Cho Chang fiddled with the necklace her mother had given her two years ago, when she had made the Ravenclaw Quidditch House team as Seeker. It was a golden Snitch dangling off of a silver chain, and it was the same necklace that her grandmother had worn when she was a Seeker for Ravenclaw. Not that it mattered very much this year, Dumbledore had already announced that Quidditch was being canceled due to the Tri-Wizard competition, something that Cho couldn't even take part in. What was she supposed to do in her spare time?

"Hey Cho," Marietta said, nudging her and nodding up towards the Professor's table. "Looks like Dumbledore has something to say after all."

"Of course he does," Cho muttered, turning her dark eyes toward the front table. "Aren't those students from the other schools supposed to be arriving today?"

"Good evening students," Dumbledore said, spreading his arms wide to include them all. "Tonight, it is my great honor to introduce those students who will be sharing the castle with us for the rest of the year. Madame Maxine and the students from Beauxbatons along with Igor Karkaroff and his students of Durmstrang." Everyone applauded politely as the doors leading into the Great Hall swung open and a procession of students started in.

Cho's eyes widened when she saw the size of the woman leading the line of Beauxbatons students and she had no doubt that the majority of gasps coming from around the Hall were caused by her. "That's one big woman," Marietta said from her side.

She was about to agree when her eyes landed on one of the students, dressed in robes of pale blue, with long silvery-blonde hair and the bluest eyes Cho had ever seen. "Whoa," she gasped, completely riveted. Marietta nudged her, saying some about one of the Beauxbatons boys, but Cho only nodded distractedly, still watching the blue-eyed girl. She didn't even notice the look of disdain on the girl's beautiful face as she looked around the Great Hall, nor the way she sniffed when more seats were conjured up at the Ravenclaw table for them. She did notice, however, that the empty space next to her was suddenly part of the extended table, and the blue-eyed girl was the one sliding in beside her.

"Hello!" Roger Davies said exuberantly from across the table, standing and leaning over so that he could shake the girl's hand. "I'm Roger Davies, Quidditch Captain for Ravenclaw. Welcome to Hogwarts."

The girl raised a well-plucked eyebrow before taking his hand and inclining her head. "My name is Fleur Delacour," she replied, her voice rich and throaty. "And it is... as they say, a pleasure, I suppose." The girls near to her laughed behind their hands and said something quickly in French, which caused even more laughing. Davies, seeming completely unaware that he was being mocked, just continued to grin at Fleur like a dumbstruck idiot.

Fleur turned away from the group of Beauxbatons students, her eyes meeting Cho's. The dark-eyed girl swallowed hard, hoping that she looked as calm as she was trying to. Fleur looked her up and down, tapping her fork against her golden plate. "And you would be?"

"Marietta Edgecombe," Marietta said from Cho's other side, smiling brightly. "Pleased to meet you, so glad that you have come to Hogwarts."

"I did not mean you," Fleur said flatly, her eyes still on Cho. "And I do not know if I am so... pleased, to be in this castle of yours. It is very damp, no?"

"It's not all that bad," Cho said, her voice returning with her desire to defend her home. "Maybe a little drafty at times, especially in the winter, but it's better than a lot of other places. You'll get used to it soon enough."

"Perhaps," Fleur said with a shrug, "but I think that I will continue to miss my home. At least there dinner is on time, and we eat in a place much more suited to it."

Cho's eyes flashed, her awe at the girl's beauty fading away as her personality was revealed. "Dinner is on time here," she said stiffly, nodding as platters and bowls began to appear on all of the tables and the relatively quiet chatter of the students exploded into a roar. "That time is just different than what you're used to."

The look that Fleur gave her was, to her surprise, speculative and amused rather than upset. "What did you say your name was?" she asked as she ladled a bit of what looked like a rich fish soup into her bowl.

"I didn't," Cho said shortly, having decided that pretty or not, this Fleur Delacour was not the most appealing of characters.

"Would you please share it with me?"

Cho tapped her fork against her plate. "Will you leave me alone if I do not?"

"No."

"Cho Chang," she said, deciding that the fish soup, bouillabaisse if she remembered correctly, looked like the most appetizing thing on the table. "Now, if you do not mind, I would like to enjoy the feast."

"As would I," Fleur agreed, turning in her seat so that her back was to her fellow Beauxbatons students and she was able to look at the rest of the Ravenclaw table, and Cho, much easier. "But nothing makes a good meal like good conversation, would you not agree, Cho?"

The Irish girl did her best to not allow her teeth to grind together. "Normally I would say yes," she replied, trying to be polite. Professor Flitwick, her Head of House, would not be pleased if he learned that she was being rude to one of their guests. Especially one who could very well become one of the Tri-Wizard champions in a number of days. No matter how rude she was. Sighing, Cho amended her statement, "Yes, conversation does make a meal much nicer."

Fleur's smiling was dazzling. "Good," she murmured, sipping at her soup. "I see that you have a Snitch necklace about your neck, do you not? Do you play Quidditch?"

Looks like this is going to be one long feast, Cho thought, resigning herself to making polite, idle chatter with the Beauxbatons girl. Despite the fact that she wasn't even looking at them, almost every last Ravenclaw boy, and the Hufflepuffs at the next table, were staring at Fleur with a sort of longing, and Cho with more than a little bit of jealousy for being able to speak with her. See if they'd still look at her like that if they heard what she had to say about Hogwarts.

Later that night as they were settling into their respective beds, Marietta remarked on how lucky Cho was. "Getting to talk to Fleur all night like that," Marietta said. "Roger and some of the others would have given their left hands to switch you seats."

Cho muttered something incomprehensible as she pulled her covers up to her chin and turned towards the wall, her mind zooming. Of all the people at the Ravenclaw table, she must have been the only one not yearning to talk to Fleur Delacour with her throaty accent and exotic features. Not that it mattered. Hopefully, by the time dinner rolled around the next night, Fleur would have found someone else to talk to. Someone who would fawn over her and not give a Kneazle's tail about her personality.