Harry dragged his feet heavily down the staircase, towards the great hall.
His bag weighed a ton today, and his head felt as though it was going to
split. He winced as each footfall on the stone reverberated and amplified
its way up his spine to perform a sort of percussion act inside his skull,
much to his annoyance. Finally, he pushed open the doors with his last mite
of strength before falling to a halt just inside the Hall.
And there she was.
The beautiful brunette was sitting peacefully, smiling down at a book she was reading over her dinner. He audibly sighed as a great weight left him, leaving him with only his schoolbag. His posture righted itself as he gained momentum with each step toward her. She finally saw him in a glance over her book and raised her lovely glowing face to him, smiling with her eyes. His heart fluttered. It pulled him toward her. Walking without seeing the sad and angry faces of both their house tables, Harry carried his feet straight to Cho, where he sat beside her, beaming from ear to ear. It felt so wonderful to be with her. He was never able to forget the feeling of just being near Cho, and when he wasn't near her, he ached for her. To see her pretty face, that smile she had just for him. It made him glow, in her reflected light. And much the same way the moon basks in the reflected light of the sun, he felt cold and empty without her presence.
2 weeks prior...
Just when he thought his glasses were about to slip off his nose into his cup of tea leaves due to the angle at which he had his head resting on his palm, almost-but-not-quite asleep, Harry was snapped out of his reverie by the familiar sound of his own name. Professor Trelawney seemed to be slower to respond than even Harry himself, in his semi-catatonic state that double Divinations always seemed to invoke. She blinked widely at Michael Corner, who stood beside the ladder nervously, and made a small noise of assent as Harry repeated Michael's message, picking up his bag.
Coming down the ladder into the refreshing, clear air of the corridor below the classroom, Harry thought once again about Michael. His mind always wandered unconsciously to this curious Ravenclaw, every Thursday in their Magical Healing and Medicinal Practices class. It did it all by itself, and now on the way to their extra credit excursion, Harry felt guilty that he'd never really bothered to have a conversation with Michael, so much as watch him silently with minimal interest. It was impossible to look at someone and imagine what another person sees; Harry had found the long and hard way, halfway into this, his 6th year at Hogwarts.
As he turned his head to speak, he got as far as opening his mouth before he shut it again, wordlessly, upon noticing Michael was walking rather strangely. Different to his usual small and quiet, almost graceful steps, Michael Corner was positively wound up with anxious tension, as though ready to snap. Not only that, but he had a disturbing, childlike expression of utter fear hidden behind a flimsy veil of indifference, which did not extend to his eyes. Harry opened his mouth once again, partly due to shock, and partly due to his immediate instinct to ask if Michael was alright. But something, most likely common sense, stopped him from just asking outright, and instead Harry decided to start with polite small talk.
"So uh.. Michael.. what do you think of Professor Gibbet? I mean.. I've never taken healing and medicinal practices before, but he seems pretty good, don't you think?" Harry found himself cursing his tendency to babble when he was nervous.
"I uh.. what..?" Michael jumped when Harry began to speak, and looked over his shoulder twice before bothering to make a futile response. It was obvious whatever he was stressed about was taking up about 95% of his concentration and brain power.
"I said what do you –" But that was as far as Harry got.
"Oh gods.. Harry. I don't know what's wrong wth mpfh" Michael blurted out, his last few words muffled as he turned abruptly to dive at Harry's shoulder. He clung to Harry's robes as Harry forced his eyes to focus on the top of Michael's head. Harry had instantly caught him with an arm about his shoulders, merely to prevent Michael from falling to the ground at his feet, but now Harry had no idea what to do next. Michael didn't let him worry for too long.
"It's killing me! I tell you I can't think.. can't concentrate at all! Everywhere I go, everything I see reminds me of her. And the longer we're apart, the more fierce this pain gets .... right here..." Michael clutched at his chest in explanation. He pulled feebly at his jumper, forcing it down to reveal part of what looked like a bruise, but which was a vivid shade of redish purple, and appeared to luminesce all on its own. Harry could tell it was darker closer to his heart, as the change from normal skin to this vibrant mark was gradual, getting deeper in colour closer to where his hand seized his robes.
"Wha...where did that come from? How.. when.. did you get it?" Harry stuttered. Michael was acting so strangely.
"It was there when I woke up this morning," Michael sobbed "I didn't cast any spells or anything before I went to bed! I've been racking my brain-" He paused, a pained expression crossed his face "-as much as I can, but I'm sure of it. It was just...there." He finished solemnly.
Harry finally clicked onto something Michael had said, changing his angle. "Who.." He started hesitantly.. "Who.. can't you be apart from?"
Michael looked sad and ashamed all at once. His moist eyes glanced downward as he said "Cho." in a small voice. He cleared his throat – "Cho Chang." Harry nodded. But he was thinking furiously.
