-Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: No! This isn't done! Haha. Hang in there guys, we've still got quite a bit to go before the saga ends…

Harry was quite surprised to have run into his old crush, Cho Chang. She was just as he remembered her, though evidently aged and matured with time. She was wearing a pair of low-slung jeans, a lilac halter-top and a pair of Vans sneakers. Her hair flowedpast her shoulders and in long layers. He had to admit that she looked pretty good.

"Harry! I thought that was you. I was sitting in Starbucks and I swore I saw you walk by," Cho eagerly greeted, looking him up and down.

Harry forced a smile. He didn't mind having a quick chat with Cho but he would rather spend his time mulling over his pressing situation at hand. She appeared to be excited to see him, though Harry couldn't fathom why. Ever since his disastrous attempt to court her in fifth year, Harry and Cho had remained casual acquaintances.

In sixth year, Harry had the feeling Cho still liked him but Harry didn't act on it. He would wave and occasionally stop to catch up on things with her, if he passed her in the halls or after a Qudditch match but nothing more. The summer in between sixth and seventh year was when Harry fell for Ginny and in consequence, during seventh year he paid very little attention to Cho Chang.

"Yeah, it was me," he dully replied.

He didn't mean to sound uninterested, but he really didn't feel like relishing in old memories with Cho. But then again….what was the rush? Ginny was still asleep. It wasn't like he had to get home the minute she woke up.

"How have you been?"

Surely, from the tone of her voice, she had been keeping up with the reports from the Daily Prophet and rumors around town.

He shrugged.

"All right, I guess. Just happy to be home," he sincerely admitted, with a weak smile.

She smiled back at him, suddenly growing apprehensive.

"Listen, I know this is short notice but do you want to join me for a cup of coffee? You know, catch up on some things," she nervously offered.

Harry sighed. Maybe a short break from thinking over the predicament with Ginny would clear his mind a bit.

He nodded and Cho Chang's nervous smile transformed into a beaming grin.

"Lead the way."

Harry was quite surprised as to what had been going on with Cho in the year of his absence. After Hogwarts, Harry had known she wanted to pursue professional Qudditch but was finding it hard to break into that world. In the end, she had gotten engaged to Roger Davies and the pair had opened up their very own Qudditch Sporting Goods Store in Hogsmeade, which was going quite well.

Harry didn't talk too much; he mostly listened to what Cho had to say. He wasn't in the mood to share his personal thoughts and private life to his ex-crush, so he let her run the conversation.

Harry was drinking his third cup of black coffee, when he noticed that Cho had finally ceased talking. This was strange and he wondered if his aloof attitude had rubbed her the wrong way. Harry looked up from the steaming beverage and rose an eyebrow, trying to be nonchalant.

"Something wrong?"

Cho put down her Mochachino and shrugged. Her eyes were glued to his, however and she seemed lost on a deep train of thought that wouldn't so easily be stopped.

"No, nothing. It's just…"

She trailed off. Harry inwardly groaned. He knew what that little teasing prompt meant. Girls always used it when something was bugging them beyond belief but they didn't feel like looking like an idiot and confessing.

Thus,they made YOU wonder what it was and persist the issue further, so they could finally go on some emotional journey without actually being responsible for instigating it.

"It's just what?" he demanded, trying to force his voice to be as cool as he was pretending.

She frowned, her eyes swooping down to her finger, which was carefully tracing the rim of the paper cup. Come to think of it, she had seemed quite distant after awhile. Well, not really distant but holding something on the tip of her tongue that she was too afraid to let go.

Harry wasn't too good at reading women's minds but from the way Cho had greeted him, he figured it obviously had to do with him. Harry was silent, letting her gather her courage to push forward with the matter. She focused her attention back at him, taking another sip of the beverage before speaking once more.

"I don't know. This may be the wrong time to say anything, but the day I found out you had vanished, I remembered all these things I didn't have the chance to tell you," she softly replied.

Harry's lips pressed into a tight, thin line. Here we go again. Yet another person wanting to confess some kind of sob story to them, just because of his disappearance. He felt a little annoyed by some people suddenly willing to give all this sudden attention to him, because he felt that if these sentiments been genuine, a little thing like a disappearance shouldn't have brought them up.

Ok, so maybe a disappearance from the wizarding world was quite a BIG thing but in all retrospect, it bothered him if it was from the wrong person. Harry understood that it was quite traumatizing to have someone you knew just up and vanish, but he also felt that this was just an awkward time to say it. Whatever Cho had to say, she had seven years at Hogwarts to say and even months before he'd gone off to war. Why had she waited so long?

Harry could remember his fifth year, when they'd tried some sort of weird variation of a relationship. It had crashed and burned miserably. He supposed that it had taken him quite awhile to get over her, seeing as how he had been utterly infatuated with her throughout fourth year as well as fifth. But he knew that he had never loved her, the way he was in love with Ginny.

"What's that?" he wondered.

He tried to sound bored, so maybe Cho would get the hint that he didn't really have time to take a stroll down memory lane but she didn't get the message.

"I never got over you," she whispered.

Harry heard her, even though her voice was just barely audible but couldn't believe it. Just when he was sorting out this mess with Ginny, Cho decided to waltz along and add to the garbage? Maybe he wasn't really awake. Maybe another black coffee would do.

