Anyone who has read anything by Vorabiza over on silversnitch, should recognize something in this chapter. I am borrowing a very small thing, since she is one of my favorite fanfic writers. She writes my OTP (H/D), so I needed to add something of hers, even if this fic is soooo far from that pairing. Thanks to her.
Longest so far. I'm not sure if they'll all start being in the 5,000-6,000 word range, yet (this one just seemed to happen), so don't get used to it just yet. Enjoy!!!
And Please Review. Thanks!
Last Chapter…
"Death will come to the Chosen One before his power fully blossoms…An offering must be made, blood willingly given, a binding sealed in sacrifice, before the Reign of Peace can be made real...Once the dark one knows love, loss must be learned…Only the Equal of Merlin can defeat evil and stop the darkness…Death will come before the Reign of Peace can be realized…"
###
Hermione nodded in Harry's shoulder. The two remain that way for another moment, before the bushy-haired teen relaxed and pulled away. Her voice was small when she asked, "May I see it?"
Olympia rose and handed her the notepad. She read it quietly, before her eyes snapped back to Harry. "Oh God. Harry."
Chapter 34 – Of Acceptance
Hermione had refused to explain her reaction, until everyone was present. Harry, his arms still around her shoulders, led her to Coven Tower while Ariadne and Severus went to Dumbledore's office to collect him and make a couple floo calls. The rest of the Coven followed silently. Olympia did not even seem to realize that she had taken Sirius' hand and was clinging to it. Ekantika was walking close by Remus. The tone of Hermione's voice had scared everyone. She wept quietly as they walked and held to Harry like a lifeline.
Twenty minutes had passed before Ariadne and Severus entered the Tower common room. Behind them, Dumbledore looked stern. The Weasley Twins, followed by Bill, also looked unusually solemn. When they were all arranged comfortably, Ariadne stood and explained the reason for the emergency meeting to the newcomers. She then read the new prophecy aloud. Turning to Hermione, she cocked her head. "Why exactly do you look like the world is ending?"
The Gryffindor girl stood shakily and glanced around. "Really? No one else sees it? The prophecy, which is blatantly talking about Harry, The Chosen One, states plainly that either he or someone close to him must die before he can grow into his full power. That probably has something to do with the Power the Dark Lord Knows Not. Someone of us has to die before Voldemort can be defeated."
She swayed and Harry stood to steady her. Everyone was looking warily at each other, as if one of them might drop dead at any moment. Ariadne, who had retaken her seat, snorted and all head swivel to her. "Honestly, guys, this is ridiculous. It's not going to happen right now. Anyway, why don't we look at the whole thing before we start mourning someone who isn't dead yet? By the sounds of it, 'blood willingly given' the death will be in the form of a Dark ritual, maybe? Or maybe saving a life in battle? Some kind of heroic sacrifice."
Severus nodded. "Indeed, in addition, it appears that Harry will step into his ancestral role. Reign of Peace."
Harry's eyes widened and he dropped back into his chair. Hermione knelt by his side. "I have to become King? Are you joking?"
Olympia spoke up. "Well, it'd be difficult to have a Reign of Peace without having a King to actually rule."
Sirius snorted. "I want to know who this Dark One is. Is it one of us?" He looked around in suspicion.
Ariadne rolled her eyes. Dumbledore offered a small smile at their conversation. "Yes, indeed, that is a good question. There is very little ambiguity in this prophecy. We need only to find out who this Dark One is and I believe the identity of the Death will be revealed. However, there is very little for us to use to figure out their identity. I do believe there are several people here who could fit that description."
Remus grinned ruefully. "I'm a Dark Creature and Sirius is a murderer, according to the Ministry. That makes both of us Dark."
Sirius sneered. Severus raised an eyebrow. "I am a Dark Wizard and a Death Eater."
"Former! Former Death Eater! Merlin, Sev! I'm a Dark Witch and a Mistress of the Dark Arts."
Severus laid a hand on her shoulder and she smiled up at him. Harry grinned at them and said, "Aren't you two adorable?" Earning himself two death-glares. "I've gone from the Savior to the next Dark Lord and back again, so I suppose I could be considered Dark as well."
"Alright, so we've established that we're all dark, but not much else. Why don't we all reconvene, maybe next Wednesday before Harry and Hermione leave for the train?" Isoko spoke up for the first time. With this soft prompting, everyone dispersed.
