Chapter Four: Song of the Seer
Written by Elluxion
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A very little detour from the plotline so far (half the length of my usual chapters) - this is a write-up of Cho Chang. Why did I make her a Death Eater, and a loyal one at that? Personally, I wasn't really thinking about it. I just thought that it'd be an interesting twist, and would add a personal angle to the story. I've always liked Cho - being a female Seeker and a Ravenclaw (my favourite house) and all :P - so I wanted to write her in. But a little question from Rie or IceFrozen set me thinking: why? Why Cho? I honestly have no answer to that. Most likely it's because Cho was such a mysterious character, and I wanted to build the mystery and suspense around her. Making such a 'good' character - Seeker, Ravenclaw, pretty, popular, smart, kind - into a Death Eater is oddly satisfying. Don't get me wrong, I love Cho, but it's just a way for me to get over my writer's blocks about Draco and Hermione! :P And since there hasn't been a proper description of Cho, I'll make up my own, apologies if I've ruffled any feathers. Psst, if you ever feel the need to flame me, or yell at me, or generally bash me over the head for some terrible injustice I've done to Ms JK Rowling (who incidentally owns all the wizarding world), drop me a line at rosefire_spirit@hotmail.com. Aaaand ... yes, one last thing ... this chapter is dedicated to the mysterious Yazmyn. *grin* Although I haven't talked to you much, I'm glad to have known you (for three lines of chat or so) and I'd love to know you even further. ;) Hugs and cookies, P.S. I absolutely love that song from Coldplay. -Coldplay, The Scientist Cho Chang surveyed herself in the mirror, enclosed in the privacy of the Ravenclaw girls' dormitory. Graduation had commenced the night before, and she was supposed to be gathering last-minute things that had escaped her memory, and put those forgotten items into her trunk. A tall girl, with highlights of golden mixed in a head of brown hair that fell softly to her shoulders stared back at her, with the same serious striking violet eyes shielded by long eyelashes. Those eyelashes, so long and mysterious, were the envy of every Ravenclaw girl who saw them. If anyone had been looking over her shoulder, they would have been struck at her unnatural beauty which had blossomed over the years. She had grown gracefully, without a hitch, into womanhood. But all Cho saw was a very young, plain girl, seventeen, and very confused. She knew she was, in all, a lucky girl. She had loving parents, faithful friends, and enough money stored to start up her own small business. But the problem was simply this: she had no idea where her interests lay. Yes, she loved Quidditch, liked the honor she felt from playing for Ravenclaw, and although she was a deft, swift player that rarely made mistakes, Cho knew that she was merely a good Seeker, perhaps among the best, in school standard. She was not exceptional. Nothing set her apart from, say, Draco Malfoy, an equally competent Seeker from Slytherin. She could never play Seeker for England, and she knew that fact well. What were her other interests, then? Reading, she supposed. A spot of craftwork, nothing serious. Dabbling in charms, experimentation done on a rainy day. In truth, Cho was an all-rounder without many hobbies. She didn't know what turn her life would take once she stepped out of Hogwarts doors that afternoon - perhaps the last time she would ever do so. And yet ... She had unearthed abilities, a handful of weeks before the school year ended. Strange dreams, peppered with warnings and forebodings. Shadowy creatures and whispers of danger when she concentrated on a mirror, or window, or a puddle of water. Cho knew enough to confront these strange findings bravely. She knew enough to deduct that she was a seer of the future - or at least well on the way to being one. The incidents had been small, but the day before Dean Thomas broke his ankle, she had known - and she had seen the accident. It was the night before, where she'd had that dream, a mere whisper of what was to occur the next day. She hadn't taken it seriously, hadn't wanted to, but Dean had, indeed, slipped on plate of unseen ice and had taken a bad fall which had landed him in the hospital wing. No, Cho was not afraid of the fact that she was a seer. She only feared the worst - that she could only forsee the bad side of the future, that she couldn't tell the goodness that would come later on in life. Which would not be good at all. It would make her a dark seer. Padma Patil poked her head into the room, startling Cho out of her thoughts. "Cho - the carriages are here. You'd better finish up, 'kay?" "I know," Cho mumbled a reply. "Thanks, Padma." ~*~ Then, three years later, Cho met Jonathon Fawkson. Cho was working as a waitress at The Three Broomsticks. She knew that her education merited a more high-paying job, but at the moment she was content with what she had. Working at The Three Broomsticks allowed her to meet people from all walks of life, and she enjoyed her interaction with the customers. She knew she drew low pay, but that pay was more than enough to accomodate her lifestyle in a rented, tiny cottage, off the road just two blocks away. After all, she supported only herself, her owl, and her collie. After she began her work as a waitress, the male number of customers shot through the roof. Jonathon had swept her off her feet the moment he stepped in. A tall man with striking looks and an arresting pair of brilliant blue eyes, Jonathon drew attention, and he'd drawn Cho's. Seemingly interested in her, they started dating. Cho fell in love, a thing she had not allowed herself to do since Cedric Diggory's death. Then one summer night, Jonathon Fawkson proposed to her. Cho agreed on the spot, happily, finding direction in her life at last. But there was one thing she didn't know about Jonathon. He was a Death Eater. Jonathon tried to hide it from her - knowing that Cho would shun him, would break up with him, however painful it might be. Cho had strong values, and she would do the right thing, no matter how much it hurt. Cho might even