"What did you say?" he demanded, leaning over the table so he could hear better.

Cho cleared her throat, her cheeks flushing with humiliation though she barreled on.

"I said, I never really got over you."

Harry's eyes widened, this time hearing the confession loud and clear.

"Cho, as much as I…appreciate that, this really isn't the right time."

In all his years of living, Harry Potter could easily pick up lessons in Defense Against the Dark Arts and in his first year, was flying a broom like a professional even though he'd never had a real lesson. He could defeat the Darkest Wizard of his time but when it came to relationships and love and all that jazz, he was as clueless as Ron was.

Well, maybe not as bad as Ron but he certainly wasn't an expert in the field. He remembered when he'd first kissed Cho. She'd been…crying and he didn't know why. Most likely about Cedric or something. He'd told the tale to Ron and Hermione. Hermione, being observant as ever, had declared, "Harry you're as bad as Ron."

It appeared that even to this day, the statement rung true. What was a guy to do when you were sitting at breakfast with your ex-crush and she started babbling about how she missed you? It was totally bonkers.

"I know this isn't very good timing, but I just had to let you know. I'm sorry, Harry, I really am. But it was either now or never. This had been weighing on my mind for quite some time," she sincerely admitted.

Harry had wished it had been never, instead of now.

"Cho, listen. You're a great girl, you really are. But I'm sort of involved with someone else."

Harry didn't want to be too mean but she just wasn't taking the hint.

Cho recoiled back in her chair a bit, her cheeks blazing to the color of a forest fire. She started to toy with the paper that had been covering her straw, crumpling it up into a little ball then unfolding it to repeat the process.

"Who?" she wondered, furrowing her brow.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck, uneasy.

"I can't really say. It's sort of new and I don't want to spoil it by telling a lot of people, if you know what I mean."

Cho nodded, biting her lip and gazing out the window.

"Oh, I see. Sorry if I sounded too forward," she apologized.

Harry could tell that she was hurt and despite the fact he knew he had done nothing wrong, he felt like somewhat of a jerk. Wasn't he just in the same position, dealing with the whole unrequited love dilemma?

"It's all right. You wouldn't have known," Harry defended.

"Yeah," she simply uttered.

She was silent once more, peering down into the depths of her coffee, as though it held the answers to life's most difficult problems. He stared at her, her long, inky black hair gracefully falling over her face and cheeks and mused that maybe she was only looking for closure.

After his fourth year, Cho was still beating herself up about Cedric. And then later on, when Cho started developing feelings for Harry, she felt even worse because she felt as though she were betraying Cedric or something. It was all very complicated and Harry never really understood it. Maybe by seeing him, she was putting an end to some of her loose threads, so to speak.

"Well, I'd better go before I make an even bigger fool out of myself," Cho jokingly noted with a sad laugh.

Harry lightly laughed as well, trying to get rid of some of the developed tension.

She arose from her chair, slinging her purse over her shoulder and grabbing her cup of coffee as well. Harry rose as well, not knowing whether he should shake her hand or give her a quick hug.

"It was nice to see you," Harry replied, offering her a small smile.

"It was good to see you as well, Harry," Cho genuinely admitted.

They stared at each other for a moment, the Boy Who Lived offering her a sympathetic yet warm half-smile, the Girl Who Had Once (and Maybe Always) Love Him, gazing back at him with admiration and respect, hoping he'd be happy with whoever he was with.

Cho leaned in and softly pressed her lips against Harry's, in what may have been the quickest but most tender kiss he'd ever experienced. And with that kiss, Harry knew that Cho had truly let him go.

She stepped back and waltzed towards the door, chin held high, though her eyes were watering.

"I hope we see each other again, sometime."

Harry nodded, still deciding if he agreed with her or not.

"Take care," he earnestly replied.

With that, Cho walked out of Starbucks and down the street, getting swallowed by the sea of London natives and tourists. Harry sighed and sat back down at the table he'd been at, suddenly remembering that his dilemma with Ginny still was waiting for him back at his flat. What was he going to say to her? What if she regretted everything that happened last night and told him she never wanted to see him again?

He rubbed his temples in a circular motion, his shoulders slumping forward. He sucked down the rest of his coffee and shuffled back in line, to order another. Today just didn't seem like it was his day.

Standing outside Starbucks, disguised by the thick crowd, stood a shocked Ron Weasley. Now, Ron usually stuck by Harry even if he was totally wrong, but what he'd just seen didn't ride to well in his book. Why had Harry been kissing Cho, when he supposedly wanted to marry his baby sister?

What kind of foul play was that? Ron closed his gaping jaw, then walked down the street, past Starbucks. He was afraid if he stayed there too long, Harry would look up and spot him.

Ron was beyond confused. Just a few days ago, Harry had been raving about his little sister like she was the best thing since sliced bread. Ron couldn't comprehend why Harry was so set on Ginny, but he figured if anyone was going to marry her, it bloody well be his best mate.

So then why had he just seen Cho and Harry engaged in a lip-lock? He was still on duty at work, but on a fifteen minute break. But Ron knew that this would only take a quick moment and located his wand, sticking out of the inside pocket of his steel gray robes.

With a loud "POP" Ron apparated back to his flat, praying that Hermione would be home.