Harry and Hermione made their way to the library, walking slowly. Dumbledore had released both from afternoon lessons. Hermione had her head down and she refused to look him in the eye, no matter how hard he tried. "Hermione, I wanted you to know that you having given the prophecy doesn't change anything between us. You are still my best friend in the world and you're still smartest witch I know." He smiled gently at her.
She finally lifted her eyes and looked at him, tears glistening on her lashes. "I'm sorry, Harry. I don't mean to make everything even harder for you. I try to help the best I can and then something like this happens and… Well, I just feel like I doomed someone close to you to death. Maybe even me. I—"
"No, Herm! It's not your fault. It's simply something speaking through you. You did not prophesize that; you just delivered it, like a messenger. And they always say never shoot the messenger!" He offered a lopsided grin.
She smiled weakly. "Harry, why are we going to the library? I'd think you'd want to be out flying or something."
He grinned at her. "I wanted to research the circumstances in which my ancestors gave up the throne. The agreement made between the new Ministry and the Potter family. I have this feeling that there is something that Evil Sr. isn't telling me."
Wiping away her tears, Hermione frowned and nodded. "Alright. Let's get on that then. And maybe we can start looking to see if any other prophecy has ever been made about The Dark One or a Reign of Peace."
Harry nodded and smiled at her enthusiasm.
######
High up at the top of Coven Tower, another conversation was dealing with the same topics. Ariadne was curled up in one of her crimson armchairs as Severus stood looking out the middle window. She sighed as she examined him. He was wound tighter then a corkscrew. "Sev, you need to relax. Everything will work out. We can't know anything more about the prophecy just at the moment, so there is nothing we can do about it now."
"I know this, Ariadne. I am, at present, more worried about the upcoming school year and the information that Lucius imparted to Harry today. How will he take being a member of the Wizarding Royal Family?"
Ariadne squinted at him. "How are you taking being a member of the Royal Family? Because, as his father, you are in fact part of the Royal family, though I don't know your title at the moment."
Severus turned sharply and looked at her, eyes widened. "I…"
She smiled and rose. "It hadn't occurred to you yet, had it? No, I see not. He's not taking it badly, Severus. He's just a little shocked at present. When he gets over that, he'll probably just ignore it, like everyone else does at the very least. I doubt it will affect him any more then being one of the richest wizards in the world has affected him." Ariadne grinned and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Now, come sit and relax."
She led him back to the chair she'd been sitting in and pushed him down into it. She then sat on his lap and swung her legs over the arm of the chair. Finally relinquishing, he smirked and snaked an arms around her, his hand resting on her ribcage. Fingers absently tracing patterns into the back of his neck, she leaned forward and kissed him. He smiled into her mouth. His hand traveled upward to cup her breast lightly. When Severus felt her leaned into his touch, he moved to reached under her shirt.
This was how Olympia found them several minutes later when she opened the door, calling, "Ari! Are you up here? I was…Oh! Ooh!" She smirked broadly when they pulled apart to glare at her. "Sorry, loves! I was just… Well, never mind. It's not important. I'll just go. Have fun, you two! And be safe!"
She managed to dance out the door, still laughing, before the first curse buckled the wood. Ariadne finally left off glaring at the smoking door, to look at Severus. She bit her lip hard at his expression. He looked torn between cursing and giggling, his cheeks tinted a faint pink. It was the most expressive she'd ever seen him. "Oh, Gods! Sev, your expression!" She managed to choke out before she dissolved into helpless laughter.
Seeing the merriment in her eyes, Severus smiled at her warmly. Then he mock-scowled. "Well, if this is how you are going to act, then I—"
His tone just made her laugh harder, until she feel onto the floor. He sat, eyebrow raised, and watched her for several minutes, before he chuckled softly. When she got herself under control, Ariadne smiled up at him. He rolled his eyes and helped her up. "Somehow, I do not think Olympia's question or the like was important enough for that interruption." He commented dryly. "I think, perhaps, we should ask Harry for the loan of his map and return the favor."
Ariadne's eyes lit up in amusement. "Goddess, Sev, I love you. That's so excellent!"
The Potion's Master, who had been about to sit back down, froze. He looked up at her slowly, fear, hope, and something she couldn't quite identify lighting his dark eyes. "What?"
