Was it all enough? - Year 7

Harry was floored and didn't know what to feel. Hermione could see the look of desperation in his eyes. "I want to be alone for a while," he said as calmly as he could and headed for the secret room in the tower. Hermione followed behind not saying anything. Harry knew she was there and didn't protest.

Reaching the room, he sat down and read the article again. He kept watching the moving picture of Cho kissing the man over and over. The first thing he said was, "Thanks for getting me out of there Hermione. I owe you."

She didn't quite know what to say. Before she had a chance, a silvery bird flew into Harry. He looked at Hermione and said, "Ginny is looking for us. Maybe you should go. Tell her I'll be fine."

"I'm not going to leave you now," Hermione said. "I'll get Ginny and come back. We have a while until next class." Harry didn't answer as Hermione left. A couple minutes later the two girls came back.

"I'm sorry Harry," Ginny said hugging him.

Harry couldn't cry or anything, he just felt numb. "Don't be Ginny, you didn't do anything."

They sat in silence for quite a while until finally Harry asked, "Can I ask you two something?" He paused, not really expecting a response. "What's wrong with me? I tried to do everything right. I gave her gifts, treated her nice, never touched other girls. What did I do wrong?"

This tore both of the girls up. "You didn't do anything wrong Harry, this isn't your fault," Hermione said.

"You've been perfect Harry," Ginny added.

"I must not have been. If I had been perfect, she wouldn't have done this," Harry said quickly. "I just don't understand."

"It's not anything you did or didn't do Harry. Maybe there's an explanation," Hermione said.

Harry looked between the two girls. "If I had been engaged to one of you two and was away for a couple months. Then, if my letters started getting shorter and I wasn't acting quite right around you. Then, you saw a picture of me kissing a girl and read I had been out to clubs with her, would you really think there was an explanation?"

He kept looking between them but they wouldn't answer. "That's what I thought," he said. "I knew things had been going too good. No one tried to kill me last year and there were no major incidents. This summer had been the best. It was just going too good. I'm not that lucky."

"Harry. Don't talk like that. This has nothing to do with you or what you did," Ginny said.

"Listen, you two have classes. This is my free period and I'm going to stay here for a while. Remember, nobody knows about this place so don't tell them," Harry said.

"I'll stay with you Harry," Ginny offered.

"I'd rather be alone please. I'll be fine. It's not like someone died or anything. I've dealt with worse things," he said softly. They both hugged him and left. He spent the rest of his free period thinking about what he could have done wrong. He loved and trusted Cho completely. What happened?

Harry made his way to the final class of the day, which was the Dark Arts class. Harry was the first one there and was waiting until the other students came in. Luckily it was Hermione, Ron and Parvati. Hermione sat down next to him and Ron came over. "Harry. You can do better than her. Don't worry about it. That git Weisman isn't worth squat."

Harry appreciated the comments from Ron even though it didn't help the situation. Then he heard. "Finally, someone saw the real Potter and decided to throw it out." Malfoy was saying. Harry wasn't even angry since that's how he felt as well.

However, Ron and Hermione were both quickly up. "One more word Draco and I'll turn you back into a ferret," Hermione said sounding scarier than Harry had ever heard.

Draco saw the seriousness in her eyes and backed away, but not before saying, "What were you saying about having friends standing by you Potter? Seems like one of them just stabbed you in the back."

"Don't listen to him Harry," Hermione said. "He's just trying to pick a fight."

Harry turned to her and said, "I can't argue with what he said, he's right."

Hermione was about to respond but the teacher came in.

Harry didn't go down to supper that night; instead he snuck into the kitchen to have a private meal, and then quickly back to the common room. Hermione found him there. "We can skip practice tonight if you want Harry."

He stood up quickly and said, "No way. I want to practice. This doesn't change what we have to do." And then he headed to the classroom. Hermione could tell the difference in him right away. Harry was total no-nonsense and she could feel the power radiating from him. He wasn't messing around tonight and quickly had his entire body encased in fire. Hermione was actually intimidated by the things Harry was doing. At one point, she could feel him trying something and then felt everything shake for a few seconds before stopping suddenly.

"Did you do that?" she quickly asked.

Harry looked at her with a guilty look and said, "Must have been an earthquake, it wasn't me." Quickly he went right back to doing fire elemental magic. Hermione was sure Harry had caused that but didn't want to push him.

