The Ring

I do not own the Harry Potter series or any of its characters.

Cho Chang found comfort in the muggle world. There was nothing there to remind her of the craziness and drama of her days at Hogwarts. Most importantly, nothing to remind her of Cedric Diggory, the last man she loved who died in tragic manner. This of course never stopped her from joining the dating circuit inside and outside the wizarding world. In fact, she was incredibly popular in the muggle world. Not only was she stunning as she had been her whole life, but those men lucky enough to snag a date with her were always drawn into the mystery of a witch attempting to guise herself an everyday muggle. She was always looking for companionship, but always felt like no one had a connection with her strong enough to break down the wall she inadvertently built up between herself and everyone new she met.

However this would certainly all change when she was making her way around Piccadilly Circus on an ever present cloudy afternoon. She had been around this part of London so many times that the bright signs no longer fascinated her and she seemed to float about thoughtlessly until a hand grabbing her own brought her to consciousness. She whipped her head around to see who was to be bold enough to grab her hand in public. She half expected it to be a man by the name of Vince who was very persistent after a single date about 2 weeks about, but instead she focused in on a pair of kind grey eyes staring at her hand. Her own almond shaped eyes grew so large that she thought her eyelids would revert back into her eye sockets. 'Why! Only one person I ever met had those eyes! Cedric! It cannot be!' Her knees gave out and buckled beneath her. She sat in the middle of sidewalk, ignoring the looks from passerbys, and continued to stare at those grey eyes that were scanning her right hand very intensely.

"Miss, could I take a closer look at this ring you're wearing?"

Cho heard a voice, but she only focused on the speaker's grey eyes dumbly and blinked several times in somewhat of a response.

"Here, you can hold onto my watch while I look at."

She felt her hand fall into her lap and a few seconds later, a heavier item placed next to her hand.

"Miss, are you alright?"

'Merlin! It must be him!'

She felt her hand being picked up again. The base of her ring finger on her right hand suddenly felt clammy where her ring once was. She still could only see those grey eyes, now studying the ring up close, scrutinizing every detail.

"Aha! This is it! My God I can't believe it! You must be her! Cho, Cho Chang, the girl Cedric used to talk about endlessly!"

Cho snapped back to reality when she heard her own name and Cedric's, or more like she went from being transfixed on a pair of eyes to total and complete confusion. She looked at the man before her who was now replacing the ring back on her finger. He was tall and had a bronze-golden mix of hair that was kept not short, but not too long as well. His jaw was very angular like a text book trapezoid but had understated cheek bones that gave him a boyish-man look. And those godforsaken grey eyes! He looked so much like Cedric she could cry! Well in fact, she did start crying, crying like she did back in her school days.

"Oh god, you really are her! Uh, d-don't cry! I'll um, uh…. Here, let's get you standing up first," he declared as he grabbed her by the underarms and stood her up as if she only weighed as much as ragdoll. However, she collapsed again as soon as he let go as if she really were a ragdoll.

"Shit, what do I do? Um, my apartment is very close to here and maybe you could regain yourself over a cup of tea?" He suggested in a panic. He looked at her for a response, only to get a sniffle and some more tears pouring out of her eyes.

"I supposed we have no other choice. Grab onto my shoulders," the grey eyed man said as he squatted down in front of her. Cho gently held onto his shoulders as he grabbed behind both her knees and stood up. This certainly gained a few stares as the man piggy backed the small Chinese woman on his back down the sidewalk and Cho buried her face into the man's neck as if to hide her face. The tears didn't stop and she continued to sniffle, every once and while getting the scent of the man's coat into her nose.

'This reminds me of…'

"I'm sorry Cedric," a 12 year-old Cho Chang mumbled from being carried on the back of Cedric Diggory. It was a common situation for these two. She was very clumsy in her pre-teen years; often resulting in one or both of them getting injured. Of course, Cedric would do his best to take care of her and to make sure she never felt guilty for her slip-ups.

"No worries, but you never cease to amaze me Cho," he responded in a gentle manner despite him feeling quite uneasy. He could feel her breath at the base of his neck and her petite body was pressed against his with her legs wrapped around his waist.

"How so?" She inquired with a sniffle.

"Well, I never knew it was possible to fall off a motionless broom before today," the boy somewhat sniggered. Although Cho couldn't see his face, she knew he was smirking.

