Chap 1: The Swan

Harry was a nervous wreck

Earlier that day, Professor McGonagall broke the news that Harry had to open the Yule Ball with a partner and ever since, he was in complete panic mode, wondering about who he should ask

Truthfully, there was only one person in his mind, Cho Chang. He could still remember the first time he saw her, how dumbfounded he was at her appearance. A beautiful Chinese girl with long silky black hair and a smile which could frighten Dementors away. Ever since then, he always had a crush on her but was too afraid to ever ask her out.

"Harry! You have to ask someone as soon as possible!" exclaimed an annoyed Hermione.

"I know! I know! But who to ask?" He replied in a defeated tone.

"Isn't it obvious?" She replied.

"Is it? Tell me who then," Harry said in feint denial.

"Cho Chang."

"Cho?" Harry tried to faint surprise, failing miserably.

"Oh Harry, Ron might be oblivious but I open my eyes, I can see you glancing at her every time she walks past."

At this comment, Harry shrugged, unhappy to acknowledge defeat.

"You know what, if at the end of today you come back without asking her out, I will not help you with your potions essay anymore, in the meantime, I'm going to the library to study," she said in a definite tone. Ignoring his immediate protests, Hermione stormed out of the common room, leaving a defeated Harry behind. How was he going to ask Cho Chang out, the Cho Chang, the one girl in the school who he likes? Nevermind asking her to the ball, conjuring a coherent sentence to her was hard enough already, add to the fact that she was always followed by her gang of girls, how was he ever going to ask her out?

Seeing the hopeless situation he's in, Harry soon followed her out, attempting to find Cho Chang.

After searching around the school for some time, Harry finally found her. To his horror however, she was surrounded by her giggling group of friends. Harry never understood them, while she is relatively popular, she is nothing like them. She was quiet, kind and reserved, on the other hand, they were loud, gossipy and nowhere as kind as she was.

Seeing that her friends would never leave her side, he begrudgingly went up to her.

"Er - Cho? Could I have a word with you?"

Giggling should be made illegal, Harry thought furiously, as all the girls around her started doing so. Thankfully, she didn't, instead nodding her head and following him out of earshot of her classmates.

"Wangoballlwime?"

"Sorry?" said a puzzled Cho

Harry gulped and mustered all the courage he could find and asked again.

"Would you want to go to the ball with me?" Harry asked.

"Oh! Sure!" Cho replied, cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Great, urm - fantastic… See you there," a red-faced Harry replied.

With that, Harry left a little hurriedly, petrified at the experience that had just taken place.

Cho definitely did not see this coming, it had not really been her priority to go to the ball, it would be great to go yes, but she couldn't be bothered to go out of her way to ask someone out.

But to be asked out by Harry, Harry Potter, the 4th champion, The Boy Who Lived, it truly was unexpected.

Personally, she didn't really care about Harry being this or that, she wasn't like the other girls, only caring about a boy's look or their stature. In fact, the most attractive thing about Harry to her was probably how different he was. Her only true interaction with her was the quidditch match they played against each other 1 year ago. Being a girl, many seekers will try to physically overpower her and play rough. Even Cedric, the humble and kind Hufflepuff, was playing rough and physical when they went against each other, granted he did apologise afterwards, unlike the Slytherins. Harry, on the other hand, was too kind to play that way, instead relying on his skills on the broom to outplay her. She remembered how Wood, his captain, told him to knock her off and stop playing like a gentleman which he didn't. That tells her pretty well that he isn't what others call him, especially now, when people see him as an attention-seeking backstabber, one who only cares about himself and his glory. Cho strongly disagreed with that notion and tried to show support by smiling at him every time they locked eyes and speaking up for him when she was with her friends, earning her some cold looks from them which troubled her. This however, quickly faded away when Harry pulled off amazing flying skills in the First Task to catch the egg, turning the conversation about him from an insulting one to one admiring and dreaming about getting with him. That along with his natural talent is probably what was most attractive about him. Regardless, she still felt a little honoured that out of anyone to ask her out, it was him.

Well… it wasn't as much of a surprise the more she thought, Harry, after all, had evidently taken a liking to her, the amount of mistakes made out of nervousness whenever they locked eyes were probably not coincidences. She had always wondered why out of everybody her, while she was relatively popular and probably attractive to some, it did not answer the question of why he had a crush on her. After all, they barely talked, they were not in the same year, not in the same house and even not the same ethnicity. Being a Scottish Chinese, she was the only Chinese in Hogwarts. While that usually wasn't a problem, with many being interested in learning about her different culture. The only exceptions were most of the Slytherins, with many being indoctrinated in their pure-blood beliefs, many treated foreigners as well as they would treat muggle-borns. It never really affected her, with many of her friends coming to her defence when the Slytherins tried to bother her, but she believed that most people will be attracted to people of the same ethnicity, perhaps she was wrong, she thought. But that didn't change the fact that she would be going to the Yule Ball with Harry Potter, she thought dreamily, as she walked back to her group of friends, all of whom would definitely interrogate her about what Harry asked.