House: Hufflepuff
Year: Sixth
Category: Themed
Prompt: The flowers died three weeks ago.
Wordcount: 3996
Betas: Pix, Aya,
Name: Understanding What Love Is
A/N: Warnings: Homosexuality, Muggle AU, Cho/Susan Pairing, Harry/Pansy pairing, rejection, possible triggers(idk).
A note to judges and readers, as this is in first person Point of View, and present tense, Some things that happen won't be explained in full detail, or given much extra thought. You won't know what's happening because the character doesn't know and/or understand what's happening, or if the character has been left in the dark about the subject. This also stands for past and future stories from first person point of view. I will possibly put this note on other stories in first person point of view if more confusion and problems occur on this subject. I have attempted to make this flow as well as I possibly can, and I only have stated one major timeskip. I tried to make the flow of dialogue slightly realistic with pauses and such. And the sentences should not flow perfectly smooth when characters are in conversation, as that isn't how we talk normally to others in real life, and I intended to add that sense of realism a bit. If any judges or readers do not prefer LGBTQ+ ships and/or content, I suggest not reading/judging this story because it could contain content you do not accept/prefer to read, or it's just not your cup of tea. This is a Muggle Alternate Universe, and I've modified the ages of most of the characters so they are the same ages as each other, and in college. Characters will behave slightly out of character from how they behaved in the books, and no magic is involved in this universe. I focused on Cho and Susan because they are background characters and they haven't had much spotlight in the original book series. I believe I have stated all of my current concerns and all that's left is for you to enjoy.
Enjoy!
The flowers died three weeks ago. I look to my side and spot the flowers I received from my roomate, Cho Chang, when I arrived here. They are….were, a lovely purple color and have now dulled to a very pale shade of brownish purple. They are a nice comparison to the pale white walls of my bedroom. I've been meaning to paint a mural with some paints I found in the supply closet but I just haven't had the time lately, with buying college supplies and getting settled into my dorm.
I hear a knock on my bedroom door, most likely from one of my five roommates. I live with Luna Lovegood, an Art major. She has flowy, curly, blonde hair. Blue eyes, that seem as if she is staring into your soul, pale skin with minor freckles. Ginny Weasley, a Culinary major. She has fiery red hair, hazel-brown eyes, and tan skin with freckles littered all over her face. Pansy Parkinson, a dark haired, fair skinned, green eyed, Fashion major. Hermione Granger, a frizzy brown haired, brown eyed, fair skinned, Psychology major. Cho Chang, a black haired, blue eyed, pale skinned, goddess from above who all should kneel before. She's also a Business major. You could say I've developed a little bit of a crush on her and it's not a bad thing necessarily, not bad at all. Just...confusing.
See, up until now I've just thought I haven't liked anyone. I have thought that when the time came some perfect man, "mister right", will come up and sweep me off my feet. But, deep down just the thought of being with a man in any way just, well, to be blunt, disgusts me. No offense to men. I have nothing against them, I just don't want to be with them, and now this goddess comes and blows me away the moment I see her face.
Maybe I just want to be her friend, or I am just telling myself that to stop the crushing pain of the fact that she may not be into me, let alone into women in general. I'm Susan Bones, a red haired, green eyed, fair skinned, Theatre major. I have no clue how she feels about me.
I sigh and roll out of my bed to get ready for my day of walking around the campus to explore. I open my door and walk into the hallway and head down to the bathroom. The mysterious person who knocked on my door is nowhere to be seen. Maybe someone was just waking me up. I admire the paintings on the wall as I walk, Luna really is a brilliant artist. There are pictures that seem to ensnare you and draw you into them, telling a story the more you look at them.
The first I see is a landscape with a few deer. It's a forest clearing, and the more I stare, the more I'm absorbed into it. It's as if I can smell the pine trees, and hear a river in the distance. Like I can reach out and feel the fur of the deer. I move onto the next picture. A change from the first painting, this one is of people in a cafe. I can hear the people chatting, and the hustle and bustle of orders being called out over the chatter. I smell the coffee and treats, and I see couples whispering adoringly to each other.
"Really draw you in don't they." I whirl around at the sound of a voice behind me. I look to see Ginny standing behind me, admiring the paintings. I nod, a little bit out of it from being practically absorbed into the paintings. Ginny gives me a laugh before addressing me as she walks into her bedroom to most likely change.
"By the way, the bathroom's free. It's all yours." I mutter a quick 'thank you' and head into the bathroom to wash my face. I look at myself in the mirror and see my favorite nightshirt, a white background, with yellow and black patterns around an image of a honey badger, my Hufflepuff tee shirt. I got it as a parting gift from my parents when I left for college. I turn on the hot water and take a rag to my face, drenching some of my hair. The door opens as I hang my rag to dry and I see Cho walk into the bathroom in a Ravenclaw sleepshirt. She looks at me, and I look at her and we burst into a fit of laughter.