"Dummy! Let me down! I can walk just fine!" She huffed with another sniffle as she began to squirm.

"No, I'm not putting you down. You're so small it doesn't bother me, really."

Cho was released from her reverie when she felt herself being set down on a sofa. She let go of the man who carried her and hardly noticed as he went off into the kitchen. She studied the room afore her and instantly noted a television, a muggle device that simply fascinated the young woman ever since she first learned of one in her muggle studies class back in her third year. In fact, she would find that every once and a while, her face would appear in the television for brief moments saying "Because I'm worth it," due to some odd woman whisking her away off the street and into a room filled with muggle technology.

"Here's some tea; earl grey," the man announced as he awkwardly placed a cup of tea in front of Cho on the coffee table.

'Grey,' Cho thought with a sniffle.

The tall man took a seat in the rocking chair across the sofa from where Cho was sitting. He quietly sipped at his tea as he tried his best to keep from staring at unmoving young woman before him. It was rather awkward, two strangers in a house alone acting as if there's nothing to talk about. Finally, the young man spoke up.

"So I know you must be Cho Chang. I guess maybe you've been wondering how I know of you?"

Cho remained silent but looked up and made eye contact with the man.

"Cedric Diggory was, I mean, is my cousin. I'm Benjamin Diggory, most call me Ben."

She felt a lump form up in her throat and she tried to hold it down. However her mental dam broke and another sobbing wave came flooding down. She could no longer breathe through her nose and began hyper ventilating through her mouth. Her hands and face went numb and she could no longer hear her own crying.

"Oh god! What the hell have I done?" Ben panicked as he ran over to the couch and knelt before her. He pulled a handkerchief out of his right pocket. He frantically wiped her face and tried to get her to calm down to no avail. When he realized what he was doing wasn't working, he got up and picked up under the arms like he did earlier. He hesitated before he wrapped his arms around the young woman and held her so her toes couldn't reach the ground. She heaved and blubbered on his shoulder as he held her head gently and tried his best to soothe her.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It was horrible. It is horrible. I know there's nothing I can do, so just cry until you can't anymore."

"What's the matter Cho?" Tall, handsome, 4th year Cedric asked the said girl, who was currently weeping in a little corner formed by the hedges in one of the school's gardens.

"C-C-Cewaaaaaah!" She tried to say his name, but failed miserably. Her sobs overtook her as she buried her head in her knees.

"I obviously can't do anything. What's wrong? Why are you crying?" He asked, bending down at the knees to her level.

"I-I-I'm not cr-crying! I'm not!" She wailed as she glared at him.

"Okay then if you aren't crying, then why are you upset?" He inquired gently, rather than teasing her for being slightly crazy.

"There's nothing wrong. Nothing," she huffed followed by a series of empty coughs so strong one might've thought she'd throw up.

"If nothing is wrong then why are you crying?" He asked again.

"I'm-I'm n-not-waaaaaah!" She began bawling again.

"Oh dear," Cedric sighed. He moved closer to the girl and forcefully pulled her into him so that she was curled up between his legs as he held her tightly to his chest. He rested the bridge of his nose on top of her head while keeping his bone crushing embrace on the girl.

"I'm s-s-sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't want t-t-to-to cry. I'm n-not crying. I'm sorry. I'm s-s-so s-st-stupid. I'm s-sorry," Cho muttered through her clenched teeth. Her shoulders heaved and shook as she tried to catch her breath.

"What? Merlin Cho! Why are you apologizing? Tell me what's wrong!" He demanded as he loosed his grip on her and lifted his head to look at her shaking frame.

" N-No! It's stupid. It-It's just whining and s-stupid stuff. I don't w-w-want to bother you with my trivial wh-whining," she sniffled as she refused to look him in the eye.

"Bloody hell," he groaned. "Cho, if something is bothering you this much, then it's not stupid and you will not be whining if you tell me what's wrong. I don't care how stupid you think it is, I'll listen and decide how serious it really is!"

"But-but-"

"Merlin! Just talk to me dammit!"

Cedric was scowling so hard that he didn't notice that Cho had calmed down and was now completely silent in his arms. She sniffled and let out a sigh.

"Fine, but don't blame me when you get sick of my ranting and want me to shut up."

He smiled and released sigh as he rested his cheek on her cool smooth black hair.

"I'm listening."

