A/N: Please Review, this story is one that took me forever to sit down and write. READ IMPORTANT: Cho and Harry are the same age, and they happen to meet in school 1 year before they go to hogwarts. Cho is a muggleborn. This story will kost likely have the first 2 or three chapters pre-hogwarts, then the rest of the chapters continuing into hogwarts.
Story Summary: What if Cho and Harry were the same age? The two happen to meet a year before they find out they are witch and wizard, and the rest, as they say in Ravenclaw, is history. Cho/Harry, both friendship and Romance.
"Harry!" It was a girl's voice, perhaps a young woman's, but he couldn't see her. He frantically tried to open his eyes, but it seemed that was as likely as him lifting a 1000 pound weight. "Harry, don't let them take me! Harry! HARRRRRRRYYYY!" The latter was an ear-piercing scream that caused him to flinch so hard that he slammed into a wall.
No, not a wall...
He groaned loudly as he lifted himself off the floor, blood dripping off his nose. He had fallen off his bed and flat on his face. He stood up and shook his head, which was rather foolish in retrospect, because that caused his nose to drip red goo faster.
He grabbed his least favorite shirt, the one that had the graphic lightning on the chest, and wiped is face off. He then tried the knob on his handle and sighed with relief when the door to his cabinet opened. He stepped outside to find Two out of Three of the people he hated most: Petunia and Vernon, both sitting on a couch, one reading the local paper and the other knitting.
"Where's the tissues?" He asked loudly. When neither of them moved a muscle, he sighed and repeated; " Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, will you please tell me where the Tissues are?" in the most respectful voice he could muster. "That's better," Growled Uncle Vernon, his mustache twitching. Petunia just muttered, "Kitchen counter,", noticeably venomously.
Harry nodded and headed that way, stuffing his nose and then headed back to the cupboard to get ready for school. "You better get your ass in gear, boy, your already late." Harry glanced up at the clock and gasped. 9:20. He was almost half an hour late! Mrs. Vesters was going to absolutely murder him.
"Why didn't someone come and get me?" He asked frantically. Petunia huffed, looking almost insulted, and said, "It's not our responsibility to wake you up in the morning." And she resumed clicking her sewing needles.
"Well it's not like you've bought me an alarm clock..."
"Buy your own." Huffed Vernon, his mustache twitching again.
"You don't pay me to do my chores!"
"Ever heard of a job, boy?"
"I'm ten!" protested Harry, his eyes tearing up in frustration. "ENOUGH!" shouted Vernon. He was obviously frustrated as well, because he slammed his paper onto the coffee table. "GET TO SCHOOL, BOY!"
Ten minutes later, Harry sprinted into the classroom, nearly running into Mrs. Vesters. Ah, dear Vesters.. She was extremely tall, perhaps 6'5, with a long, hooked nose and brown hair that formed a neat curtain around her head, opening to reveal her specs, nose, and mouth. Her body was perfectly stock straight, no curves, no bumps to credit her woman-hood. It was as if Puberty had evaded her entirely. Her voice was that of someone who had been shouting their whole life: Shrill yet oddly intimidating,
"Ah, Master Potter, late again, almost by 45 minutes this round. What's your story this time? Your Uncle forgot to wake you again?" The tone of her voice obviously suggested she wouldn't believe that for a second. "Yes" panted Harry. "Nevertheless, Potter, sit down, and see me after class for your detention slip." Harry bowed his head in shame as the entire class laughed at him. Someone even threw an eraser, and it hit him straight in the forehead. He glared up to see Dudley Dursley, his cousin and numero tres on the hate list, already getting another ready.
"That is enough!" shouted Vesters in her surprisingly loud voice. "Potter, sit down. NOW."
The day after that was the usual. Sometimes a person would launch a mean look or even a spitball his way, but he didn't mind to terribly. He just sat in the back corner and doodled the whole time, never once glancing up.
After a lunch of sitting on the old rickety swing set alone, Harry plopped down his Back corner seat with a sigh. It was Science, and, as it had been since day one, he had no lab partner. But, when Mrs. Vesters walked into class after everyone had taken their seats, she had a surprise with her.
A young Asian girl stood with her. She had her hair pulled back into a simple ponytail, which allowed her strikingly beautiful face to show. She wore red t-shirt and blue skinny jeans that made it obvious she was already rather curvy, for a 10 year old. All the boys in the class immediately sat straight up, some already had goo-goo eyes.
"Class, this is our new student." Announced Vesters, "Her name is Cho Chang. Please be kind." Harry inwardly laughed. He had a feeling the boys were going to be very kind too her.
