Author name: Itsuwari
Author e-mail: AngelKinomoto@aol.com
Category: Angst/Drama
Keywords: Cho, Cedric, Ginny, Charlie, revenge
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Mostly GoF, but all four books, plus both schoolbooks
'Ships: Cedric/Cho and Charlie/Cho take center stage. Draco/Fleur, Ron/Hermione, and Harry/Ginny are implied, but are closer to plot devices than romances.
Summary: The night of the Third Task, a desire for revenge was awakened in Cho Chang. And now, several months later, she is about to embark on a quest to destroy Peter Pettigrew that will take many years of total dedication, test her loyalties to the light side, and, if she isn't careful, even take her life.
-----------------------------------
Swan Song
a Harry Potter fanfiction
by Itsuwari
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Various bits of Dumbledore's and Fudges's dialogue throughout the prologue (and at least one instance of the brief description following the dialogue) are taken directly from [the American version] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Thanks to the lovely Lizzy for beta-ing this.
-----------------------------------
Prologue
"Dead." Lacey whispered softly, looking over at Cho, who met her friend's eyes with a stunned expression.
"He can't be. There's no way."
"Harry, let go of him." The minister's voice came again, louder and more self-assured this time.
"It must be a mistake. There were safety precautions. He's just stunned, or knocked out - or something. He can't be dead. They wouldn't let that happen." Cho kept babbling a thousand explanations for what had happened, trying furiously to keep the reality from setting in.
"Excuse me. Pardon me. I'm trying to get through here." Ramona's composed, familiar voice broke through the hubbub of screams and terrified whispers. It was followed by several angry grunts, one or two expletives, and a muttered, "What makes you so much more special than us?" She finally broke through the crowds to get to where Lacey and Cho were standing, shocked. She put a comforting arm around Cho's shoulder.
"It'll be okay," she said, trying to sound soothing, but failing miserably. If the situation hadn't been so serious and heartbreaking, Cho probably would have laughed. It wasn't every day that her best friend failed at that. "We should go back up to the castle. They'll tell us what's going on as soon as they find out."
The world around Cho seemed to dissolve into a jumble of incoherent sounds and blurry images. As Lacey and Ramona steered her toward the large doors of the castle, however, a very clear image of Professor Moody leading Harry Potter into the castle stood out in her mind. She never would have thought it of Harry. He was supposed to be the hero of the wizarding world, and on the few occasions Cho had chanced to meet with him, he'd seemed like such a nice boy. But he'd wanted to win the Triwizard Tournament so much that he'd - he'd killed Cedric. A red-hot rage shot through every one of Cho's semi-conscious senses. How dare he? What made Harry Potter so much better than Cedric Diggory, that he had the right to dispose of him in favor of his picture in the Daily Prophet and a thousand Galleons? Somewhere in the back of her mind, a rational part of her refused to believe that Harry had done, indeed, that Harry, only a fourth year, was even capable of doing, any such thing, but that part was easily overrun by the other part of her - the part that wanted revenge and was willing to take it on anyone. She hated Harry Potter so much that she wanted to kill him.
When they turned down the corridor that led to Ravenclaw's rooms, Cho lost sight of Harry. But even as she drifted off to sleep, his figure, standing over Cedric's spread-eagled body, continued to follow her. The last image in her mind before she drifted off into a dreamless sleep was that of Harry breaking into a seemingly endless stream of maniacal laughter as he pointed down at Cedric.
The next few days passed by excruciatingly slowly. In the corridors on the way to meals there were many whispered apologies from people, some of whom Cho had never spoken to in her life. Ramona was as supportive and sympathetic as she'd ever been, and Lacey seemed to try a lot harder to be the same, but it was obvious to Cho that they both were very uncomfortable around her, and so she tried to spend as little time as possible with them, or with anyone else. She was allowed to leave the school to attend Cedric's funeral two days after the task, along with a group of Hufflepuffs who wanted to honor their Captain and Seeker.
