Harry Potter and His New Standards

CHAPTER 12 - Faking Un-Ready-Ness

Harry stumbled blindly into the Gryffindor Common Room the next morning, rubbing his eyes. When the shining rainbow pixels of light faded from his eyes and he put his glasses on the room came into sharp view. "I was going to wake you up soon... it's almost dinner," Ron said. He was sitting on the arm of the sofa Ginny had been sleeping in the night before. Holly was lying on it, taking up all the cushions as best as she could.

"Where were you last night?" she asked, rolling onto her stomach and looking up at him. Harry could tell by her playful smirk that she had no clue that he actually wasn't in bed all night.

"Sleeping...?" Harry said, giving her a funny look. He rubbed his neck, which was really sore.

"Are you sure? I woke up at about two in the morning and you weren't in bed," Ron stated. He was giving Harry a searching look, as though trying to see what the truth was.

"Really?" Holly asked.

"Yep," Ron replied, "I did a quick search of the room, and saw his trunk was open and his Invisibility Cloak was missing." Holly rolled off the couch and landed on the floor with a thump.

"So," said Hermione. Harry only just realized she was there, as she hadn't said anything thus far. "Where were you last night?" She gave him a stern look as though to dare him to lie.

"I was outside, taking a walk... I just couldn't sleep," he said, shrugging. Holly scrambled back up onto the sofa and sat down in a normal position now.

"Yeah right, what were ya doin' last night?" she asked.

"I already told you! I went for a walk outside!" Harry exclaimed. He sat down in one of the armchairs and rubbed his head, ruffling his hair. Hermione, Ron, and Holly were all still staring at him. "What?!"

"You are a horrible liar," Hermione stated, shaking her head. Harry let out a groan of despair. Okay, so he was leaving a lot of information out... but he wasn't lying, really.

"You were out somewhere last night with some girl doing some stuff," Holly said, "You can't hide it from us. I know we're right! I could sing! I will sing!" She cleared her throat and looked thoughtful for a moment. "You're a song - Written by the hands of God - Don't get me wrong - To you this might sound a bit odd - But you're the place - Where all my thoughts go hiding - Right under your clothes - Is where I'll find them!"

As she sang Harry tried to quiet her with wide-eyed stares and a few good "SHH!"s to no affect. "You better be happy there's hardly anyone in the common room and I didn't pick something worse like 'Bad Touch' because you're the one keeping juicy info from us so you're gonna have to bear with me TO THE CHORUS!" Holly exclaimed. "Underneath your clothes - There's an endless story - There's the man I chose - There's my territory - And all the things I deserve - For being such a good girl, honey!" she belted. She stopped again and asked, "Should I keep going?"

Harry shook his head fervently. "Good because that's all the words I know..."

"Well, considering at the rate you started blushing during Holly's wonderful song-" Ron began.

"Thank you, Ron!"

"You're welcome, Holly. Anyway, you must be hiding something from us! Haha! Look! You're blushing more!" Ron exclaimed. Harry really hoped that Ron and Holly didn't remember his last blushing incident that they were present at - Quidditch practice. Harry put his hands over his ears and hummed loudly. After he did this he realized it was a very stupid move as all three of them started smirking identical scheming grins.

"Ha! We were right! Just keep your business to yourself in somewhere secret because I just don't think I could handle walking in on you," Hermione said, grimacing. Harry had taken his hands off his ears, as that hurt his neck, and was amazed to hear Hermione saying this - as he had never heard her say anything sex-orientated in his entire time knowing her.

"Yeah," Ron said, nodding in agreement, "Sex is like nose picking. It's fine as long as you practice it yourself - but it's disgusting watching someone else do it!" Holly and Hermione burst out laughing and Harry managed to snicker weakly.

"Too true!" Holly agreed while taking a breath. "Harry, you suck, we caught you! Now we just need to figure out who the girl is... oh Lord please tell me it's a girl!"

"You didn't catch me doing anything! You're just a bunch of nutters... all I did last night was go on a walk outside! I couldn't sleep!" Harry insisted.

"That's because you-" Ron began, but Harry cut him off.

"If you guys don't want to believe me - fine! I won't argue with you!"

"Because you know we're-" Hermione started, but Harry cut her off too.

"I don't think you're right because, naturally, you're not!" Harry exclaimed, in a tone of superiority. Holly rolled her eyes, Hermione scoffed, and Ron slid down to sit next to Holly on the couch now that she wasn't taking up each cushion with a smile on his face.

