"The Not-So Perfect Girl"
Chapter One... 'Miss Perfect'
Cho Chang smiled as she made her way down the Hogwarts corridor. She was ready to start the year! She held her bright pink and green books close to her chest and walked with a bounce in her step as she made her way from one class to another.
"Hey Cho!" said her friend, Amy Boufle as she passed her.
"Hi Amy," replied Cho happily.
"Cho, how's it going?" said a seventh year boy, Brian Mattwall.
"Not bad thanks Brian," she answered, giving off a radiant smile that made Brian's day.
"Cho, here!" Just as she passed Brian, somebody else thrust a small ripped off piece of parchment in her hand. It was Ben Saunders, one of Cho's closest friends and fellow sixth year Ravenclaw.
"Oh, thanks Ben, see you later in Muggle Studies!" she said, carefully unfolding the note as she entered the Potions classroom. It was a class she hated with a passion however in order to fulfill her dream career as a doctor in the wizarding world, she had to take it. She hid the note under one of her brightly coloured folder covers and looked around for a seat, finding one in the middle row next to Nicole Portman, her bestfriend.
Cho got out her Potions books and parchment and sat perched with a quill at the ready, prepared to take vital notes. Professor Snape barely bothered picking on Cho anymore as Ravenclaw wasn't much of a threat to his prized Slytherin's chances of victory for the House Cup. It always came down to Gryffindor Versus Slytherin and it had since Cho had ever attended Hogwarts. That wasn't to say she didn't like being in Ravenclaw, she was actually very proud of it.
Once Snape had begun rambling on about different ingredients that belonged to the wallabis family, Cho pulled the note from Ben out of the safety of her folder and began to read it.
Hey Cho,
What's been happening? Haven't talked to you for ages! Anyway, I'm in Arithmancy right now and you know how that bores the pants off me so I thought I'd write you a quick note. My life is pretty boring I guess, how were your summer holidays? Mine were okay I guess, nothing particularly eventful happened. I'm so excited about this year's Quidditch season though... I think now that we have those two new Beaters that we might have a stronger chance of winning, perhaps even against the mighty Gryffindor. Tell me what's been going on with you, I can't wait to catch up later.
Love, your pal,
Ben
She smiled as she put the note away back under her books. Trying to regain her concentration, she began listening to what Snape was actually saying and took down notes for the rest of the class. It went slowly as all the Potions classes did and when it was over, Cho walked out of the room feeling very, very relieved.
* * * * *
As she began munching on a salad sandwich, she listened intently to Nicole who was telling the group about the boy she'd been seeing over the holidays.
"Oh, he's positively wonderful!" she was gushing. "We walked along the beach for hours, holding hands, kissing, touching one another..." she sighed dreamily. "Heaven I tell you... pure heaven."
Marty and a couple of the others giggled. "Sounds like you had fun then. What about you Cho?"
Cho looked up from her sandwich. "Me? Oh nothing too dramatic. Mum and Dad sent me off on a sailing trip with the 'Young Sailors Foundation.'"
"Oooh," babbled Nicole. "Young Sailors? Any hot young male sailors?"
"Nicole!" scowled Cho. "Unlike you, I do not just get it off with any member of the male species!"
Nicole looked hurt for a moment but quickly recovered. "I do not get it off with just any member of the male species... all the ones I choose are good looking!"
The group burst into another fit of giggles, Cho included. Even she had to admit she belonged to the 'popular group'. Most, though she wasn't aware of it, idolised Cho. She was the leader of the pack and whatever she did, everyone else followed too. If Cho got her hair cut, the others got their hair cut. If Cho liked a certain musical group, the others all listened to it too and so on. It wasn't like she asked for all of this attention, there was just something about Cho's personality that gained it automatically. She was the sweetest of girls though and at times, was completely oblivious to how she affected the boys at school.
Cho tuned out of the conversation however which was quickly changing back to Nicole's holidays. She gazed around the rest of the school yard, at all of the other students... some of the older ones were also sitting having lunch, younger students were running around playing games. One of the students in the year below Cho locked eyes with her.
She gave a small nervous smile at Harry Potter who returned the smile just as nervously. His attention was distracted by his friends though and he looked away. Cho continued watching him for a moment though and wished she could be more like him... so self-assured and confident. It never did strike her that others would stare at her all the time and wish they were more like her.
"Earth to Cho!" somebody was saying when she returned to the conversation. "Hello? Anyone in there?" Marty pretended to knock on Cho's head causing eruptions of laughter and a scowl from Cho.
"Sorry," she muttered an apology. "What were you saying?"
Amy looked at Cho, her eyes wide. "I was just asking what was happening with you and Ben?" she winked suggestively.
"Ben Saunders?" cried Cho.
They nodded.
"Oh gracious no, we're just friends, just friends for sure!" Cho could feel her cheeks burning up with embarrassment.
Nicole giggled. "Yeah right!"
"No really," Cho protested. "We're just friends!"
* * * * *
Cho spent the rest of the day trying to persuade her friends that she was infact, just friends with Ben. This task was proven difficult to achieve, especially during Muggle Studies when Ben saved her a seat and they spent the majority of the class chatting instead of learning about the purpose of the 'microwave'.
Everyone had to admit it. Ben was hot property. Rumours had been circulating for ages that he fancied Cho and vice versa but both denied anything but friendship. The main reason the student body seemed to have paired them up, appeared to be because they were both dashingly good looking.
Cho had a fabulous figure, small yet curvacious. She had full cherry lips and big deep brown eyes. Her long black hair shined constantly and clothes seemed to fit her like a glove.
Ben was tall, dark and handsome... a girl's dream. He was athletic and played as the Keeper for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, where Cho was Seeker. He had an athletic build and a gorgeous toothpaste commercial smile that made many heart's flutter.
By night time though, any thoughts of herself and Ben being romantically linked flew out the window. She stood staring at her picture perfect reflection in the mirror before changing into her pyjamas. She began brushing her teeth and washing her face before glancing back up at herself, the water running smoothly down her skin.
She sighed and dried her face, combing her silky hair with a blue brush. She took a few steps back to study her body.
"There's not an inch of fat on you," remarked her reflection. However this was not what Cho was really thinking on the inside.
You're pathetic, is what was really crossing her mind. Just pathetic. Look at you. Cho Chang, you should be ashamed of yourself!
She gave another dramatic sigh before frowning at herself and returning to the bedroom where she put on another grand smile and entertained the other girls with more stupid stories that they all thought were positively amazing!
No matter how wonderful they THINK you are Cho Chang, you know inside that you're just a pathetic and silly little girl, she thought as she lay wide awake on her bed, finding it impossible to get a wink of sleep.
Author's Note: So whaddya think? It's a bit of a short first chapter I know but I'm pretty sure they will get longer from here on in. It's the first fic I've ever done that concentrates on Cho as the main character and because we don't learn much about her from JK Rowling, I'm finding it pretty interesting to make up her life and those around her. So send me an owl (or just leave a review) with all your comments, bitching, marriage proposals or death threats!