"I see you have chosen your side." I say, mocking disappointment and shaking my head.
"Hufflepuff is my second favorite team, okay?" She replies, faking shame.
I laugh and see her smile, which fills my stomach with butterflies. She'll never understand how I feel about her. Hell, even I don't know how I feel about her. These feelings just confuse me, so I push them out of my mind for the time being and move on with my crazy day.
I walk out of the bathroom and head to my room to get my day started. I open my drawers to find a lovely pastel rainbow colored dress in my closet. I take out some boots and get some boring gray socks on so that I can wander the campus more with Cho.
~~(timeskip to campus wandering, brought to you by a herd of wild golden snitches)~~
I'm walking down the path towards the gardens on Hogwarts Campus, escorted by Cho. She's been sharing tales from her time here, and we've been trading stories from our lives. I feel so close to her, like nothing could go wrong when we're together, like I'm safe. She's currently telling me the tale of how she's gotten into a bit of a situation with a cafe chain that is based in the state we are in. It's about how a barista wouldn't let her leave the establishment and was creeping on her.
"And then I told her that I only wanted my coffee and that I really needed to leave. But she still wouldn't let me. So I ordered another coffee that I wasn't going to drink. As she handed me both of them. I held the coffee that I wanted close to my body, and dashed the other, iced one, on her. Her face was hilarious. Anyway I got into a bit of a fight with her and the manager came out and actually took my side. And that's the story of how I now receive free coffees and such at Beauxbatons all around the state." She finishes her story, and I laugh.
It's a hearty laugh that I haven't had since my parents were killed in the war and I'd had to live with my Aunt. I smile, and I see some guy approach from my peripheral vision. He has fair skin, greenish brown eyes, dark brown hair, and circle silver-rimmed glasses that seem to be taped at the bridge of his nose. He is accompanied by a girl and another guy, who are holding hands.
The girl, one of my flatmates, Hermione Granger, has frizzy brown hair, tan skin, brown eyes, and a pair of large glasses that somehow suit her. The boy next to her has red hair, brown eyes, and fair skin littered with freckles. I can't help but wonder if he's related to Ginny. The two of them are fawning over each other in the way that only a couple can. The, I can only presume, leader of the trio, steps forward to address me.
"Hello." I say, addressing him in a sweet manner that I've been taught to.
"Er, hello. I was wondering if you would like to join me for dinner?" he asks.
I don't know how to reply to this question and I look to Cho to scan her face. She looks blank for a moment before smiling down at me, and turning to the boy.
"What's your name?" she asks him.
I look to her, somewhat surprised. What is she doing?
"Harry," the boy replies.
I look back to Cho to see what she is going to say.
"Harry, I'm Cho. Susan here," Cho pauses, putting her arm around my shoulder, which makes my stomach fly into a million butterflies. Is she going to pretend to be my girlfriend? I hope so.
"Will be ready by seven," she finishes.
My stomach drops. I check my watch to see we've only got two hours till then. The walk back to our shared apartment is an hour at least. I won't have enough time to get ready, and besides, I don't even know if I want to get ready for a date with some boy I just met. But Cho seems enthusiastic, so I'll go along with it. As long as I can make her happy, that's all I really want. Maybe it'll provide us good bonding time.
"Cho," I say, as we near our apartment.
She looks at me and gives me a little "hm?" in question.
"I don't think..." that I want to go out with him at all. I can't say that, she seems so happy.
"I don't think we'll have enough time for me to get ready before seven. We only have half an hour left." I finish my sentence, not how I want to finish it, but I still finish it.
"Don't you worry. I'll get you ready for it in no time."
She smiles at me, but looking into her eyes, I see some sadness etched into them. I wonder what she's sad about. Maybe she wanted the guy for herself? Before I can ask about it, Cho pulls me into the apartment so that we can get me ready for my date. I can't place how I feel about Cho, is it love or is it friendship? No matter, I have to go through with this date. It'll make Cho happy, and she'll be here helping me get ready, so we'll spend time together. And if she thinks it's a good idea it probably is. She's always right.
"So...what do I do first?" I ask. I've never really been on a date before and I have no idea what to do to get ready. Cho turns around and looks at me with slight fear in her eyes, mixed with shock.
"Are you telling me a gorgeous person like you has never been on a date before? I don't buy it."
She tries to come off as joking. But I can hear the sincerity in her words. It's a skill I've learned over my years of hardships. How to tell someone's genuine emotions. I should make a book about that, shouldn't I. Maybe I will one day – it could be a project I will work on.
