It's never Cedric. Her friends say she should be over it by now, so she tries. She's always liked Harry, so naturally he is her first choice. And amazingly, he likes her back. Cho tries out a smile in the mirror. She's moving on.

Cho kisses Harry. But he is not Cedric. It is time to move on, they all say. You can't spend your life grieving. You like Harry; he likes you. It should be enough. But somehow, it never is. Cho tries anyway. But Harry likes Hermione (doesn't he? Her friends say he doesn't, but he talks about her) and besides, he said bad things about Marietta, and besides, it's just not working.

She needs to move on. Michael likes you, they say. Get over Cedric, get over Harry, they say. Michael is cute, and he's smart, and he won't die saving the world, they say. Michael is a good kisser, Cho thinks, so she tries hard, and when Michael is kissing her she keeps her eyes open, because whenever she's closing them it's Cedric she sees. She studies hard and practises long, because she doesn't want to sleep and dream of Cedric or Harry.

Michael is sweet, they all say, and she agrees. But they're back to Hogwarts with summer over even though the air is still warm and things aren't the same and her friends pat her on the back and dry her tears and say forget Cedric forget Harry forget Michael, you deserve much better, did you know Terry likes you? But Cho shakes her head and her friends whisper together, trying to see who else will do. Cho rips apart her mother's letters (how's school how's life how's love?), falls into bed, and doesn't dream.