Harry Potter and the Gang of Giggling Girls

by Glee-chan

Chapter Ten

The next day Harry made his way from class, happy it was a open period. He had made a point to leave class as soon as possible, just so he could lose Padma for a few hours. He felt he had been spending entirely way to much time with female company, and he honestly didn't know how much more girl-talk he could take.

Harry went to his dorm room and quickly changed out of his school uniform and into something more along the pants area. He was tired of all this skirt wearing. It was nice being able to change without his room mates talking and slowing him down. They were just getting on his nerves. That and after Cho had discovered he liked girls she seemed to be acting more friendly around him, as if knowing a secret made her feel more important. Harry didn't want Cho around as much as she was of late. She had been close to him before and could very well discover his real secret. If she saw that he found Ginny attractive even if he was seething with hatred towards her, then there was no telling what else she might notice.

Retreating to the Quidditch pitch, Harry found Madam Hooch and asked if he could borrow one of the school's brooms. Some flying would do him some good and get his mind off of things. After receiving a broom, he quickly mounted the used Cleansweep and pushed off the ground. Despite his long blonde hair whipping in his face, the freedom of flying quickly eased his tension.

Stopping to pull his hair back into a ponytail, Harry hovered for a few moments over the field, not taking notice of people gathering below him. When he finished and looked down he saw a crowd down below him looking up. Sighing, be pointed his broom down and flew over to see what the matter was.

"Naomi, I didn't know you could fly."

It was Ron. Harry then realized it was the Gryffindor Quidditch team, accompanied by the usual Gryffindor fan club. It must be their practice time.

"Oh. I'm sorry I didn't know it was your practice time. I'm sorry…" Harry landed next to Ginny who was looking at him with a polite smile.

"She didn't just fly. Did you see that balance? She was fixing her hair in midair, without even holding on to the broom. Like she's been flying for years." Katie Bell was said. "How come you've never joined the Ravenclaw Quidditch team?"

"I'm not into sports." Harry quickly forced out. "I like flying, though. It helps me relax after I've had a stressful day."

Ron nodded. "I know how.. I mean what … uh… you know… I get it. I mean I get what you mean."

Harry felt that weird sick flip-flop in his stomach again. Ron was checking him out. "I should go…"

Ginny grabbed his arm, it was everything with in him not to swat it away. "Stick around. Hey, we're not going to practice Quidditch all that seriously today, so you can join. We can teach you how to play if you want."

Harry shook his head, feeling a warm sensation seep to his cheeps. A mixture of past love and anger were filling him. "I..I don't want to embarrass myself. Besides I probably should be doing something more productive anyway."

Hermione walked from behind the group of Gryffindor Quidditch players, then caught sight of Harry. She looked stunned then nervous. He was standing with a broom in front of Ron and Ginny, so naturally she thought they might be on to him, Harry could see it in her face. The color went out of her cheeks as if she couldn't think of what to do.

"No c'mon, it'll be fun." Ginny said. "You don't have to leave just because of us. Plus I want to see how good you are on that broom."

"There she is." For the first time this year, Harry was relieved to see Cho. She pushed her way through the Gryffindors then looked at the Cleansweep in his hand. "Planning on joining the Gryffindor Quidditch team?"

Harry gave a confused look. "No…no, I just wanted to fly around, but I kind of interrupted their practice…"

"We told her it's okay if she wants to join us, but she says she doesn't know how to play Quidditch." Ginny gave Cho an odd look. Harry wondered what that look meant.

"Well, if she doesn't want to play you shouldn't force her." Hermione voice came from no where. She still had no color in her cheeks.

"I'm not forcing her to do anything, am I Naomi?" Ginny looked at him, then confused at both Hermione and Cho for being so defensive over something so trivial.

"I-" Harry started but Cho interrupted.

"Why do you care what Naomi does or doesn't do, Hermione? If she wanted to play Quidditch then why shouldn't she?"

