SHIP:Harry/Cho possible; Was JKR & Hermione/Ron

[Jim Ferer <jferer@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 49771

 Penny:"Oh, and on Cho -- yes, he was clearly interested in Cho in
GoF..." "...Side note: I can't imagine that Harry will still be
interested in Cho (or that she would ever return the interest) after GoF."

I don't necessarily agree that future interest is out of the question.
 Cho is grieved by Cedric's death, and that will at least delay any
future interest in Harry, but she is fifteen or sixteen, and people
her age are and ought to be resilient.  There's no reason to think she
blames Harry for Cedric's death, but seeing Harry might remind her of
Cedric, blame or not.  There can't be a relationship as long as that
happens.  

On Harry's side, he may be too preoccupied with fighting Voldemort to
think of romance, period, but if he can, Cho could still be in his
mind.  He also can tell himself, truthfully, that Cedric would not
want her to pine away over him.

The preoccupation thing is arguably another point in favor of
Harry/Hermione, actually.  I see Harry and Hermione becoming more and
more a team, more bound to each other, and he *has* noticed her for
the first time: 

Penny, quoting GoF:"But,  in any case, Harry certainly registered her
appearance at the Ball though, didn't he?"

Boy, and how.  It was worth retyping the whole paragraph:
Goblet of Fire, Ch.  23:
" It was Hermione.
But she didn't look like Hermione at all.  She had done something with
her hair; it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up
into an elegant knot at the back of her head.  She was wearing robes
made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding
herself differently, somehow - or maybe it was merely the absence of
the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back.  She was
also smiling - rather nervously, it was true - but the reduction in
the size of her front teeth was more noticeable than ever; Harry
couldn't understand how he hadn't spotted it before."

If there aren't sparks there, there's none anywhere; and, if Harry is
turning to Hermione for help staying alive, it might occur to him to
turn to her for comfort, too.  I feel for Ron in this, but he hasn't
got a chance if that happens.

So, Penny, it may look like I've come full circle, but Harry/Cho is
still possible, at least for some period of time.  What little we know
of her is good, and it seems Ron and Hermione are going to be together
for at least a while.