"No, I've never dated before…." I trail off, not realizing my explanation. Well, realizing I don't really have one for this situation. Cho snorts, and I shoot her a mock glare.
"Well, first I'll have to find you a gorgeous outfit while you shower." She hands me two towels and some wonderful smelling soap.
I look to her questioningly, and she pushes me in the direction of the bathroom. I walk to the bathroom and turn on the water for a quick shower. When I get out I towel off, and wrap the blue towel around my body, and the white one around my head to dry my hair.
I hear a knock on the door and murmur for them to come in. Cho appears with some beautiful dresses that she most likely found in Pansy's closet. One is a gorgeous green dress, but it's quite short. I see Cho shake her head as I appear out of the bathroom into the hallway.
I see a slight pinkish tint on her cheeks, but presume it's from the heat of the bathroom. I get the vibe that it shows way too much skin and I head back into the bathroom to try another dress. The next is a blue mermaid dress that hugs my figure quite a lot. I feel like it suffocates me just a bit. I walk out of the bathroom to show Cho and give a little twirl. The pink tint is still on her cheeks, nevertheless she shakes her head and tells me her opinion.
"I think it isn't right for you. It doesn't look natural, you look suffocated in it," she says.
"Oh, thanks for noticing, I am suffocated," I reply to her, which earns me a laugh. I smile, it's wonderful when she laughs. Her happiness makes me happy, it's contagious.
I head back into the bathroom to try on the final dress. It's black, and it has a flowy bottom. There is room to see a little above my knees, and the accents of the dress are yellow. It's perfect for me.
"It's beautiful. You look absolutely stunning in this." Cho says, breathlessly.
I try to crack a joke. "You'd think with a response like that, you'd be the one taking me on a date." I say. At this, Cho's face turns a shade of pink and she snorts, ushering me into her room.
"Wh-what are we doing here?" I ask, slightly nervous being in her bedroom. I don't know why though, I don't feel this way when Ginny or Luna or the others in the house invite me to theirs.
"I'm doing your hair, what else would we do?" I shrug and sit down in the chair that she has in front of her desk that has been converted to a makeup and hair station. She starts running her hands through my hair, and my face heats up.
She looks down at me as she breathes in to speak.
"What type of style are you going for?" She asks me.
I look up at her, confused. "Style? Uhm, I don't really know. To be honest." I reply, ending it with an ashamed laugh.
She laughs, and plays with my hair, her face deep in thought, most likely trying to find me a style. Suddenly her face lights up and she turns my head to face the mirror propped up on her desk as she sets to work on my hair. She is humming lightly to herself, but I can't help but feel awkward.
"So….what do you want to talk about?" I say, my voice breaking through the layer of silence like a knife. She stops humming and briefly looks down at me before returning to my hair.
"What about….we gossip about people we've met before." She replies with a slight smile.
"Ok….Want to start with Pansy?" I ask.
She hums and nods her head, thinking of what to say.
"She'd love a chance like this. But she's too picky. She has three categories for a guy. He has to like Sushi-I'm not a fan of the stuff- he has to love to read, and he needs to love her," she says.
"Wait a second. You don't like sushi? I love it so much," I say, mocking dramatics.
She laughs.
"It's not that I don't like it in general. I'm just not a fan of fish. Or seaweed. I love the rice though!" She says, trying to defend herself.
I laugh, and we bond for a moment about rice and how it's so amazing. We continue to talk about a whole bunch of things, and in the end we end up on the floor in a laughing fit. I hear a knock on the door, and I look to Cho.
"Go answer it," she says, smiling. Her eyes have that sad look in them again.
"What about you? What are you going to do?" I ask her.
She looks down at me, studying me.
"I'm going to watch a marathon of any show I can find while eating popcorn," she says.
That sounds like more fun than what I'm going to do. I'd much rather throw all of this away and stay home with Cho. Sadly, we've spent so much time on making me look perfect, I'll let her down if I don't go now. I put on a brave face and head towards the door to answer it. Harry stands there, looking quite nice in his suit, and I look to Cho to say goodnight, just in case we stay out late.
"Don't worry. You look fine." She whispers into my ear as she leans down to give me a kiss on both cheeks, and then one on my forehead.
She pats me on my shoulder and basically pushes me out of the door. Harry and I head down to the restaurant he wants to go to, and sit down at our reserved table. I immediately regret my decision to go on this date because all that is happening is Harry complaining about how all girls must have three basic things they like.
"They need three basic categories. They need to love sushi, love to read, and love me," he says.
Suddenly something clicks in my mind. I finally understand how I feel about Cho. I like her, not as a friend. These feelings are all things I understand now. She is the perfect person for me, and she's been here all along. I just hope she understands what I'm about to do.
