Extracurricular activities - year 6

Fleur explained being Harry's dance instructor to the older professor once they were back at Hogwarts after the Quidditch match. Harry really tried to watch his emotions now that he was back in the castle. He wanted his friends to think that he had lost the first match. Leaving McGonagall's office, Harry turned the corner and saw Cho sitting against the wall reading a book. "Cho. What are you doing setting in the hall?"

"Waiting on you of course. So, how did it go?" she asked sounding very anxious.

"Oh, it was a close game. It was harder than the practices had been. Wales is really..."

Cho interrupted him. "You won didn't you? You really won!"

"How did you know, I was trying to make you think we lost," said Harry throwing up his arms.

"I think I know you pretty well now Harry. How was it? Were there a lot of people?"

Harry told her the highlights and that he was glad to have a weekend off without practice. "I should go find Ron and Hermione and tell them. Want to come with me?"

"To your common room? Sure, I've never seen another common room," Cho said sounding anxious.

"You won't be impressed. Yours is so much nicer," Harry told her.

When they got to the fat lady portrait, Harry gave her the password and she said, "You're bringing a Ravenclaw into the common room? I hope you have cleaned it up." Harry and Cho went in. The room wasn't in too bad of shape, most things were picked up. Still, the furniture was much more worn and it seemed darker than the Ravenclaw room.

"This isn't so bad Harry. You had me thinking the worst."

Not seeing Ron or Hermione, he ran up and put his broom in his room and came back. "Well, they're not here. What do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

Cho thought for a minute and said, "How about thanking that spider? I can't go without permission though."

"Great idea. Let's go back to McGonagall's office," Harry said and they hurried back up to Professor McGonagall's office.

Luckily McGonagall was still there. "Haven't you had enough of me for one day Mr. Potter? Hello Miss Chang. What can I do for you two?"

"Professor, we'd like to go thank someone who helped us last year. But to go thank him, we need to go into the forest for a little bit. We would come directly out and should be out well before dark. Also, I've learned the Fliari Memeori spell so I could send a message if anything happens."

McGonagall studied him. "Miss Chang, is this something Mr. Potter is dragging you into?"

"No Professor. Actually it was my idea."

McGonagall looked surprised but said, "You seem to have made a valid case for going in and have reasonable precautions. Do what you have to and come straight out. No exploring!"

"Yes Professor, thank you." They hurried back downstairs and out the door. Once they got near Hagrid's hut, Cho slowed down. "I'm kind of nervous about this."

"Why? Aragog won't hurt you?"

"I've never gone into the forest on purpose before," said Cho not hiding her nervousness very well.

"Don't worry, it's not that far and we'll come right back." They walked along the lake to the path and went in. Every little sound made Cho jump and grab onto Harry's arm. He took her hand and they walked along the path. Harry heard the clicking sounds and knew they were close. They entered a clearing and could see the webbing all around.

The clicking was getting faster and then Aragog appeared, "Harry and friend. It is good to see you. We were glad you awoke from your battle. We were most worried."

"Thank you Aragog How did you know when I awoke? Did Hagrid tell you?"

"We knew before Hagrid came to tell me. There are many spiders in the castle Harry. We hear a great deal of what goes on. Why have you come?"

Harry looked at Cho and she stepped forward and said, "I wanted to come and thank you for helping save me. If you hadn't attacked those dementors, I may not have made it out."

"You are Harry's friend and were with Harry. We tried to help you both but Harry didn't take the opportunity we provided. Looking back, we think you made the correct choice."

"Thanks Aragog We have to get back, they weren't happy about us coming in to thank you." Harry and Cho headed back down the path. "That wasn't so bad was it?" Harry asked.

"No, not really. I can't imagine being used to things like that," Cho added. They walked on hand-in-hand until Harry stopped them.

He had heard something unusual. "Get behind me Cho," he said forcefully and pulled out his wand. It was a deep growl, but it sounded like only one. He whispered to Cho. "Don't be scared when I do something." They heard the growl and rustling just off the path. Suddenly, Harry changed into the Griffin and gave a loud roar. Birds started flying away and then the source of the growling and rustling became clear. A large black dog came out of the brush teeth bared, growling and snarling. The griffin walked straight up to it and gave a growl and snarl of its own. Then, the next second both Harry and Sirius were standing in their places.