"Look... Michael. This trip isn't that important... like Gibbet said, we'll be doing hands-on work next semester anyway. We were only watching today, look, I'll walk you to your house and you go have lie down. It'll be lunch in a few minutes, if you feel up to eating it's probably a good idea. You should definitely go and see Madame Pomfrey about that bruise..." Harry trailed off. He knew it wasn't a bruise. Michael squeaked in response between dry sobs. He directed Michael around in the opposite direction to which they were heading, half-pulling him down the corridor. Michael's legs didn't appear to be working.
"I uh... I'll go and tell Professor Gibbet that you won't be going. Do you, erm... want me to hang around?" He hoped this was the right staircase, dreading the thought of having to help Michael back up it to find the Ravenclaw common room. Michael didn't respond, as he looked down at the stone steps worriedly, bracing himself.
Harry helped him down the stairs, and sure enough the painting of a serene and incredibly sharp woman hung at the left hand end of the wide hallway, in the shadows between torches. Harry stood for a few seconds at the large portrait, waiting for Michael to give the password. Finally, the thought crossed Harry's mind that perhaps Michael didn't want him to hear it. He shifted his weight slightly, so as to leave Michael standing alone. This snapped Michael out of his momentary lapse, and he realised they were at the portrait hole.
"Avogadro" Michael uttered breathlessly. The woman, with her eyebrow raised high, swung out of view and Harry looked down at Michael with a mixture of curiosity and concern. Michael simply lifted one foot inside the common room whilst holding onto Harry, before finally letting go, and looking up into Harry's eyes as the portrait hole slammed shut. There was a weak smile of gratitude now accompanying his strained features. Harry stood in place for several moments, gathering his thoughts and processing what had just happened, before at last turning and starting at a run for the Entrance Hall, where Professor Gibbet and the rest of his class were waiting.
"And you say there was a mark on his chest?" Hermione queried thoughtfully, as they left the Gryffindor common room the next morning.
"What a nutter," Ron commented, before Harry had the chance to. "I told Ginny he was trouble, but she wouldn't listen. Guess she'll know for sure when he ends up in Saint Mungo's" He said matter-of-factly. Harry glared at him, along with Hermione, before going back to their conversation.
"I think he bound himself to Cho." Harry said weakly. For some reason, the thought of that made him feel nauseas.
"What?" Hermione whispered, with a squeak. "Why would he want to go and do a thing like that?! What an idiot!" She exclaimed in a rather unhelpful tone, now deep in thought.
"Hey?" Ron said loudly. "You mean, he...bound himself to her? As in...magically? Isn't that dangerous?"
"If a little romantic..." Hermione said quietly, before closing her mouth at the looks she was receiving from both Harry and Ron.
"Well, uh. Sounds like he's really into her." Harry offered, suddenly wishing he hadn't told Ron and Hermione at all.
"No, Harry. That was the spell talking. Who knows how Michael really feels about Cho!" Hermione said hurriedly.
"Well why else would he cast a spell like that, if he didn't intend to bind himself to her to declare his undying love?" Ron said sickly, rolling his eyes at Harry for dramatic effect.
Ignoring Ron, she continued; "I was thinking the mark could be the result of some sort of hex, but you could be right Harry... It's a form a dark magic, there's no doubt about that." She mused, before adding that she should really go check up on a few of her suspicions in the library.
Harry was midway through explaining what he'd seen on Michael's chest to Ron as they pushed open the doors to the Great Hall. He glanced around the room routinely, and stopped mid-sentence as his gaze fell upon the Ravenclaw table.
It was not the sight of Michael, or the absence of Michael for that matter, that had stopped Harry, but the presence of Cho. While she alone had been known to stop him mid sentence in the past, it was actually the fact that she was on her own, at the end of the Ravenclaw table that had caught Harry's attention. Now that he noticed, there was a hush over the entire Hall, and more eyes were on Cho than not. Harry was not imagining it, as he heard Ron make a noise of surprise beside him.
The silence was followed by a low murmuring throughout the hall, as hundreds of eyes turned from Cho to whisper to their neighbour, before glancing back. Harry and Ron made their way to their place at the Gryffindor table, Ron not able to disguise his amazement long enough to make it to his seat.
"What's going on?" he said loudly, followed by a collective shush from the rest of the Weasleys at the table. "Ron!" Ginny scolded, but her eyes weren't glaring at him, they were too busy scanning the Ravenclaw table.
George spoke in a low whisper that forced Harry to incline his head towards the centre of the table conspiratorially; "Cho did something to Corner last night, everyone reckons. He burst out of his dormitory half-dressed yesterday afternoon screaming for Cho, and similar nonsense, and Madame Pomfrey was called 'cos everyone thought he was going mad –" Ron snorted in acquiescence through a mouthful of pumpkin juice.
"- So anyway Madame Pomfrey said there was some form of dark magic involved, or some such" Fred elaborated.
