Winifred had a relatively good week. She had practiced kissing, gotten to talk with Fauna, hadn't failed a pop quiz, and that had been better than most of her weeks. So she was in a particularly good mood this Sunday afternoon. Breakfast and lunch had been extra delicious. Thus, when she came skipping into the common room from the great hall, and spied Dax lounging on one of the couches, she decided this was just going to be the best week ever.

AND SHE STILL HAD NOT TOLD DAX HER GOOD NEWS! Beaming, Winifred ran over to him. "Dax!" she called out, excited. "DDDAAXXX!" and then she flopped down on the couch next to him. "Hullo Dax!" she greeted- in a much more appropriate tone for indoors.

"I haven't gotten to tell you my good news!" she told him. "Do you remember in February when we were talking about bases and you told me that unless you were a fifth year you weren't allowed to go past first base? Well you were wrong! Cause just last week I got to base two and a half!" Because, the explanation which Winifred had received about "bases" were entirely different than what they really were. Dax had told her that Base 1 was having a crush on someone, that Base 2 was dating, and that Base 3 was making out. And, since Winifred had kissed Ambrose and Blake, but had not made out with them- she decided that it had been base two and one half. "And I'm just a third year!" she added, obviously proud.

Dax, who'd been lounging with his History of Magic textbook and a notebook. After all, if he was doing homework he needed witnesses to this fact, given how much Dion harped at him about it. The Goblin Wars might be dull to the other students, but he loved 'em - he was even working on as painting. Admittedly the ladies involved in the war had probably had their clothes on and there hadn't been any flying leopards or swans, but that's what artistic license was for, right?

Winnie landing on the couch and her yells caught him by surprise, and his heavy textbook slumped off his chest and landed on his face. He picked it up, peering at Winnie from under the pages. Had she said what he thought she had - second and a half base? Was that like...mutual-

His brain caught up with the train of his thoughts and kicked it. "WHAT?" He said, sitting up abruptly. "With WHO?"

Winifred laughed at Dax. "Don't your knickers in a knot!" she exclaimed. "I know you said I couldn't yet- but I was just practicing so that when it's for real I'd know what to do!" And he demanded with who, and Winnie shrugged. "Ambrose and Blake," she told him- not realizing the path where his brain had gone.

"I found Ambrose down by the animal pens and I asked him about it and we decided we'd try it.  Cause he'd never done it before either. But I think we were doing it wrong- cause I didn't really feel anything. But I guess that's because I don't have a crush on Ambrose. And then when I went to the owlry to write to my Uncle Archer about it, I saw Blake and kind of surprised him with it."

"But it's okay. Cause Blake didn't get mad, and Ambrose and I are still friends. It didn't make stuff weird or anything." She gave Dax a very confused look- not sure why he seemed so worried.

"You - gah, Winnie," he whined. He had hoped that their talk had been the end of it. "You surprised Blake? Like... you grabbed him and-"

He had to give her credit - that was pretty funny. He smirked in amusement at the idea of the boy's face. Poor Blake, though - didn't Ayla date him? "Isn't Blake Ayla's boyfriend or something?" he asked. He hadn't been keeping up on the 3rd year's issues lately.

"But seriously, Winnie...you should like...be more selective. Just 'cause Abraham and I make out casually doesn't mean it works for everyone, y'know? Bet poor Ambrose likes you now too, that's how it goes with boys," he explained.

Winifred grunted. "Were you not listening?" she asked. "I said base two and a half. You told me that first base was liking someone, and second base was dating someone, and third base was making out. And I didn't make out with Blake or Ambrose. I just kissed them. And Ambrose doesn't have a crush on me!"

She crossed her arms, peering at him. Then she realized that he'd said he made out with Abraham. She had heard of that seventh year. Everyone knew about the girl with the boy name. Her older brother in Gryffindor had a crush on Bret Abraham. "Well, if that's how it goes with boys- do you like Abraham?" Winifred asked. "Ambrose and I talked about it. It was just practice for fourth year- so that when we find somebody that we like, we'll know what to do. And I told him that the boy is supposed to kiss the girl. So that he knows for when he gets older and stuff."

