Harry walked along with Cho, hand in hand, they had been going out for a month now. They were happy, always together, smiling, holding hands and kissing. Well that's how it looked to everyone else, and probably Cho.
Inside Harry's head was a hurricane of thoughts all spinning around, and in his heart, a mix of emotions that he just didn't understand. He was surprisingly good at hiding this, with the occasional slip up.
"Bye Harry, see you later," Cho said, slipping her hand out of his and reaching up for a goodbye kiss.
"See you later," he replied. He was walking up the stairs, to the Gryffindor common room, when he saw Ginny coming down the other stairs, going the same direction as him.
She looked flustered, and a little upset. The two of them arrived outside the portrait of the fat lady, right at the same time. "Hey Ginny, are you ok?"
"Yeh, I'm fine, I just turned down Draco again, I get the feeling I wasn't the only girl he was after. I don't like when people try to pull fast ones behind my back."
"That's good then," harry managed to fit in between Ginny's rant.
"Like I was nice about it and said that we should stay friends but those chat lines like 'I need a pensieve because my head is full of thoughts of you' like excuse me while I vomit! Its not exactly what every girl wants to hear, and the word is that every girl did hear them, from him! Sorry Harry I'm blabbering on too much, please don't repeat that."
"Ginny breathe! It's ok, don't worry I wont say anything."
"Awh thanks Harry." There was a short silence before the portrait swung open and they climbed through it into the common room. Harry was in no mood to talk to anyone. He was really confused these days, he didn't know what to do or say, he just wanted to be alone.
He had a lot to think about really, more than he even realised himself. He sat down on the two-seater opposite the fire near where Hermione and Ron were sitting. Ginny sat down beside him, she was a little closer than he was comfortable with, they were friends, close friends, but he had confusing feelings for her lately.
These feelings were stronger when he was with her. That was why he was a little on edge when she sat beside him. He liked Cho, they were a cute couple, or so he was told by everyone. She liked him, they were happy, but his feelings for Ginny were different.
There was always something there, but for some reason, they were stronger now, and he was trying to fight them. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't think Ginny would feel the same way, and he didn't want to hurt Cho.
"I just don't know with you lot sometimes, boys are so confusing" Hermione said addressing Harry and Ron after hearing Ginny's account of her day.
'Complicated isn't the word,' Harry thought, still trying to make sense of his feelings for the girl, curled up beside him.
I'll give it a few weeks, he thought, see if these feelings go away, or get stronger. Getting stronger was what he was afraid of, if they didn't go away like any other little crush then there was a huge mess ahead of him.
He didn't want to hurt Ginny or Cho. He was sure Ginny was oblivious to how he was feeling, he was hoping everyone was. Cho was always slow to pick up on other peoples emotions so he was safe there, but Ginny was very intuitive. He would have to try figure this out on his own, he was going to have to distance himself from Ginny for a while.
This would be difficult, not just because he was thinking about her so often, but they had gotten closer lately, spending more time together, talking more.
If I knew how she felt, he thought, would that help? If he knew Ginny felt the same way that would sort out all his problems, but there was no way to find out. Harry was completely zoned out of his conversation with Ron Hermione and Ginny, he was lost in his own thoughts.
There was a mix of things, the upcoming quiditch game, that would decide whether or not they would get into the final. Big games, meant more training, which meant more time with Ginny, and less with Cho.
Along with quiditch, Harry was thinking about the increasing amount of schoolwork he was procrastinating. The there was 'The Half Blood Prince', he was still trying to figure out the identity of the previous owner of his Defence against the Dark Arts book.
He was thinking about Cho too, the stress of school was really starting to get to her and she was getting more and more touchy with every passing day. Mixed in with all these thoughts was Ginny, he wasn't even sure what he was thinking anymore where she was concerned.
"Harry, coming to Quiditch practise?" Ron asked, snapping him out of his daydream.
"….. Yeah sure," he said eventually, getting tup to go to practise. A whole hour with Ginny, was he going to be able for this?
He survived the hour and a half training session with Ginny and the rest of the team, but his feelings were getting in the way of clear thinking. He wanted to put them in a box, lock it and leave them there. They were complicating everything so much.
Two more training sessions later and Harry's feelings were gone beyond confusing, he really cared about Ginny and their friendship meant a whole lot to him.
He didn't want to throw that away, for a crush. What if it was more? He knew what a silly little crush felt like and this was nothing like it.
His feelings for Cho were fading. He noticed that her moods were getting worse and more and more frequent and she was taking it out on their friends.
He was sure that she knew about his feelings for Ginny. The patel twins had mentioned to him that they thought he fancied Ginny, that was just a week before he and cho started going out.
He thought maybe they had said something to her. It would explain why Cho was so protective of him when Ginny was around, and why she complained that he was spending so much time in the Gryffindor common room, with Ginny, with out her watchful eye.
It was all starting to make sense to him now, Cho's moods, the twins giggles, everything except how he felt. Even that though, was a little clearer. All that he realised on the walk from the quiditch pitch to the common room.
Two weeks later at the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw deciding game, Harry was giving Ginny a congratulating hug, she had played her best match of the season, and they had won the game. Cho went straight over to them, tapped Harry on the shoulder.
"Of course you're with her, I'm your girlfriend Harry, and we lost, I'm disappointed, you knew how much that meant to me! But instead you're with her!" she snapped.
Suddenly Harry figured out everything, he wanted to be with Ginny not Cho.
"Cho calm down, it was a hug, Ginny had a good game, shes a team mate" harry began, but Cho had already stormed off. She was expecting him to follow her, to give in ….. like always.
This time was different. He stayed rooted to th spot. Every part of him wantd to go after her, hold her, comfort her. He couldn't stand the thought that he had caused her to be upset, but he hadn't really, it was her. There was no point, she would just turn around and snap again, it was no use, they were a bad couple. Their relationship was like adding a lit match to petrol.
Ginny looked hurt. "Harry go on, Ill be fine, go after her," she started, trying to sound sincere.
"No Ginny you're not, I can see tears, Cho was way out of order, I'm sorry," Harry said unsure whether it was appropriate to put his arm around her. That was Harry caring, comforting, kind. Sometimes this went against him, like the way Cho treated him.
"You know she wouldn't have flipped out like that if I was Ron, Harry…" Ginny murmured quietly.
"I know Ginny, I guess Cho realised that you were getting a lot of my attention lately….."
"I did too Harry, but we're friends surely she understood that."
"Cho is not known for being reasonable, she over reacts about everything and I cant take it anymore!"
"Are you going to break it off with her?"
"Yes I have to, its not fair to either of us to stay in this relationship, if it ends now, maybe we can stay friends, or at least be on speaking terms."
"Do what you have to Harry, but make sure you know what you want first."
Harry knew exactly what he wanted, and that was Ginny, but it wasn't the time to start a relationship. Timing was so important, and he didn't even know if Ginny felt the same way.
"I'm going to go after her, sort things out, Hermione's over there fill her in for me."
"I will Harry, good luck, you'll need it," she giggled at the last part of her sentence.
Ginny watched as Harry walked away, after Cho. She hated how Cho treated him, she would never have been like that.
Ginny loved Harry, but she was sure he would never feel the same, maybe she would get her chance in the future, who knows?