~*Everything You Want*~
Chapter Thirteen: Barely Breathing
Thalia: Cho finds a new and unexpected friend in Hermione! We also find that canary creams don't work correctly on a certain tall, dark and handsome Slytherin boy (we love that species, don't we??!!), and basically, much funness ensues! w00t!
Dove: And Cedric is Saint Cedric no more. Heaven forbid he became Gary Stu! Now… what else? Draco/Ginny plugging-ness abounds (I believe from this point on, there will be one in every chapter-collect them all, for a limited time only!) and there is much realization that perhaps we should throw in our oar and start an official Blaise/Calista SHIP. It's too cute!
Disclaimer: The day we own Harry Potter, we shall invite all of the faithful reviewers of this story to a huger party where they shall be served by Hogwarts Quidditch hotties in loincloths. Until you receive your invitation, assume that we don't own it. Unless, of course, you're not reviewing. Are you going to let this lifetime opportunity pass you by?
"Everyone keeps asking, what's it all about?
I used to be so certain, and now I can't figure out
What is this attraction? I only feel my pain
There's nothing left to reason and only you to blame
Will it ever change?
'Cause I am barely breathing, and I can't find the air
I don't know who I'm kidding, imagining you care
And I could stand here waiting, a fool for another day
But I don't suppose it's worth the price, worth the price
The price that I would pay... but I'm thinking it over anyway.
I'm thinking it over anyway…"
-Duncan Sheik, "Barely Breathing"
The ball went on, and Cho tried not to notice as Roger came back in from outside. She turned her face away from him... a moment too late. Her eyes had been riveted to the shiny red lipstick mark upon his lips, and all of the sudden, the fact that she had bested him... that she had given him through all her actions the perfect impression that she was going out with Cedric... the bitter victory filled her throat like acrid ashes.
Cedric, being Cedric, noticed her change in demeanor, "Are you all right?"
"I'm tired, and the ball is nearly over. Can we leave now?" Cho whispered softly, trying to keep the abject misery out of her voice. She didn't care if Roger and Fleur were snogging in the rosebushes! She didn't!
Cedric glanced covertly at the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain standing alone against the wall. Roger's eyes were fixed upon him and Cho, and filled with anger. Then, the Ravenclaw turned on his heel and stalked out. "All right, Cho. We can leave now, if you like."
"Thanks," Cho said softly, "I hope I didn't ruin the evening for you..."
"Oh, no," Cedric smiled down at her kindly, "How could you have? I'm honored to have gone with you... I just wished that you enjoyed it more."
"Oh, I did, I did..." Cho said hurriedly. She had enjoyed parts of it... the parts that didn't involve Roger and Fleur were all quite lovely. Cedric nodded.
"All right, let's go then. Just let me have a brief word with Harry first," he said. Cho raised an eyebrow. He explained, "You know I told you that he was the one who told me about the dragons... well, I have to return the favor."
Cho nodded, and the two of them walked out. She waited at the stairs as Cedric quickly addressed Harry Potter, then walked back towards her. Together, they walked towards Ravenclaw, and when Cho got back to the portrait hole, she gave her friend a hug, muttered the password, and walked in.
Cedric watched with a small, somewhat wistful smile as she disappeared into the blue common room. She had smiled the whole time that night, but it was such a piteous smile, one that had been forced, unwilling, to remain on her face. His best friend was breaking her heart over a boy, and that boy might have loved her, but...
"Perhaps you should go back to your common room, Diggory." Speak of the devil. Roger Davies was standing about two feet away from the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, glaring at him, his voice infused with Prefect authority and anger. Cedric bristled.
"I was just escorting Cho back, that is not illegal, is it?"
"It's not your common room. It's against the rules," Davies was implacable. Cedric looked at the other boy, still in his dress robes. There was a faint mark that looked like lipstick on his face. No wonder Cho was so... and all of the events of the past few months came running through his brain, and Cedric Diggory, at long last, lost his general amenability and snapped.
"Oh really? And perhaps you should not be snogging some foreign exchange student whom you barely know in the rosebushes! You're a cold-hearted one, Davies." Having said that, Cedric turned around and walked off before the other boy could say anything in reply.
Cho was sitting on the floor, staring into the fire when Roger came into the room. Most people had already gone upstairs or were still outside, so the room was relatively peaceful. Cho, pink robes spread around her like the petals of a rose, was fingering the wreath she had been wearing in her lap, the flames dancing on her face, making her eyes shine as though with unshed tears. Despite his best effort, Roger remembered his dream of the year before, the beautiful, warm dream when he had kissed Cho in the firelight and told her he loved her, only to realize he was dreaming when he discovered her hair was short. He remembered how it had felt in his hands, how she had felt in his arms... and sighed. His eyes only lingered on her a moment longer before he walked slowly up the stairs, rubbing at the lipstick mark on his cheek.
