Chapter 5
All too soon it was time for the Weasleys, Harry and Draco to leave the splendid castle that was Hogwarts. The morning of their departure was bright, blue and amazingly sunny. None of the party wanted to go, except for maybe Ron, who had particularly bad memories of the school and Hermione kept telling him over and over that at least he was alive and they were together. Others hadn't been quite as lucky.
Harry lived in Godrics Hollow, near Ron and Hermione so they would be travelling together. This Godrics Hollow was not the one that Lily and James Potter had lived in as that had been destroyed by Lord Voldemort about 10 years ago. So Harry had bought a plot of land, big enough for a small village population and set about building houses, churches and shops within it about half an hour from Hogwarts.
Hermione couldn't Apparate because of Baby James so they would all go off together after saying good-bye to Ron's family. Mrs Weasley hugged her son and grandchild tightly.
"Do keep in touch, Ron, it's been nice being a family again at Hogwarts. And take good care of Hermione and James. You know where we are if you need anything!" she said.
"Yes, Mum I know," said Ron. "You'll have to come over for Sunday dinner this week or something. I'm sure Hermione would like a rest at some point. Just don't bring Fred, George or any of their children, they drive me insane, they're so noisy!"
After many farewells from the Hogwarts teachers, Harry, Ron, Hermione with James in his new buggy, which Harry had kindly bought him in Hogsmede, they set off. They had only been walking for about ten minutes when they heard pounding footsteps. They looked around to see,
"Draco!" said Harry. "I thought you'd been gone ages. What you doing here?"
Draco caught up, apparently out of breath. " I had to take care of something first. Are there any good estate agents in your village, Harry?"
Harry looked puzzled and said "Why do you want an estate agent? Do you want to move to Godric's Hollow or something?"
"Well, err, yes. That's if you don't have any objections? Hermione? Ron?" Draco asked, looking hopeful towards them.
"There is one, but it's run by a Muggle so no funny business, Draco. He's very nice but isn't interested in magic. Try to be normal around him! Shall we go there first and get it over with?" he looked at Hermione and Ron, who were not looking as pleased about it as Harry. Harry raised his eyes at them and then caught on and behaved much better towards Malfoy for the rest of the walk home.
Draco found a nice cottage 10 minutes away from Harry, he thought it best they didn't live too close or they would probably fall out. The house was quite large and like Draco said he could always "magically extend" it till he was satisfied. Draco got the keys and moved in that same day, having wrote a Muggle cheque for the sum of
£100, 000 pounds. Not that this worried Draco, he had plenty of money, Muggle or otherwise.
Harry walked Ron and Hermione home, and then said goodbye. He walked up the steep hill and found his own house. Harry pushed open the gate to find a figure, a woman, pounding on his front door. He hesitated, wondering what to do. The woman had not heard him and he could just walk away without having to deal with her but he stayed and spoke up.
"Err, excuse me, miss. Are you looking for…" he broke off as the woman had turned around to face him. Why hadn't he realised who she was sooner? Her hair was longer, darker than it had been and so, so beautiful. He could remember stroking that hair so many times when he had been in his last 2 or 3 years of Hogwarts. Her face was tanned and her eyes a deep, hazel brown. Harry couldn't find his voice, was this…
" Cho?" he stammered. Staring at her made him feel woozy and he had to get inside. Then she spoke.
"Harry, I'm so glad I found you, I thought I had the wrong house, I didn't know what to do. Harry, it's so good to see you…" she said softly. Harry was rooted at the spot; he couldn't decide which emotion he felt more of, anger or happiness to see Cho Chang standing on his front porch. Anger seemed to surface most and he couldn't stop himself. He lunged towards her.
"I wish you did have the wrong house, saved me the trouble of throwing you out!" he bellowed. "You'd better get going pretty soon or I'll-" he shouted louder still.
"Please Harry, listen, I'm sorry, I really am. What happened was terrible for you I know but please I want to make it right. Please, can we talk?" Cho said, timidly.
