Midnight Duel, Midday Love
The Art of Procrastination
By Draco664
The Art of Procrastination.
Harry ducked as the sharp blade flashed through the space his head just vacated. Standing upright again, he lashed out defensively with his own blade, blocking his green opponent's counter strike before it gained any momentum. Harry took a half step back, pivoted on his left foot and kicked out, slamming his right foot into Green's midriff. Green crashed to the floor, just managing to maintain hold of the sword.
Harry ignored the results of his kick, spinning in time to catch the blade of his second opponent on the incredibly sharp daikatana he wielded. Deflecting two more strikes in a row, Harry stepped past his white opponent and struck to the side, catching White's sword. With a deft twist of both his blade and body, Harry forced the now vulnerable White to stumble into White's ally.
The-Boy-Who-Lived took a second to wipe the perspiration out of his sparkling green eyes before launching a blistering attack on his two remaining opponents.
White desperately tried to hold off Harry's renewed assault long enough for Green to regain his balance, but failed to prevent Harry from savagely kicking Green in the head, stunning it once again.
At that point, White threw caution to the wind, and dropped his defenses to simply flay at Harry wildly.
Harry's daikatana, held in two hands, seemed to waver in the air as it deflected two strikes aimed at his head. Harry stepped inside White's guard and slammed his elbow into the golem's nose, before stepping back enough to blur the Japanese sword in a tight circle and bury the fine blade between White's eyes.
One swift kick later, and the new golem was off Harry's sword and he turned to face Green. The automation drew on its focus' programmed knowledge of combat, and promptly dropped its weapon and surrendered.
Harry took deep gulping breathes, feeling the muscles in his body catch up from their oxygen starvation. It was almost with regret that he sheathed the razor sharp blade in the lacquered scabbard. As his taut body calmed and relaxed, a hot wave of disappointment flooded through him. Even though he had taken on six golems at once, he still hadn't worked off his frustrations.
A clapping of a single pair of hands caught his attention, and Harry spun round to see the headmaster standing in the doorway applauding his efforts.
"Well done, Harry. Excellent. You have shown significant improvement since your return."
Harry took a deep breath, held it for the count of five, then let it out explosively. "Thank you, Professor."
Harry turned and waved his wand. "Reparo." he cast.
The half dozen golems repaired themselves and stood to attention. White, Yellow, Red, Blue, Green and Black arranged themselves along the far wall.
Dumbledore walked forward and put his hand on Harry's shoulder with a fatherly gesture. "I did not think that you had the skill to take on all six of Professor Moody's golems at once. Even with magic. Without is an extraordinary achievement. Twenty points to Gryffindor, I think."
Harry gave the headmaster a wry grin. "Thanks again. But the focus gems are not learning as quickly as we had expected. The combat skills I imbued in them are not being augmented with new knowledge." Harry shook his head. "Not quickly enough at any rate. I did notice some improvisation by Red and Blue, but I expected more from them." Harry hung his head. "From myself." he said under his breath.
"Ah. Well you did imbue Red with more courage, and Blue with more intellectual consideration. If any of the golems were to show signs of improvement before the others, it was always going to be those two."
Harry nodded. He turned and looked up into the twinkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore. "I wish they picked things up quicker, I could have done with a greater challenge today."
Dumbledore gave Harry's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I know that there are many rumours flying around about Ms. Chang and your relationship with her. You seem to shrug it off when around people, but it is now rather obvious that you let your frustrations out while alone." Dumbledore stroked his long silver beard with his free hand. "Don't let yourself fall into the trap of feeling that you need to act violently to feel better. Sometimes, just talking to someone can ease your tensions."
Harry gave the headmaster a small smile. "I know. It's just that the one person who I feel I can talk to about anything is still unsure about our relationship. Cho hasn't spoken to me in over a month." Harry sighed. "I told her to take her time and I'd wait for her. It would be much easier if I didn't hear ten times a day how she is shagging everything with a pulse." Harry snorted with amusement. "Easier for her too, I'd imagine."
Dumbledore smiled, not the least perturbed by Harry's language. "Ms. Chang is going through a difficult time herself. Her NEWT preparation is taking up much of her free time, and the rumours about her are no doubt adding to what is already a monumentally stressful time. But I'm sure she'd like to talk to you. Perhaps you should approach her yourself?"
