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After The War

Chapter Two: New beginnings.

The next morning, Harry awoke to find that Dean and Seamus were gone, but Ron and Neville had just finished getting dressed. They were standing near Ron's bed laughing about something, and when Ron saw that Harry was awake, he threw a pillow at his head.

"Oy mate, finally, I thought you'd be asleep forever, it's already eleven. You haven't moved at all this morning, we were up at eight," he said.

Harry laughed and said, "Hey, it was long night."

He remembered that he had to meet Cho at twelve. He wasn't sure whether he should tell Ron or not, but when Neville said he had to send an owl to his Gran and left, Harry decided that Ron could at least help him find something to wear.

After Harry had explained to Ron about the note, and told him what it said, he asked, "Er, could you - could you help me pick out something to wear?"

Ron started sniggering and said "Oh, does ickle Harry wanna look nice for his girlfriend?"

Harry could see the start of uncontrollable laughter, so he said quickly, "Well, it's just that my clothes aren't exactly in the best shape, being handed down from Dudley and all." At the mention of his cousin, Harry wondered if the Dursleys knew what happened. Better yet, he wondered if they cared.

Ron stopped laughing and went over to his dresser. He picked out a black shirt with pink writing on it. "You can borrow this. Dean gave it to me, but I dunno why the hell it says 'Rancid' on it...it's a cool looking shirt though."

Fifteen minutes later, Harry and Ron were heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast. They sat down with Hermione and Ginny and started on some turkey sandwiches.

"Oh, Harry you will not believe what I heard in the loo this morning!" squealed Ginny, grinning.

"Oh for heaven's sake Ginny, don't be ridiculous. Morning Harry, Ron." said Hermione trying not to sound pleased with her and Ginny's eavesdropping skills, though she was smiling slightly too.

Ron looked from Ginny to Hermione and said, "I don't know if I want to hear what you heard in the Girl's bathroom..."

Ginny scowled at Ron and said, "Well I bet Harry does. See, me and Hermione were wandering the castle, and ended up using the bathroom by the Ravenclaw dormitory. Then, who do we hear but Cho and some girl, what's-her-name, that blonde girl in Ravenclaw. Apparently Cho dumped that sneak friend of hers, Marietta and she got all huffy with Cho and started yelling at her in the middle of the corridor, by the Charms classroom."

"Oh," said Harry, secretly glad that Cho had gotten rid of Marietta. He had never liked her anyway. "That's, erm, nice."

"And," said Ginny eagerly, "That's not even the best part. She also said that she was really excited to be meeting a certain someone at noon today. Said she really hoped she could straighten things out with that 'hot Harry Potter'."

Harry's face turned a brilliant shade of scarlet as he tried to avoid everyone's eyes and look down at his plate. He wondered if Cho really was looking forward to seeing him. He knew that things hadn't really ended on good terms, but Cho had been there to help with Voldemort's downfall. Harry was so confused. It seemed like Cho did care, but how could he ever live up to someone like Cedric Diggory?

After lunch, Draco came over to the Gryffindor table. He gave Ginny a smile and she immediately got up from the table, said " 'Bye everyone!" and was gone. Ron glared after her retreating back until she was out of sight.

"Would you relax?" said Hermione, sounding exasperated. "Ginny's a big girl, she can date whomever she likes."

"What! Date! Excuse me; she can date whoever I like. I dunno about that Malfoy..." Ron said.

"Stop being an idiot! We made peace with him, you're just inventing reasons not to like him so you have an excuse for Ginny not to date him!"

While Ron and Hermione started a heated argument about Ginny, Harry quietly slipped away from the table and started up the stairs. He knew those two could be at it for ages, and he didn't want to be late for Cho. He winced a little as he took his first step up the staircase. He had gotten round to looking himself over, and noticed that he had some nasty cuts and bruises. He supposed they must have been much worse before if Madam Pomfrey hadn't been able to completely heal them.