"To talk? Is that all you want, Cho or is it an affair, like with Lee Jordan? You forget that did you? You left me for that arse 8 years ago after 4 years of being with me! 4 years that obviously didn't mean jack anything to you!" he said even more loudly and some owls hooted indignantly in Harry's apple tree in the garden.
Harry could see Cho was nearly in tears but he would not, could not give her sympathy. It had been too long since he had seen her, he had moved on in his life. He had a successful career; he had loads of nice friends, a whole village to himself! Everything was perfect, or so Harry thought. He didn't have a wife. The woman to be his wife whom he had known since school had had an affair with Lee, his good friend Lee Jordan. He probably loved her still but could he find it in his heart to forgive her? Harry went on thinking and not answering Cho when she tried to reason with him, to tell him she needed his help or that she was sorry.
Harry finally said, "Cho, please don't talk, just listen. Pick up your bags, the door should be open and we can talk. I don't want any more excuses. Just plain truth." And ushered her into the house. Harry immediately reminded of the incident of the last month, where Voldemort's old supporters had captured him. But he put the memory aside and turned to Cho who looked pale and frightened. She still looked very beautiful, even more so than when he had last seen her. However beautiful she was or is, she still broke you heart, Harry, said a voice in the back of his brain. But he ignored it and told Cho to sit down on the blue sofa in his bright sitting room.
"Cho, I don't know why you're here but I just want you to know that you hurt me more than anyone has ever hurt me. You betrayed and mislead me. Even Voldemort couldn't hurt me like that. But that was all a long while ago and I'm enjoying my life now and I thought you were too. But seeing you turn up here means that you're probably not. So, what's going on?" said Harry and looked at her very intently. The lines on her face were visible and she looked older than 29. After a time she replied.
"Harry, everything has gone wrong. Lee's…" more tears poured down her cheeks and she put a tissue to her nose. "…Lee's gone, he just left me with all the bills, no money and I'm…" she couldn't continue. It was too much for Harry, he wanted to comfort her but his heart was screaming not to be sucked in to her again. But he went to her anyway.
"Cho," he said softly "I don't know really how I can help you. To be honest it's not my problem. I think you should go." He said and went into the hallway and opened the front door. She followed him in disbelief.
"But why? I thought you were going to help me? Harry how can you be so cruel? I thought you loved me?" she wailed but Harry stood his ground and said,
"I DID LOVE YOU!" he bellowed. "I loved you more than anything or anyone! I would've done ANYTHING for you, Cho! You were everything to me!" he shouted and he felt so angry.
"But…" tried Cho but she was interrupted by Harry again.
"But what? You had an affair with one of my friends, Cho. You told me you were going to see your mum because she was sick and your dad was having trouble looking after her. You lied to me for 4 WHOLE months and all the time you were saying how much you loved me, how we were always going to be together. You never meant any of it did you? DID YOU?" he bellowed but Cho headed towards him and grabbed his wrists.
"I MEANT IT HARRY, I MEANT EVERY DAMN WORD OF IT!" she shouted and Harry quieted and stopped struggling. "I loved you, Harry James Potter and I always have, and you have to believe me. Please, I never wanted it, I never did. I wanted out of it, Harry, I wanted to be free of him but he wouldn't let me go, he said he would tell you if I left him. He said he would hurt me, Harry. He said bad things…he put the Imperious curse on me…" she finished, almost in a whisper. Harry's face went white.
"Oh my god, but why? Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered, still gazing at her, her hands still around his wrists. She let go and looked at the floor.
"I didn't think you'd believe me, Harry. I thought you'd just think I'd made it up, to get out of trouble but I didn't, I swear. He made me lie to you. I would never have left you. But you found us and the Curse was broken and you were so angry Harry. I had to nowhere to go and he took me back in, and we were kind of happy. I always thought you of you, Harry; you're my life, my soul. Please…please forgive me." She said still in a whisper, as though scared Harry would condemn her if she spoke any louder. Harry looked very shocked but he closed the front door. He made his way to the kitchen and put on the kettle. It seemed they both needed something.
