The Truth
A/N- This is my first fan fiction-let me know what you think. Reviews are appreciated and tell we if you want me to write more/ would actually read it. It could be a one shot, or not-depends on how I feel tomorrow . As you can tell, Cho was never one of my favorite characters, but I promise, she gets nicer throughout the story.
"Hey Cho, are you ready yet?" her roommate, Becca, called softly through the cracked door, "I'm about to head down to the Great Hall, you want me to wait?"
Cho slowly opened her eyes, waiting for the blinding light coming from the split in her curtains to take effect on her swollen eyes. For just that moment, when she was transitioning from sleep to slowly awakening, she had forgotten all that had happened- Cedric's death, her nights spent crying into her pillow. As she finally woke up, all the memories came flooding back.
She hadn't really loved him, that had been the perception, but it was a lie far from the truth. Cho Chang had loved the idea of Cedric Diggory; the school champion, the one that all the teachers loved, the boy that her friends secretly lusted after. Beyond that, he was just a friend, someone to laugh with about the teacher's hit and miss jokes, share homework answers, and stay up late with. But deep down he was the same as everybody else, shallow, confused, selfish, wanting to find what he was really supposed to be doing-a far cry from the school's golden boy. Cho couldn't say that she was really any different, she was no martyr, she wanted what he wanted, what he had wanted, to be successful, popular, the school celebrity. They had been the perfect couple in that respect; they enabled each other to live the charmed life, the life of one of the popular kids. There was nothing wrong with that, but it wasn't love, or anything remotely close.
They weren't awful people, she missed him, he had cared about her, but they were never destined for the happily ever after that everyone else had mapped out for them. Now that he was gone, dead in the Tournament that he had lived for, she was obligated to play the role of the devastated girlfriend. Everyone had thought she had lost her one true love, the boy that she was going to marry one day, but in fact they had only ever been friends that let a rumor of love go too far.
The day that he had left her alone, materialized dead on the field with Harry Potter at his side, she had cried, the same as every other girl there that day. But now she had to start the act-the poor girlfriend whose hopes and dreams with Cedric "golden boy" Diggory had been dashed. She missed her friend, her fellow student, but nothing more. She was expected to greet his parents, stand in front of the school, as if her grief was more important that anybody else's. What about his best friend, the second year with the massive crush on him who had retraced his every step, Harry Potter? Weren't they the ones that deserved the comfort, flowers, and sympathetic glances? But if Cho ever voiced this to anyone she would be labeled cold and heartless, not even caring enough about her supposed true love to grieve properly.
When Cho awoke the day of Cedric's memorial service she, glanced at herself in the mirror old propped up beside her bed with an old Charms essay magically attached to the side. Her black hair glided down her small shoulders and fell into her face, masking the eyes slightly swollen from tears, last night's makeup clumped around her eyes, streaks of eyeliner running down her face. Cho saw the desperation in her glinting brown eyes and the tired lines surrounding her lashes. She knew she was beautiful, her modesty was only a ruse, but this morning she couldn't see it. It wasn't that she looked awful; she had looked this way yesterday morning and the morning before, but that she looked defeated, as if the purpose has left her face. She could no longer see the drive in her eyes or the small smile playing on her lips, only her basic features shown through the hurt and pain.
Cho remembered the day that she had met Cedric. It hadn't been the fairy tale that everyone would have imagined. He hadn't saved her from an evil dragon or shared a kiss with her under the stars. People made up the stories to keep in illusion of the perfect couple alive, but in truth it had been a simple first date. Nothing out of the ordinary. She had first noticed him in the library in her fourth year. He had been laughing with a group of friends hoping to study for a Potions exam. It wasn't the love at first sight, or love at 100th sight for that matter, that she had always dreamed of, but he was already popular, athletic, and seemed nice enough. A few weeks later he had approached her at dinner, much to the delight of her friends, asking if she would join him in Hogsmeade. Their date had been normal, nothing special, not the stuff of great romances. But as soon as they started to be seen together more and more often, the rumors began to fly. Soon, they stopped denying them, and suddenly Cedric Diggory was her boyfriend. She knew that they were never going to get married, or even stay together past his graduation, she never harbored any unrealistic desires. He would help her with her Potions homework, occasionally he would say something romantic, or bring her flowers on Valentine's Day, but they had never been in love or anything remotely close to it. They let people talk, say whatever they wanted to, but Cedric and Cho had never really been more than friends.
She knew that when she got down to the Great Hall, she would hear the sympathetic murmurs whispered in her direction, but she didn't need their sympathy. She missed him, but no more than any other student in that room. She missed having someone to complain about the homework to or to look to for cheering up. Everyone would see the pretty girl who had lost everything she had ever wanted, but only Cedric, if he was out there somewhere, could see the real Cho Chang. She quickly got dressed and threw her hair up into a ponytail and joined Becca for the long walk to the Great Hall.