She wasn't terribly impressed with the funeral, which was mostly just a bunch of "he was an exemplary Hufflepuff and role model for the rest of us." She felt that they didn't cover any of the important things about Cedric, like the way he kissed, or those philosophical conversations you could have with him that almost made you forget the way he kissed, or how wonderfully different he'd been from any other "stupid boy" she'd ever met. No one there seemed to take any notice of the fact that there was someone there who had loved Cedric in a different way from his parents and his good friends.
For most of the ceremony and the reception following, no one spoke a word to Cho, and Cho spoke a word to no one. Instead, she listened to what those around her were saying to each other.
"Mum, be reasonable. There was no cause whatsoever for you to rush me up from Romania and not let Bill go back to Egypt to go to a funeral of some kid we never met." The stocky redhead sitting a couple tables over seemed not to feel any need to disguise the fact that he would rather be anywhere but at this funeral. Cho wrinkled her nose in disgust. He could at least be respectful of other people's feelings. His mother, at least, had the dignity to try to be discreet about her son's lack of manners. Cho couldn't hear her response, but whatever it was, it made the young man angry and he stalked away from the table at which his mother, and two other men, probably his father, and this 'Bill' he'd mentioned, sat. Before Cho realized what was happening, he had sat down next to her and started making himself comfortable.
"Hey," he said cheerily, smiling at her. "You don't look so happy."
"I'm not." The man seemed vaguely familiar, although Cho couldn't picture where she'd seen him before.
"Your boyfriend?" he asked, jerking his thumb back towards the cemetery that bordered the Diggory's yard. She stared at him. How on earth had he guessed? He laughed at the stunned expression on her face. He was even ruder than she'd thought. A tear dripped down her cheek.
"Don't take it too hard. It always ends up this way. Love is nothing but trouble."
"And you would know how?" she asked, unleashing all the anger and bitterness of the past few days at this ill-mannered stranger. "I can't imagine you ever having much experience in love with this kind of behaviour." Rather than achieving the desired effect of hurting the impudent man, this comment only made him laugh harder.
"Have we met before?" she finally asked. She wanted to get up and leave the table, but she had to know if her feeling of familiarity was accurate or not. He thought for a second before registering where he could have met her before.
"Were you that girl who came up to me after the first task wanting to know about the dragons?" he asked.
"That was you? You seemed so much nicer." Cho blurted without thinking. He laughed again.
"That was my professional face. I'm Charlie, by the way. Charlie Weasley."
"Cho Chang. Are you Fred and George's older brother?"
"Sadly, yes. You know them?" Charlie sighed.
"Not really. Just their reputation. You work with dragons, then? What's it like?" All thoughts of leaving the impudent Charlie Weasley alone had vanished from Cho's head the moment she realized that he worked on the International Dragon Reserve in Romania. Not many people appreciated dragons for the wonderful creatures Cho thought they were, and the fact that Charlie did at least temporarily erased all of the hideous faults she had found him to have only a moment before.
Two or three hours later, when Professor Sprout came over to say that they were going to head back to Hogwarts, Charlie and Cho were still deep in conversation about life on the dragon reserve and life in general. All thoughts of Cedric's death had been banished from Cho's mind, and she forgot where she was, so entranced was she by Charlie's description of the reserve. As they took their leave of each other, however, she abruptly came crashing back down to earth.
"Feel better now?" he asked cheekily. Suddenly, Cho remembered where she was and why she was there. The smile that had lit up for features for the last several hours disappeared, replaced with her previous vengeful melancholy.
"No." she said coldly. "And I never will," she whispered to herself. She turned swiftly on her heel and followed Professor Sprout and the Hufflepuffs back toward the Diggory's fireplace to floo to Hogsmeade, leaving a smirking, yet bewildered, Charlie Weasley staring after her.
During the walk to Hogwarts from Hogsmeade, a few people talked softly, but most remained silent. When they entered the Castle, the Hufflepuffs all headed down the hallway towards their common room. Cho ascended the stairs, staring at the patterns in the rough-cut stone. She didn't realize that anyone was coming down the stairs until she bumped into someone and felt herself falling, before whoever it was that she'd bumped into caught her hand and saved her from falling back down.