Calista, who was curled up in a chair with her hair a mess and a translation of "Ruslan and Lyudmila" open on her lap sighed softly and brushed absently at the hair which was falling into her eyes. She was waiting for Cho to speak, but the older girl didn't seem to notice her presence. Finally, Calista cleared her throat and spoke herself. "It was a nice evening," she smiled softly into her book. "Thank you for worrying about me and checking in every hour, but Blaise and I did well enough."
Cho started, then smiled, her eyes still unfocused. "Mmm..." she agreed. "Good for you, Calista. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."
"You're a lovely dancer," Calista said, closing her book. "I wish I could dance like that."
Cho swallowed a slightly watery chuckle-she had been fighting off tears for nigh near half an hour, and Roger coming in smelling all over of roses, moonlight, snow, and Fleur's perfume hadn't helped. "I've been doing it forever."
"Would you teach me?" Calista asked timidly. "I'd like to move like you do."
It was a soft, tentative question, but with a note of hope she knew Cho wouldn't be able to resist. And what Cho needed was some simple friendship right now. "Please?"
Cho stood, blinking away the tears, remembering asking Cecilia the same thing after seeing her and Mr. Davies dancing away one afternoon in their kitchen. "Of course. Come here." Before long, the two of them were smiling. When Padma and Su came in a few minutes later, they settled on the couches to watch.
There were no tears shed in the Ravenclaw common room that night.
***
After the Yule Ball, Cho had, somehow, finally summoned the self-control to top looking at the Ravenclaw table altogether during meals. She sat with her back to them, and looked at Cedric, at Harry and the other Gryffindors, anything except Roger and Fleur cozying up together.
However, what she did not know was that nowadays, Fleur and Roger were on less than friendly terms. The part-veela spent a lot of time during meals hissing at him to not be such a "peeg-'eaded idiot" about his "feelings for zat girl 'oo 'ates me because she sinks zat I am taking you away from 'er". Thankfully, or perhaps not so thankfully for Roger, what she was whispering to him was not loud enough for the rest of the table to hear, and Cassandra and Melissa, among others, were certain that they were exchanging sweet nothings.
The two would discuss these assertions in great detail and with large amounts of speculation as they and Cho prepared for bed. Cho was not amused.
The tears would come at night. She had almost become accustomed to it. Another reason to hate Roger, and another sign that she loved him. Before him, she, Cho Chang, had never been a pathetic watering can like she was now. Damn him, and damn Fleur Delacour as well!
But then, she supposed that it was inevitable. Fleur... what boy wouldn't want her? And she had deigned to choose Roger. All the blokes at the school were probably mad with envy, and he, not being stupid, would certainly keep her now that he had her. Lucky French hussy...
But she could not spend her time on these things. The Second Task was coming up, and Cedric had confided that he had figured out the clue of the Golden Egg. Something of value would be taken from him by the Merpeople in the lake, and he would have to get it back. Now... exactly what would be taken, and how he would retrieve it... that was still unknown.
The two spent a good many days trying to figure out how he could possibly retrieve something from the bottom of the lake, and it had taken several evenings of frustrating fruitless searches until Cedric had lit upon the Bubble-Head Charm. It was a rather complex charm, and Charms was not her strongest subject (unlike both a vixenish part-veela and a beautiful blue-eyed Ravenclaw prat). Cedric reassured her that he would practice it in the large bath in the Prefects' bathroom until he got the hang of it.
A few weeks later, he reported success. Not a moment too soon, for the Second Task would be coming up in a week. Cho was happy and relieved for her friend.
"At least now, you won't have any chance of being injured this time," she told him, "Now, if we only knew what it was that you would be retrieving from the lake..."
She would find out in a few days.
***
The night before the Second Task, Cho was studying in the library, a book on Astronomy open to the page on the Orion constellation and a look of intense concentration on her face. That was how Professor Flitwick found her. He allowed himself a moment of fond pride in the hardworking girl who was such a pride to his house before clearing his throat, causing her to start and look up, brushing stray hairs from her face. "Professor Flitwick!" She looked mildly puzzled. "Have I done something? Forgotten something? I thought that I might have-"
He raised a hand and she instantly fell quiet. "Not to worry, Miss Chang. You've been keeping up admirably, despite all the research you have been aiding Mister Diggory with." His eyes sparkled. "Now, however, I'm afraid I will have to tear you from your books. If you will come with me, please?"
