"Well, that's one for me, and none for you," Cho said with a grin as she and Harry returned to the ground.
"Hey, I just woke up. I bet you I'll get the next one," Harry replied with a smile, also followed by a yawn. It was early. Dawn had hit just about half an hour ago, which Harry and Cho had been using to mark the start of their new Quidditch training. It was shaping up to be a clear day, but the morning hour resulted in a heavy mist over the field. The two Seekers had been trying to spend every minute they could together, but with the Quidditch competition so close this year, they both had started taking flak from each of their respective houses about "fraternizing with the enemy". To compensate, the two of them had been meeting just before dawn on the Quidditch field every morning for the past month. Their routine was simple. Cho had used her influence as Ravenclaw team captain to procure a set of Quidditch balls, however, with the two of them both being Seekers, they only really needed one: the Golden Snitch. At dawn, Cho would release the Snitch. They had decided that three minutes was a good enough head start, and would wait on the ground, warming up, and chatting with each other. The first few mornings, they had both zipped away in opposite directions at the start, Harry on his Firebolt, and Cho on her brand new Nimbus Two-Thousand and One. It had been a tough battle. Both of them had the same number of years as Seekers, owing to Harry's placement on the Gryffindor team as a first-year, and Cho's placement on the Ravenclaw team in her second year. Harry had the faster broom of the two, but Cho had a quicker eye. In fact, she had began to realize that she could anticipate the seemingly random patterns and movements of the Snitch. She was able to keep Harry, as well as all of the other Seekers who had played against her, guessing by making random zigs and zags which more often then not ended up with her being placed directly inline with the Snitch. That first morning had resulted in a tie, with Harry catching the first one, and Cho the second. By the time they had finished their second go, they were pushing the time they needed to get to breakfast and then class.
As the first week progressed, and they found their ability to spend time with one another off of the Quidditch field becoming more and more restricted, their early morning practice became their main outlet for being with one another. Instead of zipping off in opposite directions, they began to take off together, and continue talking. It became more of a chance to fly together, up away from the hectic world down below of classes, and the rivalry of the four Houses. Far from being hard training, they began to zip around each other, climbing, diving, doing loops and corkscrews together. Daring the other to go faster, or higher, all the while laughing and smiling at each other. Of course, they continued to look for the Snitch, after all, they couldn't just leave it out here. Madam Hooch would have their heads if they returned an incomplete set. But Snitch finding took a back seat to their enjoyment of each other. It was up in the skies that they talked about themselves; their fears, hopes and dreams. But probably the most healing of their time together was the sharing of their common sorrow: Cedric Diggory.
It was an offhanded comment that Cho made which had started it all. "Ya know, Harry," she said one rainy morning at the end of their first week. "Cedric would have loved to be doing this with us."
Harry felt a lump catch in his throat. Talking about Cedric usually made him tense up, but the fact that Cho mentioned him made things that much trickier. "W-what do you mean?" he stammered out.
"He loved watching you fly. He said he'd never seen anything like the way you flew when you took on the dragon at the Triwizard Tournament. He was never sure why he was made a Seeker for Hufflepuff, he knew he didn't have the right build for it. Always thought he was too slow. And watching you, he dreamed of flying like that. Making those dives you pull off like you'd been doing them since you were born..." Cho's eyes had started to water, as they did when she really thought back about her time with Cedric. "He would have ... I mean ... he wanted ... he really didn't like being forced to compete against you, Harry ..." She turned to look at him, and saw that he was looking down at the grass with a far off stare. Smiling, she finished, "He looked up to you ... wanted to be like you."
"And I killed him ..." he whispered to no one in particular.
Cho's smile turned to bewilderment. "What did you say?" she asked, horrified to hear the answer.
"If it weren't for me, he'd still be here, alive ... with you ..."
Before she knew it, Cho's hand whipped out from her side, and slapped Harry full in the face. "HARRY! NO! You saved Cedric! Voldemort killed him, don't you ever ..."
The slap to the face shook him, but he started at that name. "What did you say?..."
"I said, VOLDEMORT ... KILLED ... CEDRIC! And if you ever start to think that you are in even some small part responsible for his death, I will ... I'll ..." but Cho was at a loss for words. The rage inside of her was starting to fizzle out.
"You said his name," Harry said in an awe filled tone.
