OR DIE TRYING: THE STORY OF CHO CHANG

By monkeymouse

NB: JKRowling built the Potterverse; I'm just redecorating one of the rooms. And one of the great things about JKR telling the story from Harry's point of view is that stuff could be happening all over Hogwarts that Harry isn't aware of.

Rated: PG

Spoilers: Everything

xxx

56. The Yule Ball: 1

"18 December 1994

Dear Mummy,

I'm writing to you specifically because I seem to have gotten myself into a problem, and I hope that you can help me to resolve it. Don't worry; it isn't anything dreadful; at least, I don't think so.

You already know about the Yule Ball that Hogwarts is holding on Christmas Day. I had expected to attend alone, not being certain if anyone would ask me. Mummy, not only have I been asked, but I've been asked by one of Hogwarts' Champions, Cedric Diggory. This means that he will be the center of attention, and so will I.

This also happens to be the first time I have ever gone out on a date with a boy! I have a hundred questions running through my head now, and none of them can be answered by going to a book in the library. How should I act? Should I pay attention to other boys at the Ball, and is there such a thing as paying them too much attention, even though they're my friends?

It's only been a few hours since I accepted Cedric's invitation and already I wish I'd said "no". I'm going to be a package of raw nerves until Christmas Day is over. Mummy, please tell me something. Give me some advice that I can use. Let me know that everything will work out for the best in this case, where absolutely nothing is certain to me at all.

I'm sending my Christmas presents home now, along with this letter. Please send Quan Yin back to me with words to calm my nerves and slow down my racing heart.

Your very befuddled little Horse,

Cho"

xxx

The next morning, a Saturday, Cho stayed in bed as long as possible. In spite of her stomach growling, she wished she could sleep through breakfast, through lunch, and, if at all possible, not wake up until December 26 and avoid the whole mess. Maybe I could talk to Libby Foggly, she thought; she's good at Potions. Didn't Snape say something once about a sleeping draught, Living Death or something . . .

"HEY CHO!" Jan's voice cut through the bed-curtains. "Are yeh sick or summat?"

You have no idea, she thought, but she said, "Give me a minute."

Cho had put off going down to breakfast in part to avoid the very boy she saw leaving the Great Hall just as she was approaching it: Cedric Diggory.

"Ah, Cho! They say the Champions are supposed to have the procession into the Great Hall and then be the first couples on the dance floor. So I think I need to meet you here at quarter to eight next Friday night. Can you do that?"

Procession? Again, Cho could only nod.

"That's great!" Cedric beamed. "You know, I still can't believe this is happening. See you Friday night!" And he was off to Hufflepuff House.

I can't believe this is happening, either, Cho thought.

xxx

Cho didn't receive an answer from her mother until Christmas Day. She awoke to the sound of all the other girls talking about their presents, and the Yule Ball.

Cho saw a large parcel from her family, plus a smaller package; apparently a book. She unwrapped it to find "The Poetry of Hafiz", the great 14th Century Iranian poet. It was a scholar's edition, with the verses written in English on one side of the page and in Arabic on the other.

Cho didn't even have to read the inscription to know who sent it. She looked over at Raina. "Happy Christmas, Cho," she beamed.

"But I didn't get you anything," Cho said lamely.

"You've already given me far more than you know. I just wanted to thank you."

Cho's mother had sent the high-necked cheongsam Cho had worn last winter. It was yet another sore point between them. Lotus had wanted Cho to wear the cheongsam; Cho preferred dress robes of pale blue, with the neck scooped just low enough to show her throat. But as Cho was putting the cheongsam in her wardrobe, she felt something heavy in the pocket. She pulled out a parcel containing a string of absolutely perfect pearls. The note attached simply said, "I imagine these will go better with the blue robes."

Cho felt that she would never understand her mother, who seemed to be able to give wonderful gifts with one hand and insults at the same time with the other. She'd asked for advice, and got none. She wondered if other daughters had the same problem with their mothers.

xxx

Cho spent most of the day reading in the Common Room. She was late to breakfast but planned to enjoy a large lunch; she assumed that the ball would have small refreshments, and, even if there were a sit-down dinner, manners dictated that she eat fairly little. But, even though she hid it well, she was so nervous about the ball that she had hardly any appetite.