Cho, completely mystified, quickly put her books in the basket in the middle of the table for re-shelving and walked out of the library after the professor, who lead her up many sets of stairs before stopping in front of the large stone gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office, saying "lemon drops", and leading her up the stairs. Once there, she discovered that, although Dumbledore wasn't there, his pet phoenix was resplendent in the corner (she had made Fawkes' acquaintance her first year when she had been caught sneaking into the kitchens) and a little, picture-perfect girl was sitting in the corner, her hand clutched tightly in Madame Maxime's.
This little girl had long, silvery blonde curls and eyes of an icy blue in her perfectly heart-shaped face. She couldn't have been any older than seven or eight, and at the moment, she looked quite terrified. Despite her pristine appearance and childish sweetness, there was just something about her, Cho couldn't place what, that she didn't like.
Professor Flitwick said "Professor Dumbledore will be here shortly to explain," and left. Cho was wondering just what the little blonde girl who looked far too young for school would be doing here and what on earth she could have to do with her.
Moments later, the door opened again and in came Professor McGonagall, Hermione Granger and the boy who had taken Padma to the Ball-Ron Weasley?-trailing behind her. She sat them down and, with a stern look at both of them in turn (they weren't looking at each other) left the room as well.
"Ah, so it's you for Cedric then, is it?" Hermione said. "Should have known, I can't believe I was silly enough not to remember."
"For Cedric?" Cho repeated.
"Well yes," Hermione said. "The thing he'll miss the most. It's Ron for Harry, and me for Viktor, and I suppose her for Fleur," Hermione made a face. Cho decided she liked her even as Madame Maxime glared.
"Qu'est ce qu'elle a dit?" the little girl asked, her voice a tinkling bell. Cho realized why she didn't like her-she reminded her of Fleur.
"Elle n'aime pas que ta soeur est plus belle," the Beauxbatons Headmistress glared. "Et aussi, elle veut frapper ce garçon rousse."
The little girl giggled and looked at Hermione sympathetically. Hermione sniffed. "Stupid French bints," she said under her breath. Cho grinned.
"Oh good, everyone is here." Dumbledore entered the office and beamed down at Madame Maxime (as much as anyone could beam down on her), Cho, Ron, Hermione and the little blonde girl.
"You four have been chosen as the four most precious things to the four champions," Dumbledore began, "Gabrielle Delacour for her older sister Fleur."
The little girl grinned happily at Dumbledore, who smiled back and offered her a lemon drop. She accepted with a toothy grin and a cheerful "Merci!"
"Hermione Granger for her escort Viktor Krum." Here, Ron snorted derisively, and Hermione glared at him. Cho felt her mouth quirk at the corners.
"Cho Chang for her... friend Cedric Diggory." Cho's eyes widened, and she saw Dumbledore smiling knowingly at her. She squirmed slightly, but Dumbledore simply continued.
"And Ronald Weasley for his best friend Harry Potter." Ron's ears reddened just a little bit, and he looked at Dumbledore.
"Say, Professor, how exactly are we going to be... er... kept underwater?"
"Professor Snape has been most kind," and here, Ron snorted again, only to be glared at and quelled by Hermione, "and has provided us with four vials of a sleeping draught that also contains something to make certain that you shall be able to breathe underwater. Tonight, you four shall sleep in the staff office, in sleeping bags. Before you go to bed, you are to take the potion. Then, you will fall asleep immediately and stay thus until you are lifted out of the water. The potion has been specifically brewed so that only after you break through the surface of the lake will you wake up."
Cho nodded slowly, running the information through her head. "All right, I understand, Professor."
"Excellent! Miss Granger, Mister Weasley, I'm hoping that you two understand as well?"
The other two Hogwarts students nodded, and Dumbledore smiled before turning to Professor McGonagall.
"Minerva, you may bring them to their sleeping quarters. Madame Maxime and I shall explain to Mademoiselle Delacour."
Professor McGonagall nodded, and beckoned for Cho, Hermione and Ron to follow her. Soon, they reached a room and the professor unlocked the door. Sure enough, the table had been moved to the side, and four comfortable-looking sleeping bags, similar to the ones used last year when Sirius Black had broken into Hogwarts, had been placed upon the floor. "Professor Snape shall bring in the potions in an hour. Meanwhile, I suggest that you three prepare for bed. There is a bathroom over there," she pointed to a door at the end of the room. "Good night."
They took turns washing up, and when Ron went to shower, Hermione crawled into the sleeping bag next to Cho's, and the two girls started talking in low tones.
