~*Everything You Want*~
Chapter Ten: He Doesn't See Me
Dove: We're back! The songbit is long this time… kinda couldn't cut any of it, though. This chapter is a nice balance between angst and humor, with the beginning of the "Cho's with Ced" rumors and a good healthy dose of Fleur because we love her! Also, mentions of Gaby, Lethifolds, and much Hufflepuff jealousy. Cho and Roger are both being simply cruel to each other, and we all just laugh…
Thalia: We have Cho throwing hissy fits! How fun!! Well, perhaps not for the persons involved… but very fun for immorally cruel authors, at any rate. *laughs evilly* I personally think that Cho and Roger should be hit with large squeaky mallets until they pay attention, but our way is just as fun! And less squeaky…
Disclaimer: If you try to smite us with the Hammer of Justice and sue, we shall retaliate by slaughtering you with the Machine Gun of Anarchy.
"She has a way that surrounds her
So delicate
And a glory that reigns
In her life
She is also so much
That she is not
There's things they don't see
And he doesn't see me
And he
Doesn't see me
There are things we can change
If we just choose to fight
But the walls of injustice are high
When he passes me by
He's a ray of light
Like the first drop of sun from the sky
And I know he's a king
Who deserves a queen
But I'm not a queen
So he doesn't see me…"
-Sarah Brightman, "He Doesn't See Me"
Everyone was buzzing with excitement after the feast as they made their way to the common room. Cassandra and Melissa were twittering away like two particularly irksome birds about the foreign students, gushing about Viktor Krum, the French boy Philippe, and Fleur Delacour, the beautiful French girl who had sat with Roger during the feast.
"Really, she and Roger Davies would be so stunning together. She has this air..." Melissa was saying as she smoothed some sort of facial cream onto her cheeks. Cassandra nodded in agreement.
"Yes, they would be such a lovely couple. She's so fair and angelic-looking; he's so dark and handsome. It would be perfect! Don't you think, Cho?"
"No! Go Away!" came a muffled voice from Cho's bed, where the curtains were tightly closed. Cassandra gasped.
"What's the matter with you, Cho?"
No answer came from Cho's bed. Cassandra shrugged and turned to Melissa again, "I wonder if Fleur will tell me what sort of shampoo she uses."
Cho fumed as she lay in her bed, the navy blue curtains matching her dark, melancholy mood. One hand was idly fingering her own, cropped, hair. They knew nothing about Fleur! For all they knew, she might be a horrible person! Just because she was beautiful... Cho glowered, aware that she was being unfair, but unable to stop her train of thought. Besides, Fleur and Roger would not make a good couple! They just couldn't! They didn't even go to the same school! Fleur knew nothing about him, nor he of her! Fleur didn't understand him like...
Wait...why did she even care? Roger bloody Davies could go and snog Fleur in the Astronomy Tower every night for aught she cared!
At the mental image of Roger and Fleur, kissing each other, wrapped in each other's arms, Cho buried her face in her pillow and burst into tears.
***
The next morning, Cho was late to breakfast. The only unoccupied seat was kitty-corner from Fleur Delacour, having just been vacated by an adoring swain who had run off to the Slytherin table to look for something for her. Cho sighed and considered skipping breakfast. She caught Penelope's eye, and Penny looked at her sternly, as though she knew exactly what Cho was thinking. Cho sighed and sat down to discover a lively conversation on the topic of Lethifolds, of all things.
"Ah, oui, ma soeur, she met one last year when we were on 'oliday in Brazil," Fleur was saying, gesturing gracefully with one hand. "She 'as only just turned eight, you know… Maman and I 'ad to chase 'er-she 'ad wandered off one morning… last time we leave a broomstick on ze balcony…"
The table at large giggled and tittered. "What then?" asked the fascinated Terry Boot.
Fleur shrugged. "Well, you know, Maman cast a locating spell and we charged into ze jungle after 'er, screaming like Amazons…" she blused a bit. "We found 'er a few minutes later, standing in a clearing, facing down one of zose… creatures."
Everyone shuddered. "Did you get it?" Mandy Brocklehurst asked curiously.
