Chapter 2
A Lazy Summer
It was summer, and the days on Privet Drive were spent in boredom and contemplation for Harry. Record heat was scorching the muggle world, and many children his age were out swimming, or eating ice cream with friends. However, the boredom actually seemed to be a relief to Harry, who rarely had any time alone. For Harry Potter was no ordinary boy, but a wizard, and a very famous one at that. He was in fact the only wizard to have survived a death curse from Lord Voldermort, the most powerful dark wizard ever, and lived to tell of it. A scar, which ran along his forehead, seemed to be the only reminder to Harry of his ordeal. Although the emotional pains that he felt when he thought of his parents would never go away.
The long hours spent in musing now were mostly due to the Dursleys, the family that Harry lived with during the summer. With the failure of the previous year's delight, Dudley had become even more morose than usual. When the school he had been attending refused to have him back because they simply had no uniforms of his gargantuan size, Mrs. and Mr. Dursley had been forced to send him to Fat Camp for the summer to curb his weight before it got too out of control.
If you had asked Harry, it was way too late.
Boot camp was more like it. A boot camp just full of children like Dudley, who had grown not to the size of young healthy boys and girls, but to young whales who overindulged in salmon. The camp gave strict diets to each and every one of it's wards, and forced exercise upon all of them. Running, swimming, weights, anything that would help them lose the weight they needed to. Mr. Dursley had complained that the camp was dreadfully expensive but had shut up when Mrs. Dursley had threatened to send him in with his son.
Whenever he thought of it, Harry Potter couldn't help but laugh at the thought of the rotund Dudley desperately running laps around a track while drill sergeants screamed in his ears. To make Dudley feel better, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had gone to stay with him during the day, so he wouldn't feel so alone during the day. The fact that Uncle Vernon had to give up hours of work to face the same conditions his son did, did nothing for his disposition when he returned home each day. To this end, Harry had avoided the Dursleys for most of the summer, and they were no more inclined to talk to him than they were before.
Not that he was lonely. His best friends from Hogwarts, the wizarding school that he had attended were had banded together to send him letters every week or so, describing their own summer vacations. He picked up a picture of Hermione and Ron together beaming up at him every so often and thought of the last year. It had been, if it could have been, a year more unusual and extraordinary than any other Harry had ever attended. He had been chosen as school champion through a bizarre set of events that had let to his attempted murder by no other than Lord Voldermort. He had attended the Quidditch World Cup and even met face to face, Viktor Krum, a reowned seeker in the wizarding world. Harry himself was a avid player of Quidditch and could not wait until he returned to Hogwarts.
The picture of Hermione and Ron together had been taken very recently however, which was unusual, because Viktor Krum had been very taken with Hermione when he had been at Hogwarts, and had asked him to come stay with him during the summer. Ron however, had been most emphatically against the excursion, until she finally told him he could come to.
Ron had agreed most whole-heartedly afterwards, although the letters that Harry got describing Krum's disgust when he had discovered the news had been most amusing.
He paused as he put the picture down, and then picked up another one. Cedric…
Although he had never really considered Cedric a friend in the beginning, he could see this was only because of his own shortsightedness and jealously. For Cedric Diggory, had also been picked as school champion, the rightful one as Harry looked back upon the events of the last year. Cedric Diggory, had also gotten very close to Harry's crush, Cho Chang, a very pretty sixth year at Hogwarts. The fact that he had gotten to know Cedric and become friends with him, did little to assauge the pain whenever he chose to remember his death.
Harry had been lucky when he confronted Lord Voldermort, and Cedric..well..Cedric hadn't been.
Harry closed his eyes quickly and shook his head, dispelling the images that suddenly came to him. Cedric dancing with Cho, Cedric laughing confidently at Harry, Cedric offering him advice, Cedric lying prone on the ground, dead. He paused, and put the picture down, and raised the final one.
Cho….
Harry sighed as he looked at the picture of her, one he had magically taken of her in the library when she had not been looking. He shook his head sadly and this time let the images come. He had never forgiven himself for letting Cedric follow him to his death, after all, it wasn't Cedric's fault that Lord Voldermort wanted to kill him. Harry had tried talking to Cho before he had to return to the Dursleys for the summer, but she had been so listless that he given up before he had even really started. He had wanted to beg her for her forgiveness..to tell her everything would be alright. He wanted to tell her how much she had meant to Cedric..he had wanted to tell her how much she meant to him…but he hadn't. He had walked back to his life at the Dursley's knowing that he might not have a second chance. For Lord Voldermort had come back, and would certainly make his life infinitely more complicated.
