Cho's Summer
Returning Home
Category: Harry Potter
Genre: Romance/Angst
Rating: PG
Characters: Cho Chang, Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter, Marietta Edgecombe
Summary: Voldemort has returned. The Tournament has been won. Cedric Diggory is dead. Cho spends most of her Summer after that eventful year thinking about distant thoughts, as she learns to cope without him. Cho/Cedric and some mild Cho/Harry.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or I'd be rich. And I'm not, so I guess that explains everything.
(A/N: This is my first Harry Potter fic, so please be gentle. :: smile :: This is based on my favourite pairing, Cedric Diggory/Cho Chang, so it might turn out pretty differently. I will love views on this, and as usual…you know what to expect. I hope you enjoy! Again, I do not own rights to any characters/objects/names that are used in the works of 'Harry Potter', so please R/R!)
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"Erm…excuse me? Cho…Cho Chang?"
"Yes? Oh, hello Cedric! What is it?"
"Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to ask you something, if it was O.K with you."
"I'm listening."
"Cho…I was just thinking…"
"Cedric?"
"Well, would you like to go to the ball with me? The Yule Ball?"
"The Yule Ball?"
"Yeah, the champions have to take someone with them. So…will you go? With me?"
"Oh, Cedric…"
"You don't have to…if someone has already asked you, that is…"
"Oh, but Cedric – they haven't."
"What – really? Wow. So…will you go?"
"Yes, Cedric – all right. I'd love to go."
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The Hogwarts Express train jolted sharply as it approached its destination at Platform 9 ¾ , sending low tremors bustling through the compartments, and surging excitement to course its way through the many students, as hundreds of eyes landed beside the window and peered out into the station. There were excited squeals and shouts as parents and relatives were spotted, all waving to and fro on the spot. Some youngsters were running about eagerly, waiting for the passengers to depart.
There was also plenty more noise packed in on the train itself, as friends talked happily and hurriedly about plans that they had arranged over the holidays, and who they were intending on spending it with. People pushed and shoved their way down the compartment, cases and cages were heard clinking and clanking against the rail holders and many cries of; "Ow!", "Look out!" and "Watch it!"
It was another end to the school year. Another school year for Hogwarts students, who attended 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'. It had been exciting, but then again...they all usually were. Though it had also been scary…and upsetting, in many, many ways.
The train jolt had awoken Cho Chang from one of her dreams, one about Cedric. Cho, who had just finished her fifth year, had been one of the students who placed a part of great importance. Cedric Diggory, who had invited her to the Yule Ball as his partner, had been killed by Lord Voldemort. It had been a shock for her, one she wouldn't forget. Though not many people had heard of the news, she had been in love with the Hufflepuff Seeker, and had had many lessons out with him on the Quidditch pitch, herself being Seeker for Ravenclaw.
Her eyes were stiff and tear-stained, probably from crying. She hadn't wanted to ride back with anyone on the train, she wanted to be alone. She couldn't believe that he was really gone…all the things they'd planned to do together over the Summer, and now she wouldn't be able to look forward to any of it, everything was spoilt.
And she still had to live through the details another time, for she still had to tell her parents. All of the letters she sent to them, telling them how much she was happy being with him, and how they were thinking about getting into a steady relationship. Now she would have to explain how it was all over, how that was no more.
Shakily, she got to her feet, her wand tightly clutched in her fingers as she twirled it absent-mindedly. She could already see her parents waiting for her on the platform, and her heart plummeted another time. Her head cast downwards, she kept her eyes off the floor and made her way to the train exit, noticing how many people seemed to turn their heads away as she went.
The deafening whistles and shouts reached her ears as she stepped down into the station and went to retrieve her case and broomstick. Her footsteps were steady…slow. She could hear the approaches of her own parents as they hurried forward to greet her, just as she had finished loading everything onto a trolley and was taken by surprise, as her mother wrapped her up in one of her hugs, crying a little. She was actually crying. For a moment, Cho thought that her family had already heard the news about Cedric, but she was wrong.
The replies from her parents told her everything.
"Oh, Cho! It's so good to see you again, sweetheart!"
"We missed you!"
"Have you had a good time? You wrote so many letters! They were beautifully done!"
"It was lovely to hear from you."
"What about the Ball? Did you enjoy it? How did you look in your dress robes?"
Suppressing a sob at the mention of the Ball, Cho managed a weak smile as she hugged her mother back. "I had a…great time, Mum, Dad. I missed you both so much. I can't wait to get home and see everything again," she said. Her mother released her with another grin as she wiped her eyes dry, and the three began to make their way back to the gateway.
Tucking a stand of black hair behind her ear, Cho decided to tell them both when they got home. She really didn't want to make a scene here in the station, and knowing her parents, they might have made one anyway, even if she begged them not to. Pushing her trolley slowly, she tried not to linger behind, but she was going rather slow, and a little off course as she daydreamed to herself.
"Hey!" she heard her father yell, "Watch out for that boy, Cho!"
Crash! Without meaning to, Cho had accidentally bumped her trolley into someone else, giving her another jolt to the head, for the second time in under fifteen minutes. She felt embarrassed and stupid all at the same time, and could feel herself going red. The tears almost sprang up for no reason, and she couldn't believe what an idiot she had been.
Regaining control, she brushed her hair out of her face and apologised quickly. "Oh, I'm sorry – I really didn't mean to – I hope you're not hurt…Harry!" At that instant, she had looked up.
Harry Potter stood right in front of her, a pained expression on his face, but trying to smile.
"Harry – I really didn't know it was you! Are you hurt?" she went on, worried.
Nodding dumbly, he answered her. "T-that's O.K, Cho…really – it wasn't your fault."
