Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They all
belong to the gifted Joanne Kathleen Rowling so don't sue me! All I have are my
plot and my computer =).
A/N: Left a cliffhanger but you didn't have to wait for
long, did you? =) Anyway, these first few chapters are mainly romance. It's
only about Christmas that the action actually kicks in. To Pumpkin Hatching,
your guess is so darn close, maybe I got to change the pairings now…=) Well,
some, if not most of your guesses on the upcoming romance is head on…But you
got to wait until I complete to see who ends up with who…=)
Mid-Autumn
Ball
Then the thought of Cedric occurred again and guilt washed
over her. She couldn't do this to Cedric. Two Triwizard champions, one was alive,
the other dead. One was her boyfriend, the other she wanted to be her
boyfriend. She finally admitted that to herself. She would love to say yes but
the memory of Cedric kept haunting her.
Sensing Cho's hesitancy, Harry was sad that she did not
think of him as he thought of her, and he knew the reason. "She still loves
Cedric and maybe even blames me for it though she had said I was not at fault
in one of her letters to me during the holidays. She's just out of my league."
Harry thought.
Feeling miserable, he tried to take back his words, "I meant
we could go as friends, nothing else." He couldn't believe that the same girl
had ripped his heart apart for two years in a row. "This has got to be a
record," he thought.
His words drove a dagger into her heart. She couldn't
believe how much his words affected her. She knew this was for the best but she
thought that she had meant something to him. Had she read the signs wrongly?
Maybe he just asked her because he felt guilty that Cedric's ex-girlfriend had
no date. She could feel the tears coming and immediately said, "Sorry, I can't
go with you," before entering her common room without a second glance.
Harry saw Cho's stricken look before she entered the common
room. He wanted to chase after her but he was not allowed into another house's
common room and anyway, she probably needed some time alone. He realized how much
he had hurt her with his words and now he couldn't take them back. He should
have just accepted her answer instead of adding that they go as friends. Now
she probably thought that he did not actually want to ask her. He was an idiot.
She would probably never forgive him for that. He had really gone over the
line.
Cho was unable to sleep that night. She couldn't stop
thinking of Harry's words. She had cried even more than she had cried after
Cedric's death the past year before she forced herself to stop. She didn't
realize just how much she wanted to go to the dance with Harry until he said
those words that tore her heart apart. She knew she should leave Cedric's
memory in peace and get on with her life but she could not help thinking that
if she was not Cedric's girlfriend, he would not try to win the Cup for her and
ultimately die. If she had recognized her love for Harry earlier, this would
not have happened. All the 'If…' just kept her awake the whole night, tossing
and turning until nearly before dawn, before she fell into a troubled sleep.
******************************
Over the days leading up to the ball, Cho and Harry were
practically strangers. He tried to talk to her but she treated him with open
hostility and he could do nothing about it. He threw himself into his classes and
Quidditch that would be starting the weekend after the first ball. He improved
tremendously in his studies through extra studying and his night classes but he
was miserable. He felt lonely without Cho's friendship and did not spend much
time with his friends, preferring to go to the library or to his dorm to be
alone. He kept his thoughts to himself and did not talk much unless there was
something important. Though his close friends noticed that it probably had to
do with Cho, they kept silent and left him after he snapped at their initial
questions. Sirius and Lupin also noticed a difference in him but knew better to
ask. He would tell them himself if he wanted to.
Cho was also in the same situation as Harry. She couldn't
stop thinking about him even though she treated him with hostility. She felt
worse than ever but she did not know what to do or say so that seemed the best
route to go. Roger Davies had asked her to the ball. She did not want to accept
at first but after much thinking, she decided that wallowing in her misery
would not help and accepted without emotion.
Ron and Jessica were going to the ball together too. Ron had
initially asked Hermione but she rejected him as there was only one person she
wanted to go with. Harry was rather surprised to see Ron and Jess going
together as he thought that they were mostly at odds, which they are, though in
a more friendly way lately, and he thought that Ron liked Hermione. Dudley had
not asked anyone though he got along pretty well with his fellow Gryffindors
and was improving in both his classes and flying. He was taking all his classes
with the fifth years now and looked to be a future Quidditch team member. Ginny
was also hoping to go to the ball with Harry until Colin Creevey asked her. She
decided that Harry was never going to ask so she accepted Colin's date.
******************************
The day of the ball arrived. By then, many - especially the
Gryffindors and Ravenclaws - were aware of Harry and Cho's indifference towards
each other. When they first started hanging out together, rumours of them
together were spread but they just ignored them. Now that their attitude
towards each other had changed, there were many who were curious over what had
happened. Some had even ventured to ask him but many kept out of his way after he
snapped at them. Most of the Gryffindors left him to think alone but Hermione was
worried and sought him out in the library.
"Harry," Hermione said tentatively as she approached him.
"Oh…hi Hermione," Harry said after snapping out of a daze.
