Cho leaned closer to Harry's face "Harry, I just wanted to tell you that... I, my feelings for you cannot be expressed by words."

"Cho, I love you." Violins played in the background, Cho sat across Harry in a dimly lit room. There was a white tablecloth, on top of which was a lit candle and a vase of deep red roses.

Her dress was form fitting and spangled, Harry felt suave and powerful, dressed in a smart black tuxedo.

She leaned even closer, her eyes closed, lips parted. Harry felt himself drawn forward as well. She was closer, moving towards him, his eyes began to close as well, their lips almost brushed, and then-

"HARRY! WAKE UP! IT'S CHRISTMAS!" yelled Ron. Harry awoke slowly, but when he remembered his dream, grogginess quickly changed to anger. "Ron, you GIT!"

"Wuzzamatter," said Neville, sitting up blearily. "What's the matter?!" said Ron in a panicked voice as he backed away quickly "What's the matter is that my best friend is about to kill me!" He yelped as Harry hit him with a pillow.

"Come on Harry," pleaded Ron "it's Christmas!" He was still backing up quickly, and ducked behind Dean's bed as a textbook whizzed past his ear. Harry took a deep breath, and didn't release it until he was sure he could do so without screaming.

Ron's head peeked up over the bed, hopeful now that the violent noises had stopped, "It safe?"

"Yeah, sorry mate. It's not like you didn't just ruin the best dream of my life." Ron snorted, "You went mental on me because of a dream?"

"Ron I was about to kiss-!" Harry cut himself off abruptly, with a nervous look, his cheeks glowing pink.

"Hold on," said the red head, looking as though he'd been struck by lightning, "who were you going to kiss? You never told me you fancied anyone!"

Harry groaned, "Yes, because I knew you'd react like this."

"No ones reacting like anything," protested Ron defensively. Harry just raised his eyebrows, "But Harry, I'm your best mate!"

He sighed softly, Ron was right. If he couldn't trust him, who could he trust? "Promise not to tell anyone?" Harry relented.

"Not even Hermione?"

"Especially not Hermione."

And now Ron sighed too, "Fine... So who is it?"

Harry leaned close to whisper "It's... Cho. Cho Chang."

"CHANG!" yelled Ron in shock and Harry wanted to die on the spot as his roommates smirked at him. Dean opened his mouth to comment but fortunately, a loud crack! filled the room, and Dobby the House Elf appeared in the middle of the dorm.

Harry thanked Merlin at Dobby's timing.

"Hello Harry Potter!" said Dobby brightly, as everyone but Ron stared at him, flabbergasted.

"Hey Dobby" replied Harry "oh everyone," he continued casually "this is Dobby. He's a House Elf at Hogwarts." Dobby bowed to each one of the boys in turn "Dobby is pleased to meet other friends of Harry Potter."

"But Dobby came to give Harry Potter his Christmas present!" he said eagerly. "Ah, Dobby, I have yours right here, just um, let me look for it." In all honesty, Harry hadn't even thought of him. He supposed though, that he could have given Dobby anything and he would have been happy. Diving into his trunk, Harry fished until he found several pairs of his most horrible socks (figuring, and rightly so, that the more horrible the socks, the more abnormal, and the more abnormal, the more Dobby would like them). The mustard colored pair from the Dursleys, and a few other bizarrely patterned and colored ones went into the House Elf's small hands.

"H-harry Potter," said Dobby haltingly, his eyes bright with unshed tears. "You honor me sir, Dobby will never forget this! Your great spirit and generosity grows every year. I is honored in knowing you sir."

"Erm thanks..." he murmured embarrassedly, as Dean, Ron and Seamus snickered away. Neville still looked to be in shock at the House Elf's sudden appearance.

"Dobby knows it is not much sir, but he would like to give these to Harry Potter." He deposited a pair of socks onto the bed. The one on the left was plain black, which Harry thought quite alright until it began to wriggle away, whereas the one on the right was eye-shockingly green, letting out the smell of pine trees. "Dobby has invented them sir. The black sock is his favorite, it's like his very best friend." Even as he spoke, the sock crawled up to Harry's hand and began to nuzzle against it in a manner that was supposed to be cuddly, but came off as deeply disturbing.

"Thanks Dobby. I'm thrilled." said Harry, trying not to sound too sarcastic. But Dobby didn't notice, and his great eyes brimmed with tears again before he disappeared.

Harry continued opening his presents, getting a bit of string from the Dursleys (Harry didn't know why they even bothered), a comb enchanted to make his hair lay flat from Hermione ("Girls" snorted Ron as Harry flicked it into a corner), a miniature firebolt from Ron and a bottle of potion from Sirius (the letter from him said that it made whatever non-living object that you dipped in it invisible, and that it was 'bloody fantastic for pranks').

"So," said Dean, after they had finished unwrapping their gifts, "Cho Chang huh?" Harry turned beet red as the rest of the guys laughed loudly at this statement.

Merry Christmas, he thought to himself sarcastically.

