CH 21

Tale as Old as Time

Ravenclaw Tower

Tale as old as time, true as it can be.

It was close to 2am.

"For Merlins sake Edward just go!" Cho stubbornly sat upright on her bed. How could he possibly believe that watching someone sleep all night was appropriate? Or even comfortable? Edward doesn't even blink!

"For 'Merlins' sake, Auror..just go to sleep." Edward Cullen continued to perch on her window, like some overly attractive gargoyle.

"Then go." she emphasized.

"I'm not leaving you." He locked his jaw, a barely audible whisper. It was too dangerous. Insulting a now-dead Volturi Chief and having them as her neighbors was reason enough to portkey Cho to Africa. It didn't matter to Edward that the Golden Trio and The Order surrounded the Castle. They all should move to Africa.

"I'm cold." her weak excuse. The small witch looked up at him, expecting her reasoning to suffice.

Edward's perfect eyebrow raised. He leisurely transfigured a tissue box into a large fluffy blanket. Cho drowned at the size of it.

"Transfiguration?" She managed to poke her head out of the impossibly large comforter set. Matching pillows recently included. Cho swam around her bed until she faced him.

"Since when did you learn such a difficult course of spells?" it was a natural talent for Cedric. She remembered he used it to win his First Task against the dragon.

"Since I needed to figure out how to save you." He curtly replied. The Ravenclaw suddenly glared past him.

So there was a way to save him from being Turned? Cho's blood boiled. The Ministry of Magic didn't bother to use this information to save him. They just obliviated his memory and threw him under a carpet of Time! They just.. threw him away. Cho's thoughts were so livid that her occulomens shattered. Edward himself tensed.

"Hey. The Ministry couldn't risk accusing the Volturi of allowing a Vampire in the tournament maze. The Volturi would've denied that one of their own had broken the Treaty, much less Turned a wizard. Everyone had enough to deal with Voldemort on their hands. The Ministry made the right choice." Edward patiently explained.

Cho looked down at her white blankets as she listened. He felt her small warm tears beginning to form. A long silence before Edward regarded her frustration. Teenagers.

"I would've wanted the Ministry to dispose of me like that. I could never place your life in danger. Even if that meant 'throwing me away'. Alright?" A dangerously soft admission.

"Well, that's what I probably would've felt.. as Cedric." Edward hastily added, averting his golden gaze toward the window.

"Edward?" Cho commanded his attention back to her.

"Stop rationalizing. You are just as angry as I am." She stated.

"And how do you know that?", another show-down.

"Because they separated us. You hate the concept of lovers being separated. That part of you will perhaps, never change." whispered fact, after concrete fact.

"Go to sleep." he replied.

"Sod off" she smiled.

He smiled back.

Cho gently placed a small vial of white liquid on her nightstand.

"You need to eat." Cho mumbled before turning around, her back facing him.

She pretended to sleep.

"You need to rest, Cho." A barely audible whisper escaped.

5:00AM

Jasper finally jabbed him. His brilliant smile trotted from one part of Ravenclaw's Tower to another. Edward stiffened, knowing Jasper held back an annoying battery of thoughts.

And finally:

"Ya 'know, Miss Luna gave me a skele-gro vial, once." Jasper Hale hinted, as he leisurely sat by Luna's neighboring room. Edward wouldn't fall for it. Not one bit.

"Cho and I are the farthest thing from friends Jasper." Edward calmly replied, tensing his jaw.

Oh, I know.

"You sir, are an incessant git of a vampire. Do you know that?" Edward shot.

"Yes'sir, I do" his earthy chuckle sang with the wind.

"Don't be so angry Edward, you'll scare the Nargles, and the witches." Jasper 'twanged. He glanced down at the caravan of blushing Aurors. They often looked up when they should've looked forward. Ineffective form, mused Jasper, nevertheless amused.

5:35 AM

"Luna huh."

"Shut. up."

"The Nargles, Jasper." Edward mocked concern, his focus plastered on only one witch.

06:00AM

Ever just as sure, as the sun will rise

06:01AM

Two cloaked vampires sat on a stone bench, watching Fjord change colors

"Toast?"

"To you-know-who."

Both a little scared, neither one prepared.