She heard some of the students holding a snowball fight outside. She'd never done that; her parents didn't let her play with the gwailo kids. It was probably too late now; too late to just forget lessons and propriety and be a child.

At six o'clock, she started to get ready, slipping on the blue robes with the string of pearls. That was the easy part. For the next hour, she fussed and fussed with her hair, not satisfied with it no matter what she did. She tried letting it hang straight, but it drifted into her eyes when she moved. She wove it into a long braid that hung down her back, but decided that this was too casual. Two long braids coiled onto the sides of her head? Foolish. Two buns on the sides of her head? Matronly.

She kept experimenting until Jan reminded her that time was running out. Cho realized that perhaps the best would be a combination of letting the hair hang down her back, but it needed something to keep it in place, a comb of some kind. . .

A COMB!

Cho dove for her trunk, for a drawer she hardly ever used, and found it: The Chinese-style black lacquered comb that appeared when she opened a Christmas cracker during her first year at Hogwarts. Briefly she marveled at how the castle may well have known what would happen in four years; then, with time almost gone, she gathered up her hair and pinned it into place with the comb.

Jan, who was ready fifteen minutes earlier but waited for Cho, surveyed the results: "Tha's the best yet. Yeh'll sweep 'em all off their feet."

"Right now, I don't want to sweep anyone anywhere! I hate this!"

"Ye're daft! The food, the music. . ."

"Detention with dinner and dancing. I just want to put in my four hours and get it over with."

She didn't tell Jan the real reason she was bothered. She had so wanted to be asked to the Ball by Harry Potter; now, she'd be stuck close to Harry, but as someone else's date. But the way things looked certainly weren't the way things were-

As she crossed the Common Room it seemed that half of Ravenclaw House was waiting there. They were a riot of coloured robes, but they made way for Cho. She kept her gaze straight ahead, not acknowledging the applause, not even smiling.

The same crowd of colourful robes was gathered in front of the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall stood out because of her red tartan robes, but Cedric, in robes as gray as a silkie's skin, stood out because of his height. He had been watching for Cho and pushed his way through the crowd to her.

When he got to her, he just stood, stared and tried to speak: "Cho, you're . . . speechless!"

"I don't think so," she laughed.

Cedric's cheeks turned red. "I mean, I'm beautiful."

"Well, as long as one of us is," Cho joked. Before she could say anything else, though, Professor McGonagall spoke up: "Champions over here, please!"

She was summoning them to a spot just by the doors to the Great Hall. "I want you to wait here until all of the others have entered. Once they have taken their seats, you will make a processional entrance in pairs, following me. I will conduct you to your table."

Table? We're all together? She glanced over at Harry Potter, whose bottle- green robes set off his eyes beautifully but rather clashed with the shocking pink robes of his escort, one of the Patil twins. She suspected it was Parvati, the one in Gryffindor, but Cho never could tell them apart.

Viktor Krum wore black robes, fur-trimmed even indoors, and his companion wore delicate, periwinkle blue robes. Cho wasn't sure, but she thought the girl resembled the Gryffindor Hermione Granger.

But then she saw Roger Davies. He would be at the champions' table after all, wearing robes the exact color of a Welsh Green dragon, and standing next to Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion. Fleur wore robes of a satiny silver-grey, as if she needed any tonsorial help. Roger Davies was truly under her veela's spell, and couldn't have told what was happening six inches in front of his face,

Cho groaned. This was a nightmare-one that McGonagall added to by telling them to begin the procession.

Cedric and Cho were second in line behind Roger and Fleur. The entire hall burst into applause as they entered, which didn't make Cho feel better at all. The feeling got even worse when she realized that they would be sitting at the head table with Dumbledore, the foreign Headmasters, and judges of the Tournament from the Ministry. Why was she there? She had no business there.

"Did you say something?" Cedric asked in a whisper.

Cho wasn't about to repeat the sentence, "I wish I was dead."

The feeling only got worse when Cho looked about her again. Harry was off to one side, but he was making a point of looking away from Cho, as if she had hurt him deeply. She was afraid that she had hurt Roger Davies deeply, but now he was oblivious to anything or anyone but Fleur. Cedric tried to make small talk with Cho, but she wasn't listening, and he soon gave it up and returned to his crown roast, while Cho ate Peking duck without tasting a mouthful of it.