"What are you doing in the forest?" Sirius asked sounding irritated.

"What are you doing scaring Cho and me?" Harry asked angrily.

"Sorry Cho, I didn't mean to scare you. And, I doubt you were scared Harry," Sirius replied.

"You're a lion! You're form is a lion!" Cho exclaimed.

"Not quite Cho. I had wings but I just didn't unfold them. I'm a griffin. Not exactly how I wanted you to find out." Turning back to his godfather, Harry said, "So, what brings you here Sirius?"

"First question, really why were you in the forest?"

"We went to thank Aragog for helping save us. We were being polite and we had permission to come in for that," Harry said.

"Oh. Well, OK. I just came to see how Quidditch was going and to see my godson."

"He won today! They beat Wales," Cho exclaimed proudly.

"Excellent. So, nothing strange?"

"Nope. No one trying to kill me or anything. Only strange thing is a big dog sneaking up on us." They talked for a few more minutes before Sirius had to leave to talk to Professor Dumbledore. Harry and Cho left the forest and walked back toward the castle.

"Harry, your form is amazing. I can't believe you can fly too. I'm glad Sirius came just so I could find this out."

"I wanted to show you as some big nice surprise, not while you were in fear for your life," Harry said sadly, but then realized that since Cho knew, there were advantages. "Want to come flying sometime? I can easily take you on my back."

"Maybe, riding around on your back sounds interesting."

"Well if that's all that sounds interesting, we can do that the next time we're alone," Harry joked and Cho pinched him.

They were about to the castle, walking hand-in-hand when Ron and Hermione came running toward them. Hermione didn't look happy. "I have to report this you know. You two were in the forest," Hermione said sternly.

"You wouldn't do that Hermione," Harry said surprised and still thinking Hermione was joking.

"I have to Harry, I'm a prefect. Cho, you're head girl, you should know better." Hermione added sounding exasperated.

"I do know better Hermione. That's why we got permission before we went in. I'll see you later Harry," Cho kissed him on the cheek and quickly went inside.

Hermione started blushing. "Well...um... Why didn't you just say that Harry?"

"Because you didn't ask. The first words out of your mouth were 'I have to report this.' Not 'were you two supposed to be in the forest?' I'm going after Cho," Harry said and left. He hadn't planned on going after Cho, he just wanted to go lie down and think about the match. After a while, he thought about going for something to eat but he really didn't want to see Hermione. Not that he was mad at her but it just disappointed him that she would have really taken points from Gryffindor and had thought the worst of him. Harry got out the Marauder's Map and looked until he found H. Granger. She was in the dining hall. Harry wiped the map and decided to sneak into the kitchen and eat.

Walking toward the painting that hid the entrance he ran into Fleur. "'Arry. Why aren't you down eating? You don't seem as happy as you should be."

"I was heading to the kitchen to get something to eat. I had a little run-in with a friend who immediately thought the worst of me and was going to get me into trouble. No big deal, it'll blow over."

"Want some company? I've never been to the kitchens."

"Um... It's a secret way; you won't get me into trouble will you?"

"Of course not 'Arry! I don't care about trivial things."

Waiting for a clear moment, Harry tickled the pear and they stepped inside. They walked down some steps and ended up in the kitchen. Many house-elves came running over squeaking 'May we get you something sir', and then realizing it was Harry 'Oh, Sir wants Winky.'

A couple of the elves left and Winky came over a minute later. "Does sir need something?"

"Hi Winky. This is Professor Delacour. Could we please have something to eat, we'd rather eat down here, if that's ok with you."

"Of course sir. Winky will take care of it." The house-elf popped away leaving Harry and Fleur to sit down. Soon, Dobby came over and asked what they wanted and within seconds they had plates and drinks in front of them.

"You played very well today. You will be a big hit in my country," Fleur said smiling.

