A/N: I don't own HP, obviously. Fair use, mes amis!
Head down and cloak wrapped tight around her, Cho sped up her pace walking down the street. The streets were silent; only one or two people out on what should have been a busy Saturday afternoon in muggle London. No one looked at her strangely, even dressed as she was, entirely in wizarding fashion. The biting mid-November wind blew in her face and she saw someone peek their face curiously out of their window at her, before hurriedly closing the curtains tight. Even the muggles knew something was wrong.
Cho's robes, simple and black, were still out-of-place even in the deserted streets. Normally she wore plain muggle clothes when walking to Diagon Ally from her flat in muggle London, but since the minister had 'resigned', anyone spotted wearing muggle clothes in Diagon Ally had been viciously attacked.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she stepped toward the pub invisible to all passers-by but her. She had been avoiding the wizarding world as much as she could for months; she had gotten a job in the muggle world and avoided anyone she knew from Hogwarts. Since Dumbledore died- no, was murdered- she hadn't felt safe among her fellow witches and wizards. Her mother had been murdered when the ministry had been taken over. She had refused to pledge loyalty to the new administration, and she was made into an example. Her father, a muggle himself, had gone missing barely a day later. Cho knew him to be dead. Cho had fled into the muggle world, hiding in plain sight. Her job at a café gave her the perfect cover to listen in on their conversations, so she got a good idea of what the muggles thought was happening pretty quickly.
Stepping through the door of the pub, she was stopped immediately by an official-looking wizard in law enforcement robes.
"Blood-Status?"
"H-half-blood," she answered quickly. He gave her a curt nod, allowing her to proceed to the back where the entrance to Diagon Ally lay. The Cauldron was unnaturally quiet, with only a few patrons compared to the usually bustling crowd. There was one small group of people huddled off to one corner, but the only others there were wearing the thick black robes of Death Eaters. She averted her eyes, not wanting to attract attention to herself.
"Oi is that Chang?" one of the Death Eaters called out from across the bar. "Cho, baby, come 'ave a drink," he shouted his words slurring together. Shit! She thought. She wrapped her cloak more tightly around herself and sped up. "What, too good for 'ol Flint?" anger now clear in his voice. Something in his voice made her stop cold. She had to tread carefully.
She had known Marcus her entire life; their mothers had been good friends until Mrs. Flint died in the summer of 1991, after her first year- his third year. Those memories felt faint, almost surreal in comparison to the harsh reality that faced her now.
"Where ya been darlin'?"
"Oh you know, around," she said, trying to sound nonchalant. His eyes narrowed.
"There've been some who'd say disappearin' like that is akin to treason. Now, ya ain't no blood traitor, is ya?" When she didn't respond he continued. "Real shame about yer ma, though. Now I'll ask ya again- where ya been, Cho?"
Beneath the thinly veiled threat was a small trace of concern, and she hated him for it. It should be simple. He's a Death Eater, he could have even been the one to kill her parents, for all she knew. He is evil. But she could see the boy she once knew struggling to find his way, only to be drowned out by the cruel man she saw before her. He would kill her in a heartbeat if he knew that she was taking refuge in the muggle world.
"I went to New York for a bit. I've been travelling around, you know, Milan, Beijing, Sydney."
"Milan? Don't quite seem your style, that. Takin' off after wha' happened to yer parents? I'd never peg ya a coward, Chang." Her breath caught at the casual reference to her parents' murders. The old Marcus was, indeed, gone. He had never been exactly kind, but he had never been cruel in the slightest. She swiped furiously at the angry tears popping up in her eyes. He laughed cruelly.
"I guess I missed the memo, then. Cho Chang, a bloody coward. Then why'd ya bother comin' back?"
"Gringotts. My family vault is located here, not in Australia."
"I suppose so." He took another swig of firewhiskey, signaling the bartender, Tom, for another. Tom filled it up quickly and placed it down, avoiding Flint's gaze.
"You've changed Marcus."
"Statin' the obvious now, are we? I haven't seen you since last Christmas, Cho. O' course I've changed. I'm a Death Eater now. We all have to grow up."
"I suppose so." She got up from the bar stool with a loud screech. "Good-bye, Marcus."
"Look, Cho, I meant wha' I said. It's a real shame about yer parents. Yer Mum was a good woman. Yer Da' too. They didn't deserve it." She met his eyes. He was sincere. That made it so much worse.
"Look, just…" she paused. What could she say to him? 'Good luck?' 'Thanks, that means a lot?' What a joke. "Just take care, Marcus."
"Same t'ya."
She sighed and hurried to the brick wall entrance to Diagon Alley. Tapping the bricks with her wand, she was struck with the memory of the first time she went to Diagon Alley.
