A SUMMER PLACE
by monkeymouse
a/k/a Patrick Drazen
2.7: Happy Returns
[If you found your way this far, you don't need me to tell you that JK Rowling created the Potterverse, and is still creating it…]
Harry started across the dance floor. His first step, though, was on an ice cube. His legs went out from under him, and he fell on his face, his glasses skittering across the floor.
"Harry!!"
He may have grown a few inches in the past year, but he still desperately needed his glasses. He saw them only as a black lump on the floor ahead. He crawled toward them like a soldier under fire and reached out for them.
But Cho was there already, and he grabbed Cho's hand.
He looked up into her eyes, where he saw--not the hatred that he was afraid of, but concern, and sadness, and even—he recognized it because he knew it all too well—a little fear.
In that instant, Harry Potter finally understood:
She's afraid of me. What have I done?
He tried to talk to her, but Cho also spoke. They said the same words at the same time:
"I'm so sorry."
Anyone who saw them holding each other in the middle of the dance floor would have thought they were separated for years instead of weeks. Ten minutes later, it was as if the argument never happened, as they sat at a table drinking pumpkin sodas and laughing at the story of Dudley and the "dragon egg". From there, they moved on to life at Cho's school.
"They seem to be mad for clubs over there. All the students belong to one club or more at the school. Frankly, I don't know how they find the time. The classes are a bit harder than Hogwarts, if anything.
"Anyway, I hadn't been there a week when I got invited to a club meeting. They insisted I pay them a visit at the very least."
"What club was it?"
"Don't get a swelled head, but it was the Haripota Club."
Harry just smiled and took a drink of his soda. "D'you think that one day I just might get away from all this "Boy Who Lived" nonsense?"
"It's not nonsense to everyone, Harry. That's what I understood at the meeting. It was all girls in this club; mostly from the upper grades, and they were desperate for information about you. I mean, they knew you were in Hogwarts and all of that, so they asked me just everything else about you--things that wouldn't get into the Daily Prophet. They even wanted to know your blood type; I have no idea why. But when they asked me if you had a girlfriend, I'm afraid I just sort of smiled. Well, they figured out what THAT meant in a hurry, and they started hitting me with even more questions."
"Am I going to like what you answered?"
"I didn't describe what it's like when we kiss--although they asked THAT. But they'd taken all that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote about you as absolutely true, so they wanted me to sort it out."
"Speaking of rubbish, Cho, that's what I've felt like since I got your letter. I'm sorry about what I wrote."
"Oh please burn it. Tear it up, get rid of it. I was sorry the minute after I wrote that."
"Don't say that; you had a right to get mad. Believe me, Cho, it's not that I don't listen or don't take you seriously. I guess I was just afraid."
"Of me?'
"Of losing you."
"That'll never happen; you ought to know better."
"I should, but … I just got this stupid idea that I couldn't let anyone else make you happy. That was supposed to be my job. So I got worried about Andrew, about your family–even about Cedric."
"Well, what do you think would happen to you if I felt like that? What if I didn't want to share you with the whole wizarding world? I'd have to keep you under lock and key, the way the Muggles used to."
Harry nodded, looking down at the table, unable for the moment to meet Cho's eyes. "Being afraid of your memories of Cedric, though; I'm turning into a right little bully, aren't I? Maybe I should transfer over to Slytherin."
"Don't you dare," Cho smiled. "Unless you think we'll need to have this little talk all over again."
"That's the last thing I want." Harry chuckled. "It's funny, though. You got over Cedric before I did."
It was Cho now who stared down at her drink and stirred the ice. When she finally spoke, it was hesitantly. "Harry, there's a lot about Cedric that nobody knows. I didn't know how to tell you, because I wasn't sure you'd understand."
"Understand what?"
"Have you ever met Cedric's father?"
Harry nodded. He'd met Amos Diggory at the World Quidditch Cup, and again just before the Third Task. He was proud of his son being a Champion, but he seemed a little too eager to rub Harry's nose in it. In fact, he was still crowing about Hufflepuff beating Gryffindor in a Quidditch match. All in order to show that his son was better than the great Harry Potter.
