In Search of Two Characters: Chapter 2 - Settling In
A Roger/Cho fic by Zeft.
*** Part 1: First days
It took me several days to settle in, adjust myself to Hogwarts life, and more importantly, Ravenclaw life. I found my Ravenclaw housemates to be an eccentric bunch, so knowledgeable about absolutely everything, yet at the same time petty fights would ensure over who had booked the grand chess table.
One of the first Ravenclaw people I spoke to asked if I had anything to contribute to the library. I was confused; there was nothing in the Hogwarts letter that said I had to donate a book to the library.
"I didn't mean the school library," she said, slightly exasperated. "I meant the Ravenclaw library. Take a look."
Taking my arm, she led further into the Common Room. Being L-shaped, there was an area which at first escaped my notice. I was amazed to discover that this area had two bookshelves that reached from the ceiling to the floor. The third wall was entirely glass, paneled with thin wood strips into nine segments. A large stained glass emblem adorned the middle section.
I couldn't believe how light and casual this place felt, compared to the heaviness of the mahogany furniture in the other section of the Common room. There were no dark colours or hard edges here; only beanbags and mattress-like couches in shades of light blue, yellow and green. The whole thing reminded me of a meadow in springtime.
I learnt that all the books in here were all donated by Ravenclaw students over the years, starting from Rowena Ravenclaw herself, who apparently donated her journal.
"So where is Rowena's book?" I asked, imagining myself feeling a bit awed by the presence of such an important artifact.
"Oh it's not here," the girl replied. "After she died the Wizard's Council confiscated it. It's hidden in the National Archives now, under about a dozen or so curses."
"Why'd they take it?"
The girl snorted. "Said it was too precious for us. And that we would have destroyed it." She rolled her eyes. "As if! Destroy our most revered heroine's personal diary?! Who did they think we were?! Gryffindors?!"
Upon the end of her rant she seized my hand and dragged me towards the bookcase till my mouth was inches away from kissing 'The Art of War'.
"See the shininess of the covers? The straightness of the spines? The crispness of the pages? Not a book ruined! Not like the texts in the school library, with dog-eared pages and notes in between. Once I even saw a smudge of jam. Jam! Can you believe it?"
She then asked me again if I had anything to contribute, and failing that, would I like to 'borrow' a book. I declined meekly, daring not even to touch one, lest I accidentally leave a fingerprint. I felt a bit intimidated because I had nothing to add to the library, either.
After a few weeks I learnt that the girl's name was Janine, and that she was a seventh year, and also a Prefect. Long ago, some innovative Ravenclaws came up with the idea of naming one of the Ravenclaw seventh year Prefects as the Keeper of the Books, thereby making it their responsibility that no one 'rips, tears, shreds, bends, folds, defaces, disfigures, smears, smudges, throws, drops or in any other manner damages, mistreats or shows lack of respect towards to the books'. Janine must have really taken that creed to heart.
*** Dear Mum,
Thanks for your care package. The cakes were lovely. We had a nice pig-out in the dorm. (Don't worry, we didn't eat too much). I'm fitting in just fine at Hogwarts. The classes are a lot more challenging than I expected, but that's fine because it keeps things interesting.
Fitting in with the rest of the Ravenclaws is harder. Sometimes I feel like I should have been a Gryffindor, apparently I "speak before I think". Says Roger Davies (2nd year boy that always hogs the beanbag that I want.), but I don't care about him. I have made some nice friends, and I'm sure I'll be fine. No need to keep writing me letters of advice.
Give Minou a kiss from me.
Love, Cho.
PS: I forgot to mention this earlier, but could you please pay a visit to Flourish and Blotts' next time you go shopping? There, could you pick me up the most interesting book you can find? Don't worry about the subject, any will do. Just make sure it looks interesting and is dust and fold-free. You can take the money out of my account if you like. Thanks and much love.
***
My letter was not entirely truthful. I lied about making nice friends.
The girls (Melissa, Marietta, Sue) in my dorm were good people to talk to, but I wouldn't feel comfortable talking to them about anything that really mattered to me.
And then Lydia came along.
Lydia was something else. Despite coming along a few weeks later than anyone else, she immediately appealed to me. Maybe it was because she was so different to the other girls in the dorm or because she hadn't become part of a group yet, but I found myself with her constantly.
On the outside, Lydia would seem like a shallow person. She talked endlessly, and by that I meant constantly. She had that effect on other people as well; once she stepped into a room it would suddenly become much noisier, even before she cared to say anything.