She flushed darkly and looked away. "Nothing, never mind."
He straightened and snagged her under the chin, forcing her to look at him. "No, not nothing. What did you say?"
Biting her lip, she stared at him. She'd meant it in jest, but now that she'd said it, she realized how true it really was. I don't know if he's ready to hear it, but, with the situation we're in, and all that going on around us, I'm ready to say it. "I said, I love you, Severus Snape."
The smile that graced his lips took her breath away. He leaned down and kissed her with such tenderness that it made her want to cry. She slipped her arms around his neck and clung to him. He held her tightly and joy colored his thoughts. This is so much more then I deserve or ever thought I would have. Now that I have this, I will never let her go.
######
Back in the library, Harry sat pouring over Apringolo's Compendium of Prophecies: Part 2, Volume 74. He sighed. This was the second most recent volume. Hermione was starting on researching the deal the Potters made with the Ministry and he was stuck reading all the prophecies ever collected. The first part of the compendium, she'd handed him had 500 parts, each of containing several hundred pages. It was ridiculous to even attempt what he was doing, but this was the task Hermione had given him. Starting on prophecies from 1989, he sighed again. He'd already worked his way through Volume 75, which covered the years 1993-1996 and found nothing. Turning his focus back on the words in front of him, Harry was startled when several minutes later, a huff broke his concentration.
Looking up, Harry found Hermione staring at the book in her hands with a scowl on her face. He blinked. "Everything ok, Herm?" She continued to stare at the page. "Hermione?"
She jerked and looked up at him. "Harry, I can't find it anywhere! All of the books that should have this piece of history in them just generally omit it. This one I'm looking at now tries to say that there has always been a Ministry for Magic, since the beginning of the Wizarding World, but that's just silly. Why wouldn't it be here?"
"Evil Sr. said that the old families and the Ministry both tried to gloss it out of our history to give themselves more power. Maybe there'll be a book in the Restricted Section?"
Hermione bit her lip and nodded. Standing, she wandered over to the doors to check and see if they were locked. She gestured for him to follow her in and pushed them open. "Alright, Harry. We are looking for anything with history in its title. If the book doesn't have a title, then look for red leather. Those are the history ones. Black are either defense or actual Dark Arts books, green are potions, blue are healing… Not that it matters. Just look for red leather."
She strode purposefully up the row of books and disappeared around the corner. As she went she called, "You can get back to that Compendium later."
Harry rolled his eyes and smiled half-heartedly. Turning to the shelves, he scanned for a red leather volume. It took him ten minutes of searching in the gloom to find anything promising. However, the first book he came across was called Monarchy and Wizardry: What the Ministry Hides and the Wizengamot Was Never Told. The author was not listed. Harry laughed. "Well, that was surprisingly easy."
He reached up and pulled the book from the shelf. Stroking its spine gently caused it to fall open in his hands. Trying to read the first page, he groaned loudly. "Hermione! I found something useful, but it's in some Runic language I've never seen before!"
He waited a moment before he heard a thud and a grunt, then Hermione's head popped out from the end of the row. "Does it look really good?"
He raised an eyebrow and told her the title. Her eyes lit up and she came around the corner, carrying a tall stack of books. Harry rolled his eyes again. "Come on," He said, taking the books from her. "Let's go put these on the table and you can look at the book I found."
She snagged it off the top of his pile and followed him back to their table, browsing through it. "Harry, I've never seen these either. I'm not sure which translation spell would be best. Why don't we go find Isoko and ask her? She might be able to help us with the history as well."
When he nodded, she shrunk the books she'd found and put them into her bag. They exited the library together in search of their soon-to-be History Professor.
######
The next morning found the group quieter then usual. Severus and Ariadne spoke very little, but once in a while, they would shoot each other small smiles. Ariadne also found time to glare at Olympia, who smirked and winked at her every time the brunette caught her. Harry and Hermione sat talked quietly to Isoko, grilling her about her knowledge of English Wizarding history. All the rest seemed sleepy. That is, until the morning post arrived.
Ariadne reached up and caught her Prophet, preventing the bird from landing on the table. Just as she was about to open it, however, Severus and Harry both received envelopes. Several envelopes. Several bright red envelopes. Father and son stood and both took a step back from the table. Ariadne rolled her eyes, "Just open the damned things! You don't want them exploding at the table, do you?"