Cho went on: "Well, I met him too, that last day. Cedric insisted. He introduced me as his girlfriend, told his father he wanted me to..." Cho had to stop for a second. "His father was … civil, to my face. I'll give him that much credit. And after I met his parents, I went on about my business.
"Then, about an hour later, Cedric came looking for me. I saw in his face that something had gone very wrong. His father … His father told him, in so many words, that he couldn't see me anymore. That he had to get "a proper girl"–one who wasn't Chinese."
Harry had heard about this from Granny Li, but still didn't want to believe it–until he saw Cho's face now. She looked like she wanted to throw something.
"So, so Cedric didn't want to stand up to his father for you?"
Cho pounded the table in frustration. "Am I the only one who ever understood Cedric? He was upset that his father didn't want us to be together just because I'm not white. But it really didn't cross his mind at first to defy him. He and I argued about it just before the Third Task. And when I finally got him to see it was possible, he didn't know how to begin to stand up to his father. And I … I told him I'd given up on him, if he couldn't figure out for himself how to love me. I've never told this to anyone else, Harry, but that's the real reason I cried so much after he died. Because he'd been killed, of course, but also because we'd parted on such harsh terms. I felt terrible because I never had the chance to make it up to him."
"Did he…do you know if he talked to anyone else about this?"
"I don't know. I don't think so. Did he speak to you at all during the Third Task?"
"Just a bit, and never about you."
Cho nodded as if she'd expected that answer. "He probably didn't want anyone else telling him that he should defy his father. It was hard enough hearing it from me."
They were both quiet for the next few minutes, staring down at their drinks. Finally, Harry pushed his glasses up to his forehead and wiped his eyes. "Well, this has been an interesting birthday."
Cho smiled a bit sadly. "Finding out that I'm in love with a bully."
"And that I'm in love with a crusader."
"You think we deserve each other, then?"
Harry took Cho's hand. "I think we should be sentenced to a lifetime together."
"Sounds fair." Cho's eyes slowly narrowed, then squeezed shut. Harry realized that she was trying to suppress a yawn. "Sorry," Cho smiled that pretty smile of hers; "crossing all those time zones, I must have a touch of Port lag."
"What Portkey did you use, then?"
"The kitten." She pointed toward the sound booth, where Harry saw a stuffed animal: a white kitten easily a foot tall, with a ribbon on its head.
"I would have thought sixth years had grown out of stuffed toys."
"Then you've obviously never been in a sixth year girls' dormitory."
"Is that an invitation, then?" he smiled, raising an eyebrow.
Chop smiled back. "I don't recommend it. It's—let me think—eight hours difference, so if you tried Porting in right now you'd be there after midnight. The girls would probably hex you first and ask questions later."
"Are you coming back, then?"
"Well, Yoshiko usually comes here every other week, so next would be mid- August—no, cancel that. It'll be the middle of the Summer Festival there, and there's too many things to do. I've already volunteered to help out several clubs."
"After that?"
"Four weeks…that would be the thirty-first."
"The day before I go back to Hogwarts?"
"That'll be perfect. We can spend the entire day together."
"I'd love that."
"I just wish I knew you were going to be here today; I could have brought you something."
"You did."
"Harry, you can be so sweet sometimes." They exchanged a deep, lingering kiss. "Most times."
"And for the rest?"
"Well, we can work on that," she laughed. Cho walked over to the deejay's booth. "Happy birthday, Harry Potter!" She took hold of the Hello Kitty…and was gone in an instant.
Harry looked at his watch; the afternoon was almost gone. He had to get back to the Leaky Cauldron. But, for the first time that day, he felt up for whatever kind of birthday celebration Tom had in store.