Lydia was also remarkable straightforward about things. Some people would call that rude, but I appreciated her honesty. After a month of spending time with 'agreeable' people, I was ready for a change.
"What's your greatest ambition, Cho?" she asked me one day. It was straight after dinner on a Friday evening. Usually Friday evenings were spent in the Common Room socialising, playing chess or watching an organized debate, but I was feeling a bit bloated after a large meal and had retired up to the dormitory. Lydia graciously decided to keep me company.
"You'd give up making sarcastic remarks at the debaters?" I had asked her. She often enjoyed an evening making fun of Ravenclaw's brainiest - it them both sane, she said.
"Oh.I need to refuel on my witty remarks." Lydia had shrugged. She had laid down on Melissa's bed while I had sprawled myself over mine.
"I want to be an Auror." I said proudly.
"You do!?" Lydia seemed absolutely horrified by the prospect. She sat bolt upright and looked at me with wide-eyes. "Tell me you're not serious."
"What do you have against Aurors anyway?" I answered, feeling a litte defensive. I didn't like my dream being made fun of.
"Look, I'm sure Aurors are very nice people and very noble as well, but it's dangerous, and are you sure it's the life you want to lead?"
"I don't want a nine-to-five office job, if that's the alternative."
"You don't have to. I'm sure being an Auror would be very exciting, but do you want the kind of life when people are always out to kill you? Is that excitement?"
When she put it that way.no it didn't sound very appealing.
"Well, seeing as you've dashed that to pieces.what job do you think would be right for me?"
"Professional Quidditch Player." Lydia said, without batting an eyelid.
"Seriously?"
"You did say you wanted to make the Ravenclaw team next year."
"That doesn't mean I want to play Quidditch for the rest of my life."
Lydia wrinkled her nose. "Not for the rest of your life, silly, just for a couple of years. Then you can do something else, but not an Auror, okay?"
"Why are you really against it?"
"Look, my father was an Auror, and he got killed going on some stupid spying assignment. I don't want that to happen to you, okay?" she snapped.
I was too meek to say anything. I always felt horrible after forcing people to reveal information they didn't want to tell me. Now I felt that somehow I had wronged Lydia and things would never be the same again. Thankfully, I was saved from an embarrassing silence by the last person I expected.
"Is Cho Chang in here?" A voice came from outside our closed door. It sounded like a boy.
"Er.yes, why?" I said cautiously. It sounded rather loud and ominous in the silence of the dormitory. We were on the top level of dormitories, too far away for any noise from the Common Room to penetrate.
"There's an owl for you." Roger said, one hand still on the doorknob. He didn't look like he wanted to stay long.
"Eh?" Why would the owl not come straight up to me?
"An owl for you. Grey colour, small in size." He tapped his foot impatiently. "I'm not wrong in supposing you want to come see what it's got to say?"
"I'll be back in a bit," I said to Lydia, cheeks colouring. Roger let me go through first, and then he closed the door behind him.
It turned out to be Mother's return letter. I said thanks and tucked it into my robes. I wasn't going to read it in the Common Room, especially when there was a chance Roger could read over my shoulder. Well, actually he probably couldn't've, being just a tidge shorter than me, but I wasn't taking any chances.
Mother had been kind enough to send the book I had requested as well. I shook open the wrapping paper to reveal "The Secret Meaning of Names".
"You didn't expect it?" Roger said, looking at my blank face.
"It's for the library." I told him. I looked around the Common Room for Janine. I wanted to give this to her as soon as possible, so I could 'clear' my name. Despite having no proof I was sure that she had a list of names somewhere, of people who haven't donated anything yet, and knowing Janine, I wanted my name to be off as soon as possible.
"If you're looking for Janine, she's not here," said Roger frankly. "She left for the library an hour ago, which means that she won't be back till after ten.
"But if you want, I'll give it to her." He held out his hand, which I regarded warily. He had a slight condescending look on his face, halfway between a smirk and grin. It wasn't something that inspired confidence.
Lacking other options, I passed him the book reluctantly. He looked upon it as a treasure won.
"Going to watch the trials?"
I looked surprised. "Quidditch you mean?"
"What else?"
I ignored the jibe. "Yeah, I guess.are you.?"
He raised his eyebrows. "Watching? No. Trying out? Yes."
"Which position?" I asked. Quidditch was something I could safely talk about.
"Chaser. Everything else is pretty much taken."
"What about Seeker?"
"You want that position?"
I flushed, annoyed that my eagerness had come across so easily.
"Yeah, I do."
"Then come and check out the competition." He shrugged and walked away.
**
A/N: Constructive Criticism would be appreciated. Muchly.
