𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸, harry potter

˗ˋ 129

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED
AND TWENTY NINE
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-: fifth year :-

── IN WHICH CHO MAKES
A MISTAKE

. . .

She hadn't truly spoken to anyone who she had been staying at Grimmauld Place with all that next day. Still, she sat next to Harry in the lessons that Gryffindors and Slytherins had together but there were no more than words shared out of pure necessity as they sat next to one another, and she found herself falling into the all-too familiar routine of school life, making her way to the library to complete the homework they had already been given.

Monday was an incredibly difficult day to return to Hogwarts on. History of Magic first thing was enough to send anyone to sleep, and she was lucky to have already done the work for that lesson and three after in advance, so she could skip it and prepare for the double Potions that followed before lunch. After that was Divination, which was wobbly as ever, and then Defence Against the Dark Arts, which was filled with the usual questioning of Umbridge's methods, being given detentions that she would never attend for answering back and being observed by the woman in which she believed Umbridge thought to be a sly, secretive method, but was so obvious that Aviana could all but call her out on it by the end of the class.

Which, of course, end with another useless detention because she couldn't exactly ask Umbridge why she was so suspicious of them leaving a day early and ended up with her just asking why she was looking at her so funny. She was sent out ten minutes before the bell rang to signal the end of classes, which could only be considered a thing to be utterly grateful for, as she got her favourite table in the library without contest and began to settle there, setting up her books.

The Potions homework was a necessity for her next class and she prioritised that above all else, scouring the shelves for the correct book on plants that she needed, eventually finding one and returned to her table, sitting down and flipping to the glossary at the back of the book.

"Aviana-" The interruption from the Herbology book was not welcome, and she looked up after a moment, fixating a glare on Ron as he stood in front of her, grinning.

Her eyebrows furrowed in momentary confusion, until they smoothed out into the usual façade. "Ronald." She said. "What do you want?" Aviana asked. It was highly unusual for just Ron to approach her - so unusual that it simply had not happened before that day and she peered around him, expecting to find Harry somewhere behind him but only found Hermione, shaking her head in disapproval.

Ron rocked forward onto the balls of his feet, still grinning like an idiot. "Just thought you'd like to know something." He began.

"What?" Aviana pushed.

"Just that Harry was with us just now... and he was stopped outside of the library." Ron shrugged.

"Yes?" She asked, eyebrows raised expectantly. "If this is a waste of my time-"

"I believe Cho might have seen the notices that-" Ron began, his words trailing off, for Aviana was already out of her seat and stalking through the rows of the bookshelves before he could get the rest of his sentence out.

Aviana pushed the library door open within seconds of Ron telling her, emerging out into the corridor and spotting Harry instantly. "Don't tell me I have to start worrying about using the Quaffle to knock some sense into Ravenclaw's Seeker." She said, appearing by his side. "How nice. New Christmas present?" She asked, eyeing the headband in Cho's hair.

"Er, no." Cho replied, at least having the decent to look embarrassed. "It's quite old, actually."

"Hi." Harry's expression was of pure confusion, because Aviana was hanging off his shoulder again, hand quickly finding his, and she smelt so wonderfully of cherries that he couldn't really remember what they had just been talking about. "I... er... Cho was just telling me that the date for the next Hogsmeade visit has been set."

"Yes, it has, hasn't it?" Aviana's eyes flickered back over to Cho in a glare. "Valentine's day?" She repeated.

"Er... yes." Cho nodded. "Yes, well, I was just wondering if-"

"Harry will be busy that day?" Aviana added, Cho slowly nodding. "And I suppose this is in regards to the next meeting and not that, considering he has a girlfriend?"

"Um..." Cho was blushing, and nodded her head.

"He will be busy, unfortunately." Harry met her eyes again, saw the smirk growing on her lips, that grin he knew so well, and he shook his head. Aviana turned to him, fully. "Harry, have you set a date for the next meeting?" She questioned, words far more over-exaggerated than they should have been.

"No, no, not yet. Haven't had a chance to." Harry replied. "I need to figure out... Quidditch practises, and stuff." He said, deciding to leave out the fact that he would supposed to be taking Remedial Potions on top of everything else.

"So, let's summarise." Aviana hummed, standing up straight. "Harry's going to be busy on Valentine's day because he has a girlfriend, and he's still yet to set a date for a meeting. When he decides on a meeting, why don't you check that useful coin that Granger gave out, that gives you that information without having to bother people?" She asked, and turned away, Harry being dragged with her.

The doors to the library closed behind them, and Harry fell into step beside her. "What was that?" He asked in a low voice, glancing over to the ever-strict Madam Pince nervously.

"Harry, I understand that... that Cedric passed away, and that there has to be something going on that made her want to move on this quickly." Aviana replied in a murmur, her consideration hidden in the silence required of a library. "But she's known for a while now that you have a girlfriend, whether it was real or not. To her and everyone else, it was real, and to continue to pursue you when you know you had a girlfriend is not something that can I be so... easy-going about."

"I don't think you've ever been easy-going about anything in your life ever." Harry replied, grinning at her expression as she turned back to him. "C'mon, you know you're not... that type?" He felt a little more nervous than comfortable under her gaze.

"Nothing in my life has ever presented itself as an easy-going experience." Aviana shook her head determinedly. "If I fall into the trap of being relaxed about something, then nothing will ever happen and certainly, the world will burn. I'd ask if you'd like to join me to study but that would never happen, so instead I'll ask if you want to meet me in the Prefects' bathroom after your lesson with Snape?"

And Harry nodded blindly, and went to join Hermione and Ron, the latter still grinning gleefully.

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