Chapter 5 - Harry
As Harry made his way to the Great Hall on Monday morning he had a lot on his mind. His little "chat" with Dumbledore had put him in a bad mood for the last couple of days, namely because Harry generally tried to avoid thinking about what lay ahead of him, and the talk had made everything appear so much closer.
Harry's mood lightened somewhat, however, when he saw Cho. She waved him over and they talked for a little while about this and that. Cho had approached Harry at the beginning of the year, and asked if they could reconcile their differences. She had admitted that Marietta had been wrong to do what she had done, and that eventually the hideous acne had faded. Since then Harry and Cho had become friends again. They greeted each other in the corridor etc; to anyone else it would have been obvious that Cho was after Harry, but, Harry being the modest boy he was didn't realise.
Harry's friends had commented on his friendship with Cho; of course Hermione was more encouraging than Ron. Ron had never particularly liked Cho, and did not entirely approve of what seemed to be happening between the two of them; he still loathed Marietta for her stupid decision a few months previously.
Whilst Cho and Harry were talking, she, without warning, asked him if he wanted to meet up that night. Harry blushed furiously; he was glad Cho's gaggle of giggling girlfriends had started having an, ahem, intellectual conversation about a good looking 6th year Hufflepuff.
"Erm, what for? Do you want some help with your DADA?"
"You could say that."
"Alright, Room of Requirement at 7?"
"See you later, then." Cho had turned back to her friends; and Harry was left standing there. He wondered whether Cho really wanted to practice her DADA; she seemed to be doing pretty well at the meetings.
Harry scanned the Gryffindor table for Hermione and Ron; they didn't seem to be there. He saw Neville and so made to go and sit with him.
Over the next few minutes the space around Harry and Neville filled up quickly; Lavender, Parvati, Dean and Seamus turned up to sit with them, there was, however, no sign of Ron or Hermione. Harry assumed Ron had talked Hermione into "helping" him with his Transfiguration essay due in that morning.
Harry was marginally happier this morning than he had previously; he was finally getting back into the swing of school. The subjects he took were still hard, especially Potions, but if he wanted to be an auror then he would have to get his act together.
Harry was also learning to juggle his other commitments with the school work. The Quidditch season was in full swing: Hufflepuff had lost to Ravenclaw 160-20; it had been a short, rather uneventful game, Cho Chang had caught the snitch within a matter of minutes. Hufflepuff really needed to clean up their act if they were going to beat Gryffindor a fortnight later.
Harry had been working the team like mad. It appeared all those years of Oliver drumming complex tactics into his head had finally had an effect. The other members of the team occasionally worried about Harry's manic enthusiasm, often wondering if he was completely right in the head, but, in the end, decided he just really wanted that cup.
Harry had had to make a few minor changes to the team at the beginning of the year. The make-shift team which had been put together in his, Fred's and George's absence was far from up to scratch. For a start, he was without two chasers. Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson had finished their 7th year last July, meaning Harry had to find two more. The try outs had been rather eventful; a nervous first year had managed to, apparently, confuse himself with the ball, and hurl himself through one of the bubble blower-esque hoops at one end of the pitch. Fortunately Harry had been warned of events such as these happening by Madam Hooch, and so was able to slow the fall, and the boy remained unharmed. Needless to say, he wouldn't be joining the team that year. Ginny Weasley was by far the best there, and Harry accepted her straight away, impressed by her swift tactics. Sometimes he wondered how she had gotten so good, but then remembered all her brothers, and how they would have probably needed her to make up numbers in their family games.
The second chaser was a much harder one to find, there just didn't seem to be anyone up to scratch. In the end Harry decided that Seamus would do for the job, he could pass and catch swiftly, and showed good potential.
Fred and George had also left the previous year, but Harry decided to keep the Creevey brothers as beaters, they did a fair job and were very enthusiastic.
Ron was to be Keeper again; after the 'Weasley is our King' fiasco at the end of last year he had become pretty confident, so of course his play had improved immensely.
Harry's team was not ideal, but it would have to do, and with all the extra practices, they seemed to be on their way to victory. Ron and Ginny knew most of all that the one thing which would cheer Harry up would be winning the cup, and so were working their arses off.
The rest of the day was without incidents. Harry couldn't keep his mind off Cho; at the end of the last year he had had a vast dislike for the creature, but he had decided that after their talk at the beginning of the year he was just as besotted with her now as he had been a year previously.
Before he knew it, it was 10 minutes to 7, and he was making his way to the Room of Requirement. He had mumbled something about seeing McGonagall to Ron and Hermione; of course they had accepted it at face value, he often had one on ones with the teachers nowadays.
He was in the corridor walking towards the Room of Requirement. With every step his heart beat faster. He didn't even know why he was so nervous, it was him getting his hopes up; Cho only wanted to practice her DADA with him. Nothing else was going to happen.