Hard as it was to believe the story Cho had told him, Harry knew deep down it probably was true. Why would Cho lie to him again, after all those years? It seemed pointless. But why come to Harry? Why turn up on his doorstep? Harry considered some of these questions as he made tea and then added some whiskey to calm them both. Harry put the tea on the tray, although he wondered why he hadn't just magicked the tray and the tea? Perhaps it was that it made him feel a bit of control, in a situation that he had no idea of the outcome. Harry walked into the hall and into his large sitting room, the sun was already setting and the sky looked very beautiful. This was one sunset he hadn't expected to share with Cho.
Cho mumbled thanks when Harry gave her some tea and he set the tray down.
"Cho, I know you're here because of Lee but I don't know why you actually chose me to come to. I mean, what about your parents? Friends? Anyone? Why me?" Harry asked, and he genuinely wanted to know. He was becoming sympathetic to her.
"I didn't know if my parents wanted to see me again. My friends are all over the place, I sent owls to them but they were all so busy. I would've contacted you, but I thought then it would give you an excuse to turn me away. This way you would know everything and I could breathe again, Harry." Cho seemed obviously glad to be talking to Harry normally again, almost happy. Cho could also see how much of a man Harry was now and he was very much like his father, from the photos she had seen anyway, from when they were together.
"Well, all things considering, Cho, it is great to see you again. I've never forgotten you. But the anger used to spoil the good memories of you, and well I've never been able to be happy. Now that I know the truth, I see there is much we have to talk about. Whatever happens, Cho and I don't care if you go away again but I wanted to say something."
"What's that, Harry?" she said lightly
"Nothing, it doesn't matter." He hesitated and then continued.
"Anyway, you'd as well make yourself at home; after all you did live here at one time and-" he didn't have time to finish when Cho broke in and said something.
"Harry, you know I don't think that's such a good idea." She said.
"But, why Cho? We're both adults, what's the problem?" Harry asked, unsure of the meaning of the conversation.
"I don't think I've made myself very clear, have I?" Cho said. Harry just looked puzzled. "Harry, I have to be blunt but there's no chance, no single chance that-"
"What are you talking about, for god sake?" Harry was becoming irritable. He was trying to help her and she was trying to pick holes in his kindness
"You'll probably think we're going to get back together or something!" shouted Cho in an exasperated tone. Harry went red and shouted back at her.
"SO YOU THINK I'M THAT DESPERATE, DO YOU?" he bellowed.
"Harry, please calm down…" she said
"Calm down? Why so you can walk all over me again? Not this time Cho, you've done enough damage. I was only asking you to stay because I care about you. It's been so lonely without you…" said Harry quietly.
"Really?"
"But you didn't know what I was doing, did you? You don't care. Did you even realise I was attacked by Death Eaters?" shouted Harry.
"What's wrong with you, Harry! For god's sake it ISN'T ALWAYS ABOUT YOU! YOU ARE SO SELFISH!" Cho shouted back. Harry looked like he has going to punch something. But he didn't, he just walked towards Cho, his hands shaking with anger.
"I am not selfish!" Harry said. "I am trying to help you! You're the one that went off with that idiot, got yourself cursed by him and then you come crawling back into my life, expecting everything to be just fine. Well it isn't, Cho, not with you anyway. So, before I lose my temper and do something I regret, I suggest you leave."
His tone of voice frightened Cho and she couldn't face it anymore. She ran into the hall to get her bags and threw open the front door, then wanting, as always for the last word, she turned to Harry with her wand out. She pointed at him and her voice trembled with anger.
"Harry, you are obviously too upset right now, we can't talk without an argument. I hope you're happy with the life you've left yourself with; I know I wont hang around to see you mess it up any more. Good-bye Harry." And with that she picked up her bags and went out the front door for the last time.
Harry did not stop her from going, he only watched her walk down the hill into the main village and until she was out of sight. He sat down on the doorstep and watched the funny looking gnomes in the vegetable patch digging a hole. Harry wasn't quite sure what to do at that moment; just to sit on the step looking out on to the road was all he could think of. How long he'd been sitting there, he hadn't a clue, so he didn't even notice when the sun was completely set or when the owls were hooting. Harry didn't even know if he still loved Cho. She obviously didn't love him. He just sat and waited, watching the world go by through his own misery.