"Hey. Harry, I have someone I need you to meet," I say, snapping Harry out of his speech.
"What? What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" he asks, reaching across the table to take my hands in his own. You'd think we were breaking up.
"No, I need you to understand. I've just understood that I love someone else, but I know a girl who is perfect for you," I reply.
He relaxes, only slightly. He pays for our meal, and we walk out into the night, that has now become a downpour of rain. Thank goodness we have an umbrella. He drives us quickly to the apartment, and I run inside.
"Pansy! I have someone for you to meet!" I yell into the house, and soon enough, Pansy peeks her head out of her room. I see her eyes meet with Harry's, and they stand there for a moment, entranced by each other. They head outside to talk more, and I head inside to look for Cho. When I find her I can see her eyes look pink and slightly puffy. I knock on the living room door frame, and she jumps to look at me, when she spots me her face darkens.
"How'd your date go?" she asks me, her voice biting and harsh, with some sarcasm laced in it.
"I….er..ended it early. I don't like him, I finally understand why though." I reply.
She snorts and turns off the television in order to walk over to me, her hands on her hips, and her face clearly upset. I take a deep breath, afraid that she's upset I canceled my date.
"I understand that I like….you." I practically breathe the last word.
She snorts, angrily.
"Well it's not mutual, I don't like you." She says, bitterly.
I try hard to fight back tears that are edging into my eyes. I close my eyes, and take a deep breath before speaking again.
"Are we still friends at least?" I ask, choking on my words, my voice uneven. She doesn't seem to notice though, and pinches the bridge of her nose before replying to me.
"No...I don't think we are..." She trails off. In almost a split second, I turn on my heel and run out of the living room, which is hard in heels.
I don't even know why I wore heels in the first place. I open the front door and run off into the cold, rainy night. I run for a few minutes before I hear the door open and slam, which means I'm being followed. I kick off the high heels, and now I am running barefoot down the road, in the dark, and in the rain. I hear garbled shouts from behind me. I don't turn around and look back. I wouldn't be able to see anyway, my vision is too blurry from the tears that are flowing like rivers down my cheeks at this sudden rejection.
I should've known.
Is all I can think as I run down the road. I take a turn onto a side road that isn't ever used except when famous people visit the campus. I hear the shouts begin to fade as I run further down this road. It seems like I've been running for forever and my feet begin to kill me as I step on them.
Suddenly my left foot hits a patch of uneven ground. I hear a crack, and feel pain in my ankle. I drop to the ground, the pain of standing on my foot means that it's most likely either sprained or broken. I check my phone to see that it's eight thirty pm. This means I've been outside for at least twenty five minutes in the rain. I call out for help. My phone has no reception so I can't use it. I call out until my throat hurts, to no avail. I sit and sob into my arms, feeling lonely, and ashamed. If I hadn't ended my date eary and confessed my feelings to Cho, I wouldn't be here right now, alone, in the rain. I feel the rain drench me to the bone.
"Susan!" I hear a faint voice calling my name. It sounds like Cho. I mutter a soft 'I'm here', my voice and body tired from running and calling for help.
"Susan!" I hear again, closer this time. It's definitely Cho. She is holding some sort of light.
"Here." I say softly, my voice getting dulled by the rain.
I hear footsteps drawing closer, and see the light getting brighter. I hear the sound of something falling to the ground, and suddenly I'm engulfed in the darkness of the night again. Before I can try to speak, I feel a warm body wrap around me in a hug. From what I can tell, it's Cho. I let out a soft sob.
"Susan. It's ok. I'm here now. I'm here." Cho says, combing my hair with her hands.
"Why?" I ask, my voice coming out small.
Her breath hitches in her throat before she replies.
"Because I care about you. I lied back at the house. I wasn't thinking about you. I was upset because you agreed to go on the date with Harry," she replies to me.
I am shocked.
"You…..were upset? But you accepted for me. I thought you wanted me to go on the date." I say.
"I..I misread the situation. I thought that you didn't like me at all. I went to your room and saw the flowers I gave you died," she says to me, hugging me even tighter.
"They died three weeks ago. I loved them, I really did. I just was so busy I couldn't keep them fully healthy at the time. Do you...like me back?" I ask her.
She gives a little space between us so I can somewhat make out her face.
"Yes. I do. You're freezing, let's talk more when we get back to the warmth of the apartment." I nod and try to get up before falling back down, dragging Cho down with me.
"I forgot to mention, I may have broken my ankle. It hurts to put pressure on it." I say.
Cho picks me up and half carries me back to the apartment, where we sit on the couch with popcorn and hot cocoa for the rest of the night. That night, we decided to go out with each other since we both like each other.
The End