There was a momentary silence in the vast room as everyone, both workers and customers alike, stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at the three rather curiously.
"Is it really him?" alittle girl with brown curls seated by the window asked her mum in a loud whisper with wide, adoring eyes, the ice cream cone in her small hands forgotten. "The Harry Potter you've told me a million times about, Mum?" She stared up at her mum expectantly, her cheeks with a touch of crimson, oblivious to the pairs of eyes that were on her as she spoke.
Everyone's gaze then fell on her mother as if she held the world at her hands. Her mum tore away her eyes from her daughter's as she realized the room was filled with silence. She looked around shyly, noticing how every face in the room was turned towards her, each with a look of interest dancing in their eyes
Her mum took a folded napkin and wiped the ice cream smeared all over her daughter's cheek, pretending to be oblivious to everyone around her. "I believe so," she whispered back with a faint smile.
A loud chain of deafening murmurs and chattering ensued afterwards, causing the little girl to stand up and clap her hands in happiness. "Can we meet him, Mum?" she asked, pulling her mum up by the arm. "Can we?"
"Maybe later," her mum said, patting the seat next to her, "after you finish that ice cream of yours."
The little girl sighed in defeat and sat back in her place, licking her ice cream slowly as she watched her hero talk to the girls she thought were pretty.
The dark-haired young woman smiled charmingly and amiably at him, giving off a rather different demeanor than she did a few seconds ago. She stood rather impatiently, shifting legs from time to time, as she waited for Harry to acknowledge her, or at least say her name."
Harry slowly nodded, obviously unsure how to act towards her. "I'm Harry Potter," he replied in answer to her previous question, slightly wincing at the sound of his own name, "and you're-"
"Cho Chang," she said, sticking out a strong, feminine hand. "It's been quite awhile, Harry."
Harry took her soft hand rather tentatively and immediately tried to let go, but the woman's firm grip held him otherwise.
Ginny couldn't help but watch the exchange rather closely, trying to decipher through the expressions of their faces of whether there was still a spark between them or not. She couldn't help but feel a slight ounce of envy surge through her as she looked at the strongly exotic, confident young woman before her, who had, at one point in time, been an insecure and vulnerable young girl.
"What are you doing here?" Cho asked him curiously as she swung her light knapsack over her shoulder. "In Diagon Alley, I mean."
Harry looked over at Ginny as he pushed his glasses higher on his nose. "I… um…"
Cho continued on. "Not that there's anything wrong with your presence here," she added slyly. "Knowing you, I'd expect you to be at home, avoiding attention from who knows what…"
She stopped speaking as she realized his attention was no longer on her, but on the woman who had just appeared next to him. "Hello," she said in a curious tone, but sticking her hand out professionally at Ginny, "and who may you be?"
Ginny smiled rather forcefully at her as she returned the handshake. "I'm Gi-"
"She's Ginny," Harry interrupted, sharing a quick glance with Ginny's curious stare.
Cho's lips curved into a smile. "And I'm-"
"You're Cho Chang," Ginny stated dryly.
Cho placed a hand on her hip. "How'd you know?" Cho asked in a tone of awe and disbelief.
She wanted to blurt out, How could I not? Harry was infatuated with you, you arse. But of course, she didn't, even if her heart told her to, and she replied back in the most charming tone possible, "We played against each other in Quidditch back in Hogwarts, don't you remember?"
Cho held her tongue as she seemed to rack her own mind for any sign of recognition and nodded. "You were in Slytherin, weren't you? Beater, I reckon?"
Ginny clenched her fists tightly behind her back. "No, no, you must be confusing me with someone else," she began, surprising both herself and Harry with her calm tone, "I was in Gryffindor and I wasn't Beater, I was Chaser and a reserve Seeker for Harry here."
Cho nodded again with interest. "Right," she said in a way that sounded as if she didn't care. "Wait a tick, you're that Weasley girl, aren't you?" Cho looked at her, her brows furrowed as her eyes swept over Ginny as if noticing her red hair and freckles for the first time. "What's your friend's name again, Harry?" She turned around quickly to face him, her straight black hair slapping lightly against her cheeks as she did so.
Harry looked up at her, a distant look in his face. "Ron," he replied but with a confused look.
Cho snapped her fingers together excitedly. "That's it," she exclaimed, while pointing her finger at Ginny. "You're Ronald Weasley's little sister, aren't you?"
Harry gulped and immediately looked at Ginny, noticing how her pale skin was slowly turning to a bright shade of red.
Ginny opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted yet again by a soft feminine voice from behind her.
"Excuse me, sir... I mean, Mr. Potter, sir," the young girl that had reminded Harry of Luna said behind the counter, "Your order is ready." She held two identical cones, each with a big scoop of a swirl of brown and pink ice cream, in her hands.
Harry nodded courteously and took them both, holding one for himself and handing the other towards Ginny. He then placed how much he owed on the counter and moved it towards the girl.
"You needn't pay," the girl said, pushing it back towards him. "Consider them both on the house."
He looked at her questioningly, as if debating with himself whether or not he should pay. He sighed and tossed his money back into his pocket. "Erm… thanks," he said with a grateful smile.
"Anytime." The girl flashed him a wide smile before calling the next customer.
Harry turned around and realized that Ginny and Cho were no longer standing next to him, but were seated comfortably in a table against the wall.
He made his way towards them cautiously, making sure not to bump into any children or tables. As he grew nearer, he wrinkled his forehead in confusion as he saw them laughing. Together.
Harry stopped walking and ran the thought in his mind again. His ex-girlfriend and supposed girlfriend were...laughing…together.
Harry shook his head, shrugged, and continued, placing one foot in front of the other, noticing Ginny's hand calling him over.
