The Boy I Love -HEDRIC (2)

42.(H) you did it again

HARRY

XXIV

Most things didn't catch him entirely off guard.

Some he could anticipate. 

Like the fact that the answer for the second task wasn't in any of the various books he collected in the library. Harry wasn't even surprised. When has anything been so easy? There was still about a month left. Enough time. 

What he did not expected was for Cho to ask him to talk after class.

Have a casual conversation in the hallway? No problem. 

It would be awkward, he knew, but he figured they'd get through it quickly.

Going into an empty classroom for privacy? An alarm went off.

For their first interaction now that she was aware of his relationship with Cedric, it made Harry nervous.

"I owe you another apology," she murmured with a grimace. "The way I… I talked to you before the Ball. I know it's been a while, but I needed to clear it up. Everything I told you… It wasn't right on my part."

"You didn't know, and you… you fancied him. I get it."

Cho didn't return the smile Harry gave her.

"That's no excuse. I shouldn't have said all those things without knowing how everything really was like. Putting you in that position…"

Yeah, she probably shouldn't have.

That's how it was, and Harry didn't need an apology.

"I know you wouldn't have said that if you'd known. I'm sorry too."

After all, Cho's friendship with Cedric had been going on for several years.

How much time had she spent feeling something for him…?

Her voice was low and cautious as she asked, "Does Cedric know?"

"During the Ball he thought I was the one you fancied," Harry replied. 

It was funny and a better way of telling her that he partly did consider it.

Funny to him at least, because Cho's smile seemed forced.

"You were," she admitted and looked away with a laugh. "Pathetic, isn't it? My bad luck. I never stood a real chance with Cedric… or with you. Maybe the third time's the charm. So Malcolm says."

Although she laughed again, she didn't look convinced.

"He may be right," Harry tried to be positive.

"He also said I function as a diversity magnet," Cho let out, waving her hands emphatically. "Cedric, you All of them. These are mixed messages, aren't they?"

The direction the conversation took was pleasant, and they left the classroom much more relaxed than they had entered. Cho looked calm, not like she was mad at him. Harry hadn't been sure they would stay friends, but Cho even expressed how much she wished none of it would imply a change. 

It was mature on her part. 

And it sounded sincere in a way Harry couldn't have accomplished if things were reversed.

XXV

Fortunately for him, passing the exams was not a surprise. 

Neither was the fact that Cedric and Hermione got perfect grades.

Cedric organized a small reunion in the Great Hall, and this was the first time Harry had attended anything of the sort. With his friends, the most they would do would be to walk around, relieved, and then rest for a while. The usual. Cedric instead raised a toast to everyone at the table, filled with other people than the ones Harry knew.