Back in the common room, everyone was talking about the earthquake but neither Harry nor Hermione said a word. None of the Gryffindors wanted to say anything about Cho to Harry and he was glad for this. Being the oldest group of students had many advantages.

The next day during mail, an owl dropped a note in front of Harry. His friends watched him intently pick it up. He could tell by the writing it was from Cho. Instead of opening it, he pointed his wand at it and mumbled something. Suddenly the note burst into flames and fell as ashes. Ron turned and asked "Was it from her?" Harry nodded. "Well, didn't you want to see what it said?"

Harry kept his head down and said, "It doesn't matter." Then he looked at Ron and said, "Your brothers promised to keep an eye on her. I wonder what happened to that deal?" This came out rather harshly Harry realized after he said it.

"Maybe they didn't know. They have a business to run," Ron shot back.

"Yeah, a business I funded. Where do you think they got the money to get started?" Harry said angrily.

Ron and Ginny looked at each other before Ron said, "They said they found an investor at first."

"They did; me! That's where the Triwizard winnings went," Harry said angrily.

"You can't blame them Harry. They're not her keeper," Ron replied.

"You're right. They only promised to watch her for me. That investment really paid off now didn't it?" Harry said getting up and walking out. He went straight to his room and wrote a note.

Cho

I want to dissolve the P/C Investments partnership. Please transfer ½ of the cash assets back to my vault. I also want my part of the investment in Weasley Wizzing Wheezes company transferred to my vault also.

I am sending this same note to the Goblins so there is a record of the transaction.

Also, if you still have any of the documents from my vault, have them sent to my home.

Harry

He went straight to the owlery and gave the note to Hedwig. The snowy owl looked at Harry longer than normal, almost sensing he was in pain. She affectionately nibbled his ear before flying away.

The rest of the week was a blur to Harry. He only remembered things being very tense between him and Ron. Quidditch practice had been a place for him to forget about everything and just focus on playing. It had gone very well but before he left he heard, "Schoolboy." Kristi was coming over.

"You're not going to let this affect your game next week are you?" she asked.

This really rubbed Harry the wrong way. "No. I can keep my personal and business issues apart. However, I may get a penalty or two trying to take his head off."

The beautiful chaser studied him. "I won't complain about that and will probably be trying the same thing myself." She hesitated and continued, "I'm sorry about this. If you hadn't come to Paris, she wouldn't have met him."

Harry looked at her and said, "If it wouldn't have been him, it may have been someone else. Paris was great, I'm not sorry we came. I don't blame you in the least."

"Are you going to be ok?" she asked.

"Sure. I'm a schoolboy, remember? These things happen all the time. See you at the match," he said before leaving. This was a Hogsmeade weekend so things were quiet when he got back.

He was enjoying the peace until everyone came back in. His friends came over as soon as they were back. "We were hoping you'd come join us after practice," Ginny said.

"Too beat. Maybe next time," Harry said.

Ron came over. "The twins said they didn't really know anything was going on. They thought he was just trying to get her to be his manager or something."

Harry looked at him and said, "I believe them, I was just irritated before."

Ron seemed to accept this better than Harry had thought he would.

Ginny asked softly, "So, what did she say about it?"

"I don't know," Harry answered quickly. "I torched all her notes. It doesn't really matter now does it? You have to trust someone to really love them. C'mon let's go eat."

Everyone except the Slytherins were not saying much to Harry since the article. Even most of the Slytherins were being pretty good about it. Only Malfoy rubbed it in any chance he could. Harry was starting to get more comments about going out from other girls, but he wasn't interested at all in that.

Now that Harry wasn't going to send a pass to Cho, he could take Hermione, Ron and Parvati to the match this week. Ginny was ok with this since Ron didn't get to go last time. It seemed a coincidence that France would be playing Wales this week. Harry was going to have to really work to focus on the snitch. He really didn't blame Weisman for the issue with Cho. Cho was the one who was engaged.

During the introductions, the Wales' team was being treated courteously until their seeker was announced. Hearing Weisman's name, the crowd started with the loudest booing Harry had ever heard. Then, when Harry's name was called, it was like they had just won the cup, everyone was clapping very loudly.