When neither moved, Ariadne sighed and she and Hermione each grabbed a letter and started ripping. Hermione opened hers first and a shrill voice filled the room. "HOW DARE YOU ASSOCIATE WITH THOSE PEOPLE!!! SEVERUS SNAPE IS A KNOWN DEATH EATER AND THOSE…THOSE WOMEN ARE MURDERERS! YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE WIZARDING WORLD, HARRY POTTER! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!"
At this moment, the other letter opened and started screaming. "SEVERUS SNAPE, HOW DARE YOU CORRUPT OUR SAVIOR WITH YOUR EVIL WAYS! LEAVE THAT BOY ALONE, YOU FILTHY DEATH EATER OR YOU'LL GET WHAT'S COMING TO YOU JUST LIKE YOU DESERVE!"
Both men had gone deathly white. Ariadne shook her head and silenced the rest of the howlers, causing them to explode. As ash rained down on them all, she looked at Severus and sighed. His expression was completely blank. Glancing at Harry, she froze.
Harry stood and appeared to vibrate with power. His eyes flared with anger and his hair whipped around in an unseen wind. All of the items on the table started to rattle and shake with his anger and the candles flickered. Hermione leapt to her feet. "Harry! Harry, you need to calm down! Harry, none of us believe any of that drivel and those people had no right to send those to you—"
She froze when he rounded on her. "You think I care what they say about me?" He snarled. "I don't give a fuck what they say about me! They always lie about me and tell me what they think I should be doing or how I should act. I don't give a fuck what they have to say. Those people had absolutely no right to send those howlers to my father! No Right! He never did anything to those people and he is not a public figure!" His tone was low and dangerous. Hermione took an unconscious step back.
As soon as he began speaking, Aurelia had thrown up a silencing spell, thinking it best. Now she was glad she had. She knew he had no control over his magic, never mind his mouth. Everyone who could hear him gazed at him with wide eyes. Hermione was shocked, unable to move from her spot. As soon as he'd closed his mouth, the candles began to explode in a shower of hot wax. Oddly enough, the wax did not land on anyone, only splattered across the table and the food. Harry tried to take calming breaths and center himself, but it just wasn't enough this time. The lighter objects on the table were beginning to get caught by the wind his magic was causing. Sirius and Remus and most of the Coven all dove under the table, gesturing for the rest of the staff (the ones outside the silent bubble) to follow. Severus remained rooted to the spot, staring at his son in shocked awe. Hermione was now attempting to inch closer to him, to help him calm down, but she wasn't making much headway. Ariadne stood slowly, thinking furiously.
Finally, the High Priestess came to a conclusion. Pulling out her wand, she attacked. "Confringo."
Harry spun on her and dropped to his haunches, just as the spell passed over his head. It hit the wall and blasted a sconces off the stones. Harry glanced over his shoulder and growled. "Defodio!"
Ariadne leapt over the low-flying curse and vaulted the table, drawing Harry down away from the head table. "Expulso!"
Harry threw up a shield and followed her down away from their audience, who were all watching with a mixture of awe and fear. No one wanted to get caught in this crossfire. Drawing a large amount of magic from his core, Harry gathered it into his palm. "Never attack me like that again, Ariadne. I don't care what your reasons are!" So saying, he chucked the swirling flickering ball of magic directly at her head.
She stood stock still, having no idea what to do to stop the ball hurling at her. She was frozen at the worst possible moment and she couldn't help it. There was a bang from behind her. The magic suddenly splashed out sideways, as if it had hit a shield of some sort. She turned shakily to find Dumbledore standing in the doorway, livid and swirling with magic, himself. "What is going on here?" He demanded.
Hermione rushed forward, laying a hand on Harry's arm. "Sir, Harry and Professor Snape got a bunch of howlers and they made Harry really, really angry. Things started exploding, so Ariadne started a duel, I think in hopes of bleeding off the excess magic he was giving off. It didn't really go as planned, though."
Ariadne shook her head and whispered, "I'm sorry, Harry. I was just trying to help." Her eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed. Harry waved a hand and her unconscious form was levitated before she could hit the ground. He dropped her in the arms of Severus, who had hurried down the hall as soon as she spoke.
