A/N:

I've revised the story with some minor edits and corrections, but nothing that affects the plot really.

Lots and lots of thanks to those who've reviewed The Muggle-Born Magician so far! I wish you had accounts so I could respond to your reviews individually but I just wanted to let you know that they mean a lot. I'm currently toying with ideas for a sequel so let me know if you'd like to see one!

Thanks to everyone else who's already read the story, I hope you enjoyed it!

If this is your first time reading, welcome! I always appreciate reviews whether good or bad, so don't hesitate to let me know what you think.

Enjoy! - (17/01/2013)

Chapter 1: Morning Sickness

12:15am

The room was large and round. It had blue and bronze silk hangings and a domed ceiling painted with stars. There were a number of fat blue arm chairs, bronze coloured tables and ancient looking bookshelves spread about on the navy blue carpet. The patterns woven into the carpet seemed to echo the stars on the ceiling. The walls of the room were covered with large arched windows through which only darkness and some slivers of moonlight were visible. The room was fairly empty apart from a handful of young people scattered about it. Some sat at tables, others on chairs. They all looked to be in their teens or younger and their demeanour suggested they were students. The most interesting feature of the room was the white marble statue of a woman which stood next to an open passageway. She looked fierce and wise and had a sort of diadem atop her head. It was near to this statue that a girl with long black hair sat.

Cho Chang nibbled on the end of her quill, deep in thought. Her legs were dangling over the arm of the large blue chair she was sitting sideways in. Her head was propped up on a cushion that rested on the chair's other arm. Her potions book rested heavily on her lap and she stared at it, not really seeing it at all. Her mind was focussed on other things. As her thoughts so often did, they had turned to Cedric. She was thinking of the day he had asked her to the Yule ball. He had been so humble, looking as if he thought he didn't deserve her. He was so shocked when she said yes. That was the moment he won her over.

She felt an undeniable feeling of sadness wash over her. Over the past year she had gotten much better at handling these bouts of sorrow. She had done her grieving, a process that had been compounded by not knowing exactly how Cedric had died. But she had found that out too. Now her thoughts turned to Harry. She felt sadness again. This sadness, however, did not wash over her. Instead it was like a few raindrops falling on her face. She shook her head quickly, trying to clear her mind. She was meant to be doing her potions homework.

Somehow she managed to find the willpower to return her attention to the book in front of her. About fifteen minutes later she was fully absorbed in what she was doing. She had always found that working could take her mind off any problem, at least for a little while.

"Hey Cho," a soft voice said as a shadow fell onto the book she was poring over. She was curious as to who it was. It was something of an unspoken pact among Ravenclaws that you never interrupted a fellow Ravenclaw when they were studying. You especially didn't interrupt them at this ungodly hour. She looked up and found a boy with ear-length dark brown hair and brown eyes standing in front of her. He was average height and somewhat scrawny, with skin that was a shade darker than most, as if he had just come back from a tropical vacation. On the whole however, he did not look terribly different than his fellow Hogwarts students.

"I want to show you something," the boy said. "I've been working on it all night."

Cho sighed, irritated. Didn't he realize what time it was? "I'm trying to study, Remy."

"It won't take long," Remy said with a pleading edge to his voice that made Cho feel a twinge of guilt. Then he grinned in excitement. "I'm going to blow your mind."

"Can't you read someone else's mind tonight?" She was trying to be gentle about it but she was really not in the mood to deal with Remy Borden right now. NEWTs were just around the corner for Merlin's sake! She glanced around and saw Luna Lovegood sitting on the floor on the far side of the common room. Her dirty blonde hair was tied up into pigtails with her wand tucked behind her right ear. Her butterbeer-cork necklace swayed as she rocked back and forth, clearly amused by the book in her lap. Cho had once thought Luna was quite insane, but had warmed to her slightly last year when they had both become members of Dumbledore's Army. Of course they hadn't really spoken much since later that year when Cho had left the group after her best friend sold them out. Cho had defended her friend but felt so ashamed about the whole thing that she had taken to avoiding most of the other members.