She was six, and had been with her mum, Mrs. Flint and Marcus, who was nine. He had pulled her through the archway, tugging her along after him as he ran through the bustling crowd. They had stopped at the ice cream shop before rushing over to Quality Quidditch Supplies, where they had ogled the Nimbus 1000 in the window, the fastest broom yet. Months later on her birthday, she opened her gift from him to see a miniature Aidan Lynch flying around on a miniature Nimbus 1000. She still had it in her room by her bedside. She hadn't given it thought in years.
She sighed and walked into the much quieter and much darker Diagon Alley of the present. Huddled in doorsteps were rag-clad muggleborns, reduced to begging after being stripped of their wands and all of their worldly possessions. They were the lucky ones; they, at least, had managed to avoid imprisonment in Azkaban. There were no colorful advertisements up proclaiming the uses of so-and-so product. Only a few shops remained open. Ollivander hadn't been seen in over a year, and the broken glass inside of his shop had yet to be swept up. Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour was dark, the purple-and-green umbrella over the entrance faded to a drab grey. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was open and as colorful as usual, but even Fred and George couldn't keep business up. She half-ran to Gringotts, and approached a goblin at the desk.
"I wish to access the Chang family vault, please."
"Wand?" She handed over the required form of identification, and was brought to a cart that hurtled through the underground cavern before stopping at her vault. She opened it and was sad to see that all of the things in her parents' house had been moved to the vault in her absence. Gathering up her mother's jewelry and several handfuls of galleons and muggle money, she returned to the cart and exited Gringotts several minutes' later, pockets considerably heavier.
As she made towards the barrier once more, a hand grabbed her by the arm and yanked her into the small alleyway between two shops. She tried to scream, but a gloved hand clamped down on her mouth before she could make the sound. Her eyes widened in terror as she looked up into the silver mask of a Death Eater.
"Didn't your mother tell you not to go wandering around by yourself? These are dangerous times," he hissed in her ear. She tried to pull her face away from him but she couldn't move. Shifting his hands he pressed a wand into her temple, a clear warning. "If you scream, you die." Cho had no trouble believing him.
"L-leave me alone," she said, her voice ringing out hollowly in the quiet alleyway. "Please, I have money. Jewels. I'll give you anything you want, just leave me be."
"I don't want your money, stupid cunt. You know what I want." He pushed her up against the wall, holding his forearm over her slender throat. She clawed uselessly at the arm that was cutting off her air bit by bit. She started to cry as she felt him fumbling with her clothes.
He ripped apart her robes at the collar and she started to cry. Just at that moment someone else entered the alleyway.
"Wha's goin' on?" Hope bloomed in Cho's chest at the voice- it was Marcus.
"Teachin' a filthy blood traitor a lesson. Care to join in?" the Death Eater punched Cho in the stomach causing her to double over in pain. Her vision blinked out for a moment, and she thought she would faint. Please don't let him do this to me. She thought desperately, meeting Marcus's eyes with a pleading look. If all the years we've known each other mean anything, anything at all, do something.
"Marcus, please," she said. She couldn't let this happen to her. Her mother had always told her to be careful in cities, but she had always figured herself to be a strong enough dueler to take on any thug, but she hadn't even had a chance to draw her wand before he'd had her pinned to the alley wall.
"You know this bitch?" her captor snarled, glaring threateningly at Marcus. He had released her wrists in his distraction, and she took her chance, inching her hand bit by bit down to where she kept her wand. She slowly drew it out of her pocket and aimed it at the masked man, who still had his wand pointed at her face.
"Stupefy!"
Cho looked up, startled. Marcus was standing, wand out, with a dumbfounded look upon his face. The man was crumpled on the ground, his mask having slipped off. It was Yaxley, the man who her father had often complained about being so corrupt.
"Don't move." Said Marcus, pointing his trembling wand at her.
"Marcus, it's me. What are you doing?"
"You did this. This is your fault. You attacked Yaxley. Your fault" he muttered to himself, wide eyes pinned on the limp body between them. He looked up at her. "I'm not going down for this. You did this. Ya better go. Run. They'll kill ya once they know wha' you've done."
"I haven't done anything! You stunned him, you didn't have to!"
"Yeah, and you've abou' three hours 'till they come lookin' for ya." She stood there stunned. Her blood began boiling, she could hear the rush in her ears.
"You're a coward, Flint."
"Don't matter none. Diggory weren't no coward an' look where it got him, the patheti-"
"DEPULSO!" she shrieked, a sick sense of satisfaction flowing through her as he flew back, smacking the brick wall across the street with a deadly crack. He crumpled to the ground, blood pooling around his head. "No." she whispered. Cho sprinted immediately over to where he lay, crumpled on the ground, tripping over Yaxley's limp form and twisting her ankle in her haste. It did not matter. "Marcus? Marcus I'm sorry I didn't mean- I'm sorry no no n-no no no no no". Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably.
Cho stood there staring at his body for what could have been hours, could have been seconds. A faint groan came from the Death Eater behind her, and she turned on the spot and with a crack, disapparated home.
A/N: Read and review, please! I really want to know what you think. Happy holidays!