"Merry Christmas!" said Hermione brightly as they walked down to the common room. "I loved my gifts! And Ron, yours, wow..." She trailed off, clearly amazed as he turned slightly pink at the compliment.

Harry had gotten her a notebook that never ran out of paper. The moment you closed the book after tearing out a page, a fresh sheet would take the spot. He had picked it up in Diagon Alley earlier in the year, but still had no idea how it worked. Ron, in a rare moment of thoughtfulness, had gotten Hermione a portable book case. There was a reversible engorgement charm on it. The smallest it could be was about the size of a matchbox, but if you chose to, it could be enlarged to a regular sized book shelf. It was, Harry had to admit to Ron, the perfect gift.

As they walked to the Great Hall for breakfast, they passed many fliers advertising the Yule Ball, as well as a few reminders on the date of next Triwizard Event.

"Any of you got dates to it?" questioned Hermione as they walked by a particularly large and flamboyant poster.

"Not yet," said Ron airily "I'm waiting for them to come to me. How about you Harry?" he asked him, a sly grin on his face. Harry averted his face, internally cursing Ron and resolving to take back his gift as soon as they got back to the Tower.

"Harry?" said Hermione concernedly, when he remained silent "Got a date yet?"

The smirk on Ron's face however, had slowly morphed to an expression of horrified understanding. "You didn't," he whispered, appalled. "Didn't what?" said an exasperated Hermione, irritated that she was clearly out of the loop. However, Harry's continued silence seemed to confirm Ron's question. "You did! You asked her! What'd she say?"

"Asked who?" Hermione snapped, the lack of knowledge was proving to be a great strain on her. Unable to help the goofy grin that spread across his face, Harry merely nodded at Ron. Mouth dropping, it took him a full three seconds to find his voice "Yes? She said yes?" He nodded again, still smiling widely.

"Bloody hell," whispered Ron. Hermione looked close to screaming, "What. Are you lot babbling on about?" she nearly screeched. Correctly assessing that if he didn't tell her soon, she would explode, Ron quickly explained in a series of hissed words, eyes still wide open.

"Eek!" squealed Hermione, clapping both hands over her mouth. "Oh Harry, that's wonderful!"

"Thanks 'Mione," he replied, feeling as though his insides were illuminated by the sun.

They entered the Great Hall then, and the babble of chatter washed over the three of them. Immediately, Harry's eyes scanned the Ravenclaw table, seeking out a certain someone.

He found Cho already staring at him. They made eye contact, and her warm brown eyes froze him momentarily in place while his heart thumped unevenly in his chest.

Oh my, thought Cho simultaneously, as she resisted the urge to fan her face against the sudden heat that suffused her.

Ron and Hermione watched the whole exchange in wide-eyed silence, and it took a few seconds for their motor abilities to reassert themselves. At that time, they hurriedly followed Harry.

"Nice one mate," said Ron in amazed tones, whereas Hermione looked so happy she could burst.

"When?" she whispered eagerly, as soon as she sat down. Harry groaned internally, she'd spend hours getting to know every second of it, then countless more breaking it down for him in carefully analyzed detail.

"Last night," he whispered back.

"When you went on that walk?" questioned Ron, nearly as eager for details as Hermione now that he'd gotten over his shock.

"Yeah" Harry nodded. Suddenly, right when she was about to ask him another question, she giggled, "What's so funny?" Harry asked defensively.

I mean it's not like she has a date to the Ball! he thought.

But then Hermione said something that ignited something akin miniature firestorm in his stomach "She's looking at you right now."

A stupid grin split his face as he turned quickly to face the Ravenclaw table.

Cho was staring intently at the back of Harry's head, wishing it were close enough for her to run her fingers through when all of a sudden, he turned around, a goofy grin plastered on his handsome face.

She gulped guiltily. Oops. Caught.

Cho saw him laugh a little at the expression on her face, and she dropped her eyes quickly, cheeks burning. Really, where was the justice? She'd looked at him for months and now, when they actually had a date together (her heart soared) her had to catch her.

She sighed unconsciously, her face falling. Shame and embarrassment trickled into her stomach, and she found it hard not to look at the ground. Fighting it every step of the way, she raised her eyes little by little to look at him again.

Strangely, his forehead was furrowed, eyebrows creased in concern. Concern... for her? And suddenly it didn't seem to matter that he knew she stared at him, suddenly all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and bury her head into his chest.

He smiled, relieved, when her expression brightened. 'I'm sorry,' he mouthed to her. She waved her hand non-commitedly in response 'Merry Christmas' she mouthed back.

They sat their for a while, staring at each other and having a silent conversation until Cho's friend's urgent whisper interrupted her. She snuck one last glance to see Hermione doing the same thing to Harry.

"Cho!" hissed her best Samantha urgently "people are watching!"

