Disclaimer:
I don't own J.K. Rowling's characters nor her locations.
Chapter 3: The Siege of Hogwarts
It was almost 7 AM in the morning
and time for the 5th year Gryffindors and Slytherins' first class: Care
of Magical Creatures. Hermione and Ron had arrived just on time, because
they had unsuccessfully searched for Harry before leaving the castle. When
they arrived at Hagrid's hut, they saw their classmates were all conversing
excitedly. Draco noticed them arrive and sneered at them. "Wonder where
your precious Harry is?"
Before Ron or Hermione could respond,
they heard Lavendar Brown yell, "Look!" She was pointing at the Dark Mark
suspended in the sky.
Harry and Cho ran as fast as they
could to the Hogwarts grounds, the Dark Mark outlined in gold overhead.
They saw Hagrid's care of magical
creatures staring with fear at the mark. The Slytherins looked pleased.
Ron and Hermione were looking at Harry strangely. Professors McGonagall
and Snape rushed onto the field, and several students began to flee towards
Hogwarts.
"Everyone to the castle!" McGonagall
yelled with a voice magically augmented.
Harry and Cho ran towards the others.
Hermione suddenly pointed and screamed something that sent a chill down
Harry's spine, "Death Eaters!"
A mass of cloaked figures were responding
to the Dark Mark. Harry feared that they must have been ordered to attack
the castle itself. The students were now running back into the castle as
a mob. Most of them were panic-stricken. Some of the Slytherins hesitated
as if they were thinking about helping the Death Eaters.
Harry and Cho caught up with Ron
and Hermione. "You were going to be late for class," said Hermione. She
then had a look on her face that showed she realized how inappropriate
that comment was.
"We're not going to have class,"
said Ron as they all continued to head towards the castle. "Which is actually
not such a bad thing. If they burn down the school, then there won't be
any more classes ever."
"Ron, honestly," Hermione chided.
She tilted her head in Cho's direction.
Ron looked at Cho with a surprised
look. "Oh hi Cho," he said. He looked at Harry with suspicion on his face.
"Ron, you're slowing us all down,"
said Hermione. She gulped. All of them looked on as the Death Eaters approached
the castle. Harry realized that he and his friends were the only other
people outside. The Death Eaters had made their way to the front of the
castle. Several of them were chanting a spell together in front of the
doors. Then arrows started raining down on the Death Eaters. Harry looked
up to see that the arrows were being fired by bows that seemed to be moving
themselves. Suddenly, the doors violently burst open and flew towards the
chanting death eaters. They must have collectively used a strong retrieval
spell. The Death Eaters strode into the castle one by one.
Harry and his friendss continued
to walk while watching and were now almost at the middle of the grounds.
Shortly after the Death Eaters had begun to enter the castle, they had
begun to fly out one at a time. It was almost humorous. Professor Severus
Snape ran outside and began tying up the unconscious Death Eaters with
magical ropes from his wand. Harry and his friends had almost arrived at
the front door when they saw that Professor Mad-Eye Moody and hundreds
of students behind him wre standing just inside the front doors of Hogwarts
firing spells with such speed and variety that it was like a fireworks
show.
"I thought that we'd all be in more
danger now that Voldemort has returned," Harry thought out loud.
"This is kind of pathetic," said
Ron.
Hermione looked at Cho and asked
her to join them for lunch, and Cho graciously accepted.
They watched the last of the Death
Eaters fly out of the castle with a dozen hexes put on him, then they made
their way to a spot outside of the front doors yet far away from the inside.
They waited until the people inside recognized them.
"The Death Eaters are all apprehended,"
bellowed Mad-Eye Moody. "Nobody shoot! I repeat, nobody attack! Hogwarts
students are coming in!" He looked around and saw that they all understood,
though he suspected some Slytherin students might still fire from the balconies
if they see that they can get a chance at Harry Potter.
Slowly, the students crept into
the castle. To their relief, nobody fired any spells in their direction.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione found Ginny
in the common room and then went down to meet Cho at the Great Hall. When
they arrived, Cho was talking to Ravenclaws that Harry remembered meeting
on the train. He recognized Carolyn Green, Lindsay McCourt, and Maggie
Smith.