"What's wrong? You seem so out of it recently." Hermione
said as slid into the seat across from his.
"Nothing. I just thought that since there are the OWLs this
year, I had better study harder." Harry lied through his teeth.
"Stop lying Potter. I'm your best friend." Hermione argued.
"Softer, Madam Pince will chase us out if we make too much
noise." Harry said.
"Only if you tell me what's wrong," Hermione replied.
"I…uh…blew my chance with Cho." Harry said.
"Ah, so we've guessed correctly. The problem lies with Cho."
Hermione said.
"You guys have been talking about me?" Harry said
indignantly.
"Er…we're your friends and are worried over your recent
behaviour." Hermione retorted.
"I…"Harry stammered.
"So since we've both got no dates. Why don't we go
together?" Hermione tried asking nonchalantly though a faint blush appeared on
her cheeks.
Not noticing, Harry replied, "Sure."
"So you never said what went wrong with Cho," Hermione
commented after a while.
"Don't ask alright," Harry said.
"Okay, think I'll go now. See you at the common room at 7:30
alright?" Hermione inquired.
"Yeah, bye." Harry replied before losing himself into his
thoughts again.
He thought of Cho again and replayed that whole incident
over again in his head. He had been kicking himself since that day and missed
Cho a lot. At least when they were friends, he could still be with her. Why did
he have to go and spoil it all? Finally, he vowed to have a talk with her soon.
He could not stand this torment any longer. He was already burdened with his
extra classes and now this only added to it.
******************************
The rest of the day just passed in a daze and before Harry
knew it, it was 7:30. He went down to the common room with Ron and Dudley and
saw Hermione already waiting for him. She looked lovely but he did not even
notice and remained silent until Ron prodded him.
"Uh, you look great." Harry said though he never really
looked at her. But Hermione was too delirious to be going to the ball with him
to notice.
"Thanks, you look great yourself." Hermione replied.
Just then Jess emerged and both Ron and Dudley gawked at
her. She looked simply gorgeous. Dudley had no date for the night and decided
to tag along with the two couples.
"Wow," was the only word Ron could utter.
Jess just laughed it off and they all made their way to the
great hall where dinner was served before the actual dancing. Harry glanced
about the hall when they arrived and saw Cho looking like a goddess. And then
he saw that she was on Roger's arm and jealousy kicked in. Many thoughts flew
in his mind and he even thought she just wanted the honour of accompanying the
head boy when he saw that she didn't even look happy. In fact, she looked
almost as miserable as he felt. That was surprising, after seeing her
emotionless face for weeks.
Dinner was soon over and the dance began. Only Jess and Ron
seemed to actually have fun. They seemed to have gotten over their differences
and now had eyes only for each other. They just danced through the night,
feeling delirious like they were actually a couple. (A/N: Do you think I'd be
kind enough to leave them together?)
Harry did ask Hermione for a few dances but seemed not into
it and only following the motions. Draco claimed Hermione for a dance and Harry
was happy to finally have time alone to think. He looked around the room and couldn't
find Cho. He found Roger dancing with someone he recognized to be from
Hufflepuff and he almost felt like bashing him. "How could he leave someone
like Cho for someone so inferior?" Harry thought angrily. Feeling worried, he
left to look for her.
Draco was happy to dance with Hermione. He was jealous that
Hermione had gone with Harry while he was stuck with Pansy who he didn't like
at all. He noticed that Harry did not even realize his fortune of being with
Hermione and ignored her most of the time and wanted to punch some sense into
him. Soon, both he and Hermione saw Harry leaving and a sad look passed over
her face. Draco then realized that Hermione was in love with Harry. While he
tried to collect his thoughts, Hermione rushed out after Harry. Seeing that
nothing else was going to go for him that night, Draco was devastated and
decided to return to his dorm for an early night.
Hermione caught up with Harry on the way to the Ravenclaw
common room where he was headed. "Harry," she called panting for breath.
Hearing his name called, Harry spun round in time to catch Hermione as she came
flying across.
"What are you doing here, Hermione? I thought you were
dancing with Draco." Harry was confused. (A/N: He tried to set her up with
Draco as he knew that Draco liked her.)
"I saw you leaving and…" Hermione tried to explain.
"And what?" Harry asked exasperated.
Hermione could not find any words to explain so she just
leaned up to kiss him. He tried to gently push her away but she wouldn't give
up. So he decided to just let her ease up and loosen her grip before he pushes
her off. He soon dreamt that he was kissing Cho and even kissed her in return.
After a while, he opened his eyes to smile at her when he realized that he had
kissed Hermione and she was looking up at him starry-eyed, with a dreamy smile
on her face. He was about to push her away when he noticed a lone figure
standing not far off. "Darn…" he muttered. He immediately let go off Hermione
and ran off after that fast retreating figure. (A/N: You guys should know who that
figure is, so this isn't really a cliffhanger. Until next time…)
