Rediscovering Her Wings – Chapter 8
As Cho watched Will skip down the stairs of her apartment, her breath caught in her throat.
"Don't date anyone else besides me. Ever. For the rest of this lifetime."
Oh, sweet Merlin.
There'd been a time, once, when she thought Cedric Diggory would be the only boyfriend she'd ever have. She remembered their lovely conversations, long walks around the lake, stolen kisses between classes, all the times they'd go out to fly together on the Quidditch pitch, and how she'd felt like she was floating above the clouds. They'd had something special, and they'd wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.
When Cedric died, she'd thought she would never fall in love again. But might there be a chance that she would? She had no way of knowing so soon if she would fall in love with Will, but her time with him made him feel that new love was, at least, possible.
She'd also wondered if her sensuality had died when Cedric did, too. True, she'd briefly dated and even kissed Harry Potter, but he hadn't even come close to setting her body on fire the way Cedric did.
When she rode on Will's motorcycle behind him, when he held her hand, when he hugged her, and when he gave her those chaste kisses before he left, it was as if something in her had snapped out of a years-long coma and gotten up to celebrate.
Even though he'd left several minutes ago, she could still feel the touch of his lips to hers. If this is what a couple of chaste pecks did to her, what would a real kiss be like?
She got ready for bed and snuggled under the down comforter, squirming as she found her comfy spot.
A loud meow and a hiss startled her. "Sorry, Smoky," she murmured.
Once her cat saw that it was just his mistress home from her night out, he snuggled next to her in bed.
"Smoky, what did you think of Will? Did you like him?"
The cat must've known who Cho was talking about because he snuggled close to her and purred. Her thoughts, exactly.
The next day, Cho reported to the pediatric ward, where Delphi was staying. She wanted to ask Mrs. Piaget, Head of Pediatrics, about what she could do to help Delphi, and the woman conveniently ambushed Cho in the corridor outside Delphi's room.
"Ms. Chang! I was hoping to get in a word with you."
"Likewise, Mrs. Piaget! And I also got here to check on the patient."
"Well, it seems we had the same idea, then. Would you care to report to me about what happened yesterday?"
"Of course! I would have done that yesterday, but you weren't here."
"Well, then I suppose now will have to be soon enough. Mr. Bardle told me bits and pieces about the children's arrival, and he said that when you got back from your little outing to Diagon Alley, the girl Delphi was ready for bed."
"Mm hmm." Cho then filled the woman in on the arrival of Jerry and Trey from Wool's Orphanage, before explaining Delphi's difficulties with controlling her magic.
"And then you took the girl to Diagon Alley?"
"Yes, to go shopping with me and my friends Marietta and Daria. We showed her around and stopped for ice cream. It was her birthday, and I thought we ought to celebrate. Mr. Bardle seemed okay with it."
"I must let you know, Ms. Chang, that taking a child patient on an outing to Diagon Alley so soon was most irresponsible. To take a girl who had such grave magical issues as Delphi's and put her in public was very risky."
"I am sorry about that, Mrs. Piaget. I'll be more careful in the future."
"Thank you for your apology. Can you tell me what you know about the girl besides her age? Do you know how long she was at Wool's Orphanage before she came to you? Do you know her last name or parentage?"
"She was at the orphanage for two weeks, and judging by the way she was bullied there, I don't think she ought to go back. I don't know where she was before."
"And you know nothing else?"
Well, Cho did know that Delphi was a Parselmouth, which meant there was a 99.9% chance her father was the infamous Lord Voldemort. But after seeing Marietta's and Daria's horrified reactions to that news, Cho decided to keep it to herself.
"No, I don't know anything else. When we came across the topic of her past birthdays, she said she never got any birthday presents or cards in 'that creepy old house' but I don't know what creepy old house she was referring to."
"Hmm. Well, you ought to ask her more about that, so we can investigate. Does the girl have any other issues besides with controlling her magic?"
Oh, bugger. Cho ought to at least mention the stealing, so she did – but she made sure to mention that Delphi apologized and had clearly done it because of the stress of staying in the orphanage.
