Make-Up Challenge
Done for the Hogwarts Online's challenge of using 17 prompts in one story.
I was focusing on an unfamiliar word on the parchment when a piece of paper was slipped under my hand. I looked up to see the messenger, but it was someone I'm pretty sure I don't know.
"Meet me near the lake.
P.S.- I love you."
"Harry?"
"Cho?"
"Is that a wand in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" Cho Chang giggled. "Is this not the right time?"
"Uhm hi, I was just thinking. That's all."
"Hi." Cho sat besides Harry and glanced at him once. "It's been a while…"
"Yeah… one week or so."
"Remember that time you called me… we were… I was the ice queen. You said so yourself. We were alone, and I don't know, supposedly slightly tipsy?"
"You sexy pixie." Harry mumbled. The ends of Cho's lips turned into a smile.
"A sexy pixie who fell down the rabbit hole and caught my heart." Cho deepend her voice, trying to resemble Harry's. "Do you remember saying any of that?" She laughed a little.
"Some." Harry still wouldn't look at her.
"Well I didn't expect you to of course, I barely remember the rest."
Harry stayed silent, looking very thoughtful towards the other end of the lake.
"I miss you, and I cannot help but wonder… Do you miss me too?" Cho turned her body to face Harry, but Harry was still.
"Of course, I miss you. But that doesn't mean the worlds stops spinning. Life goes on, and so do I." Harry said, after some time. "Change is difficult to adapt to."
"True…" Cho looked down at her feet, before rapidly saying, "And about Marietta, she was just doing what she thinks was right. I'm her friend and it's only the right thing for me to support her choice, or at least be with her. It's not my fault, but I couldn't let her be alone. I know how the," Cho struggles to find the courage to say the words, "Dumbledore's Army meant a lot to you and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what Marietta and I both did."
"It's not me you should apologize to. Dumbledore's Army meant a lot for everyone. It's where we can actually learn to defend ourselves properly." Harry said rather coldly.
"But you can forgive Marietta right? We can build a new Dumbledore's Army, Harry." Cho put her hands on Harry's.
"It's hard to trust someone the second time around after they already gave you reason not to trust them."Harry slowly lifted his hand with both of Cho's on it and set Cho's hands aside.
"It wasn't… It's not that… But it really isn't my fault."
"I know. I don't blame you. It really isn't her fault." Harry looked indifferent.
Cho gave a frustrated look and sighed. "Alright then… I'm taking my heart back and leaving the pieces on the floor. Despite the memories, I can't do this anymore. I'm tired of being of how people pretend to not hate me but doesn't talk to me either. You have been ignoring me this past week, Harry."
"What are you saying? We just didn't have anything to talk about anymore… that's all. This is nothing about the Dumbledore's Army incident. And, didn't we ended our relationship already? There are no more pieces to leave on the floor." Harry's eyes are now looking at Cho, his tone was gentle, confused, and stern at the same time.
"It's just that… I feel terrible Harry. You and Cedric had been weighing on my mind… and to think I've lost Cedric, I didn't want to accept the fact I was losing you too. You didn't say anything much about the matter, so in my mind it was still you and me."
"Break ups are hard, and admitting it is even more difficult. But you cannot fool yourself forever; we're not born to be foolish."
"But the way you ended our relationship was so abrupt and short and lacking explanation I didn't think it was real." Cho pointed out.
"I was like that because if you think about it, there's never an easy way to tell someone bad news. You either tell them or wait for them to find out some other way and hope they don't hate you for not telling them sooner. In the end, the news would be known anyway, and you have to accept it…" Harry looked at Cho carefully, as if she was fragile. "Are you crying, Cho?"
"Go ahead, finish it. After all it's always about you. You and your stupid choices. Didn't you think about how I would feel? I can't believe how selfish you are. So this is it? After all we've been through?" Cho managed to say, between her sobs.
"Look, love is like wild flowers… They have to grow beautifully, yet naturally. It's not planned, it just happen. We haven't been through anything. It's like you're stuck in time, trapped in the past. When you're with me, you still cannot forget Cedric, and with all honesty, I want you to meet someone who can actually help you move on and smile again." Harry smiled reassuringly. "I don't know why I'm the one lecturing you about this, but I guess I have thought about talking to you for a while."
"Finding that someone is like chasing a rainbow. You're the closest I can get to recollecting myself. All the fun things that we do wouldn't be as fun if it wasn't for you, you made me smile again." Cho sincerely said.
"But I see pain in that smile. It's like you're trying to forget Cedric existed, and flooding your own thoughts with us, with what you want to think is the only relationship you had. I knew him, and it's difficult for me to pretend he was never there. I hate causing pain to other people." Harry picked up a rock and threw it as far as he can.
"You really don't get me, do you?" Cho raised an eyebrow.
"There are no trails through a woman's heart.The best you can do is guess, but my guess was pretty accurate, wasn't it?"
Cho was in the verge of tears.
"Since we met, there's no moment I regret." Harry looked deep into Cho's eyes. "not a single thing; not even breaking up with you."
Cho closed her eyes and could feel the warm tears rolling down her cheeks.
"We weren't right, and I'm not the type of person to keep someone around even though there was nothing between us anymore. The world is waiting for you, Cho."
"The world will just drag me to reality, and I don't want to be there alone."
"When you have to face reality, I'll guarantee you won't be alone." For once that day, Cho felt Harry still cared after all, and she doesn't feel so alone.
Thank you for reading :)