Chapter 18: The Date
As autumn progressed, the air outside the castle grew steadily colder and colder. Fall was
in full swing now, and the Halloween dance was coming up quickly. Too quickly, Harry
thought to himself as he, Ron and Hermione walked out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts
room. Their test had been quite easy, especially for those who had been in the DA last year;
it was quite evident who had and who hadn't. As a bulky Slytherin struggled to perform a
difficult defense spell, Harry couldn't help but laugh. All of the former DA members, even
Neville, had successfully passed the test, he thought happily to himself. Even Professor
Lupin's mouth was twitching upwards into a smile as the DA members, one after another, were
successful. In fact, Harry had noticed Remus was happy most of the time now, but he wasn't
sure why. He was glad that Remus had found a way to move past Sirius' death, however.

He was shaken from his thoughts as he entered the Great Hall for lunch; the noise of the
other students chattering had awoken his mind and he realized how hungry he was. Sitting
down at the table, he immediately dug in, loading his plate with a little of everything.

"Hi Harry," said Ginny with a smile, coming up to the table and bringing Luna Lovegood with
her. Luna smiled vacantly at him before sitting down, a dreamy expression on her face. Ginny
looked down at her and stifled a laugh before taking the seat beside her. "So how was the
Defense Against the Dark Arts test?" she inquired, looking at Harry.

"Bloody easy," mumbled Ron through a mouthful of food. Hermione shot him a sharp glance and
he quickly swallowed. "Well, unless you're in Slytherin..." The three of them laughed and
Ginny looked confused.

"What exactly-" she began, but was interrupted by Luna.

"How was your summer, Harry?" she asked suddenly. Harry glanced at Ginny, his eyebrows raised.
She was covering her mouth and looking down to cover her laughter.

"It was, er, all right I guess..." he trailed off. She nodded.

"So was mine... My vacation to Sweden was wonderful." She stared at him, straight in the eye
before getting up. "I'll see you all later," she said, walking towards the Ravenclaw table.
Ginny burst out laughing until tears were coming from her eyes. 

"That was a little random, don't you think?" she asked, still laughing. Harry shook his head,
looking bewildered.

"She's a nice girl, but sometimes I worry about her," Harry replied, making Ginny laugh even
harder. He smiled; for some reason, he felt victorious that he had been able to make Ginny
laugh. He tried again. "Those Crumble Horn Shork-Shaks must have kidnapped her brain..." 
Ginny laughed even harder, holding onto the table for support. Suddenly she stopped without
warning, the tears still on her face from her laughter, but her expression solemn and her eyes
wide.

"What?" Harry asked, turning to see what she was staring at. He nearly knocked over Luna, who
was standing a foot behind him. "Oh - er... Luna..." She looked at him sharply.

"That wasn't very nice, Harry Potter," she said before walking off once again. Harry felt 
terrible. He didn't mean to make fun of her, he was just trying to make Ginny laugh. He sighed.
I sure am good at turning girls off.... he thought to himself.

***********************

After staying after in Transfiguration to ask Professor McGonagall a question, Harry hurried
down the hall towards the common room so that he could meet Ron and Hermione before dinner.
Suddenly he tripped, sending the contents of his backpack falling across the stone floor. 
Grumbling to himself, he began to pick them up. He heard someone call his name. A girl. Oh great,
he thought. Who is it this time...

Looking up, he was amazed to see Cho Chang. His mind seemed to have stopped working as he 
struggled for words.

"Er... hi, Cho," he finally said lamely. She smiled sweetly. 

"Can I help you pick up your things?" she asked.

"Sure," he mumbled. "So... so how have you been?" he asked, desperately trying to come up with
an idea for a conversation. She shrugged.

"Pretty good. Harry, I want to apologize for last year. I was just so emotional that it was hard
for me to talk to anyone."

"Yeah... I understand," he said, smiling a bit and finally feeling a little more comfortable.

"Terry and I broke up," she said suddenly. Harry was unsure of how to take this news.

"Oh... I'm sorry... " he said, at a loss.

"No, really, it's okay. It just wasn't working out." She faced him, looking straight into his
eyes. "But now I don't have a date for the Halloween dance." 

Stay calm, he told himself, gulping. He pulled at the neck of his robes uncomfortably.

"R-really? he asked. "I don't have a date either."

"Oh?" she asked, expectantly. Harry could feel the sweat beginning to trickle down his forehead.
He had tried to have a relationship with Cho before, and it hadn't worked. Ask Rachel!
said a little voice inside his head. Rachel hates you! said another voice. He decided to
go with the second voice's opinion.

"Did you want to go together?" he asked nervously. Cho grinned.

"Sure! I'd love to." She glanced at her watch. "I really have to get going. See you soon!"

"Bye," he replied, confusion clouding his mind. Putting on his backpack again, he realized that
he was supposed to have met Ron and Hermione ten minutes ago. Running down the hallway, he skidded
into the common room door. 

"Watch it!" yelled the Fat Lady. 

"Sorry... Jack-o-Lantern..." he mumbled, and the portrait swang open to reveal an impatient-looking
Hermione with Ron by her side. 

"Harry, where were you? I thought we were meeting for dinner!" she asked, exasperated.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late." He mumbled. She looked at him carefully.

"Why are you late?" she asked. 

"I was just... talking to someone..." he answered slowly. Hermione smiled knowingly.

"Was it Rachel?" she asked.

"No... why?" Harry replied, confused. Hermione stopped smiling.

"Oh. She was just looking for you, that's all." She shrugged. "Come on, let's go to dinner."

"Yeah mate, I'm starving!" Ron cried. Harry laughed as he followed Hermione out of the common
room, but his thoughts were troubled. Why had Hermione seemed so happy when she mentioned
Rachel? Why would she even know if Rachel was looking for him? And finally, why WAS Rachel looking for
him after all??

****************************

Adele Fleur sobbed, her weak hands shaking as they covered her face. Remus held her, rocking her
back and forth. 

"Adele, it's okay. I told you that you didn't have to tell me the story. You don't have to finish it."

"Yes I do!" she screamed. "I want to," she said, this time more quietly. Remus nodded. Adele took a 
deep breath.

"So... so he came back to my house... everyone was asleep, Remus, and I was upset because you were gone!
I was mad because you weren't there for me Remus, I didn't understand, I was wrong. I should have 
never let it happen.... But I did." She looked down, tears streaming from her eyes again.

"Did you..." Remus mumbled, avoiding eye contact. She looked at him.

"Did we what?" she asked, a little sharply.

"You know," he mumbled. She gasped.

"Remus of course not, I wouldn't have let it get that far! I feel bad enough about what happened..."
He nodded, kissing her lightly on the cheek. 

"I forgive you," he whispered. She smiled up at him through her tears.

"Thank you," she replied, allowing herself to be engulfed in a huge hug. "I don't know what I would 
do without you, Remus," she mumbled, caressing his hair.

"And I you," he replied, running his hands along her back.

*****************************