Ch 8
Cold Warm Facts
Cho felt a slight breeze pass through the window panes. Autumn gusts reached high above Ravenclaw Tower. She looked down at the slowly healing scabs he'd left her with. For so long she thought Cedric was dead, but here he was. And he very obviously hated her. The former Ravenclaw was too smart to feel sad about it, she merely gave a beaten sigh. Facts were facts. Whether she cried or not, Obliviate spells and Vampiric venom are irreversible. Cedric would never remember her, and he'd never be the same.
Even at last week's Emergent Briefing, Cho held her ground. She met the news of Cedric's hidden condition and arrival from Forks with surreal acceptance. She had to. He would've wanted her to be strong, to be brave. So the raven-haired witch forced herself to immediately accept reality. This was just another mission, as the Chief of DA. There's no use making this into something more, she kept repeating. Facts are Facts.
But the mind plays the cruelest tricks. Cho subconsciously avoided her duties as Chief. She made excuses to miss the Yule Ball. She consistently hid in the Library. And then it happened. Cho found him there, and lost herself at the same time. A shadow: leisurely flipping pages. The moon barely lit his face. She tried to leave when he glanced up. His golden eyes washed over her with absolute indifference. Cho broke at the blank glare. It was her fault for entering his mind. For wanting to know. For needing to know. For searching for some kind of evidence that he still knew her. That he still loved...
Bella.
Cho shut her eyes at the events of the past hour. No. She would accept this. With deep breaths the witch continued to sit on her bed, applying Potions to wounds that wouldn't heal. The Autumn gusts continued to blow through Ravenclaw Tower. Until it all stopped.
The breeze in her room subtly changed. Her black hair swayed to a cold gust of wind. Something was different. With controlled ease she calmly placed the potions on her desk. Cho's mind raced as goosebumps peppered her skin. Her eyes discreetly scanned her room. She felt the vampire's presence even before he had shown himself. Her eyes dilated. Her heart quickened. Her room took on a warm glow, despite the cold air that was now blowing past her. She braced herself.
There he was.
Standing by her window.
"I'm here because I want you to understand something." Edward whispered at the speechless Ravenclaw. He slowly walked toward her, stopping a few feet away. She drowned in his presence, despite herself. The creases of his dark grey shirt revealed his athletic build; a predator's body. His auburn-golden hair fell back in subtle waves, which contrasted his finely sculpted features. Everything about him commanded her to move forward. The marble statue gracefully leaned away, well aware of the effect he had.
Cho could feel her olive skin flush; not because he was a vampire, but because he was Cedric. Her expression unintentionally softened.
Edward's eyes slightly narrowed. He could no longer read her thoughts. Occulomens? This hypocrite.
He would waste no more time inflaming the situation between vampires and wizards. Especially over puppy love. Whoever this Cedric was- died at 17, while he-himself has been a vampire for 300 years. Yes, they were the same person, but two very different lives. And this is the life Edward chose. He would show her.
"I am engaged to be married: to her. Yes I was once a wizard. But I died at that tournament. I left you the minute I was Turned. I have no recollection of my past life." Edward paused, allowing it to sink in. He was determined to sever all ties.
"...Do not make it difficult, Auror. As your Ministry says, neither of our worlds can afford another war. That is the only reason I am here." he stated the facts.
He'd gotten the facts all wrong. She raised herself from her bed, with sudden grace and determination.
"Difficult? I loved you." she glared at him, fighting down the pain between her chest and neck. She refused to back down from the truth.
"You loved me, too." Cho pushed forward. The fact escaped with her breath. They had loved each other. Her anger was met with more indifference.
"Love? How can you love someone you no longer know?" His velvet voice chuckled, almost to himself. Edward's golden eyes gradually hardened.
"I've killed 79 people, some of them children. When I don't do that, I hunt beasts. Like buckbeak and those damn centaurs." he flicked his eyes over to the window.
Cho flinched.
Edward silently advanced, mildly curious. His eyes refused to release her. Cho's breath hitched as she felt the familiar chill of his sudden closeness. She flinched again. Edward stepped back, appraising her.
He still couldn't read her thoughts.
"Love. And you don't even trust me." He snarled, chuckling to himself, "Cedric's gone."
And then Cho did it. She let down her occulomens barrier and completely fell apart. Waves of memories and thoughts crashed down so hard that they became emotions. Edward Cullen was drowned with the image of who he used to be.
The images were intense. Cedric Diggory was real. The way he looked at her was real. His nerves at the Yule Ball. His courage as he saved her under an ocean of blackness. The many nights they'd spent in laughter.. The inseparable connection.
Edward saw the events unfold.
He'd promised to propose to Cho after their seventh year. Cedric had loved her more than life itself. Cedric entered the Tournament, for her. He wanted the Triwizard prize to buy her a suitable ring. And he died in that effort. Or at least, Cedric was bitten. And now he was here, in her room.
A vampire that did not recognize her, despite the facts.
She looked so helpless as she allowed him inside her mind. It wasn't a lack of trust that made Cho block Edward out of her thoughts. It was the fact that she didn't want to torment Edward with all of this. She blocked his insights so that he could move on. She knew he needed it. She knew he wanted it this way.
Something in Edward clicked as her thoughts kept crashing in.
These were not second-hand accounts from various students. This was not McGonagall's stupid pensive. Her mind was a mirror. Edward saw his own reflection. A hufflepuff boy with a big heart and a shy smile.
Trust.
"Lacero" her wand formed a small cut; a teardrop of blood.
She walked toward him slowly, steadily. She wouldn't allow him to believe in a lie. So Cho offered herself in a way no one else had done; but she did it for Cedric Diggory. For the Cedric she believed in, even if he was really gone.
Edward fought it, the blood. He'd lived hundreds of years, and in a single night his control was shattered. There was a long silence as he continued to lose himself.
Edward's eyes met hers as his control broke. He kissed the gash on her wrist, never allowing himself to linger. The blood was warm, comforting. He quickly drew away after one strained gulp, grasping the bridge of his nose. He'd fought it so hard.
"I trust you." the soft voice repeated.
He opened his eyes, which had turned a milk chocolate brown with a hint of gold. But Cho's thoughts gently lulled him back. Edward heard every secret thought: every secret moment, and witnessed her searing pain at the death of her Cedric. She showed him everything.
Pain. So much pain. He subconsciously leaned into her. Cho silently closed the kiss, tears rolling down her cheeks.
His mind couldn't handle it. He was giving in.
This "Cedric" deeply loved her, before his memory was erased. Fact.
Most vampires knew of their past lives. Jasper was a confederate Major. Rosalie was engaged. But Edward only found out the truth about his real life today. He saw himself crudely by second hand pensieve memories, and finally through Cho. Her memories were alive, and breathing. Edward never had time to grieve: or even cared to grieve. Until this witch showed him he'd had a life worth grieving for. It mattered.
This girl who was both a stranger and his first love was giving him everything. He didn't even know her name. Somewhere between her memories, thoughts, and emotions; Edward reached a decision.
A decision based on facts.
