"Cho?" Harry made a mental note to wack Ron upside the head the next time he saw him. How could Ron leave him alone when she was here? He had seen Ron whispering outside the door. I mean, he wasn't blind. He must have planned it. He stood there silent. They just stared at each other for a few minutes. There was obvious silent pain in both their eyes. What was he supposed to say? He had never been too good with words. Happily, she started.
"I-I'm so sorry. I didn't plan this I just-she pushed me." Cho slumped to the floor. She? Hermione was so dead. He sat on the bed nearest to Cho.
"Why don't you just leave?" He sneered, unplanned harshness in his voice. Oops. He watched as Cho tried to cover the slow descending tear down her cheek. He had made her cry twice now. He sighed loudly. She looked up eyes wide with hope.
He regocnized that hope. She was hoping he'd say, I'm sorry, I really like you, or, I've loved you for a long time but been afraid to tell you. He had had that hope in his eyes every time she spoke to him. Every time she got close, every time she passed him in the halls. It had gotten to the point he could recognize the click of her shoes on the floor. That is, until he met Ginny. Well, really met her. She had always just been sort of there, but more of a prop than a girl. She had just been Ron's little sister, not, Ginny. Now, she wasn't Ron's little sister, or Ginny. She was his girlfriend. His. Everything was perfect. He had a wonderful girlfriend, a great group of friends, the dark lord was defeated, and he was alive, but a few hours into celebration he remembered-Cho. That girl, she was the one issue left. He tried to ignore her, looked away when ever he heard that familiar clicking, but he had subconsciously known it wouldn't last. He would have to face her eventually. This was eventually.
He finally snapped out of his own thoughts when he heard a loud sob. Somehow he had slipped down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. What was he doing? He jerked his arm back to his side and scooted away from her. This just made her sob louder. He didn't want her to cry. Even when she was crying she was kind of cute. In fact-
"NO!" Harry jumped up as he yelled. He had almost-no-no he wouldn't-he had promised himself that he'd never, ever, forgive her. As if that would fix things. He almost laughed out loud. Thing is, he didn't know what he was holding against her. He just knew that every time he got close to letting it go, he let go of Ginny. A little of his love would be sapped from Ginny and transferred to Cho. He wouldn't do that to either of them, or himself. But how could he ask for help from anyone? Ron was Ginny's older brother, Hermione was one of her best friends, Ginny might be hurt, and Cho might get hopeful. He wouldn't do that. He knew what it was like to get false hope. Too many times that had happened to him before. He wouldn't do that to her. But he needed help. Now.