Cho's first kiss was Michael Corner. She had not cared much for him at all, and in hindsight, she was disappointed with the fact that he'd been her first kiss.

That he would be, always and forever.

It was her own fault, really, and she had only herself to blame.

In the Great Hall at dinner one day, he'd slipped her a piece of parchment, asking if she'd like to accompany him on the next trip to Hogsmeade.

There'd been another pivotal piece of parchment beside her plate that day, one deposited there by a tawny owl just moments before.

It was from her mother, asking how she was doing. Or, Cho amended as she read it, how her grades were doing.

For once, it would have been nice for her mother to ask about her. About not the grades but the girl who worked so hard to maintain them. She tended to look away from the other students who received owls, mostly because the majority of them contained parcels of sweets or warm knit sweaters or handwritten notes that waxed poetic about how much they were missed.

But not her mother.

It was that very parchment that prompted her to turn to Michael Corner.

To carefully fold his note as her eyes met his, and to offer the slightest of nods.

But it was not because she cared for him.

Oh, no.

It was because selfishly, hopelessly-

She wanted someone, just someone, to care for her.


The Hogsmeade trip was on a Sunday, and Cho had all but forgotten about her plans until Michael stopped her in the common room on her way out.

He caught her eye as he waved her over, and she could see the slightest hint of a blush on his cheeks. Cho swallowed hard and stepped towards him before she could change her mind.

"Hello," she said, twisting her lips into what she hoped was a convincing smile.

His own smile in return was exuberant. Bright and jovial, as though Cho had offered him a million Galleons.

"Cho!" he stammered out, tripping over his words as he continued, "we should probably get going, don't you think? Where would you like to go? I'm a fan of Zonko's myself- they've got the funniest…" he trailed off when Cho didn't reply, kicking at the ground as he said, "but if you don't like Zonko's we could go somewhere else."

He turned towards her, the pinkness on his face having grown brighter upon their stepping outside into the crisp autumn breeze.

Cho shrugged. "Zonko's is fine," she said. "It sounds wonderful."

Michael beamed, and Cho almost felt bad for lying. Almost.

But when he looked at her like that, like she hung the sun in the sky every morning, she felt something she couldn't quite pinpoint.

It wasn't love, that was for sure.

But it was enough to keep her from telling him the truth.

It was enough that when he slipped his hand into hers on the walk back to Hogwarts afterwards, Cho held on and didn't let go.


"Have you heard? Cho Chang and Michael Corner are dating."

This time, it was Cho's turn to blush as the whispers floated past her. She'd never considered it official- did a handful of trips to Hogsmeade and the one time he'd pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before they'd parted ways for the night make it official?

Honestly, Cho wasn't sure.

She had to admit, though, that it had felt good. Not necessarily the kiss, but just to know that here was someone who felt sorrow when he said goodbye to her. Here was someone who looked forward to seeing her in the mornings.

And so Cho still did not tell him the truth. When the other students continued to gossip, she bashfully looked away, letting a blush warm her cheeks.

Letting them take all of her lies as truth.

And, months later, when the whole charade almost- but not quite- felt like something more, something real-

When Christmas came and Michael approached her under the mistletoe-

Cho offered no resistance as he pressed his lips to hers.

This was not love.

This was not love.

But for Cho, it was enough.