"Until I miss my first snitch maybe. Who is the most popular?" Harry asked

"Either Tim or Kristi. Tim is pretty nice and easy to like. Kristi seems to be really popular. I don't understand why. "

"Not Jacque? He's the one who isn't nice to me."

"No! Not Jacque. He thinks he's the most popular but only stupid girls like him at all. On to better subjects. Are you excited about the ball?"

"At first I wasn't, but now since you've taught me to dance a little, I really am getting excited. I'm anxious to see the school."

"Oh, it is beautiful Harry. You will love it. And, you are a very good dancer now."

Suddenly a silver dove came through the wall and went right into Harry. Fleur let out a small gasp. "Don't worry Fleur. That's just a friend of mine sending me a note. Basically the friend who irritated me wants to talk but I don't think I feel like it tonight."

Harry concentrated on himself sleeping and uttered the spell. The phoenix went shooting out of his wand and disappeared through the wall.

"I never heard about such a spell," Fleur said.

"Not many people have. I'm going to stay here until it gets late so I don't have to talk tonight. Don't worry about staying with me or anything," Harry said.

"Yes, I should be going. It was nice sharing a meal with you," Fleur said leaving.

Harry was left sitting alone while the house-elves were cleaning up from the meal. Deciding he really didn't want to talk, and didn't want to just set there bored, Harry found Winky. "Winky. Can I do something to help? I don't want to go up to my room yet."

"Oh no sir! This is house-elf work," she looked shocked.

"You would be doing me a favor if you let me help with the dishes."

Winky looked nervous but took Harry to the end of the sinks and left him with some large pots to clean. Every minute or so another house-elf would come by and ask to do the work for Harry. The elf would have just used magic to make it quicker but Harry wanted something to do so he continued. After a while of cleaning, Harry was startled when someone spoke, "I see Winky has even gotten you working Harry." Dumbledore was standing behind him smiling.

"I just wanted something to pass the time professor," Harry said wiping his hands.

"Wouldn't your common room be a more enjoyable place to do that?"

"Um... Yes but I had a little issue with a friend and didn't feel like talking about it tonight sir. I was going to go back up before long."

"Don't let issues go unresolved too long Harry. They seem to have a way of growing when ignored. I understand you won your first match today. Congratulations. Minerva was quite impressed with your play."

"It was a lot of fun sir. I really appreciate being allowed to do that."

"Of course. I understand you aren't letting classes slip so it is no problem at all. On another matter. Later this year, we will be hosting some special guests," Dumbledore started but Harry jumped in

"Giants sir?"

Dumbledore smiled and continued, "Yes Harry, as I was going to say. These guests will need to remain a secret until they have arrived and are settled in. There have been some attacks near their home and ones who have chosen our side are no longer safe there. We have decided to have two student envoys to interact with them. Normally I would choose the head-boy and head-girl. However for these particular guests, they don't place the same high regard on grades and order for their males. Giants, and especially the males are warriors. They wouldn't relate well to our current head-boy."

Harry thought of Marcus Timms, the Hufflepuff who was head-boy. He had never broken any rules, was always in the library and come to think of it had always attended the balls alone. Dumbledore's voice brought Harry out of his thoughts. "Would you be interested in being one of the envoys? You could select the female envoy yourself. The female can be anyone you would choose."

"You want me to meet the giants sir? That would be great. I would like Cho to be the other. This would work out since she's head-girl anyway, but I'm worried. I wonder how she would feel about giants? Could I ask her and then let you know?"

"Of course. I wouldn't imagine you wouldn't want to commit her to something without talking to her. She probably wouldn't take that as a compliment."

"Thank you sir. I'm really looking forward to meeting them."

"One thing Harry. It is customary to present their leader with a gift when first meeting them. One from you and your other envoy will give one to his companion. They are from the Gulas clan of giants. You may want to do some research and come up with a gift you think would fit them. They won't be here until after holiday. Don't stay up too late."

"Um sir, I do have one more question that's been bothering me since last year. Normally, I would have nightmares about Voldemort and my scar would burn really bad. If he was so close last year, why didn't I have any dreams and why didn't my scar hurt?"

Dumbledore thought for a minute and asked, "How did you feel when you met Voldemort the last time?"

