Chapter 13

"The Snake Strikes down the Eagle"

From Halloween onwards, Defense Against the Dark Arts once again became a favourite subject for many students at Hogwarts, considering the results of Professor Chang's first examination.

Almost everyone passed with excellent scores, including an amazed Neville. The only people who seemed to have not done as well as the majority seemed to be a selected few from Slytherin, including Malfoy and his entourage. However, it was a known fact that nobody had failed.

It was a week before the first Quidditch game of the season and practices had been increasing greatly in magnitude at the behest of Angelina. After one unbelievably strenuous session on a Saturday morning, Harry and Ginny were helping a rather battered but not seriously injured Ron back towards Gryffindor Tower.

"Bloody hell, Harry," he groaned in agony, "How did you do this every weekend! Was Oliver Wood ever that crazy?"

"Hard to say," Harry replied, slightly bruised himself, "But Angelina's definitely giving him a run for his money."

"Fred and George said that they were going to try and found out if Wood died while playing for Puddlemere United," Ginny remarked, "They think Angelina's channelling his spirit."

Harry snickered while Ron only groaned again. Although Ginny did not quite make the cut for the Gryffindor team, Angelina felt she was good enough to be a reserve Chaser.

Approaching the portrait of the Fat Lady, the three of them heard soft clattering approaching them. Clearly coming from the direction of the library was Hermione walking side-by-side with Cho, much to Harry's surprise.

"You don't say," Hermione gasped, "My goodness, the OWL exams sound so enjoyable. I don't understand why so many people complain about them."

"I really didn't think they were that bad," Cho responded, "But I think people tend to blow things out of proportion."

"Sounds a lot like Ro...oh, Ron!"

Hermione was caught out guard by Ron, Harry and Ginny standing in front of the portrait.

Ron glared at Hermione. "I do not blow things out of proportion."

"Hi Harry," Cho smiled.

"Hi Cho," Harry responded but was still surprised at the interaction between her and Hermione.

"I saw all of you practicing on my way to the library," Cho remarked, impressed, "You're all doing really well."

"How much did you see?" Ron asked suspiciously before Ginny jabbed him in the ribs to painfully silence him.

"Thanks," Harry replied, "So, you were both at the library?"

"Cho and I ran into each other and she saw that I was looking up information on the OWL exams," Hermione smiled, "She was able to give me a lot of great tips. Thank you so much, by the way, Cho."

"No problem, Hermione" Cho smiled back, "I'll leave you to fill the others in, though."

Harry gave a light smile at the friendly interaction between Hermione and Cho.

"Giving away little hints about schoolwork, Chang?"

Malfoy's drawling voice echoed throughout the corridor as he approached with Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy following him.

"That will explain a lot," he sneered bitterly, "Like how everyone but us Slytherins breezed through your brother's joke of an exam."

Cho faced Malfoy defiantly as he stepped before her. "My brother doesn't tell me anything about his work."

"You would like everyone to believe that, wouldn't you?" he continued, "That having your brother as a teacher doesn't give you a lot of advantages."

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry demanded as he stepped forward.

However, Cho raised her hand gently in front of Harry to stop him. Clearly, she did not need any help to defend herself. At least not yet.

"Believe what you want, Draco," she replied coolly, "But you're really being quite the hypocrite, considering the extra help you always seem to get from your father at your every beck and call."

Malfoy sneered at her. "With this place going to the dogs, only when I really have to."

"Like when you made Seeker for Slytherin?" Cho asked coyly.

Malfoy greeted his teeth ever so slightly. Clearly Cho had touched a nerve, much to the shock of Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy and the amusement of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"I'm Seeker because I'm the best," Malfoy proclaimed.

"It's all about skills, not the broomstick," she added, "Either way, Harry outdoes you on both."

Harry blushed at the compliment Cho had just expressed for him.

For a while, they all remained silent, unsure of what should be said next.

Finally Malfoy spoke. "One day, when Ravenclaw has to play Slytherin, you're going to pay for what you just said."

"A shame that may not happen," Cho added, "Slytherin hasn't been able to beat Gryffindor during the first game of a season since Harry came along."

Malfoy glared at her vindictively. "Just you wait, Chang."

With that, he stormed off with his friends following him.

Cho turned to face Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny who looked back at her with expressions of complete awe and satisfaction.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, finally overly coming his exhaustion.