He bowed his head towards his "notebook" and started to doodle again. This time it was a motorcycle flying through clouds, an idea he got from a dream a few nights ago. However, his attention was immediately pulled back up to the front when his name was said. "Well, Harry, it looks like you'll finally get a lab partner." The class snickered, but Harry didn't care. He was elated. It couldn't be...
"Cho, please go take your seat next to Harry." Verners said, turning to the board and beginning to write the period's assignment. Cho looked around, confused because Vesters had never told her who Harry was. She finally spotted the only empty seat in the classroom. As she headed for it, she found it curious that some students were whispering "Sorry," and "You poor thing," as she walked to the seat.
She sat down in the seat and flattened out her shirt, before sparing a glance at her lab partner. He was in an oversized shirt, one that looked like it could fit the fat boy she noticed near the front of the room. He wore simple jeans that were way to baggy, again they looked like they could fit a very obese person. His hair was long, and she saw the most curious scar on his forehead just where his hair parted. It looked like lightning. Behind his round glasses were the most beautiful pair of eyes she had ever seen. They were emerald green.
Harry looked over at the girl as she sat down. She glanced over at him and he quickly averted his eyes, going back to doodling in his book. She felt her eyes studying him, however, and he felt his cheeks turn slightly pink.
"Okay, class!" Shrieked Vesters to quiet down the children. "Today, you will all use your knowledge of mixtures and compounds to filter the dirt in the cup of water I gave you. You and your partners have the rest of the hour. The first to get it done and turn in the conclusion gets a bonus 5 points. Now, GET TO IT!" The half of the class that had zoned out flinched when she ended the sentence, and everyone slowly got ready.
Harry sighed. He wasn't really sure how to work with a partner. He usually just skipped the experiment part and wrote a haphazard conclusion for a solid D+. He looked at Cho and it was immediately obvious that she was a very intelligent person. She opened her notebook and wrote in big, gorgeous cursive: CONCLUSION, before turning to the materials: A cup of rather dirty water, 5 other empty cups, several layers of small strips of mesh and a spoon. She studied it for some time, and eventually Harry got bored and started adding detail to the handlebars of the motorcycle.
"Excuse me?" Cho asked the boy sitting next to her. "Um excuse me?" He ignored her. It was as if he had never been talked to before. "Hello?" She said louder. He frowned slightly and looked at her. "Are you talking to me?" He asked in a disbelieving voice. Cho nodded. "Your name's Harry, right? That's what the teacher said. " "Yeah, and your names Cho." He spoke with the tone of voice one does when cooing a scared animal; with the anticipation it would lash out and bite him any second.
She offered him a smile that absolutely took his breath away. "Yes, thank you. So, I think I know what to do, will you please help me?" Harry's eyes widened in disbelief. She wanted his help. Didn't she know who he was? He was Harry Potter, the most useless and meaningless person on the planet. "A-are you sure? I'm not very smart, you know." Cho giggled, a soft laugh that sent shivers up his spine. "Of course you are, you just don't know it yet."
A half an hour later, with Cho's help, Harry had finished the lab and turned in an exceptional conclusion for it, allowing the two almost 25 minutes of free time.
Cho just kind of stared around the room, taking everything in, while Harry turned back to his notebook.
"Wow." Harry turned to see Cho staring at his book, open mouthed. "What?" He asked. Panic took him over. Had he done something wrong? Would she perpetually hate him now, just like the rest of the world? She pointed at his notebook. He relaxed and laughed. "These? Oh these are just doodles." Cho gaped. "Doodles?" Then she smiled. "Doodles? Hah, Harry, these are masterpieces. You are an artist. I wish I could draw like that." Harry turned slightly pink and he whispered. "Years of practice, I suppose. You are really smart." He said the last part really fast, nervous about how she would take a compliment.
"You are really smart." He said it so fast, she barely caught it. But she was still flattered. "Thank you so much!" She looked up when she heard Mrs. Vesters' voice, berating the young Fat lad and his mate, the rat-faced boy. "You Two! I did not ask you to pelt one another with the dirt! Twenty points from Slytherin-" She caught herself at the last word and covered her mouth in shock. Next to her, Cho heard Harry say, "What did she just say?" Cho shrugged and stared, confused, at Vesters.
"What did she just say?" Harry whispered. Next to him, Cho shrugged and continued to stare, and so did the rest to the class, at their red faced teacher.
"Well?" Asked Vesters. "Keep working, you lot!" And she walked back to her desk. The pair in the back kept silent, contemplating, as the rest of the class went about hustling and bustling. Finally, Cho said, "She's really ugly, isn't she?" Harry chuckled and said, "Yeah, it's like puberty totally avoided her." They both laughed quietly, as too avoid attention. Harry grinned and said, "The development is not strong in this one," Cho stopped laughing and gave him a weird look. Harry turned Red. VERY red. "I think I heard that on one of those space movies," He said sheepishly. Cho stared at him for another 5 seconds. Then she broke into laughter. She laughed so hard you couldn't hear it, so she clapped her hands like an odd walrus. Harry giggled as well, then he started laughing with her. They spent the rest of the period talking about different things, such as their hobbies, their family (A topic in which Harry chose not to go too in depth on) and their favorite school subjects.