"I'm worried about Harry," Hermione confided, "We were trying to help him find a way to breathe underwater when Professor McGonagall called us. I hope he'll be able to find a way."
Cho nodded, "I hope so too. Cedric is using a Bubble-Head Charm."
Hermione looked rather confused for a moment, and Cho briefly explained the purpose of the charm to her. The younger girl nodded, "I wish we knew how to cast that, but I don't think that we learn it until Advanced Charms."
"Well, that's all right. I'm not good at casting Charms either. I'm better at Transfiguration myself," Cho said, then she scowled. "Fleur bloody Delacour seems to like Charms, though. She'll probably try the same thing."
Hermione grimaced at the mention of Fleur's name, "Honestly! I don't see why the boys make such a fuss over her anyway! She's a part-veela and she's pretty, but you would think that the boys would see more than that! Gits..."
"I couldn't agree more," Cho narrowed her eyes. "She's been flirting with every boy at the Ravenclaw table since the day she's arrived! Bloody sick-making, really."
"I know! And did you see how the hussy-"
"Hermione! I'm done with the shower!" Ron walked out of the bathroom, his red hair wet and plastered to his head. Hermione got out of her sleeping bag, and walked towards the bathroom. Ron picked up one vial of potion which Professor Snape had just dropped off and gulped it down with a grimace. Then, he set it down, and fell asleep almost right away.
Hermione was away, and Cho was the only Hogwarts student awake. Gabrielle Delacour looked at her with a little smile as she brushed out her damp hair.
"Es-tu la petite fille chinoise de qui Fleur dit que son ami le capitan de l'équipe de Quidditch est amoureux? Elle a parlé de toi dans ses lettres."
Cho blinked. "Sure, whatever you say. I'm going to bed." she grabbed a second vial of the sleeping potion, and downed it as well. Soon, all thoughts vanished magically from her head, and she slept the best she had for days.
***
The first thing Roger noticed at breakfast that morning was that Cho was missing. His eyes happened to gloss over the Hufflepuff table, as they happened to so often lately, to behold a grim-looking Cedric sitting very much alone and barely touching his breakfast, despite the instance of most of the people at his table clustered around him. Roger's eyes skimmed the Ravenclaw table, but she wasn't there either. He pretended not to be worried. It didn't work. Cho wouldn't sleep in on the day Diggory would be competing. "Orla," he called.
The girl two chairs down immediately came over. "Yes?" she said, her eyes sparkling with admiration for her often-times tutor.
"Would you do me a favor?" Roger asked, trying to sound nonchalant. When Orla nodded eagerly, he continued. "Go ask Diggory where Chang has gotten to, would you?"
Orla nearly swallowed her tongue, this being the last thing anyone would expect Roger Davies to say. Fleur looked veiledly amused at his other side. "Er... all right," Orla finally said. "Be right back." She ran across the Hall.
"Even for you, zat was razer obvious," Fleur said. But she looked quite nervous as well. "And you could 'ave asked me anyway. I am relatively sure I know where your fille chinoise 'as gone."
Before Roger to ask what she meant, Orla came back over. "He says that she's probably in the lake," she said, looking very confused.
Fleur nodded. "Oui. Taken by ze Merpeople... I sought it odd zat my mozer was 'ere wisout Gabrielle."
Roger's head spun. "Taken... by the Merpeople?"
At the same time, Orla's eyes lit up. "We have Merpeople?"
"Yeah, they live in the lake with the squid," Roger said absently. "Never even seen them before, though. Why would they want Cho?"
"Well, ze Second Task," Fleur said, as if explaining to a child. "It 'as been said zat whatever we 'old dearest will be taken from us. So, ma soeur is in ze lake... zere are a few Gryffindors missing, are zere not?... and of course, your Cho Chang. Or razer, Cedric's Cho, I suppose." She stood, brushing her hair behind her. "If you will pardon me, I 'ave to go get ready." With that, she left. Orla, seeing Roger's face, also left. Roger was left wondering if he should strangle Cedric Diggory or wait until Diggory saved Cho and strangle him then.
It wasn't a very easy choice.
After breakfast, the students made their way down to the Hogwarts Lake to watch the proceedings of the Second Task. Roger immediately made a beeline for the front row, gazing at the murky surface of the lake rather dubiously. The lake was deep... and at this time of the year, it must be freezing cold. He hated the feeling that he might just have to place his faith in Diggory to make sure that Cho would be all right.
He sat down next to a small red-headed girl wearing a Gryffindor scarf. She, too, was anxiously looking at the water, but gave him a polite, if rather quiet hello when he sat down next to her.
