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 sweet song below either… In My Own Time

A/N: Lucky this chapter didn't need as much editing… At least I won't go high on coffee again.

So much is happening to me.
So much that I can't even see.
So many words of wisdom that I am trying to be.
Catch me if I should fall.
And even more so while I'm standing tall.

My head is spinning around and it's making me dizzy.
I'm spinning around and it's making me ill.
You don't understand what I'm going through just to find a way to climb.
It'll be in my own time.
It'll be in my own time.

Chapter 4: First Encounter

"Of course, Malfoy. Yes, I'm over Cedric."

***

Cho and Draco stood as straight as soldiers on Platform 9 and ¾. Hundreds of witches and wizards, both young and old were streaming into the red Hogwarts Express, ready to start another year. But Cho wasn't ready. She could tell Draco wasn't either. Seeing everybody's worried and anxious faces didn't lift up her spirits; instead it made her feel even guiltier.

They're all afraid of Voldemort, Cho thought, frowning slightly. And I'm actually doing his filthy work for him…

They've got five more minutes. Cho thought of her dying father, locked up in Malfoy Mansion, and took a deep breath. Draco glanced at her and smiled faintly. Finally, they boarded the Hogwarts Express.

"Good luck, Malfoy," Cho whispered before they separated into different compartments.

Draco's grey eyes flickered. "You too," he replied.

Cho slid open the compartment door. At once, the chattering made by Cho's group of friends ceased. They all eyed her carefully, surprised by her sudden change of appearance. To them, Cho's face looked tired and weary. Her bright eyes were clouded with a strange mist and she seemed to be thinner. But even though she looked completely exhausted, her grace and her sense of charm were still very noticeable.

"Hi Cho," her close friend, Lauren called out.

"Hi everyone," Cho murmured quietly as she sat down next to Marietta.

"I want to talk to you outside now," Marietta whispered urgently. Her terrible acne had apparently disappeared and her face seemed to be back to normal.

Cho stared at her and nodded. "Erm—excuse us for a moment… We're going to—We're going to go somewhere, all right?" said Marietta, quickly leading Cho out the door.

Cho dragged along, wondering what Marietta was up to. They walked out onto the train's platform and Cho leaned out the railings, feeling the soft breeze that swept past her. "Anything wrong, Marietta?" she asked.

Marietta looked down awkwardly. "Cho, I don't know if you have figured this out, but my parents are Death-Eaters…" she said, her dark eyes shining guiltily.

Cho gaped at her. Of course, she thought suddenly. That explains what she did last year…

"So—So you betrayed the DA on purpose…" muttered Cho slowly. "No—I didn't—I didn't know, Marietta." Her eyes widened. "That means you know—You know about the meeting at Malfoy's house?"

Marietta nodded, still looking extremely guilty. "Yes," she answered. "My parents told me everything… From Fleur being a Death Eater, your task… and your father. I'm really sorry, Cho," she said sympathetically, patting Cho's back.

Cho looked at the beautiful scenery that was rushing by her. Rolling green meadows, clear blue rivers, grey jagged mountains… She sighed. "Now you know how important this task is to me…"

"Cho," started Marietta. "I'll do anything; anything to make up for not telling you about my identity after all these years… I know it's because of me that Harry doesn't like you anymore…"

Cho cut her off. "No, Marietta," she said sternly. "It wasn't because of you; it was me. It was the way I acted last year; and I—I won't act like that this year."

Marietta grinned. "Promise you won't?" she asked.

"I promise," replied Cho and with that, she pulled Marietta into a tight embrace.

***

Draco stood outside Harry's compartment, his fingers twitching uneasily. They were just a few centimetres from the door. Just open it, he thought to himself. But for once in his life, he couldn't find the courage to. Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him impatiently, giving him a slight push on the back every once in a while.

Draco was angry at the way he was behaving. It shouldn't be this hard, he thought to himself irritatingly. It's just Granger… But every time he thought of her name, his stomach would wobble like jelly.

Draco felt a tap on his shoulder. He couldn't take it anymore. Even his stupid bodyguard was braver than him. "That's it, Goyle," he finally announced. "Stop bothering me or I'll tell everyone that you sleep with a pink teddy bear called Bobo."

"Ahem," he heard a soft voice said. He silently groaned and turned around. "Get out of here, Chang," he said annoyingly.

Cho and Marietta grinned amusedly at him. "Are you going in or what?" Cho asked, folding her arms.