"Spoken like a truly wise Ravenclaw," Hermione agreed.

Cho blushed and giggled ever so slightly. "I hope you didn't think me too rude."

"Too cool is more like it," Ginny laughed.

Harry looked at Cho with a content smile. He was utterly lost for words.

Cho smiled at him. "I was only trying to tell the truth."

Finally his voice returned. "You were great."

She looked down slightly but still smiling. "And I really do mean...everything I said. Everything."

Ron, Hermione and Ginny looked from Cho to Harry, awaiting his response.

"Thanks," he answered, unable to describe the incredible feeling he was experiencing at that moment.

Harry, Ron and Hermione ended up spending most of the day with Cho, while Ginny went off to hang out with Luna. Cho proved to be wonderful company for all three of them and was even enjoyable to be with during her debate with Ron over their favourite Quidditch teams in the Great Hall after dinner.

"The Chudley Cannons are way better than the Tutshill Tornadoes," he argued, "So what if Tutshill had six wins this century? Not like they were consecutive."

"Well, Chudley hasn't won since 1892," Cho added coyly.

"That's not the point!" Ron snapped at the ever cool Cho, much to the amusement of Harry and Hermione.

Finally Cho laughed herself. "I didn't mean they were bad, Ron. I'm just trying to joke around with you. All teams have their strengths."

"Well, for your information, I remember a game when the Cannons destroyed the Tornadoes," Ron added smugly.

"Right before they were able to tie up the game, as I recall," she replied with smirk, much to Ron's irritation.

However, it was all still in good humour, as it was clear that Ron and Hermione were really beginning to like Cho as a friend.

At that point, Ginny and Luna approached them with Neville trailing behind them.

"Cho," Luna said in her unusual tone of voice, "Roger was looking for you. Something about Quidditch, I think. It was hard to hear him with his new girlfriend's head muffling his voice."

Roger Davies was the Captain for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

"Thanks Luna. I'll go see him," Cho nodded as she got up from the Gryffindor table.

"See you later Cho," Hermione replied.

"Absolutely," she smiled at both her and Ron before turning to Harry.

"Bye Harry," she added kindly.

"Bye Cho," Harry nodded with a smile as Cho and Luna left the Great Hall.

"She really needs to pick a better Quidditch team," Ron stated, "But other than that, she's still pretty cool."

"Cho is really nice," Neville added, "She's helps me out in the library from time to time."

"According to Luna, she's really popular in Ravenclaw," Ginny added.

Harry was not quite listening as she looked at Hermione somewhat nervously yet hopefully.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, when you and Cho were in the library today," Harry asked slowly, "Did...she mention...anything about me?"

At this, Hermione smiled coyly. "You know, she asked me the exact same question for you."

The four of them stared at her intently.

"And?" Ron asked loudly.

She shrugged and casually got up, walking out of the Great Hall.

"Wait a minute!" Ron called, chasing after her, "Harry deserves to know!"

Ginny and Neville smugly looked at Harry who was wearing the biggest smile on his face.

It was starting to look like any other school week at Hogwarts, aside from the great anticipation towards the first Quidditch game of the season. However, little did Harry realize that a nasty surprise was awaiting him at an emergency meeting that Angelina called for the Gryffindor team in the Gryffindor common room.

"That's been a change in plans," Angelina announced with severe disappointment, "We're not playing Slytherin this game coming up."

The team was utterly shocked by this news.

"Why! What rubbish excuse did Malfoy come up with this time?" Fred demanded.

"Whatever it is, he's not going to get away with it that easily!" George added.

Angelina shook her head. "That's another thing. We're not playing until the next game."

"What!" Alicia Spinnet cried out, "What is going on here, Angelina?"

"The Slytherins, with help from Snape and Malfoy's father convinced Dumbledore to change the gaming schedule this season," Angelina continued, "We're playing Hufflepuff in Game Two. Slytherin is playing Ravenclaw in Game One."

The entire began to shout their complaints as Harry drifted into a dreaded silence with a realization sinking into his mind.

This was part of Malfoy's revenge against Cho and was clearly only the beginning.

The day of the first Quidditch game of the season finally arrived. Although everyone was shocked by the new arrangements, most were still eager to enjoy a good game. Obviously, most of the support was being shown to Ravenclaw.