Cho saw them immediately and grinned.
Harry's and Cho's friends introduced themselves to each other.
"Well I'm very much relieved," Maggie
said.
"It makes me so much more confident
knowing that I've knocked out a few Death Eaters," said Carolyn with a
smile.
"Hey Potter," came a familiar drawl
from sevreal feet away. "I want to speak with you." Harry looked up to
see that Draco Malfoy was motioning for him to approach a spot a little
ways away from the Slytherin table. Harry said, "Excuse me please." He
began to leave the table.
Hermione grabbed his arm. "No, Harry,
ignore them."
Harry felt slightly uncomfortable
in front of them. He thought for a bit, and then decided that he would
rather take the bait than look like a coward in front of everybody. "I'll
be fine," he said to Hermione with a smile.
She let go reluctantly and he left
the table.
When Harry was close to the Slytherin
table, Draco approached him. "What is it, Malfoy?" Harry asked coldly.
"Where did you go, Potter? Before
you went to the castle?"
"None of your business."
"Causing trouble, were we? Or trying
to be a hero again? What was it?"
"Like I said before, it's none of
your business."
Draco started to respond when he
was tapped lightly on the back. Draco felt a tap on his shoulder
and turned around irritated. "What?"
He then saw Cho. She was smiling
and hadn't flinched. "Hi, I'm Cho Chang. I don't believe we've met."
Draco just stared with mouth agape.
Finally, he spoke. "I'm Draco Malfoy." He stretched out his hand and she
shook it vigorously.
"Your father's name is Malfoy? There's
a Lucius Malfoy on the Council in the Ministry of Magic."
"Yeah," Draco said. "Um, he's my
father. I'm, um, really proud of him."
She nodded.
"You're the Ravenclaw seeker, right?"
She said yes.
"I'm the Slytherin seeker. They
call me 'The Snake.'" Harry fought the urge to laugh out loud. He thought
the thing for Cho to say would be, Good for you.
"That's cute," she said.
Draco looked appalled. Either he
was too shocked with himself for his comment or he was too shocked with
her response.
Then Cho looked at Harry. "Harry,
do you want to come back to the table?"
"Sure," said Harry casually. Draco
finally recovered.
"I'm joining you," Draco blurted
out.
"Great," said Cho. She left to get
a table, but Harry and Draco remained and watched her.
"No one calls you 'The Snake',"
Harry said out of the corner of his mouth.
"Shut up, Potter," Draco responded.
"No, I take that back. Tell me about her."
Harry shrugged. "She and I will
soon be dating, and no she doesn't have a sister."
Draco hesitated for a second. "Well,"
he said with mock despair. "That's a shame."
"Thought you liked Hermione anyway,"
Harry said, and he arrived at the Gryffindor table with the last word.
Cho was already seated. Draco sat to Harry's right, away from everybody
else. Harry wasn't sure whether Draco would be an embarrassment to himself,
belligerent, or tolerable.
By the end of lunch, Harry judged
that Draco was tolerable. Draco was quiet, but he spoke when he was being
spoken to. Throughout the meal, Ron obviously tried his best to control
his temper every time Draco spoke. Hermione didn't pay much attention to
him. Ginny cast a few nervous glances in his direction. Draco's elbows
never touched the table. Harry realized that Draco must have made impeccable
table manners a habit. Ironic, he thought, how some people can practice
perfect etiquette and still be total bigots.
In the middle of lunch, a voice
said, "Excuse me, Cho? Could I have a word with you?" They all looked up
to see McGonagall looking down at them. She had a worried expression on
her face and looked like her lip was trembling slightly.
"Of course," said Cho. She quietly
excused herself and left.
"Hey did you hear?" They all looked
up to see Fred and George Weasley approaching the table. Fred continued,
"There was an attack at Hogsmeade this weekend and now some couple is in
the hospital."
Harry connected the two events.
Cho's parents, he thought. Guilt and suffering suddenly overwhelmed him
like a tidal wave.
A/N: In Chapter 4, we find out what
happened in Hogsmeade, Cho reacts, and romantic sparks fly.