Severus shot Harry a look that clearly stated that they would be speaking later, before he smiled slightly. "Thank you, Harry, for being angry on my behalf. Never do that again!"
Harry dropped his eyes to the floor, as Severus carried Ariadne from the room. Dumbledore moved forward, a dark expression still on his face. "Mr. Potter, this is hardly—"
"No. You will not start berating me for something that is not my fault." The wind was still stirring his hair and clothes. "I did not ask Ariadne to attack me. I don't care what her reasons were. I had everything under control."
"Harry, I don't think—" Hermione gave him her stern I'm-about-to-give-you-a-lecture face.
"No, Hermione. I had everything under control. Did any of the objects from the table hit anyone? No. Did any of the wax splatter onto anybody? No. I was letting off excess magic the best I could, without injuring anyone. I was getting under control and no one was going to get hurt. Then she threw that curse at me. Tell me, Hermione, if you have an attack dog that's all riled up, would you throw something at it?"
She looked confused. "Of course not, Harry. That would just make…it…angrier. Oh, Harry!" She exclaimed as understanding entered her eyes.
Dumbledore was still looking stern. "Harry, that does not excuse the fact that you threw raw magic at her. She could have been incinerated by that burst of power!"
Harry frowned. "No, she couldn't have because I didn't intend for that to happen. It would have soaked her, like being dowsed with galleons of water. That's why it splashed against your shield."
Dumbledore frowned thoughtfully, the twinkle slowly returning to his eye. "You mean to tell me, Harry, that you've managed to control raw magic by intent, when I only taught you how to summon it last weekend?"
"Yes, sir?" Harry was beginning to look sheepish.
"Indeed. Well, that is a topic for next Saturday's class, is it not? Yes, we shall talk about this. Now, go and see how Ariadne fairs." Harry turned to follow his suggestion, Hermione at his side. "Oh, and Harry? I would look at the newspaper this morning, if you're planning on meeting Ms. Chang this coming week. It is better to be prepared for these kinds of things." Dumbledore's twinkle was back full force as he smiled at Harry over his half-moon spectacles.
Harry looked alarmed, but nodded and left the hall. Hermione summoned Ariadne's Prophet, before following him.
The walk to Coven Tower was not pleasant. Hermione had opened the newspaper and read him the front-page article, which was entitled, Potter Dates Ravenclaw Seeker Chang. It went on to detail Cho's relationship with Cedric, calling her every name under the sun, pictures included. The article was completely unacceptable, in Harry's opinion, but as Hermione pointed out, it was not about him specifically and it contained no direct lies. Rita was careful to write up untruths as her opinion or as unsubstantiated rumor. Harry gritted his teeth and started to prepare himself for the explosion that would be Cho's response to this. He'd need to floo her and set up a meeting today. He mentioned this to Hermione, who nodded absently.
Hermione nearly stumbled when she came across a small article in the back of the paper. "Harry, Stan Shunpike is dead!"
He turned to her sharply. "What?"
"This says that his body was found in Claygate, Surrey. He'd been the victim of several unidentified curses, there were spell burns all over him, and…Harry, there was evidence of very forcefully Legilimency and Obliviation." She looked up at him with large eyes.
When the two Gryffindors arrived at the Tower, they were forced to climb all the staircases to the top, as Severus had put Ariadne to bed. Groaning, they went through her study and up the final stairway. Harry knocked at the door. They waited. Finally, Severus' voice issued from within. "Come."
Hermione opened the door slowly and pushed Harry through. Looking around in awe, they entered the room. Ariadne immediately tried to get out of bed to go to Harry, but Severus held her back. Harry came to her instead, sitting on the edge of the bed, as bidden. Hermione hung back, not wanting to intrude on the family scene. Severus rose and went to stand by her side.
"Ms. Granger," He said quietly. "As you are my son's best friend, it does not seem fitting that you should feel uncomfortable around me, or Ariadne in her self-proclaimed role as his adopted mother."
He rolled his eyes and smirked. Hermione looked at him in shock. "Sir?"
"What I am trying and failing to say, Ms. Granger…Hermione, is that if you should wish, then in situations like this where I am your friend's father rather than your professor, you may call me Severus."
Hermione gaped at him for several minutes. He raised an eyebrow at her. Harry and Ariadne's sniggering, off to her left, roused her from her stupor. She shot a glare at them and turned back to the Potion's Master, who was still smirking at her. "Thank you, Prof-uh. I mean S-Severus."