Cho's breathing finally settled down at a regular pace. Her cheeks burned from all of the salty tears that seemed to erode her skin. Her nose was completely clogged and steady breathing from her mouth was the only option.

"Jesus girl, you still get this upset? Haven't you talked to anyone since then?" Ben questioned as he set Cho back down on the couch and handed her a tissue. He took a seat next to her and watched her intently.

Cho just shook her head and bit her bottom lip. The one person she would've been able to talk to was dead. Her old best friend, Marietta, was horribly unemotionally attached to anything. She thought that Harry Potter would understand, but he always pushed the subject away. It wasn't something she could easily discuss with her parents, despite her mother providing whatever comfort she could. So she was left to deal with it on her own which included bottling everything up only to be momentarily released on lonely nights until she fell asleep.

"Well, I can't give you any answers seeing that I can barely wrap my mind around the whole uh, magic thing, but if there's anything you'd like to get off your chest or just um, talk about him… I dunno. I'll listen," he offered.

She remained silent in response. She loved remembering him, but she didn't want to remember him alone. However there was nobody she could comfortably remember him with. She was never really close to his Hufflepuff friends and her own friends usually left the two of them alone, that and they got tired of listening to her talk about him.

"I'll go first then seeing that you're not talking. I got a little something that might cheer you up. You see Cedric was like a little brother to me…"

It was the beginning of summer. School had let out for both of the boys. Despite not having contact for most of the year and one having magical abilities, they were best friends as well as cousins. Cedric was returning from his second year at Hogwarts while Ben was released from year 10 at secondary school. Cedric went to go stay with his uncle and cousin in the muggle world immediately after school let out.

The boys had a regular meet and greet then out for dinner type reunion until it became time for bed. They ran up the stairs of Ben's parent's home and scuttled quickly into Ben's room. As soon as the door shut Cedric said, "I'm in love."

"What?" The older boy scowled.

"I'm in love," Cedric repeated as he began to settle himself on his own bed across from Ben's.

"Cedric what on earth are you talking about? Are you crazy?" Ben scoffed as he frowned even harder. Young teenage boys had no business in love, or so he thought.

"This girl! Dear god Ben! I met her this year and she's so-Merlin! She's everything! I'm bloody in love!" Cedric sigh-yelled as he flopped back into some pillows, causing the metal frame of the bed to the creak.

"Slow down Cedric! You've got to be out of your mind!" Ben tried to reason from his own bed.

"I am out of my mind! I love her! Love her! Love her! Love her!" The younger boy screamed into his pillow.

"Alright, I believe you. Just calm down and tell me about this girl," Ben sighed, not really buying into the whole love-at-thirteen business.

"And then he proceeded to tell me about how he met you when you were crying about how you accidentally singed off half your hair in some sort of chemistry class and some bastard of a teacher yelled at you for not doing it correctly. And how he offered to fix your hair and tutor you," Ben finished.

Cho was silent before she burst out with, "I know who you are!"

"What?" He questioned, slightly taken aback from her sudden outburst.

"You're Ben! The Ben! Oh Cedric would never shut up about you! I can't believe it's really you!" She exclaimed with her puffy red eyes slightly beaming.

The man felt like smacking himself in the forehead, but due to the sensitivity of the situation, he decided to go with the flow. "Yup, I'm him," he answered with a dashing smile.

"But how-wait. Oh. Oh god. I'm sorry. I was crying and-oh god," Cho groaned as she flopped her face into her hands.

Ben simply let out a hearty laugh. "You certainly are everything he said you were," he chortled as he gave her a good pat on the shoulder. He stopped laughing, causing the two to share yet another moment of silence.

Cho finally unburied herself from her hands and asked, "So is that story really true?"

"What are you talking about? Of course it's true!" Ben exclaimed with a slight frown. "Why do you ask?"

"That idiot didn't confess to me until his 5th year!"

"Summer," Cedric simply said as he took a seat next to Cho on the Hogwarts Express. He was beginning his 5th year and she her 4th.

"What?" The black haired girl scowled at her friend's one word random introductory statement.

"Summer. Me. Thinking. Letters," he said as his focus never left the ground. He was oddly stiff with his arms straight, elbows locked, and large hands on his knees.

"Are you alright? Cedric?" Cho worried as she leaned in to look at his face.