The match started normal enough, but when Harry caught a slight smirk coming from the Wales seeker's mouth, things changed. In Harry's mind, he just wanted to take his frustration out on someone. Suddenly, Harry was breaking up every Wales' scoring run. France was soon up by a lot. Harry had even intentionally not caught the snitch a couple times to run up the score. Weisman was marking him pretty good and finally Harry made a run with Weisman right on his tail. Just before one of the towers, Harry went to make a turn to avoid colliding with the stone column and felt Weisman following. Quickly, Harry turned back and nudged the other seeker so he couldn't turn. Weisman slammed full speed into the stone tower and crashed to the ground. Harry was called for a foul, but he didn't care as the crowd cheered again. Weisman was out with a concussion and broken arm. The match ended soon after when the snitch next appeared.

Harry went directly back to the locker room and showered quickly. Walking out, he hadn't planned on talking to the reporter but saw Ms. Mishmas looking at him, so he went over.

"Quite a different game for you today."

"Maybe. At least the team won." Harry answered.

"I think the crowd approved."

"It sounded like it. I want them to know I really appreciate their support. Without it, there's no way I would have played well today."

"Any regrets about how the match went?"

"None at all." Harry said and ended the interview.

He quickly made his way to his friends. "Man, you were scary today," Ron said.

"I can't say I approve of your techniques today," McGonagall added giving him a scorning look.

"I doubt it will happen again," Harry responded.

"Why not?" Harry heard, and turned to see Kristi coming over. "Only one foul, I say you controlled yourself fine."

"Thanks Kristi. I told you I'd be ok to play," Harry responded.

"So, sometimes I underestimate you. I'll try to keep that from happening again. That was a classic plough," she said hitting fists with him.

Ron just said, "I still can't believe you shower with her each time," and was quickly hit by Parvati. The rest laughed and went back to the school. The next day, Hermione quickly showed Harry the Daily Prophet article.

Don't Mess with Potter

Kevin Weisman, the seeker from Wales probably wishes he had heard this advice before yesterdays match against France. After sneaking around with Harry Potter's fiancé, Weisman was treated to a thorough thrashing at Potter's hands. The French seeker was toying with the Wales team for the majority of the match before ploughing Weisman into a column, resulting in a concussion and a few broken bones. Potter is known as one of the cleanest players in the game and this reporter hasn't met a single person that holds the foul he received against him. Personally, I recommend Weisman call in sick during any rematch.

Many students came over to congratulate him on the match. Harry didn't feel at all bad about his foul on Weisman, even though he knew it was Cho's fault this had happened, not the other seeker's.

Harry had just burned the second letter of the week from Cho when Hermione said, "You should hear what she has to say."

"Next summer I will. Once I'm out of school, maybe things will be different," Harry replied.

"What about the Holiday wedding?" Ginny asked.

Harry looked stunned. "What wedding? It had already been postponed until next summer. She said it was taking too long to plan, but that's probably not the real reason. I'm not going to marry someone I don't trust. I mean there's only like five or six people in the world I trust and she's not one of them anymore."

"You really need to tell her this," Hermione said seriously.

Harry thought about this for a moment before sighing. "You're right. Why do you always have to be right?"

Harry was summoned to the Headmaster's office after lunch one day. He heard two men talking when he opened the door. He was stunned to see the Minister of Education in the office. "Ah Harry," Dumbledore said. "I'm sure you remember the Minister of Education, Mr. Gallah."

"Good to see you again Harry," Gallah said shaking Harry's hand. "I was wondering if you would mind taking a short walk with me?"

Harry glanced at Dumbledore and caught him nod so he agreed to walk with Gallah. Nothing was said until they got outside. "Is there something you wanted sir?" Harry asked.

"I wanted to see if I could convince you to reconsider your support for the campaign. I really feel I have more to offer as Minister of Magic than Mr. Weasley does," the man said with a smooth confidence.

Harry wasn't in the mood to play any games so he said what he felt, "I don't feel anyone who is so close to Lucius Malfoy has anything to offer the Ministry sir."

Harry could tell this wasn't what Mr. Gallah expected, but the man regained his composure quickly. "Why would you think Mr. Malfoy has anything to do with my campaign?"

"Well, first of all Draco keeps bragging about Lucius financing your campaign. Secondly, I heard you and Lucius talking after I left your office. You were going to search the Unspeakable department. I didn't know that was any of the Minister of Education's concern."

Now, the man wasn't even trying to hide his feelings. "You are really too arrogant for your own good boy. I had a feeling you had warned them about that. I don't know how you were able to do it with the security keeping you out, but that's not important now."