Harry shook his head. "I've tried more than a few times. I greeted her in the library only yesterday, and she just sighed and walked past me. She was carrying a pile of books larger than Hermione's during our third year, so I didn't feel upset. I just wish I could help her somehow."
"Was she with anyone at the time?"
Harry frowned in thought. "Yes. She was with a couple of Ravenclaw seventh years."
"Then perhaps you should try to find her alone. She may not know if you believe the rumours or not. Perhaps she didn't want a confrontation."
Harry nodded thoughtfully for a moment, then raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Was there anything you wanted to see me about, Professor? I don't imagine that you were just walking past this rather out of the way classroom."
Dumbledore nodded briefly, "Professor McGonagall has informed me that Ms. Chang's animagus progress is not going well. Ms. Chang's understanding of the theory behind the transformation is almost letter perfect, yet she still struggles to make the changes to her body. Did you have any such difficulties?"
Harry shook his head and picked up a towel from inside his large backpack. "Not at all." he said, wiping the perspiration from his face and neck with a towel. "I don't mean to sound egotistical, but the practical changes were the part I found easiest."
Dumbledore nodded. "It has long been a theory that the animal a mage transforms into is less a conscious choice, and more derived from the mage's own personality. There are so few animagi that trying to get a true statistical study done on the subject is difficult. It is possible Ms. Chang's difficulties stem from the fact that her personality is not suited to a phoenix."
Harry nodded, unsurprised. "We are very different people, Professor. Cho's mind is extraordinary. She understands almost anything she is taught instantly, and remembers everything she has ever learned. But she doesn't have the courage to risk herself for others. It may be that lack that is preventing her from progressing in the transformation."
Harry sighed. "One thing we do have in common is a love of flying. I was hoping that would help her past whatever obstacles she would face, but it obviously hasn't."
Harry looked up at Dumbledore, a strangely passive expression on his face. "It was her flying skill that first attracted me to her, and her physical beauty didn't hurt. But I've found that her mind is far and away the most beautiful thing she possesses. She is absolutely remarkable, and I would do anything for her."
"Even something as hard as suggesting that she may fail at her attempt to become an animagus, and to let go?" asked the headmaster.
Harry nodded without hesitation. "Yes, but I haven't given up on her yet. It took me ten months of constant study and practice. She has only spent a month to get where she is."
"Very well. I understand that Professor Snape and yourself have developed a particularly potent version of poly-juice potion."
"Yes, well, we hope so. The potion should be ready tonight."
"Splendid. Have you any idea by just how much this version surpasses the original?"
Harry shook his head. "We are expecting that a single dose will last between ninety and ninety-five minutes. Long enough to be useful, including convincing people that the person is not using poly-juice potion, but not so long that form stability and potion toxicity become a problem."
"Sounds like a fine line to walk. Was that a difficult problem to overcome?"
"We came up with a rather innovative way of improving the potency of the potion, but apart from that, it wasn't too difficult. Actually, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that because of that, it wasn't too difficult.
"Your floating elemental ice and increased heat?"
"Yes, I didn't think you'd be too interested in the details."
"My dear boy, when a member of my staff and a student manage to develop a method of improving an aspect of a potion that has been brewed for centuries, I'm always interested."
"Well, if this one turns out as we expect, we're going to look at some other potions that convention states are as good as they get."
"Do you have any idea which potion you'd like to work on next?"
Harry shook his head. "None at all. If you have one in mind, by all means let us know. I'd like to pursue something that would be useful immediately."
Dumbledore nodded. "I shall consider it. Well, on to more lighthearted matters. The Yule Ball is going to be announced soon, but I was wondering if I could get you to use your stake in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to acquire some, surprises, for the staff and students. At a reduced cost of course."
Harry's face split into a broad grin. "Of course. I'm sure you have a purchase list. Give me the order, and I'll get it for you at cost."
"Capital. I shall get to it immediately. I shall see you at dinner."
Harry nodded farewell to the headmaster and started to put on a shirt. He paused, and looked back to the far wall, to the six arrayed golems there. Originally, they had been training bodies for medical research and mediwizard practice exams. They had bones and cartilage, and their surface felt just like flesh. When struck, they deformed exactly as a human body would be expected to. This made them ideal for not only medical training, but combat training too. Professors Dumbledore, Moody, Flitwick and McGonagall had created a set of focus stones for these golems, in an effort to ensure student safety. Harry had been asked for suggestions to be added, since he had direct experience in what Death Eaters were being taught, but had ended up assisting in the creating and imbuing of the stones.