Sighing heavily as she thought of the DA, she looked back up at Remy and said, "I'm sure Luna would be happy for you to read her mind."

"I don't want to read her mind," he said simply, not bothering to look around. Instead he gave Cho an odd look. "Anyway just pick a card, any card." He held out a deck of muggle playing cards towards her. His brown eyes shone with excitement. She had been dreading this, more card tricks.

"Oh, come off it Borden! No one wants to see any more of your muggle magic," a familiar voice called from behind her, sneering at the last word. She turned to see her boyfriend, Michael Corner, emerging from the entrance to the boy's dormitory. She smiled at him as he pulled up a seat beside her and gave her a quick kiss hello. She looked back up in time to see Remy walking away and sighed with both relief and guilt before looking back at her boyfriend.

"I thought you had gone to bed," she said quietly.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Haunted by visions of evil muggle magic tricks I presume?" she said, smirking. He laughed and shook his head.

"I still don't get why you keep humouring him," Michael said. Cho shrugged.

"I guess I just feel bad for him." Michael reached over and squeezed her hand while smiling warmly at her.

"You're so kind." His smile wavered as he said it but was back in an instant. She sighed.

No I'm not, she replied mentally. She considered saying it aloud but instead she looked at him as his gaze drifted back towards where Remy had been standing. She couldn't think of anything else to say. Their conversations had been like this for a while. They began fine, but quickly trailed off into nothing. Cho couldn't help but feel it was her fault.

She continued to stare at him as she made yet another attempt to figure out exactly what was off about their relationship. Michael was just the kind of guy she had always wanted. He was smart, brave and kind (most of the time) and he had helped her get through one of the hardest times of her life. She knew he cared for her; he was one of the few that had stayed friends with her after she fell out of popularity last year. But something was missing. She didn't feel that spark she had felt when she had been with Cedric, or even during her short time with Harry. Michael had also been distant lately. It was almost as if, now that Cho no longer needed a counsellor of sorts, the basis for their relationship was gone.

She heard a soft tapping sound and glanced up to see Remy sitting next to Luna who was applauding quietly. He had no doubt been entertaining her with those card tricks of his. Cho couldn't help but feel incredibly guilty. She hated being mean, especially to people who were outcasts. And Remy Borden was certainly an outcast. Being a muggle-born who proclaimed to have no aspirations beyond being the world's greatest magician would have that effect. Especially at a school where the term 'magician' was seen as muggle nonsense at best and somewhat offensive at worst.

She and Michael sat in silence for a while (she was unsure whether or not it was a comfortable silence) until he announced he would make another attempt at getting some sleep. She wondered what it was that had been keeping him up. Being a sixth year he had neither NEWTs nor OWLs to worry about. Of course the recent series of attacks by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's followers had everyone a bit more on edge than normal. She briefly wondered how Harry was taking all of it.

She kissed Michael goodnight and then returned her attention to her potions book. She would have this chapter mastered before class tomorrow. Five frustrating minutes later she realized that it was a useless endeavour, her brain simply refused to retain any more information about strength-enhancing potions and their side-effects. She decided instead to cut her losses and go to bed; perhaps she could get some studying done in the morning. She had just begun gathering her things when Remy approached her again.

"Need some help with that?" he asked. She shook her head, bewildered. Didn't he have anything better to do than pester her? He was in fifth year; he should have been working like a house elf to prepare for OWLs.

"So that means you're done studying for the night right?"

"Look Remy, I'm really not in the mood for any of your false magic or whatever it is you want to show me!" She snapped. His expression, which had been somewhat gloomy to begin with, did not change, but when he spoke again his voice was even softer.

"I'm... sorry," he said. "I just wanted you to see it first; you're the only one that's ever seemed interested." Cho wondered how true that was; Luna had seemed pretty entertained earlier. It was only the small cynical part of her mind that felt this way though. Most of her mind was consumed with guilt, again.