…to be continued…
NOTE: In this chapter, I ended up stealing a bit from myself. Amos Diggory's reaction to Cho Chang is based on part of another fic, "Firefly and Butterfly", a little bit of slash between Cho and Ginny Weasley…
by monkeymouse
a/k/a Patrick Drazen
2.7: Happy Returns
[If you found your way this far, you don't need me to tell you that JK Rowling created the Potterverse, and is still creating it…]
Harry started across the dance floor. His first step, though, was on an ice cube. His legs went out from under him, and he fell on his face, his glasses skittering across the floor.
"Harry!!"
He may have grown a few inches in the past year, but he still desperately needed his glasses. He saw them only as a black lump on the floor ahead. He crawled toward them like a soldier under fire and reached out for them.
But Cho was there already, and he grabbed Cho's hand.
He looked up into her eyes, where he saw--not the hatred that he was afraid of, but concern, and sadness, and even—he recognized it because he knew it all too well—a little fear.
In that instant, Harry Potter finally understood:
She's afraid of me. What have I done?
He tried to talk to her, but Cho also spoke. They said the same words at the same time:
"I'm so sorry."
Anyone who saw them holding each other in the middle of the dance floor would have thought they were separated for years instead of weeks. Ten minutes later, it was as if the argument never happened, as they sat at a table drinking pumpkin sodas and laughing at the story of Dudley and the "dragon egg". From there, they moved on to life at Cho's school.
"They seem to be mad for clubs over there. All the students belong to one club or more at the school. Frankly, I don't know how they find the time. The classes are a bit harder than Hogwarts, if anything.
"Anyway, I hadn't been there a week when I got invited to a club meeting. They insisted I pay them a visit at the very least."
"What club was it?"
"Don't get a swelled head, but it was the Haripota Club."
Harry just smiled and took a drink of his soda. "D'you think that one day I just might get away from all this "Boy Who Lived" nonsense?"
"It's not nonsense to everyone, Harry. That's what I understood at the meeting. It was all girls in this club; mostly from the upper grades, and they were desperate for information about you. I mean, they knew you were in Hogwarts and all of that, so they asked me just everything else about you--things that wouldn't get into the Daily Prophet. They even wanted to know your blood type; I have no idea why. But when they asked me if you had a girlfriend, I'm afraid I just sort of smiled. Well, they figured out what THAT meant in a hurry, and they started hitting me with even more questions."
"Am I going to like what you answered?"
"I didn't describe what it's like when we kiss--although they asked THAT. But they'd taken all that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote about you as absolutely true, so they wanted me to sort it out."
"Speaking of rubbish, Cho, that's what I've felt like since I got your letter. I'm sorry about what I wrote."
"Oh please burn it. Tear it up, get rid of it. I was sorry the minute after I wrote that."
"Don't say that; you had a right to get mad. Believe me, Cho, it's not that I don't listen or don't take you seriously. I guess I was just afraid."
"Of me?'
"Of losing you."
"That'll never happen; you ought to know better."
"I should, but … I just got this stupid idea that I couldn't let anyone else make you happy. That was supposed to be my job. So I got worried about Andrew, about your family–even about Cedric."
"Well, what do you think would happen to you if I felt like that? What if I didn't want to share you with the whole wizarding world? I'd have to keep you under lock and key, the way the Muggles used to."
Harry nodded, looking down at the table, unable for the moment to meet Cho's eyes. "Being afraid of your memories of Cedric, though; I'm turning into a right little bully, aren't I? Maybe I should transfer over to Slytherin."
"Don't you dare," Cho smiled. "Unless you think we'll need to have this little talk all over again."
"That's the last thing I want." Harry chuckled. "It's funny, though. You got over Cedric before I did."
It was Cho now who stared down at her drink and stirred the ice. When she finally spoke, it was hesitantly. "Harry, there's a lot about Cedric that nobody knows. I didn't know how to tell you, because I wasn't sure you'd understand."
"Understand what?"
"Have you ever met Cedric's father?"
Harry nodded. He'd met Amos Diggory at the World Quidditch Cup, and again just before the Third Task. He was proud of his son being a Champion, but he seemed a little too eager to rub Harry's nose in it. In fact, he was still crowing about Hufflepuff beating Gryffindor in a Quidditch match. All in order to show that his son was better than the great Harry Potter.
