Breathless by HiSpAnIc PaNiC
Summary: Cho's version of her and Harry's Hogsmeade date, and how he leaves her breathless.
" 'Hi,' said Cho slightly breathlessly." –p.557, OotP American version
HE walked toward me, wrapped in a sweater the color of leaves and a tentative smile. His hair gave way to a lilt of wind from the gap in the oak front doors, mussing it ever so gently. I was sure he could hear my heartbeat thump in time with his footsteps—footsteps that had been somewhere important, dangerous. Footsteps that had saved his life.
He looked like a hero, his arms swinging at his sides with familiar precision, as if he had been waiting to fight, been marching into battle all his life. It was ironic, how normal he looked, yet the weight of the world was always shackled to his ankle. I gave a little shudder as he hovered above me.
"Hi," I said, slightly breathlessly.
"Hi," he replied.
He gazed at me, my ebony eyes reflected in his emerald ones, sending shivers down my spine.
"Well—er—shall we go, then?" his voice seemed to come from far away.
"Oh—" I sighed, still caught in the beauty of his eyes, "yes…"
We queued up behind a couple of Hufflepuffs and I watched him watch me, grinning shiftily all the while.
The fresh wind hit me full in the face as we traipsed outside, the chirping of birds providing a gentle aura around us. I smiled placidly and turned to Harry, studying the smooth planes of his face. There was a sadness around his eyes as he gazed at the Quidditch pitch, watching the Tornado-hater and his obsessive prat of a sister skimming the tops of the stands.
"You really miss it, don't you?" I asked.
"Yeah," he sighed. "I do."
At that moment my hatred for Dolores Umbridge increased ten times more.
"Remember the first time we played against each other, in the third year?"
"Yeah," he smiled, and I focused on the way his soft lips formed words. "You kept blocking me."
"And Wood told you not to be a gentleman and knock me off my broom if you had to," I continued, grinning a bit myself. "I heard he got taken on by the Pride of Portree, is that right?"
"Nah, it was Puddlemere United, I saw him at the World Cup last year."
"Oh, I saw you there too, remember? We were on the same campsite. It was really good, wasn't it?"
"Amazing," he agreed. What was really amazing was how easy it was talking to him, as if I were talking to Marietta or Cedric—no. I promised myself I wouldn't think of that—
"Potter and Chang!" screeched that complete cow Pansy Parkinson, with her usual gang of Slytherin girls.
"Urgh, Chang, I don't think much of your taste….At least Diggory was good-looking!"
They sped up and I stared a hole through Pansy's back. When she tossed a glance my way, I looked down at my feet, heat rushing to my face.
"So…where d'you want to go?" Harry asked, valiantly trying to quash the awkward moment. My hero.
"Oh…I don't mind. Um…shall was just have a look in the shops or something?"
He led the way to Dervish and Banges, where a poster of the ten escaped Death Eaters was erected.
"It's funny, isn't it? Remember when that Sirius Black escaped, and there were dementors all over Hogsmeade looking for him? And now ten Death Eaters are on the loose and there aren't dementors anywhere…."
"Yeah. Yeah, it is weird…" he murmured, and there was something in his voice that made me breathless, weak in the knees. It also made me wonder about his past. What he heard when dementors approached him. So many voices…so many secrets…
"Cho, " Cedric said seriously. "With all those dementors floating around last year I began to wonder what I would feel if they came too close. I couldn't come up with the answer, nor was I keen to find it. But now I realize what it would be—they needn't take my soul to slay me. If they had taken you I would never be able to live. You free me from pain; you are my wings of flight." He motioned to the cherub floating above their table, then took my hand.
" You are truly as beautiful as the butterfly they named you for."
It had started to rain, which was a good thing, as Harry couldn't see my tears beneath the drops. And just to make sure…
"Um…d'you want to get a coffee?" I asked, rain splattering on his glasses.
"Yeah, all right. Where—?"
"Oh, there's a really nice place just up here, haven't you ever been to Madam Puddifoot's?" I added a little too brightly.
