DISCLAIMER: See
A/N: The original version of this was pure, teeth-rotting HPCC fluff, since I supported that pairing at the time in the hopes that Harry and Cho would give it a second chance in canon. Fortunately, it's been toned WAY down from the romantic kind of relationship to the kind of relationship between acquaintances. I just hope I've made this as believable as possible.
CHAPTER 8: A REKINDLED RELATIONSHIP
"I've found a way to make you / I've found a way / A way to make you smile." –R.E.M., "At My Most Beautiful"
Amare et
amari didicerunt.
They have
learned to love and to be loved. –
Harry asked Fred and George if they could find him and Cho
a private room so private matters could be discussed. The twins winked,
and let
Harry and Cho talk privately in their back
office.
After Harry securely locked the door, Cho
put a
Silencing Charm on the office.
"My birthday was June 30th," she explained to him. "I'm 17
now."
"Maybe I could get you something," Harry mused.
"Sure," she responded while blushing. "When's yours?"
"July 31st," he answered. "Anyway, what's the matter?"
"Well," Cho started, "I know you are
suffering right now, after your godfather's death. I've lost someone
too, you
know. I wanted to let you know that I'm here for you, Harry."
"Thanks," Harry said. Once again, grief was threatening to engulf
him. Cho spotted this, and went on.
"Cedric
really played more the role of an older brother than a boyfriend."
Harry looked up. He hadn't expected this. "I didn't know that," he
admitted.
"It's OK," Cho reassured him. "I also
know you've been through a lot, like the deaths of your parents."
Harry wisely skirted that subject, anxious to get down to the topic,
which Cho wanted to talk to him about.
What amazed Harry about the ensuing conversation they had was how far Cho had come since her days of mourning Cedric
last year.
She had matured some more, and, like Harry, she was now also willing to
rise to
the challenge and fight the battle; he could tell that she had done
some
soul-searching like he did. Both of them had wondered about the same
things, in
regards to Cedric and Sirius: Would he hate me for what happened? Would
he hate
it if I moved on? Would he want me to waste away like this?
The whole time, Cho was going back and forth between the conversation and Harry himself. Something about him simply attracted her to him? Was it his looks? Yes, he was handsome, so maybe a little. Was it his fame? No, definitely not, they already threw aside that notion. Something about him, maybe his adventurous spirit or personality, was probably what drew her in...
As their conversation finished, Harry noticed her looking at him, almost mesmerized. "Er, Cho...?"
She blushed a little and looked away. "I'm sorry," she whispered, unable to get rid of her small grin.
Harry wasn't that worried. Cho was probably far from being the first girl that felt embarrassed in his presence.
Then again, as he reminded himself, that last year had been rough for them in their own ways. As upset or angry as she may have been, she was just trying to cope with the death of someone close to her.
Harry's attention was drawn back to the present situation as Cho's eyes locked onto his and a tiny grin formed on her face. 'Uh-oh,' he thought to himself, not entirely sure what she was planning to do.
Suddenly, so fast, before he could react, Cho wrapped her arms around him and kissed him squarely on the lips.
Harry's brain almost shut down and went into hibernation when he first realized what was happening. Then he remembered how much better their first kiss could have been. Even inside, Harry felt like some chunk of ice melting, like some knot being untangled with all the jumbled emotions he was feeling lately. So, a little reluctantly, he gave in.
When they finally separated, mainly due to their
need to
breathe, they just looked at each other.
"That was incredible," Harry gasped out at last.
"Yes, but practice makes perfect," responded Cho
with a sly grin.
"What was that for, exactly?" Harry asked.
"Morale booster," Cho said, her cheeks still a little red. "Yes, I know that a relationship didn't work, but..."
Cho's voice trailed off as she leaned in closer to him, feeling absolutely smitten with Harry all over again. She couldn't explain it, but she just felt it.
Harry, not exactly knowing what thoughts were going through Cho's head at the moment, decided not to interfere with whatever she had in mind.
"...But," she continued, trying to pick up where she left off, "I have no problem trying to be something of a friend, or a partner, or a compatriot, or whatever term you want to use."
'She's very poetic,' Harry mused to himself.
She leaned in closer again, and before he could stop himself, he asked, "What is it?"
"This," she whispered, "is just general appreciation."
A few moments later, their lips made contact again. All of a sudden,
there was
a flash and a CLICK.
Harry wrenched himself away from Cho in
surprise and
banged his head against the wall with an "Ow!"
as someone said sarcastically, "Love hurts, doesn't it?"
Mrs. Weasley was holding a camera in her
hands and
she had a wide grin on her face. "Well, I was taking pictures
to
make a scrapbook of the Grand Opening, although I think Witch Weekly
might pay
me 50 Galleons for this shot of a handsome teenage Harry Potter
in the
company of such a lovely young lady!"
Cho giggled while Harry rubbed the back of
his head
where it hurt and said, "Gah! You're worse
than
the twins!"
"By the way," Mrs. Weasley continued,
"Neville and his grandmother are waiting to go to Ollivander's."
"Oh yeah," Harry turned to Cho and
explained, "Neville's wand broke in that battle in the Department of
Mysteries, and I'm going to buy him a new one. Well, I'll see you
later."
"'Bye, Harry," said Cho with her loveliest
smile.
"Well, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley, "She
seems like a wonderful girl."
"She is," said Harry casually, still thinking about their kiss,
"once she's alright." A moment later, they both laughed.
"Also, where's that picture I took?" Mrs. Weasley
asked while looking around.
"I dunno, maybe you dropped it somewhere
back
there," suggested Harry as he quickly stuffed it into his back pocket.
After he stuffed the picture away, a somewhat pleasant thought came to mind: Even if he didn't or couldn't have a girlfriend at the moment, at least some people (now including Cho) might be able to come close enough, for whatever reason.
~*~*~*~
As Mrs. Weasley returned to the main area, Harry ran into Ron and Hermione.
"I thought you and Cho were through," Ron asked, sounding confused.
"I wasn't with her for romantic reasons," Harry explained. "She lost Cedric, I lost Sirius. She's just trying to help. Besides, I think she's doing much better now. She could really help out cause like everyone else in the D.A."
"So, she's not your girlfriend, even now," concluded Hermione.
"That's right," Harry answered. Deciding to change the subject, he then added, "So, how are you guys doing now? Are both of you alright?"
Soon enough, it turned into a pleasant and much-needed conversation between Harry and the two people that felt like brother and sister to him. As he had hoped and somewhat suspected, both of them were doing much better, and neither of them blamed him in the slightest.
Some minutes later, Mrs. Weasley came back and reminded Harry about getting the new wand for Neville. He then ended the conversation with his best friends, still grateful they were doing better lately.
(End of Chapter 8.)
A/N: (The author notices Cho-haters
glaring
murder at him.) What? Just
because Cho wasn't nice or whatever in OotP,
she can't improve? Besides, she's still very important to my
story! And
since this is a more touched-up version of my original story, she needs
to
stay!