Cho went on: "Well, I met him too, that last day. Cedric insisted. He introduced me as his girlfriend, told his father he wanted me to..." Cho had to stop for a second. "His father was … civil, to my face. I'll give him that much credit. And after I met his parents, I went on about my business.
"Then, about an hour later, Cedric came looking for me. I saw in his face that something had gone very wrong. His father … His father told him, in so many words, that he couldn't see me anymore. That he had to get "a proper girl"–one who wasn't Chinese."
Harry had heard about this from Granny Li, but still didn't want to believe it–until he saw Cho's face now. She looked like she wanted to throw something.
"So, so Cedric didn't want to stand up to his father for you?"
Cho pounded the table in frustration. "Am I the only one who ever understood Cedric? He was upset that his father didn't want us to be together just because I'm not white. But it really didn't cross his mind at first to defy him. He and I argued about it just before the Third Task. And when I finally got him to see it was possible, he didn't know how to begin to stand up to his father. And I … I told him I'd given up on him, if he couldn't figure out for himself how to love me. I've never told this to anyone else, Harry, but that's the real reason I cried so much after he died. Because he'd been killed, of course, but also because we'd parted on such harsh terms. I felt terrible because I never had the chance to make it up to him."
"Did he…do you know if he talked to anyone else about this?"
"I don't know. I don't think so. Did he speak to you at all during the Third Task?"
"Just a bit, and never about you."
Cho nodded as if she'd expected that answer. "He probably didn't want anyone else telling him that he should defy his father. It was hard enough hearing it from me."
They were both quiet for the next few minutes, staring down at their drinks. Finally, Harry pushed his glasses up to his forehead and wiped his eyes. "Well, this has been an interesting birthday."
Cho smiled a bit sadly. "Finding out that I'm in love with a bully."
"And that I'm in love with a crusader."
"You think we deserve each other, then?"
Harry took Cho's hand. "I think we should be sentenced to a lifetime together."
"Sounds fair." Cho's eyes slowly narrowed, then squeezed shut. Harry realized that she was trying to suppress a yawn. "Sorry," Cho smiled that pretty smile of hers; "crossing all those time zones, I must have a touch of Port lag."
"What Portkey did you use, then?"
"The kitten." She pointed toward the sound booth, where Harry saw a stuffed animal: a white kitten easily a foot tall, with a ribbon on its head.
"I would have thought sixth years had grown out of stuffed toys."
"Then you've obviously never been in a sixth year girls' dormitory."
"Is that an invitation, then?" he smiled, raising an eyebrow.
Chop smiled back. "I don't recommend it. It's—let me think—eight hours difference, so if you tried Porting in right now you'd be there after midnight. The girls would probably hex you first and ask questions later."
"Are you coming back, then?"
"Well, Yoshiko usually comes here every other week, so next would be mid- August—no, cancel that. It'll be the middle of the Summer Festival there, and there's too many things to do. I've already volunteered to help out several clubs."
"After that?"
"Four weeks…that would be the thirty-first."
"The day before I go back to Hogwarts?"
"That'll be perfect. We can spend the entire day together."
"I'd love that."
"I just wish I knew you were going to be here today; I could have brought you something."
"You did."
"Harry, you can be so sweet sometimes." They exchanged a deep, lingering kiss. "Most times."
"And for the rest?"
"Well, we can work on that," she laughed. Cho walked over to the deejay's booth. "Happy birthday, Harry Potter!" She took hold of the Hello Kitty…and was gone in an instant.
Harry looked at his watch; the afternoon was almost gone. He had to get back to the Leaky Cauldron. But, for the first time that day, he felt up for whatever kind of birthday celebration Tom had in store.
…to be continued…
NOTE: In this chapter, I ended up stealing a bit from myself. Amos Diggory's reaction to Cho Chang is based on part of another fic, "Firefly and Butterfly", a little bit of slash between Cho and Ginny Weasley…