A/N: So... let's just all agree that I'm the worst with regular updates...?

Previously on 'The Redemption'... Cho goes to Dumbledore for help with her pesky memory loss problem.

Chapter 26 – The Match

Tom sat on the bleachers, the slight breeze rustling his usually impeccably combed hair. He watched as the captains clad in green and blue shook hands before his gaze inevitably trailed towards the small black haired girl who looked even tinier from the distance between them.

He hadn't seen her since last night and it did not escape his notice that she didn't come to see him at breakfast like she usually did. If it weren't for her behavior last night, Tom wouldn't have questioned her absence. She was her own person and she needn't let him know if she slept in or was running late, but the confusion and fear in her eyes when she looked at him last night was supremely unsettling because he knew exactly what was happening.

His plan wasn't working.

"Are you sure you're fit enough to play Cho?" asked Henry worriedly as they lingered around the fitting rooms before the game "I've got a seeker on reserve and none of us would be angry at you if you sit this one out"

Cho took a long draught from her water bottle, feeling the cold liquid clear her head a tiny bit. She couldn't sleep last night due to her rampant thoughts and she couldn't stomach anything at breakfast either but she knew she could do this. She had to do this whether it was for the team or for herself. If she could just catch the snitch early in the game, the cup could be theirs.

"I'm fine Henry, I promise"

Her other teammates clapped her on the back while Henry looked unconvinced "Let me know as soon as you don't feel well and we'll call for time out"

Cho agreed before putting her hand in the middle of their small circle, waiting for the others to follow suit while Henry grinned half-heartedly.

"Good luck everyone and may Ravenclaw win the cup this year!"

If other students found it odd that Tom was not supporting his own house, they didn't dare voice their opinions. While he wasn't wearing anything outlandishly in support of Ravenclaw, there were subtle hints of displeasure in his expression and flecks of concern in his eyes when Slytherin was beating Ravenclaw.

In truth, he still did not care about quidditch. It was as mind numbing and foolish as he had always presumed, but watching the Ravenclaw team struggle to evade bludgers and the underhanded tactics of his peers made him focus on the game. From her height high above the pitch, he could see her restlessness as she circled the pitch and he hoped she didn't do anything reckless to try and win. The breeze around him turned into a strong gust of wind, heightening Tom's lack of faith in the little scrap of wood that she perched upon. One accidental swerve or bump could unseat her completely, sending her body plummeting to the unforgiving ground below….

Tom gripped his wand a little tighter, hoping that his reflexes would be quick enough if that were to happen. Even if her memories of his future were to come back to her, Tom wasn't cruel enough to let her die and be done with it. It was arguably the easier route, but because he had become rather sentimental in her presence, he knew that he would rather see her hate him than not at all.

Cho scanned the expanse of the quidditch pitch while keeping an eye on the Slytherin seeker. Slytherin was winning by 50 points and one of Ravenclaw's chasers was almost run down to the ground by an errant bludger and a very satisfied looking beater. As Cho managed to escape most of the offensive attacks by the Slytherin team, Cho couldn't help but wonder whether it was Tom who had spoken to them beforehand. They seemed to give her a wide berth, never purposefully trying to dislodge her from her broom like they did to the rest of her teammates but accidentally doing so a few times anyway.

She orbited the pitch a few more times, her frustration growing as Slytherin's leaderboard clocked up more points as they scored another goal. She needed to catch the snitch before it was too late.

The Slytherin seeker moved suddenly in her peripheral vision, a streak of green accelerating towards the ground. For a split second, Cho thought it was a feint before seeing the elusive glimmer of gold shining near the bases of one of the viewing towers across the pitch. Angling her broom downwards, Cho sped towards it, urging her broom to go quicker. She was behind the boy now, the glint of his thick brownish blond hair gleaming in the sun. It looked very familiar, like someone whose name was a foggy blur in the back of her mind. Simon? Richard? Or was it Cedric? Cedric who she loved but broke her heart by dating her friend Marietta? How did that happen…?

Pain exploded behind her eyes just as she came neck to neck with the boy. She gripped the handle of her broom tightly, jerking it to the side as she swerved so hard that it almost sent her nose-diving to the ground. Faintly hearing the gasp of the commentator, Cho continued her route towards the snitch with determination, cursing the few precious seconds she had wasted while fervently hoping that her broom could catch up once again.

They were both fast approaching the fluttering winged ball, their arms outstretched and reaching. It hovered against the yellow banner of the base, and Cho half wished it would move because she knew that it would be near impossible to steer out of a dive that steep. Edging up her broom, Cho flattened herself against the handle, feeling the rush of wind through her hair as she grasped at air.

"Watch out Chang!"

Cho turned for a second, meeting the grey eyes of the seeker who had shouted the warning to her. The shade of his eyes sent her reeling, her mind filling with flashes of memories that knocked her breathless.

She saw Cedric approaching the Ravenclaw breakfast table, a sheepish grin on his face and his hands full of half-wilted handpicked flowers. A chubby cupid flung a basketful of heart shaped confetti pieces at him, making her laugh until her sides hurt.

She saw Cedric dancing with her at the Yule Ball, looking handsome in his dress robes and twirling her around with no semblance of knowing what he was doing. He had tried to dance the way that muggles do during more upbeat pieces of music, making her giggle so hard that he had to take her out to the frosted courtyard to calm her down. She saw the perfectly trimmed rosebushes, the orange glow of the tiny lights that flecked the garden and the look in his grey eyes as he told her that he loved her.

She saw Cedric, his body cold and bloodied as his empty eyes were dulled with death at her at the end of her 5th year because of Voldemort-

Voldemort? She knew that name. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she knew that name that matched the figure of her nightmares.

Yes, she conceded. She knew that name, but she also knew the name before he crowned himself, when he was only a boy…

Tom Riddle.

Agony seized her and she lost control, unable to pull out from the steep dive. There was only a rush of air and the crunch of wood and bones before Cho blacked out against the fading screams of the pitch.