Chapter Ten
Trust Us
A/N: Sorry I took so long. I had my periodical tests and I needed to study, study, study! Lol. I just want to have this story finished with and enjoy the satisfaction I have at the end. I think this is the furthest I have gone with any ff, I have never completed any of them and I'd just love to complete this one. Thanx so much for reviewing and supporting my story. I love you all so much for doing just that! This may be the third last chapter, so savor the moment of Cho and Harry being together. Oops! Gave away too much. ^_^
LogicalRaven – Hermione is currently as confused as Cho. She doesn't know whether she likes Harry as a friend or even more. Cho can't figure out whether she is over Cedric and if she is able to move on and hook up with Harry. Once again ... life is complicated and intricately embroidered with ups and downs. Don't blame Hermione; most girls have boy problems similar to her, not including me that is. ^_^
Later on in the afternoon, I found Harry walking around in the corridors alone, looking almost as lonely as I did that morning. I walked up to him a little more confidently and gave him a wave. "Hello Harry!"
He gave me an apologetic smile. "Hi, sorry about yesterday, I didn't mean to – "
"I didn't meant to walk out on you either," I interrupted. "I'm just under a rough time right now."
Harry nodded understandingly. "You want to just – talk."
We made our way outside and sat down at an empty bench. "Talking sounds great," I said with relief.
"When's your next Quidditch match?" asked Harry instantly, giving me the feeling that he had thought this through. I followed through with it anyway. Talking about anything but Cedric's death was alright with me.
"It's coming up in two weeks, Davies is throwing a fit." Especially when Slytherin barges in to do unprepared practices, I added in secretly to myself. "It's going to be against Slytherin, unfortunately."
"I bet you're going to thrash them," laughed Harry. Quidditch was an easy subject to talk on, something we both enjoyed to play. We swapped theories on different techniques in catching the snitch; we even made fun of Malfoy.
"Hope Malfoy wears diapers every time he plays Quidditch," joked Harry.
"Why's that?"
"Because he wets himself every time the snitch goes pass him."
"If he wears diapers, then how do you know he wets his pants?"
"He must, I don't want it to rain on top of my head."
We saw Malfoy and his cronies passing us. We kept quiet and just pretended to look around the courtyard. After he was gone we burst into laughter. Some people turned there heads to stare at us, but I didn't really care. I had the right to have fun.
"If my parents had that proper sense of humor I'd be happy to go home for the holidays," I said with a yearning sigh.
"What's wrong with your parents?"
"It's not exactly 'what' is wrong with them," I explained. "It's more of a why – they don't care about me."
"Every parent cares about their child."
"Well mine doesn't, they think they own my life, they never let me make my own decisions, and I always have to be as perfect as Mai-Lin was." I gasped. Did I say that? Did I just say Mai-Lin's name to Harry? Maybe I could spin back time and erase what I had just said.
"Who's Mai-Lin?" he asked inquiringly and innocently.
"No one."
"She must be someone – is she a cousin?" Why was he guessing? Why was he making me suffer?
I stood up but he held onto me hand; "tell me, I'll understand."
"Mai-Lin was my older sister, she was murdered by Lord Voldemort," I said murmured.
"I never knew you had a sister."
"No one does." I sat back down. What was the point of running off again if I just have to keep on apologizing? "She died."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
I gave him a weak smile. "She died at the hands of Voldemort."
The supportive smile fell to a frown. "Cho, I told you already that I can't tell you what is going on."
"You don't need to," I said slyly. "I already know."
"How? Did someone tell you?"
"No!" I said quickly. "I figured it out by myself!" Harry bit his lower lip in worry and gave me a quick glance. "Why didn't you want to tell me? I would have understood and kept it a secret."
"You said your sister died at the hands of Voldemort," I could hear him mutter beneath his breath.
"So?" I asked sheepishly. Did he know about my deepest hatred towards Voldemort? How I profoundly wanted revenge? He killed Mai-Lin, then Cedric, was he figuring this all out in his mind right now?