"Really, I don't mind…" Harry tried again, but Hermione interrupted him this time.

"She just looked like she didn't want to, that's all."

"Are you threatened that she would show you up?" Cho placed her hands on her hips.

"No. That's completely absurd, Cho." Hermione lowered her eyebrows. "Besides, how could she show me up if she never played Quidditch before in her life."

Harry's mind raced. If he were Harry he didn't know a way out of this. But he wasn't Harry, he was Naomi. Naomi was a girl, who was irrational and stuck up. Playing the drama queen, he threw the broom down. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here. I can make my own decisions, I don't need anyone's help!"

"We didn't mean to upset you." Ginny looked hurt. Harry felt his heart skip a beat.

"You didn't… I mean… look, I'm just gonna go. C'mon Cho."

Harry turn and walked off the Quidditch pitch without watching to see if Cho was following him. When they got near the castle, Harry stopped and sat down on the steps leading in. Why couldn't he just do one thing he wanted to do? Why did Naomi have to ruin everything for him? Cho quickly came after him, breathing heavily.

"The nerve of that girl. She follows you around like your Harry."

Harry stiffened. He glanced at Cho, who just looked red in face from anger, sitting down next to him. "She just wants to win that tournament… that's all." Harry quickly said.

"No it's more than that." Cho she fumed. But she looked at Harry and calmed herself down. After rested her elbows on her knees then rested her chin on her hands, she changed her frustrated look into one of worry. "You really seemed upset back there, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to fly for a few minutes, that's all."

"How come?"

"It makes me feel… feel like I don't have any responsibilities, that I'm free to feel how I want to, and that I don't have to think about anything. It's just… refreshing to be in the air and leave the world and my problems below."

"Wow." Cho sighed. "That's sounds like how I feel. That's why I started playing Quidditch you know. Someone caught me flying and thought I'd be a decent seeker if I worked at it. But flying at first for me was like you said. It was just a place to get away from my troubles. From girls following me, from boys staring at me."

"You never liked the attention?" Harry said before he could stop himself.

"Being pretty is a double edged sword. It comes with advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes I didn't want to be noticed. You'll find that out."

"What do you mean?"

"You've been trying to hide all this time… shy and didn't talk much. But this year you're more open, and presenting yourself more like a girl. You're pretty and people are starting to notice. Soon it'll be more than you can handle. You'll have to pretend everyday that you don't notice eyes staring at you, or hear comments both jealous and lustful."

Harry suddenly felt sorry for Cho. He had been one of those guys who's eyes were on her a lot. "You must hate everyone for staring…"

"Oh, not everyone. Sometimes I want to be noticed." Cho sighed longingly. "I wanted Harry to notice me. But I messed that up."

"You did?" He wondered what that meant.

"I know it sounds bad of me, but I shouldn't have gone out with Cedric. I liked him. I thought he was cute. But if I was being honest with myself there was someone I wanted to go out with more. I didn't want to tell Cedric I changed my mind, that would have been rude. But I wonder… maybe him going out with me was a distraction, and that's why he died that night. And now I feel guilty. I should have been with Harry… and me being polite might have put Cedric in danger."

"That's harsh." Harry felt uncomfortable. Did girls have these emotional conversations all the time? And why was he and Cho having these conversations more so than anyone else? "I don't think you had anything to do with Diggory's death."

"Maybe not… but me turning Harry down was the reason why he ran to Hermione…"

"I don't think he ever was into Hermione."

"Maybe not like that. But she has a hold on him, and she never really liked me, I'm sure of it. When I wasn't around I'm sure she was telling him things that he wanted to hear and things bad about me. But I did my part too, in driving him away." Cho sighed then sat up. "Strange how I'm talking about it now with you. We're only just started to get to know each other."

"Err, I'm sure you've talked about this before…"

"No, I haven't. I only just blamed Hermione, and kept the rest inside. But for some reason you make me feel comfortable enough to talk about Harry."