"Letters and you. I-I-The letters!" He nearly yelled, refusing to look at her and sounding completely nutty.

The Chinese girl looked at Cedric, frowned, and decided to do the only thing to get him to make sense; she punched him, in the face, hard. She immediately regretted it when he was caught so off guard that he fell to the other side and hit his head on the wall of the compartment. Cho of course started apologizing like mad to the slightly conscious young man, afraid to touch him. She groaned as she slapped her forehead with her palm.

"I'm sorry Cedric, but you know it's the only thing that brings you back to your senses. I didn't mean for you to hit your head. Can you even hear me? Cedric?"

"I'm here," he mumbled, completely unmoving.

"Well it's good that you're conscious. Remember that one before you had to take the charms final and all you could do was babble like a fool? And then I punched you and knocked you out and sent you to the Hospital Wing for the rest of the day. Professor Flit-" Her rambling was cut off.

"Cho, I love you!" The grey eyed teen blurted out.

Following the outburst was a painfully long silence. Cedric pressed his thumbs together nervously while Cho tried to process what he had just said. The girl's slight frown suddenly disappeared as she burst out laughing. Cedric had a full body twitch seeing that it wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

"D-Did you re-re-really j-just say wh-what I th-think y-y-you said?" She managed to choke out between fits of laughter.

"Um, I'll leave," he responded. He brushed off his pants and stood up. He was about to slide the door open when Cho stopped him.

"Wait! I'm s-s-so-sorry! It's just-" She apologized, still giggling.

"Just what?" He somewhat snapped.

"It's ju-just th-that I'm so ha-ha-happy!" She replied, wiping the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes and the laughing refusing to stop.

"Y-You mean-?" Cedric stuttered as he completely turned around and stared at the girl with wide eyes.

"Of course you big idiot!" She cheered with a huge grin on her small face, the laughing ceased.

He flopped down right beside her again and let out a huge sigh. He wiped his face with his hand, trying to get himself to stop grinning like a lunatic, in which he failed horribly. Cho started laughing again. Cedric looked at her and her bright red cheeks and joined in the laughter himself.

"Ah yes, I remember him telling me that story, but I think he left out the part about getting punched in the face," Ben smirked after listening to Cho's anecdote.

"Yup, that would be Cedric alright; always trying to act cool, then make it seem like he wasn't trying at all. I suppose that's why he was so popular though; such a dork sometimes. He had a lot of friends and swarms of girls with him all the time," she said with a gentle look in her eyes. She could finally breathe through her nose again and her eyes were now pink instead of bright red.

"Swarms of girls? He never mentioned that before," Ben commented.

"Really? They played a part in his ego," Cho giggled, remembering how Cedric would often refer to them in a joking manner to make her mad.

"He only really talked about you and some guy named Tom," he said, resting his chin between his thumb and forefinger.

"Of course, Idiot Tom," she sighed with a smile on her face.

"Idiot Tom?" He questioned putting emphasis on 'idiot.'

"Yes, Idiot Tom, he was one of Cedric's closest mates I suppose. Cedric could be an idiot too, but at least he was subtle about it. Tom though was always so…"

"WATCH OUT!" Somebody had screamed from the top of a stairwell. Cho, who was passing by at the moment, had heard the scream just in time to see and hear somebody tumbling down the steps and Cedric sliding down the banister. The grey eyed fourth year landed gracefully beside the girl and gave her a dashing smile. The other tumbling body however bounced its way down the stairs until it reached the bottom right at Cho's feet.

"Um, are you alright?" She asked looking down at the blonde boy who was lying face down on the marble floor.

The boy looked up and smiled saying, "Haha blue stripes."

Cedric tried to hold back a laugh and Cho flushed to the point where the tips of her ears were Gryffindor red.

"Idiot Tom, I should have guessed," she sneered and then proceeded to place her foot on his head and stomp down only hard enough to give him a minor nosebleed.

"OW! Cedric, how can you possibly li-i-i-I mean, hang out with such a beastly little girl?" The blonde haired boy cried.

"Beastly?! I'll show you beastly!" Cho yelled and went to go kick him in the ribs.

"C'mon now Cho, don't ruin your new shoes that you just got after you ruined your others in that mud fight on the Quidditch field with Davies," Cedric pleaded as he picked her up from behind and set her down a few steps away from his injured friend before any more harm could be done.