"You said Voldemort." I seemed to look relieved because he stared at me intensely again. "You want to go after him, don't you? Like when he killed my parents? You want to get revenge on him."
"Harry – "I began fiercely but he cut in.
"Cho, promise me you won't go after him."
"I can't."
"Promise it – for me."
Maybe for Cedric I would, but Harry was different. I didn't know him as well, how could I belief that he had my best interests at heart. Boys are never all the same. I looked at his face and saw the honesty in his emerald green windows. If I couldn't rely on him now – who could I trust?
"I promise."
He grinned and took a step closer to me. I took him into my warm embrace.
"Thank you Cho, I love you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At dinner, Paige and Rachel could see that I felt a little upset. Rachel always had a pity look upon her face when she thought I was feeling depressed. Paige was much worst – she began her corny jokes. "Knock! Knock!"
"Who's there?" I asked glumly, scooping up a lump of mashed potato. It seemed to resemble my heart at the moment.
"Boo," said Paige simply.
"Boo who?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.
"Stop crying it's only a joke!" laughed Paige. Rachel threw her a stern look and she hushed. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned around to see a grinning Matt.
"I heard Paige cracking those awful jokes so I decided to come over here with a life boat," he said with a smirk.
Paige looked at Matt angrily. "My jokes aren't awful!"
"Yes they are Paige," muttered Rachel, massaging her throbbing forehead. "When Cho starts to look depressed, you pull out your passé jokes."
Matt sat down beside me and looked at my face with concern. "Cho? What's the problem, sis?"
"The train is currently out of order," I moaned. "Now I've turned into a puppet, pulled by the strings off – "I wouldn't say his name. "The world."
"Nah," laugh Matt, giving me a nudge. He took a bowl of vegetable soup and dunked a bread roll into it. "You're much too big to be a puppet."
"She was speaking rhetorically, Matt!" scowled Paige agitatedly.
"I know that," he scowled back. "You knew I knew that right, Cho?"
"Yes, yes!" I said through gritted teeth. "But keep on quarreling and I'll have you both thrown into the lake."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was late that night when I decided to go down into the common room from my dormitory. I didn't feel much like sleeping. Especially after the promise I had made with Harry. I had tried to lighten a smile upon my face for the rest of the dinner but it was just no use. The smile had been just as corny as Paige's jokes.
It was pitch black and I crept to the closest cabinet where candles were stored. Maybe I could spend the rest of the night curled up on the chair in front of the fire? I just needed the candle to find my way to the right chair. I took out my wand and whispered softly the proper incantation to start a small fire on the candle wick.
Sparks flew neatly and lit up a corner of the room. With a gasp I dropped the candle onto the ground in shock. What I had seen in the corner startled me, but not as much as it had startled the two students.
Sparks flew once more from the tip of two wands and they held up their candles towards my face. I shielded my eyes from the light. "Cho? What are you doing here?" My presumption was right. It was Paige.
I couldn't say anything.
"Cho – please – it isn't what it looks like." The speaker was Matt.
I gave them a reassuring smile. "Cross my heart, your secret is safe with me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was Wednesday, mid-weekday, with all the rush of the upcoming exams I barely had the chance to talk to Harry. The homework also occupied my mind from the sight I had seen the night before. Actually, deep within me, I knew that it was coming. How could they hate each other so much without a proper explanation?
I spent my time at lunch, in the library, between two pillars of books that seemed to stretch heaven onwards. The teachers were also stressing as much as we were, but I could see that the reason was nothing to with the final exams.
I couldn't help but notice how Professor Flitwick seemed to flinch every time someone said love or Professor Dumbledore or even Muggle. During his lesson with our class, somebody said the sentence "; I heard Professor Dumbledore loves to play a Muggle sport named bowling!" and he actually fell backwards off his pile of books!
