A/N: Here it is. Thanks again for all the reviews, please keep reviewing! Hope you enjoy it! Oh yeah, I don't own anything but my plot. (Lyrelle, Arabella, see A/N2 at the end of the chapter)



By the time Harry finally made his way back to Ron and Hermione, most of the students had made their way back to the castle. He felt a bit light headed and kept checking his watch. Ron surveyed him with confusion and opened his mouth as if to ask him what was going on when Hermione nudged him with her elbow and shook her head. Ron gave her a dirty look, but knew better than to defy Hermione in words at that moment. They walked out onto the lawns and headed toward the castle. The night air was cool and there were faint rumblings in the sky. "Ruddy storm." cursed Ron, looking up as a flash of lightning illuminated the sky. Harry, however, took no notice of the imminent storm. His hand kept finding its way back to his cheek, the warmth of Ginny's lips still lingering there. The wind grew stronger as the three finally made it to the castle's doors, light pouring out from the entryway, a sort of beacon in the darkness. As Ron and Hermione began to make their way up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, Harry sat upon a chair to the right of a suit of armor, tapping his feet nervously and glancing from his watch to the doorway. "Harry, what are you on about? Our dorm's this way, in case you've forgotten." Ron yelled when he was nearly at the top of the stairs and had noticed Harry's disappearance. Harry raised his head, trying to think of way to answer (Well Ron, you see, I want a chance to be alone with your little sister, who just kissed my cheek, in this dim place with no one around. Nah, probably not.) when he saw Hermione, who seemed to understand, push Ron further up the stairs. "See you later Harry." she called out with a wink. Harry grinned and waved, checking his watch as he did. 9:18.

As Harry sat he thought about what he was going to say. Well, um, I realized all of a sudden that I've been a dunderhead this entire time and that I fancy you. "Very eloquent." he muttered to himself. He suddenly wished time would slow down, when only a few moments ago he was praying for it to speed up. What was he going to say? A fleeting image of Ginny passed through his head, the way she looked as she stared into his eyes, her beautiful red hair flowing down her back. Red hair, like my mum's. He sat up with the realization. He turned to gaze at his reflection in the suit of armor he sat next to. He was beginning to look more and more like his father, right down to the untidy black hair. And Ginny had grown, and her hair had become longer. Switch their eye color and he and Ginny were almost exact replicas of his parents. He sat there in awe of the realization and thought back to a time he and Ginny had happened to be entering the common room at the same time. The Fat Lady had gasped at the sight of them and said, "It just can't be." and Ginny had asked her what was wrong. Upon hearing her voice, the Fat Lady put a hand to her chest and breathed deeply. "I'm sorry my dears, I just thought, well, that I'd seen ghosts." Harry had chalked it up to too much wine on her and Vi's parts and put the matter out of his mind. Besides, there were plenty of ghosts flitting about Hogwarts. So why would she be surprised? He only now understood.

Still staring into the armor, but not seeing himself, Harry sat thinking for a long while. It was then that he saw the distorted figure of someone coming up behind him. Harry's heart raced, he still hadn't thought of what he was going to say. "Hello Harry." came a soft voice. Harry's heart skipped a beat as he turned and gasped in surprise. "Cho!" he cried, a bit too loudly, for she started. He'd forgotten all about their meeting. "Damn." he muttered, below Cho's earshot as he glanced at his watch. 9:28. He had to get rid of her, and fast. There's nothing to be worried about, we'll talk homework and then she'll go. A sudden, more powerful thought dawned on Harry. She's not in my year, we're not doing the same homework. Cho was looking at him, her hands twisting nervously. This was the first time Harry had ever seen her discomposed, it was rather surreal, now it was he that was perfectly calm as she stood there stammering. Harry looked at her searchingly; what could she possibly want? "Um, I don't know quite what to say." she stammered. "Well," she began, her voice a bit more steady "I know you've fancied me for a long time now and well." she trailed off. Harry kept looking at her dumbly, not understanding, only feeling extremely embarrassed that she'd known about him liking her. Cho squeezed her eyes shut, as if fighting an internal battle with herself. "Oh the hell with it!" she cried and threw her arms around Harry's shoulders and kissed him. Harry's eyes flew open in shock even as the force of her kiss pressed his glasses into his face rather painfully. This was what he'd wanted for five years, all he'd ever dreamed of.