"Fighting with mud? Beast Girl! Manly Girl! Man Doll!" Tom yelled at her as he got up to his feet and wiped the little bit of blood trickling from his nose.

"Idiot Tom!" She screamed as she took her shoe off and threw it at the boy, hitting him in the face, and then stomped off in a huff.

"Owww, seriously mate, how can you like her? So not cute at all."

"I find her charming."

"Well I think you're mad."

"We still talk sometimes, meet up and share a drink or two, but I dunno. We never talk about, you know, and it's like the shrieking mandrake in the room that we refuse to acknowledge," Cho sighed.

"Say, how long has it been since? 10 years?" Ben suddenly asked.

"Really? Wow, I guess so, yeah," she answered, finding it amazing how time seemed to fly by. She could remember her school days as if they happened a month ago. "I'm twenty five already! I can't even remember having any birthdays since Cedric died," she gasped.

"Do you remember-" He started only to have Cho finish for him.

"-his seventeenth birthday?"

Ben just smiled in response and leaned back on the couch. A sigh escaped through his nose as he seemed to be remembering a fond memory.

"Of course, it was such a big deal," she replied, then took a sip of her tea.

"Ben, can I ask you something?" Cedric asked his older cousin one summer night, just a few weeks before school would start.

"Go for it," the golden blonde responded in the dark from his bed.

"How experienced are you with girls?" The grey eyed teen asked nervously, lying on his stomach and his chin resting on a pillow.

"What do you mean?" Ben questioned, now completely shaken of any sleepiness that tried to pull him in.

"Well, um, you know. My seventeenth birthday is coming up soon and you know about me and Cho, we've been together for almost over a year now and um, I just kinda, uh want to, you know, 'solidify' our relationship," Cedric replied, feeling completely awkward and using the phrase "you know" too many times.

"Cedric! You're finally going to be man!" Ben gasped and sniggered, then threw a pillow at his younger cousin.

"No, that's not what I-!" Cedric started to defend himself nervously only to be cut off.

"Don't worry about it. I'll help you out," the older boy simply laughed and left his cousin embarrassed and blushing with his face smushed in pillow.

School had been in session for a week. Cho and Cedric sat across from each other at a table in the library, half studying, half goofing around. They were incredibly excited to be reunited at school once again, seeing that they lived rather far apart and only got to see each other once over the summer recession.

"What is it Cedric?" Cho suddenly asked, looking up from her Defense Against the Dark Arts book that she found totally captivating. Professor Moody surely chose the material that would engage his students.

"Wha?" The handsome teen squinted his unique grey eyes.

"Don't 'wha' me. Your foot keeps tapping me in the leg," she commented, her voice slightly above a harsh whisper.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized, "it's just…"

"Just what?" She retorted, growing impatient. Really, the boy could be so finicky sometimes.

"Cho, I want to enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

"WHAT?" She yelled and stood up out of her chair while smacking her hands on the table causing the entire library to look her way. She quickly mumbled her apologies to no one in particular and straightened her pleated skirt before sitting down gracefully back in her seat.

"Sorry, but why?" The black haired girl scowled at her boyfriend.

"Oh I dunno, it just sort of calls to me and it's one of those once in a lifetime opportunities. I can't simply let the chance pass. I'll be seventeen the day before the deadline. Cho, I've got to at least try," he reasoned, holding her hand from across the table and pushing his muggle studies book to the side with his other hand.

Cho sniffed with a pouting expression on her face. She refused to look him in the eye as she gave a gentle squeeze to his hand. It was obvious that she didn't like the idea, but knew there was no stopping him. "Fine," she relented with another sniff.

Cedric simply beamed at her with a happy glow radiating from his grey eyes. He really was excited to no extent and was glad the person most important to him approved and gave her support.

"So, um on the subject of your birthday, is there anything you really want?" She inquired, removing her hand from his and began to skim the pages of her book again.

"Why a matter of fact, there is," he answered simply with a wolfish grin.

She looked up from her book with curious eyes as if to ask, "and that would be…what?"

"Don't worry about it. I only want one thing and you're the only one who can give it to me. You'll see the night of my party," he stated as he grabbed his muggle studies book and rushed off to check it out before Cho could further inquire.

She just sat there with a puzzled look on her face. She sighed and shrugged, then went back to her studies.