Professor McGonagall was absent when we went to her classroom for Transfiguration. Instead we had to take a class with Professor Snape, who in the end proclaimed all of us dunderheads. Behind his back, Paige mimed knocking his head inwards with a baseball bat, using her wand as a substitute.
At the end of the day I was too worn out to even speak. Rachel, Paige and I spent dinner over our Transfiguration and Potion books.
On Thursday, all the teachers were off running errands for the ministry so we had a day off. We took this time to finishing our homework and then we spent the rest of the day talking quietly together in the common room. We were not allowed outside without supervision. And a bunch of students was too much for the caretaker to take care of.
"This year is turning out as bad as any other year," grumbled Brad. Rachel snuggled closer to him. "But this time they're trying to act if everything is normal." I looked outside, trying to hide a liable looking face.
"I've never seen Professor Flitwick jump so high," remarked Paige. Matt couldn't help it, he laughed at her joke. Delilah, Brad and Rachel looked at him in amazement.
"What?"
"You laughed," I told him, pretending to be astonished as well.
"Okay, so that was funny."
Brad and Rachel exchanged grins and I could see Matt and Paige's face turn red.
"Up for a game of exploding snap?" I asked them. "It's lame but today is a pretty lame day." They could not resist the impulse to agree with me.
As Delilah shuffled the cards (for no reason really) Paige mouthed me a thank you.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Friday afternoon, I decided to try and find Hermione so we could talk. Maybe she could worm me out of the promise I had made to Harry. He told me not to go looking for Voldemort – so what if he came to me instead? I found her walking down the stairs with a heavy pile of books and rushed forwards to help. "Thanks, Cho," she said with relief.
"I guess you have tonnes of homework too, huh?" I asked.
"I'm doing fine," she grumbled.
"Where are you going with such a heavy pile of books?"
"No where." Her response seemed edgy. I knew she was trying to hide something from me. I looked down and tried to make out the cover but she snatched the pile from me. If my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, the titled had said; Love Above all Shields. Were they trying to help Professor Dumbledore? "Thanks for your help, okay, and I'll see you later."
"Why not now?" I asked inquisitively. "I want to help."
She pushed me aside fiercely but with the some passion, I followed her lead. "You're not meant to be a part of this Cho."
"I am." It was strong and forceful, the way my tone changed when my mind was made up.
"You're being stubborn."
"Stubborn or not, I don't want to feel guilty if he kills you."
"He won't," Hermione sighed. "Cho, we don't want to put you in danger, okay?"
"I'm in more danger here!" I said shrilly. We turned a corner and into a gloomy corridor I had never been in. The statues cast mysterious shadows upon the stone walls. "You don't understand, Voldemort killed my sister, he killed Cedric – I can't bear heartbreak once more."
Hermione's heart seemed to soften at this because she turned around and looked at me. I couldn't believe that her eyes were brimming with tears. If anyone should be starting to cry, it should be me. "You think we're trying to hurt you?" asked Hermione softly. "We're doing this to save you and everyone else." I didn't care if she protested. I took the books from her hand and placed them on the ground.
"Hermione," I said with the same tone of voice. "Harry is the only one I have in this world who loves me that little bit extra."
"I know that." She replied earnestly back. "But you have to put more faith in him then you have ever done to anyone before." She picked up the books again. "We're doing the right thing, just trust us." And then she walked away.
Trust them? A boy and girl I barely know and another boy who was hero to the world. Trust them? But I'd have to. For what was I suppose to do?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On Saturday morning I woke up to find a letter on my bedside addressed to me. I looked around me and saw that everyone had already gone down to the common room. With pale shaking hands I unfolded it and read it.
A/N: You'll have to find out what it says in the next chapter. Beware. I already told you that this was the last time Harry and Cho would ever see each other. And the last words that Cho said to Harry was: "I promise." And technically the last words that Harry said to Cho was: "Thank you Cho, I love you."
