Ever wondered why we saw almost every kiss between almost every couple in the Potter-verse, but Cho Chang's kiss with Harry was off page? Perhaps there's a reason for that. Perhaps this is why…..

Bold is JKR's original work which I have borrowed from and therefore cannot lay claim to (annoyingly). Everything else comes from the brain of moi. I've had to warp the whole Harry-fancying-Cho thing for this story so it's not strictly canon (actually, it's very obviously completely un-canon….) but ah well. It's a bit stupid, I'm in a silly mood. And it makes a change from writing angst. Enjoy! And R/R please!

'Yeah,' said Harry. His mouth was very dry. 'It's probably full of Nargles, though.'

'What are Nargles?'

'No idea,' said Harry. She had moved closer. His brain seemed to have been Stunned. 'You'd have to ask Loony. Luna, I mean.'

Cho made a funny noise halfway between a sob and a laugh. She was even nearer to him now. He could have counted the freckles on her nose.

'I really like you, Harry.'

He could not think. A tingling sensation was spreading through him, paralysing his arms, legs and brain.

She was much too close now. He could see every tear clinging to her eyelashes…

…and something seemed to click into place in his brain, at last. He stepped back.

'Wh-what are you doing?' he said cautiously.

'What's wrong?' Cho said, stepping forward, closer to Harry. 'Don't you like me?'

Harry took another step back. 'Of course I like you, Cho. But - '

'Then what's the problem?' She stepped forward once more.

'N-nothing, I just…' Harry had reached the wall now, and still she stepped forward. She was smiling gently. This is not good, he thought desperately. Definitely not good.

'Oh Harry…' she breathed and moved in for the kill once more. Harry ducked at the last minute and there was an 'ow!' as she connected with the wall. He scrambled to his feet, behind her, and she spun suddenly, looking incensed.

'I don't understand,' she began slowly.

Harry tried to look nonchalant. 'What's not to understand?' And failed.

'I know you like me. Your friend told me - the ginger one.' Harry made a mental note to murder Ron the next chance he got. 'So why won't you kiss me?'

She moved closer once more. Harry tried to revive his moving-away trick, but his feet seemed to be glued to the floor. It was no good. She was unstoppable - the same determination and concentration usually applied to her Quidditch matches was now being channelled into her desire to kiss Harry and he was defenceless prey in her web.

She launched herself at him, her mouth pressed firmly against his, and Harry had to stand there and take it. The tears that had been glistening on her cheeks were now transferred to his own face. He was pretty sure kisses weren't supposed to involve so much tongue. Or saliva, come to that.

His eyes were wide open and he could see hers were closed as she continued despite his lack of response. And yet…she didn't seem to be getting anything more from it than he was, and he certainly wasn't getting a thing. He finally began to sense that this was going on too long and put up his hands to gently push her from him, only for her to disengage herself from his lips and step back, panting and looking both pleased and regretful.

'Err…' Harry began awkwardly after several minutes had gone by, in which neither of them had spoken and Cho had sat chewing her lip worriedly. 'I think there's something I should tell you….'

Cho looked up. 'You don't like me?'

'No, no, I do, I do like you,' Harry said hurriedly. 'Just…not in that way.'

'Why not?' Cho's voice was blunt, mildly disbelieving.

Harry took a deep breath. Oh boy… how would she take this? He decided just to take the plunge and find out.

'I'm gay,' he said simply.

'Oh.' Cho said, a look of shock descending on her face. 'Oh!' As realisation set in. 'Then - then why did you tell your friends you lik- ohhh.'

'Nobody knows. You're the first person I've told. And Ron was starting to think it was weird I never fancied anyone - after five years, I don't blame him. But I couldn't tell him, and then I saw you and thought maybe you'd be a safe bet, 'cause he can't try to set me up then. So…'

Cho was smiling. A far broader smile than Harry would have expected, given that she'd just been rejected. 'Well, that's a relief!' she breathed happily.

Harry was nonplussed. 'Why?'

Cho bit her lip, looking a little shame-faced.

'Well…' she began awkwardly. 'If I'm honest, I don't really like you in that way either…'

Now it was Harry's turn to look shocked. 'Then -why did you kiss me?'

'Look, I'll - I'll be honest. I like someone, but it's not you. It's Malfoy.'

'Malfoy? Draco Malfoy?' Harry exploded, unable to stop himself. Sure, the guy was hot, there was no denying that, but that was not the point. How could Cho like him?

'I just - I just thought that it would get him to notice me, and y'know, make him a little jealous maybe. You're enemies, everyone knows that, so I thought maybe if I was with you he'd get jealous and want me for himself.' She covered her face with her hands and spoke through her fingers. 'It was a stupid idea, I'm really sorry..'

'Maybe it's not so stupid.' Harry said softly. Cho looked up sharply.

'Wh-what do you mean?' she whispered.

'Look.' Harry stepped towards her. 'You want to make Malfoy jealous, and I want to hide my sexuality. So why can't this work?'

Cho narrowed her eyes. 'What are you suggesting?'

'Think about it. We pretend to be dating, people think I'm straight, Malfoy gets jealous, we have a big, fake break-up and he's your shoulder to cry on, everybody's happy.' He grinned at her, and slowly a smile spread across her pretty face.

'OK, let's do it!'

Harry wandered back to the Common Room in a daze, unable to believe what he had just done. It was a perfect solution to his problem, and at the very least would keep Ron off his back for a few weeks. Lately he had been getting very close to discovering Harry's little secret - those issues of Wizard Wangs Weekly had been incredibly difficult to explain away, but luckily Ron was gormless enough to believe Harry's hastily-spun lie that Harry sent them along to Dudley, who in return sent him sweets as a form of truce. It meant weekly trips to Honeydukes to keep the lie alive, but Harry considered that a small price to pay for his privacy.

Hermione's constant questioning had thrown him a little but Harry was by now used to explaining away his suspicious activities, and she had seemed satisfied with the results. But later that night, as he lay in bed turning over the day's events in his mind, Harry felt a sudden pang of guilt.

How could he tell Cho that he had a double motive? How could he explain to her that his was also an act performed in the hope of inciting jealousy?

He sighed and pummelled his pillow. He couldn't. And he wouldn't. Instead he focused on 'dates' to come with Cho. He would take her to Hogsmeade or something, that would do. Somewhere nice and public. In the darkness, Harry smiled happily.

Draco Malfoy would live to regret dumping him….

29/04/07 - A/N - I've decided, based largely on the reviews I've received, to turn this into a longer story. So, the next chapter of False Intentions should be up just as soon as a) my exams are over, b) I've decided where to take the story and c) I've actually found the time to write the thing. I'll try to weave it into the canon as far as possible (as with the above story) but since I've made Harry gay it won't always be possible!

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