"You know," she said, brushing a strand of her long hair behind her ear and smiling slightly, "you're a very good dancer."

"Not really," Cedric said honestly. "I think everyone's just impressed by the title of champion, aren't they?"

Cho seemed lost for words, and Cedric continued.

"Even the Slytherins—they don't like us as much as you Ravenclaw—they're actually being decent to me."

"Well," Cho told him, "that's good, isn't it?"

"I guess," said Cedric hesitantly.

"And you're better at dancing than at actually inviting people to the ball."

"Hardly."

"Shall I remind you?"

"It was something like, 'Ball, um, hoping, yeah, please?' wasn't it?"

"And let's not forget," Cho added, "Hogsmeade last year."

Both of them laughed and it struck Cedric just how pretty she was when she laughed. She never really did much of it, for whatever reason. It was quite a shame, he thought.

"Remember the rain?" she asked, still laughing

"Of course I do. How could I forget?"

"You were laughing wildly, like a five-year-old on Christmas morning or something," said Cho, beaming, "and I thought you'd gone mad!"

"I thought you had," said Cedric. "You were so worried!"

"I already had a cold," she told him. "I didn't need something else to go along with it!"

In that brief moment before he spoke, Cedric looked embarrassed. "I thought you—you know—didn't, er, like me," he said awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah," Cho said, remembering more clearly by the moment.

"Yeah."

"We—you wanted to kiss," she went on. "And I just ran off to the nearest shop! Oh, Merlin! What you must've thought—"

She went on for a long time, in that odd way of hers. She, like him, did not always say much, but once she started taking, could hardly be stopped.

She retold it all.

The booth in Madam Pudifoot's and coffee and Cupid. Rain and sludge-covered streets. Hand-knit gloves and rosy cheeks and the way everyone walked close together. Pepper imps and butterbeer and even those blood lollipops in the farthest corner.

She laughed softly as she recalled the way she had left Cedric without realizing and how she had apologized endlessly. And she laughed as she remembered the strange look the shopkeeper gave them and the funny sweater a boy in Honeydukes wore.

And at last she reached that moment in the same sweetshop.

"And you kissed me, then," she said. "In Honeydukes. Everyone was staring."

Cedric laughed. "S'pose they were. I guess I'd be a bit shocked, too. D'you want something to drink?"

"Sure!"

"I'll get those. Do you want to find somewhere to sit."

"No problem," she said, "maybe by the band."

He nodded, and turned away.

"Oh, and Cedric?" she added before he stepped out of earshot.

"Yeah?"

"This is better than Hogsmeade."

He laughed, because it really wasn't saying much, but was still quite glad to hear it.

AN: So, everyone probably hates this because everyone hates Cho and the only thing people like about Cedric is that he died. So yay. Next we get Hermione, though. And everyone likes Hermione, right? Kloves certainly did... (Bitter? Me? Never.) Anyway, thanks very much for reading. And, if you wish, (warning: self-advertisement her) you could maybe head on over to my newly created prompts forum. Though I won't adore you any less if you don't.