When the bell finally rang after language arts two hours later, Harry bade Cho goodbye quickly and left, leaving her confused as to why he left in such a hurry. The truth was, after school, Dudley pretty much had free reign to torture him, but as long as Harry beat him outside, Dudley would take the bus and Harry could walk home and sneak into his cupboard when Dudley was upstairs "Doing Homework" aka playing computer games, with any luck. Harry sprinted outside and made it out through the doors, but he was not fast enough.
Dudley grabbed him from the back of his collar and pulled him back. "Ah, here's ickle lil' Hawwy, awwww..." He said in mock happiness. The rest of his cronies laughed at him. Dudley let him down, and turned him away by the shoulders. "Dudley, what are you- AHHHHHH!" Harry yelled as his underpants were pulled up and placed over his head, so his groin was practically screaming. Dudley kicked him down and they all walked away towards the bus, making sure to kick dirt on him.
Harry sighed and berated himself for not running fast enough and pulled the overly stretched underwear off his head and stuffed it in his pants, much to the amusement of the children walking by. He began to walk home when he heard a voice behind him, "That was really mean,"
Cho could not believe what she was seeing. She had just stepped outside for and not two feet away from the door, The fat boy and his friends were kicking dirt all over Harry as they walked away, leaving him lying there with a pair of underwear stretched over his head. She watched him sit up and stuff the undergarments back into his pants, and he simply got up to walk away, as if it was nothing. She just couldn't believe it. She got the sense that he was not popular, but this? She regained control of her legs and ran forward. "That was mean," She said, the only words that would come to mind.
Harry turned and offered a small, fake smile. "Happens a lot. Don't pay much mind too it." He walked away. She couldn't believe it. Someone this genuine, sweet, funny, handsome, smart, and artistic walked this Earth, and that is what he got in return? She ran forward to catch up with him and asked "Where do you live?"
"Where do you live?" To say the question caught Harry off guard was an understatement. "Uhhh.." Cho smiled and said in a voice sweet as cotton candy, "Well, I didn't mean that in a creeper-ish way, I just was wondering so we could walk together." Harry frowned. "Why?" He asked. Cho raised an eyebrow, her head cocked to the side. "Well, I want to walk with you?" She a tried. "Again, why?" Now Cho huffed, blowing a stray hair out of her face. "Because you're a nice guy." Harry laughed. It was a sound that contained such bittersweet resentment that Cho wanted to gag. "Don't you get it Cho? I'm the loser! The outcast! You could make so many better friends, you saw how many people jumped out of their seats. I'm Harry Potter, Cho, and you should probably get out of the loser's circle while you can!"
"-And you should probably get out of the losers circle while you can!" Cho gaped. Was this what all those bullies made Harry think about himself? She saw not a loser, but one of the coolest people she'd ever met, and she'd only known him for maybe 3 hours. She noticed a stray tear fall down his cheek, and she lifted her thumb to wipe it off. "They're the losers," She whispered.
Harry softly pushed her hand away and sighed. "See ya, Cho." But she didn't let him get away. They walked together in silence for some time, before Cho said, "Will you teach me to draw like that?" Harry looked at her quickly. "What?" "Come on, your a great artist-" "I'm no artist." Harry stated, although he had to keep the corners of his lips down in satisfaction. "Oh, come off it, I can see it already, your paintings in all of France's best museums-" Cho said, adopting a laughable motivational voice. "Stop!" Laughed Harry, his hand flying to the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Oh, and what does the plaque say under each and everyone of them?" Harry turned his head away to hide his laughter. Cho grinned and now spoke in a very bad French accent; "Le Harrison Potter, Le Magnifique!" Harry laughed and so did Cho, their voices filling the air with the joyous sounds of happiness.
"Okay, Okay, I'll teach you to draw, just stop doing that!" Cho came to a sudden stop, almost causing Harry to fall on his face for the second time today. "Great, thanks Harry, See ya!" She gave him a quick hug and then dashed off to the front door of the house she had stopped in front of. , before disappearing inside it.
Harry stood there. A hug. So that's what one felt like. He allowed a dreamy smile to occupy his lips. He could get used to that. He looked around, realizing he had gotten so lost in Cho's company that he had no idea he followed her to her house. It was alright, however, he was only a block or two from his house, and he began to trek home, and the only thought that kept his mind company was: "Could I finally have a friend?"
A/N please review!