Typical, that they'd end up together. She was pretty and he was dashing, in a wholesome way that always look a little fake in photographs. When he asked her to the Yule ball, she actually cringed a little on the inside and hid it behind a polite smile, "yes, sure, of course, I'd be... delighted." She sharpened her words diplomatically, but when delight lit up his eyes, and dirty blond strands of hair fell in front of his eyes, her cheeks did grow a little warm, and she really did want to kiss the red from his lips right there and then.
"he is a fiiiiinnnnne piece," one of her girl friends crooned.
"You guys are soooo cute together!" shrilled another.
"I hate you Cho Chang," pouted a third, who sounded like she half meant what she said. "You've gone and taken the best one!"
Yes, Cedric Diggory was a fine piece of work-handsome, smart, hardworking, and seemingly chivalry wasn't yet lost on him. The problem was, she just never saw it. He was one of those guys that everyone around her worshipped, and she just couldn't see it.
"Don't take this the wrong way but, I never thought much of you," Cho suddenly interrupted the silence. They were at her favorite corner in the library, surrounded by stacks, dust, and ancient spells tucked away in ancient books. Cho announced her thoughts while sitting at a nook by a large window.
Cedric glanced up from his parchment, looking half amused. "Meaning...?"
"Well, you know, the entire female population here worships you, and I'm sure a lot of the male population too. I mean, you know, in a non-sexual, purely platonic bro way, like they want to be you, not bed you."
He could have cringed right there, but that would have been an un-Diggory thing to do. Instead, he gently placed down his quill on the table, and leaned back. "Go on," he challenged.
"I think I was wrong," said Cho softly. "You are a man worthy of female legions."
"Is that right?" Here he smirked, and Cho realized just how much she hated that he made rugged handsome look so easy.
Truth was, she's always had a thing for boys who were just a little bad. Maybe it was a typical case of "good girls like bad boys syndrome." No one knew about her postcard collection of the guitarist from the Weird Sisters of course. She pruned her reputation with care, and some things were better left in her head. Image was one thing though, and snogging was quite another. You couldn't fake snogging, not your first one anyway.
"You're a funny girl, Cho Chang," said Cedric as he started rolling up his parchment and gathering his quills. "Okay, you're restless, I'm ready to go."
She nodded and smiled. "You sure?"
Cedric watched as she pulled out her wand. "Yeah, let's grab our brooms and meet at the south entrance?"
"No need," Cho shook her head, then murmured something under her breath before pulling open the library window.
"Wait, what are you doing? Are you allowed to do that?"
"Do me a favor will ya, close this window after I leave?" with that, Cedric watched in horror as the girl ducked out the window and leapt down.
"Cho? What the..." Cedric reframed from cursing a storm, only to have words stuck at his throat as Cho reemerged, hovering on a broom and grinning.
"First one to gate wins?"
Before she could say anything else, Cedric was off, speeding away from Cho's cry of "window Cedric, close the windoooowwww!"
If anyone saw Cedric Diggory racing through the hallway of Hogwarts, they couldn't be sure it was him. The boy was going so fast that all they could make out were his robes bellowing out and a mop of blond hair. There were gasps and whispers of "which acceleration spell is this again...?" and "oh my, is he taking his robes off?"
In short, Cedric was fast, and by the time he reached his dorm, he was out of his school robes, on his broom, then out of the window.
When he reached the south entrance, Cho was nowhere to be found. Cedric took what felt like his first breath of air since the library, then found a seat on the ground, surveying the skies for the small seeker girl.
Only seconds later, Cho came diving down from nowhere, and he watched in horror as her eyes locked on his in utter surprise and she almost crashed landed on a patch of grass.
"Cho," Cedric jumped up and ran toward the girl, who managed to slow down at last minute and pulled to a steady stop.
Cedric hoped years later he would be able to remember the girl as she looked right there and then-radiant with perspiration, chest heaving and out of breath, absolutely furious and utterly gorgeous.
"You left the library window open! I couldn't close it from the outside, and so I had to go back in, and then Filch suddenly appeared from nowhere and I had to run for my life, and I probably have detention," she said quite dejectedly, with a pout for accent.
"Yep, I'd say you deserve it."
"And they say you're a gentleman."
"A gentleman never makes a lady wait, and so here I am," he winked.
"Diggory."
"Yes m'lady."
"Race you to Sugarloaf hill...!"
And like a bullet, Cedric watched Cho take off. The girl never seem to run out of energy, or for that matter, excuses for a good race or fight. On the broom, she was all speed and daredevil, doing stunts and dives that seemed unfitting for someone her size. Cedric didn't know why, but it made his heart ache a little every time watching her fly. So on edge, so fast, so almost careless, so different from the shy, proper prefect-to-be.