"Voldemort, Voldemort, VOLDEMORT! What the hell is he going to do? Apparate right in front of me just because I said his name? See if I care!" Giving her something to focus on, Cho's voice rang to new heights. "And look what he's done to you! He's got you feeling ... guilty ..." she punctuated this by shoving Harry backwards "about ... murdering ... Cedric!" This last shove, combined with the muddy field caused Cho to lose her footing, and slip downwards. Harry brought his arms up to catch her, but being off balance himself, they both tumbled down to the earth. Now (somewhat) wrapped in Harry's arms, Cho's anger dissipated, leaving her sobbing uncontrollably. "Harry ... oh Harry ..." Her sobs continued for several more minutes and the rain continued to fall on them. Not really knowing what to do, Harry tried to comfort her as best as possible, but being pinned to the ground made it difficult. Slowly regaining her composure, Cho looked up at him, her eyes red and swollen, and her face sopping wet with rain and tears. "I guess ... I don't know ... I loved him, Cedric ..." A knot suddenly appeared in Harry's stomach. "... I didn't really know it for a long time, but I could never really decide on how I felt about him. Now, though, I know I loved him ... " The knot began tightening and swelling at the same time. "... but you ... you make the pain inside go away. It's like ... in some way, Cedric is still here, trying to live on in the two people he cared about most. You from far away, and me ... from a bit closer." At this, she sidled up so that she and Harry were face to face. "Harry, I love Cedric, and if I ever hear anything come out of your mouth that does his death injustice, I will personally kick your ass like this again," she said with a smile, and a twinkle in her eye that Harry wasn't sure to be glad for, or afraid of. "Do you understand me?" Cho's voice had dropped the joking undertone and had taken on a seriousness that Harry hadn't seen before. "Promise me, Harry. Promise me that you will never even think that you had any part in Cedric's death. You were a part of his life, and you gave his death a meaning. He will be the rallying cry for all of us who oppose Voldemort, because of you. Promise me that you won't forget these things, Harry ..."
His memory of Cedric's shade came back to him. His words of encouragement flooded back to him. The way he had helped him stave off Voldemort, and saw how Cedric had yelled some rather choice insults that Harry never would have thought him capable of at his enemy. With Cho's words still echoing in his ears, and the vision of Cedric in his mind, Harry felt the guilt that had been lurking in his soul begin to dissolve away. Looking up into Cho's eyes, he met her stare, and said in a clear, strong voice, "I promise."
She beamed down at him as new tears flowed from her eyes. "Thank you." she mouthed. They lie there for another minute or two before she straightened up, and the two of them were now sitting on the ground, covered in rain and mud and tears. "Good. Now that that's settled, I dont' feel guilty about this."
"Guilty about what?" replied Harry. Cho turned to face him full, and the look in her eye was one that Harry could not decipher. He was still trying to decide whether or not he should have known the answer to that before hand when Cho reached out her hand, and brushed away the dark, wet hair that always ended up in his eyes. With her hand resting on the side of Harry's face, she slowly leaned in towards him. As they neared, Harry saw her eyes close, just as their lips met. The knot in Harry's stomach transfigured itself into the largest swarm of butterflies known to man. For the next twenty seconds, Harry had lost all idea of what to do with his body except for his lips, which he had decided needed to stay right where they were for as long as they possibly could. Everything else though, no matter where he tried to put it, seemed to be in the wrong spot. Even his eyebrows seemed to be in an uncomfortable position on his face.
When the kiss had finished, Cho looked at a now fully blushing Harry and said, "That." Cho then started pushing herself up off the ground. "Come on, Harry, if we don't nab that Snitch soon, we'll be here all day. Our usual three minutes was up a long time ago."
Harry had not been able to bring himself to tell anyone about that morning. Ron would have yelled at him for confirming the rumors flying around that something was going on between the Seekers for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and that since the Inter-House Championship was so close this year, anything that might jeopardize Gryffindor's chances were not being tolerated. Hermione, on the other hand, may have taken the news better, but as she had so recently pointed out, she was a girl too, and this was something that Harry definitely did not feel comfortable enough to talk about with another girl. Inevitably, Hermione would have started giggling uncontrollably. An act which Harry had become increasingly convinced should be outlawed amongst girls. And since that one morning, that kiss had remained Harry and Cho's first, and only kiss. On other mornings, Harry would almost think that it would happen again, only to be interrupted by something. First, it was the bell for classes ringing as the two of them had now completely missed breakfast, and were bound to be late for their first class. Then, it had been Cho and Harry constantly planning on what to do about the upcoming Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin match which was now only two days away.