"No, I'm sorry Remy. It's just been a long day. But of course you can show me." She paused. "It better be good though," she threatened mockingly.

Remy broke out into a grin. "Ok Miss Chang, prepare to be amazed." With surprising dexterity he shuffled the card deck, pulled a card out of it and tossed it into the air. She was taken aback by the speed and fluidity of his movements. It made her remember how genuinely impressed she had been when he had first showed her one of his tricks.

A moment later he caught the card. Holding it right in front of his face so that she could see only one of his eyes he mumbled something. Suddenly the card began to glow red. The bright light the card emitted was unmistakeably caused by magic. She normally wouldn't have considered this a big deal at a school of witchcraft and wizardry if it wasn't for the fact that his wand was nowhere to be seen.

"This," he said, pausing for dramatic effect, "is true card magic." His soft voice was made slightly more impressive by the glowing card he held inches from his face. The light illuminated his features and gave the impression that his one visible eye was glowing red. Cho was silent. He continued to grin mischievously until suddenly there was a bang and a flash of red light, both of which originated from the card. When the light faded Remy was lying on his back, out cold. The card had vanished. Cho got up and stared at him, unsure of what to do.

Luna, who was the only other person still in the common room, drifted over dreamily. "Wouldn't he be more comfortable in his bed?" she asked, as if she was only pointing out a slight oversight. "Unless it's infested with Nargles," she added as an afterthought.

"He… he was showing me a magic trick and..." Cho began shakily but trailed off because Luna had just broken into extremely enthusiastic applause. She didn't stop until she noticed the bewildered look on Cho's face.

"Is it impolite to clap for a magician?" Luna asked the other girl seriously.

"I'm... not really sure," Cho answered. She didn't really know anything about muggle magicians, other than that they were regular muggles who somehow tricked other muggles into thinking they could do magic. She had never really asked Remy for details. Shaking her head suddenly she mentally slapped her self. There were more important things to be worrying about at the moment. She quickly explained to Luna what had happened. "I don't think it was supposed to end with him unconscious," she finished.

"Perhaps not," Luna said vaguely, as if there was nothing strange about a performance ending with its practitioner out cold. With a lazy wave of her wand, which she had retrieved from behind her ear, she whispered "Enervate." Remy's eyes fluttered open and Cho briefly wondered why she hadn't thought of that. Remy sat up slowly, looking quite bemused. His eyes searched the room until they came to rest on Cho. He smiled groggily up at her for a few moments before his features contorted into an expression of horror.

"What happened?" he asked and his soft voice came out as a groan. As Cho refreshed his memory his face grew more and more red. At the end of her story he sprang to his feet and ran off towards the boys' dormitory without a word; leaving his deck of cards, which had been scattered all over the floor, behind.

The two Ravenclaw girls looked at each other for a moment before Luna spoke. "He's a bit of an odd one isn't he?" she said fondly. Cho couldn't help but laugh.

7:53am

Cho woke up abruptly. Visions of Death Eaters taunting her with muggle playing cards faded from her mind. Her strange dreams were forgotten almost immediately. She opened her eyes and was greeted by the sunlight that streamed through the curtains around her bed. Stifling a yawn she got up and flung them open. The view from her window was spectacular. She could see the mountains surrounding Hogwarts Castle, their white tips glistening in the sunlight. She looked around the dorm room and found that it was mostly empty. Without surprise she noted the sleeping figure of her friend Marietta. Ever since last year Marietta had taken to sleeping in late. Cho yawned again and stretched. She then noticed an odd pile lying on her bedside table. Remy's cards.

After his hasty exit the night before, she and Luna had gathered up the scattered cards by hand. She had told Luna that it just didn't feel right using magic on them. The truth was, however, that after Remy's performance she was scared of what might happen. She was drawn out of her thoughts when she noticed the enchanted clock on her bedside table and gasped. She was late for breakfast! She sprang to her feat immediately and rushed to get ready. About ten minutes later (a record for her) she headed down to the Great Hall. But not before stuffing Remy's cards into her pocket.

