Choice's Curse {d.m.}

Friends Make the Meanest Enemies

-no content warnings-

Harry's lips were warm, a bit chapped, and tasted slightly of pumpkin as they met mine. It was a simple kiss, nothing more than a peck, really, but it was like I was encased in the feeling, like it was all I could feel or think about.

"Wow," Harry breathed.

I was still speechless, still fighting down the nerves that were eating at my chest, so I just offered a soft smile in return. We stayed like that for just a moment more, before he stood up, pulling me up by the hand he was still holding.

"Let's eat, shall we? I'm starving."

"Of course that's what you were thinking about while we kissed," I joked, rolling my eyes, but standing up and following him nonetheless.

We strode into the warm Great Hall together, the room bright with voices and candles and wafts of incredible-smelling food. Spotting Ron sitting with Cho and Cedric, we made our way over. Harry had dropped my hand just outside the door, both of us silently agreeing that maybe we weren't quite ready for all our friends to know, that we wanted to keep each other to ourselves for just a while. Cho eyed me as I sat a little too close to Harry, Ron clapping him on the back and greeting us with a loud "Hello!" that was warbled by the food he had already shoved in his mouth.

"How were your classes?" Cho asked, piling what looked like a delicious colorful assortment of vegetables on her plate.

"Oh, they were alright. Got stuck sitting by Malfoy in Potions." I replied, earning a wince from the group. "Not the end of the world, I just seem to have the worst luck possible."

"Good thing you won that vile of Liquid Luck, then, isn't it?" Harry threw out casually.

Ron choked on his food, and Cho and Cedric looked at me in awe.

"You won? You actually made the potion?" Cedric asked, his eyes wide.

I shot a playful glare at Harry before responding. "Yeah, but it's not a big deal. Just a dumb potion."

"One that literally no one else finished," Harry added, and I pressed my elbow into his side.

"Shut up, Potter!" I whined.

"My, my, Adler, keep this up and you may just wind up being Slughorn's prize student," Cho commented.

I grimaced. Slughorn was perfectly fine, I just had no interest being one of his special students. Especially when I knew he already had his eye on Malfoy, as well as Zabini. Doing anything they were involved with voluntarily was essentially a death wish.

Dinner was incredible, as always. The boys went off to visit Hagrid, who had just gotten back from what seemed to be a wild trip, but Cho and I were tired from the long day and the warm food that sat heavily in our bellies, so we decided to call it night. We said our goodbyes, my eyes lingering on Harry's form as he walked away, laughing loudly at something Ron had said.

Cho and I walked in silence, both of our heads packed with everything we had learned that day. My brain was firing at a ridiculous rate, turning over and over the events of that day and the vile feeling of panic I couldn't stop feeling at the thought of such close contact. The stairs seemed like a colossal feat after our delightful dinner, our footsteps dragging tiredly as we climbed and climbed and climbed. We reached the Ravenclaw common room, and I answered the riddle sleepily, the door swinging open to reveal a few students milling about and enjoying the warmth of the fire after a hard day.

We entered our room, which was empty, and as the door closed, Cho turned to me, arms crossed in front of her. I stopped cold, her dark eyes piercing me.