The first time they really met was through a Quidditch match, and it was a proper first meeting too, filled with fakies, dives, and yes, collisions. He didn't take it easy because she was a girl, but somehow it felt like she was playing extra dirty and hard because he was a head taller, and probably weighed twice as much. When he shook her hand in the end and said "good game" with his jubilant team behind him, he remembered the coldest look she gave him, a look that screamed something at him...
"Sometimes I think Quidditch is the only thing I care about..." said Cho with a soft smile.
Cedric was lying in her lap, staring up at her. Their brooms lied haphazardly on Sugarloaf hill.
"Cho, I'm pretty sure Quidditch is the only thing you care about."
"Hey now, I'm decent at other things."
"Exactly, you're one of those really annoying people gifted with looks and talent, but instead aspiring to be a perfectly good medi-witch, here you are dodging bludgers and jumping off windows."
"Speak for yourself! I'm the perfect size and build for a seeker. You're the one who wants to race against his genes."
"Yeah, well, not everyone can be Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter..." Cho let the familiar name roll off her tongue. "I still can't believe he became seeker in his first year."
"I still can't believe he's real. You grow up hearing the stories, and then all of a sudden this awkward little boy shows up and he's smaller than anything you've imagined, and yet bigger, bigger than anything you dare believe."
"You believe in him."
"If by that you mean I believe he's a good man, then sure."
"You believe he didn't put his name in the goblet."
Cedric hesitated, then smiled. "Yeah, I guess I do."
"Ced, good luck tomorrow," a hint of worry crawled over her voice despite herself.
"Thanks Cho, I think running through Hogwarts and racing on brooms across the grounds is the best preparation anyone could ever hope for."
When she stared down at him, Cedric hoped years later he would be able to remember how she looked right there and then, vulnerable and suddenly mature beyond her years, inscrutable to herself and yet plain to the day. Cedric hoped for that moment at least, she was, as he was, just a little bit in love.
He pulled her down to him and said before a kiss, "don't worry, I'll bring a little bit of your fearlessness with me."
/
When Harry Potter appeared out of thin air, gasping and groaning, Cho knew something was wrong instantly. Harry had a look of sheer horror, and for a moment, she searched frantically for signs of injury on his body, afraid of a bad wound or a missing limb. It wasn't until she heard, "my boy, that's my boy!" and watched a man scramble toward the middle of the field did she see the body on the ground.
No, of course, the boy who lived lives. It was someone else on the ground. "My boy," the man cried again, and Cho suddenly felt sick, felt cold, felt her hands climb onto her cheeks and covering her face.
"My boy has told me quite a lot about you, young lady," the older Diggory had said just this morning. He came just for the third task, or "just for the win" as he said. He'd said the words "my boy" so proudly, was beaming at her while she beamed back until her face hurt.
"My god," Cho whispered into her tear streaked hands. "My god." She didn't know whether she was crying for the old man, or because everyone else around her was crying. But such heavy tears, she knew, she would carry for the rest of her life.
Cedric. They were going to have lunch with his father tomorrow. Cedric. They were going to stay in touch all summer, take their brooms and meet halfway between their houses. Cedric. If he'd won, He was going to spend his winnings to travel around the world, he'd wanted to see it all.
"Cedric," she whispered, and at that very moment, Harry Potter found her gaze and stared straight at it with a sad, desperate look. Then all at once, Dumbledore whisked him away, a hand on his back and assurance at his ears. The elder Diggory was still clutching to his son when medi-witches appeared and teachers began urging the students to back to their houses.
Cho pushed through the crowds, bumping into shoulders and bewildered looks as she forced herself forward. She wanted to see his face. She pushed past Mcgonagall. She wanted to press her head against his chest, to feel his heart beat. Even Snape couldn't stop her. She wanted to kiss the colors back from his lips, like all those fairytales where one kiss, one tear was all it took. She didn't have much time.
It was his father that stopped her. He'd stopped crying now, and there were no more, "my boy"s. He'd let the medi-witches levitate Cedric in silence, and stay crumpled on the ground for the longest time. He looked so small, and when he finally got up, his eyes were wild and his walk unsteady. Watching him, Cho couldn't move at all. She was glued to the ground, feeling gravity rush from her toes to her head, and when Mr. Diggory laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and patted her twice, she knew she shouldn't be there. It was no place for her.
Did she really know Cedric?
That night, she rode her broom into darkness, and she kept asking, what were they? Who was she to feel anything? If he lived, in ten years, this romance would probably mean nothing to either of them. A sweet interlude. She was fifteen. God, he was only seventeen, only seventeen.
On the night Cedric Diggory died, Cho Chang learned how to cry. Tears kept pouring from her eyes until they felt like blood. The wind would dry her tears, and she would keep circling the sky, keep flying, keep crying.