She sat in her usual seat next to Michael and across from his friends, Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein. He had smiled at her when she approached and was far more talkative than he had been recently. He asked about how the rest of her night had been and how she'd slept and how her day was going. She giggled a bit at that last question.

"Well it's barely even started yet," she answered. "But it's been pretty good so far." Then she leaned over and quickly kissed his cheek. He blushed and Terry smirked from across the table. Michael's obvious interest had cheered her up. Clearly there was nothing wrong with their relationship, she was just being paranoid.

She glanced across the hall at the Gryffindor table and saw Harry sitting next to Ginny Weasely. He was watching her as she chatted animatedly and he kept teasing her by trying to steal bits of food from her plate. Harry, being a seeker, was quite quick but he had met his match in Ginny who managed to block most of his attempts. What struck Cho about the two of them was how happy they looked. She smiled despite herself, Harry deserved to be happy. Then, realizing she was staring, she looked away quickly, turning her gaze to Michael instead. She was happy too wasn't she? She couldn't be sure, but she knew she was content.

After breakfast Michael offered to walk her back up to Ravenclaw tower to get her books which she had forgotten in her haste. When she emerged from the girl's dormitory she found him sitting in the same chair she had occupied last night. He looked absolutely dejected. She rushed to his side, alarmed, and kneeled in front of him while placing her hands in his.

"Michael," she said as he stared into his lap, "what's wrong?" He looked up at her and she felt him shudder.

"Cho," he began and his voice cracked. "Cho," he started again, "I think... we need ...I mean, we should..." He trailed off. Cho's hands tightened their grip on his. She just wanted to help him. The small cynical part of her mind was whispering warnings furiously, trying to fill her with negative thoughts. She ignored it.

"Weneedtobreakup!" Michael finally managed to blurt out. The words were strung together in a way that reminded her of the time Harry had asked her to the Yule Ball. But this time she heard perfectly. She released his hands as if they had been transfigured into Blast-Ended Skrewts and stared at him. Was this some kind of odd joke? Maybe a dare from his friends? Whatever it was it was not funny.

"Why would you say that," she asked him in a way that didn't even sound like a question.

"Cho..." he began. His voice was still shaky, but his expression was firm and somehow she knew it was no joke. She sprang to her feet suddenly, panicking. She didn't want to hear his answer. She spun on her heel and ran from the common room, nearly knocking over a sleepy looking Remy Borden as he emerged from the boys' dorm.

"Cho?" she heard him say as she disappeared through the door. She did not know exactly where she was going, but her feet carried her to a familiar location as tears began to stream from her face.

9:07am

You said you wouldn't do this again, Cho mentally protested as she sat on the loo in the girl's bathroom near Ravenclaw tower. You said you wouldn't be this girl anymore. Nevertheless she continued to weep heavily. She couldn't fight the tide of sadness any longer. She was alone, again. Yet another person had left her. It was almost too much to bear.

First Cedric, then Harry, now Michael. Memories of the three of them danced around in her mind. Cedric's face smiling back at her before he began the final challenge of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, then his lifeless body being clutched in Harry's arms. She thought of Harry blushing so cutely when she shook his hand at that first Quidditch match, then she saw his face contorted in anger at her as she tried to defend Marietta. Finally her thoughts went to Michael, she saw him holding her in his arms as she cried over Cedric. He hadn't seemed disturbed by it; he had just let her get the feelings out. She let out a loud sob and her thoughts continued their spiral of despair.

As she sat there crying the pile of tissue surrounding her grew steadily. She wondered how, after all she'd been through, she managed to let another boy reduce her to this state. This was what had made her lose all of her friends. Then, at the thought of those who had deserted her last year she felt a wave of anger which crashed over her sorrow like a tsunami.

Pull yourself together Chang! she mentally yelled and her tears slowed. She would show them! She was stronger now. She stood up and gathered her composure before stepping out of the stall she had locked herself in.