"He's been in the Hospital Wing ever since." George said grimly. "Ah well, good thing is, no-one else seems to have much of an appetite!" he added, reaching for more sausages.
"Too right. When life gives you lemons...eh George?" Fred smiled, raising a forkful of scrambled eggs as a mock toast, nodding his head before swallowing the mouthful.
Harry found moments later that George was in fact quite right, and deciding to head off to Transfiguration early to study, he left Ron and the others at their 5th helpings of breakfast.
In the large, empty classroom Harry planted himself in his usual seat with every intention of studying. Once he had read the first sentence of his Potions assignment through for a fourth time, and found that it still didn't make any sense to him, Harry came to the conclusion that he could not study. He could not help thinking about Cho, about the last time he had seen her on the train at the end of 5th year, how she had smiled at him. Back then, he had convinced himself that Cho was damaged goods, and she was really. Spending time away from Harry... with Michael... had seemed to do her good. Maybe she was able to forget about Cedric around everyone but Harry. "That'd be just my luck." Harry said aloud in frustration.
"...Sorry?" Said a small voice behind him from the back right hand corner of the classroom, by the door.
"I uh... excuse me.." Harry stuttered. "I was just... studying, am I –" He paused as he glanced up and over his shoulder from his parchment. His initial embarrassment had overridden his familiarity with the voice.
"- Cho?" He finished weakly.
"No, I am." She smiled. Harry's heart leapt then fell further than it had previously been, reaching new depths as that beautiful smile died upon her lips, only to be replaced by a pained, solemn expression, on the verge of tears that he knew all too well.
"P...please don't cry again." He uttered dumbly. She smiled again, moving forward. The smile lasted longer this time, but then she looked as though she would cry. Harry swallowed.
"...I'm sorry for how I acted Harry. I feel terrible; I came to find you. It's just... now... no-one will talk to me. No-one will listen! They all think I planned this horrible curse for Michael and –" "It's alright, I know." He offered, still a little hesitant with his words so as not to upset her.
She bowed her head, whispering. "Everybody knows."
"I mean... I think I know what happened. Its ok Cho, I don't believe you'd do something like that to Michael... It's far more likely that he's cast some sort of binding spell involving you, without knowing enough about that sort of dark magic to understand the repercussions." He said rather quickly.
Cho raised her eyebrow at him, softly. She was either impressed, angry or confused. Harry couldn't really tell. "...Hermione's looking up some stuff in the library right now." He added, glancing up at Cho's face from his seat for just a moment before he settled them back on his homework. She didn't say anything, instead sitting beside him at the desk.
"I thought... well, I thought that out of everyone I could come to you Harry. That you'd remember what it's like for no-one to understand, to be against you. I knew that you would listen to me. I knew that I could count on you." She smiled sweetly, and Harry gulped excessive amounts of air.
"I... erm, yeah I know what you mean." He said awkwardly, it felt odd to be chatting with Cho. "But as you can tell it all passes, these things never last that long."
Cho looked thoughtful, opening her mouth to speak, but there was a loud sound outside the classroom, followed by a yell that undoubtedly belonged to Seamus. The rest of his class were on their way.
She stood quietly, and Harry thought she was going to say something but she appeared to change her mind. Instead she bent slightly to Harry's level and kissed him softly on the cheek, before turning and floating back towards the door, which was now occupied by the Gryffindors from Harry's transfiguration class.
Dean gaped as Cho glided past him, watching the air where she left his line of vision for a good 10 seconds before turning to gape equally as much at Harry. But Harry hadn't noticed. His stomach was obviously keen on aerobics, somersaults in particular, because he felt like he was going to lose the two mouthfuls of toast he'd eaten at breakfast. Staring down at his homework once again, Harry tried not to think about the torture of sitting at a desk with Ron, Seamus and Dean for the next hour. But, unfortunately, this meant he had nothing to think about, which lead him back to Cho. Harry tried to shake his head clear, rather violently.
"Oh Harry!" Cho cried.
Harry tried not to think about how many times he'd heard Cho say that. And how none of those moments had been anywhere near as enjoyable as they could have been. Here they were alone in a corridor, so far past dinner that there was no- one left in the dim corridors, and it was not at all how he had pictured the setting being utilised.
"I thought I could handle it, I know you're right...about it all blowing over. But it's so horrible! How could you stand all those people saying things about you like that?"
"Uh..." Harry blinked. He wasn't really following Cho at all. He was thinking about the fact that every time he saw Cho, one of them had a problem. They always spoke so seriously. He didn't like it.
"I just... try not to think about it I guess." He offered feebly. "Yeah, that works." His brain retorted. He mentally kicked himself.
Cho gave Harry an appraising sort of look, dragging her gaze languidly over his gruff expression, deliberately averted eyes and anxious movements. He glanced upward when she did not respond, and caught her at it. She looked at him.
He hadn't seen that look before. Not on Cho. He wasn't sure if his glasses were doing their job properly.