After all had happened, he wouldn't be surprised if Cho never wanted to speak to him again.
A loud flapping noise awakened Harry from his musings, and he paused, looking up as a strange, graw and black owl flew into the room. It was unmistakably an messenger from the wizarding world to judge from the parcel that hung from its claws. Yet it was neither Ron nor Hermione's, who were usually the only two who sent him letters. The owl landed on his shoulder in a dignified manner, and pecked him irately when he didn't immediately untie the parcel. He paused before doing so listening very carefully for any signs of the Dursley's waking up.
It seemed lack of work and food had given the Dursley's more to sleep for, although Uncle Vernon had began sneaking out very late at night to raid the fridge and coming back before Aunt Petunia could discover him, and Harry could never be too careful. Finally he untied the parcel and set it down on the ground before letting the mysterious owl into the cage besides his own snowy-white one, Hedwig. Hedwig was much too busy sleeping to notice this intruder. Harry had kept her up all last week delivering replies to Ron and Hermione when he had learned of their shared vacation. Without Hedwig guarding her precious treats, the strange owl helped itself to them, gobbling down two at a time.
He chuckled somewhat, must be hungry, before glancing at the parcel. No mention of the sender was evident from the packaging, and his mind immediately went to Sirius Black. His godfather, and the only real family that Harry had, had been on the run ever since he had been falsely accused of murder. Now and then, Harry would send owls to him informing him of his schoolwork. He frowned however, Sirius was on a mission for Dumbledore the last time he had seen him, rounding up some of his old friends now that Lord Voldermort was back, and was very unlikely to send Harry anything for now, lest he be discovered.
He examined the package more closely, and frowned again, doubts forming on his mind, wild suspicions racing in his thoughts. Maybe Voldermort was looking for a quick way to do him in, and opening the package would kill him instantly. Maybe one of his supporters, the Death Eaters, had decided to take the glory of Harry Potter's death for himself. Harry smiled faintly when he realized the absurdity of his line of thinking, and chuckled. He could imagine Hermione now.
Oh! An unmarked package? But who could be sending you something like that…I know the thing to do, the thing to do is send it right back to wherever it came from. Wait let me cast a protection hex on it to make sure…in fact, why don't you wait while I get my book on dangerous curses that will fit in a box. Whatever you do, don't open it though!
He smiled a bit sadly, missing his friends quite a bit, before carefully opening the parcel. Within it, he was startled to find a small, golden object, and instantly recognized it.
An egg…..from the Tri-Wizard Tournament of the previous year. They were to be the champion's clues for their second task, although he had given his to Dumbledore once the tournament was over. He had felt so guilty about the tournament after he had almost given away the trophy, but Dumbledore had been very firm, and told Harry that he was place it in the Great Hall. If he didn't want it, he could at least respect the Tri-Wizard tournament and what it stood for, even after what had happened.
He examined the egg closely and concentrated. He was pretty sure that Fleur had kept hers when she had gone back to Beauxbatons, although there were rumors all around the school, from mostly the male side that she was transferring to Hogwarts because she had made so many new friends. From what he had seen of Fleur, she had made more than a few friends. Hundreds of Hogwarts students, all from the male side served her every whim, and this seemed to make her rather happy. He had heard from Hermione, that Krum too had kept his, to put with his dozen other Quidditch trophies and such. Than this must be….
His eyes widened, as he looked it over even more carefully than before. Cedric's egg… He felt the familiar pangs of guilt. He carefully put it back in the parcel before withdrawing a small scroll, wondering if Cedric's parents had given him the egg. As he opened it up, a unique scrawling signature at the bottom caught him by surprise.
Harry,
Hermione was nice enough to give me the address of where you stay in the summer. She also warned me about sending it during the night because of your cousins, but I'm afraid my owl is still not very well trained. I'm sorry if I get you in trouble. I thought it was important that you knew Cedric's funeral is over. A group of his friends were there to say goodbye to him, and I knew you would have come if you could, but Hermione told me about how your cousins hate us wizards, and how it's almost impossible to whisk you away during the summer.
I..enclosed Cedric's egg with the parcel I'm sending. I thought you would like to have it. He told me all about you helping him with the dragons, and how grateful he was. And..you're the only one I can think of who would appreciate it. School is starting soon, hope to see you ther……
The letter seemed to trail off and Harry looked down near the bottom, and almost undetectable, in the lightest handwriting he had ever seen were quickly scrawled.