*()%()*

When the group sat down at lunch, Harry had still seen no sign of Ginny. When he glanced around the Great Hall (without moving his neck) none other than Cho Chang caught his eye. She grinned at him and he fought the impulse to slam his forehead onto the table (it would hurt his neck - and it would make a lot of people suspicious).

Harry maintained that he had only been on a walk, and he wasn't sure whether Hermione, Ron, and Holly didn't believe him or just wanted to drive him nuts. They kept on nagging him until mid-afternoon when they stopped, naturally, because Harry, Ron, and Holly were all occupied with something else - Quidditch practice.

*()%()*

Harry announced to the team - with the reluctant help of Ron - that they would be doing their three hours worth of Quidditch practice all through Thursday. This didn't get quite the reaction he had hoped for - not that he thought they would be pleased.

"WHAT?!! Why don't we just have the normal two hours of practice through Friday!?" Seamus roared, clearly outraged. Harry looked from one unhappy face to the next, and sighed.

"Because! This way we can get more practice hours in but you get a day to relax so you're pumped and ready for the game Saturday," he explained. He was feeling more and more like the manic over-enthusiastic Quidditch captain each day.

"Can't you just let us slide by with two hours of practice each day, Harry!?" Holly ranted, eyes bulging slightly as they normally did when she tried to make a point - loud and clear... mainly loud.

"A calm sea does not make a skilled sailor," he replied knowledgeably.

"What - the hell - does THAT have to do - with QUIDDITCH PRACTICE?!" she responded.

"I mean: sliding by won't get you anywhere! You need to practice hard to be agile enough to do this the best you can," he explained. She groaned and stared up at the sky, shaking her head and holding out her hands as though questioning the heavens.

"When is it off-season?" she grumbled.

"The last game of this part of the year is the next one - practice won't resume again until April or so - depending upon the weather," Harry replied.

"We have plenty of ability, Harry... we practically have the best house team in the school!" Brandon stated. Ron sat down in the grass with the rest of his teammates and left Harry to talk all on his own.

"Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there. Character and hard work. You got onto this team with your skill, each of you, but the soul purpose of practice is that you better yourself!" Harry affirmed in a faithful tone. He wondered what was with him and the proverb-like inspiration today.

"That doesn't mean that we need to practice for three hours a day," Cameron grumbled quietly. Harry gave him a sharp look and Cameron backed down, recoiling slightly in a shy way.

"I think Harry is doing the right thing, having us practice hard. You never know how long a game could last - and the more we work beforehand the better off we are!" Ginny piped in. She grinned up at Harry and they both flushed. Ron noticed this before anyone else, as Holly-The-Matchmaker/Love-Detector was pulling the deadened grass out of the ground and dropping it in Seamus' lap. Ron, who was sitting to her left, was slowly getting wide-eyed and slack-mouthed. He reached over and grabbed Holly's upper arm. She looked at him and he began to move his eyes from Harry to Ginny. Before he could finish and Holly could comprehend Ron's gaze Harry told them to start their five laps.

"Harry," she said, her eyes snapping back to him, "Why do you make us do laps? This isn't baseball! We aren't running! This isn't hockey as we aren't skating either! Our brooms don't need to be warmed-up..."

"Haven't you asked me this question before? It's just standard. Now get moving!" he commanded in reply. She gave him a dirty look, mounted her broom, and kicked off very hard, which blew Harry back a bit as he had been standing in front of her.

As the team finished their laps and landed back down next to Harry (who had started last, right after Holly, and had outstripped them all) and Harry gave them instructions. Ginny, Brandon, and Holly were to be using half the field to practice their plays - taking shots on Ron. Cameron and Seamus had set up a course of magical moving targets, and were going to be beating Bludgers at them. They had complained that with the targets not being human, the Bludgers wouldn't attack them and more likely swing back around and go at them instead. Harry had affirmed that this was best, as it would take a good amount of power to get the Bludgers the correct distance (if the target was far away) and a lot of accuracy - and this would be good for practice.

"Meanwhile," he had said, "I will be practicing different strategies in capturing the Snitch. We will do this for about... forty-five minutes, have a water break, and then continue with something else. Go ahead." The team kicked off and waited for Harry to let them have the Quidditch balls. Harry massaged his neck again, feeling that flying more wasn't going to help much.

Harry was right in thinking that flying wasn't going to help out the pain is his neck. His sore neck, in turn, prevented him from turning his head to look around for the Snitch. When the team touched back down forty-five minutes later he was in a lot of pain. He cursed his bad judgement with assigning them three hours of practice.