"I don't think you ever found what you raided them for did you? Even after searching their private homes. I wonder what was so important to you and Lucius? Is the press was aware it was you who pushed for that raid?" Harry said, taking out all his aggravation on the Minister.

"You have no idea what you're messing with. Maybe we should have searched your house as well? I think there's a bit more to your relationship with that department than getting special tours. You know, campaigns can get rather unpleasant for people involved. Do you really want your friends going through this?"

"My friends are already at risk from Voldemort. Do you really think that anything you or Malfoy can do concerns me at all? However, if anything can be even remotely tied back to you, I think the press is in a mood to see Mr. Weasley's side of things. They seem to like the underdog story. And, think how it will be when Mr. Weasley beats you. The press will love it. Even if Mr. Weasley doesn't win, it is obviously going to be a very close race. The shame of him pushing you so close will be priceless."

"Boy, you should never have walked out of that forest. You're living on borrowed time right now. And, if you had a clue on what artifact we were looking for, you'd realize how close we are to calling in that debt. Don't think you've won anything," Gallah said before storming off. Harry couldn't quite figure out all that went on.

Harry went back to Dumbledore's office to fill him in on the conversation, but left out the part about the orb. "So, he's really that worried about the election?" Dumbledore said. "We've been hearing rumors as such but this confirms it."

"Won't this just mean he and Malfoy will get dirtier?" Harry asked.

"Probably not. You see if it becomes obvious that Lucius is behind him it will raise a lot of questions. You know Lucius isn't in the best of standings with most of the ministry. And, Mr. Gallah is probably worried about his position as Minister of Education if he does lose the election." Dumbledore looked at Harry for a moment. "I understand you've been making considerable progress on your presentation with Miss Granger."

"I hope so sir. Hermione has really been helping me."

"Ah yes. Quite fortunate to have such a smart witch as your best friend. Other teachers have commented on how much progress you've made since last year as well. I'm glad to see you becoming so comfortable with your gifts."

"Thank you sir. I want to learn as much as I can to help the next time Voldemort comes for me," Harry said without emotion.

"Of course. However, remember that you do not have to face him alone. Even if you want to protect your friends, there are always things they can do to help without being face to face with him. Don't forget that."

This weekend was another Hogsmeade weekend but Harry didn't want to go. "C'mon Harry you missed last time," Ginny pleaded.

"I really need to practice. You go have fun," Harry responded.

"We'll stun you and drag you there if we have to," said Ron trying to fake a threat.

They were all picking on him so he relented. "Fine, I'll go. Don't blame me if I'm not good company"

Actually, Harry found it good to go. He was enjoying hanging out with his friends. The weather was great and they ended up at Three Broomsticks enjoying a few butterbeers. They were talking about all kinds of things, and especially how well Mr. Weasley's campaign was going. Suddenly Harry noticed things get quiet. Harry looked at Ron who kind of nodded for Harry to turn around. Cho had just come up behind Harry. "Um. Harry, can we talk?" she asked quietly.

All of his friends glared at Cho. Ginny quickly grabbed his arm and said, "You don't have to go Harry."

Harry smiled at Ginny and said, "Yeah, I do." Harry got up and followed Cho outside, and the two started walking down the street.

Finally Cho said, "Why didn't you respond to my owls?"

"I didn't read any of the notes, I torched them," Harry said honestly.

This obviously stunned Cho. "Do you hate me that much?"

Harry looked at her and asked, "Why did you come here Cho?"

"I want to explain, and to apologize. I don't know why I was with him. I just missed you, missed going out. Nothing happened. Nothing other than what was in the paper," she said.

"You actually went to Paris to see him. Then you're snogging him in public here. And yet you say nothing happened," Harry said quite harshly concentrating hard to control his emotions.

"Nothing happened other than a few kisses."

Harry looked at her and said, "And, why would I believe that?"

"Because I swear it's the truth. I'm so sorry," she said coming to hug him but he backed away.

"I may believe that nothing else happened, but it really doesn't matter. I trusted you Cho. I don't trust many people but I trusted you with everything," Harry said.

"Harry please. We can fix this. Tell me what to do. Please. The twins are barely talking to me and Kristi has fired me as her manager. Everything's falling apart," Cho said crying.

"I didn't tell any of them to do that. I've never said a bad word about you to any of them," Harry quickly added.

"I know. Kristi made it clear it was her choice. The twins feel awful and blame me." She hesitated before saying, "We can fix this. There's time before the wedding, I can make it up to you."