Upon catching sight of herself in the mirror she sighed. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her face had gone pale in a way that made her freckles stand out more than they should. She walked over to the sink and was about to wash her face when she saw something odd bulging from her shirt pocket. Confused, she pulled out the deck of cards she had put in there earlier. She had meant to give them back to Remy when she saw him next. She laughed a bit at the memory of him running off. Then she laughed even harder when she remembered that she had just done pretty much the same thing.

As her laughter died down she picked a card from the deck and stared at it. She had never really looked at them up close. One side of the card was decorated with an ornate pattern of blue flowers and vines all woven together in a dark blue and silver tapestry. Cho couldn't help but think it was beautiful. The silver on the card glimmered slightly as the light from the bathroom's torches hit it. The edges of the card were frayed from what she imagined had been years of use. She wondered how long Remy had had them. She turned it over and studied the other side. It contained the image of a woman, well, two women. They looked like twins, or maybe it was one woman and her reflection? She spun the card around, trying to make sense of it.

The woman was dressed in red and was wearing a crown. The clothes she wore looked quite regal, if not particularly beautiful. Even though she was drawn without much detail, she seemed to radiate power. The woman reminded her of Rowena Ravenclaw. Only her upper half was shown however, for at her midsection her body joined with that of a second woman. The body of the second woman began at the midsection and continued to her head, which was towards the bottom of the card. The women looked identical and whether Cho turned the card upside down or right side up, the image was the same. It wasn't until then she noticed the two blood red hearts that decorated the card's top left and bottom right corners. There was an ornate 'Q' right above each pair of hearts. She turned the card over and over in her hand again before placing it back into the deck. As she stared at the cards her thoughts drifted back to the first time she had seen them.

xxx

It was the middle of October and the weather was starting to turn. The days were getting shorter and colder and the school was busy coping with the news of recent Death Eater attacks. Cho couldn't help but worry about her parents. What if they became victims too? What if they ended up like Cedric?

She was in the Ravenclaw common room, sitting beside a window overlooking the lake. The sun was setting and it cast an eerie array of colours over the landscape. Beside her, Marietta was doing her homework and refused to so much as glance up. She had a shawl pulled over her head that obscured some of her features and was wearing makeup that barely managed to hide the pimples that covered her face. The pimples, which were arranged in such a way that they spelled the word 'SNEAK,' were a direct result of her betrayal of the DA. They were also a direct contributor to Cho and Harry's breakup, but not the only one. No one had been able to reverse the jinx and so Marietta had been stuck with them. Now she spent most of her free time in the dorm with the curtains around her bed drawn. Cho had somehow managed to convince her to hang out in the common room today, but could tell she was extremely uncomfortable. Cho sighed, she had thought it would do Marietta some good but she might as well have been sitting there by herself.

"Give that back!" someone yelled behind her. She spun around to see a fifth year boy being taunted by two sixth years who she recognized as Stephen Cornfoot and Kevin Entwhistle. They stood on either side of him and were tossing what looked like a small, flat box back and forth between them so that it would pass over the younger boy's head, just out of his reach. She watched the boy's face as the two older boys continued to taunt him. He wore a scowl which gradually grew deeper and his lower lip began to tremble. Ravenclaw may have been home to Hogwarts' most intelligent students, but that made them no less prone to bullying.

Cho was beginning to wonder why the boy didn't just use a summoning charm to get his box back when suddenly he lunged at Stephen, who was the larger of the two older boys. Catching him by surprise the boy managed to knock him to the ground and make a grab for the box. Stephen recovered quickly however, and held it out of the boy's reach with his left hand, while trying in vain to push him away with his right. Kevin strode over, grabbed the smaller boy and threw him off his accomplice. The boy fell backwards, rolled, and in one surprisingly smooth motion he was on his feet again, wand drawn.

Kevin, who was still standing, had drawn his wand as well. The two of them stood there, wands pointed at each other as Stephen got to his feet, still clutching the box. He looked livid.