Harry laughed full out at her stutter. He came to her side and gave her a one armed hug, when she glared at him. "You'll get used to it, Herm. Relax."
Severus raised an eyebrow. "Do not, either of you, address me thus in any kind of academic setting. It would not be well received, by myself or your classmates I should think."
Harry contemplated this for a moment then laughed again. Hermione joined him this time, giggling softly as she imagined the expressions on the faces of their Potion's class if she called Professor Snape by his first name. Even most of the faculty called him Professor Snape or just Snape.
Ariadne sat on the bed, grinning. She raised her hand to Severus and he went to her side. She smiled at him when he took her hand and he scowled. "You are corrupting me with your Hufflepuff ways!"
She scoffed. "I'll have you know that I asked the Sorting Hat personally where I would have been placed and it certainly wasn't in Hufflepuff!"
Hermione frowned. "Ravenclaw?"
Ariadne shook her head and looked at Harry. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. "I imagine he compared you to me, didn't he?"
Ariadne smirked and nodded. Hermione looked between the two, clearly confused. Severus frowned. "You'd be a Gryffindor? I am appalled."
"No, Sev. That's not what he means."
Harry offered them all a half-smile. "Um…I was almost put in Slytherin."
And pandemonium broke out. Hermione was berating him sternly for never telling her, and then she switched to asking why it would do that. Severus was complaining about how the Perfect Golden Gryffindor couldn't possibly be put into Slytherin.
Harry waited patiently for them to stop talking. Ariadne watched him in amusement. Finally, he broke the mutterings. "If you want to hear the story, you need to stop talking, so I can tell you."
The two looked at him blankly for a moment, before Severus scowled. Neither, however, spoke. "Good. Well, see, I'd heard from Hagrid that all evil wizards come from Slytherin. I'd made friends with Ron on the train, he'd bashed the Slytherins too, and then Evil Jr, sometimes know as Draco Malfoy, came in being an overall git. Of course, he's always like that, so that's not a big surprise. Anyway, so I went into the sorting and the Hat was talking about how great I'd be in Slytherin. I just sort of freaked and started repeating Not Slytherin over and over in my head. The Hat gave in and put me in Gryffindor."
Severus nodded slowly, still frowning. "Yes, if I remember correctly, yours was one of the longest sorting I've seen in all my time teaching here. You are, indeed, a Slytherin, Mr. Potter." He eyed Harry.
Harry frowned. "How do you mean?"
"Well, That is the ultimate Slytherin thing to do, talking the Sorting Hat into putting you somewhere else? Very cunning, I think."
Harry gaped at him and Hermione looked appalled. Ariadne broke in, before a fight started. "Back to the original topic. The Hat said it was a toss up for me. Gryffindor or Slytherin, which ever I'd prefer at the time."
Harry nodded and shut his hanging jaw. "Yeah. Just like me."
Hermione shook herself. "I can't deal with this. Harry, if you don't hurry up, it's going to be too late for you to meet your girlfriend!" So saying, she shooed him out and followed, shutting the door behind them.
######
The walk down to Hogsmeade should have been pleasant, as it was a beautiful day. However, Harry was so worried about Cho's reaction to the newspaper that he barely noticed the weather. He still felt a little put out that their last kiss had felt so final and he couldn't figure it out. He sighed and pushed open the door to the Three Broomsticks.
Cho was already seated at their regular table, even though Harry himself had arrived with ten minutes to spare. She was fidgeting and looked nervous. Harry made his way slowly to her table, feeling a sense of impending doom. He dropped a kiss on her upturned mouth and started damage control. "Cho, I am so sorry about what Rita wrote about you. I really had no idea she was going to do it quite like that. I was hoping she wouldn't do it at all. If I'd known, I would have tried to stop her. Really, I would have. I'm so sorry, Cho. I—"
"Harry!" She raised a hand to stop the flow of words. Smiling at his slight flush, she looked him over slowly. "Harry, I know you felt it in Diagon Alley. Something is wrong with us, Harry. Not with you or me, but with us together. If I though you loved me, or even really liked me, I wouldn't care at all about this article. I would ignore every last nasty thing that horrible woman said about me, but, Harry," Her smile was sad. "You don't. You don't love me and I am not the most important woman in your life. Our relationship should be new. We've only been dating for a little over a month and yet it's old already. You keep secrets from me."