Ron ran to get the team water from the locker rooms and came back a couple minutes later managing to carry six large water bottles in his long arms and kept his own clenched between his chin and collarbone. He tossed them to each of his teammates in turn. "I'm exhausted," Brandon said.

"Don't be," Ginny advised, rubbing the side of her neck with her free hand. Harry imagined that she must have been in just as much or maybe more pain than he was at the time. He had noticed that she and Cameron had been avoiding eye contact, but it didn't seem it was for the exact same reason. Now that he thought about it... she had just broke up with him, and then she went out and spent half her night with Harry. It was all a bit crazy.

"We still have... two hours," Holly said looking at the face of her watch on the inside of her wrist. "I need to wake up... but I refuse to splash water in my face."

"Oh! Holly, I need to talk to you!" Ron exclaimed suddenly. Harry's stomach plummeted. He truly hoped Ron wasn't about to tell her what he thought he was.

"About what?" she asked, raising her eyebrows - the questioning look Harry recognized from only a short time after he had met her.

"Er... well... I'll talk to you after practice," he replied, glancing at both Ginny and Harry. Now Harry was sure he knew what was going on.

"Good news or bad news?" she said, her eyebrows still arced high above her wide eyes. Ron bit his lip.

"A mix? I don't know it's not really confirmed information... okay it's close," he said, looking thoughtful. Holly dropped one of her eyebrows and blinked.

"Okay, bad news for who?" she asked, shaking her head a little. It seemed she was trying to pump as much information out of him at the current time so she would be interested in listening to him later. Ron bit his lip once more.

"Me... sort of anyway," he answered. Holly sighed - her information pumping was over. Harry grimaced... this wasn't going to be good. His best friend's sister... he hadn't really thought of that the night before. He grimaced again and cursed his not-strong-enough neck.

"Okay, after practice... right now I need to wake up!" She stretched her arms and jumped up and down three times. She bent down and touched the ground then straightened up and began to jump up and down once more. Her voice bounced with her jumps. "He was a boy - She was a girl - Can I make it any more obvious? - He was a punk - She did ballet - What more can I say? - He wanted her - She'd never tell - Secretly she wanted him as well. - But all of her friends - Stuck up their nose - They had a problem with his baggy clothes. - He was a skater boy - She said 'See ya later, boy!' - He wasn't good enough for her. - She had a pretty face - But her head was up in space - She needed to come back down to earth!"

"...Ready yet?" Cameron said, his head going up and down as he watched her bounce. She stopped hopping around, stretched her throwing arm behind her head and replied.

"Yep! Whoever thought up sports bras is a goddess!" she replied, stretching out her arms again and tilting her head to the side.

"What if it was a man?" Seamus suggested, shrugging. "And besides, you hardly need a-" but Ginny cut him off.

"Seamus, honestly, do you think any guy would actually prevent a females breasts from bouncing? C'mon..." Ginny said, rolling her eyes. Harry now decided it was time to get the team back to practicing. They did their miniature-scrimmage routine. All Chasers against Ron. Cameron and Seamus were both on their own little teams - beat Bludgers at everybody! Harry just did his thing, looking for the Snitch. It wasn't the most efficient way, but they didn't have a reserve team around to scrimmage against, so it was something.

By the end of the three-hour practice session Harry's mind was blank. He had no reason for this; really, it was as though all his thoughts had suddenly cleared out. When he came out of the showers and saw Holly and Ron standing outside of the locker rooms he remembered that he had a lot to think about.

They were several yards away from Harry, so he couldn't exactly see what they were talking about but he had a fair idea. It was still very weird for him to see being around each other without sniping back and forth, but that feeling didn't rule over his emotions right then. They were facing each other and Holly was gazing up at Ron, who was speaking, with slightly widened eyes. She started grinning suddenly and looked over her shoulder, not seeing Harry over to her left. Ron said something else and Holly laughed and patted his upper-arm, stating something in reply. Ron smiled again.

Harry sidled closer to them so he could hear what they were saying. "Do you want to go and find him now?" Ron was asking her.

"Nah, I'll talk to him later. Let's go back up to the castle," she replied. They turned and started walking over the grounds in the direction of the castle. Harry watched them striding slowly away and ran his fingers through his hair.

"You're such an idiot..." he said to himself. He rubbed the back of his neck before grabbing his Firebolt and started off to the castle, feeling that leaving it in the broom shed was just too risky considering his luck for the past week or so. His strides were very slow, as he wanted a little time before either of the two in front of him spotted him.