"Give. It. Back." the younger boy growled. His lip no longer trembled. It was set firmly and his teeth were gritted.

Stephen seemed to regain his composure somewhat. "Come and get it, Borden!" he sneered, holding the box out towards him.

The younger boy made a motion with his wand but Kevin was too fast.

"Expelliarmus!" he said and the younger boy's wand flew through the air. Stephen caught it easily. The younger boy looked back and forth between his tormenters. His earlier resolve seemed to waver and his lip quivered again.

"Now, since you want these back so badly. Take them." Stephen spat as he threw the box at his victim. It landed a few feet in front of the boy and he eyed it but did not move. "Go on then." Stephen urged. The younger boy slowly began to move forward, his eyes continuing to dart between the older two. He reached the box and bent down to pick it up, but his eyes never left them.

"There you go. Now, you say you can do magic with those cards? Let's see you hex me with them." Kevin laughed as Stephen continued. "You don't need this right?" Stephen said and twirled the boy's wand around in front of him.

Cho was growing concerned for the boy's wellbeing and wondered why no one had intervened. She looked around, everyone in the common room was watching. Even Marietta had looked up from her homework. Then Cho realized her and Marietta were the only seventh years in the room. She knew she should do something but couldn't bring herself to. Instead she continued to watch.

There was a flash of movement and the younger boy once again dashed at Stephen who still held his wand. But this time his tormenter was ready.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Stephen yelled and the jinx caught the younger boy in mid-stride. He went rigid and fell forward, hexed by his own wand. With a soft thud his face hit the navy blue carpet.

"What's going on here?" a voice bellowed suddenly from the room's entrance. At once, every head in the room, except that of the boy who was petrified, turned to face the same direction.

Professor Flitwick, Charms instructor and Head of Ravenclaw House, stood in the doorway looking more furious than Cho had ever seen him. The two sixth year boys' eyes went wide as Flitwick strode into the room. He quickly summoned their wands. Then, seeing the boy lying face first on the floor he rushed to him.

"Are you ok young man?" he asked, his voice returning to its typical squeaky tone, as he turned the boy over. Cho gasped when she saw his face. He had a nasty purple bruise on his head and his eyes were watering. He blinked rapidly and she knew he was struggling to hold back tears. In his right hand he clutched the box which she now realized must contain some sort of cards. Professor Flitwick released him from the curse and the boy sat up, staring at the ground.

"You ok lad?" Flitwick asked again and the boy only nodded, his face scrunched up. The professor continued to look at the boy before sighing heavily. Then he looked around until his eyes met Cho's. "Miss Chang, please take this young man to see Madam Pomfrey." Cho nodded and got to her feet. She glanced back at Marietta who gave her a look that said she wanted no part of this. Cho turned back to the boy and helped him up.

"As for you two!" Flitwick shouted at the two older boys as Cho and the boy headed for the door. As she closed the door behind them she distinctly heard the phrase "behaviour fit for a Slytherin."

They walked to Madam Pomfrey's office in silence. She glanced at the boy every few seconds but he did not meet her eyes. He just stared at the ground, still clutching his box of cards.

Cho stayed in the nurse's office until the boy's bruise had been healed. Then Madam Pomfrey kicked the two of them out unceremoniously while mumbling something about real patients.

They had just started the long trek back to Ravenclaw tower when the boy abruptly stopped. It took Cho a few seconds to notice and she stopped and turned to face him.

"I don't want to go back," the boy said in a soft voice. He shook his head as he said it and his longish brown hair flared out a bit.

"Why not?" Stupid question, the cynical part of Cho's mind chastised her as soon as she said it. The boy finally looked her in the eyes. The fierceness of his expression surprised her.

"They just watched," he said. At that moment a pillar of guilt came crashing down onto her. He might as well have said, "You just watched."

"So what are you going to do?" she asked, averting her eyes. He shook his head again.

"Don't worry about it." he said before turning around and walking off. She stood there for a moment, before cursing under her breath and following him.

