Starry Memories
A short Harry/Cho story by Stardust Firebolt
Author's Note:
This is actually more of a songfic, written and inspired to the song of "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias. I was moved by this little track so I got down and came up with this. Hope you enjoy it.Disclaimer:
J.K. Rowling owns all the Harry Potter characters ever mentioned in this story, so please, do not sue me. I acknowledge the copyright of the characters.It was a cool night, and any person who sat underneath the inky, dense black sky would only have the wind, the silent full moon and the shimmering stars for company. Like a magical scene, the iridescent and sparkling stars did add a touch of magic to the scenery, as if complimenting the moon's white and innocent beauty. A silky black-haired girl sat despondently on the light-coloured sand as the waves lapped lazily at her feet. The girl, too caught up in her own matters, was ignoring the gritty feeling the sand was giving her rear. The questioning stars seemed to blink fixedly down on this lonely person, giving her smooth face a dull shine, as if helping her to hide away her obvious sorrow.
The girl's name was Cho Chang.
"Cedric..." Cho whispered, her long brown hair fluttering dismally and slowly in the breeze, a pure reflection of her own miserable feelings and her broken heart.
"Do you realize how much I miss you?" Cho let her overpowering emotions take control of her frail body. Sobs filled the air around her, and they shook her petite body frame.
"How could you leave me?" she said softly, reaching up to finger the locket she wore around her slender neck. Cedric Diggory had given her the golden locket with their names etched on it for Valentine's Day the year before.
Their very last Valentine's Day together.
Cho hung her head. She still kept it as a distant loving memory, a memory of those laughing and smiling eyes, a memory of that beautiful hair, a memory of those intense grey eyes...
"How could you just go and leave me behind..." Cho murmured to the locket. "How could you be so heartless...you were supposed to wait for me...you told me you would wait for me....marry me...all that, is gone now...all because of you! You shattered our dreams, you cruel person!"
"Isn't there anyone out there who can understand my pain...?" Cho wept, the perfection of her merry black eyes stained with silver tears that were yearning to defy the force of gravity and fall in ticklish rivulets down her face.
Cho felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Cho..." the person said quietly. It sounded so familiar somehow.
"Cho, I'm sorry," the person behind her said.
"Go away, Harry," Cho snapped bitterly, realizing finally who it was.
"I wish I could've saved him but..." Harry walked around from behind her and sat next to her. "You know I didn't want him to die."
"No, I don't know," Cho spat. She was too upset to listen to reasoning. "Never had, never will. Forever!"
"Cho..."
"It's no use trying to say you wished you did that, you didn't want to let it happen...it's happened already. No one can do anything about it after it's happened. Yet there must have been something you could have done!"
"Cho, you don't understand...you weren't there..."
"Dammit, of course I wasn't there!" Cho screamed, the tears falling more freely now. "Maybe I should've been. But you were there...you should have helped him...it's all your fault!"
Harry reached over to wipe the tears, a significance of her feelings, away from Cho's face. "I'm sorry...I couldn't save him because it happened too fast..."
"I'm sick of feeling guilty and tired and sad, Harry! I keep thinking, I should've accompanied him there! Maybe I should have never said goodbye too fast, or let him run into that maze without ever turning back!...For this, I get eaten up by guilt. And I'm tired of that...! Everyone's moving on...everyone's moving on but me. Why can't I just forget him?!" Cho whimpered.
Harry knew she was in dire need of some comfort. He wanted to hug every part of her so that all her misery would fade away. Pulling her shaking frame into his arms, hoping to provide some security to ease her emotions that were in turmoil, he listened to her cry for a bit before he said:
"Cho, no one's forgotten Cedric. We understand what you're going through...you were his partner, his love, his only soulmate..."
Cho's tears kept flowing as they leaked desperately out of her eye, as if every tear signified every painful feeling and guilt she had. She cried them all out.
"He lied to me, Harry..." Cho whispered, her head against his chest as Harry's arms were still enveloping and circling around her, keeping her in an embrace.
"He promised me he would marry me if he won the Triwizard Cup. I said it didn't matter, as long as he loved me and his heart was in unity with mine. But he refused to listen...said he wanted me to feel proud...and he never came back..."
"I'm sorry, Cho," Harry mumbled again, stroking her hair softly. "I'm really sorry."
"It's not your fault. I was just so worked up just now..." Cho replied, her tears running dry. Suddenly she felt embarrassed about being in Harry's arms. She parted from him immediately, trying to keep her furious blush under control. He smiled slightly at her, but she wasn't really sure what it meant. It was as if, through his actions, he was singing some kind of song for her.