Trust Us
A/N: Sorry I took so long. I had my periodical tests and I needed to study, study, study! Lol. I just want to have this story finished with and enjoy the satisfaction I have at the end. I think this is the furthest I have gone with any ff, I have never completed any of them and I'd just love to complete this one. Thanx so much for reviewing and supporting my story. I love you all so much for doing just that! This may be the third last chapter, so savor the moment of Cho and Harry being together. Oops! Gave away too much. ^_^
LogicalRaven – Hermione is currently as confused as Cho. She doesn't know whether she likes Harry as a friend or even more. Cho can't figure out whether she is over Cedric and if she is able to move on and hook up with Harry. Once again ... life is complicated and intricately embroidered with ups and downs. Don't blame Hermione; most girls have boy problems similar to her, not including me that is. ^_^
Later on in the afternoon, I found Harry walking around in the corridors alone, looking almost as lonely as I did that morning. I walked up to him a little more confidently and gave him a wave. "Hello Harry!"
He gave me an apologetic smile. "Hi, sorry about yesterday, I didn't mean to – "
"I didn't meant to walk out on you either," I interrupted. "I'm just under a rough time right now."
Harry nodded understandingly. "You want to just – talk."
We made our way outside and sat down at an empty bench. "Talking sounds great," I said with relief.
"When's your next Quidditch match?" asked Harry instantly, giving me the feeling that he had thought this through. I followed through with it anyway. Talking about anything but Cedric's death was alright with me.
"It's coming up in two weeks, Davies is throwing a fit." Especially when Slytherin barges in to do unprepared practices, I added in secretly to myself. "It's going to be against Slytherin, unfortunately."
"I bet you're going to thrash them," laughed Harry. Quidditch was an easy subject to talk on, something we both enjoyed to play. We swapped theories on different techniques in catching the snitch; we even made fun of Malfoy.
"Hope Malfoy wears diapers every time he plays Quidditch," joked Harry.
"Why's that?"
"Because he wets himself every time the snitch goes pass him."
"If he wears diapers, then how do you know he wets his pants?"
"He must, I don't want it to rain on top of my head."
We saw Malfoy and his cronies passing us. We kept quiet and just pretended to look around the courtyard. After he was gone we burst into laughter. Some people turned there heads to stare at us, but I didn't really care. I had the right to have fun.
"If my parents had that proper sense of humor I'd be happy to go home for the holidays," I said with a yearning sigh.
"What's wrong with your parents?"
"It's not exactly 'what' is wrong with them," I explained. "It's more of a why – they don't care about me."
"Every parent cares about their child."
"Well mine doesn't, they think they own my life, they never let me make my own decisions, and I always have to be as perfect as Mai-Lin was." I gasped. Did I say that? Did I just say Mai-Lin's name to Harry? Maybe I could spin back time and erase what I had just said.
"Who's Mai-Lin?" he asked inquiringly and innocently.
"No one."
"She must be someone – is she a cousin?" Why was he guessing? Why was he making me suffer?
I stood up but he held onto me hand; "tell me, I'll understand."
"Mai-Lin was my older sister, she was murdered by Lord Voldemort," I said murmured.
"I never knew you had a sister."
"No one does." I sat back down. What was the point of running off again if I just have to keep on apologizing? "She died."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
I gave him a weak smile. "She died at the hands of Voldemort."
The supportive smile fell to a frown. "Cho, I told you already that I can't tell you what is going on."
"You don't need to," I said slyly. "I already know."
"How? Did someone tell you?"
"No!" I said quickly. "I figured it out by myself!" Harry bit his lower lip in worry and gave me a quick glance. "Why didn't you want to tell me? I would have understood and kept it a secret."
"You said your sister died at the hands of Voldemort," I could hear him mutter beneath his breath.
"So?" I asked sheepishly. Did he know about my deepest hatred towards Voldemort? How I profoundly wanted revenge? He killed Mai-Lin, then Cedric, was he figuring this all out in his mind right now?
