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Chapter seven: Apology accepted.
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After I'd met up with Cho, she took me to a quiet place, somewhere on the first floor. It wasn't curfew yet so it was okay for us to just sit there and talk. The thought alone made my stomach knot together with nerves. But why? It wasn't like something was going to happen.

I tried to make eye-contact with her, but she refused and looked down. She sat across of me, her back against the wall and her knees pulled up to her chin. Cho looked so fragile right now, but on the other hand very strong and confident. I could see it in her eyes though they were casted downward, hiding under their dark lashes.

We sat in silence for a while before Cho spoke up.

"Hermione," she outed my name so carefully that my heart jumped, "I... I can't tell you how much I hate myself for... for what I did to you. I shouldn't have... kissed you like that," Her voice dripped with apology and Cho looked up, her chocolate brown eyes swimming in unshed tears.

"But, I just couldn't help myself, you know... just having you around, catching a single glimpse of you, your beautiful face and looking into your eyes.. it drives me crazy. You drive me crazy.. and, I just couldn't control myself anymore.. I'm so sorry."

"Cho, don't.. apologize, okay?" I said, not being able to see Cho in tears, "It's not your fault. Things like that just happen, it's no big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Cho let out a humourless laugh, "How is kissing the girl you like.. no, the girl you love not a big deal, Hermione?" as she spoke, her eyebrows pulled together and a single tear escaped her eye, quickly followed by more. She elicited a sob, but continued.

"I hurt you, I know I did... I was being foolish and I can't tell you enough how sorry I am. And I wanted to become friends so badly, just to.. just to be with you. But you always seemed to be.. disgusted of me."

Cho wanted to continue but I lay a finger on her lips, crawling closer to her. She still cried silently, tears overflowing her eyes. Those wonderful brown orbs that didn't deserve the hurt I could see in them. Cho didn't deserve to be feeling like this. Heck, nobody did.

"Cho, listen to me. I am anything but disgusted of you. How in the world could I, could even somebody be disgusted of you? You are wonderful. You're smart, funny, great to be around and..."

I paused for a mere second, not sure if I should finish my scentence. I drew in a breath and looked Cho in the eyes, "And you're a really pretty girl, Cho. You really are. I guess I just envy you. I couldn't be better than you so I just acted so.. hostile towards you. I'm sorry if I ever let you feel like I hated you."

I was surprised that those words really came out of my mouth. They just floated out, I didn't even think about them, but I knew I'd spoken the truth. But do I envy Cho? I never really noticed before, but now I come to think about it, it does explain why I always acted so angry towards her. Maybe it even explained why I was surpressing my feelings towards her so much.. I'd been lying to myself all along. I withdrew my finger from her mouth and cupped her face.

"Do you really mean that?"

I heard the change in her voice and I smiled.

"Of course I do."

Cho managed to smile through her tears and I felt relieved. I hated to see her like this, her eyes full of agony and insecurity... Wait, what? I mentally shook my head and focused on Cho again. I drew my other hand to her face and stroked her cheek, running my thumb across her face to wipe away a stray tear.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from Cho's. They had this attraction towards me I couldn't explain. My heart skipped a beat as I found myself leaning in closer to her face. I could see the confusion flicker in Cho's eyes. The same confusion I felt: what was I doing?

But I had no intention of stopping. I just couldn't tell myself to stop. Did I really want this? Was I so wrong all the time? Had I really been denying that I did like Cho all the time?

I could now see the little freckles on her face, her lashes covered in mascara and her beautiful dark brown eyes underneath them. And I still didn't stop.

"Hermione? What.. are you...?"

All I could do was to smile at Cho, constantly gaining in on that little distance that was still between our lips. My thoughts had shut down, all that there was now was this feeling of longing, and the feeling of unsurity. But I pushed that unsurity away. Because I wanted this.

Our lips were now mere millimetres away, and I breathed in her sweet, musk-like scent that sent a shiver down my spine. How had I been able to not feel the attraction towards Cho I felt now? How had I been able to keep fooling myself?

"Cho.. I'm sorry that I kept fooling myself.." I whispered against her lips. I closed my eyes and crawled a little closer to her, "I do like you."

I pressed my lips against hers, sending a jolt through my body. I could hear and feel Cho taking in a gasp of air and I used the opportunity to really kiss her. I didn't want to push it too far so I kept my tongue firmly in place. I broke the kiss after a few seconds and backed away a little. But Cho's hands snaked across my waist, pulling me closer again and she kissed me back, perhaps a little bit harder than she intended because she knocked us both over.

She landed on top of me and a blush crept up her face. Cho was literally straddling me, her legs at both sides of my waist, but I didn't mind. I grabbed her robes and pulled her in for another kiss.

Cho pressed her body against mine as she parted her lips and gently slid her tongue in. I took a sharp breath but didn't pull away. I was liking this too much to stop. My hands roamed across her back and I searched for a way under her robes, which I found. Her skin felt warm and smooth. She hissed as my cold hands stroked all the way up her spine and down again, down her waist and back up.

Suddenly, I was aware of the fact that we were lying in the middle of a hallway and I harshly pulled away.