Harry wanted out of there. If she were ever to find out that Naomi was Harry she would hate him forever. "Well uh, that's all over now, guess there's no need to dwell on it. The key thing is to move on and become a better person."

Cho stood up. "You're right. I shouldn't mope around about it anymore. No, if I really want him, I have to show him I'm over Cedric and that I really want to be with him."

"That's … nice." Harry felt his stomach flip-flop again, but not out of sickness. Moreover being uncomfortable. "Too bad he isn't here…"

Cho sighed. "I wish he was." Cho sighed. "Well I'm going to the dorm to change, you coming?"

"I'll be along, in a few." Harry placed his face in his hands feeling miserable.

"Need some alone time? I get it. No worries, see you later." Cho said as Harry heard her footsteps go up on the stone stairs.

Cho was getting closer and closer to figuring things out, Harry could tell. Catching him looking at girls, seeing how Hermione acted around him, and now feeling comfortable around him like she had been close to him before. Sooner or later she would figure it out. She was smarter than people gave her credit for. The problem was, would she keep it a secret, or would she be angry at him for deceiving her?

Harry kept his face buried in his hands trying to think how he could possible get himself out of the situation. Why was he even here anyway? Didn't he have more important things he could be doing, like hunting Horcruxes? With Cho winning the Ravenclaw place, he now had more free time. Why he was just sitting still doing nothing? He wondered if he should talk to Professor Dumbledore about his thoughts on the matter, and ask to be more active in the defeat of Voldemort.

Before he could gather himself to get up, he heard footsteps coming his direction. Looking up from his hands, his eyes unblurred just to see the face of Ginny Weasley approaching him. Harry wondered what else could go wrong when he saw the curious look on the red head's face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. You seemed upset, and I thought part of it was my fault so I came to apologize."

"No…I'm just stressed out and took it out on everyone…" Harry grumbled.

"Is my brother bugging you?"

"Yes and no…" Harry admitted. "I just wish people didn't see me as… eye candy."

"Join the club." Ginny sat next to him. Harry wished that she wouldn't. If Hermione could catch on he was Harry within moments, Ginny could to if giving enough time. "We're strangers, I know, but do you mind if I tell you something. Something I know you won't understand, but I can't tell anyone else or else they would worry about me. See I just need to tell someone and for some reason I've decided to be crazy and choose someone I barely know."

Harry nodded his head but inside he was groaning with frustration. Girls. They all talked to much. "You sure you want to tell me something that important?"

"I'm sure. You've read the Daily Prophet and seen what it's saying about Harry Potter, haven't you? He and I … well we're friends. In fact, I wish we could be more than that. But out paths always seemed to be blocked by Voldemort." She paused and looked at him. "He wants to kill him, you know. Harry that is. So Harry stays away. Which is understandable. He wants to make sure that the people he cares for are safe. That's why haven't… He thinks that he can handle this on his own, and doesn't even bother to ask if we want to help or evolve us in anyway."

"Probably better that way. You know, it's dangerous and all that."

"We don't care about that…. I don't care about that. I just want to help. Not only because I care about him, but because I want to help too. It's unfair that he should make that kind of a decision for us…for me."

Harry glanced at Ginny, seeing her staring directly at him. It was hard to be angry as this younger more innocent Ginny. Especially when she was talking like that. "I'm sure he has a good reason. So don't feel… don't feel like…" Harry realized that he was almost about to go on a rant about how he really did care about Ginny and the others, and he had good reason to want to work alone, but why would Naomi say those things?

Ginny leaned forward. "Don't feel like what?"

"I… I dunno… I've never been involved in a conversation like this before. My life isn't as exciting as all yours have been. I want to say something like 'It's okay' or 'Things will work out for the best.' But when dealing with Lord Voldemort-"

"Ah-ha!" Ginny looked at him with a grin. "Got'cha!"