Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else, really I'm a poor college student.

This is written for Cheeky Slytherin Lass from the Monthly One-Shot Exchange over in the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges community. I hope you like it because I've never written Cho before.


She couldn't stand to be around people at the moment but she didn't want to be alone either. Cho didn't know what to do, her whiplash emotions didn't even make sense to herself. Everyone was treating her as if she was a delicate crystal glass that was moments away from shattering. But what was worse was that she felt that way and knew that she was teetering on an edge just moments away from falling and shattering.

Nothing made sense anymore and the world was a confusing and hurtful place now. It seemed impossible that just a short time ago it was perfect with . . . Cho couldn't think of him, not now that she finally had stopped crying. If she thought of his name she knew she'd just burst into tears once more.

Cho knew that she wasn't strong, how could she be when she was crying every few minutes, she knew she was delicate and fragile, could feel herself on the verge of shattering. She had several times already and it was a wonder that she wasn't in physical pieces. He had been her strength, her rock, and she had followed where he led.

She didn't know what to do now, he had planned a life for them. She remembered sunny days spent lying underneath a tree's shade near the lake's edge where they had outlined their futures together. He had promised her a happy life and future, but he had promised her that he wouldn't get hurt either. Everything had been so bright then, so full of hope and love, but now everything was dark and Cho struggled to understand.

Inside she was so mixed up, full of despair and heartbreak, that she knew if she was transfigured into glass that she'd surely shatter. It took everything within her to leave her bed most days, others she never left or depended on her friend to drag her out. The whole of her hurt, her head, and her heart, everything down to her soul hurt.

Cho wasn't sure she could live without him that life was worth living without him. Her family and friends said that it would get better, that she'd get over it someday but Cho didn't believe them. He had been her sun, the center of the galaxy and it had gone out and shattered her hopes and dreams. No one understood the pain she was in, the misery, the heartbreak, and she had no energy to explain this to anyone.

Her mirror told her that she was beautiful, that today was going to be a good day. Every day it had something encouraging to say, Cho eventually got sick of it, snapped "Do you ever get tired of lying to me?" before turning away. The mirror hadn't spoken much since.

Not thinking of him was hard when she had planned a future with him. But not thinking of him was the only way to stop the tears for a short while. Cho didn't really want to not think of him though, that seemed like she was trying to forget about him which she never wanted to do and didn't think was possible anyways.

That everyone was trying to be quite about him enraged her. He was the most amazing person she had known and deserved to be remembered but the Mistry was ignoring his murder. Cho couldn't bear to hear his name though so people around her didn't speak his name which caused the dual emotions inside her.

But she couldn't ignore him for long not when he had claimed her heart. How could she be alive without him, her heart had died yet her body remained.

She thought his name, Cedric, and shattered.