Stepping forward, closing the distance between them, Cho tilted Harry's head up by the chin and kissed him gently, testing the boundaries. Harry's eyes fluttered closed as he noted how soft Cho's lips felt. It felt as though this had been coming for a long time, but it still didn't sit right with Harry. That voice at the back of his head, however, was rather small and insignificant at the current moment in time.
Reaching his hands up to tangle in her shiny locks, Harry pulled Cho to him, deepening the kiss. Now that she had made the first move, he was surprised by his own desire. Suddenly, Cho broke their kiss, though she kept her head merely inches from Harry's. He found it hard to focus on her eyes when they were so close, but tried anyway.
"Harry, darling. I knew you'd understand. Oh this is so wonderful." She breathed. She backed Harry up to the corridor wall and pressed his shoulders against the cold stone firmly, setting him in place while she explained. "I messed it all up, see. But its perfect now, isn't it?" She asked rhetorically as she played with a lock of hair by Harry's ear. He simply looked at her curiously, waiting for her to continue.
"Well why on earth would I want to cast any sort of spell on Michael?" She looked towards the ceiling meaningfully.
"I know Cho.." Harry began. Though he felt as though they were talking in circles. But Cho placed a finger gently to his lips in reply, looking into his eyes.
"He caught me." She said, as if it answered everything. Pausing dramatically, she smiled at Harry's blank expression.
"I was in the common room, way after everyone else had gone to bed. See I didn't want to run the risk of the girls hearing me in the dorm and waking up, so my plan was to finish up in the common room then sneak up to your dorm. I got the password out of Neville; he's so gullible and cute!" She said proudly. Harry tried not to be too quick to judge, deciding to let her finish.
"What did Michael catch you doing..?" Harry asked in a flat tone. He and Cho were still holding each other, and she was resting him against the wall.
"Well the idea was it was a simpler way to get it to work. See I've been looking for an alternative to your average binding spell that needs a connection, existing physical contact rather than friendship, between the two people. But I eventually coerced Malfoy into lending me a rather helpful book, and I found a First Sight spell!" Her face changed. But it had nothing to do with the look Harry was giving her, as she hadn't even noticed that.
"...But Michael ruined it. He uttered some nonsense about going to the bathroom at 4am as he came down the stairs, and I dove for the couch but it was too late. Oh Harry, I didn't know what to do," She sighed, gazing at him so intensely that he could only hold it for a few moments before looking away. She was deadly serious, about all of it.
"I thought I was ruined, but at least Madame Pomfrey didn't believe Michael's story. We have been going out for weeks now, after all. But I thought there was no hope for you and I, and I stood watching you in the classroom the other day, just wishing I could talk to you. But then you spoke to me! And then I knew. I knew you'd understand Harry. That's what I love about you." She smiled, a twisted, sycophantic smile that made Harry wince.
"Cho... you know... all this dark magic, it's illegal for a reason." Harry said calmly.
"Oh but Harry, I know how careless I was before! I'll never ever make the same mistake again. Besides, there's no need for magic at all now that I have you." She tightened her hold around Harry's waist.
"Cho... no. You –" Harry protested.
"Harry please, don't make me. It's all so wonderful; you smiled at me when everyone else glared. Where has that smile gone?" She pouted, shifting about.
"But you told me you didn't ever mean to cast any spells Cho," Harry argued cautiously.
"Not on Michael!" She laughed out. Harry was slightly disturbed by the whole situation, and he decided he had been in this particular position for long enough. He could not back away from Cho, and instead tried to duck around her, but because of her closeness, and her arms about him, she felt this in enough time to know his intention.
"Oh, Harry" She sighed. "Well, at least it's not a complicated potion. Just the original binding spell would work now." As she said 'now', Cho shifted again, and Harry was momentarily blinded by bright sparks behind his eyes as his body betrayed him in its response to her manipulation.
Their noses inches apart, Harry could barely see anything but Cho's face. He was struggling, understandably distracted by his sense of urgency to get out of this vulnerable position, and saw both Cho and her wand coming too late.
She kissed him, again. Harder this time, more fierce, and Harry felt repulsed where before he had felt attracted. He placed each of his palms squarely on Cho's shoulders and shoved hard, breaking the kiss and sending her stumbling a few steps backward. But she had expected this, as though she was testing him, and had her wand pointed at Harry. He dove for her and the wand, but succeeded only in receiving the incantation fair in the chest. Stumbling forward, almost tripping over Cho, he felt a heat over his heart that spread as though in his bloodstream to the tips of his fingers and toes almost instantly, resulting in an overall warm and pleasant sensation. The wall on the other side of the corridor caught Cho, and Harry followed, catching himself with his palms against the stone before he could land on her. He felt dizzy and confused, he wasn't sure what was going on, but he found himself mesmerised by Cho's deep hazel eyes. Harry braced himself against the wall, leaning in and catching her off guard with a fervent kiss, finding that being with Cho was clearly not enough. He must be in Cho's arms, kissing Cho, pressing her against the cold, hard wall, to make that horrible longing, aching pain in his chest go away.