"Sir?" Harry was confused.

"Where you mad, scared, confused? What did you feel?"

"I guess I was angry. I wasn't going to let him hurt Cho and then when she was gone, I really wanted to hurt him."

"That's what I thought. So then you weren't afraid of him?"

"No sir, I'm not really afraid of him."

"Then why would you have nightmares about him anymore? My guess is that once you no longer feared him, that particular link between you two vanished. This has deprived us of an excellent source of information, but was really inevitable. We still don't know if he had any knowledge of this link or got anything out of it. It may be a very good thing it is gone. Goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight sir, thank you," Harry said now really excited about meeting giants, but worried about what kind of gift he could provide. He really didn't know if Cho would want to do this or not. He stayed in the kitchen for a little while longer and made his way quietly back up to the common room, hoping Hermione had gone to bed already. Entering as quietly as he could, he was relieved that no one was up and he made his way unseen up to bed.

Harry didn't sleep well wondering what Cho would think. He was up before Ron and went to wait for Cho in the hallway near their room. After a little while, Cho and her friends came out. "Harry! What are you doing down here? Couldn't wait to see Cho huh?" Kelly joked.

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Cho added hugging her boyfriend.

"Well of course that's the main reason, but I really need to talk to Cho for a minute before breakfast. Is that ok?" Harry pleaded.

Harry and Cho went to a corner away from everyone. "Cho. Professor Dumbledore has asked me to be an envoy to some special guests that will be coming here after holiday. He wanted me to pick the girl envoy and I'd like it to be you."

Cho looked excited and happy that Harry would pick her but then got a strange look on her face. "Ok, so what's the catch? You don't look sure about this."

"Let me give you the plusses for doing this first. It would be an honor. If you decide to work in the Ministry, this would be a big boost for you. It would be nice doing this with you."

"And the negatives?" Cho asked.

"The guests will be giants. It doesn't seem that you like Hagrid and I didn't know how you would feel."

Cho thought for a second. "I know Hagrid's your friend, but he just kind of scares me. I don't really know why. I'd really like to do this with you. It would be interesting to meet them."

"I have to come up with a gift for their leader and you need to come up with one for his companion. Professor Dumbledore gave me their clan name so we can try to look up some information. I'll tell him you agreed then?"

"Yes, I agree. Thanks for asking Harry," Cho took his hand and then they went down to breakfast. They both told her friends that they couldn't talk about this yet but they would find out soon. Harry walked into the dining hall with Cho and her friends and noticed Ron and Hermione sitting at the Gryffindor table already. He continued on and sat with the Ravenclaws to eat.

They were all eating and talking when the mail came. Harry didn't think much of it and kept talking to Cho. He heard louder mumbling and saw other people looking at him. Kelly said, "So, it looks like you did pretty good yesterday," she said showing him the Daily Prophet.

Hogwarts Student becomes sparkplug for France

France managed an amazing upset of highly favored Wales yesterday, led by a flawless performance from their new seeker; Hogwarts student Harry Potter. Playing in his first professional match, Potter dominated in his position with a beautiful feint that caused his opponent to have a dreadful plough. After the match, Potter ignored repeated requests for an interview and instead decided to speak exclusively to France's Daily Gazette in French no less.

This reporter overheard Fem-Fatale Chaser Kristi Belig telling a fellow reporter 'Our little schoolboy pulled his weight today.' Which is high praise coming from her. Potter should watch out as she has chewed up and spit out many male players before. Potter somehow had the willpower to turn down her request to join her at the celebration party in Paris.

Potter was later seen hugging and talking to a beautiful woman who was said to be his teacher at Hogwarts. This reporter is wondering what they teach at that school.

Harry turned bright red and wanted to hide. He lowered his head and tried to continue eating. Cho was looking at him sternly. "Want to tell me about this Kristi? And, did you have to hug Fleur?"

"Fleur hugged me! You know how she is. McGonagall was there, you can ask her." Harry quickly answered, not wanting to be in hot water with Cho.

"Better behave on these things Harry. We don't want to have to hurt you," one of Cho's friends joked.

"Now, about this Kristi?" Cho said, obviously serious.