"You said Voldemort." I seemed to look relieved because he stared at me intensely again. "You want to go after him, don't you? Like when he killed my parents? You want to get revenge on him."
"Harry – "I began fiercely but he cut in.
"Cho, promise me you won't go after him."
"I can't."
"Promise it – for me."
Maybe for Cedric I would, but Harry was different. I didn't know him as well, how could I belief that he had my best interests at heart. Boys are never all the same. I looked at his face and saw the honesty in his emerald green windows. If I couldn't rely on him now – who could I trust?
"I promise."
He grinned and took a step closer to me. I took him into my warm embrace.
"Thank you Cho, I love you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At dinner, Paige and Rachel could see that I felt a little upset. Rachel always had a pity look upon her face when she thought I was feeling depressed. Paige was much worst – she began her corny jokes. "Knock! Knock!"
"Who's there?" I asked glumly, scooping up a lump of mashed potato. It seemed to resemble my heart at the moment.
"Boo," said Paige simply.
"Boo who?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.
"Stop crying it's only a joke!" laughed Paige. Rachel threw her a stern look and she hushed. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned around to see a grinning Matt.
"I heard Paige cracking those awful jokes so I decided to come over here with a life boat," he said with a smirk.
Paige looked at Matt angrily. "My jokes aren't awful!"
"Yes they are Paige," muttered Rachel, massaging her throbbing forehead. "When Cho starts to look depressed, you pull out your passé jokes."
Matt sat down beside me and looked at my face with concern. "Cho? What's the problem, sis?"
"The train is currently out of order," I moaned. "Now I've turned into a puppet, pulled by the strings off – "I wouldn't say his name. "The world."
"Nah," laugh Matt, giving me a nudge. He took a bowl of vegetable soup and dunked a bread roll into it. "You're much too big to be a puppet."
"She was speaking rhetorically, Matt!" scowled Paige agitatedly.
"I know that," he scowled back. "You knew I knew that right, Cho?"
"Yes, yes!" I said through gritted teeth. "But keep on quarreling and I'll have you both thrown into the lake."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was late that night when I decided to go down into the common room from my dormitory. I didn't feel much like sleeping. Especially after the promise I had made with Harry. I had tried to lighten a smile upon my face for the rest of the dinner but it was just no use. The smile had been just as corny as Paige's jokes.
It was pitch black and I crept to the closest cabinet where candles were stored. Maybe I could spend the rest of the night curled up on the chair in front of the fire? I just needed the candle to find my way to the right chair. I took out my wand and whispered softly the proper incantation to start a small fire on the candle wick.
Sparks flew neatly and lit up a corner of the room. With a gasp I dropped the candle onto the ground in shock. What I had seen in the corner startled me, but not as much as it had startled the two students.
Sparks flew once more from the tip of two wands and they held up their candles towards my face. I shielded my eyes from the light. "Cho? What are you doing here?" My presumption was right. It was Paige.
I couldn't say anything.
"Cho – please – it isn't what it looks like." The speaker was Matt.
I gave them a reassuring smile. "Cross my heart, your secret is safe with me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was Wednesday, mid-weekday, with all the rush of the upcoming exams I barely had the chance to talk to Harry. The homework also occupied my mind from the sight I had seen the night before. Actually, deep within me, I knew that it was coming. How could they hate each other so much without a proper explanation?
I spent my time at lunch, in the library, between two pillars of books that seemed to stretch heaven onwards. The teachers were also stressing as much as we were, but I could see that the reason was nothing to with the final exams.
I couldn't help but notice how Professor Flitwick seemed to flinch every time someone said love or Professor Dumbledore or even Muggle. During his lesson with our class, somebody said the sentence "; I heard Professor Dumbledore loves to play a Muggle sport named bowling!" and he actually fell backwards off his pile of books!