He simply had to.
The beautiful brunette was sitting peacefully, smiling down at a book she was reading over her dinner. He audibly sighed as a great weight left him, leaving him with only his schoolbag. His posture righted itself as he gained momentum with each step toward her. She finally saw him in a glance over her book and raised her lovely glowing face to him, smiling with her eyes. His heart fluttered. It pulled him toward her. Walking without seeing the sad and angry faces of both their house tables, Harry carried his feet straight to Cho, where he sat beside her, beaming from ear to ear. It felt so wonderful to be with her. He was never able to forget the feeling of just being near Cho, and when he wasn't near her, he ached for her. To see her pretty face, that smile she had just for him. It made him glow, in her reflected light. And much the same way the moon basks in the reflected light of the sun, he felt cold and empty without her presence.
2 weeks prior...
Just when he thought his glasses were about to slip off his nose into his cup of tea leaves due to the angle at which he had his head resting on his palm, almost-but-not-quite asleep, Harry was snapped out of his reverie by the familiar sound of his own name. Professor Trelawney seemed to be slower to respond than even Harry himself, in his semi-catatonic state that double Divinations always seemed to invoke. She blinked widely at Michael Corner, who stood beside the ladder nervously, and made a small noise of assent as Harry repeated Michael's message, picking up his bag.
Coming down the ladder into the refreshing, clear air of the corridor below the classroom, Harry thought once again about Michael. His mind always wandered unconsciously to this curious Ravenclaw, every Thursday in their Magical Healing and Medicinal Practices class. It did it all by itself, and now on the way to their extra credit excursion, Harry felt guilty that he'd never really bothered to have a conversation with Michael, so much as watch him silently with minimal interest. It was impossible to look at someone and imagine what another person sees; Harry had found the long and hard way, halfway into this, his 6th year at Hogwarts.
As he turned his head to speak, he got as far as opening his mouth before he shut it again, wordlessly, upon noticing Michael was walking rather strangely. Different to his usual small and quiet, almost graceful steps, Michael Corner was positively wound up with anxious tension, as though ready to snap. Not only that, but he had a disturbing, childlike expression of utter fear hidden behind a flimsy veil of indifference, which did not extend to his eyes. Harry opened his mouth once again, partly due to shock, and partly due to his immediate instinct to ask if Michael was alright. But something, most likely common sense, stopped him from just asking outright, and instead Harry decided to start with polite small talk.
"So uh.. Michael.. what do you think of Professor Gibbet? I mean.. I've never taken healing and medicinal practices before, but he seems pretty good, don't you think?" Harry found himself cursing his tendency to babble when he was nervous.
"I uh.. what..?" Michael jumped when Harry began to speak, and looked over his shoulder twice before bothering to make a futile response. It was obvious whatever he was stressed about was taking up about 95% of his concentration and brain power.
"I said what do you –" But that was as far as Harry got.
"Oh gods.. Harry. I don't know what's wrong wth mpfh" Michael blurted out, his last few words muffled as he turned abruptly to dive at Harry's shoulder. He clung to Harry's robes as Harry forced his eyes to focus on the top of Michael's head. Harry had instantly caught him with an arm about his shoulders, merely to prevent Michael from falling to the ground at his feet, but now Harry had no idea what to do next. Michael didn't let him worry for too long.
"It's killing me! I tell you I can't think.. can't concentrate at all! Everywhere I go, everything I see reminds me of her. And the longer we're apart, the more fierce this pain gets .... right here..." Michael clutched at his chest in explanation. He pulled feebly at his jumper, forcing it down to reveal part of what looked like a bruise, but which was a vivid shade of redish purple, and appeared to luminesce all on its own. Harry could tell it was darker closer to his heart, as the change from normal skin to this vibrant mark was gradual, getting deeper in colour closer to where his hand seized his robes.
"Wha...where did that come from? How.. when.. did you get it?" Harry stuttered. Michael was acting so strangely.
"It was there when I woke up this morning," Michael sobbed "I didn't cast any spells or anything before I went to bed! I've been racking my brain-" He paused, a pained expression crossed his face "-as much as I can, but I'm sure of it. It was just...there." He finished solemnly.
Harry finally clicked onto something Michael had said, changing his angle. "Who.." He started hesitantly.. "Who.. can't you be apart from?"
Michael looked sad and ashamed all at once. His moist eyes glanced downward as he said "Cho." in a small voice. He cleared his throat – "Cho Chang." Harry nodded. But he was thinking furiously.
