Morning, Great Hall.
Harry carefully sliced into his roasted steak. He hadn't even tasted it yet, but the mouthwatering aroma drifted up into his nose, making him swallow hard.
Normally, he'd be scarfing it down "elegantly" by now—maybe even grabbing seconds.
But today, he had no appetite at all.
Cho sat across from him, eating with a completely indifferent expression.
"Cho, here's what really happened—"
"Go on. I'm listening."
Harry froze.
Still, he had to explain. "I just wanted to leave your Christmas gift beside your bed."
"Oh? Then why didn't you just give it to me this morning? Why sneak into the girls' dorm?"
"Cough… I wouldn't call it sneaking. That's a pretty loaded word," Harry replied awkwardly.
Cho continued in a flat voice, "Alright, fine. Let's call it sneaking around quietly. That work for you?"
"…Actually, yeah, sneaking sounds better."
Ugh… this is exhausting.
"I just didn't want you to go through your Christmas presents this morning and not find mine," Harry said, taking a deep breath. He spoke with complete sincerity, staring straight into her eyes.
Sincerity. That was the key.
He tried to make his eyes look as honest and heartfelt as possible.
Cho was momentarily caught off guard. The icy look on her face softened ever so slightly—then quickly returned.
If Harry hadn't been watching closely, he would've thought he imagined it.
She gave a light snort.
"You think I'm going to believe that?"
"You snuck into the girls' dorm in the middle of the night just to drop off a gift by my bed? Do I look like a child to you? You obviously had other intentions."
"If you're going to think that way about me, what else can I say?" Harry slumped, looking like someone who'd just lost the will to live. "Wow… didn't think you had such little faith in my character."
This… wasn't the reaction Cho expected.
Shouldn't he be groveling, apologizing nonstop? Then she'd gracefully let it slide.
Why was Harry acting like this?
Could it be that he really cared that much about whether others trusted him?
But still—she was the victim here, wasn't she?
She'd been scared out of her mind, seen by Harry in her pajamas, and worst of all… he'd pointed at—
Just thinking about it made her whole body burn up again from embarrassment.
Fine, I'll be the bigger person and let it go this time… damn it…
Cho shook her head, trying to erase the memory of that mortifying morning. She huffed and said, "Alright, alright. I believe your nonsense. Happy now?"
But to her shock, Harry said:
"Nope. From your tone, I can tell you're just brushing me off. That's an insult to my character, a trampling of my dignity, and a mockery of my soul. I'd rather you believe I did have ulterior motives!"
Cho's eyebrow twitched violently. Even she, usually composed, was getting triggered by Harry's shamelessness.
Harry paused, wondering if maybe he'd gone too far. She was already trying to move on, and here he was making a scene again.
But… in for a knut, in for a galleon.
He set his face in a stubborn expression.
"That's right. You know what? I went to your room at dawn to rip off your clothes, kiss your neck, caress your thighs, nibble your earlobe—until you surrendered to me."
WHAM!
A world-shattering declaration!
Did I just go too far!?
Harry looked at Cho, whose mouth was slightly open and eyes completely blank.
Clearly, her brain was still processing the verbal nuclear bomb he'd just dropped.
And Harry… immediately regretted everything.
Why am I like this? Why can't I shut up? How the hell am I gonna fix this?
It was like spitting out grape skins—once it slipped out, there was no stopping it.
…
…
Cho kept her head down, acting like the food in front of her was the most important thing in the world.
Harry noticed how red her ears were.
"Cho—" he started to say, but barely got the name out when she suddenly began furiously slicing a piece of meat, the knife screeching against the plate.
She was pretending she hadn't heard him.
So Harry stayed silent too.
The rest of the meal ended in a matter of minutes.
Clink.
Clink.
(Luobei: This is not "that" kind of clink-clink.︿(￣︶￣)︿)
They had both set their forks down at the exact same moment.
Both had been hoping to finish first and leave immediately—but fate had other plans.
They looked at each other, picked their forks back up, and said in unison:
"I'll have more—you can go ahead."
Harry: (⊙o⊙)
Cho: (⊙o⊙)
Cho couldn't help but laugh—but quickly suppressed it.
Harry let out a silent sigh of relief. Somehow, without knowing why, he just felt that the whole awkward mess from this morning was finally over.
Trying to sound casual, he said, "Later, let's go brew the potion together."
There was a moment of silence, followed by a barely audible, "Mm."
They walked down the hallway without speaking.
After a long pause…
"…Merry Christmas, Cho."
"…Merry Christmas, Potter."
Luobei: I want bookmarks. I want recommendation votes.
Last chapter had some censored words, but I'm sure all you gentlemen know exactly what they were. 😏
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⚡ The Rebirth of Harry Potter
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