Chapter 1: Spare Me the Niceties
Cho Chang hurtled down the hall, blindly crashing through a group of startled first years. Her chest heaved violently and her teeth clenched as she fought to prevent the flood of tears from escaping her eyes.
Not yet. Not until I'm out of their sight!
Her long black ponytail streamed out behind her, leaving a trail of ink splatters to mark where she'd run. She slowed slightly, pausing to glance around for the girls' restroom.
Stupid Slytherins! You'd think that sixteen-year-olds would be more mature! Like something as childish as this would get me!
But even as she thought this, she knew that it had gotten to her, just as it always did—just as everything did, nowadays. Too late, Cho got her bearings and realized that, in her haste, she had run in the wrong direction. The closest girls' bathroom was now at the other end of the extremely long and crowded hallway. Not to mention it would require walking past them again.
No, she decided, I won't do it. I won't put myself up for their ridicule again that easily.
Glancing around, she noticed a door marked as a boys' restroom.
Better that than walking around like this, she thought. I'll just lock the door behind me.
Hastily, she gathered her books closer to her and rushed across the hall through the door. After a faint, "Hello?" to make sure she was alone in the room, she quickly locked the door and walked over to the mirror to survey the damage.
The state of her reflection broke her self-control. She began sobbing uncontrollably, adding runny mascara to her ink-stained hair, clothes and bag, as well as a mussed up tie and robes.
"Sc-scourgif-fy!" she wailed, her wand pointed at her chest, where the staining was most evident. Nothing happened, resulting in a renewal of even louder sobbing and weeping.
"S-s-scourgify!" Nothing.
"Scourgi-scourgify!" A small tendril of ink snaked feebly from the fabric of her shirt.
After a few more attempts, Cho sank to the floor, sitting on her heels, her arms around her knees. Her loud wails echoed back from the walls and across the marble floor, a mocking imitation of her own despair.
"Geez! What a crybaby!"
A voice. A male voice! Cho's head whipped up at the sound, wisps of hair curled chaotically around her face. Across the room, looking back at her disdainfully, was a male student in Slytherin robes. He wasn't particularly tall, just over average height, with a slim build. His head was cocked to one side, casting his exceedingly messy, golden-brown hair across his thin face. He leaned in an arrogant fashion against the wall, his arms crossed haughtily over his chest.
"I-I thought I lo-locked that door." Cho said, brusquely swiping her hands over her eyes. Her attempts to calm her sobs were not working, and she continued to tremble as the boy pushed away from the wall and made his way over to her.
"You did. Alohamora is not a particularly difficult spell, Miss Soggy. Locked doors don't elicit much privacy in this school." He stopped a few feet away, appearing both amused and vaguely nauseated. "You really are a mess."
Cho sniffled, her depression morphing quickly into severe irritation.
"Thanks for pointing that out! 'Kick them while they're down,' right?! I'm well aware of how silly I look, and it's NOT MY FAULT!" the last three words came out somewhere between a bark and a dejected wail. Embarrassed, Cho turned, holding her head in her hands. "I hate Slytherins!" she whispered.
"What was that?" the boy asked.
"I HATE Slytherins!" Cho said, loudly.
"You hate Slytherins? What do you mean you hate them?"
"You know what I mean!" Cho snapped. "You're all vile, conniving snakes!"
"Are we vile because we're Slytherins?" the boy pondered, his voice becoming low and dangerously silky, "Or are we Slytherins because we're vile?"
"You're all the same." Cho choked, "It doesn't matter one way or the other!"
"Oh, now! I see! You detest us all! You judge us because of the color of our robes. You couldn't care less to see who we are beneath them."
"What does it matter who you are? And the color of your robes has nothing to do with it! Slytherins could wear pink and purple and still be just as loathsome! You are placed into Slytherin house because of how you act. You're picked to go there because no other house can stand the likes of you!"
The boy paused, looking at her with bemusement. "Last I checked, Slytherins were chosen for their cunning, not their manners. Besides, I don't believe much in the Sorting Hat's abilities anymore. Look at you. You were placed in Ravenclaw, and yet you can't even find your way to the right bathroom."
Cho's shoulders stopped quaking, and she raised her tear-stained face to the boy.
"I know who you are. You're that Slytherin boy! The one who's famous for his cruelty! Not even the other Slytherins can stand you! You're-" she stopped, trying to recall the name. "You're that G…Gail boy aren't you?"
The boy smirked playfully and gave a mock bow. "Gil Withers at your service, Miss Cho Chang, Moaning Myrtle's heir!"
Cho went white with outrage and sat, mouthing silent retorts. Gil laughed quietly and pointed his wand at her chest. Cho jumped reflexively and backed hurriedly away, trying to escape the wand, forgetting her own in her panic. Gil adjusted his aim and voiced clearly: "Scourgify!" adding a slight twirl of his wand that sent her mussed hair back into its usual coiffed perfection. The ink trailed out of her blouse, robes, hair and bag, leaving no trace of its presence. The wrinkles straightened and disappeared, and her tie retied itself neatly about her neck.
He gave her a cursory glance and said, "You'll have to redo your own makeup, but you look decent enough." He glanced at the door in a thoughtful way and muttered "Sixth-year Slytherins, huh? Must've been girls, too; the guys typically stick to messing with guys…I think I know who it was."
He gave her one last look, a slight shrug, then started for the door. "I think I may have a short word with them." And with that, he was gone, leaving a shell-shocked and considerably neater Cho Chang in his wake.
