, and grow into things. Or at least, that was what everybody told her.

"But I guess I'm young for that. My Uncle Archer says that I shouldn't be worried about boys or boyfriends now." But then again, he told her if she kissed someone she would die- and Winifred was not dead. She felt quite alright now, actually. Not at all dead. "But at least now we don't have to worry about it in our fourth year. I'm sure you'll find a nice girlfriend."

"Are they? Oh." Ambrose took a mental note at the fact boys were meant to kiss girls.

"Thanks." Ambrose blushed a little and lowered his head, scuffing the toe of his boot against the grass. "And you're not fat, they're just not very creative in how they try and insult us." He shrugged.

"Hey do you want to help me feed the fire crab?" Ambrose asked, his face brightening. "They're from Fiji, and their shells are really pretty." He gestured back to the rotting vegetable basket and the menagerie, though undoubtedly the smell put her off.
"We're not meant to study them until fifth year, but nobody's told me I can't look. Its not like I'm casting spells down here." He shrugged.

"Or, we could like… hang out somewhere else…?" He asked meekly. Much as he loved spending time with Freddie, she was the more assertive one of the pair, and subsequently, he rarely tried to force her to do something with him.

Winifred nodded. "Yes. Boys are suppose to kiss girls, and they're also supposed to be the ones to ask girls out on dates. They're supposed to..." she trailed off for a moment, trying to remember how her older brother had worded. "Supposed to make the moves." Winifred wasn't sure what you did if you were a girl and the boy you liked didn't make the move.

When Ambrose asked if she would help feed the firecrab, Winifred shrugged and then nodded. "Sure." She didn't take magical creatures- but she knew that Ambrose liked it. She was afraid to get hurt and her parents hadn't wanted her around dangerous creatures. Apparently they thought she would get herself eaten.

"What's a firecrab for?" she asked, stepping toward the rotting vegetables he had motioned at. "Do they do any cool magic stuff? Or do they just sit around and look shiny and pretty?"

"They shoot fire out their bums...!" Ambrose laughed at Winnie's question. "That's pretty cool." He chuckled, as they drew closer.

"They look pretty, so Muggles want to hunt them, and wizards like to make cauldrons out their shells. They look more like turtles." He pointed out the crab in the pen which shone in the sunlight, its six legs splayed out beneath it and its eyes cracking open at their approach, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Uhm, they come from Fiji." Ambrose raised his gaze unconsciously as he recalled the information from the books. "Where they made this special reserve for them, so they can be protected. When I'm older I want to go out there and see it." He smiled. "You should come with me. There's an ethical trade in the shells of the dead firecrabs, when they die naturally and the wizards who look after the reserve make beautiful things out of the shells."