"Well, stealing is a common reaction to such circumstances. If we give her a stable and nurturing environment, then it seems unlikely she'll do it again."
Cho nodded. "What'll happen to her?"
"She will stay here for as long as necessary. After we have gotten her magic under control, we will need to find her someone to take care of her, long term. If she is not to go back to the orphanage, then we must either find a relative to take her in, or place her with a foster family in the magical community. If the child's magic is as powerful as you say, then I'm sure there would many prominent families that would be happy to take her."
Not once they find out she's a Parselmouth, there won't be, thought Cho. Now that the war against Lord Voldemort had been won and Aurors had caught most of the Death Eaters, it was heavily stigmatized to have any history of associating with the Death Eaters. People went out of their way to hide such things, much like they had after the first time Lord Voldemort was defeated.
Cho supposed she could step back from the situation. If she went back to her usual job now and left Delphi's care to the Pediatrics Department, then she wouldn't have to deal with any of the outrage that would inevitably arise when someone discovered Delphi's unique abilities and dark parentage.
But she didn't want to step back. "Mrs. Piaget, I realize that I don't work in Pediatrics, but Delphi and I bonded a lot over the afternoon we spent together. I think it would be helpful if I took care of her and saw her regularly during her stay."
"You make a good point, Ms. Chang. As long as Healers trained in Pediatrics conduct her check-ups and any necessary treatments, I see no reason why you cannot be the girl's primary guardian and touchstone for the duration of her stay."
"Thank you. If you conduct the check-up, then I'll see about some fun things for us to do together. And I'll ask her about where she came from and if she has any family."
"Well, I trust you'll take good care of her. Please do keep me appraised of everything, and if you're going to take her out again, I'd like you to first clear it with me so I know where you are."
"Absolutely. Thanks again."
"Oh, and one more thing, Ms. Chang. Do you think you could roughly determine if the girl can read? We ought to figure out where to place her in school – it would be good to have her start along with all the other schoolchildren this September."
Cho nodded and left. September – less than 2 months away. If Delphi was to start school in September, then she'd probably have to have a stable living situation by then. So, Cho had less than 2 months to find the sweet and lovely Delphi a loving, supportive family that wouldn't mind adopting the Heir to Slytherin. Oh sweet Merlin, please help me.
She rubbed her temples the way Cedric used to whenever she freaked out. She repeated his words to herself: Just take it one step at a time, babe. One step at a time.
"Morning, Delphi," Cho said in a singsong voice as she entered the girl's sun-streaked room.
"Mmh. She turned over in bed.
"Time to get up, sleepyhead."
Delphi turned her head toward Cho and made a face.
"Oh, so you are awake!"
Delphi stared plaintively up at Cho while pulling the covers tight to her chin. "It's warm and comfy between these blankets and I don't want to leave."
"Well, I hate to be a pest, but there is fun and breakfast to be had, if only you were willing to leave your blanket cocoon!"
"Please, nooooo."
Cho just laughed. "Take your time, you're welcome to get up anytime this week."
In response, Delphi grabbed a pillow, threw it, and magically projected it across the room to hit Cho in the face. "Ooh. Good shot!" She gently set it on top of the bed.
Delphi sat up, pointed a finger at the pillow, and the whole thing exploded in a giant burst of feathers that seemed to be in every part of the room. She laughed maniacally, then seemed to snap back to her senses. "Sorry," she winced.
"No, don't be sorry! It was funny."
"They didn't like it when I did that at the creepy old house. Or at the orphanage. Said it was too much of a mess."
"Well, Delphi, you may be a witch, but I am too, so…" Cho swept her wand around the room to gather up the feathers in the pillow and then directed her wand at the empty pillow casing. "Repairo. See? Clean and good as new."
Delphi eyed Cho and then the pillow with surprise and gave Cho a grin that spoke of pure delight. Right on cue, the pillow exploded again.
The mixture of their laughter mingled with the flying feathers, as both drifted all the way down the hall.
By the end of the day, they'd gotten Delphi a check-up, a clean bill of health, some new clothes that she liked better than anything she'd had before, and even a decent haircut.