"She's the chaser on the team. I don't know much about her except she's very quiet and looks like she's ready to tear your head off all the time. You'd have to find out more info from someone else. She didn't ask me to the party either, she just asked if I was going. You know, to be polite and make sure I knew about it."

"You really need to learn more about women Harry," Kelly joked.

"I think he knows all he needs to, thank you," Cho said back.

Some Gryffindors came over to give Harry a hard time, "Are you even a Gryffindor any more? Why didn't you tell us about your win yesterday? Man, you get a living girlfriend and forget about the rest of us."

"I just got busy yesterday, sorry," Harry apologized.

After eating, Harry wanted to go somewhere quiet so he told Cho and her friends he was going to the library to study. They all asked if he was feeling ok since Harry never voluntarily went to the library. He was actually going to research the Gulas clan of giants. While he was heading up the stairs he heard Hermione call after him, "Harry, wait a minute. Where are you going?" she said in a not-too-friendly tone of voice.

"I need to research something in the library," Harry said truthfully.

"Right Harry. If you don't want to talk, just say so. You don't have to lie to me," Hermione said sounding hurt.

Harry turned and was hurt by Hermione's comment. "When did you completely lose all faith in me? The first thing that comes into your mind about me is the worst any more. You know I haven't broken any more rules than you have this year." Now Harry was the one sounding hurt. He and Hermione had never really fought before.

Hermione looked thoughtful for a minute and said, "I'm sorry Harry. It's just that things seem so different. I mean last year you were seeing R.J. and sneaking around all the time but during the days we were all together. Then you didn't write much over the summer and now we don't spend hardly any time together. It seems like you've changed."

"And because you think I've changed, that makes it ok to try and get me into trouble and to assume I'd just lie to you? Are you sure it's me that's changed? How would you have handled things over the summer if Ron had been hurt? Now that you and Ron are getting close, I'm sure you like spending time with him. Why is it a problem that I like spending time with Cho? You know I wasn't really mad about you saying you'd take points from Cho and me, it just embarrassed me in front of her. But listening to what you're saying now makes me think it's something bigger."

Hermione quickly said, "I don't know what it is. I just miss you being around. I want things to be like they were."

"I miss you too. But I don't think you really want them back like they were. That would mean that you and Ron were only friends."

"No, you're right. How about we spend time together now?" she added giving him a half-hearted smile.

"As long as you come to the library with me, fine. I really need to figure something out. Let me ask you a question though. Where's Ron?"

"He has Quidditch practice."

"Would you want to spend time with me if he didn't have anything to do?" Harry asked giving her a questioning look.

Hermione looked at him again and said, "He'd want to come with us."

"Maybe. C'mon let's go anyway," Harry said but really didn't believe it. Hermione and Ron would rather be alone and he understood that.

"By the way, congratulations on your match. You should have told us yesterday."

"I planned to tell you when you saw Cho and me. That's why she left."

"Oh, ok. What do you need to lookup in the library? It's not your favorite place," Hermione said.

"I need to find out information about the Gulas clan of giants."

"Is that who's coming this year?" Hermione asked, already knowing that some giants were coming.

"Officially, I don't know what you're talking about. Unofficially yep, that's who's coming, sometime after the holiday break. I want to find out as much as I can about them before they get here."

They got to the library and Harry was glad Hermione was there since she knew much better than him where to look for things. They had about five big books about giants open on the table.

"Harry, they're all really violent. I don't think I realized how barbaric they were. I'm not sure it's a good idea for them to be so close to the school."

"Better them being here on our side than coming after us from Voldemort's side. They can't be that bad if they chose to not go with him," Harry said but noticed the books did make it sound like they were ruthless and not to be trusted. Hermione finally found something about the Gulas clan. They were one of the largest clans, which meant they were the ones who won the most battles. The clans got larger with each battle won. The survivors of the other clan joined up with the winning one. The stories about how they killed wizards, Muggles and other giants were gruesome. Harry found some of what he was looking for. 'For the females of the clan, they were most pleased when the men returned from plundering villages and returned with Sioni Oil. The female giants use it as a perfume but to non-giants the odor is quite repulsive.' Harry copied this down onto his parchment.

