'-We can practise in pairs,' said Harry, and I looked over at Dean, who caught my eye and nodded in agreement. 'We'll start with the impediment jinx, for 10 minutes, then we can get out cushions and try stunning again.'
'Hope I hit the cushions this time,' laughed Dean as I walked up beside him. I smiled, but I wasn't really listening. I'd seen the look that Harry had given Cho, and it bloody hurt, let me tell you. 5th year, and he was still oblivious to me. Ugh.
'Impedimenta!' Yelled Dean, and I froze where I was standing, on full unawares. It was a good thing I couldn't move, or he would be speaking in a very high tone right now. He grinned at me, and I so wished I could have given him the finger. I unfroze a minute later, and screamed the curse at him as soon as I could move, but he was just about to sneeze, and he was frozen with a very amusing look on his face. It was so amusing that I was still laughing when he re-cursed me 2 minutes later. Bugger.
'Your getting really good,' said Harry at the end of the hour, smiling widely at everyone, 'When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff- maybe even patronuses.'
A murmur of excitement went round the crowd. I grinned at Harry, and he beamed back. Unfortunately, a smile wouldn't cure the pain of landing on the hard wooden floor after being stunned. It hurt. It also wouldn't cure the pain of seeing the looks Harry gave Cho. That hurt even more. I decided to stay behind, and maybe walk back with him, or talk to him, say merry Christmas or something. I waved Dean, Hermione and Ron off in quick succession while pretending to look in my bag for something. The room was nearly empty, and I looked up. Oh.
Cho was standing right in front of Harry, and their eyes were locked. She had tears running down her face.
'You're a r-really good teacher you know,' said Cho. 'I've never been able to stun anything before.'
'Thanks…' Harry muttered in an awkward tone. Ha. Serve her right for sobbing all over him. I stood up, expecting him to see me, and move away, but neither of them even comprehended my presence.
'Mistletoe.' Smiled Cho, pointing upwards. That hussy!
'Yeah,' said Harry thickly. 'It's probably full of Nargles though.'
It took all of my concentration not to burst out laughing. I'm not sure either of them would have appreciated that.
'What are Nargles?' she asked
'No idea.' Admitted Harry. I swear Cho had moved closer. 'You'd have to ask Loony. Luna, I mean.'
Cho giggled wetly, and moved even closer.
I didn't want to see this anymore. I turned my head slightly, and headed towards the door silently.
I opened the door, and slipped out into the corridor. From inside the room, I heard Cho utter quietly 'I really like you, Harry…'
The door clicked shut, and disappeared.
'It's just a crush, right? A stupid crush. We all know they never amount to anything. No matter how much you want it to.'