Hermione told that your cousins are going away, and you spend most of your time alone. I thought I could come visit if you didn't mind. I'm going to be staying at a friend's house,. Hope to see you soon…..
Cho Chang
P.S. I'm not sure how far away your house is, so Rascal, my owl might be a little hungry.
Stunned, Harry put the scroll carefully back in the parcel, and looked at Cho's owl, who had now managed to somehow devour all the owl treats that Hedwig had neglected to eat. A little hungry wasn't quite how he would describe Rascal. Famished was more like it.
He glanced over at the letter once more, questions going through his head. Why would Cho want to visit him? It was true that he was alone for most of the day, but he usually spent them reading about Quidditch or writing letters to Ron and Hermione. Harry had in fact, known about Cedric's funeral. Ron had wrote to him, telling him about it, and Ron and Hermione had both attended, giving them him the details. Yet that was over a month ago, a little late for Cho to be filling him in. He again wondered why Cho could possibly be writing him. And why was Cho writing to Hermione about him? Maybe she wanted to visit to confront him about the details of Cedric's death.
He squeezed his eyes tightly. Yes, that was it. Of all the people in Hogwarts, Cho would be the most interested in knowing what had happened last year. She probably wanted to confront him, ask him how he could have let Cedric die, scream at him for being so careless, berate him for his foolish pride. He looked at the scroll again rereading it, the question of why still burning inside of him.
Why?
Although he had always maintained a secret crush for Cho, loving her vibrant personality, her stunning looks, and her exceptional skill at Quidditch, she had never reciprocated. He had even had the courage to ask her to the Yule Ball only to discover she was going with Cedric. With even more pangs of guilt, he remembered how jealous he had felt. What he had wanted to do to Cedric…it was almost as if..his wishes had been answered.
What could she possibly see in you Potter, you killed him after all. You killed the only love she ever had…
"No…I..I.." Harry paused, and shook his head violently. He couldn't let himself think that way, not now, especially not now. The question of why could wait, for Cho had said she was coming to visit him during the day, but she had not said when. The question could wait until she arrived. He sighed again this time longer than ever, getting into bed once more, although all notion of sleep had left him, and pondered the question of why. The most important thing it seemed, was to formulate an answer to her letter.
He got up again, careful not to make any noise, and walked over to his desk. An unused scroll and quill lay on top. He had been meaning to get started on his homework for some time, but the constant procrastination had obviously added up, as the huge stack of summer work lay undone on the right side of his small desk. He picked up his quill, smoothed out a scroll, and promptly realized he could not think of anything to say.
Hi Cho, I'd be happy to have you here. Thanks for writing me. Bye.
Could he be any more insensitive by writing such a casual letter, pretending nothing had ever happened. Yet what was he supposed to do? Pour his heart out onto her?
Cho..I've always loved you..even when you loved Cedric..thank you for the egg..please come over soon..I need to see you…
A faint smile lit up Harry's face. That was the mushiest, corniest, stupidest letter he had ever written, and it was only one sentence long. Perhaps when he graduated, he could strike up a job as a muse. Hear ye! Hear ye! Harry the magnificent regales the crowd with tales of heart-wrenching love! Crumpling the scroll into a ball, and tossing it over his shoulder, he smoothed out another piece, and started over.
Cho,
I'm sorry I couldn't make it to Cedric's funeral. I usually have a hard enough time getting away when it's time to go to Hogwarts. Things have been quiet around here, I'll tell you about if you come over, how about, four days from now? My cousins will be gone. Be sure not to use floo powder or to apparate however, in fact, you might not want to do anything overly unusual to get here. My relatives are not very…taken to the magical arts.
I want to ..thank you for the egg. Cedric was a good friend of mine, and I'm certain he was very close to you as well. Again, I'm sorry I couldn't make it. Have a good summer.
Harry
He looked it over carefully and was satisfied. In reality, it was not much different than a letter he would write to Hermione and Ron. Informal, friendly, and with a touch of reality in mentioning Cedric's death to her, and his apology for missing the funeral. He crept over to the mysterious owl, who was by now, pecking an unopened bag of owl treats, and grabbed the owl before it could finish it's job of tearing open his only remaining back of food for Hedwig. The owl seemed distinctly angry at the interruption, but silenced itself when Harry put his reply in it's claws. He smiled at the owl, who's mouth was bulging open with owl treats, and led it to the window before letting it go. Even after all that food, the owl flew with remarkable ease, disappearing in the night sky quickly.