"Maman lost 'er voice in fear," Fleur said, lowering her pitch to make the story more exciting. "I didn't know quite what to do at first, and Gabrielle was just looking at ze Lezifold… and it wasn't moving. Just 'ung in ze air, silent, as she looked up at it."
"What happened, what happened?" squealed an overly excited Stewart Ackerly.
Fleur shrugged. "I remembered zat ze Patronus Charm will drive it away," she said, somewhat pompously. "Charms is my best subject-ze 'Eadmaster 'ere, 'e told madame Maxime I will not 'ave much to learn in zat class zis year." She took a delicate bite of the apple that a completely entranced Henry Vanderhoff was peeling and slicing for her, and Cho rolled her eyes. This girl had a self-centered streak a mile wide. "So, ze Lezifold went away, and if you will believe, Gabrielle told us she 'ad been ''andling it just fine on my own.' Zat child, she is impertinent." She ate another slice of apple. "Zey are very frightening, ze Lezifolds. I feel faint around zem. But not as bad as Dementors." She shuddered delicately.
"We had Dementors here last year!" Zachary Turpin said, his eyes glazed and looking proud of himself for having said the right thing.
His sister Lisa sneered. "Honestly, Zackie, you're drooling on your food. You don't talk about Dementors if you can avoid it, you git." Cho smiled widely at Lisa.
Fleur ignored Lisa's jibe, and concluded her story, "Zat was my first time to evair 'ave to cast ze charm, and I 'ope it will be ze last. My Patronus is in ze form of a unicorn, really quite magnificent. What types of Patroni do all of you 'ave?"
Silence all around the table. Fleur looked around expectantly, but no one would meet her eyes. Cho seethed. Okay, so the chit was bloody gorgeous and knew how to cast a Patronus Charm. So?! She was vain and self-absorbed and Roger...
"Mine is an eagle." Speak of the devil. The fallen angel whose beautiful face hid his cruel heart. But the French girl smiled becomingly at Roger as he approached, and made room for him right beside her.
"Oh, 'ow suitable. It is ze emblem for your 'ouse, is it not? And when did you find out what form it 'as?"
Roger's eyes suddenly grew cold. "I... there was a Dementor on the train last year, and I was trying to protect a fr-others in my vicinity." His voice indicated that this topic, as far as he was concerned, was now firmly closed. "So, what have you lot been up to this morning?"
"Well, of course, my schoolmates and I 'ave just submitted our names to ze Goblet of Fire. I understand zat ze results will be in shortly."
Roger nodded, "Yes. Chang?" Cho's head snapped up. This was the first time that he had directly addressed her since that day that she had cut her hair over the summer.
"What do you want, Davies?"
"Your boyfriend, Diggory," here Roger made a face of mild disgust, "just submitted his name in the Goblet. You should go and wish him luck."
Cho's eyes blazed. "I've told you a million times and I'll tell you again, so get it through your thick head, Davies. Cedric. Is. Not-" Suddenly, she stopped, and looked at Roger oddly. "You know, as a matter of fact, I think I will. Oh Ce-ed!" With this singsong battlecry, she stood and headed for the Hufflepuff table.
Roger looked quite put-out, and Cassandra began collecting money. "Pay up, people. I knew we had the right idea about her and Diggory!"
A disgusted Penelope forked over a Galleon, but looked thoughtfully over towards the Hufflepuffs. Cho was welcomed into their midst quickly.
A feminine scream was heard from outside the doors. "That'd be Sarah," Henry shook his head. "I helped her, but apparently not well enough."
Penelope grimaced. "You're an idiot, Henry. Shame to the Ravenclaw reputation."
He smiled widely. "What do you mean, I'm an idiot? I didn't try! That was Fawcett's game, anyway!"
Zachary grinned wickedly at Henry. "Shall we go see if we can get her photo and blackmail her afterwards?"
The two boys, no longer under Fleur's charm (for she was dispensing it lavishly upon Roger now) vanished in a flash.
Roger forcibly tore his eyes away from Cho, who was sauntering towards the Hufflepuff table without a backward glance. Belatedly, he noticed that Fleur was addressing him.
"'Oo is she?"