"Look... Michael. This trip isn't that important... like Gibbet said, we'll be doing hands-on work next semester anyway. We were only watching today, look, I'll walk you to your house and you go have lie down. It'll be lunch in a few minutes, if you feel up to eating it's probably a good idea. You should definitely go and see Madame Pomfrey about that bruise..." Harry trailed off. He knew it wasn't a bruise. Michael squeaked in response between dry sobs. He directed Michael around in the opposite direction to which they were heading, half-pulling him down the corridor. Michael's legs didn't appear to be working.
"I uh... I'll go and tell Professor Gibbet that you won't be going. Do you, erm... want me to hang around?" He hoped this was the right staircase, dreading the thought of having to help Michael back up it to find the Ravenclaw common room. Michael didn't respond, as he looked down at the stone steps worriedly, bracing himself.
Harry helped him down the stairs, and sure enough the painting of a serene and incredibly sharp woman hung at the left hand end of the wide hallway, in the shadows between torches. Harry stood for a few seconds at the large portrait, waiting for Michael to give the password. Finally, the thought crossed Harry's mind that perhaps Michael didn't want him to hear it. He shifted his weight slightly, so as to leave Michael standing alone. This snapped Michael out of his momentary lapse, and he realised they were at the portrait hole.
"Avogadro" Michael uttered breathlessly. The woman, with her eyebrow raised high, swung out of view and Harry looked down at Michael with a mixture of curiosity and concern. Michael simply lifted one foot inside the common room whilst holding onto Harry, before finally letting go, and looking up into Harry's eyes as the portrait hole slammed shut. There was a weak smile of gratitude now accompanying his strained features. Harry stood in place for several moments, gathering his thoughts and processing what had just happened, before at last turning and starting at a run for the Entrance Hall, where Professor Gibbet and the rest of his class were waiting.
"And you say there was a mark on his chest?" Hermione queried thoughtfully, as they left the Gryffindor common room the next morning.
"What a nutter," Ron commented, before Harry had the chance to. "I told Ginny he was trouble, but she wouldn't listen. Guess she'll know for sure when he ends up in Saint Mungo's" He said matter-of-factly. Harry glared at him, along with Hermione, before going back to their conversation.
"I think he bound himself to Cho." Harry said weakly. For some reason, the thought of that made him feel nauseas.
"What?" Hermione whispered, with a squeak. "Why would he want to go and do a thing like that?! What an idiot!" She exclaimed in a rather unhelpful tone, now deep in thought.
"Hey?" Ron said loudly. "You mean, he...bound himself to her? As in...magically? Isn't that dangerous?"
"If a little romantic..." Hermione said quietly, before closing her mouth at the looks she was receiving from both Harry and Ron.
"Well, uh. Sounds like he's really into her." Harry offered, suddenly wishing he hadn't told Ron and Hermione at all.
"No, Harry. That was the spell talking. Who knows how Michael really feels about Cho!" Hermione said hurriedly.
"Well why else would he cast a spell like that, if he didn't intend to bind himself to her to declare his undying love?" Ron said sickly, rolling his eyes at Harry for dramatic effect.
Ignoring Ron, she continued; "I was thinking the mark could be the result of some sort of hex, but you could be right Harry... It's a form a dark magic, there's no doubt about that." She mused, before adding that she should really go check up on a few of her suspicions in the library.
Harry was midway through explaining what he'd seen on Michael's chest to Ron as they pushed open the doors to the Great Hall. He glanced around the room routinely, and stopped mid-sentence as his gaze fell upon the Ravenclaw table.
It was not the sight of Michael, or the absence of Michael for that matter, that had stopped Harry, but the presence of Cho. While she alone had been known to stop him mid sentence in the past, it was actually the fact that she was on her own, at the end of the Ravenclaw table that had caught Harry's attention. Now that he noticed, there was a hush over the entire Hall, and more eyes were on Cho than not. Harry was not imagining it, as he heard Ron make a noise of surprise beside him.
The silence was followed by a low murmuring throughout the hall, as hundreds of eyes turned from Cho to whisper to their neighbour, before glancing back. Harry and Ron made their way to their place at the Gryffindor table, Ron not able to disguise his amazement long enough to make it to his seat.
"What's going on?" he said loudly, followed by a collective shush from the rest of the Weasleys at the table. "Ron!" Ginny scolded, but her eyes weren't glaring at him, they were too busy scanning the Ravenclaw table.
George spoke in a low whisper that forced Harry to incline his head towards the centre of the table conspiratorially; "Cho did something to Corner last night, everyone reckons. He burst out of his dormitory half-dressed yesterday afternoon screaming for Cho, and similar nonsense, and Madame Pomfrey was called 'cos everyone thought he was going mad –" Ron snorted in acquiescence through a mouthful of pumpkin juice.
"- So anyway Madame Pomfrey said there was some form of dark magic involved, or some such" Fred elaborated.
"He's been in the Hospital Wing ever since." George said grimly. "Ah well, good thing is, no-one else seems to have much of an appetite!" he added, reaching for more sausages.
"Too right. When life gives you lemons...eh George?" Fred smiled, raising a forkful of scrambled eggs as a mock toast, nodding his head before swallowing the mouthful.
