Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. I worked on it as much as I could these past two nights, on my desktop pc even! I usually use my laptop so I can take it anywhere but something's wrong with the sound so it's currently being repaired. Well this chapter's not as long as the last one, but the content is enough, I hope, to please the readers. Please keep those reviews coming. I welcome all and thank you for each and every one.
Disclaimer: I make no claims on any of JKR's characters and/or storylines. I am just borrowing a little bit of each and tossing them together for a new kind of salad with a different dressing.
On with the tale…
Classes ended too soon, Harry thought as he gathered his school things. He was now faced with the prospect of meeting Cho to discuss the new project that they were paired up in. Then he just realized that even though they agreed to meet after Hagrid's class, they didn't decide on where to meet. Following after Ron and Hermione, he kept on berating himself over and over again for neglecting to think of a meeting place.
"Harry?" a familiar voice called him from behind.
The trio turned almost at the same time and Harry swore he could see Ron grinning without mercy after discovering that it was Cho that called him. Hermione, to his great relief, was just her usual, nonchalant self.
Trying his best not to look affected, he gave Cho a smile. "Hi. I was hoping to run into you." He shifted his books from his left to his right arm. "I just realized that we didn't agree on a meeting place after class was done."
Cho returned his smile. "Yeah, I figured that as well. Since I was done with my extra work for Charms, I thought I should just look for you coming back from Care of Magical Creatures."
"Well we'll just see you at dinner then, Harry. Hermione here's gotta meet up with Fincher for her own meeting," Ron shrugged, a little bit annoyed.
Hermione frowned at Ron. "Fincher? Why are you calling Justin that?"
"Oh that's quite easy, 'Mione. Ron here's a bit jealous that you're going to be spending time with Justin," Harry explained, laughing a little. Ron's blush gave his hair a run for the money, Harry thought. He saw that Hermione was turning quite red as well.
"Honestly, Ron, I thought you were more mature than that," Hermione managed to get out. She suddenly found the lake very intriguing as she tried her best to avoid looking at Ron.
Harry cleared his throat. "Right, well I'll see you both later." Hermione didn't need to be told twice as she hastily bade goodbyes to Harry and Cho. Without saying another word to Ron, she started walking back to the castle, leaving Ron with a very confused look. Ron muttered an apology and said his goodbyes to Harry and Cho as well. Soon after that, he started running after Hermione back to the castle.
Harry took a moment to watch the silhouettes of his two best friends disappear inside the castle. Turning to Cho, he apologized, "I'm sorry about that. They're really great and all."
"Oh that's alright. It was quite amusing watching them anyway." Cho tucked several strands of her raven hair behind her right ear. Unfortunately, a mild gust of wind blew and the hair she tucked in was soon flowing freely again, Harry observed. Cho, catching his gaze on her, quickly looked away, afraid that she'd get mesmerized if his eyes bored into hers for too long. "So what say you to the library?"
Harry realized that he was staring at her again, for far too long, and it took a moment before her inquiry sank in. "What?...Oh…sure. But there might be a lot of students there at this time. I have another idea.," he motioned her. "Follow me."
"This isn't somewhere illegal, is it Harry?" she mulled.
"Ah…right…right." His step faltered slighty.
"Lead the way then, Mister Potter," she enthusiastically replied.
"Before that, I want to stop by the Gryffindor tower for a bit. I have to get something before our meeting." Cho nodded her accord.
Harry soon discovered that he and Cho were receiving several curious looks and stares as they walked. He tried his best to keep a straight face as Cho strode by him. Upon reaching the entrance, he told her to wait a moment and he quickly dashed through the portrait hole. As quickly as he could, he went straight to his room and left in the same haste.
Cho felt a bit awkward waiting just outside the Gryffindor tower entrance. She wasn't even sure that she should be here right now. But before another doubtful thought crossed her mind, Harry stepped through the painting door, holding a worn piece of parchment it seemed. His unruly hair was a little moist, she observed. He must have stopped by the bathroom to freshen up a bit. Cho chuckled a little at the thought. The thought of Harry getting freshened up for her made her slightly giddy, but she quickly dismissed it. The great Harry Potter, getting fixed up for Cho Chang, now that's quite preposterous. Still, just walking next to him is enough to make her skittish.
Suddenly she just realized that they were now walking through a corridor that was quite deserted. Thinking about it now, she was so caught up about Harry that she didn't even recognize anymore where he was leading her. Cho wasn't exactly sure where they were anymore in the castle.
All of a sudden, Harry stopped and took a sweeping look at their surroundings. Probably making sure nobody else was around, Cho suspected. She was about to ask him where they were when she realized that he unfolded the worn piece of parchment that he carried. He laid it down on an empty pedestal and tapped his wand on it, saying something about being up to no good. Magic soon became evident as the piece of parchment came to life. Cho moved next to Harry with a questioning look on her face. "What-?"
The dark haired boy raised his left hand for a moment, as if to dissuade Cho. "Hold on a moment." Harry then said something that sounded like 'Mischief done' and the parchment was again blank and looked like just another piece of worn paper. Cho gave Harry a quizzical look which Harry returned with a guilty look on his face. He motioned for her to follow him again down the hall. A few more quick turns here and there then they stopped by a massive door. Harry opened it with a simple 'alohamora' spell and he led her in.
Cho wasn't sure whether to be worried or mystified by the procession they went through just to determine a place for their dueling club meeting. "Harry, not to doubt you, but could you tell me where we are?"
The room was quite bare. There wasn't even a desk or a chair or a shelf. She wasn't even sure what illuminated the room. No candles or torches could be found and the sun set awhile ago. It seemed that the room itself was luminous. There were two windows on one wall, and except for that, the rest of the walls were quite barren.