"Thank-" she started, looking up to see whom her rescuer was. It was Harry. Her heart stopped. "You," she finished coldly. He stared at her for a second, tears welling up in his emerald eyes.
"I'm sorry-- about everything," he stammered in a choked voice before turning away from her, a few quiet tears dripping down his face, and completing his walk down the stairs. That was odd, she thought, beginning her climb again. He had almost seemed to be apologizing for Cedric, but why would a murderer apologize? Maybe…maybe he hadn't killed Cedric. Away from the maze and the frantic crowd, it was a lot easier to believe that Harry had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was completely innocent of Cedric's blood. He was only a fourth year, after all, even if he was the wizarding world's most famous figure.
A few days later, all of Hogwarts was packing up for the summer holiday. They were quieter than usual as they did this; Cedric's death had put a damper on even those who had never spoken to him. As she passed by the Great Hall, Cho noticed Professor Flitwick charming black drapes onto the wall. She turned away, unable to watch.
That evening, she entered the Great Hall trying not to look at the drapes of mourning that covered the hall. She took her seat at the Ravenclaw table, and stared down at her empty plate, blinking back her tears. As Dumbledore stood up to begin his speech, all noise in the Great Hall immediately ceased.
"The end," he said, his voice seeming softer than usual, "of another year." He paused, looking down at the Hufflepuff table for a moment. Had Cho looked up, she would have seen 200 faces that mirrored hers at that table, but she kept her gaze fixed on the plate.
"There is much that I would like to you tonight, but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should sitting here, enjoying our feast with us. I would like all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."
Cho stood with the rest of the hall, eyes still on her plate as she raised her glass.
"Cedric Diggory." Soft tears began to pour down her face.
"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued after everyone had sat back down. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about." Cho raised her head abruptly and stared at Dumbledore. It was the moment she'd been waiting for. Dumbledore would be able to tell her who or what exactly it was that she hated so much she wanted to kill.
"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort." Cho barely noticed the panicked whisper that ran through the Hall. She was too busy processing this information. This meant that she would have to kill You-Know-Who to avenge Cedric. That sounded hard. But if one-year-old Harry Potter could do it, so could sixteen-year-old Cho Chang. Then she would be the wizarding world's greatest hero.
"The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so -- either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory.
"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore continued, "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter." Cho looked back down at her plate. So he had been at least partially responsible. She sighed. After the funeral, she'd completely believed that Harry hadn't done anything.
"Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort. He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown when facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor him." Dumbledore stood up again, and raised his glass. Cho, feeling very stupid for assuming that Harry had murdered Cedric after all, followed suit.
"Harry Potter," she murmured, along with everyone else before sitting back down.
"The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened -- of Lord Voldemort's return -- such ties are more important than ever." Dumbledore cast his gaze around, to Madame Maxime, to the Beauxbatons students at the Ravenclaw table, and to the Slytherin table, where the now headmasterless Durmstrang students sat nervously.
"Every guest in this hall will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again -- in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
"It is my belief -- and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken -- that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst.
"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."
"I always will," Cho whispered.
It wasn't until she climbed into the carriage to go the Hogsmeade station the next morning that it finally hit Cho that the year was over, and she was going home for the summer. What that summer would be like, Cho didn't know. It was entirely possible that, as she was Muggle-born, You-Know-Who would come after her, and she would merely become the latest on a long list of those who had been his victims, and who were both always remembered and entirely forgotten by the magical community. Or she would spend it in her usual mundane holiday existence; completely unable to explain to her parents why she was so worried. She had a feeling that her parents would be all too willing to pull her out of Hogwarts and the rest of the magical world if she told them of the danger that they were all in. She would have no one to talk to about everything that had happened that year during the whole holiday. Unless--
Harry. That was who she needed to talk to. He could tell her everything she wanted to know about how Cedric had died, and who, now that she knew it wasn't him had killed him. Because she was going to avenge his death. Somehow.
She stepped out and walked across the platform to the train. It was going to be a long summer.
Before stepping into the train, she wiped her eyes. There would be no more tears. Tears, after all, were useless in exacting revenge.