Harry found moments later that George was in fact quite right, and deciding to head off to Transfiguration early to study, he left Ron and the others at their 5th helpings of breakfast.
In the large, empty classroom Harry planted himself in his usual seat with every intention of studying. Once he had read the first sentence of his Potions assignment through for a fourth time, and found that it still didn't make any sense to him, Harry came to the conclusion that he could not study. He could not help thinking about Cho, about the last time he had seen her on the train at the end of 5th year, how she had smiled at him. Back then, he had convinced himself that Cho was damaged goods, and she was really. Spending time away from Harry... with Michael... had seemed to do her good. Maybe she was able to forget about Cedric around everyone but Harry. "That'd be just my luck." Harry said aloud in frustration.
"...Sorry?" Said a small voice behind him from the back right hand corner of the classroom, by the door.
"I uh... excuse me.." Harry stuttered. "I was just... studying, am I –" He paused as he glanced up and over his shoulder from his parchment. His initial embarrassment had overridden his familiarity with the voice.
"- Cho?" He finished weakly.
"No, I am." She smiled. Harry's heart leapt then fell further than it had previously been, reaching new depths as that beautiful smile died upon her lips, only to be replaced by a pained, solemn expression, on the verge of tears that he knew all too well.
"P...please don't cry again." He uttered dumbly. She smiled again, moving forward. The smile lasted longer this time, but then she looked as though she would cry. Harry swallowed.
"...I'm sorry for how I acted Harry. I feel terrible; I came to find you. It's just... now... no-one will talk to me. No-one will listen! They all think I planned this horrible curse for Michael and –" "It's alright, I know." He offered, still a little hesitant with his words so as not to upset her.
She bowed her head, whispering. "Everybody knows."
"I mean... I think I know what happened. Its ok Cho, I don't believe you'd do something like that to Michael... It's far more likely that he's cast some sort of binding spell involving you, without knowing enough about that sort of dark magic to understand the repercussions." He said rather quickly.
Cho raised her eyebrow at him, softly. She was either impressed, angry or confused. Harry couldn't really tell. "...Hermione's looking up some stuff in the library right now." He added, glancing up at Cho's face from his seat for just a moment before he settled them back on his homework. She didn't say anything, instead sitting beside him at the desk.
"I thought... well, I thought that out of everyone I could come to you Harry. That you'd remember what it's like for no-one to understand, to be against you. I knew that you would listen to me. I knew that I could count on you." She smiled sweetly, and Harry gulped excessive amounts of air.
"I... erm, yeah I know what you mean." He said awkwardly, it felt odd to be chatting with Cho. "But as you can tell it all passes, these things never last that long."
Cho looked thoughtful, opening her mouth to speak, but there was a loud sound outside the classroom, followed by a yell that undoubtedly belonged to Seamus. The rest of his class were on their way.
She stood quietly, and Harry thought she was going to say something but she appeared to change her mind. Instead she bent slightly to Harry's level and kissed him softly on the cheek, before turning and floating back towards the door, which was now occupied by the Gryffindors from Harry's transfiguration class.
Dean gaped as Cho glided past him, watching the air where she left his line of vision for a good 10 seconds before turning to gape equally as much at Harry. But Harry hadn't noticed. His stomach was obviously keen on aerobics, somersaults in particular, because he felt like he was going to lose the two mouthfuls of toast he'd eaten at breakfast. Staring down at his homework once again, Harry tried not to think about the torture of sitting at a desk with Ron, Seamus and Dean for the next hour. But, unfortunately, this meant he had nothing to think about, which lead him back to Cho. Harry tried to shake his head clear, rather violently.
"Oh Harry!" Cho cried.
Harry tried not to think about how many times he'd heard Cho say that. And how none of those moments had been anywhere near as enjoyable as they could have been. Here they were alone in a corridor, so far past dinner that there was no- one left in the dim corridors, and it was not at all how he had pictured the setting being utilised.
"I thought I could handle it, I know you're right...about it all blowing over. But it's so horrible! How could you stand all those people saying things about you like that?"
"Uh..." Harry blinked. He wasn't really following Cho at all. He was thinking about the fact that every time he saw Cho, one of them had a problem. They always spoke so seriously. He didn't like it.
"I just... try not to think about it I guess." He offered feebly. "Yeah, that works." His brain retorted. He mentally kicked himself.
Cho gave Harry an appraising sort of look, dragging her gaze languidly over his gruff expression, deliberately averted eyes and anxious movements. He glanced upward when she did not respond, and caught her at it. She looked at him.
He hadn't seen that look before. Not on Cho. He wasn't sure if his glasses were doing their job properly.
Stepping forward, closing the distance between them, Cho tilted Harry's head up by the chin and kissed him gently, testing the boundaries. Harry's eyes fluttered closed as he noted how soft Cho's lips felt. It felt as though this had been coming for a long time, but it still didn't sit right with Harry. That voice at the back of his head, however, was rather small and insignificant at the current moment in time.
