Daisies In Her Hair
Part Seven - My How Time Flies
"Didja hear?" A even higher pitched voice rose above the squeals and giggles of the bubbling, babbling Hufflepuffs. Cho staring at her porridge tiredly, felt the hairs on the back of her neck prick up.
A chorus of "What?" and "Please tell!" came from the exited girls.
"Harry Potter!" The girl's shrill voice proclaimed to her peers and paused as the girls swooned happy sighs. "He's dating someone!"
Dating...? Cho thought slowly, sitting upright.
"Who? Who?"
"Hannah Abbott, she's pretty."
"Nah, he used to have a thing for Cho Chang didn't he?"
They all stared and Cho dropped her eyes to the meal, nose wrinkling, then toyed with her metal spoon.
"Doesn't she date Michael Corner?"
"Oh, yeah. How 'bout Ginny Weasley? She's been after him since first year, my sister said."
"Hmmm..." Many of them murmured.
"Well, cast your votes!" Said the first girl.
"Hannah Abbott."
"Cho Chang!"
"Ginny Weasley, duh!"
"Um... Parvati Patil? Or Lavender Brown? They're in his year..."
Someone snorted. "Next you'll be saying that bookworm, Hermione Granger."
The girl who held the secret laughed. "Nope, you are all wrong."
"Who! Who!"
She took a deep breath, awaiting the answer as much as the others.
"Loony Lovegood! They were holding hands and everything! I saw in the hallways myself!"
"Loony?"
"Oh my goodness!"
"Loony?"
"He picked her, I can't believe it!"
"Loony?"
"Like, Luna Lovegood? The crack pot of Ravenclaw?"
"Loony?"
"Holding hands? That's so romantic!"
"Loony?"
"Yes! Loony Lovegood!"
"Oh..." seemed the general consensus.
Bloody hell! Harry was going out with Luna Lovegood! Cho blinked, breakfast losing focus. Luna was mad! Out of her mind! Everyone knew that... Everyone.
Cho was so shocked that when she came back to herself she was outside the hall, a last few stragglers leaving for class. Leaning against the rough hewn stone wall, she brushed a hand through her hair.
"Wow, Luna," she whispered. A picture image of the girl in question came her mind, eyes, hair and strange clothes.
"Harry and Luna...They're holding hands..." A peculiar emotion came over Cho. It wasn't jealousy, hate or distrust but a sense that something had to be remedied. She and Harry had never had a proper talk about it... And now she could congratulate him about Luna... Two birds in one stone really.
As Head Girl she had many duties and responsibilities. But the job did come with some perks. Racing to the Head Girl's office, she scrambled through the class schedules until she came across Potter, Harry in curvy cursive script.
"Tuesday," Cho read out quietly, "Binns, History of Magic," Cho's lips curled into a grin, "Perfect!"
Adjusting the badge of her office so that it jutted out, shiny and prominent, she adopted a serious expression just in case she encountered someone.
Luckily no one was in the hallways, still, a knot of nervousness balled itself in her belly when she knocked on the door not waiting for Binn's reply she entered. Searching the room of surprised but pleased eyes of the sixth year's she smiled when she found a green pair sitting next to a tousled and sleepy red head.
"Professor Binns?"
"Ah... Yes... Chin?"
Internally wincing she continued onwards, "Sir, may I borrow Harry Potter for a while, official Head Girl business of course." Cho was trying desperately not to smile or laugh hysterically out of anxiety.
"Oh... Yes, yes, there you go Perkins..."
Harry stood up and gathered his things, shot her a questioning look, Cho remained blank.
Outside Cho gestured for him to follow her, he did so reluctantly, giving her puzzled looks. she made her way to her office and quickly locked it behind herself and Harry
Now throughly worried, Harry's hand drifted to his pocket where no doubt his wand lay ready. Ch felt her eyebrows skyrocket upwards, all while thinking that he was believing her to be a dark witch.
"Harry, I'm not going to kill you, or, yeah... I just want to talk!" Cho nervously mumbled.
"Talk?" He said carefully.
Cho ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, about last term really. I'm, I'm sorry about Marrietta, she had been going through a lot - "
"That's not an excuse, everyone was dealing with their won troubles. OWLs, exams and NEWTs," Harry cut in glaring at her.
"Well maybe. But her mum's job was under threat and her grandmother was sick. They needed the money Potter!"
He stared at her silently and shrugged, "Fine..."
Sighing, she sat down on her leather chair,"Harry? You know, how, how we kissed?"
His eyes poked out, "Yes!"
"I don't think I was ready, and neither were you." Cho looked away from his probing eyes. "We were never meant to be, sorry."
"It's okay Cho. It's the past thankfully."
Giggling gratefully she pressed on, "So... I heard you and Luna Lovegood were dating, good luck!"
Somehow, Harry seemed to freeze over without moving a muscle, back rigid and eyes distant, "Luna..."
"You are dating right?"
"Um... I guess so, she..." He drifted off, staring at the wall.
"So congrats, Potter, with her," Cho said uneasily, awkwardly.
"Thanks..." He seemed to come out of his own private world and grinned a familiar smile, "I suppose I should be giving congratulations to you with Michael Corner, you've been dating a couple months now?"
"These first few months fly! You'll see. Next time you think about it, you'll be married!" Cho laughed carelessly, while Harry gazed at her seriously.
"Maybe," he murmured quietly, looking away.
"So good luck, where ever it leads you." Reaching over she gave his a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for talking, we're better off platonic and it's good getting it off my chest."
"No problem," he said, picking up his bag. "Bye Cho."
"Bye Harry," and this time it seemed so final.
Smiling and waving the door closed on him as he departed. Cho slumped in her chair, thinking over what he had said. What was Harry doing? He wasn't the type to string a girl along... Was he?
For one of the first times, Cho felt deeply sorry for Luna, pitying her for what seemed to come.
AN: Thanks for the reviews. Slightly diffierent from usual formatt, longer than usual which some of the readers wantedand a whole different character introduced... But she's not a main character and she and Harry won't get together. This Luna and Harry all the way, even they aren't always together or even the main POV.
Disclaimer: Me? Own Harry Potter? Flattered really, but no I don't.