Later in the afternoon, the found a wizarding park and played Badminton – though Delphi seemed to take far more pleasure in magically setting fire to the birdies than actually hitting them with the racket. Eventually, Cho gave up on the Badminton altogether and just kept serving birdies for Delphi to do with as she pleased. Some burned, some exploded, some went whizzing away into the sky at an incomprehensible speed, and the kid even managed to turn one of them into a dove that she held in both hands.
"Wow, that's wonderful! You made a beautiful dove! Does he have a name?"
"I am naming him Waffles, after my breakfast. Bye, Waffles!" And she set the bird free.
When they discussed stuff to do together, Delphi had said she wanted to learn to fly, go to the beach, find more books to read, and learn all about magical creatures.
"We'll see what we can do, then," said Cho as she turned down Delphi's bed for her. Trips to the beach and the library would be easy, and Cho was sure she could reach out to someone to introduce Delphi to magical creatures. Maybe she could find the girl a playmate or too, as well. "And you read really well, you know."
"Thanks. I taught myself. I like to read books because people suck. Well, not you, I guess. You don't suck."
"Uh, thanks… If you don't mind me asking, where did you live before you went to the orphanage?"
"I dunno where I lived, just that the house was creepy and old."
"What made it so creepy?" Cho asked.
"All the windows were closed so it was dark all the time. And there was nobody nice to talk to. It was just me and Mrs. Rowle and her house elf Grimy and her talking bird. Mrs. Rowle never wanted to be disturbed and Grimy never talked much, and I didn't like the bird because it always said bad things will happen to me."
"Does Mrs. Rowle have a first name?"
Delphi shrugged. "She just said to always call her Mrs. Rowle. Do you… do you think the bird's right that bad things will happen to me?"
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" said Cho resolutely. "And hey, you don't have to go back there ever again if you don't want to!"
"I escaped!" she exclaimed proudly.
"Did you, now?" Cho was horrified and curious at the idea.
"YEAHHHH! One night, Mrs. Rowle forgot to lock the front door. And with the front door open, I ran away."
"How did you get to the orphanage?" asked Cho.
"I went through a great big field and came to a road. There were all these great big moving…"
"Cars?"
"Yeah, cars! I found a really big one and hopped on the back. I fell asleep and when I woke up, I was in a room with men in suits and helmets asking me who I was. I said I didn't know, so they took me to the orphanage."
"Delphi, sweetheart, can I tell you something?"
"Uh huh?" asked the six-year-old, as she sat down on the side of her bed.
Cho knelt beside the bed and took both her hands. "I want you to know that I think you escaping that creepy house was really brave. But I want you to know that it's also really dangerous to run away by yourself like that. So, if you want to go somewhere, you should tell me first, okay? And then I can take you there."
"Okay, Cho. I will."
"Good. I don't want you to have to be alone like you were when you escaped, okay? Because that was really dangerous, and you could've gotten hurt."
"Well, I wasn't really alone. There were snakes that found me in the grass, and they gave me directions. And my imaginary friend Pegasus was there, too."
"Pegasus?"
Delphi nodded. "He's my best friend in the whole world. Don't worry, though, he likes you. And I promise I won't run away. I like you too much!" She snuggled in under the covers.
Cho kissed the girl's forehead as she tucked her in. "Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning."
Cho left Delphi to sleep and hurried down the hallway to Mrs. Piaget's office. Finding that the woman had left for the night, Cho scribbled down a quick note on the woman's stationary. She wrote a couple of sentences about how their day had gone, and then asked to take a quick peek at the Ministry records pertaining to anyone named Rowle.
She apparated to an alley a couple of blocks from her apartment building. Checking the time, she realized she was running late for her date with Will, which was supposed to be at 8 tonight – and it was now 8:05. She sprinted for her apartment building – maybe Will would be late and she could quickly change into something nice.
Up ahead, a man in a suit was getting out of a taxi, but Cho didn't notice him and ran smack into him before she could see him. "Aah! Sorry!" She'd practically pummeled the guy in his pectorals.
He steadied her on her feet and greeted her with a smile when she finally looked up into his face. It was Will. "Hey, Cho. Uh, did I get the time wrong?"