"What wedding Cho? As far as I'm concerned, once you went out with him without the ring we're not engaged anymore."

Cho was crying openly now. "Don't do this Harry. I said I was sorry. It won't ever happen again. Don't you love me anymore?"

Harry was starting to tear up now. "I do love you Cho, I just don't trust you. I think trust is more important. We're back to square one. No, we're worse than square one. Once I'm out of school, maybe things can change but not until then."

"Don't say that Harry. Please. You don't know how upset my parents will be."

Harry was nearly ready to give in and then flashed back to the picture of her kissing the other man. What made him hurt more than anything was that she wasn't wearing the engagement ring. "You knew what you were doing Cho. You took off the ring before meeting with him. I'll never, never get that picture out of my head. I never had any doubts you were the perfect woman for me, and never considered anyone else. You obviously didn't feel that way about me. And, you made me look like a fool to everyone."

"I love you Harry, I promise I do," she pleaded.

"You know the problem with that Cho. From now on, when any woman tells me that, I'm going to flash to the picture of you kissing Weisman. How can I ever believe that again?" Harry waited and then said, "How did it end with you two?"

"What do you mean?" Cho asked.

"With Weisman. How did it end?"

"After the article, I was going to meet him to end it but he sent an owl saying he never wanted to see me again."

"This just keeps getting better," Harry said softly. "You're back talking to me because he dumped you. You must think I'm a total git."

"I was on my way to end it. I knew I had made a mistake." Cho was crying openly now. Harry couldn't help but to hug her. He did still love her and it tore him up to see her cry. It did feel good holding her but he wasn't about to forget what she had done. "I promise I'll make this up to you. We'll work it out over the Holidays. That will give us a couple weeks together."

Harry quickly stated, "I don't think that's wise. I can't just pick back up. We can try to meet somewhere over the Holidays, but that's it."

"Please. I want to be with you all the time. I want to wake up with you," Cho said hugging him.

"You don't know how much I wanted that too, but I can't get that picture out of my mind. If this hadn't happened, we would be together the entire time. It's only a couple days or nothing," Harry said firmly.

"Fine, if that's what you want. We can fix this, I know we can."

Again, Harry was about to totally give in and then the reality of the picture hit him. He pushed back from her and said, "We're just friends as of now. I don't trust you to be faithful so you can do whatever you want. If we both still want to give it a try next summer, then it was meant to be. I can't handle sitting around here wondering if you're cheating on me."

"I promise I wouldn't do that again. I don't want anybody else." She hesitated and then said, "You want to date someone else don't you?"

"I'm not the one who caused this Cho. I would have waited for you forever. Not once did I even think about kissing another girl. I always thought you were perfect. Why'd you have to do this?"

Cho hugged him tightly again and Harry said, "I should get back to the school. I'm glad you came; this had to be talked about. I was just trying to pretend it didn't happen."

"I'll write all the time if you'll start reading my notes."

"I will. I should have read them all along. Goodbye Cho," Harry said and walked back towards the castle. He went straight back to the common room and sat in the corner thinking. He did love Cho and really wanted to be with her but couldn't bring himself to tell her that. She had lied to him. She hadn't really done anything serious with Weisman and he could have forgiven a common weakness with the kiss. But the fact is she removed the engagement ring to be with him. Harry barely noticed his friends come back in.

"So, she convinced you to give her another chance, right?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny! That's none of our business," Hermione said, but was looking at Harry like she wanted to know.

"As far as I'm concerned it is your business. You guys are my best friends. Cho said she was sorry and it wouldn't happen again. She also said that Kristi fired her and the twins are barely speaking to her. She asked about the summer wedding, but I said there wouldn't be any. I told her were back to being friends and she could do whatever she wants. She wanted to spend all of the holiday break with me but I only said I'd meet her a couple times."

This shocked them all. "Really? We thought you'd cave in and take her back," Ron admitted with a guilty look.

"If it would have just been the kiss, I would have. She took off the engagement ring and went to Paris to go be with him. That I can't forgive. I can't trust her anymore. A mistake is one thing, but this was intentional."

"So, now you're free to ask anyone to the ball," Ron said trying to lighten the mood.

"True, but I've already asked someone and I'm comfortable with my choice," Harry stated.

"Are you going to start dating other girls now?" Ron asked expectantly.

Hermione hit him. "What?" He replied.

