Ron didn't look like he was paying much attention at this point. "Yeah, mate. Sorry for blowing up at you like that."
Harry just shook his head somewhat dejectedly, sorry that Ron was totally missing the point. "It's alright, I guess." He looked around and noticed that half of the hall had cleared out during their argument. "What say we head back up to the common room?" His three friends agreed, and they all stood to exit the hall.
As they were walking through the giant doors and into the Entrance Hall, a voice called out, "Harry!" They all turned and spotted the source of the voice: Cho Chang. She walked over to them. "Hey Harry, hey everyone," she greeted cheerfully.
"Hi," was the collective response from his three friends.
"Hi Cho," was Harry's own response. "What's up?"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, and then added "Alone," as an afterthought.
Harry glanced at his friends then back to Cho. "Sure, I guess." He turned back to his friends again. "I'll meet you guys back up in the common room in a minute, alright?"
His friends all agreed and called their goodbyes as they strode up the stairway on their way to the seventh floor. Harry turned his attention back to the seventh year in front of him. "What can I do for you?"
"Exciting news, with the ball, don't you think?" she asked conversationally.
"Er, yeah, it should be fun, I guess," he replied.
"You know, Michael and I recently broke up," she told him suddenly.
Harry was unsure how to respond to a statement like that. She didn't look all that upset about it, but he figured he should offer some condolences to be polite. "That's too bad," he responded uneasily. "But as I said, I'm sure you'll find someone who's more suited for you in no time."
"That's very sweet of you to say," she replied, mimicking her earlier response to the same sentiment. She fluttered her eyelashes a bit as she said it.
Harry began feeling uncomfortable with the situation. "Listen, Cho, I'm really sorry, but I've got a letter to write that I need to get off to the owlery tonight, so I've got to run. But we'll talk again soon, alright?"
Cho looked disgruntled but nodded anyway. "Okay," she said dejectedly. Her voice then took on a more optimistic tone as she added, "I'll see you in class on Sunday?"
"Of course," Harry replied matter-of-factly. "Bye Cho."
"Bye Harry." And Harry beat a hasty retreat. When he made it back up to the common room, he found his three friends all sitting around the fire waiting for him. It was Hermione who spoke up first.
"So what did the lovely Miss Chang want?" she asked, grinning knowingly.
"Apparently she and Michael Corner have broken up," Harry said as he slumped down in a chair near them.
"Oh?" Hermione continued. "And are you now finding yourself wishing that you didn't already have a date?" she asked innocently.
"Are you kidding?" Harry asked incredulously. Hermione was grinning like the Cheshire cat until he spoke again. "I'm so glad I didn't hesitate to ask Ginny. After she told me that, I told her that I had a letter to write and that I'd see her later. I'm hoping that by the time I see her again she'll have heard that I'm going with Ginny so she won't bother me again."
All three friends were staring at him, once again openmouthed. "Can you believe the nerve of her?" Harry asked them. "She acted as though she expected me to fall at her feet and beg her to come with me to the ball as soon as I heard that she was free. As if I'd ever make that mistake again."
Ron was grinning like mad now. Neville also had a small smile, while Hermione was looking more pensive. "You're really completely over her, aren't you?"
Harry snapped his attention to her. "Of course I am," he stated like she was crazy for even thinking otherwise. "We have nothing in common. I fell for her before I knew her. She was just a cute girl who played Quidditch. In my mind I made her out to be something she wasn't. No, I couldn't be happier to be going to the ball with Ginny. I know we'll have fun together."
Hermione smiled winningly at him. "That's good to hear. I always knew she was all wrong for you."
"Well you could have shared that little tidbit with me a little sooner," Harry grumbled good-naturedly. "Would have saved me a whole lot of trouble."
"Aw, mate, what would be the fun of that?" Ron called out.
"Prat," Harry retorted, chucking a pillow in his direction. Ron dodged and the pillow struck Neville.
"I hope you know, this means war," Neville said as he chucked the pillow back at Harry. Harry managed to swat it away, where it hit Hermione. Not one to be throwing pillows around, Hermione pulled out her wand and sent the pillow to smack each of the boys in the heads until Neville called out, "We surrender. We surrender."
Ginny and her friends entered the common room at that point. She left her friends and came over to join them in front of the fire, smiling broadly the entire time. "Hey guys."
The five of them spent the evening talking, laughing, and playing games. It wasn't until a couple hours later that Harry finally got around to writing his letter to the twins.
....
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