Chapter Four~ Baby News

***

"Good afternoon class... take your seats..." the timid old ghost professor had said. Harry took his seat, carefully between Ron and Hermione. Hermione leaned over to him, "Harry, does Cho know we are having classes with Hufflepuff?" she whispered. Harry nodded. "Good," Hermione said and fixed her position.

Harry opened his book as Professor Binns made an introduction of the chapter they were supposed to discuss that day. "Which reminds me," Professor Binns had said, snapping Harry back to reality. "Please hand over your projects." He said and floated back to his table.

Harry bent over and took from his bag his project, which he had done earlier that day, with the help of... oh never mind.

Hermione eyed Harry intently as Harry sat back properly on his chair. Harry let out a sigh and didn't notice Hermione looking at him. Harry shoved his project to the person in front of him and then handed over the projects of the students behind him.

The girl in front of him fixed up the projects and then stopped when she saw Harry's name. She turned about, "Hey Harry!" she greeted. Harry looked up and saw Sandra in front of him. He looked surprised, "H-Hey Sandra." He said monotonously. Sandra gave him a smile and then stood up to put the projects on the table of the Professor.

Since everyone wasn't done yet, the classroom was a bit noisy. Hermione looked to Ron and Ron to her. Sandra turned to face Harry, "Good thing I helped you hmm? Or else you wouldn't have one to pass!" she said a bit excitedly. Hermione then eyed Sandra with some disgust. Harry uneasily shifted in his seat. "Uh... yeah... right." He said, not eyeing her.

Sandra frowned, "Is there a problem?" she asked. Harry shook his head, "Face front, maybe Binns will tell you off..." he said a bit carelessly. Sandra eyed him and slowly faced front.

During the (usual) boring lectures of Binns, Sandra did some gestures obviously to flirt with Harry. Hermione and Ron eyed each other from time to time; Harry on the other hand, was a bit clueless.

Sandra flipped her hair repeatedly, whenever she recited to Binns, she would move her hips flirtatiously and she would even laugh a bit louder than the other students whenever Professor Binns made a (corny, sorry to say) joke. Harry didn't really mind her since he scribbled Cho's name on about two pieces of parchment, back to back.

"Okay, we still have fifteen minutes until the bell rings, would you like to go advanced on our lessons or..." "Free time!!" Seamus' voice had shouted out loud. Everyone eyed him, including Harry and Sandra and laughed. "O-Okay, but I don't think that is vital, can we take a vote..." Binns had said but some students started to chant "free time" and people were starting to be noisy.

"O-Okay, let's have free time then." Binns said, floating towards his table. "But minimize noise while I check some of your projects!" he said and began his task. Some students stood up to go to their friends and others went in groups.

Harry was still scribbling Cho's name on another fresh piece of parchment. Ron shoved his seat towards Harry. He then peered over the parchment, "Ah! You miss her already?" he asked. Harry faced him, "Yeah, I don't really know, I feel so worried today." He said.

Ron frowned, "Why?" "Because she's having his baby!" Hermione whispered out of the blue. Ron and Harry jumped. "Not so loud Hermione!" Ron scolded. "I whispered, besides, everyone is too busy to even listen to us!" Hermione retorted. Harry scribbled down, "Cho Chang Potter" in the middle of the parchment. Hermione took it. "Awww Harry! That is so sweet!" she said, hiding the parchment slightly from public eyes.

"What is?" Sandra asked, turning to them. Hermione automatically hid the parchment and Harry and Ron jumped. "Nothing!" Ron had said a bit loudly right away. Sandra giggled, "Hey, come on! Share the scoop with me!" she said. The three were frozen, all of them with the same thought, "scoop"?

"I mean, share the 'matter' with me!" Sandra said, "Sorry, I forgot you guys are not used to too much American slang!" she continued. Harry eyed Hermione. She slowly handed the parchment and Sandra took it. Her expression was hard to tell. It was either a combination of anxiety and fake joy or just disappointed, couldn't really tell.

"So, Cho's surname is 'Chang'? I didn't know you were interested with Asian girls, Harry." she said, handing the parchment back. Weird, Sandra wasn't joining the group of Becky and her friends.

"Well, not really but Cho caught my interest." Harry said, shoving the parchment to Hermione who took it and hid it from the others. Sandra nodded, "How?" she asked. Harry cleared his throat, "Well, I first saw her during our first quidditch match in my third year and she was fourth year..." "She's older than you?!" Sandra asked rather loudly.