"Why is that so important?" Hermione asked confused.

"I'm looking for gifts to give them," Harry replied honestly and then noticed the drawing of the male giant who was presenting the oil to the female had a large sword with an ornate carved handle. The design looked familiar and he flipped back a few pages that showed the crest of the clan and it was the same design. It didn't remind Harry of anything but it was definitely the same design. He carefully traced this design onto the parchment as well.

"What makes you so sure you'll be able to give them something? There's something you're not telling me," said Hermione, confident she knew Harry well enough to tell when he was hiding something.

"I'm one of the student envoy's to the giants. I'm expected to give the leader a gift."

"That's great. Oh, that would be so interesting to meet them. You said one of the envoys. How many are there? Do you know who the others are going to be?"

"There are two. Cho is the other one." Harry saw her face drop. "I'm sure you and Ron will be able to meet them. Even if I weren't an envoy, Hagrid would set something up. But then you'd probably have to break a rule to see them though."

"Ok, I said I was sorry. I'd really like to meet them. How did you and Cho get picked?"

"I don't know for sure why I got picked. Dumbledore said normally it would be the head boy and girl but that giants didn't care much for brains and following rules. So, he picked me. Kind of irritating actually since I have been following rules this year."

"Ok, but what about Cho? She's really smart and follows rules."

"I don't think following rules is a bad thing for the female giants. But, I got to pick who I wanted to be the other envoy and I picked her."

Hermione really looked sad now. "Hermione, think about it. If you had been picked and had to pick one boy to go with you who would it have been? Ron of course. There's no question you two would have shared this together. If you weren't dating Ron and I wasn't dating Cho, I promise I would have wanted you to do this with me."

"I believe you. It's just another example of how things have changed so much. It used to be the three of us doing everything. We all had our strengths and made a great team. It doesn't feel like a team any more."

"I agree it doesn't feel that way any more. Before, you and I did things, you and Ron did things and Ron and I did things. Now, you would pick Ron for everything and he would pick you for everything. I don't even have Quidditch with him any more. I knew that you two getting together would leave me out but I'm really happy for you."

"Its nice being with him but I think Ron would agree that we don't have as much fun as we used to."

"Well, since you helped, I'm all done in the library. What do you want to do until your husband gets done with practice?"

"Funny Harry. Let's go to the common room."

"Let me write a note first and then take it up to Hedwig."

Mr. Wilkins

I hope you and your family are doing well.

I have a favor to ask. I really was impressed with the sword you made for me and would like to see how much you would charge to make a very special one for a very special guest of the school. I am enclosing a drawing I would want on one side of the handle, and I would like the Hogwarts seal on the other side. The truly different thing about this sword is that it needs to be about three and a half times the size of a normal sword. The person this is for will be a little over six meters tall. And, if you can and are willing to do this, what is a timeframe for having it completed? If you don't feel like you want to do this, it's no problem, I can find another gift. I just know they would be really impressed with your work.

I've asked Hedwig to wait for a response. You can send her back if you want to think about it for a while.

Tell Mrs. Wilkins that my speaking French has come in very handy this year.

Harry Potter.

Harry and Hermione went up to give the note to Hedwig. Then they went back to the Gryffindor common room. A little while later, the Quidditch team came in. Ron and Ginny came over and sat down near them. "So, why didn't you tell us about the Quidditch match yesterday?" Ron asked.

Hermione answered quickly, "Because I didn't give him a chance Ron. He was coming over to do it when we saw them yesterday."

"Oh... So everything's ok then?" Ron asked confused.

"Things are ok Ron. How was practice? Ready for next weekend?" Harry asked.

"Harry, Ron's a slave driver this year. He's working us way too hard. I wish you were there." Ginny announced dropping onto the couch.

"Sure, wish I was there to get worked so hard too. I bet you'll be even better than last year," Harry said.

"Where were you at last night when I sent the message? Eating with Cho?" Ginny asked rolling her eyes.

"No. I was eating with Fleur. And, before you say anything about that, I wasn't in the mood to be around people so we went to the kitchen to eat. Speaking of Fleur, are you all ready for the first ball?"

