After the first week of classes, Hogwarts seemed like a completely different place. The teachers had finished with the easy work they had been giving at the start of term and were now diving into the hard stuff. Each course load seemed to have doubled, much to the disappointment of the students. The common room was often packed with students working on class assignments until the late hours of the night.
This made things hard on Harry. He and Ron had been hoping to have some time to work on a number of different Quidditch strategies, but this was not to happen. In addition to a number of essays from Potions, History of Magic, and Muggle History, they also had some practical work to do for Charms, Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Kevin was working them hard on defensive spells and wanted them to be able to block most kinds of spells by Halloween.
Halloween was another concern for the students. The first ball of the year was approaching and Harry could already see signs that the school was pairing off. The first and second years had the most problems with the coming event. Harry doubted he would be seeing many of them at the ball. Of course, he had his own problems to handle.
Quidditch practice had started and Harry was having a time training the new teammates to work with one another. Dean and Seamus were excellent beaters, but had to control themselves when hitting a bludger. Twice they knocked Maria off her broom and she had spent a night in the hospital wing. Ginny seemed to take to the chaser position easily. She scored goal after goal against Ron, who had improved himself since last year. He could handle himself in a match, but Ginny had a way of getting to him, which caused him to lose his concentration. Harry talked with him extensively about that.
The main thing that Harry had not had time for was Cho. He had only been out with her twice since their first date in the Room of Requirement, which gave him time to think. He didn’t hold any hopes of forging a relationship with Ginny, but he did reflect on his true feelings for Cho. He had been wondering about the true reason she had come back to him. Truth be told, he couldn’t come up with one reason that he believed. When he couldn’t think anymore, he went to the only person he thought could help him.
Harry stood outside the door to Kevin’s office. Gently pushing it open, he saw the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher sitting at his desk, a stack of papers to the side of him. He looked up at Harry. “What’s up, Harry?”
Harry sat down. “I have to ask you something. It’s about Cho.”
Kevin set his quill down and put the papers into a drawer. “What about her?”
Harry took a deep breath. “When we talked last, you said I should choose one girl and see where it went from there. I tried that, but I keep thinking about someone else all the time.”
“Who else are you thinking about?”
Harry looked down at the floor. “Ginny Weasley.”
Kevin nodded his head slowly. “Ah, I see. So you picked the girl who was most convenient and not the one you had the stronger feelings for. Tell me this Harry, when did you start liking Cho?”
“I met her in my third year and, well I guess I started liking her in my fourth year,” Harry answered.
“And when did you start liking Ginny?”
“I don’t know.” He honestly couldn’t figure out when it was he started having feelings for the young Weasley girl. “I’ve known her for years, but always thought of her as a friend.”
Kevin slapped his hand on his desk, causing Harry to jump in his seat. “Remember how Sara and I became a couple? It was the same with your parents. Even though your mother had her reservations about James, she still was a friend before she was anything else. I’m not saying that maybe Cho isn’t the one for you, but maybe you need to take a different approach from what I told you. Spend some time with Ginny and see how it feels.”
Harry shook his head. “That’s a little hard. She’s going out with Dean Thomas.”
Kevin looked confused. “Really. Never saw that coming. Well, it doesn’t matter. Harry, I saw the way you two looked at each other when I brought you to the manor. I saw something, and so did you. Now I definitely am not telling you to do anything that will hurt either of them, but tell me this. Has Ginny expressed any interest in you?”
“I don’t know,” Harry answered. He knew that there were times she was alone with him, but didn’t think too much of it.
Kevin stood up, walked over to Harry and put a hand on his shoulder. “Harry, I can only tell you this. Talk to her.”
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Harry tried his best to take his friend’s advice, but Ginny did not make it easy. At mealtimes, she was sitting with her own friends, preventing Harry from getting a moment alone with her. During Quidditch practice, she was all business and would not give him a moment to talk. Any other time, she was either studying or going up to her room.
This night, though, he didn’t concern himself with her. Instead, he focused on another person who wanted his attention. He and Cho were sitting out on the Quidditch pitch together. They were sprawled out on the grass, looking at the stars. They had been lying there for a few minutes before Harry spoke. “How have you been doing in your classes?”
Cho shrugged. “All right, I guess. It’s hard to balance Quidditch and all the work, but I’m doing ok.” Her voice seemed distant.
Harry rolled over on his side to look at her. “Are you ok?”
Cho didn’t look back at him. “I’m fine. I’ve just been thinking lately.”
“About what?”
“You,” she replied. “Me, us. I don’t know.”
Harry reached over and took her hand. “Cho, can you tell me why you wanted to get back together with me?”
She looked into his eyes. “Because I care about you, Harry.”
“Then why did you break up with me last year?”
“Because I was confused. After what happened with Marietta and all the rows we had, I thought that I had made a mistake. Then I tried dating that whining prat Michael Corner, but he just infuriated me. Then, after the Death Eater attack…oh Harry, I just didn’t want to be alone anymore.” She sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He didn’t want to see her like this. He wanted her to be happy, but he wasn’t sure if he was the person who could make her happy. They sat there on the pitch holding each other until the night air told them it was time to go back inside.
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The morning of Halloween was upon them. The castle became a buzz of activity as the students eagerly anticipated the start of the ball. Since Halloween fell on a Wednesday, classes were stopped an hour earlier so that the students would have time to prepare for the ball.
Harry’s last class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts, a class which Kevin was showing no chance of letting up on the students, despite the day. When the bell finally rang, the students filed out of the room. Kevin stopped Harry before he left. “Have you made a decision?”
“Yeah,” Harry answered. “I have.”