In the Melancholy Moonlight

Chapter CLXIV: "I Believe Harry"

HARRY:

Before I knew it, Valentine's Day was upon us all. I chose my outfit with more care than usual, though I did leave my hair as it was, messy and all. I couldn't risk another fiasco like the one I'd had at the beginning of February.

Ron and I arrived for breakfast just as the post owls flew in. Hermione was the only one to have mail, from a brown owl I didn't recognize.

"It's about time," she muttered as she yanked the envelope from its mouth. "If it hadn't come today..." She extracted a small piece of parchment and read the message before looking over at me. "Listen, Harry, this is really important. Do you think you could meet me in the Three Broomsticks around midday?"

I thought about it for a moment before saying uncertainly, "I don't know, Cho might be expecting me to spend the whole day with her. We never said what we were going to do."

"Well, bring her along if you must, but will you come?"

"Well, alright, but why?"

"Can't explain now, I have to reply," she said, turning to Lucy as she rose to her feet. "You should come, too."

Lucy cocked her head. "But I was going to prepare for O.W.L.s—"

"This is more important. Just trust me. See you both there!"

With that, she hurried from the Great Hall to write her reply.

"Before you ask," Lucy said, "no, I don't have any idea what that was about. 'Just trust me' has become her favorite phrase. And I do trust her, that's not it, but she's been in her own little world all year because she's so anxious about O.W.L.s."

Ron nodded. "Tell me about it. She's started bringing books with her when we have rounds. The number of times I had to throw an arm out in front of her to stop her from walking face-first into a wall..."

We all laughed at that, and the rest of breakfast passed in a nervous blur for me. Before I knew it, Ron and Lucy and Ginny were heading off to Quidditch practice and I was walking up to Cho.

Merlin, she's beautiful.

Merlin... I'm terrified.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

"Hi," I managed in response. "Well — er — shall we go, then?"

She nodded, and we set off in the direction of the village with the throngs of other students. As we passed the Quidditch Pitch, I couldn't stop myself from glancing over. Lucy had just whacked a Bludger away from Dennis, and Ginny was pursuing the Bludger on Alicia's tail. Lucy flashed a thumbs up at Dennis to make sure he was okay before taking off again, and I felt a pang in my chest.

"You really miss it, don't you?" Cho asked suddenly.

I blinked and returned my attention to her. "Yeah, I really do."

"Remember the first time we played against each other, in your third year?"

"Yeah, you kept blocking me," I said with a grin.

"And Wood told you not to be a gentleman and knock me off my broom if you had to. I heard he got taken on by Pride of Portree, is that right?"

"Nah, it was Puddlemere United, I saw him at the World Cup last year."

"Oh, I saw you there too, remember? We were on the same campsite. It was really good, wasn't it?"

"The match was definitely incredible. Do you remember when..."

We talked about the Quidditch World Cup the whole way to Hogsmeade. Thankfully, the topic of the attack after the match was largely avoided because she had apparently apparated home with her parents before it happened. We had just stepped into the street when we were rudely interrupted by Pansy Parkinson and a large group of giggling girls.