Harry had suggested giving each golem a separate 'personality', to better simulate combat between two groups of people. Rather facetiously, Harry had imbued the four coloured golems with the primary attribute of the four houses at Hogwarts, and the white and black golems with honourable tactics and dirty fighting skills respectively.
The result was a set of minor 'human' golems that needed 'charging' every week or so, but in terms of teaching, represented a good cross section of what a student was likely to face.
Harry dropped his shirt and drew his blade. "One more time." he muttered to himself, as he activated the golems. He took a deep breath and launched a blazing attack on the unsuspecting golems.
This time, the Slytherin Golem didn't get a chance to surrender.
Later, in the dungeons below Hogwarts, Harry gently siphoned off a small measure of the rather lumpy potion. Given the fact that Professor Snape was looking over his shoulder, he was calmer than any other student had any right to expect.
"Excellent." said Snape crisply, his long fingers flexing with excitement. "Are you sure you want to test it on yourself?"
"Absolutely." said Harry as he deposited the siphoned potion portion into a small flask.
"Well, Potter, unless you wish to go to dinner with someone else's face, I'd suggest waiting until later."
Harry looked at the watch Sirius gave him. It used to belong to Sirius' father. Harry had left it set to tell the current time, but it could also be set to display the current weather (both at the holder's location and the weather at home), the current planetary alignment and a few other things that Harry didn't quite understand.
Not being a gambling man, Harry had no idea what odds were, or why they were applied to different horses, or even why Sirius' father would need them displayed on a watch face.
Harry picked up the vial and nodded to Snape. "I'll take it either tonight or tomorrow morning. I'll have a report on the effects to you on Monday."
Snape nodded. "I meant to ask you, Mr. Potter, just why you wince each time you move your left shoulder."
Harry sighed and rubbed his wrenched shoulder. "I was practicing with the golems Professor Moody uses in Defense. One got inside my guard and struck at my shoulder. I defended, but pulled a muscle doing so."
Snape smirked. "Getting blasà ©?"
"No, just tired. I'd been fighting them for the past hour."
Snape frowned. "Them? Did you fight each of them?"
"In a manner of speaking."
"What 'manner'? Did you fight them one after the other?"
"No. I fought all of them at once."
Harry watched as Snape blinked in shock, his mouth open. It felt good to be able to stun the potion master.
Ginny sat back in contentment having finished her dinner. Next to her, Harry took a sip of pumpkin juice and continued eating. Ever since he defeated Voldemort's forces, he had an appetite to rival Ron's.
Ginny watched as his eyes again latched onto Chang's back. The rumours that Ginny had been spreading had turned Cho's reputation to mud. Her tactic of denying the validity of a particular rumour was incredibly effective, since she invariably had to tell someone what the rumour was before denying she believed it. You could make up all sorts of things if all you were going to do was say you didn't believe it.
Yet Harry still kept looking at her. Why? Cho hadn't spoken with Harry for over a month now, yet he still mooned over her.
Ginny sighed to herself. She turned to face him. "Harry, are you done with the detentions Snape has been giving you?"
A pair of emerald eyes turned to regard her. Those eyes still sent a shiver down her spine each time she looked into them.
"I haven't been doing detention with him, Gin. We have been working on enhancing a potion. With any luck, it will have turned out." he reached into a pocked and extracted a small vial, which he wiggled back and forth between his thumb and forefinger. "I'm going to test it tomorrow."
Ginny raised a copper eyebrow, and mulled this new information over in her mind. She, and all the other fifth year Gryffindors, had thought that Snape had been particularly cruel to Harry, and had assigned him a month of detentions. Harry hadn't bothered denying that fact.
Now, it turns out he had been helping Snape with a potion. Which one? How had it been enhanced?
"Harry, do you mind if I borrow your notesheet after dinner? I want to rewrite my herbology notes, since I spilt water on mine today." she lied.
"Sure, Gin." he said, reaching into his pocked and passing the dragonhide bound notepad to her.
The rest of the meal passed quietly, with only one argument between Ron and Hermione to entertain the rest of the Gryffindors.
The headmaster gently rapped his knife against his wine glass and stood up. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please forgive me a small interruption to your mastication." Except for the twinkling in his eyes, Dumbledore appeared to not notice several people in the Hall shoot pumpkin juice out of their nose. "With all the good news recently, it has been decided that a Yule Ball will take place in the Great Hall on Christmas eve.