She felt that this was surely the worst day of her life.

After dinner, with everyone on their feet, Dumbledore magicked the tables and chairs into a raised platform along one wall. Instruments including guitars, drums, a lute, cello and bagpipes appeared on the stage, soon followed by six men.

The Weird Sisters weren't sisters, and weren't particularly weird-just unkempt and slovenly. One of them stepped forward to the edge of the stage.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS HOGWARTS!" The audience cheered as Cho recognized the speaker: Kirley McCormack, the son of Catriona McCormack, Captain of the Pride of Portee Quidditch team. "And welcome to all the visitors from afar, taking part in the Tri-Wizard Tournament!" Another round of cheering and applause. "We'll begin with a new number we just wrote for the Tournament. It's called, 'The vampires are prowling and the werewolves are howling, but I'll be a Champion for you.'"

The cellist started a slow, mournful melody, as Cedric took Cho's hand and led her onto the dance floor. Apparently, the Champions really were to start off the dancing.

"Cedric," Cho said in a voice he could barely hear, "I hope you don't think too terribly of me, but I have to admit to something: I don't know how to dance."

She may have expected any kind of outburst from anger to mocking laughter. Instead, Cedric simply chuckled. "Easiest thing in the world; I'll talk you through it. Stick out your right hand."

Cho did so; Cedric immediately wrapped her hand in his.

"Now, put your other hand on my waist." As Cho did so, Cedric put his other hand on her shoulder. "It should be the other way round, but the height difference-Anyway, just take one step with your left, then one with your right, and so on, and follow my lead."

So Cho followed Cedric's lead, and an amazing thing happened: the knot of fear and dread with which she had approached the evening started to dissolve. Cedric's eyes seemed to pour confidence directly into her, and, though she made a few missteps, she found that she was actually dancing! Furthermore, that she liked it!

The song ended abruptly-too soon, Cho thought. But then the Weird Sisters launched into another, much faster song, "Playing the Goblins' Game."

"Now what?" Cho laughed.

"Just a bit different," Cedric said. "Take two steps with each foot, in and out, then switch."

"And what do I do with my hands?"

"ANYTHING YOU WANT!" Cedric shouted, as the band suddenly played as loudly as it could. Cedric began to illustrate by waving one arm as if it held a wand; then he was stirring a cauldron; then he seemed to be swimming. Cho tried to copy his moves at first, gave it up laughing, and was soon dancing on her own.

They announced the next song, "A Sickle For My Love", and played a slow and haunting melody. Cho held her arms out to Cedric, expecting them to dance as they had at the beginning. Instead he stepped up to her, wrapping one arm almost completely around her waist while holding her hand with the other. Cho was so close to him now that she was sure she could feel his heart beating.

This was much nicer.

Then there were several more fast songs: "Send the Aurors After You", "Flying Tonight", "Magic In My Wand". Cho kept up with Cedric all the way.

Then McCormack announced a request for another slow song. The lute began playing a sweet, slow figure as he started to sing: "It was a pumpkin sunset . . ."

Many of the dancers applauded; "Pumpkin Sunset" was one of their most popular love songs; even Cho had heard this one on the WWN. But she wasn't listening to the words now. She was in the incredibly gentle arms of Cedric Diggory, resting her head against his chest, and knowing that their two hearts were keeping exactly the same time.

When the last notes sounded, Cho realized in amazement that they had been dancing for an hour. She asked Cedric if she could get some refreshments, and he agreed.

"That was wonderful," she said as she sipped pumpkin punch. "I never knew I could . . ."

She was interrupted by the band starting again.

"Another turn?" Cedric shouted over the music.

"A little of that goes a long way," Cho shouted back. "Maybe we can step outside for a minute."

"What?"

"OUTSIDE!"

They walked together out to the stone steps, looking at the fairy lights that illuminated the rose garden.

"Flitwick did a lovely job, didn't he?" Cho asked, more to make conversation than anything else.

Cedric didn't speak for a minute; then, he turned to Cho and said, "How would you like to see something really special?"

xxx

to be continued in part 57, wherein secrets about Cho and Cedric are revealed