"Er…Sorry if you find this slightly odd, but I've wanted to make use of this room for quite some time. Besides, it's quite private enough I think." He observed her confused look and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not going to eat you or anything like that."
Cho laughed. "Well I must admit, that thought crossed my mind for a second. After all, Harry, I'm almost sure that nobody else knows about this place."
Harry realized it then. He and Cho were having small talk; and he wasn't being a dolt about it either, which boosted his confidence greatly. Greatly pleased with himself with the realization, he continued on, "I discovered this room by accident. It seemed quite drab at first but something amazing happened."
Cho's Ravenclaw trait was piqued. "Amazing?" Cho took a few steps around the room. "What's so amazing about it?"
Harry walked by one of the windows and looked out. "This room by itself is magical. You don't have to take my word for it, but you must have noticed the lack of torches and candles to provide luminosity. The room is aglow in its own right." Cho nodded. Harry took several strides around the barren room. "Well, can you think of something else that you would like to see in this room? And I mean anything," he asked.
She though for a moment. "Chairs."
Harry closed his eyes for a moment and two leather chairs suddenly appeared out of thin air. Cho's eyes widened. She could have sworn that Harry did not make any magic utterances. "How did you do that?"
Harry smirked. "I found out that this room is more commonly known as the Room of Requirement. It seems that when you think of something that you need, it will magically materialize to be used for your purposes." He plopped down on one of the seats and offered the other to her. "It has certain limitations though. Food, for example, cannot be generated here. I think that it just has to be a solid object, but not edible—something that you would need to get something done."
Cho took the seat that was offered. "That's fascinating. I noticed as well that you didn't mutter any spells. I gather all it takes is a good thought, correct?" she mused.
"You're quite the Ravenclaw, I must say, Miss Chang. And you're right about that. Just think about it hard enough and if you can clearly see it in your mind, it will materialize soon after."
Cho bit her lower lip and had a pondering look on her face. "Why this room then? Do you want our dueling group to meet here for practice?"
Harry stood up. "I don't know yet. For now, I was just hoping to use it for our meetings, meaning meetings just between the two of us, as we strategize on how to mentor our group."
"I don't mean to be rude or read into it too much, but are you okay with this? If anybody else found out, don't you think it would seem…suspicious?" She shifted a little on the seat.
Harry gazed at her. "I could waste my time worrying about that, but really they're gonna talk whether or not something was or wasn't happening. I've accepted it, though it bothers me every now and then. For the most part though, it's not a big deal anymore." Harry hoped he made sense. He didn't want to worry Cho. "But if you're not comfortable with it, that's okay with me. We can meet somewhere else," he offered.
"Do Ron and Hermione know about this place?" tentatively she asked him. If this was to be a secret, part of Cho hoped that it was just a secret between her and Harry. It may be a little selfish, she knew, but she really couldn't help it. Sharing this time with Harry, sharing this room with him, it was relaxing and comfortable. Walking around the room, the privacy that it promised was similar to the sanctity that the Quiddith pitch offered.
"Actually…I haven't told them about this room yet," Harry replied sheepishly. "It…I've made it sort of my private sanctum. To tell you the truth, I don't even know why I brought you here."
Cho tensed up a bit. His private sanctum. But he took her here. And his best friends don't know about it. "I…I really don't know what to say, Harry."
"Please, don't get me wrong, Cho," he quickly explained. "I didn't do this in hopes for anything to happen between…us…or whatever it is you're thinking." He turned away from her and walked towards one of the windows. "I did this mostly because I wanted to offer you a sanctum as well, a place to get away. Granted that we'd be working together on days we use this room, at least we'll be afforded some privacy."
"I know." He understood her. It really amazed her that he did. They've barely been acquainted but it's as if that didn't matter at all. She cleared her throat. "Should we talk about the project now?" Cho thought it was about time they discussed the topic that brought them to this room in the first place.
Harry gave her a small smile and turned away from the window to face her. "Sure. So how do we start this?"
"I noticed you carried several pieces of blank parchment with you. I think we should list the defense spells that you can cast without problem." Cho's Ravenclaw aspects thrived as they were called to service. She took out a book from a pocket on her robes and held it up. "Before I searched for you, I stopped by the library and borrowed a book that details the basics of dueling and the more commonly used spells in such events. This ought to help us quite a bit." Cho then realized that Harry's eyes were closed and a few moments later, a table materialized in front of her. She jeered at him. "You could have told me that you were gonna do that. Next time, you should let me give it a try."
A pleasant laugh rewarded her. "I promise. I'm sorry though; I just couldn't resist." Harry sat took the seat adjacent to Cho and laid several blank parchments on the table and took out a quill and ink. She gave him a smile which caused him to redden a bit.
Soon after that, the pair got to work. Cho busied herself with skimming the book for pointers and spells while Harry wrote them down as she mentioned each one. Every now and then, they would discuss some of the spells that Harry was very familiar with, such as the famous Patronus for Dementors or the Riddikulus for boggarts. They discovered some new spells which Harry wanted to try but Cho convinced him otherwise. She reminded him that today was only for planning. Practice was later.
Their get-together progressed for several hours into the night. Neither noticed that they had already missed dinner. Neither noticed the full moon outside, watching them. Neither noticed that it was half past nine. Neither noticed that on other parts of the castle, their friends wondered where they were. To Harry and Cho, all that mattered was that they were there together doing something that was greatly interesting. For both of them, for the first time since they came back to Hogwarts for this school year, they felt absolutely…at ease.
-TBC