Reaching his hands up to tangle in her shiny locks, Harry pulled Cho to him, deepening the kiss. Now that she had made the first move, he was surprised by his own desire. Suddenly, Cho broke their kiss, though she kept her head merely inches from Harry's. He found it hard to focus on her eyes when they were so close, but tried anyway.
"Harry, darling. I knew you'd understand. Oh this is so wonderful." She breathed. She backed Harry up to the corridor wall and pressed his shoulders against the cold stone firmly, setting him in place while she explained. "I messed it all up, see. But its perfect now, isn't it?" She asked rhetorically as she played with a lock of hair by Harry's ear. He simply looked at her curiously, waiting for her to continue.
"Well why on earth would I want to cast any sort of spell on Michael?" She looked towards the ceiling meaningfully.
"I know Cho.." Harry began. Though he felt as though they were talking in circles. But Cho placed a finger gently to his lips in reply, looking into his eyes.
"He caught me." She said, as if it answered everything. Pausing dramatically, she smiled at Harry's blank expression.
"I was in the common room, way after everyone else had gone to bed. See I didn't want to run the risk of the girls hearing me in the dorm and waking up, so my plan was to finish up in the common room then sneak up to your dorm. I got the password out of Neville; he's so gullible and cute!" She said proudly. Harry tried not to be too quick to judge, deciding to let her finish.
"What did Michael catch you doing..?" Harry asked in a flat tone. He and Cho were still holding each other, and she was resting him against the wall.
"Well the idea was it was a simpler way to get it to work. See I've been looking for an alternative to your average binding spell that needs a connection, existing physical contact rather than friendship, between the two people. But I eventually coerced Malfoy into lending me a rather helpful book, and I found a First Sight spell!" Her face changed. But it had nothing to do with the look Harry was giving her, as she hadn't even noticed that.
"...But Michael ruined it. He uttered some nonsense about going to the bathroom at 4am as he came down the stairs, and I dove for the couch but it was too late. Oh Harry, I didn't know what to do," She sighed, gazing at him so intensely that he could only hold it for a few moments before looking away. She was deadly serious, about all of it.
"I thought I was ruined, but at least Madame Pomfrey didn't believe Michael's story. We have been going out for weeks now, after all. But I thought there was no hope for you and I, and I stood watching you in the classroom the other day, just wishing I could talk to you. But then you spoke to me! And then I knew. I knew you'd understand Harry. That's what I love about you." She smiled, a twisted, sycophantic smile that made Harry wince.
"Cho... you know... all this dark magic, it's illegal for a reason." Harry said calmly.
"Oh but Harry, I know how careless I was before! I'll never ever make the same mistake again. Besides, there's no need for magic at all now that I have you." She tightened her hold around Harry's waist.
"Cho... no. You –" Harry protested.
"Harry please, don't make me. It's all so wonderful; you smiled at me when everyone else glared. Where has that smile gone?" She pouted, shifting about.
"But you told me you didn't ever mean to cast any spells Cho," Harry argued cautiously.
"Not on Michael!" She laughed out. Harry was slightly disturbed by the whole situation, and he decided he had been in this particular position for long enough. He could not back away from Cho, and instead tried to duck around her, but because of her closeness, and her arms about him, she felt this in enough time to know his intention.
"Oh, Harry" She sighed. "Well, at least it's not a complicated potion. Just the original binding spell would work now." As she said 'now', Cho shifted again, and Harry was momentarily blinded by bright sparks behind his eyes as his body betrayed him in its response to her manipulation.
Their noses inches apart, Harry could barely see anything but Cho's face. He was struggling, understandably distracted by his sense of urgency to get out of this vulnerable position, and saw both Cho and her wand coming too late.
She kissed him, again. Harder this time, more fierce, and Harry felt repulsed where before he had felt attracted. He placed each of his palms squarely on Cho's shoulders and shoved hard, breaking the kiss and sending her stumbling a few steps backward. But she had expected this, as though she was testing him, and had her wand pointed at Harry. He dove for her and the wand, but succeeded only in receiving the incantation fair in the chest. Stumbling forward, almost tripping over Cho, he felt a heat over his heart that spread as though in his bloodstream to the tips of his fingers and toes almost instantly, resulting in an overall warm and pleasant sensation. The wall on the other side of the corridor caught Cho, and Harry followed, catching himself with his palms against the stone before he could land on her. He felt dizzy and confused, he wasn't sure what was going on, but he found himself mesmerised by Cho's deep hazel eyes. Harry braced himself against the wall, leaning in and catching her off guard with a fervent kiss, finding that being with Cho was clearly not enough. He must be in Cho's arms, kissing Cho, pressing her against the cold, hard wall, to make that horrible longing, aching pain in his chest go away.
He simply had to.