"Harry!" Harry looked over his shoulder and saw Ginny jogging towards him. He wondered why he had even considered that maybe Ginny and Cho would both just let him be. She caught up with him soon enough.

"Hi, Ginny," he said dully yet in an embarrassed way.

"Harry... after last night I just want to say... well I don't really know what to say," she stammered. It wasn't as though they had pulled apart the night before and ran in opposite directions, but it had been a little awkward - not that it wasn't now.

He replied with a light "Hm..." and she continued. "Well I don't know if this could develop into something major, you know, so I think if... er... anything is gonna go on between us - I'd rather take it slow."

Harry wasn't sure if this was good for him or bad for him. Ginny didn't want to 'meet up somewhere tonight' - which was good... he thought - nor did she say she wanted nothing more to do with him. Cho was definitely still in play. "Yeah me too," he replied. Immediately he grimaced to himself. "I'm going to chuck myself into the lake as a gift to the giant squid..." he thought grimly.

"Okay good... well I've got to go back to the pitch... I agreed to help Brandon with his Reverse Pass... and we better be scoring extra points with you here because we just did three hours of this," Ginny said, smiling broadly. Harry grinned.

"Do you have a ball to use? 'Cause I could go get-" he began.

"Oh no, it's okay, we've got one already. See you later, Harry!" she said. She rubbed her neck before turning on her heel and jogging back towards the Quidditch field. Harry watched her run for a few moments, admiring her grace and the way her thick hair bounced flowingly with each stride. He shut his eyes and shook his head quickly, forcing himself to snap out of his small trance.

*()%()*

Later that day Harry was in the library reading up on Seeker diversions and mentally repeating "I am not Oliver Wood. I am not Oliver Wood." He had just shut his book and began putting it back in its place when Holly appeared from behind a bookshelf. She walked over to him, a wide grin on her face. "I need to talk with you, brother dear," she whispered happily. Harry's stomach tightened into a nervous knot.

"Talk away," Harry advised, turning back to push the book all the way onto its high shelf. He heard Holly sigh impatiently.

"Not in here... come on..." she said. Harry started turning his head when she grabbed his wrist and started dragging him towards the door. She gave Madam Pince a cheery wave before bringing Harry straight out of the library and into the empty classroom to their right. She had a tight grip on his wrist as though warning him to not try and wriggle free. She shut the door behind her and pulled him to the far corner of the room. "Admit it!" she said simply. Harry flushed. "Ohhhh yeah, I've got you now, boy!" she exclaimed joyously.

"No...no...let me explain," Harry began. He felt that he should have just denied the statement and it would have been more convincing than 'let me explain'. Holly started giggling and Harry sighed deeply. "Fine. Still - let me explain," he gave in, "Okay... I've got these two amazing friends-"

"For argument's sake lets call them Ginny and Cho," Holly suggested in a very professional voice. She sounded as though she were only a shrink addressing a patient she saw every now and then.

"How did you know about me and Cho?" Harry snapped in sudden shock.

"I didn't...!" She paused. "But I do now!" Harry was internally kicking and screaming. "And the correct way to say that is 'Cho and me' not 'me and Cho'. But, go on!" Harry groaned. No guy told their sisters stuff like this - why did he and Holly's 'brother-sister' like relationship have to be any different?

Harry just stared at her. He wasn't going to tell her - he simply wouldn't do it! His mind flatly refused, although his mouth and jinxed motor-skills seemed to feel quite opposite.

He suddenly launched into the explanation of what happened with Cho, then what went on with Ginny. After he had wrapped it all up with he and Ginny's conversation and his general "I don't know what to do now..." Holly nodded slowly. Harry was surprised that she hadn't been taking down notes. Her many expressions made a good audience, though, as they had changed with nearly every six words he said.

Then she waltzed over to him and did something Harry certainly wasn't expecting. She wound up and smacked him right across the face as hard as a trained Chaser could do so. He turned back to face her, as the blow had made his head turn, and began to stutter, "Wha-...? Wha-...." He didn't have enough previous expectancy in him to be outraged.

"I'll leave you with only one of those, as it's what Cho and Ginny will probably do to you if they find out what you did. I'll leave Ron to break your nose himself after he finds out that you, for sure, made out with his little sister while playing Cho, in a manner of speaking," Holly said plainly. Harry gaped at her, open mouthed. He rubbed his cheek that was red and stinging, feeling as though he needed NO MORE PAIN TODAY.