"I don't know. You know I kind of had a crush on Cho since our third year and just thought she was perfect. Now it's not the same. I mean I have this picture of my mom and dad and always see them as perfect for each other and never having any problems. I don't really know if that's true or not but I thought that would be how Cho and I were. This has just kind of burst my bubble about the perfect relationship. Nobody's perfect and I just now figured that out. I'm not going to go searching for someone to go out with but if something happens, I'm not going to stop it. If neither Cho nor I are seeing other people by next summer, maybe it will work out with us. If not, then I was just a big git for asking her to marry me while I was so young."

"Hermione and I wouldn't have cheated on you Harry," Ginny said confidently getting a stare from Hermione.

"I know that. You know, I think I was wrong. I said nobody's perfect but I'd say as far as girls go, you two are as close as it gets," Harry said and no one questioned he was being honest.

Hermione kind of blushed but said, "You say that now but I'm still dragging you off to practice. C'mon let's go."

Harry was leaving Quidditch practice a couple weeks before the break when he heard. "Big plans for the holiday schoolboy?"

"Hey Kristi. Haven't decided yet. Probably go to Ron's house for Christmas but that's it. How about you?"

"Nothing here. I expected you and your girlfriend to be holed up somewhere."

"Not likely. That's kind of over for now. I'm concentrating on being a schoolboy," Harry replied.

"Ok, then you have no excuse. Come to Paris for a couple days. No strings."

Harry looked at her and said, "I don't know."

She quickly responded, "It would be good to get some new scenery. How about right after Christmas?"

Harry thought about it and said, "You know, that sounds like a great idea. Thanks Kristi, I'm really looking forward to this." Harry hesitated and said, "You didn't fire Cho just because of me did you?"

She looked at him squarely and said, "Nope. I hired her because you trusted her and she screwed you. That means I don't trust her anymore. Business, nothing more. Are you keeping her?"

"I hadn't thought about it. We were partners in an investment company and I dissolved that. I need to think about the manager part. I should get back," Harry said and then left.

When the sign up sheets came for the holiday break, Ron asked Harry if he would come to the Burrow.

"I don't know Ron. I mean Percy would just as soon kill me and now things with the twins aren't too great. Maybe this isn't the best time," Harry replied.

"Mum thought you might say something like that. She basically said I'm allowed to do anything, including stunning you to get you there. Percy won't be there since he's furious at dad for running against his boss. The twins understand how you feel about them and are beating themselves up about it. You have to come."

"As long as you promise me no one will mention Cho. Nothing about her. I'll come over Christmas morning."

"No problem. I'm having mum set the rules. It'll be good, you'll see," Ron said cheerfully.

"You're not going to sit around by yourself the rest of the time are you?" Ginny asked.

"He'll break down and spend the whole time with Cho," Ron joked.

"Oh no I won't. Two days, tops," he said and turned to Hermione. "And, no nights!"

That night at practice Hermione asked, "Harry, do you want to come to my parent's house for New Years? They're having a party and would really like to meet you."

"I don't want to be any bother Hermione; I'd be fine at home."

"No, I really want you to," she said a bit quicker than she intended. "You can stay a few days. C'mon, we'll have fun," she pleaded.

"Thanks Hermione, that sounds like fun"

"What are you doing the rest of the time? Big plans with Sirius?" she asked.

"I'm going to go to Paris for a couple days. Kristi said it would do good to get a change of scenery."

"You're not wasting any time finding a new girlfriend," Hermione said kind of coolly.

"It's not like that! She's like you and feeling sorry for me. It annoys me you do that, but I have to admit, I like the results sometimes." Harry was quiet and then added. "I'm through with serious relationships. Nothing good comes from them."

Hermione thought that Harry was right in that Kristi probably was like Hermione. He just didn't know that she wanted something more than friendship. Hermione really wanted to let him know this before he found another girlfriend or went back to Cho, but she wouldn't do anything to risk their friendship.

Harry had been receiving almost daily owls from Cho. If he could just put the picture of what happened out of his mind, he would be very happy. She had told him to invite anyone he wanted to the ball but he replied that he had already asked someone. He wouldn't tell her who but did say he asked while they were still together.

Harry had been told to meet Mrs. Figg after classes the day before the ball to demonstrate something he'd learned. He grabbed his invisibility cloak to help with a demonstration and went to her office and she showed him in. "I've asked you here to see if you've been using your free period wisely. I want to show me what you've learned during this time. It can't be anything you learned in Auror training or in another class."