Hope
Cho Chang was pretty sure Harry would never return her feelings, and it was all Ginny Weasley’s fault.
The call had gone out, Harry Potter had been sighted in Hogsmeade and was now currently in Hogwarts. It was news that caused Cho’s heart to flutter chaotically in her throat, even as she rushed to Apparate over to the Hog’s Head to meet up with all the rest of the DA. After an entire year of one-sided pining, Cho was finally going to see the love of her life in person again! On the one hand, she knew that her love was unrequited, but surely—surely Harry would feel something for her in return, when he saw what a good job she’d done in his absence, supporting Potterwatch and the DA?
Nope. Deep breaths. Calm, she had to be calm and professional to present her best side to Harry.
She arrived at the Room of Requirement. There was Neville, gashes on his face still livid, clothes still torn and ripped. There was Luna, Ginny, Fred—Aha! The man himself! Harry Potter! He turned around and saw her.
Harry’s mouth fell open. Right behind Lee Jordan came Harry’s old girlfriend, Cho Chang. She smiled at him.
“I got the message,” she said, holding up her own fake Galleon, and she walked over to sit beside Michael Corner.
She listened carefully to the next whirlwind of planning, and piped in on a break in the conversation.
Cho spoke again. “If you’d like to see what the diadem’s supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry? Ravenclaw’s wearing it in her statue.”
Cho waited with bated breath for Harry’s answer. Here was her chance.
Out of the blue, Harry doubled over clutching his scar, as if in pain. Cho reached out a hand towards Harry in concern, but he straightened up before she’d gotten further than an awkward gesture, and she quickly drew her hand back.
“He’s on the move,” he said quietly to Ron and Hermione. He glanced at Cho and then back at them. “Listen, I know it’s not much of a lead, but I’m going to go and look at this statue, at least find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and keep, you know — the other one — safe.”
Cho had got to her feet, but Ginny said rather fiercely, “No, Luna will take Harry, won’t you, Luna?”
“Oooh, yes, I’d like to,” said Luna happily, and Cho sat down again, looking disappointed.
Wait a minute. Why would Ginny volunteer Luna to bring Harry to the Ravenclaw common room like that? Cho looked at Ginny. She looked at Harry. She looked at Ginny again. She looked back at Harry once more.
She recognized the look on both of their faces. After all, she saw it on her own face in the mirror every morning.
Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were in love with each other.
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Cho watched Luna lead Harry away from the Room of Requirement, away from any connection he may or may not have ever shared with her.
Cho really wanted to say to Harry Potter, “You should wear a warning next time you decide to break up with someone while secretly pining over them for an entire year, so that nobody will get the wrong idea about whether you are available.” But she knew she would never actually say that to him. In fact, the only thing to do now, now that she knew Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were an unbreakable item, was to get over Harry Potter.
It’d taken her a year to fall in love with Harry Potter. Cho was fairly certain that within another year, she’d be able to school her heart into only thinking of Potter as a friend. At least, she could hope so.
Now, on to the Battle for Hogwarts. Harry Potter may now be crossed off her life story, but she still had a rest of her life to get back to.