-Zeft
A Roger/Cho fic by Zeft.
*** Part 1: First days
It took me several days to settle in, adjust myself to Hogwarts life, and more importantly, Ravenclaw life. I found my Ravenclaw housemates to be an eccentric bunch, so knowledgeable about absolutely everything, yet at the same time petty fights would ensure over who had booked the grand chess table.
One of the first Ravenclaw people I spoke to asked if I had anything to contribute to the library. I was confused; there was nothing in the Hogwarts letter that said I had to donate a book to the library.
"I didn't mean the school library," she said, slightly exasperated. "I meant the Ravenclaw library. Take a look."
Taking my arm, she led further into the Common Room. Being L-shaped, there was an area which at first escaped my notice. I was amazed to discover that this area had two bookshelves that reached from the ceiling to the floor. The third wall was entirely glass, paneled with thin wood strips into nine segments. A large stained glass emblem adorned the middle section.
I couldn't believe how light and casual this place felt, compared to the heaviness of the mahogany furniture in the other section of the Common room. There were no dark colours or hard edges here; only beanbags and mattress-like couches in shades of light blue, yellow and green. The whole thing reminded me of a meadow in springtime.
I learnt that all the books in here were all donated by Ravenclaw students over the years, starting from Rowena Ravenclaw herself, who apparently donated her journal.
"So where is Rowena's book?" I asked, imagining myself feeling a bit awed by the presence of such an important artifact.
"Oh it's not here," the girl replied. "After she died the Wizard's Council confiscated it. It's hidden in the National Archives now, under about a dozen or so curses."
"Why'd they take it?"
The girl snorted. "Said it was too precious for us. And that we would have destroyed it." She rolled her eyes. "As if! Destroy our most revered heroine's personal diary?! Who did they think we were?! Gryffindors?!"
Upon the end of her rant she seized my hand and dragged me towards the bookcase till my mouth was inches away from kissing 'The Art of War'.
"See the shininess of the covers? The straightness of the spines? The crispness of the pages? Not a book ruined! Not like the texts in the school library, with dog-eared pages and notes in between. Once I even saw a smudge of jam. Jam! Can you believe it?"
She then asked me again if I had anything to contribute, and failing that, would I like to 'borrow' a book. I declined meekly, daring not even to touch one, lest I accidentally leave a fingerprint. I felt a bit intimidated because I had nothing to add to the library, either.
After a few weeks I learnt that the girl's name was Janine, and that she was a seventh year, and also a Prefect. Long ago, some innovative Ravenclaws came up with the idea of naming one of the Ravenclaw seventh year Prefects as the Keeper of the Books, thereby making it their responsibility that no one 'rips, tears, shreds, bends, folds, defaces, disfigures, smears, smudges, throws, drops or in any other manner damages, mistreats or shows lack of respect towards to the books'. Janine must have really taken that creed to heart.
*** Dear Mum,
Thanks for your care package. The cakes were lovely. We had a nice pig-out in the dorm. (Don't worry, we didn't eat too much). I'm fitting in just fine at Hogwarts. The classes are a lot more challenging than I expected, but that's fine because it keeps things interesting.
Fitting in with the rest of the Ravenclaws is harder. Sometimes I feel like I should have been a Gryffindor, apparently I "speak before I think". Says Roger Davies (2nd year boy that always hogs the beanbag that I want.), but I don't care about him. I have made some nice friends, and I'm sure I'll be fine. No need to keep writing me letters of advice.
Give Minou a kiss from me.
Love, Cho.
PS: I forgot to mention this earlier, but could you please pay a visit to Flourish and Blotts' next time you go shopping? There, could you pick me up the most interesting book you can find? Don't worry about the subject, any will do. Just make sure it looks interesting and is dust and fold-free. You can take the money out of my account if you like. Thanks and much love.
***
My letter was not entirely truthful. I lied about making nice friends.
The girls (Melissa, Marietta, Sue) in my dorm were good people to talk to, but I wouldn't feel comfortable talking to them about anything that really mattered to me.
And then Lydia came along.
Lydia was something else. Despite coming along a few weeks later than anyone else, she immediately appealed to me. Maybe it was because she was so different to the other girls in the dorm or because she hadn't become part of a group yet, but I found myself with her constantly.
On the outside, Lydia would seem like a shallow person. She talked endlessly, and by that I meant constantly. She had that effect on other people as well; once she stepped into a room it would suddenly become much noisier, even before she cared to say anything.
Lydia was also remarkable straightforward about things. Some people would call that rude, but I appreciated her honesty. After a month of spending time with 'agreeable' people, I was ready for a change.