Would you dance if I asked you to dance?
Would you run and never look back?
Would you cry if you saw me crying?
And would you save my soul tonight?
"Feel all better?" Harry asked.
Cho nodded, not trusting herself to speak, in case her throat ran dry and all she could do was croak. Was this wrong? Was this doing dishonour to Cedric's memory? She was in shock that she was having some feelings for Harry, and all he had done was comfort her.
Or was this the moving on everyone was talking about?
Would you tremble if I touched your lips?
Would you laugh? Oh, please tell me this.
Now would you die for the one you loved?
Hold me in your arms, tonight.
Sure, she loved Cedric, more than anything, but he was gone now. Of course she would still keep a part of him with her. But that didn't mean she had to stop harbouring feelings for anyone else. Harry always tried, and did, give her a sense of warmth inside her cold and shrivelled heart. It was like a burning flame that would never die for eternity; warming up and melting the icy barrier around her heart, giving him the access to the centre of her emotions.
"Do you mind if I...kiss you, Cho?" Harry asked, a slight pink tinge on his flaming cheeks. Was that in the heat of the moment? Or did he want to love her, as Cedric had? Suddenly Cho's mind was clearer as if ever had been before.
And the song Harry was supposedly singing to her through telepathy was still playing.
I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
"I want to make you feel better. I want you to know that we, especially me, are all here for you, no matter how much you feel alone without Cedric. And Cho...I'm afraid to say this, since I can never take it back, but I think...I know I love you...I've loved you since the first day I ever noticed you."
"Harry..." Cho said silently, looking down.
"Please don't say any more, I'll be so confused..." she pleaded.
Would you swear that you'll always be mine?
Or would you lie?
Would you run and hide?
Am I in too deep?
Have I lost my mind?
I don't care...
You're here tonight.
"No..." Cho said, fiddling with a stray lint on her dress robe, trying to stall for time, trying to put Harry off. Yet she didn't want to hurt his feelings, just like Cedric had done to hers by leaving her behind.
She liked Harry - of course, but not in that aspect. Close enough to be a good friend.
Right? Then why did she feel so guilty that she thought of Harry as only a friend?
Or was the song Harry was singing convincing her that he was the one for her, if she would let him?
"Cho...tell me please..." Harry begged, his emerald green eyes, the windows to his soul, showing that he was already hurting inside.
He must be thinking, why can't I accept him? Cho thought.
But I accept him...and I'm scared to tell him that...
Will Cedric be angry?
I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
"I can't," Harry said.
"I love you too much to let you go."
Oh, I just want to hold you.
I just want to hold you.
Am I in too deep?
Have I lost my mind?
I don't care...
You're here tonight.
She was finding it harder to turn him away by the minute. She knew she liked - loved him, but as a friend or more, she didn't know. Those captivating eyes had captured her within its depths and she knew she was trapped, she was a victim. Just like Cedric...Cho knew she could love Harry more than anything, just like she did to Cedric. But was that what Cedric would want, if he could see her from wherever he was? More importantly, was that what she wanted? Was she ready to accept the fact that she could forget Cedric if she just let herself love Harry? Could she erase that fear?
I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by your forever.
You can take my breath away.
Could Harry actually do all that? Eradicate her fears? He was still waiting for her. And she had quite enjoyed his affectionate embrace, wasn't it? And his love confession wasn't a on-the-spot kind of thing, a thing you just blurt out in the heat of the moment.
He loved her, just like Cedric did.
Give Harry a chance, she told herself.
He will help you relive those sweet memories you buried deep in your heart.
Cho's eyes crinkled as her lips formed a grin. She began to giggle, while Harry looked at her bewilderedly.
"I know my heart now. Come here," Cho whispered. Harry scooted closer to her.
"Do you know how much I love you too?" she said softly as she brought her lips to him, the kiss so soft and tender it melted her heart all over and brought her to instant paradise where she would spend it with Harry.
I can be your hero.
I can kiss away the pain.
And I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.
You can take my breath away.
Harry smiled as he parted from her, and brushed a lock of hair away from her face.
"You're a fickle person, you know that?" he teased.
"I know," Cho smiled. "But I want you to know that no matter what I still can't forget Cedric."
"That doesn't matter," Harry said, his eyes aglow. "He used to be your love, and now that he's left, you're in pain. But..." he whispered softly in her ear the last words of the song:
I can be your hero.
~The End~