It was a warm day, the sun was shining, and Harry couldn't be bothered to drag himself out of bed despite this. It was one of the few days he had off from his Auror duty and had planned on wasting it lying in bed. Hermione and Ron had wanted to plan something (and Harry was certain that they had) but he hadn't paid them too much attention.
Harry didn't doubt that they would arrive sooner or later, expecting him to go with them to wherever they had decided. Harry knew better than to argue against Hermione, especially after knowing her for this long.
"Oh, good. You're finally awake! I thought I would have to wake you up like I wake Ron. You were sleeping like the dead when I arrived," Hermione said, and Harry blinked as she threw open the curtains.
"Hermione? How did you get in?"
"The floo," Hermione said, shrugging. "Our floo grates are still connected, you know, and you don't close your grate when you go to sleep. You really should start doing that, it's dangerous that you don't!"
Harry fell back on his bed and groaned. "What did you and Ron plan?"
"We're going to the beach today, Harry."
Hermione sounded much too happy about it. Or maybe it was just Harry that was not looking forward to another day of the third-wheeling that he had become especially good at.
…oOo…
Harry was certain that Hermione must have invited nearly everyone they had known while at Hogwarts. There were even a couple of people Harry was certain he had only ever seen in passing while on the corridors. Harry was almost certain that Hermione had invited everyone they had ever been in Hogwarts with – or the invitations had just gotten away from Hermione, with friends inviting friends, inviting friends.
Harry was more likely to believe the latter. Hermione rarely overdid things, unless Ron was egging her on, but at least he wouldn't be awkwardly following Hermione and Ron around like he usually did. Even Malfoy looked like good company right now.
"Harry! It's been years!"
Harry only vaguely recognised that voice as being familiar – it definitely sounded far happy than he had ever heard it. But Harry probably wasn't the best judge of that, the last time he had heard most of these voices had been at the final battle, and everyone sounded a lot better than they did then.
Seeing that perfectly straight hair again, Harry realised that it had, indeed, been several years, and Cho had become only more beautiful as she got older. Her hair was still about the same length as it had been when he was in Fifth Year, but her features looked more mature now – a vast difference from the teary girl he still remembered. From what Harry could vaguely remember hearing of her within the Ministry, she had ended up becoming a Healer at St. Mungo's. One of the researchers that headed the creation and adaptation of medical spells.
Perhaps more importantly, she was single at the moment. Her previous break-up had been a quiet one, with both going their own way. Unlike his own with Ginny, who had screamed and cried leaving a very frustrated Harry in her wake, as he struggled to get her to understand that he wasn't breaking up with her for anyone but himself. She had instantly assumed that there was another woman, which had perfectly illustrated exactly why they wouldn't work out – Ginny had never quite trusted Harry not to up and leave her for another woman.
"It really has been," Harry said with a smile, knowing that the day was going to get a whole lot better and silently thanking Hermione for dragging him out of bed that morning. "Join me, perhaps we could catch up?"
Cho smiled in return, "I would like that. Your stories will be interesting if they're anything like your Hogwarts exploits."
"I doubt there's any job that would come anywhere close to matching those," Harry said, laughing. "But I could certainly try and think of a few good ones."
…oOo…
"Don't you dare! Harry! No!" Cho shrieked as Harry dumped her into the ocean. She surfaced, gasping for air and glaring at the man who was laughing as if what he had done was the funniest thing in the world. He wasn't the only one laughing, but Harry was definitely the only one on the other end of her ire.
So, Cho pulled Harry's feet out from under him, sending him surging into the water. It took him a little while longer to resurface, but Harry came up again and splashed her with a large wave of water that sent her spluttering through her laughter. At least there hadn't been the shock of hitting the cold water like there had been the first time.
Cho's eyes narrowed nevertheless, taking in Harry's appearance and laughter, certain that he would never expect what she was about to do next. Nor would he be expecting her to wage a water war against him unless he was planning one against her as well – which was rather unlikely while he was too busy laughing.
Oh, well.
If Harry wanted a war, he was going to get one. Even if Harry didn't want a war, Cho was still going to give him one.
Auror versus Healer.
And this time Harry was going to lose, because Cho knew she was going to have to fight dirty to win this one. She had no qualms about that. Even if Harry didn't really like it – she hadn't liked the idea of being dumped in the ocean, but Harry had done it anyway.
…oOo…
Harry and Cho were forced to drag themselves out of the eye of the water fight what seemed like hours later. Somehow, everyone else in the near vicinity had been dragged into their fight too. Their previous Houses didn't matter when they ganged up on each other, or turned on each other at the last moment.
The smiles on their faces belied how exhausted they were for lasting that long. Every time they had tried to take a break, they had been bombarded by water again – often forcing them to team up against the majority.
Cho was proud to admit, that she had won. Although she was absolutely certain, Harry would argue otherwise to anyone who asked and would never tell anyone about it – it was embarrassing to admit that he had been defeated by a girl, after all.
"I suppose I owe you a prize, don't I?" Harry asked, a mischievous glint in his eye.
Cho wasn't entirely sure that she liked that look, but she decided to embrace her inner Gryffindor, "I suppose you do. Now what would the great Harry Potter like to bestow on little old me?"
Harry gulped, but there was a determined glint in Harry's eye that had been what Cho had fallen in love with the first time she had met Harry, and she was glad that it was still there despite their peaceful times.
"This," Harry said, his voice suddenly sounding much to close.
And Harry gave her a kiss. It was brief, but the promise that lay behind it hinted at so much more.
...oOo...
Written for Ultimate Battle Competition: Medusa's Breastplate: write a fluffy, romantic fic about your NOTP [Cho/Harry]