"It's not funny, Chang," muttered Draco roughly, a faint blush creeping up his cheeks.

Cho laughed. "Aww, come on Malfoy," she encouraged him. "It won't be that hard… Trust me; just give it a try at least."

Draco gave her a defeated sneer. "Oh yeah?" he said. "Well, I'd rather see you try it first, since you're so confident."

Cho could feel sweat trailing down her face. She made up her mind. "All right!" she said loudly, and straightened her back. "I'll do it."

Draco's grey eyes flashed. He stood silent for a while, watching her. "Good for you, Chang. I'll just go back to my compartment then," he said and walked away, with Crabbe and Goyle at his heels.

Marietta grinned. "That is one defeated Malfoy. Nice work!" she said.

Cho watched the blond head disappeared around the corner. She sighed. "I'm worried about him…"

Marietta arched her eyebrows. "Why on earth would you be worried about a cold-blooded, over-confident and discourteous Malfoy?"

Cho shrugged. "Really, he isn't that bad." It was true, she thought. During the holidays, she spent most of her time with Draco. Even though he was often rude and had an acid sense of humour sometimes, she had to admit that Draco seemed to be quite a good listener. Cho shook her head. Why was she thinking about these things?

"Cho," Marietta's voice brought her back to the task at hand. "Rachel just called me; she needed my help about something. Now, I suggest you open that door and talk to Harry. For all we know, he might still like you," she said with a wink.

Cho's shoulders drooped. "How many times do I have to tell you? He doesn't like me anymore… I just know it—he doesn't look at me the way he used to… He doesn't blush anymore; he's just—different now," she said.

Marietta smiled weakly. "It doesn't hurt to try. Good luck," she said, and left.

With her heart thumping ferociously, Cho reached over to slide the compartment door. She felt pain inside her chest; it was stinging. Her heart seemed to be boring into her ribs. She was too nervous; her hands were shaking out of control. And yet, the compartment door opened noiselessly.

The first face she saw was Harry's, his bright green eyes standing out from his thin face. He stared at her for a moment, his lips pressed together. Cho didn't see the bright flash that used to sparkle in his eyes whenever he saw her. She didn't see the faint pink blush crawling up his cheeks. She didn't see anything, except that he was having a very good time, surrounded by his friends.

Her heart, which was beating rapidly, suddenly slowed down, almost stopping, as she realised that she was an outsider, and intruder; she was unwelcomed. She could tell by their faces. None of them were pleased when they saw her. Instead they gawked at her, as though blaming her for disturbing them.

"Oh," she choked out, when total silence engulfed them. "Hello," was all that she could manage; her throat was burning. Harry's eyes were still staring straight at her, giving no emotions. They all mumbled some sort of greeting very quietly, and she could tell they were very uncomfortable by her presence.

Cho couldn't stand the stillness any longer. "So—Sorry," she stammered. "Wrong compartment," she said promptly and quickly sped out into the corridor, slamming the door behind her. She wanted to run. Anywhere. From her embarrassment and obvious failure.

Running out of breath, she leaned against the wall, ruffling her hair. Her throat was throbbing. With grim amusement, she realised she had only said 3 words in total. This was just too much. She felt ashamed of herself.

"Cho?" a voice called out. She turned around, hoping it was Harry. It wasn't.

"Oh, Marietta," she said rather disappointedly. She held up her hand before Marietta could speak. "It was horrible," she summed up.

Marietta nodded quietly. "It's fine, Cho," she said as happily as she could. "There'll be plenty more of opportunities in Hogwarts. In a couple of days, Harry will be head over heels in love with you again." She grinned.

Cho laughed feebly. "I sure hope you're right."

***

The many turrets and towers of Hogwarts loomed above them. Cho let out a cry of surprise as thunder roared from above. "Weather here can be unpredictable," she whispered to herself. The fine sunny day had suddenly disappeared, replaced by grey masses of clouds and the trickling of rain. Cho felt more miserable than before.

"We're not even at Hogwarts yet, and my day has been completely ruined," she muttered to Marietta, who gave her an understanding smile in return.

The rain began to splatter down, making the window blurry and foggy. The train soon halted to a stop, and all the students were rapidly speeding out of the train, wanting to get inside the carriages that were waiting for them as soon as possible.