They were on the third floor when he spun around. "Why are you following me?" Why was she following him? She wasn't even sure herself. She just didn't feel right leaving him by himself.

You just feel guilty, the cynical voice whispered. It was right.

"Because Professor Flitwick asked me to take you to the nurse and back."

"No he didn't," the boy said softly, "He just said to take me to the nurse. You did your job. You can go."

"What's your name?" she asked, ignoring him. This seemed to surprise him.

"Remy, Remy Borden," he said, and his fierce expression softened a bit. Cho extended a hand.

"I'm Ch-"

"Cho Chang," he interrupted. "I know." He hesitated, eyeing her outstretched hand warily, before taking it and quickly letting go. It was her turn to be surprised. She had seen the boy around and knew he was in fifth year but that was about it. She mentally shrugged, figuring it was normal for students to be familiar with those older than them.

"So Remy," she began and cast her mind about for something to talk about that hopefully wouldn't remind him of what had happened upstairs. "What's in the box?" Oops.

His posture went stiff and his grip on the box tightened involuntarily. "Nothing."

"It's ok," she said and took a step towards him. She felt the compulsive need to comfort him. She could do this. "You can tell me," she said, looking him in the eyes.

"It's a box of cards." he said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Magic cards?" she prompted, remembering what Stephen had said earlier. He shook his head.

"Muggle playing cards," he whispered as if admitting a shameful secret and looked at the box with sudden revulsion. "Just stupid muggle cards!" he spat and hurled the box down the hallway. Cards streamed from the box which had been wrenched open by the force of his throw. He immediately looked horrified by what he'd done.

"It's ok," she repeated. "Accio Stupid Muggle Cards," Cho said, wand in hand. The box flew towards her and she caught it in her left hand as the rest of the cards began to deposit themselves into the box in groups. "They don't look that stupid to me." She said while the last of the cards flew towards her. She handed the box back to Remy.

"Thanks," he said, staring at the floor and looking embarrassed at his outburst. "I've never really been any good at summoning charms." Cho smiled again.

"So um… what exactly do you do with muggle playing cards?" she asked, feeling a bit foolish about her lack of knowledge on the subject. She had become genuinely interested by this point. Remy looked up at her and grinned.

"I'll show you," he said.

xxx

9:40am

"I thought I'd find you here," a voice said, catapulting Cho's mind back to the present. She turned to see Marietta entering the bathroom. "I heard what happened."

Cho looked at her, horrified. "Did, did Michael...?" She trailed off.

"No, it was that Remy kid," she said, and seeing Cho's surprised expression she proceeded to elaborate: "You didn't come to potions and I was worried, so I left class to go look for you. Told Slughorn I had to go to the bathroom. I ran into Remy on my way to the common room. He told me what happened and asked me if I'd seen you. Of course, at that point I had a pretty good idea of where to find you." Cho felt a surge of gratitude towards Marietta. She rushed over to her best friend, hugging her as tight as she could. A few more tears escaped her eyes.

"It's okay," her friend said, rubbing her on the back. Then something occurred to Cho.

"Wait, how did Remy even know?"

"Know what?"

"That Michael broke up with me."

"WHAT!" Marietta pulled back from their hug and looked at Cho, bewildered. "When he said you were upset I just figured, I mean I assumed... I mean it was around this time..." She rambled.

"What are you talking about?" Cho asked.

"I thought you were upset about Cedric!" Marietta said. Then her expression was replaced with one of anger. "Wait. That wanker broke up with you!" In spite of herself Cho laughed. She really couldn't have asked for a better friend. Cho explained what had happened and Marietta went on a rant about stupid boys for a few minutes until she caught sight of Remy's cards. "What's that?" She asked.

"Nothing," Cho answered, stuffing them back in her pocket. "Let's get out of here," she said. "I've spent enough time in this bathroom to last a lifetime. I'll be damned if

I'm going to become the next Moaning Myrtle." It was Marietta's turn to laugh.