Harry was worried; being alone in a room with her might lead to things. He was, after all, a 16 year old boy, and there is only one thing 16 year old boys really want. Harry had never really had time for a girl friend, all he had ever done was kiss Cho last year, and that had been it. Subconsciously he knew that he could have had any number of the girls at Hogwarts, but Harry was not a shallow person. (Saying this, the reason he first noticed Cho was because of her stunning looks).
He had reached the door to the Room of Requirement. His hand rested on the doorknob, he didn't know what to expect. With a sigh he turned the handle, and his heart sank when he saw the pillows on the floor which they always used for the DA. However, on second glance, the room appeared quite different; the book cases had disappeared and the pillows were laid out on the floor in an organized fashion.
Sitting on a chair in the corner of the room was Cho. She looked slightly nervous. Harry flattened his hair.
"Hi"
"Hi, Harry."
"Erm; how are you?" Harry was searching desperately for something to say, he was racking his brains. The silence was embarrassingly awkward, and there was nothing either of them could do about it.
"Harry?" Harry looked up. "I still really like you, you know?" Harry's heart soared, he had been beginning to think that coming here was a huge mistake; it did not, however, make him any less nervous; quite the contrary, in fact.
Cho stood up and walked over to him. She stood in front of him, a good head shorter than he was, for he had grown over the summer. They looked at each other for a while, Harry didn't know about Cho, but he didn't have a clue what to do. After what seemed like an eternity, Cho stood on her tiptoes and kissed Harry lightly on the lips. It was amazing; Harry rarely had intimacy with anyone any more. She pulled away, and he couldn't stand it. He took hold of her shoulders, leaned in and kissed her, a hard kiss.
They kept on like that for Merlin knows how long. Harry didn't know how they had ended up lying on the bed of pillows, but he was suddenly very wary when Cho's hands travelled towards his flies. He wanted to so much, but decided that it was better if they didn't. Besides, if Cho had have touched him, he felt he may have exploded.
"But, don't you want to?"
"I do, just not tonight. Oh shit, it's nearly 12; we had better be getting back. I'll walk you to your common room if you want." Harry wondered how the hell the time had gone so fast.
"No, it's alright, but thanks for offering."
Cho looked rather flushed; she uttered a "Night, Harry" and left. Harry remained standing there for a second, in awe of what had just happened.
~~**~~
Shite chapter I know, but it was just to get something going on. Sorry about the long wait, I've got more written, I just need to make adjustments etc.
Keep reviewing,
Nine Alternatives.
P.S. - Do you think I should include some Ron/Hermione on the side? I think I'm going to but I'm not sure.
As Harry made his way to the Great Hall on Monday morning he had a lot on his mind. His little "chat" with Dumbledore had put him in a bad mood for the last couple of days, namely because Harry generally tried to avoid thinking about what lay ahead of him, and the talk had made everything appear so much closer.
Harry's mood lightened somewhat, however, when he saw Cho. She waved him over and they talked for a little while about this and that. Cho had approached Harry at the beginning of the year, and asked if they could reconcile their differences. She had admitted that Marietta had been wrong to do what she had done, and that eventually the hideous acne had faded. Since then Harry and Cho had become friends again. They greeted each other in the corridor etc; to anyone else it would have been obvious that Cho was after Harry, but, Harry being the modest boy he was didn't realise.
Harry's friends had commented on his friendship with Cho; of course Hermione was more encouraging than Ron. Ron had never particularly liked Cho, and did not entirely approve of what seemed to be happening between the two of them; he still loathed Marietta for her stupid decision a few months previously.
Whilst Cho and Harry were talking, she, without warning, asked him if he wanted to meet up that night. Harry blushed furiously; he was glad Cho's gaggle of giggling girlfriends had started having an, ahem, intellectual conversation about a good looking 6th year Hufflepuff.
"Erm, what for? Do you want some help with your DADA?"
"You could say that."
"Alright, Room of Requirement at 7?"
"See you later, then." Cho had turned back to her friends; and Harry was left standing there. He wondered whether Cho really wanted to practice her DADA; she seemed to be doing pretty well at the meetings.
Harry scanned the Gryffindor table for Hermione and Ron; they didn't seem to be there. He saw Neville and so made to go and sit with him.
Over the next few minutes the space around Harry and Neville filled up quickly; Lavender, Parvati, Dean and Seamus turned up to sit with them, there was, however, no sign of Ron or Hermione. Harry assumed Ron had talked Hermione into "helping" him with his Transfiguration essay due in that morning.
Harry was marginally happier this morning than he had previously; he was finally getting back into the swing of school. The subjects he took were still hard, especially Potions, but if he wanted to be an auror then he would have to get his act together.
Harry was also learning to juggle his other commitments with the school work. The Quidditch season was in full swing: Hufflepuff had lost to Ravenclaw 160-20; it had been a short, rather uneventful game, Cho Chang had caught the snitch within a matter of minutes. Hufflepuff really needed to clean up their act if they were going to beat Gryffindor a fortnight later.