"Cho Chang. Diggory's girlfriend." Roger snapped out between gritted teeth. Fleur seemed to mistake his anger, and laid an elegant hand on his arm.
"She seems to 'ave a razzer short tempair. But no worries, she is not your girlfriend; you don't 'ave to deal wis 'er."
She smiled at him, and said soothingly, almost hypnotically, "Let 'er boyfriend deal wis 'er; sink of ozer sings."
Cho had managed to greet Ced, ask whether he was daft for entering such a dangerous tournament, and wish him luck before a chance glance at the Ravenclaw table made her shut up mid-sentence.
"The shameless hussy!" she hissed aloud before she could stop herself. Cedric looked at her curiously.
"I've heard some fairly unpleasant stories, but I didn't know you hated your roommates that much."
"No... not my roommates.... HER!" Cho pointed at the silvery-blonde head perched nauseatingly close to Roger's dark one. Cedric glanced at Fleur for a moment.
"She's one of the Beauxbatons students, isn't she? I thought I saw her and the rest of her classmates submitting their names in the Goblet of Fire."
"Look at them! It's bloody sick-making! She doesn't even know him, and she already wants to get him to shag her!" Cho didn't even hear a word he was saying, "Isn't it enough that she's got every bloody male in this school simpering and doing menial labor for her like a bunch of blasted house-elves, but she needs to get one of them as well?!"
Cedric gave her a deep, searching look, "If I didn't know better, I'd say that you're jealous."
"Jealous?!? Why should I be jealous of HER?! She's self-centered and vain! She's an insolent tease! Don't be daft. I'm not jealous!"
Cedric raised his hands in surrender, knowing very well the saying about an angry woman and knowing especially well about an angry Cho Chang. "Of course not," he said soothingly. "Whatever you say, Cho."
Cho glared at him, but didn't push the subject. Instead, she casually leaned over and placed her head on Ced's shoulder.
Ced tensed. "What are you doing?" he whispered to her, read as a tomato as the Hufflepuff table bloomed in smiles.
"Making sure you don't blow your cover, dear," Cho replied sweetly, staring daggers over at the Ravenclaw table. He had noticed. Well, good.
Cedric sighed but, giving in to the inevitable, settled his arm around Cho's shoulders. "You're a real cruel brat, did you know?"
Cho smiled. "Oh yes, I know."
Roger saw Cho giving him a catty smile out of the corner of his eye as Diggory put his arm around her shoulders. Well fine. Just dandy.
***
At dinner, Cho stopped eating with the Ravenclaws altogether, choosing the Hufflepuff table. The night the champions were to be announced, she was sitting nearly on Cedric's lap, which Roger "accidentally" noticed as he looked over from talking with Fleur.
Suddenly, the soothing, mind-emptying effect of Fleur's voice vanished, and he inhaled sharply, narrowing his eyes. However, before any plans to disembowel Diggory could progress very far, Dumbledore and the other judges came in and called for silence. The Goblet of Fire, which had been brought in, was occasionally shooting up red sparks. The time for the announcement of the champions was now taking place.
A sheet of parchment zoomed out of the Goblet, and everyone waited with baited breath as Dumbledore caught it. "The champion for Durmstrang will be Viktor Krum!"
Cheers broke out amongst the students, both from Hogwarts and from Durmstrang. The world famous Quidditch player shuffled to his feet, and walked into the adjacent room to await further instructions.
Then, Fleur's name was announced, and though several Beauxbatons girls started crying, she, too, received a storm of applause, mainly from the love-struck males in the student body. Roger took one look at Cho's furious face and broke into a grim smile. Two could play at this game. He, too, clapped loudly for the blonde girl as she sauntered gracefully down the same path the Viktor had gone.
Cho watched as Roger applauded enthusiastically for the "shameless hussy". Fool! Taken in by a snooty wench with a pretty face! I hope she breaks your heart, Roger! Like you broke mine... That last thought had popped out, unbidden, but Cho barely had time to analyze it when another piece of parchment shot out of the Goblet. "The champion for Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory!"
