Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters that you recognise in this story. They all belong to the wonderful author known as J.K Rowling. I don't own the song below either… Innocent Eyes
A/N: WARNING: Soppy stuff coming through…Note to self: Can Not Write Fluff. *shudder*
Na na na na na na
Seems I'm lost in my reflection
Na na na na na na
Find a star for my direction
Na na na na na na
For the little girl inside
Who won't just hide
Don't let me see mistakes and lies
Let me keep my
Faith and innocent eyes
Chapter 3: Painful Remembrance
"Me too," murmured Cho, swearing to herself that she would get her father back to normal. No matter what.
***
Cho visited her father almost everyday after that. He was put in one of the spare guest bedrooms in the enormous Malfoy Mansion.
Every time she entered his room, she would see a limp man lying on the green-quilted bed. Every time she saw him, she would see a pale, helpless man who had grey eye bags under his exhausted eyes. Every time he gazed at her, she could no longer see the love and fondness that used to linger constantly in his eyes. Every time she touched him, she would feel an icy breeze sweeping past her. And every time she did all this, she would swear, over and over again, that she would save him.
She spent a lot of time in the Malfoy Botanical Gardens too. It was quite beautiful and mellow, compared to the dark surroundings of the rest of the house. She would sit on a particular rusted old bench, which had very intricate and elaborate carvings of various flowers. She would listen to the nightingale, singing the same soothing melody, which would make her feel a little bit better.
It was the last day of the summer holidays. Tomorrow she would have to go on board the Hogwarts Express and face the challenges that would meet her. So it was nice to relax in her usual comfortable bench, bathing under the warm afternoon sun, listening to the stillness of the garden.
She was just about to doze off when the rustling of leaves could be heard. It was heading her way. She gripped the bench tightly. A tall figure emerged from behind the bushes.
The blond Slytherin stepped out, and was surprised when he saw her.
Cho's tense shoulders relaxed. "Oh, Malfoy," she said. "Hi."
Draco's glassy eyes flickered. "Chang, you shouldn't be alone here…" he said, and sat next to her.
Cho laid back on the bench and stretched her hands. "It's nice here," she murmured sleepily. "And it is safe, isn't it?"
Draco nodded. "Yeah, of course. Father hexed this place so that no outside visitors could come in. But you better be careful when you're roaming around; you might find a nasty surprise," he said.
"Thanks for the advice."
"So," started Draco. "Ready for tomorrow?"
Cho groaned. "Oh, please don't remind me of Hogwarts…" she said tiredly. "The more I think about it, the more I see myself being killed by Voldemort."
Draco sniggered. "Why? Potter likes you. Surely getting some simple information out of his tiny, minuscule brain isn't going to be a lot of hard work," he said, grinning sheepishly.
Cho looked at him. "It's much more complicated than that, Malfoy," she said, and sighed. "You see--" she hesitated.
"You don't like him?" asked Draco incredulously. "It doesn't matter, Chang! It's not-"
Cho interrupted him. "No! I think it's the other way around. Harry doesn't like me!" she said loudly. The incidents of last year were rushing through her mind. "And I don't blame him for not liking me," she muttered with guilt.
Draco's eyes sparkled. "Oh, I see," he said softly. "Let me guess. He asked you out, you turned him down again, and now he's given up on you. Right?"
Cho laughed. "I wish. No, it was much worse than that," she replied, and stopped. She saw Draco's curious eyes boring into hers, waiting for an answer, and sighed dejectedly.
"Harry thinks I'm an unstable, depressing girl who still can't get over the fact that her boyfriend's dead," said Cho. She bit her lips. "You must understand that last year, I was unstable, and I was depressed. And I did refuse to believe that Cedric was dead…" Her eyes misted over. "Last year I was—stupid."
Draco watched her. "I must agree with you on that one," he said silently. "I—Last year I saw you crying all the time, in lessons, at Quidditch practice, everywhere…" he said truthfully.
Cho sniffed. "Yes I know," she replied, and smiled at him. "I wanted to find out exactly what happened to Cedric… Did he say anything about me before—before his death? I had so many questions to ask. But no one could answer them for me… So I knew I had to ask Harry." She took a deep breath of fresh air. "Then I joined the DA, Dumbledore's Army," she said, and glared at Draco, who had an amused look on his face.
He coughed. "Sorry I had to—you know—ruin your happy little group and all… I just had to do it," he said earnestly, but his trademark smirk was plastered on his face. "What happened in the Dumb Army? I mean, Dumbledore's Army?" he asked interestedly.
Cho frowned good-naturedly at him, and continued. "Harry—He—He was a really, really good leader. He taught me spells that I hadn't even learnt in class. He was brave, courageous…but he had this soft and emotional side of him that I really admire…"
"I think I'm going to puke," said Draco.
Cho shook her head and smiled. "Anyway, I started having feelings for Harry--"
"—I'm seriously going to puke on you if you don't stop all this fluffy stuff—"
"All right, all right! So before I can, you know, get to know Harry better, I really wanted to clear up all the questions I had about Cedric's death. But each time, he wouldn't answer them; he'd just change the subject. It was as if—As if he didn't care—he didn't care at all…" Cho trailed off.
"So…" started Draco.
"I got worse and worse… And I was confused; I was terribly confused… And then Harry was mad at me because of what Marietta did. He blamed me for bringing Marietta to the group. How was I supposed to know Marietta would blow our cover? She was a very nervous girl; and so maybe she got scared for breaking the rules… I don't know… It was all very complicated…" she finished, looking at Draco with her wide brown eyes.
Draco stared at her. Then he shrugged. "Well, I'm sure you'll figure something out," he said simply.
Cho raised her eyebrows. "That's it?" she asked unbelievingly. "That's all you've got to say to me?"
Draco smiled. Cho had never seen him smile like that before. It wasn't his normal cheeky smirk; it was a real decent smile. He suddenly looked very handsome indeed. Cho shook her head; this just wasn't the time to think about such things…
"Well, it was nice talking to you about it anyway," she said with an awkward smile.
She got up from the bench and started to walk back to the house, but Draco held her back by the hand. "Wait," he said gruffly. "I wanted to—ask you something…"
Cho turned back and her eyes met his. The connection was strong, and critical. He looked concerned, and almost—almost hopeful about something. She broke the eye contact and looked down instead. Something about the strength and intensity of his eyes made her heart beat faster and slower at the same time.
"Ye—Yes?" she asked, suddenly founding that her throat had gone dry.
He let go of her hand. "Are—Are you over Cedric?" he asked.
Cho looked back up, and she saw again, Draco's clear, smooth grey eyes. He was concealing something, she noted. With a painful pang, she remembered Cedric's dark blue eyes. She could always tell what he was thinking… But with Draco…
"Are you, Chang?" Draco asked, again.
Cho caught a flash of bright light lit up inside his cold eyes. Her throat closed up.
"Of course, Malfoy," she answered. "Yes, I'm over Cedric."
***
~END~
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Cho's point of view of Harry's fifth year… Good/bad? Got anything to annoy me about? *grumbles* I had way too much coffee…
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Can you believe Draco just said, "—I'm seriously going to puke on you if you don't stop all this fluffy stuff—"?? When did I ever write that? Clearly I have much more editing to be done *cringe*
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UUGGHH! Someone take that coffee away from me!
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SO
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REVIEW!