"And Ayla and Blake don't date. They've not talked to each other in a while. And it's not like I have a crush on Blake. I just wanted to see if kissing him felt different than kissing Ambrose. It didn't. I read romance novels, you know," she said to Dax. "And in those they make it sound like kissing someone is the best thing ever and that there are like sparks and stuff. But I didn't feel any of that. So I think that I must be doing it wrong. Or they are."

He didn't even want to start on the bases talk again. Dax dodged that question quickly, hiding being his book.

"Of course I like Abraham, I make out with her don't I?" He said, rolling his eyes. book falling to his chest again as he relaxed against the arm of the couch. "She's fun. It's not like...like like, but it's a like. We're like friends with benefits, only not very extensive benefits." He frowned - not like he hadn't tried to make them more extensive...anyway. "And Ambrose prolly will start likin' you. It's a boy thing and at your guys's age it kicks in hardcore. I'll bet money on it, actually, you want to?"

He snorted. "Romance novels - I told you last time, Winnie, they're a bunch of wish fulfillment fluff."

"I like Ambrose," Winifred said to Dax. "We're best friends. He's nice and he's always nice to me and he stands up for me when everyone else makes fun of me. So if I like him as a friend, I don't see what's so wrong with my practicing kissing with him. He doesn't want to be my boyfriend," she assured Dax- quite seriously. "And I do not want to be his girlfriend." If Winnie was going to be anyone's girlfriend, she'd like to be Dax's. He was cute. And so much older than her. And she liked that.

"And I'm not going to bet money. That's mean. But I know Ambrose better than you do. We're best friends, and he doesn't have a crush on me. Cause if he did he'd tell me so," she said matter of factly, crossing her arms. "Cause friends tell each other everything."

Then he said something about the romance novels being wish fulfillment. Winifred blinked. "Well all of that can't be fake or people wouldn't do it. If you don't have a crush on Brett, how can you like making out with her?" Winnie asked. "I don't have a crush on Ambrose and I didn't like kissing him. How's it work then?"

Dax sighed, looking at the ceiling. "Fine, he doesn't like you. But if he asks to kiss again anytime within this year you owe me money, okay?"

He looked at her - then frowned, his expression serious, and snapped his textbook closed with a bang. "I do like Brett, it's just different, and there's...well. There's....you can..." He trailed off, looking at her critically.

"Look, Winnie, you've gotten the....the talk, right? About...birds and bees? Your uncle told you some of that at least, right?" He didn't want to, but admitting his lies might be the best idea to fix this issue. Well...maybe not the best. But it was an approach and bygod he was going to try and fix this.

"Maybe he'd want to kiss me again because I was good at it- and not because he likes me?" Winifred suggested. "Maybe I was very good at it- you wouldn't know. You are not the one who kissed me..." Winifred trailed off, then grinned. "But if you wanted to, I wouldn't complain," she batted her lashes at him again- but her flirtation was derailed when he started talking about the birds and the bees.

Uncle Archer had in fact never spoken to her about birds or bees. He wasn't a man who cared much for animals- at least, not those kinds of animals. She looked at Dax like he was stupid. "Why would my uncle talk to me about birds or bees?" Winifred asked. "He catches criminals, he's an auror. The only time he'd mention birds or bees is if one attacked him or he arrested one or something, and I don't think that people can arrest animals. Well- not that kind of an animal, anyway," Winifred reasoned.

"And I've gotten lots of talks from my parents," she continued. The Hufflepuff was genuinely clueless as to what Dax was on about. Of course, she had gotten the talk he was on about. Just not in very much detail. Winifred understood what it took to make a baby, and she had been told by her parents she was much too young for any of that and her mother had otld her if she ever wanted to know more, when she was older, they could talk about it. But that had been in her first year- and Winnie hadn't bothered to bring it back up. She thought all of it was Very Gross, after all.  "They've talked to me about almost everything. Because they think that I need extra guidance. My big brothers talk to me a lot too!"

Dax looked up at the ceiling and sighed, dramatically; rubbing his forehead and frowning. "The birds and the bees is a cute way to mean the sex talk, Winnie. You got told about baby making and...all that other stuff, didn't you? By Archer or your parents or...someone?"

He forcedly ignored her flirting, too mentally mixed up to consider reacting to it - positively or negatively. Normally he'd have teased her, but..not right now. Not that he'd have done more than kissed her forehead - bit too young and too Winnie for his tastes.