Startled, Cho looked up and down the Ravenclaw Table, and sure enough many were staring at her or Harry. With a jealous twist to her thoughts, she noticed that all the girls appeared to be looking at Harry. Wistfully. She ground her teeth because no matter how bad Harry's reputation was at the moment, a simple fact remained; he was gorgeous. However, what she missed that Harry saw was the guys, who were looking at her with the same expression. Some stares though, were a little more intense than others. Glancing around the Great Hall, she was horrified to see everyone's gaze on the two of them. Michael Corner was looking at Harry as his left eye twitched occasionally, and Cedric Diggory on the Hufflepuff Table, the other Hogwarts Champion, was looking toward the bespectacled black haired boy as though he'd like nothing better than to beat him to a pulp.

The Great Hall was nearly silent as people exchanged bewildered glances, jealous faces, and whispered gossip. At the Head Table, Dumbledore was looking around with a bemused expression. McGonagall and Flitwick shared a glance, eyebrows raised, whereas Snape gazed around unconcernedly, his lip twitching unpleasantly when his gaze came to rest on Harry.

Gradually however, people began to return to their own conversations, although some still sneaked covert glances at the two Seekers whose cheeks were so red you could've fried bacon on them.

Cho sighed to herself at the commotion they'd caused, but still didn't regret it in the slightest.

The rest of her day was certainly eventful though, albeit in an oh-Merlin-let-it-end-already sort of way. She was asked to the Ball by no less than 11 boys, many of whom she had never even spoken to before.

Her only comfort was Harry, and she grinned to herself, remembering an earlier event.

She had quickly turned a corner, hiding from another admirer when she saw Harry talking with a very pretty 7th year. He appeared extremely uncomfortable, and was obviously being asked to the ball. She narrowed her eyes slightly, and felt her fingers twitching towards her wand as intense feelings of jealousy bloomed in her stomach.

All of a sudden, the 7th year spun away from Harry and walked down the hallway towards Cho, her eyes sparkling with tears. Good for you Cho though savagely. Harry looked at her, and his face lit up from its formerly guilty expression.

"Cho!" he jogged towards her, and she fought to keep her face normal as she swooned.

"Hi," she said, breathless. How absurd, she'd been motionless for the past few minutes.

"Hey," he smiled, and Cho felt an answering expression form on her face.

"What class do you have?"

"Potions," he said distastefully "least favorite class." Cho nodded, everyone in the school knew about the, for lack of a better word, dislike that Harry and the Potions Master shared for each other.

"Hm... I have a break and..." she took a deep breathe. "And I was wondering..." Come on Cho, you can do this, she told herself, "Would chou mind if I w-walked chou to your clash?" she mumbled hurriedly. Cho could've cursed herself, she did not just do that.

But Harry just nodded, a wide smile on his handsome face. It was a wonder he understood at all she thought as they walked away.

"Hey, Chang." came a cocky voice, as they passed a group of 6th years. "Yes?" she looked up, distracted. Harry had just been telling her several stories about his cousin.

"Come over here," a dark faced boy beckoned. Confused, she obeyed him, giving Harry a quick pat on the arm and a promise that she'd return.

"So," said the boy, with a bored look "fancy going to the ball with me?"

"Sorry, I'm going with someone else," she replied shortly, not liking this guy one bit. Cho turned to leave, but a hand grabbed her roughly. "Oh come on," the dark boy scoffed "you can't be serious."

"I think she is," came an icy and furious voice. Harry stood directly behind Cho, glaring at him, wand raised.

"Well Potter," he released Cho, who immediately stepped to Harry's side and took out her wand as well "It looks like we have a problem."

"Yes. You should go now," replied Harry in tones of loathing.

"Fine. But your girlfriend will come crawling to me eventually." he turned around and shrugged, walking away nonchalantly.

Harry's wand was trained on his back the entire time.

"Calm down Harry," said Cho soothingly, one arm moving his wand away and the other wrapped around his shoulder.

He took a deep breathe, then looked at her and smiled. Harry put his wand back and wrapped his arms around Cho, pulling her close.

"Are you all right?" he whispered in her ear "I'm fine now," she whispered back.

"Good," he closed his eyes for a while, content just to hold her.

"Harry?" said Cho suddenly, "Yes? he replied, not opening his eyes."

"What time is your class?"

"Bloody hell! We have to go!" he eyes shot open and he grabbed by the hand, pulling her along while she laughed.

"See you at the ball tomorrow," he told her quietly, outside of the potions room with a hand on her cheek (her FACE. Pervs).

"Can't wait," she smiled back, leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek.

Grinning widely, he detached himself from her and ducked into the classroom, leaving Cho alone. She leaned against a wall, heart beating a mile a minute. The black haired beauty sighed happily, hardly believing her luck.

"Merry Christmas," she said quitely, touching her face where Harry's hand had been for a few sweet seconds.

And overall, it was.

Author's Note: Hey look! I'm doing an author's note! I re-edited the ending of this chapter, and am now completely satisfied with it. If any of you aren't, well SCREW YOU. No! I'm kidding. but if you're not, just drop me a review and tell me what to fix. If you are satisfied, review anyway. They make my personal writer's world go round. No joke.