attempt to kill him or turn him in to Azkaban. She had powerful grounding in what was right and what was wrong; she drew a clear line between black and white. And Cho did the unthinkable. She told him, eyes searching his own, that she was a dark seer, a seer that could only fortell the unfortunate and the unlucky. Accepting it, Jonathon, in turn, told her about his fiercely-guarded secret, preparing for the worst. Cho had hugged him, had told him gently that she loved him too much to do anything to him, had mentioned that she was no better. Two years down the road. They lived happily. Cho turned a blind eye to Jonathon's meetings with Voldemort, only cautioning him to be careful, trying to gently steer him away from the path he had agreed to tread. It didn't work. Finally there came a night when she saw him practicing a curse fabricated by nightmares. She tried it out herself, amid vehement protests from Jonathon. It was merely a tiny curse, nothing much more than a Stunner. The dark energy embraced her, tying itself to her blacker nature as a seer of death and pain. Its lure was irresistable and inextricable. Another two years passed, and Cho became a master of the Dark Arts. She never used it to kill, although it was tempting. But she loved the power, and the energy had found a place where it could assert itself. She joined the Death Eaters, knowing that there was much more scope for experimentation and creation. She had never meant to kill, or to even hurt. She just wanted to push herself; to see how far she could go. One night she had a nightmare, and had woken up screaming piercingly into the night. Jonathon gathered her into his arms, rocking her, telling her it was merely a nightmare. In his heart he knew otherwise. His wife was a seer of destruction, after all. Cho told him, her voice trembling. The dream had been unclear and foggy, but its purpose had been clear. Jonathon would die. Her dream came true, no matter how hard she tried to prevent it. Jonathon met his end, precisely three days after that warning. His killer was an Auror, a protector of the light and good. Cho locked away the grief in her. She invented darker and darker hexes as a result, all gruesome and horrifying and painful and killing - literally. She never used them, but Voldemort had been delighted with her creations. She taught him whatever she could cough up and think of. Her mind was twisted, and Cho's loving and giving nature was altered overnight. Voldemort favoured her above all. Being a Seeker, Cho had natural stealth and speed; she knew how to be discreet, how to carry herself slowly and carefully and quietly on a mission, how to react instantly to danger. Voldemort had caught these instincts earlier and had marked her for anything to do with stealing or killing without kicking up a fuss. Her old interactions with her customers at The Three Broomsticks aided her as well. Cho Chang knew how to deal with situations, how to talk her way out of suspicion. Two years later, Cho was well-known among all the Death Eaters as a smooth killer, completely devoid of emotion. A mind that worked well and a heart that was cold was a lethal combination, and Voldemort knew that perfectly. At twenty-five, Draco Malfoy joined the ranks, and the Malfoys' reputation skyrocketed. Lucius Malfoy had bowed out of the active Death Eaters gracefully, age catching up with him. But Draco was proving himself to be as efficient and as deadly as Cho and his father alike. Draco had a fast mind and sharp reflexes. Being a Seeker had helped in bringing out those instincts. One thing that Voldemort didn't like was that Draco rarely killed, but Draco appeased him by bringing him victims at the brink of painless death; death from potions craftily concocted. Draco didn't like torture. He preferred drawing answers out in casual, seemingly innocent conversation. It put the victims less on edge, he always maintained. It drastically dropped suspision and tenseness. Voldemort had to agree. Draco and Cho were a formidable pair of Death Eaters, although it had taken Draco one short year to prove so and Cho two as an active Death Eater. Voldemort liked the two, liked the coldness they both exuded, liked their minds and instincts and above all their strength of character. Cho's seeing abilities often came into play and those warnings had aided Voldemort a lot. Draco, being a Malfoy, obviously had excellent connections, and his amazing skills to extricate valuable information always impressed the Dark Lord. ~*~ Cho Chang studied herself in the mirror, now in the eerie silence of her cottage. She had gotten rid of her collie, and her owl was locked up and quietened with a simple curse. To herself, she was the same. It was simply that she had grown taller by a couple of inches, and her figure was more assured. But there were many changes if an onlooker had been very alert. Her eyes were harder, a shade darker. Her hair was no longer playfully silky, it was purposely tousled so she appeared seductive. She rarely smiled. Her eyes didn't sparkle any more, and she never, ever laughed. Cho was different, the grip of darkness tightly on her. But as a tear rolled down her cheek, it appeared that she wasn't so tough after all. A little shorter than usual, deviated from the topic, but I had had HAD to get that out of my system. Heh, and sorry for the long a/n's, I know that they're like, 75 % of the fanfic. *sigh* And I was planning on writing personal notes to all my reviewers, too. Apparently my A/N's are too long. I swear, I love and appreciate you people, but I'll have to push the notes to the next chapter (where I will hopefully get new reviewers. :P) I'll hafta murder my A/N's for that, but I deserve it! :P Before you chuck me into the garbage bin bound and gagged, I have one word to yell. REVIEEEEW! *minutes before posting this on ff.net* GUYS! I forgot to apologize for the spate of horror last chappie! It just popped out for me. --; I used to write horror, and I used to have very gruesome stuff, and I'd wanted to step over that, but apparently it sneaked up on me ... *sigh* I'll try to keep it under "constant vigilance" (thank you for the warning, Moody) from now on :P. Hugs and cookies, |