Hagrid, whom Harry had rarely been seeing outside of Care of Magical Creatures due to having little free time had joined him and the other Gryffindors for the game.

"Cheer up Harry, eh?" Hagrid encouraged, "Still gon' be a great game. Though it ought' be you out there teachin' Pureblood Malfoy a thing 'er two."

As they were making their way into the stands, they brushed pass Kwan Chang.

"Well, hullo there Professor Chang," Hagrid smiled.

"Hagrid," Professor Chang smiled, "I still owe you a drink in Hogsmeade, don't I?"

As Hagrid and Professor Chang started to chat, Harry caught sight of Cho in her blue and bronze Quidditch uniform with her Comet Two Sixty broomstick in hand walking with her teammates.

He quickly pushed through the crowd towards her. "Cho!"

She stopped as her teammates walked on to give her some privacy.

"Hey Harry," she smiled, "Looks like Malfoy really has it in for me, doesn't it?"

Harry felt he could not afford to joke around. He looked at her seriously.

"Cho, I want to wish you good luck today," he began.

"Thanks so much," she exclaimed, "That means a lot to me."

"But also," he added, "Be careful...of Malfoy."

Cho gave him a sweet and brave smile and patted him on the shoulder. "I will."

With that she walked away as Hagrid and Professor Chang approached Harry.

"C'mon Harry," Hagrid encouraged, "You don' think a girl that strong's gon' be a scared of Malfoy, do ya?"

Professor Chang put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "She'll be okay, Harry."

Harry looked at Cho's brother anxiously. "I hope you're right."

Kwan smiled at him. "Cho's much strong than you think."

Without much further ado, Professor Chang went to join the other teachers while Harry and Hagrid joined the other Gryffindors.

"Cho will be fine, Harry," Hermione assured seeing Harry's expression as he and Hagrid joined them, "She's almost as good as you."

"She'll knock Malfoy out of the air," Ron added.

Harry did not say anything as the two Quidditch teams flew out of their stands and onto the Quidditch Patch.

Of course, Lee was doing his usual style of commentaries. "Welcome to the first Quidditch game of the season. Today's game: Slytherin versus Ravenclaw, although those dirty snakes know that they should be getting mauled by Gryffindor..."

"Enough, Jordan!" McGonagall snapped in aggravation, although it was clear that she too was angered by this sudden change. McGonagall was a die-hard Quidditch fan.

In what felt like forever for Harry, as he watch a glaring Malfoy eyeing a determined Cho, Madam Hooch stepped onto the field to begin the game.

Within seconds, Harry's fears became realized as it was clear that this was possibly the most vicious game of Quidditch he had ever seen without being in it himself.

The Slytherins were using every dirty tactic they could think of, despite Madam Hooch's calls for penalties. However, the Ravenclaws were still holding their ground.

With every ill-received goal that the Slytherins earned themselves, the Ravenclaws retaliated with clean plays and well-deserved goals. The game remained consistently tied.

Malfoy and Cho remained on the lookout for the Golden Snitch, which had been hiding all game. Several times, Malfoy would fly around in an attempt to mislead Cho but to no avail.

Harry spent most of the game watching Cho, hoping that nothing would happen to her.

Suddenly, Malfoy zoomed straight towards her, as if to crash into her. She quickly flew out of the way to dodge him but ended up putting herself into the path of two oncoming Bludgers.

"Cho, look out!" Harry yelled.

Luckily, Cho's reflexes were quick and she was able to evade the two Bludgers just barely.

"The Slytherin Beaters did that on propose!" Fred called out.

"Fowl! They tried to kill her! Call it, Lee!" George protested.

Cho and Malfoy came face to face, but suddenly a golden sparkle came between them.

"The Snitch!" Harry called.

Immediately, the Golden Snitch flew off with both Seekers in hot pursuit. Everyone cheered wildly, the majority spurring on Cho.

"Cho's beating Malfoy!" Ron called out.

"She's going to win!" Hermione agreed.

Indeed, Cho was much faster than Malfoy. However, Harry eyes caught onto something as Malfoy reached into his pocket.

"Reducto!" Malfoy had pulled out his wand and fired a spell.

"Cho!" Harry yelled but it was too late.

Cho's broomstick exploded, launching her into air as she screamed in shock.