Hello, readers!*Insert super happy emoticon here*
I, like always, want to thank you for your amazing reviews. They are amazing AND SO ARE YOU!
So, onto to today's chapter!
Cho and Cedric, as requested by a reviewer.
I just want to say, before you read the chapter, that if you think Cho seems a wee bit OOC, I have my reasons for that.
The way I see it, we only get to know Cho properly AFTER Cedric dies, and she is, for the most part, emotional and grief stricken. So, by that logic, we don't really know what she was like before she became a mopey, serious, sobbing mess.
So in my mind she was a sweet, cheerful, perfectly happy girl. Until the love of her life died L
Anyway, please enjoy!
So, on with the chapter
Genre: Frienship/Romance/Angst
Prompt: Friends
Disclaimer: All of the characters, stroyline and everything else belongs to JK Rowling. Anything that makes you want to send money to the author belongs to me...
Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory weren't friends.
It was as simple as that.
They didn't hate or dislike each other, nothing of the sort.
But they didn't exactly know the other existed.
They knew of each other, through other friends, but never associated with one another.
She was the girl who knew the answer to every question in Charms.
He was the boy who wasn't listening to the question, but knew the answer all the same.
She was the girl who was sleek and shiny and put together.
He was the boy who was rumpled and messy and "I just rolled out of bed, but look great anyway."
She was sweet.
He was rugged.
She was precise.
He was slap-dash.
She was shy.
He was outgoing.
She was pretty.
He was handsome.
She was witty.
He was smart.
She was a Ravenclaw.
He was a Hufflepuff.
So, naturally, they were going to fall in love.
When the year of the Triwizard Tournament rolled around, they sat next to each other in Transfiguration.
They were civil acquaintances, but still not friends.
They said hello, they said goodbye, they borrowed quills, they shared their opinion of the weather, they discussed Quidditch ("Of course the Tornados are going to win, you git!").
And that was that.
Then, one day, the inevitable happened.
They became friends.
Which was, of course, the beginning.
They had inside jokes that no one else understood.
("Hey, Cho? Cho! Pygmy Puff!"
Then she'd burst into hoots of amusement, and everyone else would wonder what they were on about.)
They were comfortable to tease each other rotten, without showing the slightest amount of mercy.
("Hey, Cedric! That's the Gryffindor you went out with last month, isn't it, Ceddy-bear?")
She felt comfortable enough to physically attack him whenever she saw fit to do so.
("Ceeeedriiiic!" Cho would scream, then go barrelling down the hallway, slamming into him, sending the two of them sprawling on the floor. She'd playfully kiss his nose, and he'd ignore the swooping feeling in his stomach, and try not to blush.)
If he wasn't chivalrous enough to make her a cup of tea, then woe betide him.
She couldn't go a day without trying to tidy his hair, or telling him to tuck in his shirt, for god's sake.
He couldn't go a day without ruffling her hair and magically undoing her tie.
They would pass notes in classes, and almost always got caught doing so.
("Mr. Diggory, may I ask why you and Ms. Chang were playing hang-man in the middle of class?" Snape would drawl. They never figured out an answer.)
They would practise Quidditch together, and try their best to distract each other enough to find the snitch without the other noticing.
("Hey, Cedric, Ced? Did I tell you about the Potions test tomorrow?"
"What? No, you didn't!"
"Yeah, y'know, the one I made up?" she'd laugh, swooping to catch the snitch.)
And then, they became best friends, without even thinking about it. It just happened.
("Oh, sorry, Josie, I can't go with you to Hogsmeade, I promised Cho I would go with her," He'd apologised to another Ravenclaw girl when she'd asked him out to Hogsmeade.
"Are you going out with Cho? I knew you two were a couple!"
"Me and Cho? No, not at all! A couple of weirdos, maybe, but not a couple!"
Which, in his opinion, summed up their relationship perfectly.)
They were best friends.
But then he had his doubts.
All best friends cuddled up next to the fire on cold nights, right?
All best friends would rather spend time with each other than go on a date, right?
All best friends thought about each other all the time, when they were supposed to be concentrating, right?
All best friends were a little bit in love with each other, right?
Then came the realisation that he wanted to be more than best friends.
'Hey, uh, Cho?'
'Yes, Cedric?'
'Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?'
'I already am, Cedric, we sorted it out ages ago,' she laughed, 'You'd forget your head, only it's attached to you!'
'Yeah... yeah, I would,'
'Are you alright, Ced?'
That was when he did what he considered to be the stupidest thing he had ever done in his whole life.
He kissed her.
He barely had time to register how soft her lips were when she pulled back.
Then she ran out of the Hufflepuff common room. (Possibly screaming, Cedric thought, his ear were too full of a ringing, buzzing sound to hear anything.)
And he tried to concuss himself off a wall.
She lay in bed that night, not sleeping.
She didn't know if she liked or resented that kiss.
If she was going to hex him in the morning.
If she wanted another.
The next morning was the Hogsmeade visit.
He waited where they said they were going to meet.
Suddenly, he saw a figure sprinting towards him, yelling: 'Ceeeedriiiic!'
Then Cho barrelled into him, knocking him to the ground, before kissing him, longer and deeper than their first.
'Ready to go to Hogsmeade?' she asked breathlessly.
The rest, as they say, is history.
They dated for a while, went to the Yule Ball together, she supported and helped him through the tasks.
Their "I love you" scene was understated, not a big, romantic crazy gesture.
'Hey, Cho?'
'Yeah, Ced?' She said, without looking up from her Herbology book.
'Love you,'
'Pygmy Puff,' she responded.
'Cho!' he mock-wailed.
She laughed at his antics, because he was, at that point, hiding behind a Charms book.
'Love you too,'
'Good,' came his muffled reply, 'My ego would have suffered otherwise."
She tackled him into the sofa cushions.
Their story wasn't a remarkable one.
They weren't friends. They were friends. They were best friends. They were boyfriend and girlfriend. They were soulmates.
Because she was sweet.
He was rugged.
She was precise.
He was slap-dash.
She was shy.
He was outgoing.
She was pretty.
He was handsome.
She was witty.
He was smart.
She was a Ravenclaw.
He was a Hufflepuff.
So, naturally, they were going to fall in love.