Cho saw a glimpse of Draco's blond hair as she stumbled out, covering her wet hair with her hands. "Let's find a carriage!" she shouted to Marietta amidst all the bustling and shoving. The rain was now absolutely pouring down and the ground was very slippery to walk on.

"CHO! CHO!" she could hear someone screaming out her name. She turned around. It was Fleur, waving her hands frantically.

"Got to go, Marietta," she said quickly, and ran towards Fleur. She could see that Draco was standing beside her, completely drenched. He didn't look too happy.

"Right," said Fleur, shivering slightly. "You two, go into zat carriage over there!" she said loudly, pointing to an empty carriage on her right.

Draco nodded and ran speedily towards the carriage, glad to get out of the rain. Cho followed suit, her clothes wet with rainwater. She was freezing. 

They arrived inside the carriage, and things weren't exactly comfortable. Draco let out a cry of anguish. "I am completely soaked!"

Cho rolled her eyes. "It's not the end of the world, Draco. Besides, you look better with your hair wet--" She stopped dead. What did I just say?

Draco smirked at her, whilst squeezing the water out of his robes. "Pity I can't say the same about you, Chang," he replied, eyeing her watery state.

"Ha, ha," said Cho irritably.

"So how did your meeting with Potter--" Draco began, but stopped when he saw Fleur coming their way, with Harry and Hermione trailing behind her.

"Oh shit," he muttered angrily. "That's just great. I'm going to kill that French arsehole once I get my hands on her." He was, undoubtedly, in a very bad mood.

Cho shook her head. "No need to say nasty things about Fleur, Malfoy," she said, wrinkling her nose. "At least you'll be able to annoy them on the carriage ride. I'm sure Hermione would really like that."

Draco frowned. "Nope, that's it. I'm going to keep my mouth shut," he said decidedly.

Cho gaped at him. "What?? You've got to say something," she whispered desperately. Harry and Hermione were nearly at the carriage. "You can't make me do all the talking!" The incident at the train was whirling in her mind.

"It's like what they say: 'If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all', right?" said Draco. "I don't want Granger to hate me, especially since I'm in a very angry mood."

The door of the carriage opened, and Cho gasped silently. "Would you mind if 'arry and 'ermione sit with you?" Fleur asked, her blue eyes shining brightly.

"Umm-No, of—of course not," Cho answered, gulping nervously. Draco grunted impatiently.

Fleur beamed at them. "Very good zen," she said, ushering the completely bewildered Harry and Hermione into the carriage. She shut the door tightly.

The carriage started to move, very slowly. Cho sat rigidly on her seat, not knowing what to say. All she could hear was the sound of the rain pattering down on the roof of the carriage, nothing else.

Beside her, Draco was keeping his promise and his lips were glued together. Harry was sitting directly opposite her, looking out the window. Hermione was fretting over her wet hair, but she was keeping very quiet.

The agonising ride continued. Cho wished it would end soon. Her day had already been bad enough. She could see Harry and Draco glaring at each other hatefully.

Suddenly Harry cleared his throat. Cho sat straight, wishing he would say something. "Have you been enjoying your holidays, Cho?" he finally asked.

Cho grinned happily. "Y-Yes," she said as clearly as she could. "How about you?" Her eyes widened with horror. Stupid question. He had lost his godfather last year…

But Harry just looked at her with his emerald eyes glowing brightly. "Mine was--" he started. "Bearable." He smiled.

Cho let out a relieved breath. Draco was shuffling uneasily next to her. Maybe he was thinking of what to say to Hermione.

But Harry asked, "Are—Are you all right, Cho?"

Cho looked up at him. She could hardly believe it. Her heart leapt. "Ye—Yeah," she stammered, her brown eyes shining brightly. "I'm fine now, really," she added truthfully. It was as if there were only two people in the carriage; her and Harry.

"I haven't felt this good for—for a long time," she said confidently, and grinned.

Harry smiled back. His green eyes sparkled merrily. "That's great, Cho," he said cheerfully.

Draco jerked up in his seat. He didn't feel right for some reason.

They were nearly there. Cho laid back, breathing a sigh of relief. Maybe my day isn't ruined after all, she thought with a smile.

***

~END~

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At this point, I know I will eventually have to write some fluff. *panics* So now I will start on chapter 6, which will be chapter 5 in this edited version.

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The stress is taking over me. How in the world am I going to write about stuff like snogging in the infamous Astronomy Tower? *squirms*

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