"So, have you had any more ideas on what I can do? I mean, Malfoy's got a Firebolt now. 'Daddy doesn't want me to fall behind'", Cho intoned, mocking the drawl that Malfoy always talked with. "I mean, he can pretty much outrace me at will. I know you can beat him, but you haven't gone full out on that broom of yours since that first day ..."
"W-what are you talking about?" Harry stammered. "You don't think I'm letting you win, do you?"
"Oh, I don't think you're letting me *win*, Harry, but I know what the top speed of a Firebolt is, and you haven't been going anywhere near that while we've been practicing."
Harry blushed. Cho was right of course. He had hoped that she wouldn't have noticed, but since Harry liked more to talk and joke with Cho, rather then race past her, he *had* been keeping his speed up to about that of Cho's Nimbus Two-Thousand and One. However, what he had noticed was that his handling had been growing more and more precise as he tried to match Cho's reflexes and uncanny ability to track the Snitch. Maybe today he'd just go full out and see what happened. "Well ... three minutes is up, you ready?"
Cho responded with a wink, and flew off, her laugh trailing behind her. Grinning, Harry kicked off, and easily overtook her headstart. "I told you so!" she yelled towards him, to which Harry responded by sticking his tongue out at her. Harry really let the throttle out on the Firebolt this morning. It had been a while since he'd let his broom go as fast as it could. Several times, though, his speed ended up getting him in trouble against Cho. Both of them would see the Snitch at about the same time, and Harry would zoom towards it, only to watch as it zigged out of his way, right in the direction that Cho had taken after he had passed her, causing him to make a quick turnaround and make it back just in time to cut her off from nabbing it. After the third time it happened, Harry heard her yell, "I'll get you for that one, Potter!" There was something about the way that Cho used his last name to address him that Harry really liked. It was only while they were flying that she did it. The rest of the time, she always called him Harry.
For the fourth time, Harry caught sight of the Snitch, and sped off towards it. Cho had seen it a second before him, and was in front of him, but that didn't prove to be a problem. He pulled up alongside of her, grinning wildly. He looked over at her, and saw a look of deep concentration on her face. Suddenly, Cho veered directly into Harry, causing him to turn sharply. "What the?!" he called out in surprise. He turned to where Cho was, only to find no Cho; her broom was empty. He turned just in time to see her diving outward, and then falling, her hand outstretched, reaching, grasping, and finally closing around the Snitch. "CHO!" Harry screamed, turning and starting to chase her now falling body. They were about two hundred feet in the air. With any luck, he'd be able to catch her and land without getting them both killed. His eyes on the falling girl, he watched as she reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. Pointing at him, Harry heard her call out, "*Accio!*" A whizzing noise came from behind Harry and he ducked just in time for Cho's Nimbus Two-Thousand and One to fly right over his head. When Harry looked up, he watched in awe as Cho deftly caught the broom with her feet, crooked one leg around it, pulled herself upright, and grabbed the handle with her wand hand, and pulled out of her frightening free fall.
As Harry pulled up next to her, he began to shout, "ARE YOU CRAZY?!?"
She responded with a look that shone with exhiliration. "It worked! I can't believe it actually worked! Did you see that? I've never felt anything like that in my life!"
The two of them came to a halt on the ground. "You could have been killed, Cho!" Harry was outraged. His fear of watching Cho fall to her death while he watched brought out an anger he'd never felt before.
She turned on him, flushed face beaming. "Oh, but you would have saved me, Harry." She giggled, reaching out with both of her arms, grabbing him around the neck, and giving him a big smacking kiss right on the lips. "I did it! I can beat Malfoy! And you helped me do it! Oh, I can't wait for the match!" She hurriedly turned towards the open box of Quidditch balls, and began securing the Snitch.
Harry was still standing in place, befuddled. After a kiss like that, he found he'd lost the ability to be angry. After a kiss like that, he found that he'd also lost the ability to put together a coherent thought. Cho finally turned to see him still standing there gawking, grabbed his hand, and began dragging him towards the main hall. "Come on! If I'm late for Herbology one more time, I'm gonna get detention..."
***
Characters and setting copyright J.K. Rowling.
A/N I'm still working on getting the format of this to look right. In case you're wondering, there's more to come, and it's already in progress.