"You're gonna tell Ron?" he asked.

"The hell I am! As for advice? Confess your ass to both of those girls and stay out of relationships until you can choose one or the other or maybe even HERMIONE for all I care," she said in a tone of authority.

"You are a horrible aid in advice and a wretched sister," Harry said, still rubbing his cheek, which was now throbbing.

"I'm a great giver of advice! You listen to me! And I'm your little sister - and don't you forget it, pansy," she said, pointing a finger at him. His eyes narrowed briefly.

"What happens if I choose not to heed you?" Harry asked angrily, feeling like that was a very stupid question.

"I will tell Cho, Ginny, and Ron what you did with exaggerated details then set all three of them on you at once," she stated, raising an I-dare-you-to-cross-me eyebrow.

Harry glared at her for a long moment, feeling extremely stupid for being intimidated by his 'little sister' who in fact was smaller and weaker than he. "Fine!" he exclaimed, "You win. You always win!" Holly smiled threateningly, and Harry never wondered again whether or not it was possible to smile menacingly. "But you don't play fair," he added, shaking a finger at her.

"That's why I always win," she affirmed matter-of-factly. Harry rolled his eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go and tell Ron that you didn't winch Ginny half the night..."

"What? I thought you were gonna tell him anyway!" he replied, eyes wide.

"Oh, do you want me to?" Holly asked in an innocent voice. She smiled in the same menacing manner. Harry shook his head fervently.

"No!"

"Then don't complain," she said sweetly. Harry laughed weakly.

"Do you think he'll honestly buy it?" he asked, taking time to rub his neck in turn of his face. Holly smiled in a more common way now and looked around the room.

"Uh-huh. Later!" She turned on her heal and bounced out of the room (quite literally) singing, once again. "Dun. Dun. Dun. Another one bites the dust. Dun. Dun. Dun. Another one bites the dust. And another one gone, and another one gone - Another one bites the dust! Hey - I'm gonna get you too! Another one bites the dust. Daaa-dun..."

Harry watched her leave and sighed as she was bouncing down the corridor. He had things pretty much covered with Ginny... and then there was Cho.

*()%()*

After supper Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Holly were walking down the corridor towards the Gryffindor tower. Harry spotted Cho and before Holly could shove him forward 'on accident' and give him a meaningful but commanding look he tried to shake off the others by saying he had to go to the bathroom. They were just beginning to protest and say that they could wait for him when Holly spotted Cho and caught on. She asked Ron and Hermione if they would read over her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay and tell her if it was well-worded.

Harry took a deep breath, feeling very stupid, and strode over to Cho, who was currently surrounded by a group of her beautiful and popular friends. "Cho - could I - er - talk to you for a second?" he asked. The group of girls massed around her giggled as one. Harry blushed - feeling back in his fourth year - asking Cho to the Yule ball all over again. He silently prayed that this would go right.

"Yeah, all right, Harry," she replied with a wide smile. Harry's stomach tightened into a knot and he led her off to the side of the corridor. "What is it?"

"I... uh... I just wanted to... to say..." he stammered. Cho raised her eyebrows, still grinning. She was just so pretty and sweet... Harry didn't think he could do this. Then he imagined Ron, Cho, and Ginny all being set on him with exaggerated complications in mind and thought he had better just get this over with.

"Yes?" she said, in a tone that urged him on.

"Cho - I just don't really think I'm ready for this whole... relationship thing. I mean - I'm sorry but, I just don't feel like I could commit at this point in time, I'm just not prepared for anything big at the moment," he said, trying to keep it smooth. 'Yeah, Harry, and you're sixteen-years-old and sounding like you don't think you're mature enough to have a girlfriend...' he thought. Cho's face fell, only slightly.

"Um... that's okay... Harry..." she said, slowly, looking a bit shocked and sad at the same time. She sighed. "If you did want a relationship any time soon we could just take it slow and-"

"No," he said a bit to quickly with a small squeak in his voice. He cleared his throat and continued, a bit slower. "I mean - you're a great, great girl, Cho. And I really mean that - I just don't really see a real future for us right now...." Cho's face fell even more, and now she didn't look the least bit cheerful but rather hurt, on the contrary. 'God, Harry, you're horrible...' he thought to himself.

"O-okay..." she said, looking a bit angry now. "Why don't you see a 'real future' for us, Harry? I think we'd be great together-"

"Me too," Harry admitted. "Just... not now. I'm really truly sorry, Cho. For now - could we just be good friends?" he concluded in suggestion. She nodded shortly and looked over to the floor her side, avoiding his eyes.