"As expected, the male half of the student population look a little wild at the news." he continued. "Therefore, following the splendid success of the trial last year, only the female members of the student body may invite a date. There will be no age restriction either, though third year students and below will still observe curfew."
With one last smile at the chattering students he added, "And boys, you must go with the first person who asks. No date, no go." With that he sat down.
Ginny watched Harry through the announcement, and saw him desperately look in Cho's direction. Grinning to herself she grabbed his hand. "Harry, please go to the ball with me."
Slowly, Harry turned to face her, a forced smile on his face. "Sure Gin. I'd like that."
Ginny smiled to herself, very pleased with the evening's events so far.
They both missed Cho turning in her seat to face Harry.
Cho clenched her eyes tightly together, desperately trying to stop the tears building there from running down her cheeks. She buried her face deeper into one of the pillows on her bed and silently wept.
"Cho?" Hermione's unexpected voice called out from behind Cho's bed's curtains. "Are you alright?"
Cho cleared her throat. "I'm fine." she said unconvincingly.
The curtains round the large bed separated slightly to allow Hermione's head to poke through. "Will you just go and talk to Harry already! The longer you leave it, the worse it will be."
Cho shook her head, still with her face against the pillow. "I can't! What if he hates me."
Hermione parted the curtains further and sat on Cho's bed. Leaning over, she placed a comforting hand on Cho's shoulder. "He doesn't hate you. Trust me."
Cho's tear-stained face emerged from the pillow. "B-but I see him everywhere with Ginny. And he's going to the ball with her. And all the rumours going around about how I'm a slut, how can he not hate me?"
Cho buried her face in her pillow again, and started crying anew. Hermione looked down at the sobbing girl with sympathy.
"Cho, he is with Ginny all the time because they have classes together. They have identical timetables. And if you were actually facing Harry at dinner tonight, you'd have been able to catch his eye. It's not your fault that Dumbledore set the rules so only females could ask someone to the ball again. He doesn't love her. He loves you."
"You didn't see what happened after dinner." came Cho's muffled voice. "Ginny came up behind me in the library and patted me on the shoulder and told me 'bad luck'."
"She didn't!" Hermione said, horrified.
"Yes she did. Anyway, what about all those horrible rumours?" came Cho's still muffled voice.
Hermione sighed. "Do you remember in your fifth year, the Tri-wizard Tournament?"
Cho again emerged. "Of course I do!" she said, pain evident in her voice. "I lost a friend because of that damn tournament!"
Hermione grimaced. "Sorry, that wasn't what I was referring to. Did you ever read the Daily Prophet while it was on?"
Cho swallowed and nodded. "It started out printing good things about Harry, but then it got mean."
"Exactly." said Hermione.
Cho managed a small smile. "I remember reading that you were his girlfriend and that you were playing Victor Krum off against him."
Hermione grimaced again. "Yes, well..."
Cho continued. "I remember thinking bad things about you. All the girls who were falling over themselves for his attention. Just because he is The-Boy-Who-Lived." Cho summoned a tissue and blew her nose loudly.
Hermione nodded. "It was just silly. I mean, at that point, I hadn't even kissed Harry." Hermione's eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth.
Cho gave her a look mixed with confusion and betrayal. "You kissed Harry? When?"
"Oh, Cho, I didn't, I mean, that came out the wrong way."
Cho's eyes narrowed dangerously. "When?" she asked levelly.
Hermione sighed and looked down at her hands. "At King's Cross, on the platform after we arrived in London at the end of that year. I kissed him on the cheek to try and keep his spirits up." She looked at Cho. "Harry wrote to me a lot that summer. I could read between the lines that he managed to avoid falling into a depression. He told me later that he had been writing to you, and after a while I realised that it was your letters that kept him sane."
Cho's face showed her relief, then screwed up with self-loathing. "What am I going to do?" she wailed.
Hermione let her cry for a few minutes. "You are going to go and talk to Harry. You are going to tell him that you are afraid for his safety, but that you can handle it, as long as he takes steps to stay safe. You are then going to tell him you love him, and that you miss him terribly." Hermione smiled gently at Cho's disbelieving expression. "He will say that he loves you and then he will give you a hug and everything will be OK again."
Cho shook her head and once more, buried her face in her now damp pillow. "I can't. I just can't. What if doesn't? What if he says he doesn't love me anymore?"
"What if he says he still does?"
"How could he? Everyone here says I've slept with..."