"I hate these things. The Halloween ball wasn't so bad because the costumes made it fun. This is just going to be a pain," Ron complained drawing a dirty look from Hermione.

"I'm looking forward to them. It will be nice to see all the students from there. I'm really looking forward to going to their school. That should be interesting," Hermione said.

"Me too," said Ginny. "I think going to their school will be great. I'm going to go get cleaned up before supper. You should do the same Ron. Any chance you'll eat with your own house tonight Harry?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way," said Harry having already decided to do just that.

After Ginny and Ron left, Hermione said, "See that's back to where it should be."

"That's because it was the four of us just being friends. It is nice though." By the time Ron and Ginny were ready; it was time to eat so they all went down to the Great Hall and had a nice meal. After the meal, they were all sitting back in the common room studying. Ginny was off studying with her classmate. The three sixth year's finished pretty early and just sat around and talked for the rest of the evening.

The next few weeks kind of flew by. Gryffindor beat Slytherin in Quidditch due to Ginny's fantastic grab of the snitch right out from Draco Malfoy's nose. There was a huge celebration in the common room that night. Cho had even come over for some of it but left when she remembered how much studying she had to do.

Harry's Quidditch practice had continued after the week break and he was getting more private direction from Tom about unusual seeker moves. Harry also continued dance lessons with Fleur even though he felt comfortable enough to dance now; he really enjoyed dancing with her. He asked if she knew some modern dance like the kind they did in popular clubs in the city. She wasn't a big fan of that kind of dancing but she did try to show him some.

Harry had also received a response from Mr. Wilkins:

Harry

Thanks for your letter; it is good to hear from you. We are all doing well here.

I would be honored to make a sword for you to give as a gift. Sirius explained the conversion from wizard money to normal money and it would cost about 100 galleons for something that size. I won't ask right now who this is for, but would be very interested to hear the story sometime. A 6 meter person would be something. Knowing that Miss R.J. had some significant assets, I will go on the assumption that you do want it made. If you don't want me to go ahead, please send a note soon. Something this size will take me about a month to complete.

My wife is pleased you are finding opportunities to use the French you learned.

Take care and say hello to your friends.

Tom

Great, now Harry didn't need to worry about a gift for the giants. He had told Cho about the Sioni Oil but also said she could pick anything she wanted. Harry also told her that he would pay the reasonable costs and the school would reimburse him. He had no intention of making the school pay but he didn't want Cho to think he was paying for this out of his own money. Cho kept asking what his gift was going to be but Harry wouldn't tell.

He and Cho were trying to spend a couple nights a week in their secret location, making Harry happy with the way things were going between them. They were in the room one night before Harry's next Quidditch match when Cho asked, "Any chance you could keep Fleur from hugging you if you win?"

"She really likes the French Team Cho. I doubt she could be stopped," Harry said smiling.

"Not like you really would try anyway," Cho said tickling Harry. "I think this Kristi worries me more anyway."

"Kristi? Why?" Harry looked confused.

"I've been reading about her. It seems she's always out with some famous wizard and always breaking their hearts."

"So, why should that bother you? I just want to come back here after the matches."

"At least you know the right things to say. When Fleur hugs you after you win, just remember coming back to this," Cho pushed him onto his back and gave him a really long kiss. Harry held her tight and eagerly returned the kiss. He softly nibbled along her neck to her shoulder and back up to her ear. Hearing her breathing get deeper he was pleased when he heard an occasional moan. After a bit of this, Cho pushed up and looked at him but then said, "We should probably get going."

She didn't look like she wanted to but Harry said, "Is it time already?"

"It's time or I won't be able to keep my hands off of you," Cho said slyly.

"And what's the problem with that? You wouldn't hear me complaining," Harry said trying to sound like it was a joke. He started bringing the Marauder's Map so they would be less likely to get caught coming out of the secret stairs.

When they were saying goodnight at her common room he was kissing her goodnight when Kelly came out and said, "Get a room you two." They both looked at each other and started laughing since that is basically what they just left. Kelly looked confused while Harry walked away.