But not like this, with Cho clinging to him as if she were drowning, and not her. Not anymore. Harry was about to pull away when he heard a gasp from behind him. He pulled out of Cho's embrace and turned, expecting an angry professor or something of the like, but saw instead a flash of red escaping the entryway doors. "Oh bollux!" he cried, burying his face in his hands. He was about to run after her, when he remembered Cho. He turned to her and saw that her eyes were a bit wet. Damn damn damn. "Cho," be began, searching for the right words "you're right, I did fancy you for a long time. I think you're very pretty and smart and a fantastic Quidditch player, but." "But you love Ginny." she interrupted with a sad smile. Harry looked at her, shocked. "I'm sorry." he said simply. "Don't be. You can't help who you love." she said sweetly, one tear escaping. Harry was pretty certain it was not of him that she was thinking. He gave her a hug as silent tears trailed down her porcelain cheeks. "I miss him." she whispered. Harry's shoulders heaved as he hugged her tighter. "I'm sorry." he said again, desperately fighting back tears himself. All of the guilt he'd felt since Cedric's death, the sadness, the horror, everything came flooding back. "It wasn't your fault." she said in a whisper, her voice regaining some of its calmness as she stroked Harry's hair. The sense of gratitude Harry felt was indescribable. Hearing it from her mouth made it seem more truthful somehow, though nothing could ever relieve him of his guilt entirely. "You forgive me then?" he asked shocked. She smiled at him, the smile that used to make his heart race. "There's nothing to forgive." she said softly. She pulled out of Harry's embrace and smoothed his hair back; as best she could anyway. "Go get her Harry. She loves you too. How could she help herself?" she said smiling, wiping the stray tears away. Harry kissed her cheek. "Thank you." he said gratefully, and turned to run outside.



A/N: Did you like it? For those of you ready to rally up the villagers and come after me for leaving you hanging like that, don't worry. I'll get Chapter 7 up as soon as I get some reviews on this last chapter.

A/N 2: A couple of people have mentioned the part with the Fat Lady. Almost the exact same thing happens in Arabella's story "Getting the Point" (very good by the way, make sure to read "Not As a Last Resort" first); I'd forgotten about the coincidence (and for those of you scoffing, that's really all it was. I despise people who steal other people's ideas and take credit for them. I love to write and know how upset I would be if someone stole an idea of mine and took credit for it) until Lyrelle brought it up. I'd begun writing this story (and completed it) long before I ever read that fanfic, so I haven't stolen anything from anyone (I've always been into the whole Harry/Ginny, James/Lily parallel), nor did anyone steal anything from me. And for those of you who still might question my honesty, let's break it down to plain common sense. I reviewed "Getting the Point". Would I review a story that I was planning to steal from? I'm not a complete and utter moron so I'd say the answer is no. And if THAT'S not enough to convince you of my honesty, in a recent review of Arabella's "Not As a Last Resort" I asked HER to READ this fic. Now come on, why in the hell would I ask someone from whom I'd stolen to read the story in which that "stolen" item is advertised? It doesn't make any sense, which is exactly why I wouldn't have done it had I REALLY stolen the idea. Hope that clears everything up and many bows to Arabella and Lyrelle ("Parchment" *sob* enough said) for their fine fan fiction (alliteration is fun). No unwarranted (or warranted for that matter) death threats please. And if you must, be wary of my wrath. Man oh man, parentheses are the devil. And please, let's not turn this into a debate over my honesty; just review the story, and not my character, please. Sorry for turning this into a novel length argument and getting so defensive (I know no one really accused me or anything, but I just wanted to get things straight before anyone made the mistake of doing so), but I do NOT fancy the idea of getting a reputation as a thief when that's the last thing in the world I am. I hope you guys have a little faith.

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!