"Well, what do you think he meant?" Cho asked her best friend, Marietta Edgecombe, the one night as the two girls sat on Cho's four poster bed.

"Um, I think he was implying that he wants to…you know," the brunette hinted with a fox-like smile.

"Y-Y-You m-mean…?" The smaller girl stuttered, her entire face heating up.

"What else? I mean, come on. He only 'wants one thing' and you're the only one who can 'give' it to him and you'll find out the 'night' of his party. Really, I can only think of that one thing," she explained with much suggestion in her voice.

"Oh Merlin, I think you're right. Am I ready? I don't think I'm ready. Marietta! What do I do?" Cho whined and buried her face in her hands, wanting to scream.

"Well, do you love him?"Marietta asked simply.

"Of course I do!" The Chinese girl exclaimed, throwing her hands off her face and nearly smacking her friend in the nose in the process.

"I say then, just do it."

"Really? So simply?"

"Well think about it. You'll have a lot of time to think about it and prepare. Plus you'll be expecting it, and it'll be special, unlike…you know," the brunette responded sheepishly.

Cho looked at her best friend with pity. She had received a letter from Marietta over the summer filled with a rather intriguing story about her and a visiting French boy that involved breaking into the wine cellar and getting a little out of control. "Don't worry about it Marie, at least it's over with. And I guess you're right. It's just that I feel a little too young, you know?"

"Oh please, there are second years more experienced than the both of us, which I must say is kind of embarrassing," Marietta pointed out.

Cho flushed even more at the thought. "I guess I should start um preparing then."

"You mean you're gonna go through with it?" Marietta asked excitably.

The black haired girl gave meek smile in response. If it was the one thing Cedric really wanted, then she was ready and willing to go through with it, despite her feeling a bit uncomfortable about it.

"Now Idiot Tom won't be able to call you Beast Girl anymore, he'll have to call you Beast Woman!" The brunette joked.

"Marie!"

Cedric's friends decided to celebrate his birthday in one of the lounge rooms that were available to all the students at Hogwarts. It was a cozy den with a large round table, two couches, and plenty of space to fit twenty or so people comfortably. The teens laughed and hollered as they fooled around a charmed carbonated drink called Bursting Burp Bubbles. They later used the empty bottle to play spin the bottle in which Cho reluctantly had to kiss Idiot Tom, with Cedric nearly crying he was laughing so hard.

Of course there was the traditional cake and presents. However when Cedric blew out the candles, the cake exploded, thus resulting in small cake fight and flirty hormonal teens to lick the icing off one another. Tom and a few of Cedric's other male friends made toasts to the birthday boy, mostly involving suggestive growing up references that nearly made Cho's heart stop, and the belting out of modified drinking songs.

After all the usual festivities, somebody suggested they play the simple game of hide and seek, also known as in the teen world, hook up with the person you've been flirting with all night excuse game. Most everyone agreed and Tom agreed to be the seeker. Cho pretended not to notice the wink he sent over to Cedric. Tom shut his eyes and began to count very loudly. The kids immediately scampered off in all directions. Cedric grabbed Cho by the wrist and hurriedly guided them out of the lounge.

"Where are we going?" She hissed choosing to play innocent, although she knew very well where they were going as Cedric pulled her through halls and rooms that she never really paid any mind to before.

He remained silent as he finally stopped his quick paced walk in front of another universal lounge that was a bit smaller than the room they were in before and it had a fireplace. Cho's gaze immediately found the rather large red cushioned couch and chewed the side of her mouth nervously. However, before her thoughts could go too wild, Cedric jerked her over to the window and opened it. She frowned in confusion as she watched him shut the doors to the room with his wand and proceeded to hop out of the window and onto a balcony big enough for several people. He helped her over the window sill so she could see the magnificent night view of the Black Lake.

"Wow," she gasped as she bent over the stone railing and took in the smell of the approaching autumn breeze.

"Cho," he said her name to get her attention.

She looked at him with her dark eyes and said with a smile, "Cedric."

"Listen," he started and grabbed her two small hands in his own, "I just really want to tell you that I love you."

"Oh really now? You only tell me so every day," she teased while ducking her head to the side and looking up at him shyly.

"But it's so true Cho and I know you've been wondering what it is I want from you," he stated, pulling her in a little closer to him.

"Oh I have and it's been driving me absolutely mad! But, I do have a guess as to what it is," she hinted and bit her bottom lip, looking incredibly adorable in the process.