"It's just, you know...well...did you get it or not?" He asked again, clearing his throat. "I-if you didn't...you probably should, um, soon."

Winifred blushed and giggled. "I'm almost fifteen, Dax! Of course I know about babies. My mom told me about it and otld me when i got older we coudl talk about it more and said that I was too young to have any babies and if I didn't want them not to even think about doing... that." She blushed again. Was it okay to even talk about that with Dax?

"What does that have to do with anything?" Winnie asked. "We're just talking about kissing, aren't we?" she asked. "Kissing doesn't get you pregnant! Even I'm not that dumb Dax," she laughed. "You're silly!"

"And just because a boy likes me doesn't mean that I have to kiss him or marry him or have babies with him," she informed Dax. "Besides, boys don't like me. And all the third year boys are stupid- except for Ambrose. I would never want a boyfriend my own year! Everybody knows that girls are supposed to have boyfriends that are older than them. So I'd have to have a boyfriend at least one year head of me!" she reassured him. "So you don't have to worry about that."

He looked incredibly embarrassed - mostly because he was. Dax sat up again, shifting uncomfortably.

"Look, Winnie," he said, sitting on his knees facing her. He clapped his hands together like he was praying and looked at her pleadingly. "I kind of lied to you about the bases, okay? I panicked when you asked. There's...um, there's only 3. And...you don't wanna tell anyone you got to 2 and a half with Ambrose, ok?"

He coughed nervously. "Abraham and I are first base, if...if you want to know what the intimacy scale is. Third base is...like...well, your parents were at it when they made you. Catch my drift?" He looked incredibly guilty.

Winifred gave him a very serious look when he faced her, giving her a pleading expression. He claimed that he had lied about the bases, and she blinked. Lied to her? Why? And then he further explained about what bases properly were. And she blushed. "See! You shouldn't have lied to me!" she exclaimed. "What if you hadn't told me and I had told somebody other than you?" Winnie asked.

But she had caught his drift. "Well, if that's the case then Ambrose and I didn't even get to first base. It was just like a peck. We didn't make out with tongues or anything like that. Cause I think that's gross. But I did make him eat a mint first," she said to Dax. "Just in case his breath was bad."

"But I won't say that to anyone anymore," Winnie assured Dax. She certainly didn't want people to think she was doing things with Ambrose that you weren't supposed to do until you were a grown up. A real grown up outside of Hogwarts.

"So how can I tell if Ambrose does start to like me?" she asked the older Hufflepuff. "You know- just in case, so I can know what to look for."

"Sorry, Winnie. You panicked me. It'd be like...um. Like Ambrose running up and talking to you about going to 3rd base, you know?" He shrugged again, grinning disarmingly.

Thankfully she didn't seem offended, so he took that as forgiveness, in a way.  "Gum works pretty good for that too," he pointed out. "Or chocolate, to some extent."

He sat in a more relaxed position, crossing his arms over his stomach. "Hmm. I dunno, honestly, it's different for everyone, y'see. I guess...if he acts more awkward around you, you know - like if he'd been ok with you like...leaning on him til' now, and from now on he's all bashful or whatever when you try it. That'd be an indication." He patted her head. "Can't tell y'for sure, I don't know the kid that well."

Winifred didn't understand how to tell if someone was acting awkward. To be truthful, a lot of people acted a little weird around her- mostly because she was just so very... well, so very Winifred. She was loud, liked to gossip, and had a tendency to be very melodramatic. Most people acted odd around people like that.

But if Dax needed to know Ambrose better to tell, Winifred would just smile and nod and agree. "I'll make sure to pay attention for it then," she assured Dax. "But I'm not giving you money if you're right. Mostly because I usually don't have any money. I only get money when it's time for Hogsmeade, cause my parents say that I don't have any use for an money while at Hogwarts." Which made sense. "And I'm too young for a job and stuff," she added.

"But I'm not too worried about Ambrose," she added. "My brothers told me that most boys don't start noticing or caring about girls until their fourth year." Then again, her brothers weren't always the best people to ask about stuff like that. They tended to not know what they were talking about- or so Winifred thought. The truth was that they were likely trying to protect her- they were ig brothers, after all, and that's what they did.