"Hello," he said back.
"My brother is in the lake; he's the thing that Harry will miss the most," she remarked, "I'm Ginny Weasley, by the way."
"Roger Davies," he replied. "A pleasure." Although, in truth, he was too preoccupied with what could possibly be happening to Cho in the lake to be much concerned with other things.
"Say, you're the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, aren't you?" the redheaded girl said softly, as if trying to make conversation.
"Yes," Roger answered. Quidditch. Cho... flying and laughing...
The girl nodded and smiled slightly. "No wonder you're sitting in front, then. You must be worried about your Seeker. She's quite good. That is why you're watching so close, isn't it?"
Roger winced. Was he really that obvious? Or was it that all the girls in the world were conspiring against him, each in her own way? "I'm graduating this year. I will probably never see her again," he said tersely.
"Oh, I see. No wonder, then. You will miss her something awful when you're gone."
While Roger was squirming under the casual conversation of a little third year, two rows above, Calista, seated next to Blaise Zabini of Slytherin, was watching the proceedings with great interest.
The Slytherin boy looked where his companion was looking, and a little smirk appeared on his dark face, "He's really besotted with Delacour, isn't he?"
Calista grinned, "Not quite. You're not really familiar with the goings-on in my house."
"Oh? And what sinful, depraved things are going on that I should know about?" Blaise asked, his voice low and amused, raising one eyebrow suggestively. Someone hawking chocolate walked to their row, and he absentmindedly fished out two sickles, buying two bars and handing one to Calista. Calista glanced up, and saw two redheaded individuals dashing away.
"Blaise, perhaps you should not..." A pop, and Blaise disappeared, to be replaced with a sleek... raven?
"Blimey! Would you look at that?" One of the Weasley twins looked back at the bewildered bird, which was standing next to a piece of half-eaten chocolate, and grinned, "Bloody brilliant!"
"Nice look for you, Zabini," a bored drawl sounded next to them. Draco Malfoy, for once not sitting with his two goons and Pansy Parkinson, sat down at Blaise's other side. He glanced briefly towards the front row at the back of Ginny's head for a moment before turning back to the raven. "Prettier than your usual self, that's for sure."
The bird turned towards Draco, obviously intending to peck the blond boy viciously for the jibe, but before he could do any such thing, his feathers molted, and he found himself human once more, sitting between a lightly giggling Calista and a smirking Draco. He scowled slightly.
"Come now, it wasn't that funny."
Calista paused mid-giggle. "Oh, it was."
"I'm not laughing," he folded his arms. Calista picked up one particularly long black feather that had fallen onto her lap, and proceeded to brush it quickly about his face and neck, tickling him until he let out a strangled chuckle and squirmed.
"Yes, you are."
***
It wasn't much later that Cho awoke groggily to penetrating cold and a multi-voice gasp of relief. She saw that Cedric was holding her up, swimming determinedly towards the shore, where spectator stands were set up. She shivered.
"Morning, sleepy head," Cedric said with a strained smile. "Nice to see you awake."
Cho laughed. "Morning to you too, oh valiant white knight." She began to swim too, making it easier for Cedric to move and a much shorter journey to the shore. Once there, Madam Pomfrey descended on the two of them with blankets (which were all for the good, as Cho's teeth were chattering loudly) and Pepperup potion. After both of these had been administered with great effect and she was shivering far less, Cho sat back to watch the proceedings. "Wonder where Harry is?" she mused.
"Still at the bottom," Cedric said. "He got there first, you know. But the Merpeople wouldn't let him take all of the hostages up, and he refused to leave without making sure all of you were safe." There was admiration in Cedric's voice. "He motioned for me to go ahead... well, Granger's up, anyway, but as for the little girl..."
"The French bint's sister," Cho said flatly. Still, as minutes ticked away, she began to worry.
Finally, as the crowd was growing restless and there were discussions of whether perhaps someone should go down and check on the progress as the time was up, three heads broke the surface of the lake. A very exhausted-looking Harry Potter was barely holding up Ron Weasley and Gabrielle Delacour. The former woke up first, and helped him get the latter, who looked quite panicked, to shore. Cho sighed in relief and Cedric let out a breath she wasn't aware he had been holding.
In the ensuing chaos, while Dumbledore spoke to the leader of the Merpeople and a hysterical Fleur showered Harry and Ron with affection while her little sister clung to her, Cho looked up at the stands and waved, with a laugh at Calista's smirking face and the glossy black feather she had tucked behind her ear, despite Blaise Zabini's efforts to take it away.