"Do you now? And what might your guess be?" He questioned, drawing his face closer to hers, then rested his forehead against her own.

"Well," she trailed and let go of his hands. She stepped back a few steps and took in a deep breath. She looked down and refused to meet his stare. Slowly, she undid the top button of her blouse with slightly shaking hands. After a gulping down the rest of her fear, she continues to unbutton the rest of her blouse. When she was finished she looked back up at him and asked, "What do you think?" Referring to the lacy black bra that she and Marietta had spent over an hour looking for.

"…Uh…m-…uh-…I-…m-…" Cedric bumbled with his face completely pink and a look that expressed shock, horror, and astonishment.

"Oh Merlin," she sighed and stepped closer to him. His babbling refused to stop and his eyes never left her chest area. He didn't even notice her cock her fist back until after she had punched him on the left side of his face, causing him to stumble a few times over. However, he was out of trance and back in his right mind. He rubbed his sore cheek and jaw before smiling at her and said, "I really do love you."

Her left eye brow rose up in confusion as he reached down and started re-buttoning her shirt closed.

"Cedric, what are you-" She started only to be cut off by him kissing her as he continued to close her shirt. Her hands moved to hold his face and deepen the kiss until she finally broke it off.

"Well if 'that' isn't what you want, then what on earth is it?" She questioned looking totally lost.

It was his turn to take a step back as he continued to stare into her eyes. "I'm putting my name in the Goblet of Fire tomorrow and it's really made me think about you, about us. I don't know what my chances are of being chosen, but if it does so happen that I get to represent Hogwarts in the tournament, well I don't know. I don't know what the tasks will have in store. I just want you to know that if anything happens, inside or outside of the tournament, you mean everything, and I really mean it, everything to me."

Cho stared at him with wide eyes, trying to hold back her tears, and bit her bottom lip. She hardly noticed him reach into his back pocket to pull out something. He held his fist out to her, and she looked at it curiously, wondering what it was he was holding. He opened his hand and sitting on his palm was a gold band that had sapphires and yellow diamonds in an alternating pattern around it. If possible, her eyes grew even wider as she stared at the ring and then back to Cedric.

"What I want from you is a promise that you will love me," he stated with gleaming gentle eyes.

Cho melted. There's really no better word to describe the feeling other than 'melting.' She felt like she needed to be punched in the face for a change, although she knew Cedric would do nothing of the sort. Her brain felt like it had been turned to Vanishing Goo, a simple potion used to remove stains effectively. She could only smile up at him while still trying to hold back from crying, although tears were already leaking through.

"Oh Cedric, if that's all what you want then you surely have it," she responded sincerely.

"Re-Really?" He stumbled on his words, previously unsure of what her reaction would be.

"Cedric, since the moment I saw you goofing around with your friends in a corridor one day in my first year, I had a feeling that if I ever got to know you, I would fall hard for you. And when you spoke to me for the first time after that awful potions class, I knew it for sure. I love you, not only do I promise, but I also can't help but to always have a place in my heart for you," she admitted.

"You say that even though you dated Roger Davies and Oliver Wood?" He teased and tested at the same time.

"Of course! I only dated them because I was trying to get over you!" She shot back while wrinkling her small nose.

"Why would you want to get over me?" He questioned, feeling almost offended.

"Because," she sighed, "I said I liked you since pretty much forever, and I mean, you know how long it took us to get together. Our progression was incredibly slow and I often wondered if it was ever going to go anywhere. And don't point any fingers at me mister, you dated that awful Emily Tillman for quite some time."

"And you know I totally regret it, but it did make you jealous," he stated with a smirk.

"Don't talk to me about jealousy, you hardly batted an eye when I went with Roger and Oliver," she retorted with a sniff and turned her head to the side.

"Are you kidding me? Cho, I wanted to punch Tom back there during spin the bloody bottle!"

"I wanted to punch him too," she muttered.

"You did punch him," he corrected after clearing his throat.

"Oh, that's right," she giggled and looked up at her boyfriend, meeting his eyes. He gave a small laugh as well before he grabbed her hand and slid the ring on her finger. He moved in closer to her and kissed her as his arm encircled her waist and his other hand caressed the side of her face. She was getting used to the feeling of the ring on her right hand ring finger as her arms slid underneath his and she grabbed him by the back of his shoulders with her hands.