"Stop!" Hermione ordered. "Listen, Harry doesn't believe what he hears as rumours. Remember we were discussing Skeeter's articles? Rumours about how stable he was? Harry ignored it. It made him mad that people believed it, but he didn't himself. Trust me, Harry doesn't give rumours any credence."
"But that's rumours about him! What about rumours about others?"
Hermione sighed. "Harry doesn't believe anything bad about someone until he sees proof. Don't worry. You just have to go and speak to him."
Cho took a steadying breath and looked down at her trembling hands. "Why are you here?" she asked quietly. "You said last time that you didn't like coming into a different common room."
A small smile touched Hermione's lips. "I'm here because I want you and Harry to be happy. Both of you have a stressful seven months ahead, and you need to be able to talk to each other to relieve stress."
Cho frowned in thought. "But the password was changed yesterday, and I didn't tell you what the new one was. How did you..."
"Professor Flitwick is also worried about you. He asked me to talk with you."
"Did Harry ask you to talk to me?" Cho asked, her tone carrying both hope and an accusation.
Hermione shook her head. "Harry hasn't spoken to me about you since the day the out of control golem attacked him. I keep trying to talk to him, but he is more stubborn than you."
"They why do you think he still loves me?"
"Because of the way he looks at you. You have been sitting with your back to the Gryffindor table recently, but Harry still looks for you every single meal. The look on his face can only be described as adoring."
Cho wrung her hands with indecision. "But..."
"That's it!" decided Hermione. "Get dressed, put on your best robes if you need to, but you are coming with me to Gryffindor Tower. You are going to go up to Harry's dorm, talk to him, and after that the pair of you will not be seen until tomorrow morning. Thank goodness today is a Saturday."
Cho sat up and rolled to the side of the bed. She stood and went to part the curtains, but then collapsed back onto the bed. "I can't. I've taken too long. He's left me."
Hermione hissed in frustration. "OK, how long have you been meaning to talk to Harry? He told me that you said you needed some time to think. Did you finish thinking about your relationship? Have you made a decision?"
Cho nodded. "After a few days, I'd decided that I needed to be with him, but I wanted him to take some precautions. But I took a few days to get my courage up, and then a few more.
Hermione nodded "Then it seemed that you'd taken too long to think about it, and you took a few more days."
Cho nodded, giving Hermione a wry smile. "Exactly. I told myself that I didn't need the stress because of the amount of work I had. When days had turned to weeks, I just couldn't face him. How can I face him now? I've treated him so badly."
Hermione looked down at Cho's small frame. "Get up. Now." she said quietly. "Get dressed. I'll wait for you in the common room. You have ten minutes." With that, Hermione left.
Cho slowly obeyed. Heart thumping wildly, she moved at a studied slow speed, and began to dress herself. Never in her life had she been so nervous.
Cho and Hermione made their way towards Gryffindor Tower. Two prefects out after curfew was not too unusual, and the pair had managed to talk their way past Filch.
"No, I'm not ready, I'll talk to him tomorrow, I promise!" said Cho for the tenth time.
Hermione didn't respond, she just grabbed a hold of Cho's robes and continued walking towards Gryffindor Tower. She had been almost amused at watching Cho get steadily more and more nervous the closer they got to the Tower.
Finally, the pair stood in front of the Fat Lady's portrait. Hermione was almost supporting Cho as the later babbled quietly to herself.
"Voldemort." said Hermione clearly. Cho started slightly and looked at her friend in confusion.
"It makes everyone in Gryffindor get used to saying his name." said Hermione as the portrait swung open. "With any luck, it will catch on."
Cho looked around the Gryffindor common room for the first time. It wasn't so different to the Ravenclaw room, except everything was in various shades of red. It gave the room a warm, comforting feeling. She found herself relaxing slightly.
A couple of sixth and seventh years were still up, doing some late night study. Pavati looked at Cho in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "My sister said that you didn't come out of your dorm except to study."
Cho swallowed nervously while Hermione answered, "She is here to talk to Harry. Hopefully it will stop both of them moping about."
With that announcement, the other Gryffindors smiled in understanding and acceptance. "I'd wish you good luck, but you won't need it." said Pavati. "He has been so lonely without you."
Cho blinked in surprise as the rest of the assembled students nodded in agreement. Hermione put her hand on Cho's shoulder. "I told you." she whispered.
Knees trembling, Cho followed Hermione's directions up the stairs to the sixth-year boys dorm rooms, and to see if she could salvage her relationship with Harry.