"Hey, I just woke up. I bet you I'll get the next one," Harry replied with a smile, also followed by a yawn. It was early. Dawn had hit just about half an hour ago, which Harry and Cho had been using to mark the start of their new Quidditch training. It was shaping up to be a clear day, but the morning hour resulted in a heavy mist over the field. The two Seekers had been trying to spend every minute they could together, but with the Quidditch competition so close this year, they both had started taking flak from each of their respective houses about "fraternizing with the enemy". To compensate, the two of them had been meeting just before dawn on the Quidditch field every morning for the past month. Their routine was simple. Cho had used her influence as Ravenclaw team captain to procure a set of Quidditch balls, however, with the two of them both being Seekers, they only really needed one: the Golden Snitch. At dawn, Cho would release the Snitch. They had decided that three minutes was a good enough head start, and would wait on the ground, warming up, and chatting with each other. The first few mornings, they had both zipped away in opposite directions at the start, Harry on his Firebolt, and Cho on her brand new Nimbus Two-Thousand and One. It had been a tough battle. Both of them had the same number of years as Seekers, owing to Harry's placement on the Gryffindor team as a first-year, and Cho's placement on the Ravenclaw team in her second year. Harry had the faster broom of the two, but Cho had a quicker eye. In fact, she had began to realize that she could anticipate the seemingly random patterns and movements of the Snitch. She was able to keep Harry, as well as all of the other Seekers who had played against her, guessing by making random zigs and zags which more often then not ended up with her being placed directly inline with the Snitch. That first morning had resulted in a tie, with Harry catching the first one, and Cho the second. By the time they had finished their second go, they were pushing the time they needed to get to breakfast and then class.
As the first week progressed, and they found their ability to spend time with one another off of the Quidditch field becoming more and more restricted, their early morning practice became their main outlet for being with one another. Instead of zipping off in opposite directions, they began to take off together, and continue talking. It became more of a chance to fly together, up away from the hectic world down below of classes, and the rivalry of the four Houses. Far from being hard training, they began to zip around each other, climbing, diving, doing loops and corkscrews together. Daring the other to go faster, or higher, all the while laughing and smiling at each other. Of course, they continued to look for the Snitch, after all, they couldn't just leave it out here. Madam Hooch would have their heads if they returned an incomplete set. But Snitch finding took a back seat to their enjoyment of each other. It was up in the skies that they talked about themselves; their fears, hopes and dreams. But probably the most healing of their time together was the sharing of their common sorrow: Cedric Diggory.
It was an offhanded comment that Cho made which had started it all. "Ya know, Harry," she said one rainy morning at the end of their first week. "Cedric would have loved to be doing this with us."
Harry felt a lump catch in his throat. Talking about Cedric usually made him tense up, but the fact that Cho mentioned him made things that much trickier. "W-what do you mean?" he stammered out.
"He loved watching you fly. He said he'd never seen anything like the way you flew when you took on the dragon at the Triwizard Tournament. He was never sure why he was made a Seeker for Hufflepuff, he knew he didn't have the right build for it. Always thought he was too slow. And watching you, he dreamed of flying like that. Making those dives you pull off like you'd been doing them since you were born..." Cho's eyes had started to water, as they did when she really thought back about her time with Cedric. "He would have ... I mean ... he wanted ... he really didn't like being forced to compete against you, Harry ..." She turned to look at him, and saw that he was looking down at the grass with a far off stare. Smiling, she finished, "He looked up to you ... wanted to be like you."
"And I killed him ..." he whispered to no one in particular.
Cho's smile turned to bewilderment. "What did you say?" she asked, horrified to hear the answer.
"If it weren't for me, he'd still be here, alive ... with you ..."
Before she knew it, Cho's hand whipped out from her side, and slapped Harry full in the face. "HARRY! NO! You saved Cedric! Voldemort killed him, don't you ever ..."
The slap to the face shook him, but he started at that name. "What did you say?..."
"I said, VOLDEMORT ... KILLED ... CEDRIC! And if you ever start to think that you are in even some small part responsible for his death, I will ... I'll ..." but Cho was at a loss for words. The rage inside of her was starting to fizzle out.
"You said his name," Harry said in an awe filled tone.