When Harry reached the door to the Room Of Requirement, he took a deep breath and opened the door. He saw Cho standing by a window. Her long silky black hair was down around her shoulders, and she looked really pretty in a pair of jeans and a pink Roxy t-shirt. She turned around and when she spotted Harry, and let out a huge grin.

"Hey," she said. "You made it."

"Yeah, erm, I did." said Harry, smiling nervously.

"I just..."Cho began. "I just, wanted to, you know...clear things up, about us. I'm sorry I got jealous of Hermione. I know you two are just friends, and I've gotten to know her, I really like her. But, there's something you don't understand about me and Cedric. We - we weren't dating when he died."

Harry gave her a surprised look and waited for her to continue.

"I...I know you felt bad, like I just picked you second best to Cedric, but it isn't like that. I liked you for ages, but then Cedric asked me to the Yule Ball first...anyways before he died, we decided that he was more like a big brother to me, and we broke up. I think he kind of knew that I liked you, but I guess you didn't," Cho laughed a little and took Harry's hands in hers.

Harry didn't know what to say. He definitely felt better that he wasn't just Cedric's replacement or something, but he couldn't imagine for the life of him why Cho would like him over Cedric, or anyone for that matter.

"I, erm, I don't know what to say." said Harry truthfully. "But, it's not just your fault that things ended badly. I was taking out my anger on you, and that wasn't fair either. It's not your fault what Marietta did."

"Thanks Harry," Cho said. "That's really sweet of you." She reached over to give him a hug, but he winced in pain when she did.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" Cho exclaimed.

"It's okay," said Harry sheepishly. "I'm still waiting for that potion from Snape, and then I should be okay."

Cho looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, "Harry? Could I see what happened to you? Can you show me your bruises?" She knew that it was an odd request, but she wanted to know what Voldemort had done.

"I, uh, are you sure? It's not pleasant," Harry tried to laugh, but Cho looked serious. She also looked sad.

"Yeah, I am. I just want to know what He did to you."

Harry looked her in the eyes and had never seen someone look at him in such a caring way before. "Okay," he said simply.

Harry lifted off his shirt and Cho took his hand and squeezed it, trying to let him know that even though she had screwed up before, she really loved him and wanted to be there for him.

His stomach was covered in black and purple bruises. It looked he had been beaten about a hundred times over. He had cuts all over, and Cho could tell some of them were deeper then others. Like someone had carelessly slashed him with a knife multiple times. She turned to look at his back and tears filled her eyes. She just couldn't imagine how someone in this much pain could be so brave all the time.

Harry hugged Cho, but this time she didn't cry. She'd done way too much of that, and if Harry could be that brave, she most certainly could. "I love you Harry," she said, looking into his emerald eyes. "I'm really sorry."

Harry kept her gaze and said, "I love you too Cho," and pulled her close to him again.

Cho had to admit that even though this was a serious moment, Harry really did look sexy without a shirt on. What used to be a small, skinny kid had turned into a fit, really adorable guy. He really had grown up, but Cho could see that now that Voldemort was gone, Harry had gotten some of his innocence back. She leaned her head against his chest and ran her hands lightly along his muscular stomach, and he put his hands around her thin frame. Harry really thought that she was the most beautiful girl in the world, with her long, silky black hair, freckles sprinkled across her nose, and when she smiled she could light up a room.

"Just a quick question," Harry said softly into her ear. "Does this mean that you want to be my girlfriend?"

Cho laughed. "Only if that's your way of asking."

"It is," Harry said, and leaned in to kiss her.

A tingling sensation filled his entire body. This time it didn't end right away. He kept kissing her, and she kissed him back, her hands going up his back, and running through his messy black hair. Cho leaned into him, kissing him deeper. Harry groaned into her mouth and started to move his tongue towards her mouth. Her lips parted easily and she allowed him to explore her mouth. They stayed like that, snogging each other, until a voice broke them apart.

"Excuse me Mr. Potter, but this is a school, not a pub."

It was Snape.