Harry lay in bed wide-awake. He somehow had to find Cho without her friends around and talk to her. Dumbledore's words resounded in his mind.
Harry lay flat on his back, his hands clasped behind his head. Even though still in bed, he still wore his glassed, and looked unseeing at the ceiling.
A creaking from the floorboards signaled someone was standing behind the curtains at the foot of his bed. Even though he was at Hogwarts, in Gryffindor Tower, his hand still slipped under his pillow and gripped his wand there.
No one opened the curtains, but Harry could just make out the soft footfalls of someone trying to make as little noise as possible move towards his left bedside table. There was a faint clink of glass on metal and then silence. Harry frowned, and pulled out his wand.
A distinctly feminine hand appeared between the curtain gap and gently pulled the curtains apart. Harry gasped in surprise as he looked at his girlfriend's beautiful, but worried face.
"Harry? Can I talk to you?" she whispered, nervousness in every syllable.
Cho smiled and climbed onto Harry's bed. Almost reverently she reached out and touched Harry's cheek. He took her hand and gently kissed her palm.
Cho closed her eyes and gasped with pleasure. Steeling herself she crawled forward and kissed Harry's lips. He returned the kiss with fervour.
A part of Harry's mind dispassionately told him that Cho kissed him differently when nervous, but he didn't care. He traced kisses down her jaw to the base of her ear, and was pleasantly surprised at the purring that emanated from Cho's throat.
"Did you want to talk, my love?" he whispered in her ear.
With a sigh, she shook her head and started frantically undoing her robes.
Harry smiled at her fervour and helped her remove the clothes. Once more, in what felt like an eternity, he was looking at his naked girlfriend. He started tracing his initials on her chest again, but she stopped him.
"Make love to me, Harry." she whispered. "Please. I need you to love me."
Harry cupped her cheeks and kissed her again. "I do love you, Cho. I always will." He kissed away the tears that appeared in her eyes. "Never doubt it." he said, and lowered her to the bed.
Cho threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply, then relaxed and allowed Harry to touch her in any way he wished.
Hermione watched as Cho went up the stairs, looking more frightened than if she was entering a dragon's lair. The other Gryffindors nodded to themselves and went back to their study.
"I hope they figure things out." said Dean to Hermione. "Harry has been looking like crap in the mornings recently. I don't think he has been sleeping too well."
Pavati smirked. "Well if all goes according to plan, he won't get much sleep tonight either."
Hermione smiled and in mock shock pressed her hands to her cheeks. "Pavati! How could you think that?"
The laugh shared by all was cut short as Cho burst into the common room, almost blind from the tears in her eyes. She bolted for the exit, sobbing uncontrollably.
Hermione sighed and drew her wand. With a casual wave, she cast a full body bind at Cho. The tiny Asian witch stiffened and fell to the floor.
Hermione walked over to Cho and rolled her over. "I'm sorry Cho, but you are going to talk to him toni-." Hermione's chiding froze on her lips from one glance at Cho's horrified expression. Quickly, she dispelled the binding charm.
Cho grabbed a fistful of Hermione's robes and burst into tears.
"What happened Cho?" Hermione asked gently, as the rest of the Gryffindors gathered round to comfort the girl.
But no words could escape the sobbing girl. Cho simply trembled with grief.
Hermione turned to Pavati. "Take care of her." she said simply, then stood and marched towards the sixth-year boys dorms. The look on her face reminded those present of McGonagall in a particularly bad mood.
Less than a second after entering Harry's dorm, Hermione understood what crippled Cho. The muted sounds emenating from behind Harry's curtains gave testimony to what was occurring behind them. With a snarl, Hermione stormed over and ripped the curtains open, then grabbed a double handful of the sheets and tore them off the bed.
For an instant, Hermione wondered why the strange, athletic man she caught Cho in the shower with was in Harry's bed. The same man of short stature but muscular appearance was lying on top of a girl, obviously in the middle of copulating. When the man spun his head around, Hermione stared into the eyes of her best friend.
It was Harry after all. she thought to herself in shock. She mentally shook herself and took a deep breath. "Harry!" she shouted. "What do you think you are-?"
Harry had rolled off the girl and into a crouch, ready to launch himself at Hermione in an instant. But it was the sight of the girl he was making love to that stopped Hermione's tirade. Lying there, too shocked to cover herself, was Cho.
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