Harry had been working the team like mad. It appeared all those years of Oliver drumming complex tactics into his head had finally had an effect. The other members of the team occasionally worried about Harry's manic enthusiasm, often wondering if he was completely right in the head, but, in the end, decided he just really wanted that cup.
Harry had had to make a few minor changes to the team at the beginning of the year. The make-shift team which had been put together in his, Fred's and George's absence was far from up to scratch. For a start, he was without two chasers. Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson had finished their 7th year last July, meaning Harry had to find two more. The try outs had been rather eventful; a nervous first year had managed to, apparently, confuse himself with the ball, and hurl himself through one of the bubble blower-esque hoops at one end of the pitch. Fortunately Harry had been warned of events such as these happening by Madam Hooch, and so was able to slow the fall, and the boy remained unharmed. Needless to say, he wouldn't be joining the team that year. Ginny Weasley was by far the best there, and Harry accepted her straight away, impressed by her swift tactics. Sometimes he wondered how she had gotten so good, but then remembered all her brothers, and how they would have probably needed her to make up numbers in their family games.
The second chaser was a much harder one to find, there just didn't seem to be anyone up to scratch. In the end Harry decided that Seamus would do for the job, he could pass and catch swiftly, and showed good potential.
Fred and George had also left the previous year, but Harry decided to keep the Creevey brothers as beaters, they did a fair job and were very enthusiastic.
Ron was to be Keeper again; after the 'Weasley is our King' fiasco at the end of last year he had become pretty confident, so of course his play had improved immensely.
Harry's team was not ideal, but it would have to do, and with all the extra practices, they seemed to be on their way to victory. Ron and Ginny knew most of all that the one thing which would cheer Harry up would be winning the cup, and so were working their arses off.
The rest of the day was without incidents. Harry couldn't keep his mind off Cho; at the end of the last year he had had a vast dislike for the creature, but he had decided that after their talk at the beginning of the year he was just as besotted with her now as he had been a year previously.
Before he knew it, it was 10 minutes to 7, and he was making his way to the Room of Requirement. He had mumbled something about seeing McGonagall to Ron and Hermione; of course they had accepted it at face value, he often had one on ones with the teachers nowadays.
He was in the corridor walking towards the Room of Requirement. With every step his heart beat faster. He didn't even know why he was so nervous, it was him getting his hopes up; Cho only wanted to practice her DADA with him. Nothing else was going to happen.
Harry was worried; being alone in a room with her might lead to things. He was, after all, a 16 year old boy, and there is only one thing 16 year old boys really want. Harry had never really had time for a girl friend, all he had ever done was kiss Cho last year, and that had been it. Subconsciously he knew that he could have had any number of the girls at Hogwarts, but Harry was not a shallow person. (Saying this, the reason he first noticed Cho was because of her stunning looks).
He had reached the door to the Room of Requirement. His hand rested on the doorknob, he didn't know what to expect. With a sigh he turned the handle, and his heart sank when he saw the pillows on the floor which they always used for the DA. However, on second glance, the room appeared quite different; the book cases had disappeared and the pillows were laid out on the floor in an organized fashion.
Sitting on a chair in the corner of the room was Cho. She looked slightly nervous. Harry flattened his hair.
"Hi"
"Hi, Harry."
"Erm; how are you?" Harry was searching desperately for something to say, he was racking his brains. The silence was embarrassingly awkward, and there was nothing either of them could do about it.
"Harry?" Harry looked up. "I still really like you, you know?" Harry's heart soared, he had been beginning to think that coming here was a huge mistake; it did not, however, make him any less nervous; quite the contrary, in fact.
Cho stood up and walked over to him. She stood in front of him, a good head shorter than he was, for he had grown over the summer. They looked at each other for a while, Harry didn't know about Cho, but he didn't have a clue what to do. After what seemed like an eternity, Cho stood on her tiptoes and kissed Harry lightly on the lips. It was amazing; Harry rarely had intimacy with anyone any more. She pulled away, and he couldn't stand it. He took hold of her shoulders, leaned in and kissed her, a hard kiss.
They kept on like that for Merlin knows how long. Harry didn't know how they had ended up lying on the bed of pillows, but he was suddenly very wary when Cho's hands travelled towards his flies. He wanted to so much, but decided that it was better if they didn't. Besides, if Cho had have touched him, he felt he may have exploded.
"But, don't you want to?"
"I do, just not tonight. Oh shit, it's nearly 12; we had better be getting back. I'll walk you to your common room if you want." Harry wondered how the hell the time had gone so fast.
"No, it's alright, but thanks for offering."
Cho looked rather flushed; she uttered a "Night, Harry" and left. Harry remained standing there for a second, in awe of what had just happened.
~~**~~
Shite chapter I know, but it was just to get something going on. Sorry about the long wait, I've got more written, I just need to make adjustments etc.
Keep reviewing,
Nine Alternatives.
P.S. - Do you think I should include some Ron/Hermione on the side? I think I'm going to but I'm not sure.