Professor McGonagall was absent when we went to her classroom for Transfiguration. Instead we had to take a class with Professor Snape, who in the end proclaimed all of us dunderheads. Behind his back, Paige mimed knocking his head inwards with a baseball bat, using her wand as a substitute.
At the end of the day I was too worn out to even speak. Rachel, Paige and I spent dinner over our Transfiguration and Potion books.
On Thursday, all the teachers were off running errands for the ministry so we had a day off. We took this time to finishing our homework and then we spent the rest of the day talking quietly together in the common room. We were not allowed outside without supervision. And a bunch of students was too much for the caretaker to take care of.
"This year is turning out as bad as any other year," grumbled Brad. Rachel snuggled closer to him. "But this time they're trying to act if everything is normal." I looked outside, trying to hide a liable looking face.
"I've never seen Professor Flitwick jump so high," remarked Paige. Matt couldn't help it, he laughed at her joke. Delilah, Brad and Rachel looked at him in amazement.
"What?"
"You laughed," I told him, pretending to be astonished as well.
"Okay, so that was funny."
Brad and Rachel exchanged grins and I could see Matt and Paige's face turn red.
"Up for a game of exploding snap?" I asked them. "It's lame but today is a pretty lame day." They could not resist the impulse to agree with me.
As Delilah shuffled the cards (for no reason really) Paige mouthed me a thank you.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Friday afternoon, I decided to try and find Hermione so we could talk. Maybe she could worm me out of the promise I had made to Harry. He told me not to go looking for Voldemort – so what if he came to me instead? I found her walking down the stairs with a heavy pile of books and rushed forwards to help. "Thanks, Cho," she said with relief.
"I guess you have tonnes of homework too, huh?" I asked.
"I'm doing fine," she grumbled.
"Where are you going with such a heavy pile of books?"
"No where." Her response seemed edgy. I knew she was trying to hide something from me. I looked down and tried to make out the cover but she snatched the pile from me. If my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, the titled had said; Love Above all Shields. Were they trying to help Professor Dumbledore? "Thanks for your help, okay, and I'll see you later."
"Why not now?" I asked inquisitively. "I want to help."
She pushed me aside fiercely but with the some passion, I followed her lead. "You're not meant to be a part of this Cho."
"I am." It was strong and forceful, the way my tone changed when my mind was made up.
"You're being stubborn."
"Stubborn or not, I don't want to feel guilty if he kills you."
"He won't," Hermione sighed. "Cho, we don't want to put you in danger, okay?"
"I'm in more danger here!" I said shrilly. We turned a corner and into a gloomy corridor I had never been in. The statues cast mysterious shadows upon the stone walls. "You don't understand, Voldemort killed my sister, he killed Cedric – I can't bear heartbreak once more."
Hermione's heart seemed to soften at this because she turned around and looked at me. I couldn't believe that her eyes were brimming with tears. If anyone should be starting to cry, it should be me. "You think we're trying to hurt you?" asked Hermione softly. "We're doing this to save you and everyone else." I didn't care if she protested. I took the books from her hand and placed them on the ground.
"Hermione," I said with the same tone of voice. "Harry is the only one I have in this world who loves me that little bit extra."
"I know that." She replied earnestly back. "But you have to put more faith in him then you have ever done to anyone before." She picked up the books again. "We're doing the right thing, just trust us." And then she walked away.
Trust them? A boy and girl I barely know and another boy who was hero to the world. Trust them? But I'd have to. For what was I suppose to do?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On Saturday morning I woke up to find a letter on my bedside addressed to me. I looked around me and saw that everyone had already gone down to the common room. With pale shaking hands I unfolded it and read it.
A/N: You'll have to find out what it says in the next chapter. Beware. I already told you that this was the last time Harry and Cho would ever see each other. And the last words that Cho said to Harry was: "I promise." And technically the last words that Harry said to Cho was: "Thank you Cho, I love you."