"But, Cho, I told you—" Harry started to protest, sadness seeping into his gaze as he listened to her.
"I know, Harry. And if that were the reason I would respect it, but it's not. You don't trust me with the information. You don't trust me enough to let me in. If I were really important to you, you would have told me before now what exactly has been going on this summer. Our relationship is superficial. I understand that now. Even this thing with the reporter. It seems like such a ridiculous secret to keep and yet you won't tell me."
"Cho, there are only four people who know that piece of information. Rita, myself, Hermione, and Ronald Weasley. We four and only we four. I did not tell Dumbledore, nor any of the Coven. I didn't tell Severus."
"There is another thing you are keeping from me. What happened with Snape, Harry? Last year, you hated him and he hated you. The only person more famous or rather infamous for hating you was Malfoy…inside Hogwarts of course."
"He saved my life, Cho. I was dying!" Harry's eyes had a haunted look. " You want the truth, Cho? You are going to push on this? Make me talk about this?"
Cho reeled back from his tone. There was weariness there and sadness, but under the surface was resentment starting to form. He pulled his wand and she flinched. He sneered at her and cast a silencing charm. Glancing around he cast another spell, which appeared to be a detector of some sort. Satisfied, he turned conflicted eyes on her.
"I was abused, Cho. For the first eleven years of my life, I was neglected and abused by my Muggles relatives. Everyone in the Wizarding world thinks I was pampered. Very few people know or understand what my childhood was really like. No one knows the scope of it. Not. A. Soul. Not Hermione, not Ariadne, not Severus, not Dumbledore who placed me there with those people. No one. I am not going to tell you either. This past summer, they…well, I guess they'd just had enough. They took it to a whole new level. Not long into the holiday, my uncle beat me into unconsciousness. I was so injured that the life stone in Dumbledore's office that's attuned to me flared red. Do you understand what that means?"
She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes.
"It means that I was going to die. If someone didn't come to get me and take me away from there, I was going to bleed out onto the floor boards and die in that little room in that disgustingly clean house in Little Whinging. I hate them, Cho. I hate them and I hate what they did to me, but it's not anyone's business, but my own. You pushed and I am pushing back. Do you want to hear more? How about the time that Ronald Weasley and his twin brothers had to rescue me from my own bedroom because my uncle locked me in with bars on my windows and a flap in the door to push food through? Or what about the time I asked a question about a dream I'd had and I was locked in the cupboard under the stairs for a week with no food? I was only 8 years old, Cho. Or the time my cousin pushed me and I fell onto one of his broken toys and cut myself so bad that I bled all over the floor? I still have a scar. My aunt handed me a band-aid and told me to clean up the blood. I was only 4 that time. Should I go on or do you think I've bared enough of my soul to you to satisfy your curiosity?"
His face was twisted into a hateful expression, filled with resentment and cruel sarcasm, but she could see the pain in his eyes. The tears were flowing freely now, down her face and she was shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Harry! I didn't know. I'm so sorry." She continued to mumble as she rose and went to embrace him.
He sat stiffly in her arms for several minutes before she felt dampness on her sleeve. She tilted her head to see that he was weeping too, very softly and silently. Her arms tightened around him and they sat together. Finally, Harry raised his head, dashing away the tears. His eyes were clear again, but they still did not hold that awed adoration that they used to. She smiled at him, tentatively, and he smiled back. Trying for some levity, she muttered. "No fair! My eyes are going to be all puffy and bloodshot now! And look at you! It's not fair, I tell you!"
Harry laughed and hugged her tightly for a moment. He caught her gaze and smiled sadly. "I think you look beautiful." She smiled at him. "We're over now, aren't we, Cho?" He asked, tone filled with sadness.
She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Harry. I really like you, but I just don't think we're good together. I'm not her. I —"
"No, it's okay, Cho. I get it." Harry offered her his lopsided smile. "Friends still, though, right?"
She nodded and they shared one last kiss. "I'll always be here for you, Harry Potter. You've got me for life, even if it isn't how I'd like it." She chuckled wetly. "I mean it though, Harry. I'll always be here."
Finally, when he smiled at her, it reached his eyes.