"Harry…"Hermione said casually, her back to the Gryffindor common room's fireplace.
"Hmmmm…" Harry said absently.
In a much sharper tone, Hermione tried again. "Harry."
He looked up from his parchment, startled. "What?" Hermione saw that he'd been doodling the name 'Cho' over and over again in the margins of his essay. Looking very embarrassed, he quickly covered up the parchment. Pretending she hadn't noticed anything, Hermione kept talking casually. "I was thinking that it might be fun if we all got together at the Three Broomsticks this weekend in Hogsmeade."
Harry was looking hesitant. "Who is 'we', exactly?" he asked warily.
"You know, you, and me, and Ron."
Harry still seemed undecided.
"And Cho, too, of course," Hermione added quickly.
"Well…Cho and I kind of had some plans."
"I thought you might," she admitted. "But it would only be about half and hour. Forty-five minutes at most. And we do have the whole day off. We could meet, say, for lunch."
"Well…" he said again. "Cho and I were going to go to Madam Puddifoot's around lunch time, actually."
Hermione thought for a moment. She really wanted her plan to work. She knew that Ron would be in a much better mood if he and Harry acted like friends again instead of people who were friendly, but not really very close. So would she, for that matter. She had to find the solution. "Harry, you hate Madam Puddifoot's," she reminded him.
"Well, yeah," he said ruefully. "But Cho really likes it, so I agreed to go."
Hermione supposed it was probably a lost cause to try and talk him out of going to the coffee shop. "Okay," she said slowly. "Well, you could go earlier, of later. We could meet some other time that day."
"All right," Harry nodded, "I'll talk to Cho about it."
"Thanks, Harry," Hermione said gratefully. "Let me know."
"Sure. Let's go, it's almost time for dinner."
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That weekend, Ron and Hermione, huddled in their cloaks under the iron gray sky and fierce wind, stomped up the steps into the Three Broomsticks. Harry and Cho were already there; Cho was looking nervous, Harry like it was any other Hogsmeade weekend with his friends. They sat down, and Harry went to order four butterbeers. The rest of them sat, fidgeting uncomfortably, until he returned. When he did, carrying their drinks, they all drank and talked. At first, it was stiff, formal, but soon, the atmosphere lightened, and they were joking and laughing like they had all been friends forever.
When they were done, they all stood and began wrapping themselves in their cloaks.
"Would you like to come to Honeydukes with me, Hermione?" Cho questioned tentatively.
"That would be great!" the other girl enthused. When Harry looked torn, Hermione suggested, "How about you two go to Zonko's?"
Ron jumped excitedly. "Yeah! They have some new tricks that are almost as good as Fred and George's!"
"Go on, Harry," said Cho. "Have fun."
Harry nodded, looking happier, and the two boys headed out the door to the joke shop. The girls turned to each other and smiled in the same, anxious-to-please way, and followed.
"He really likes you," Hermione remarked to Cho.
"Yeah."
Hermione could hear more coming. "What about you?"
"I really like him, too," Cho said simply as she pushed open the door to Honeydukes, the sweet shop. She smiled and turned the subject around. "Ron is really nice. I can see why you like him."
Hermione grinned, too. "I'm surprised he was so decent today, really. He hasn't been too happy since Harry… started spending less time with us."
Cho looked chagrined. "I'm really sorry about that," she apologized. "I was so nervous about what you would think of me. It was easier to stay with my own crowd. I was being a prat, I guess."
"No," Hermione protested. "I understand. Don't worry about it." She received a heartfelt "Thanks," in reply as she stooped to see the price of some sugar quills.
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