He held open the door and made an odd little face.
"Cute, isn't it?" I said happily, inhaling steam and the aroma of coffee to calm my nerves.
"Er…yeah."
"Look, she's decorated it for Valentine's Day!" I cried pointedly, gesturing to the cherubs. Take the hint, get my mind off of Ced...
"Aaah…"
We sat near Roger Davies and Victoria September, who were holding hands. I prayed he wouldn't notice. No such luck. He narrowed his eyes slightly at Harry before returning his attention to Victoria.
Madam Puddifoot came and took the order, and soon after Roger and Victoria began to kiss over the sugar bowl. I chanced a glance at Harry to see if it had steeled his morale, but he was determinately avoiding my gaze. Trying not to slip into a fantasy of us snogging each other senseless, I mentioned Umbridge.
When silence fell once more, (excluding Roger's immense slurp fest), Harry looked straight at me. Perhaps we were getting somewhere after all, and I went breathless again.
"Er…listen, d'you want to come with me to the Three Broomsticks at lunchtime? I'm meeting Hermione Granger there."
My eyebrows flew upward. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind.
"You're meeting Hermione Granger? Today?"
"Yeah." Harry replied simply, as if he were merely telling me the sky was blue. Ouch.
"Well, she asked me to, so I thought I would."
You thought you would?!
"D'you want to come with me? She said it wouldn't matter if you did."
So she's going to play that way, is she?
"Oh…well…that was nice of her." I spat, wondering how a bookworm like that got off inviting blokes—handsome blokes, for that matter,—to pubs.
Harry said nothing and I desperately wished I were a Legilimens. That way, I could check for certain…
He was about to reach for my hand when I removed it. Time to play dirty.
"He asked me out, you know. A couple of weeks ago. Roger. I turned him down, though."
Still he said nothing, and I inwardly cursed the denseness of men. But I took another stab at it.
"I came in here with Cedric last year." And still remember what he said. "I've been meaning to ask you for ages (Damn the pitch of my voice)….Did Cedric—did he m-m-mention me at all before he died?"
I saw some pain flicker in his eyes, and felt an odd sense of redemption.
"Well—no—" he said in a quiet voice that tore my heart in two. "There—there wasn't time for him to say anything."
Merlin. The desperation in his eyes made me go breathless again.
"Erm…so…d'you…d'you get to see a lot of Quidditch in the holidays? You support the Tornados, right?"
Quidditch?! You bring up Quidditch NOW?! Tactless, completely tact—
"Look, let's not talk about Cedric right now….Let's talk about something else…."
Oh Merlin.
"I thought," I said, trying and failing not to cry, so that tears splattered everywhere. "I thought you'd u-u-understand! I need to talk about it! Surely you n-need to talk about it t-too! I mean, you saw it happen, d-didn't you?"
I felt like shaking him, shattering the calmness in his eyes.
"Well—I have talked about it," he whispered, "to Ron and Hermione, but—"
"Oh, you'll talk to Hermione Granger! But you won't talk to me!" I didn't care that half the shop was staring, and cursed myself for ever thinking I could confide in him.
"P-perhaps it would be best if we just…" just let you run to your girl "…just p-paid and you went and met up with Hermione G-Granger, like you obviously want to!" I dabbed at the hot tears drabbling down my face with a fistful of frill.
"Cho?" he asked weakly, almost innocently, as if he had no idea what was going on.
"Go on, leave! I don't know why you asked me out in the first place if you're going to make arrangements to meet other girls right after me….How many are you meeting after Hermione?"
"It's not like that!" Harry laughed, and I felt the hair on the base of my neck prickle as my breath left me for the final time. So he'd been seeing her all along! Well, I hope she knew what her dear Harry had been up to.
With all eyes on us in utter silence, I jumped to my feet.
"I'll see you around, Harry," as that's what you'll be doing. Getting around.
I gave a small hiccup and ran out into the rain, wanting to become breathless eternally, and fly off within the wind, like the butterfly I was.