"Voldemort, Voldemort, VOLDEMORT! What the hell is he going to do? Apparate right in front of me just because I said his name? See if I care!" Giving her something to focus on, Cho's voice rang to new heights. "And look what he's done to you! He's got you feeling ... guilty ..." she punctuated this by shoving Harry backwards "about ... murdering ... Cedric!" This last shove, combined with the muddy field caused Cho to lose her footing, and slip downwards. Harry brought his arms up to catch her, but being off balance himself, they both tumbled down to the earth. Now (somewhat) wrapped in Harry's arms, Cho's anger dissipated, leaving her sobbing uncontrollably. "Harry ... oh Harry ..." Her sobs continued for several more minutes and the rain continued to fall on them. Not really knowing what to do, Harry tried to comfort her as best as possible, but being pinned to the ground made it difficult. Slowly regaining her composure, Cho looked up at him, her eyes red and swollen, and her face sopping wet with rain and tears. "I guess ... I don't know ... I loved him, Cedric ..." A knot suddenly appeared in Harry's stomach. "... I didn't really know it for a long time, but I could never really decide on how I felt about him. Now, though, I know I loved him ... " The knot began tightening and swelling at the same time. "... but you ... you make the pain inside go away. It's like ... in some way, Cedric is still here, trying to live on in the two people he cared about most. You from far away, and me ... from a bit closer." At this, she sidled up so that she and Harry were face to face. "Harry, I love Cedric, and if I ever hear anything come out of your mouth that does his death injustice, I will personally kick your ass like this again," she said with a smile, and a twinkle in her eye that Harry wasn't sure to be glad for, or afraid of. "Do you understand me?" Cho's voice had dropped the joking undertone and had taken on a seriousness that Harry hadn't seen before. "Promise me, Harry. Promise me that you will never even think that you had any part in Cedric's death. You were a part of his life, and you gave his death a meaning. He will be the rallying cry for all of us who oppose Voldemort, because of you. Promise me that you won't forget these things, Harry ..."
His memory of Cedric's shade came back to him. His words of encouragement flooded back to him. The way he had helped him stave off Voldemort, and saw how Cedric had yelled some rather choice insults that Harry never would have thought him capable of at his enemy. With Cho's words still echoing in his ears, and the vision of Cedric in his mind, Harry felt the guilt that had been lurking in his soul begin to dissolve away. Looking up into Cho's eyes, he met her stare, and said in a clear, strong voice, "I promise."
She beamed down at him as new tears flowed from her eyes. "Thank you." she mouthed. They lie there for another minute or two before she straightened up, and the two of them were now sitting on the ground, covered in rain and mud and tears. "Good. Now that that's settled, I dont' feel guilty about this."
"Guilty about what?" replied Harry. Cho turned to face him full, and the look in her eye was one that Harry could not decipher. He was still trying to decide whether or not he should have known the answer to that before hand when Cho reached out her hand, and brushed away the dark, wet hair that always ended up in his eyes. With her hand resting on the side of Harry's face, she slowly leaned in towards him. As they neared, Harry saw her eyes close, just as their lips met. The knot in Harry's stomach transfigured itself into the largest swarm of butterflies known to man. For the next twenty seconds, Harry had lost all idea of what to do with his body except for his lips, which he had decided needed to stay right where they were for as long as they possibly could. Everything else though, no matter where he tried to put it, seemed to be in the wrong spot. Even his eyebrows seemed to be in an uncomfortable position on his face.
When the kiss had finished, Cho looked at a now fully blushing Harry and said, "That." Cho then started pushing herself up off the ground. "Come on, Harry, if we don't nab that Snitch soon, we'll be here all day. Our usual three minutes was up a long time ago."
Harry had not been able to bring himself to tell anyone about that morning. Ron would have yelled at him for confirming the rumors flying around that something was going on between the Seekers for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and that since the Inter-House Championship was so close this year, anything that might jeopardize Gryffindor's chances were not being tolerated. Hermione, on the other hand, may have taken the news better, but as she had so recently pointed out, she was a girl too, and this was something that Harry definitely did not feel comfortable enough to talk about with another girl. Inevitably, Hermione would have started giggling uncontrollably. An act which Harry had become increasingly convinced should be outlawed amongst girls. And since that one morning, that kiss had remained Harry and Cho's first, and only kiss. On other mornings, Harry would almost think that it would happen again, only to be interrupted by something. First, it was the bell for classes ringing as the two of them had now completely missed breakfast, and were bound to be late for their first class. Then, it had been Cho and Harry constantly planning on what to do about the upcoming Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin match which was now only two days away.