"There you are, Harry," Cho said with a much too cheery grin, "we were wondering what was taking you.
Harry sat down in a chair, and grabbed a napkin from the napkin dispenser on their square table with his free hand, both girls on either of his sides watching him intently.
He blushed lightly as he wiped his mouth. "So," he began, both pairs of eyes still watching him. "Nothing beats Florean's, eh?" He held up his ice cream cone before bringing it down to his mouth and licking it.
"I agree," Ginny said, closing her eyes as she licked her ice cream.
Harry looked at Cho as if waiting for her to comment, when he realized she didn't buy anything.
Cho returned the look and shrugged. "I'll take it from the two of you that it's good," she said tonelessly as she discreetly opened her knapsack on her lap.
"Wait, you've never tried ice cream from this parlor before?" Harry asked, pointing to his half-devoured ice cream cone. As she didn't respond, Harry continued on. "I could buy one for you if you want. They're really good."
Cho looked up at him and shook her head. "No thanks," she replied courteously. "I...I don't really like ice cream." She immediately bowed her head down to continue rifling through her things as if she were looking for something.
Harry and Ginny exchanged glances, each at a lost at what to say to follow that. Harry looked wordlessly around the room, his eyes falling upon on Cho's anxious expression as she searched wordlessly in her bag for something.
"What are you looking for?" Harry asked, sounding more concerned than he intended to.
Cho snapped her head up at him, her hair all over face. She raised a hand to her face self-consciously and tucked away any strand that seemed to be out of place. "Oh nothing," she replied as she looked from Harry to Ginny.
Harry gave her a look that told her he wasn't fooled. "Really?" he asked in a disbelieving tone.
Cho sighed deeply and placed a hand on her forehead as if she were in great distress. "I can't find my notebook," she admitted.
Harry looked over at Ginny, who had slightly arched her eyebrow. He cleared his throat and said, "Are you sure it's not in your bag?"
Cho shook her head. "I looked and…and it's not," she said in a low tone, her lower lip quivering slightly.
"Are you sure you didn't drop it or anything?" Ginny asked, looking at Cho's bag as if it bore holes.
"No," she replied immediately. She looked at them, her eyes shining with unshed tears, reminding Harry of certain times in the past. "I'm positive I had it with me. Why just before I entered here,Iwr-"
She paused abruptly, as if she had said something she shouldn't have. Cho fidgeted with her hands, something Harry had never seen her do, and she glanced down at her watch, her face suddenly brightening with a sly smile.
"Are you alright, Cho?" Ginny asked, noticing the different expression on the woman seated in front of her.
"I-I'm fine," Cho replied, putting her personal things back in order. She swung the knapsack over her shoulder and stood up. She looked down at Harry and Ginny, who were staring back up at her with confusion written all over their faces, and inhaled deeply.
"I need to go," she stated, throwing her thumb over her shoulder, pointing towards the exit.
"You're leaving?" Ginny asked as she too stood up, nudging Harry on the arm to do the same.
"I... Yes, I do," Cho said, stammering a bit over her words. She bit her lip lightly as she noticed Ginny's suspicious expression. "I've a meeting to attend to."
"Oh. You do?" Ginny asked, looking up at the wall clock that floated by the opposite wall. "We didn't keep you, did we?"
Cho shook her head. "No, no. The meeting's not for a couple of hours...I mean, minutes," she corrected but with a rather forced smile.
"Okay, well take care then, Cho," Ginny said as she gave her a friendly hug. "And you better be off now if the meeting's in a couple of minutes." She said the last word with much emphasis, making Cho look up at her with vulnerable eyes.
"Oh, yeah," Cho said, reminding herself. "Well I best be off then, eh?" she gave them a small wave before walking towards the door.
"Good luck at the meeting," Harry called, holding up his hand and stuffing it back inside his pocket.
"I'll try," Cho said, smiling a bit as she gave a tiny wave to Ginny, who was having a hard time pushing her chair back under the table.
Ginny sighed tiredly as she bent down under the table to see why the chair wouldn't budge. She immediately found her answer as her eyes graced upon a small notebook filled with loose parchment by her chair's legs.
"Cho!" she called, holding the notebook in the air. "This is your notebook, I reckon," Ginny said with uncertainty, as she quickly flipped the small thing open in her hands, looking for a name written on it. In a flash, Cho appeared by her side and snatched it from her before she could see whatever was written inside it.
Cho nodded without meeting her gaze. "Yes, this is it," she confirmed, not even looking at it. She stuffed the notebook in her knapsack and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "The meeting's highly important, so I'll be off now."
Ginny opened her mouth to speak. "Wait, where is it you work again?" she asked curiously.
Cho looked at her blankly for a full second, before blurting without much thought, "I work for the Ministry." With that said, she immediately turned around and walked outside the parlor, unmistakably apt in avoiding any more questions.
Ginny turned to Harry and raised a brow. "That was Cho Chang, wasn't it?" she asked in an unsure tone, "the same Cho Chang that was always teary back in Hogwarts, right?"
"I reckon it was," Harry replied, his eyes transfixed on the glass door that the young woman had just exited.
"She seemed to be acting...well, I don't know, a bit odd," Ginny admitted as she threw away a napkin into the bin nearby.
Harry nodded absentmindedly as a thoughtful look graced his face. "There's something different about her," he said, "and I can't place my finger on it."
Author's Note: Thanks for all your wonderful comments and reviews. And in answer to one of the many questions that I know are brewing in your minds: Yes, Cho is supposed to be a bit out of character for a particular reason of which I'm not to say or else I'll spoil my upcoming chapters of this story, which of course you wouldn't want, would you?