"What's the matter?" Cho said as I pushed her off of me, her expression suddenly unsure again. I smiled a reassuringly at the girl. I still couldn't believe that I had been denying what I just felt.

"I just realized that we were making out in the middle of the hall. So I think we'd better go somewhere else."

Cho grinned and got up. She offered me her hand and pulled me up, drawing me close to her into a hug. I pressed her against me and closed my eyes. I felt weird and out of place. But no matter how weird it felt for me to like a girl, I did like Cho after all and there was nothing I could do about it.
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After I closed the door of the Room of Requirement, where we had moved to for some privacy, Cho sneaked up behind me and seductively purred my name in my ear. It sent a shiver down my spine. She snaked her hands around me and undid my robe. Cho planted kisses in my neck as she also undid her own robe.

Her soft and warm hands continued to roam over my waist as she gently bit my earlobe. A moan escaped from my lips while my thoughts tumbled over eachother. Though I knew I liked Cho, was I really ready to do this already? It's not that I don't like it, but is it the right thing to do? To take it so fast while I'm not really sure what I feel for the girl.

Cho's hands slipped under my shirt and traced circles all over my abdomen. I trembled at her touch, so desperate for more as she kept on kissing my neck, followed up by the occasional lick or whispering of my name. It felt so natural to do this, but then again, I questioned if it was right to go so fast.

I'd better take a shot at taking it slow rather than going too fast and causing problems.

"C-cho." I couldn't speak coherently because of her constant feeling me up, so I tried again, my voice more stern this time. Her hands stopped and she removed her mouth from my neck.

"Something wrong?" she sounded surprised and unsure.

I turned around in her arms and took a step back. I could see the confusion in her eyes I didn't want to cause, so I briefly smiled.

"No, but I just think that... you know, we shouldn't do this already," I said, trying to make her understand what I felt, "I mean, I've never had this kind of relationship before, and.. I'm not sure what I feel for you, so, I think it's best that we... take it a little slower."

Cho's shoulders dropped but she nodded.

"I understand. It's new for me too to be with a girl, though it really doesn't differ much from one with a boy, I guess. But, yeah, like I said, I understand. I want you to feel right about me and what we might have, so, if you want, we'll take it slow," she said, much to my relief, "Is it okay for me to hold you though?" Cho laughed.

"Of course it is." I smiled back.

She took my hand and walked me over to the nearest sofa that stood in the room. The elder girl plopped down and pulled me onto her lap, enveloping me with her arms. I breathed out, feeling comfortably and warm in her arms. I leaned against her chest, feeling her breath in and out evenly.

"Cho, can I ask you a few questions?"

"Sure."

I thought for a moment, not knowing which one of the many questions I had I should ask first. I started with an easy one to keep the topic light.

"Have you liked... girls before?"

Cho laughed a little, "No, I haven't, actually. You have the honor of being the first. I don't know, after Cedric, I guess I didn't want another boy to lose him like I lost Cedric again. Or maybe not."

She seemed to think for a moment, her last word still lingering in the air.

"I think that people just fall in love with someone, no matter what your preferences are, no matter if somebody is the other gender, even if they don't know if they are a lesbian or something. It just happens, I mean, love is love, no matter what."

I hummed a little in agreement. What she said was true, if you really love someone, it shouldn't matter how they look, how they act or which gender they are. What matters then is that he or she loves you back like you love them.

"But, you just.. fell for me like that? No gradual acception or something?" I asked, a bit flushed at having to ask Cho this question.

"Hmh, I guess I didn't fall for you right away, to be honest, though I was pretty much head over heels by the time I did. At first, I wasn't sure. I didn't want to be sure. I mean, I was in love with a girl. But, after a while, I decided that I was okay with it. I thought, screw all the people who might be disgusted with it, screw society. I want to be in love with who ever I want."

"Okay, I guess I can relate to that. I mean, after I kissed you back, I first was kind of denying that I liked you back. But, I cleared my mind and figured out that I do like you." I replied.

"And I'm glad you did so." Cho said, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

I felt a little queasy all the sudden. Hearin Cho saying she'd fall for me like that, kind of took me off guard. I never expected any one to be in love with me. Never did I expected Cho to be. An uneasy feeling, an insecure feeling crept up in my chest and I pressed myself to Cho, trying to cast it away with her warmth and comfort.

But I had to say it.

"But, Cho.. why would you ever.. like a girl like me?"
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A/n: BWAHAHA. Another cliffhanger. I am oh so evil. Is Hermione getting insecure? Is she now instantly doubting her feeling though she'd just said she liked Cho? But yeah, be happy, Cho and Hermione are together now! You will find the rest out in the next chapter, which will mainly be talking like this one I guess.

By the way, I am planning to round this fic up, still a few chaps to go before the end I guess. So yeah, be prepared :)

Read&Review please! And don't just say that I need to update, because I will, I promise. Tell me, did you like it, did you hate it? What did you like, what did you hate? I need to improve here, people! So please, review! I'd kill for some constructive critism~

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Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione Granger or Cho Chang. Neither do I own the Harry Potter series.
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