Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Warner Brothers bought me out.
This is it, Harry. Time to ask her. Harry had been watching Cho throughout the day, looking for any opportunity to talk with her alone. Finally, she left the Great Hall by herself after dinner, and Harry rushed to catch up.
"Cho?" Harry called after her when he was in the corridor and out of earshot from anyone in the Great Hall.
"Oh, hi Harry," Cho said, turning around.
Harry quickly stammered, "Er, I, um, want to ask you something."
Cho's face slowly fell and she softly said, "Don't."
"Don't?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Please don't ask," Cho said, "I'm not going to the dance."
Harry was crestfallen. Finally, after a few seconds, he sputtered, "Dance? No, I, er, was wondering who taught Defense before Quirrell."
Cho looked at Harry skeptically but said, "Professor Auckland. She went crazy and tried to kill Snape."
Thankfully, Cho turned around and left. Harry quietly made his way back to the Gryffindor commons, feeling extremely listless. "How did it go?" came Ron's voice as soon as he slowly stepped through the portrait.
Harry grimaced – Ron had to be the worst at picking up body language. After sadly shaking his head, he asked, "You ask Hermione?"
Ron scowled and said, "I don't think I'm going to. She's going out with Vicky, remember?"
"Harry," Ginny called, walking up to him while blushing.
"Yes, Ginny?" Harry tonelessly asked – maybe the problem with reading faces was a Weasley family trait.
"Will you go to the dance with me?" she stammered.
Harry stared at her with incredulity. Couldn't she see this wasn't the best time for this? Harry curtly replied, "No."
However, before Harry could resume his conversation with Ron, Ginny stuttered, "No? You mean…"
"No," Harry said brusquely, "I mean I don't want to go to the dance with you. Ok?"
Ginny's lower lip trembled and she fled upstairs to her dormitory. "That wasn't nice," Ron remarked tonelessly.
"I'm not in a nice mood, Ron," Harry replied.
Ron looked at him for awhile before saying, "Well, you should at least apologize to her."
"Apologize," Harry said disbelievingly, "As in – 'I'm sorry, Ginny, but I still don't want to go to the dance with you.' I can't see that helping much."
"It would make her feel better!" Ron said, his voice definitely showing a tint of heat.
"This is not my fault!" Harry shot back, "She's had five years to get over her stupid crush!"
Ron stared at him angrily before coldly saying, "If you ever hurt my sister like that again…" Ron didn't finish his threat and headed up the girls' stairwell, obviously going to comfort his sister.
"Rough day?" Hermione asked from the corner, looking up from the Standard Book of Spells (Grade 5).
"Yeah," Harry sighed, plopping down onto one of the chairs by the fire.
"Good," Hermione replied, "You'll get no sympathy from me after that. Maybe tomorrow Harry Potter will be here instead of you." Hermione then picked up her books and went up to her room.
All this over a bloody dance? Harry thought to himself.
Harry woke up the following morning and saw that Ron's bed was empty. He was a little surprised at this, since the red-head was notorious for sleeping in on the weekend. Harry sometimes joked that he could tell the weekend by whether Ron woke up before noon or not. He quietly got dressed and headed down to the commons only to find it empty besides Neville.
"Er, Neville," Harry asked, "have you seen Ron or Hermione?"
Neville replied, "They already went down to breakfast. They must've thought you were already down there."
Harry inwardly snorted – surely Ron knew that he was still asleep. Harry didn't bother with his bag – he only had Divination and Herbology – and set off for the Great Hall.
As soon as he walked through the giant doors, he spotted Ron, Ginny, and Hermione sitting together. However, as soon as the three pairs of eyes met his, Harry felt the temperature of the room drop. He slowly walked up, and the feeling grew worse. Ginny was glaring at him angrily, which Harry had never seen before. Ron's was even worse and Harry involuntarily cringed. No! Harry resolved I didn't want to go with Ginny. I shouldn't be punished for that! Hermione's stare was by far the friendliest, but it was still a good deal uglier than he had seen in awhile.
Harry stopped and said, "Well, I guess I'm not wanted here."
Ron didn't even bother with a retort, which Harry knew wasn't a good sign. Harry walked along the table and sat in an open section, a meter away from anyone else. Ron snorted with disgust as Lavender and Parvati quickly sat down on either side of Harry.
"Hasn't he had enough?" Hermione asked softly.
Ron savagely pointed to Harry, who was now being consoled by Brown and Patil. "I'm sure he hates every minute of that."
Ginny made an inarticulate grunt and left the table without a word. Ron looked back and forth between his sister's dejected retreat and Harry being surrounded by two women and left the table as well. As soon as Ron left the hall, he bumped into a blue robed wizard without looking.
"Er, sorry," Ron said quickly. He looked down, and saw that it was Cho Chang, and said, "Didn't see you there, Cho. Now if you'll excuse me…"
As Ron started to walk away, Cho called, "Has Harry gotten over it yet?" Ron turned and simply shook his head. Cho grimaced and muttered, "So this is my fault."
Ron heard this and quickly said, "No. It's Harry's fault."
Cho sighed and said, "I wish he hadn't asked me. Every time I think of the dance, I'm reminded of the Yule Ball. And every time I think of the Yule Ball, I'm reminded of Cedric. And… this is stupid."
"No," Ron gently said, "It's not stupid at all. Nobody will blame you for not going."
Cho weakly smiled and said, "Thanks… er…"
Ron laughed lightly and said, "Ron Weasley."
"Thanks, Ron," Cho said and walked away back down the corridor. When she rounded the bend, Ron slowly smiled. He couldn't go to the dance with Hermione because of Krum. But if he did this right, he could go with another girl and get back at Harry at the same time…
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Hooboy, this is where all the various shippers out there flame-broil me…
DragonLord: Thanks! Don't worry, this story WILL get finished.
Erinamation: Thanks!
Beefywpac: What is Voldemort looking for indeed… Well, part of the answer will be coming up.
Lakergurl13: Snape knew about the orb wizards, but didn't know Harry was one. Can't tell you why though.
Katani: I'm confused too.
Olivia: A bit of realism. If I had the same power Harry has, I'd probably do the same thing. The death eater attack explanation is coming up. I'm glad you like the improved 'Nasty Snape'.
Micro-Chick: Thanks!
Kaelli: What? You don't believe he's after a diamond ring? Come on! Maybe he met 'the one' and wants to pledge his undying love (literally undying too)
Feel free to review