"Yeah, why?" Harry asked. Sandra was frowning, "But... but she's... it's not right to..." "I don't mind to be cliché but in love, age doesn't matter. Besides, Cho loves him also anyway so it's as if their age doesn't matter at all." Hermione said. Sandra, Ron and Harry eyed her. "Well... yeah... I guess." Sandra said with some sarcasm in her voice.

"So Harry, does it sound nice? 'Cho Chang Potter'... maybe even Mrs. Potter, ah! What about, "Cho Potter"? Nice isn't it?" Ron asked but he wasn't heard from the others since the class was a bit loud.

Sandra then took her bag and moved away from her seat going over where Becky and her friends were. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched her as she angrily took a seat and sat among the circle of friends.

"What is wrong with her?" Ron asked with an angry look on his face. Hermione eyed Harry, "She likes you Harry," she said. Harry stared at Hermione, "No Hermione, she doesn't! Why would she like me? I'm engaged!" Harry replied, "So? That doesn't stop her from tearing you and Cho apart Harry! You have to tell this to Cho..." Hermione said.

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione had early dismissals that day. Harry was waiting for Cho outside the Arithmancy classroom, her last subject. Harry paced around, twirling his wand in his fingers. Students came and went, each greeting Harry. Harry just greeted them back and then leaned on the wall across the classroom.

Harry turned his head to the left and saw Sandra heading his way. Harry stood up straight and tried not to look at her to avoid any discussion. He didn't like what she did a little while ago, her reaction Ron's comments on Cho's name.

Sandra walked on by without a word and Harry didn't even dare to shift his eyes her way. "Oh, Harry!" Sandra's voice came. Harry looked up and looked at her blankly. He saw her eyes were puffy and red, like she... cried?!

"You are an insensitive fool, you know that? I hate you!" she said and walked away. Harry was shocked. That was some greeting. Okay, what did he do? If there was one thing Harry hated, someone getting angry with him either for no reason or for something he didn't do. He was quite used to this but this was different.

Harry frowned and then the bell rang. Harry instantly threw the angry expression off his face and waited for Cho. Ravenclaws were coming out of the classroom, all seventh years. Harry looked for Cho, it was easy, a Chinese, petite and beautiful girl.

He then saw her, feeling his heart throb fast. He felt warm all over and butterflies occupied his stomach. It was amazing that she still affected him that much with even the slightest glance. Harry couldn't help but smile. "Cho!" he called out. Cho and her friends also looked to Harry. Marietta was there, a bit ashamed to face Harry.

"Hey Harry!" she called back. Cho and her friends went to Harry and Cho kissed Harry on the lips, "You waited for me the whole time?" she asked. Harry nodded, "Why not? I'm so excited to see you." He said. Cho giggled. "By the way, this is Marietta, I know you know her, this is Nicole, Valerie, Elaine, Denise, Anne and Kirsten." Cho said, introducing her friends to Harry.

Nicole was a blonde girl with green eyes, but Harry's was much brighter; Valerie was a brunette with blue eyes, Elaine had light brown hair and chestnut eyes, Denise and Anne were dark brown haired but Denise had brown eyes while Anne had blue ones. Kirsten looked different. She had black hair and violet eyes (yes, that is possible).

"Nice to meet you!" Harry said to Cho's friends.

Whether Harry had met every girl in Hogwarts, Cho was still very beautiful to him. "Heard you and Cho are together now. Nice to finally meet Harry Potter!" Nicole said as the others giggled. Harry nodded, "Uh, yeah, likewise. So, is it all right if I take my girlfriend from you guys in the meantime?" he asked. The girls giggled again, this time including Nicole.

"Sure, why not?" Anne had said, smiling brightly. She had braces.

Cho smiled, "See you guys later!" Marietta smiled, "See you Cho!" she said and the girls left, leaving Harry and Cho together. Cho was still waving her hand to her friends and when she faced Harry, Harry kissed her right away. Cho's eyes grew big at the instant lip lock but then slowly relaxed, kissing Harry back. She had dropped her bag on the floor and slightly tiptoed to kiss Harry properly.

Harry let go and kissed her nose, "It's been a long time since we last kissed like that..." he said huskily. Cho giggled, "You're right... I missed that unique "Harry" kiss." She said. Harry smiled, kissed Cho again and bent over to carry Cho's bag. "Where do you want to go?" Harry asked.