"What's your greatest ambition, Cho?" she asked me one day. It was straight after dinner on a Friday evening. Usually Friday evenings were spent in the Common Room socialising, playing chess or watching an organized debate, but I was feeling a bit bloated after a large meal and had retired up to the dormitory. Lydia graciously decided to keep me company.
"You'd give up making sarcastic remarks at the debaters?" I had asked her. She often enjoyed an evening making fun of Ravenclaw's brainiest - it them both sane, she said.
"Oh.I need to refuel on my witty remarks." Lydia had shrugged. She had laid down on Melissa's bed while I had sprawled myself over mine.
"I want to be an Auror." I said proudly.
"You do!?" Lydia seemed absolutely horrified by the prospect. She sat bolt upright and looked at me with wide-eyes. "Tell me you're not serious."
"What do you have against Aurors anyway?" I answered, feeling a litte defensive. I didn't like my dream being made fun of.
"Look, I'm sure Aurors are very nice people and very noble as well, but it's dangerous, and are you sure it's the life you want to lead?"
"I don't want a nine-to-five office job, if that's the alternative."
"You don't have to. I'm sure being an Auror would be very exciting, but do you want the kind of life when people are always out to kill you? Is that excitement?"
When she put it that way.no it didn't sound very appealing.
"Well, seeing as you've dashed that to pieces.what job do you think would be right for me?"
"Professional Quidditch Player." Lydia said, without batting an eyelid.
"Seriously?"
"You did say you wanted to make the Ravenclaw team next year."
"That doesn't mean I want to play Quidditch for the rest of my life."
Lydia wrinkled her nose. "Not for the rest of your life, silly, just for a couple of years. Then you can do something else, but not an Auror, okay?"
"Why are you really against it?"
"Look, my father was an Auror, and he got killed going on some stupid spying assignment. I don't want that to happen to you, okay?" she snapped.
I was too meek to say anything. I always felt horrible after forcing people to reveal information they didn't want to tell me. Now I felt that somehow I had wronged Lydia and things would never be the same again. Thankfully, I was saved from an embarrassing silence by the last person I expected.
"Is Cho Chang in here?" A voice came from outside our closed door. It sounded like a boy.
"Er.yes, why?" I said cautiously. It sounded rather loud and ominous in the silence of the dormitory. We were on the top level of dormitories, too far away for any noise from the Common Room to penetrate.
"There's an owl for you." Roger said, one hand still on the doorknob. He didn't look like he wanted to stay long.
"Eh?" Why would the owl not come straight up to me?
"An owl for you. Grey colour, small in size." He tapped his foot impatiently. "I'm not wrong in supposing you want to come see what it's got to say?"
"I'll be back in a bit," I said to Lydia, cheeks colouring. Roger let me go through first, and then he closed the door behind him.
It turned out to be Mother's return letter. I said thanks and tucked it into my robes. I wasn't going to read it in the Common Room, especially when there was a chance Roger could read over my shoulder. Well, actually he probably couldn't've, being just a tidge shorter than me, but I wasn't taking any chances.
Mother had been kind enough to send the book I had requested as well. I shook open the wrapping paper to reveal "The Secret Meaning of Names".
"You didn't expect it?" Roger said, looking at my blank face.
"It's for the library." I told him. I looked around the Common Room for Janine. I wanted to give this to her as soon as possible, so I could 'clear' my name. Despite having no proof I was sure that she had a list of names somewhere, of people who haven't donated anything yet, and knowing Janine, I wanted my name to be off as soon as possible.
"If you're looking for Janine, she's not here," said Roger frankly. "She left for the library an hour ago, which means that she won't be back till after ten.
"But if you want, I'll give it to her." He held out his hand, which I regarded warily. He had a slight condescending look on his face, halfway between a smirk and grin. It wasn't something that inspired confidence.
Lacking other options, I passed him the book reluctantly. He looked upon it as a treasure won.
"Going to watch the trials?"
I looked surprised. "Quidditch you mean?"
"What else?"
I ignored the jibe. "Yeah, I guess.are you.?"
He raised his eyebrows. "Watching? No. Trying out? Yes."
"Which position?" I asked. Quidditch was something I could safely talk about.
"Chaser. Everything else is pretty much taken."
"What about Seeker?"
"You want that position?"
I flushed, annoyed that my eagerness had come across so easily.
"Yeah, I do."
"Then come and check out the competition." He shrugged and walked away.
**
A/N: Constructive Criticism would be appreciated. Muchly.
-Zeft