The Wild Valentine's Day Ride

The Wild Valentine's Day Ride - Feb 2002

"Are you completely nutters?" Harry said as he brushed the snow off his
long winter robes. "I thought we were on a date, not a suicide mission.
Did you bring me all the way to Austria to try to kill me?"

"I thought you would enjoy a romp in the snow, Harry. How often do you say
that we need more spontaneity in our relationship? I would say an enchanted
sled ride would qualify as something at least out of the ordinary."

"You are right, Cho. I just wasn't expecting a bobsled run to magically
appear in the snow. I think that I am going to have a nice bruise on my
head." Harry tried to appear upset, but the smile playing on the corners of
his mouth gave away his enjoyment of the situation.

Cho pulled Harry's hat aside to get a look at his head. He had a small
scrape just above his temple from his headfirst crash into the snow. Cho
tried to push his hair out of the way to get a better look, but as usual,
his hair was completely uncooperative.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I should have thought to put a charm on the snow at the
end of the run to make it softer. I bet I have something that will make it
feel better though." Cho turned as though she was going to reach for the
wand in her robes and then suddenly pounced on Harry, knocking him
backwards into a huge bank of snow.

Harry and Cho were suddenly laughing and rolling in the snow like two
little kids. Harry stopped their momentum just as he was rolling over onto
Cho. Breathing hard, he looked into her face and saw a gleam in her eyes
that he hadn't seen in a long time, if ever. Cho was right, this was
exactly what they needed.

Thoughts rushed through his mind, bringing back horrible memories of how he
had almost lost her. He had lost so many people that he loved during the
war, he didn't know what he would have done if she would have been one of
them.

Without taking his eyes off her, Harry lightly kissed her on the lips. He
rolled to the side and sat up beside Cho, pulling her up to sit beside
him. Harry gently brushed the snow out of her hair and off the side of her
face. He could just as easily have pulled out his wand and instantly
removed all the snow, but he knew that would ruin the moment.

"Cho, I know I shouldn't wait for Valentine's Day to roll around to tell
you how much I appreciate you, but I really do. You have been such a
support to me since we left Hogwarts and every day you prove to me again
why I love you so much."

Harry paused as he saw a tear slowly slide down Cho's cheek. He certainly
hadn't expected to be in this situation, but now that he was, he charged
ahead, forgetting the words he had practiced over and over in front of the
mirror that morning.

"Cho, I love you and I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with
you." He watched her eyes open wider as tears now streamed freely down her
face. Harry pulled his hand out of his pocket and opened the small purple
satin covered box. "Cho, will you be my wife?"

"Oh, Harry," she said quietly as she looked from the ring up to his expectant
green eyes. "Of course I will marry you."

Cho pulled off her glove so that Harry could put the ring on her finger.
Although he could have afforded a much larger ring, Harry had chosen a
small three-stone ring. It seemed to suit her much better than the others
that the jeweler had tried to convince him to buy. As it slid onto Cho's
finger, he watched as the gold band shrank to fit her.

She looked deep into his eyes and leaned in to kiss him. It was a gentle,
but passionate kiss. One that made it very clear to Harry that he had
indeed made the right decision.