Cho grasped her tea close to her chest in the hope of keeping warm. She hated this time of year with wind nipping and the window panes of her cottage freezing over.

After the war she'd wanted a quiet life away from all the attention all the Hogwarts graduates had got after the Battle. She'd moved to rural Scotland, on the coast with a lighthouse as her only neighbour and continued to owl her work in to the Ministry, so she never even had to visit London.

Cho was stoking the fire and settling down with a cup of tea when Harry Potter tumbled out into the fireplace.

Cho blinked and set her tea down. She and Harry technically both worked in the same department but she didn't really speak to him. Hadn't spoken for years really.

After their little non-relationship back when she was fifteen, she had harboured a heartbreak for him for years but hadn't been able to get past him.

Losing Cedric and then Harry had made her cold towards boys in general. She'd had to save herself, hence why she'd sought out the quiet of the Highlands.

Which bought her back to why Harry Potter had just appeared out of her fireplace.

He smiled weakly, "Merry Christmas." She said nothing as he stood up and brushed the ash of his suit.

"Sorry to intrude but I knew you'd be the only one not at the Christmas party."

Cho stiffened her shoulders. Every year she received an invite and every year she turned it down despite overly-friendly demands from her colleagues that she could stay with them in London.

"Why aren't you there either?"

Harry fiddled with the buttons on his cuffs. "I was but it was just too much. I don't really like the attention or the assumption that I'm this amazing person."

Cho hummed in agreement, "Tea?"

"Please and no milk."

Cho went over to the kitchen and used her wand to produce a steaming spout of tea. Whilst she poured into the mugs, she watched Harry out of the corner of her eyes, watched as he looked round her cottage his eyes wide. At heart, he was still the awkward teenage boy that he'd been at fifteen.

She smiled slightly to himself and brought him his tea.

He accepted it with a murmur of thanks then perched on a sofa, clearly unsure of himself.

Cho looked round for something to say, "Are you still with Ginny?"

Harry looked down, "Yes," he said finally, "but sometimes like tonight I just need her to understand I hate social gatherings."

"So you come to your ex?"

Harry laughed and set his cup down, "Were we ever really exes?"

That brought a small laugh to Cho's lips, "No," she replied.

Once the ice had been broken, they talked for several hours. Harry was still the sarcastic blunt man he'd been at Hogwarts but he could still make Cho laugh, could still make her heart skip when he ran a hand through his hair.

She tried to keep those sorts of thoughts locked up but over the evening, they kept leaking through.

Eventually, it was time for Harry to go and as he got up to leave, Cho immediately went into the kitchen and began to clatter about with pots and saucers, making as much noise as possible. She hoped Harry would just leave.

When it became clear he was waiting for her, she came back into the living room.

Harry was wearing a sad look on his face, "Cho why do you never come down to London? People miss you."

She shrugged, "I prefer the solitude." Then she whispered, "I need to keep myself safe."

Harry nodded then looked into the fire."

"I'll tell you what," he said after a moment, "I'll go to the Christmas party next year as long as you come too."

He reached over and put her hand in hers. His hand was warm and Cho slowly felt the warmth starting to spread through her.

She smiled, perhaps the first genuine smile in a while.

"Deal."