A/N: And yet another challenge! This one here is for the Six Billion Secrets Challenge. I am doing Number 21 which I have fallen in love with. I have like a million other challenges to finish (like, two) and wanted to get this done now. Sadly, because of this, I can't be very involved in the Project For Awesome 2010, which I keep spelling as 2012. *head-desk* Oh, and the teddy bear that inspired Cho's is on Google Images, just search "teddy bear".
So without further ado, I present my Secret challenge fic, which is centered around Cho Chang's secret.
"I'm sorry if you think I'm immature. But the only reason I can't ever get rid of that old teddy bear of mine is because it's the only thing that comforts me when I cry at night when nobody else does."
Marietta stared at me with a look of disgust, it was plain to see she wanted to be as far away from me as possible. Everyone did: my friends, my teachers, my housemates, dorm mates. All because I cry. A lot. About something that happened not even a year ago, though it sure felt like ages.
She opened and closed her mouth a few times before speaking up. "Whatever you say, Cho. I don't care anymore, really. Get. Over. It."
I was hurt by her statement, with each word a butchers knife was stabbed through my heart, STAB. STAB. STABSTABSTAB. BACKSTAB. But I was used to it, slowly one-by-one all of my friends were doing and saying the same thing. That they couldn't stand "my whining" and that they "didn't see the point in being friends with someone who cries more often then their baby cousin." The pain never dulled, but soon pain became my best friend.
Soon enough, Marietta Edgecombe was my only friend that was willing to fight for me. The one who would last through and through my "Sparta" moment (I still don't get the reference.) I was wrong. When she found out about my deepest darkest secret, she couldn't take it. She had been refusing to acknowledge my existence until then.
You see, I have a secret. A big one.
It all started out one Christmas. But it wasn't any ordinary Christmas; it was the last Christmas that my father was there. The last Christmas where mum was no where near as mad as she is now. I was nine years old.
"Daddy! Daddy! Look mommy, daddy's home!" a little girl squealed, her dark black hair flowing as she sprinted so fast a track runner would be jealous. Mr. Chang chuckled as his daughter hugged the life out of him.
Cho had been excited for her fathers visit for weeks now, he had "auror business" to take care of and wouldn't be home for a while. She knew that all of her energy couldn't be put into one hug, so she reluctantly let go of her hold.
Mrs. Chang smiled pleasantly as she watched the whole interaction. 'They are cute, aren't they?' a little voice said. 'Almost sickening.' replied another. She was still smiling when the pair of them bounded over to her side.
"Come on, come on!" Cho struggled to pull her parents over to where the pile of presents sat. The couple relented an let their only daughter drag them where she was headed.
This year there were plenty of more presents then the previous years; her parents had still been uneasy about Voldemort's so-called "death" which had effected how often they went out into town and in the public, her own mother had quit playing professional Quidditch! Cho eagerly tore her way through all of them, including the newest broom on the market that her mother had bought her, the Hermes 800. But there was one present that stood out compared to the rest.
It was by no means necessary the biggest present in the pile, more like one of the smallest. It was wrapped elegantly with a note scribbled hastily on the top. "A teddy for your thoughts? -Love, Dad" She carefully unwrapped the paper, curious as to what was inside. There, in the disarray o wrapping paper, sat a teddy bear that made her little heart melt. It had black sunglasses as well as a shirt and jeans on, with a tattoo that displayed "LOVE" on it's arm. It was brand new and appeared as if it had just been opened moments ago.
Cho sat awestruck at the bear as her father grinned at her reaction. Cho grabbed her bear and rushed over to hug her mother and father.
Weeks later, in January of 1988, Nate and Cho Chang had the argument that sent Cho's father away and left her mother slowly going insane.
That moment had haunted me my entire life, the yelling, the crying, and the leaving. But worst of all, I was stuck in the middle of it with only my teddy, Armando, and no one to comfort me when I cried in the middle of the night. Neither of them thought about me. And nobody did anymore. Except Cedric.
Cedric Diggory was my only friend, even though he was a year older than me; he understood me better than anyone. He would listen to my problems and never interrupt. I would always try and return the favor, because I felt horribly self-centered that all we ever talked about was me. Soon enough, he began pouring his feelings and doubts out in the open. A little while later he asked me to be his girlfriend and I agreed.
Cedric was everything that my "friends" weren't, without him my life would crumble like it was now. Because Cedric was dead and there was nothing I could do about it. No amount of wishes could make Cedric alive, and no matter how many times I tried talking to my friends did I ever stop crying.
Armando now is what keeps me going, he is the diminutive thread on which my life lies. I'm sorry if you think I'm immature. But the only reason I can't get rid of that old teddy bear of mine is because it's the only thing that comforts me when I cry at night when nobody else does.