"So, have you had any more ideas on what I can do? I mean, Malfoy's got a Firebolt now. 'Daddy doesn't want me to fall behind'", Cho intoned, mocking the drawl that Malfoy always talked with. "I mean, he can pretty much outrace me at will. I know you can beat him, but you haven't gone full out on that broom of yours since that first day ..."
"W-what are you talking about?" Harry stammered. "You don't think I'm letting you win, do you?"
"Oh, I don't think you're letting me *win*, Harry, but I know what the top speed of a Firebolt is, and you haven't been going anywhere near that while we've been practicing."
Harry blushed. Cho was right of course. He had hoped that she wouldn't have noticed, but since Harry liked more to talk and joke with Cho, rather then race past her, he *had* been keeping his speed up to about that of Cho's Nimbus Two-Thousand and One. However, what he had noticed was that his handling had been growing more and more precise as he tried to match Cho's reflexes and uncanny ability to track the Snitch. Maybe today he'd just go full out and see what happened. "Well ... three minutes is up, you ready?"
Cho responded with a wink, and flew off, her laugh trailing behind her. Grinning, Harry kicked off, and easily overtook her headstart. "I told you so!" she yelled towards him, to which Harry responded by sticking his tongue out at her. Harry really let the throttle out on the Firebolt this morning. It had been a while since he'd let his broom go as fast as it could. Several times, though, his speed ended up getting him in trouble against Cho. Both of them would see the Snitch at about the same time, and Harry would zoom towards it, only to watch as it zigged out of his way, right in the direction that Cho had taken after he had passed her, causing him to make a quick turnaround and make it back just in time to cut her off from nabbing it. After the third time it happened, Harry heard her yell, "I'll get you for that one, Potter!" There was something about the way that Cho used his last name to address him that Harry really liked. It was only while they were flying that she did it. The rest of the time, she always called him Harry.
For the fourth time, Harry caught sight of the Snitch, and sped off towards it. Cho had seen it a second before him, and was in front of him, but that didn't prove to be a problem. He pulled up alongside of her, grinning wildly. He looked over at her, and saw a look of deep concentration on her face. Suddenly, Cho veered directly into Harry, causing him to turn sharply. "What the?!" he called out in surprise. He turned to where Cho was, only to find no Cho; her broom was empty. He turned just in time to see her diving outward, and then falling, her hand outstretched, reaching, grasping, and finally closing around the Snitch. "CHO!" Harry screamed, turning and starting to chase her now falling body. They were about two hundred feet in the air. With any luck, he'd be able to catch her and land without getting them both killed. His eyes on the falling girl, he watched as she reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. Pointing at him, Harry heard her call out, "*Accio!*" A whizzing noise came from behind Harry and he ducked just in time for Cho's Nimbus Two-Thousand and One to fly right over his head. When Harry looked up, he watched in awe as Cho deftly caught the broom with her feet, crooked one leg around it, pulled herself upright, and grabbed the handle with her wand hand, and pulled out of her frightening free fall.
As Harry pulled up next to her, he began to shout, "ARE YOU CRAZY?!?"
She responded with a look that shone with exhiliration. "It worked! I can't believe it actually worked! Did you see that? I've never felt anything like that in my life!"
The two of them came to a halt on the ground. "You could have been killed, Cho!" Harry was outraged. His fear of watching Cho fall to her death while he watched brought out an anger he'd never felt before.
She turned on him, flushed face beaming. "Oh, but you would have saved me, Harry." She giggled, reaching out with both of her arms, grabbing him around the neck, and giving him a big smacking kiss right on the lips. "I did it! I can beat Malfoy! And you helped me do it! Oh, I can't wait for the match!" She hurriedly turned towards the open box of Quidditch balls, and began securing the Snitch.
Harry was still standing in place, befuddled. After a kiss like that, he found he'd lost the ability to be angry. After a kiss like that, he found that he'd also lost the ability to put together a coherent thought. Cho finally turned to see him still standing there gawking, grabbed his hand, and began dragging him towards the main hall. "Come on! If I'm late for Herbology one more time, I'm gonna get detention..."
***
Characters and setting copyright J.K. Rowling.
A/N I'm still working on getting the format of this to look right. In case you're wondering, there's more to come, and it's already in progress.