Cho shrugged, "If it's okay with you, since it is quite early, we can bring my bag to the dorm and then get a little bite to eat before dinner?" Cho asked. "Of course, anything you want." Harry said. Cho smiled as she slipped her arm around Harry's and they walked down the halls.

"Do they know?" Harry asked. Cho looked up at him, "Who knows what?" she asked. "Your friends, do they know about..." Harry said, gesturing to Cho's stomach. Cho looked down. "Oh! Right! No, they don't. I don't even have the guts to tell them yet." Cho said, reddening a bit. Harry laughed at Cho's blush, "You are so adorable," he muttered, without knowing.

Cho eyed him. "Pardon me?" she asked, smiling. It was Harry's time to blush, "Nothing!" Cho giggled and they arrived at the Ravenclaw Tower. After depositing Cho's bag, the two made their way to the Great Hall.

Just outside though, the violet-eyed Kirsten, whose eyes were now shining brightly, stopped Cho and Harry. "Cho! Cho! You never told us!!" she screamed happily. Cho was caught by surprise. "Uh..." Cho muttered. "You and Harry are going to have a baby!!" she screamed happily. Kirsten hugged Cho tightly, "I'm so happy! Why didn't you tell us?" she asked and then let go.

Cho's dark brown eyes were large, which surprised Harry a bit. "W-What...? H-How did you...?" Cho stuttered. "When we arrived in the Great Hall, Mark, a third year Ravenclaw told me! He said he heard it from Hufflepuff!" Kirsten screamed. She then hugged Cho again and then ran into the Hall.

"Sandra." Harry said.

Cho looked at him in shock, "What?" she asked angrily. Harry eyed her. "She knows right? And Kirsten said it came from Hufflepuff." Harry explained. Cho bit her lip and she looked as if she was about to cry. "Harry..." she muttered. Harry hushed her. "Come on, let's go to my common room..."

* * *

"So, what do you two want to do?" Ron asked. "I don't know... I really don't know..." Harry said, with Cho beside him while they sat on the red couch. He had his arm around her, holding her close to him. Cho had her head on his shoulder as she stared blankly at the fire.

"So, I guess by now, everyone knows. You two just have to face them. I mean, maybe they might react to it badly at first, but they'll soon accept the fact that you two are having a baby and going to get married." Hermione said. Ron nodded, "Yeah, you have no choice but to face them." he then looked at his watch. "Let's eat?" he asked everyone. "No, you two go ahead." Harry said, glancing over to Cho.

"Let's go Ron." Hermione said and they left the common room.

Cho and Harry were quiet. Harry sighed, "Do you want to eat?" he asked. Cho shook her head against his shoulder. Harry nodded. Harry then lifted her legs and rested them on his lap, making Cho sit on him. "Are you feeling alright love?" he asked softly. Cho nodded. Harry sighed and hugged her close to him.

"You know, I'm scared to face them too. They might think I am such a careless boyfriend towards you, impregnating you even before you get married. I am so sorry love I really..." "It's not your fault Harry." Cho finally said after moments of silence.

Harry eyed her. "You're not leaving me, right? So they do NOT have the right to call you a careless boyfriend." Cho said, not facing him still. Harry smiled. "I-I guess so..." he then planted a kiss on Cho's head. "Are you sure Sandra was the one who--" "I am sure. Who else?" Harry said making Cho giggle.

After a few minutes, Ron and Hermione burst into the common room. "Cho! Harry! We found out who spread the news about your baby!!" Ron shouted. "Ron!!" Hermione scolded. "So what?! Everyone knows anyway!" Ron said Cho had removed herself from Harry's lap and both eyed Ron and Hermione.

"Sandra?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded, "I knew you'd guess. She spread the whole thing and of course, everyone believed it. Harry, you two just don't mind them! Go on with your lives!" Hermione suggested. "She's right mate." Ron replied.

Harry eyed Cho. "Want to go down now? It's okay if you don't want to." Cho smiled, "It's okay, I'm fine now." She said. Harry smiled and kissed her cheek, "Let's go then." He said as they both stood up, with Harry holding her hand tightly.

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Yeah, I know what you think, you guys hate Sandra. Actually, I'm starting to hate her too! Lol! :)

Now, things will get a bit worse with Harry and Sandra in the next chapter and things are staring to become R rated now... scenes actually... like I said before... between who and who? Don't ask! :)

I'm always evil...

~Lim Kao Sing~