"All right then," she mumbled. She turned away and walked back to her group of friends who were waiting several yards away, with curious but comforting expressions.

"Bye," Harry whispered, holding up his hand in a very depression-formed wave. He let out a deep sigh and watched Cho and her friends walk away, all looking a bit crest-fallen. 'Don't wonder if this could get any worse because a tree will fall straight out of the sky and crush you if you do,' Harry thought in his third-person point of view. He turned slowly and started walking to the Gryffindor Tower.

He began weave through everyone in the common room and traveled up to his dormitory to perhaps read a bit or just get to sleep early. He looked around the semi-dark room, happy it was empty, but gave a little start when he saw a dark shape sitting on his four-poster - shifting to look at him. It was Holly. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

"How'd it go?" she asked, a look of actual pity on her face. Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Fine," he replied, putting them back on and blinking at her. She raised an eyebrow. "Okay... she agreed but seemed pretty down about it. Thank you for the advice," he stated, casting her a very dirty look. He explained what he had said and her reaction. Holly glanced down at her knees.

"Sorry - I just think it'll be for the best... you'll find someone... emphasis on the 'one' in 'someone' not the 'some'," she replied. Her voice went from a tone of sympathy and regret to that of her usual teasing and mockery. He didn't see why she would be sorry now, but didn't tell her to 'just forget about it' either.

"You're not supposed to be in here, you know," Harry stated, to break the silence that had encased them.

"Pfff! How old do ya think Dumbledore thought we'd be before we started breaking that rule?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. It had taken her a year to master the art of raising an eyebrow, so when the opportunity to show off her 'skill' came, she'd take it. "Besides," she added, "You and Ron have been in my dormitory more than once this year anyway."

"Good point," Harry said. Holly smiled at him and he managed a weak grin back. "I think I'm going to go to bed-" he told her. She stood up off of his bed and tossed her hair behind her shoulder.

"Can I tell Ron what happened?" she asked.

"No! I thought you said you weren't going to ask him!" Harry exclaimed in a startled tone. Holly shrugged.

"Yeah - I was just wondering if I could-"

"No way, Holly," Harry said in a low pitch, glaring at her as though that settled the matter.

"Hermione?" she suggested tentatively.

"Nope."

"Will you let me tell Dad?"

"NO!" She laughed.

"Just kidding... jeez!" she replied, eyes popping. "Just let me tell Ron about you and Cho - he deserves to know - I won't tell him about you and Gin-Gin, though... and I'll tell him that you said you weren't ready-"

"He'll shit me if you tell him that I said that!" Harry said defiantly.

"I'll tell him not to," she said, shrugging, "He'll heed me." Harry glared straight down into her round eyes and shook his head. "Fine - I'll tell Cho about Ginny instead."

"You don't even know Cho!" Harry exclaimed in anger. Holly shrugged once more.

"So? It'll make her more mad. I bet she'd kick the bucket right then and there! Kaput! She's dead!" Holly replied brightly. Harry stared at her in absolute horror. She grinned maliciously.

"You're dead serious aren't you?" said Harry in a low voice.

"You'll just have to find out," she murmured in a deadly voice. Harry narrowed his eyes. He had the impression that she was joking, but he wasn't going to take the chance because even if she didn't tell Cho - she'd end up doing something else 'all in fun'.

"You always win don't you?" he sighed, giving in.

"Yup!"

"You're good at this..." he observed, nodding slightly.

"I'm the best!" she exclaimed. Harry snorted and shook his head. Holly skipped out of the room singing again.

"Da-da Dun. Dun. Dun. Another one bites the dust!"

Harry changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed. He shut his eyes; not feeling very tired at all, but more or less a little depressed. So he had things cleared up, for the most part, with the two girls - but they still didn't know the exact truth and he was pretty sure that neither of them would find out. He really hoped he hadn't truly hurt Cho... he wanted to be her friend (at the VERY least, it's not as though he had magically turned off his feelings for either girl) for a long time. He sighed and turned over, hoping that the following week would somehow top his last. At least the complications would lessen - he thought.

SHAKIRA- "Underneath Your Clothes" ++ AVRIL LAVIGNE- "Sk8er Boi" ++ QUEEN- "Another One Bites The Dust" ++ (mentioned) BLOODHOUND GANG- "Bad Touch"

A/N: Not much content - but I trust that the next chapter or the one after that will have more. School's back in session... and this is starting to come along quite slowly. Bear with me!