"I love you," he stated again after they broke away from each others' lips.

She smiled up at him and a sheepish expression took over her face. "You know, my earlier birthday offer still stands."

Ben was cracking up. Cho joined him and smacked him on the knee.

"Don't laugh! It was a very special occasion!" She defended, snorts escaping through her nose as she tried to calm herself down.

"You're laughing too! Who would've believed such young girls would have such dirty thoughts!" He hollered, wiping the moisture forming in the corners of his eyes.

"You thought it too!" She shot back. She bit her cheeks in a failed attempt to stop the laughing. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed so hard that she actually wanted to stop.

"Obviously our innocent lad Cedric wasn't thinking along those lines," he mentioned, smirking at the fact that he had used the word "lad."

Cho and Ben finally calmed down and replenished their dry throats with some tea. Their time alone was cut short moments later when there was a series of knocking at the door. Ben got up from his seat on the couch to open the door and found himself a surprise. "Father, I wasn't expecting you!" He exclaimed in shock as he gave his old man a firm handshake. To Cho, he looked like the sort of grandfather that would be described in a children's book, with a black bowler, a satin-back vest, and gold-rimmed round eye glasses.

"Can't I just drop by and visit my own son? I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he greeted as he made his way through the door slowly and immediately set eyes on Cho. The older man's eyes widened and shot an all-knowing look at his son.

"No, no, it's fine. I just ran into um, a friend and invited her over," he quickly explained. "Father, this is Cho. Cho, this is my father, Tim." Ben shut the door behind him and went into the kitchen to pour another cup of tea.

"Ah, lovely meeting you Cho. I hope my son hasn't caused too much trouble for you," the old man nodded her way with a smile. He had a twinkle in his eye in which Cho couldn't help but to think of the passed on Hogwart's headmaster.

"Not too much," she joked as she sent a wink Ben's way.

"She's just crazy father, really. Sit down and have some tea," he urged as he set down the tea on a small glass table next to the kitchen. He shot a wide eyed look towards Cho that was left open to interpretation. 'What do you want me to do?' She mouthed. He simply let out a silent groan in response and ran both hands through his hair.

"You two come over here and sit down," Tim ordered the two youngsters. Cho grabbed her tea and moved her location to the chair across from the old man while Ben sat between the two of them on Cho's left. "So, are you two friends from school?" He inquired.

Cho took a sip of her tea inconspicuously. She'd let Ben taken the lead, then play along according to.

"Well-" Ben started slowly, but was cut off by his father.

"That ring! So this is who you ended up giving it to!" Tim exclaimed with a huge smile and the twinkle in his eye gleamed brighter.

Ben bit his lip and turned tomato sauce red in response. "Actually-" He started again, only this time he was cut off by Cho.

"I'm actually, well, I was Cedric's girlfriend," she answered calmly, looking incredibly at ease for the first time in a long time. Tim's smile fell slightly, but returned a gentle smile to the girl.

"Well I'll be a mackerel's husband! I see, you made that ring for Cedric to give to this young lady," the older man nodded in understanding towards Ben, who nodded back.

"You made it yourself? Like actually hand made it yourself?" Cho nearly exclaimed while turning to Ben and glancing back at her ring.

Before the younger man could explain that he was a jeweler, they heard a loud ringing. Cho immediately searched her pants pocket to find her cell phone. She fumbled with a buttons and cursed under her breath as she tried to answer it properly. "I'm sorry; I've got to take this. Stupid phone, so hard to use," she excused herself from the table and found a spot next to a large window in the living room.

Both men looked at the young woman with amusement. Tim turned to Ben and said, "I remember when you asked me to help make that ring. You put all your heart into making that gorgeous piece of jewelry there. I surely thought it was for some special girl of yours."

Ben smiled and took a sip of his tea before answering. "Well, I figured if Cedric loved her so much, so would I."

A/N: Well, this has to be the longest thing I've ever written; 16 freaking pages. I know Cho and Cedric don't really start dating until the Yule Ball in the series, but I this is my story so if you have a problem with it, then fuck you. I was also kinda shocked to learn that Cedric was in his 6th year when he entered the Tri-Wizard Tournament; I always assumed he was a 7th year. I was also kinda shocked to hear that Cho marries a muggle man, but it does make sense.