"But it was, I wasn't looking where I was going…are you sure you're all right?" Cho felt so humiliated that she wasn't sure where to turn, but was anxious that Harry suddenly seemed to be staring at her, nodding to her question but his face holding a troubled frown.
"Have you been crying?" he asked.
"What? – Oh!" she stuttered out blindly, quickly drying her eyes with the back of one hand and managing a smile, hoping that it wasn't too obvious for her parents to see when she returned to them. "No…no, Harry – they've just been watering a little, that's all…maybe from the clash." She giggled poorly.
She could tell he still wasn't certain. "What's wrong?" Cho guessed that he had heard her excuses before and was not hoodwinked easily. She could hear her parents beckoning from the gate.
"Nothing – nothing, Harry…listen, I've got to go," She mumbled out, backing her trolley away from him again. "I'll see you next year, O.K? Congratulations on winning the Tournament." Her last few words came out choked, as thoughts of Cedric again appeared.
She caught his sympathetic face as she turned away from him, pushing her cases towards her father, who had begun to look rather impatient. She gained speed as she walked, only to hear him one more time before she left the station.
"Cho!" he cried, catching her attention. She stopped for a moment and turned to him, listening. She felt as if her own heart was crying. Why had she brought up the subject of the Tournament to Harry? She wasn't out for sympathy, she didn't want any.
"I'm sorry," he mouthed, though she could read the words. She understood perfectly what he was trying to say, but she didn't feel like hearing it. What did those words mean, after all? Cedric was dead now. They wouldn't bring him back. With a half-grateful smile, she turned on her heel and hurried to catch up with her parents, feeling Harry's eyes boring into her back.
Her father didn't look pleased. "Was he all right, Cho?" he demanded. "Who was it?"
Cho sighed, her voice in a mumble. "Harry…Potter," she answered. Her response seemed to brighten up her parents now, they began asking all sorts of questions…her mother especially was very excited.
"What did he say to you, dear?" she whispered hoarsely.
"Are you sure it was him?"
"Why didn't you bring him over?"
"Mum!" Cho interrupted in a harsh whisper, "He's not a museum artefact! Leave him alone!" She felt embarrassed already, without having to run back over to Harry and drag him to meet her admiring parents, she just wanted to get away from it all.
Mrs. Chang seemed shocked. "Of course I never meant it in that way, dear…" she began.
Cho knew she was being truthful, and she respected that. But right now, all she wanted to do was to get as far away from the Hogwarts station as she could; as fast as she could. She shot her mother a smile and continued to push her trolley again forward, red in the face. "Can we please go?"
But her mother didn't stop talking even when they were on their way. "Cho, can you just give me a few details?" she constantly asked. "You said in one of your letters that he asked you to go to the Ball, but you refused. Oh, I hope you didn't hurt him…and imagine, what if you did go with him? You'd be famous too! Our Cho…famous! Oh, why didn't you take him, dear?"
"Because I wanted to go with Cedric, Mum!" Cho snapped. "He asked first."
"But…what if Harry asked - "
"Mum – please!"
"Leave it, dear," Mr. Chang muttered to his wife out of the corner of his mouth. "You can see she's upset enough. Come on, Cho. Give me your things." He began to pack them into the car before his daughter had time to move herself.
Cho glumly cast a look behind her, searching for Harry as her father unloaded her trolley. She could see him with his relatives…a mean looking bunch, and couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him. He had tried to be helpful, and she hadn't done much for it. Somehow, she couldn't help liking Harry, for everything he'd done…and even thought he was a little cute, when he got this sad, sort of rejection look in his eyes.
His green eyes. She remembered Cedric's grey ones. Oh, how she missed him.
She fought back tears as she turned away towards the car, and hopped inside, sitting miserably at the back. She could still hear her father packing things away, while her mother was already sitting inside, waiting to go. She turned her head to Cho as the door clunked shut.
"Buckle up, dear," she smiled, hoping to cheer her up a little. "Come on, don't be upset. You'll see Hogwarts again after the Summer. I bet you can't wait to be home again…once your father has finished with the luggage – hurry up!" she barked, honking the horn and frightening Mr. Chang out of his skin.
"Almost done!" his muffled shout replied.
Mrs. Chang rolled her eyes before facing Cho again. "And just think, you'll be getting your O.W.L results, won't you? I suppose you'll do well. Maybe Cedric can come over too, I'm sure you'll be delighted if he could - "
"Mum…don't."
"But I - "
Mrs. Chang's words were drowned as Mr. Chang quickly opened the door and plopped inside, looking very annoyed. "There was no need for that," he muttered.
"Oh, you were taking too long," his wife laughed, sitting back in her seat. "Come on, we've wasted enough time."
Cho leant her head back on the seat and tried not to cry. What did O.W.L results matter? Cedric couldn't come and see her, he was dead. Her parents didn't know anything, and she wondered if she had the strength to tell them herself. She felt like a coward, in Cedric's name.
As she watched her parent's car pull further and further away from the station, she felt as if a piece of her heart was left back at the school. She remembered all of the things she'd planned to do, and now she wasn't going to have any of it. Thinking back, she had never thought of a time when she didn't feel more upset. She just wanted to scream.
Oh, Cedric. I loved you. Why did you have to leave me?
{To be continued}
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(A/N: This has to be one of the most depressing things I've written. Even though I'm against it, I mentioned her feelings for Harry a little, though I am a complete Cho/Cedric fan. I just thought I'd give a little of that after reading the fifth book, which was wonderful. Reviews, and yes I am willing to accept flames….just not horrible ones, please? lol. More chapters up soon!)