All the Hufflepuffs rose from their seats and gave Cedric a standing ovation as he smiled and walked into the next room. Cho, cheering for her friend, allowed herself a fierce little smile. We'll see how stuck-up and snobby you'll be, princess, when Ced beats you and wins the Triwizard Cup...
Her uncharacteristically malicious thoughts were interrupted when, to everyone's astonishment, a fourth sheet of parchment was expelled from the Goblet of Fire. A tense, thick silence fell upon everyone in the Great Hall, and Dumbledore read out one last name.
"Harry Potter."
The Hall was suddenly silent. Harry Potter, the boy who was always in the spotlight, looked shell-shocked. "I didn't put my name in," Harry was heard saying to his friends. "You know I didn't."
They only stared at him.
At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.
"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"
Harry's female friend gave him a little push and a whispered word of encouragement., He stood up, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly. Everyone continued to watch him silently as he walked to the staff table.
"Well.... through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.
Harry walked the way the other champions had in complete silence. It was a strange contrast to the cheering and clapping of a minute ago. When he disappeared through the door, a girl at the Hufflepuff table, sitting across from Cho, whispered "Oh my God."
That was when pandemonium broke loose. Everyone was talking at once, and Dumbledore seemed unwilling to stop it. As he headed into the room in which the champions waited, along with the other judges, everyone continued to talk.
"Wonder how he got past the age restriction?" Hannah Abbot wondered.
"Well, he's the famous Harry Potter, isn't he?" Ernie Macmillan sighed. "Should have figured he'd try to steal our spotlight."
Susan Bones sighed. "They'll let him compete, of course. He's Harry Potter. Sometimes I wish to be Harry Potter. Well… except the curse and dead family thing…"
"I don't think you'd enjoy being a boy, Sunan," Justin Finch-Fletchley pointed out.
"Shut it, Justin, you insensitive clod!"
"Look who's talking! I didn't bring up Potter's family!"
People all around Cho grumbled. Without Ced there, she felt very out of place. She stood up, planning to go back to the less-friendly but more comfortable Ravenclaw table.
"Say, Chang, you'll be supporting Cedric, won't you?" someone asked. "He's the real Hogwarts champion."
A murmur of agreement went through the table and Cho felt even more uncomfortable. "Well… we should probably hear the whole story first…"
A sea of shocked Hufflepuff faces looked up at her. Someone exclaimed "Really, Chang, your own boyfriend!"
Cho blushed. "But I … of course I… I'll be rooting for Ced. Of course. Excuse me." She made her escape.
For once, Cho's cold war with Roger was unnoticed when she sat back down amongst her housemates, who were too busy debating how in the world Harry Potter could have gotten his name into the Goblet without ending up in the same situation that Sarah Fawcett had gotten herself into. Cho tuned it all out, brows furrowed worriedly. Poor Cedric! She remembered the confession that he'd made last year to her, that night before she and Roger had quarreled, and her world had tumbled down. Then, she mentally slapped herself. Why was she even thinking of the prat when her best friend was probably finding out at that very moment that he would have to be the rival of the one he loved in a competition far more serious than any inter-house competition or Quidditch cup, that they would be going against each other in life-and-death competitions? Really, what was with her self-absorbed preoccupation with her own petty issues lately?!
Well, she would have a good, long talk with Cedric tonight. The champions and judges would sort everything out, and Cho was fairly certain that, if her memory served her correctly, Harry would have to compete. So, she would wait by the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room, and then, when Cedric returned, talk with him about... everything... until both of them felt better.
Dinner concluded in a state of confusion. Cho, her mind still in a daze over all the dizzying developments that had happened to her world recently, walked slowly out of the Great Hall, but not with the rest of her housemates. Silently, she turned down the corridor towards the Hufflepuff common room, unaware of a pair of narrowed blue eyes following her retreating form down the hall.
Roger watched as she separated from the rest of the Ravenclaws, and walked in the opposite direction... away from him... away from them, down the hall that would lead to the Hufflepuff common room. How she knew where said Common Room was... he did not want to think about it. Yes. Cedric bloody Diggory was the Hogwarts Champion, and his fair lady was sneaking off into the night to tryst with him. Damn him to hell eternal.