A/N: Just a quick note to say that from now on, author notes will appear at the end of each chapter.

Eight: A Woman Scorned (Cho Chang)

The Ravenclaw Quidditch team was uncharacteristically solemn as they listened to the sounds of students filling the stands above them. Amid the dull rumble of hundreds of feet, Roger Davies, Chaser and team captain, was repeating the strategy he'd worked out for the match against Gryffindor. No one seemed to be paying much attention. Marty Greer and Philip West, the Beaters, were inspecting their clubs for cracks. Amy Spickman, the Keeper, was straightening the twigs of her broomstick, and the other two Chasers were adjusting their protective padding. Cho Chang wasn't listening to Roger any more than the others were. Like most Ravenclaws, she thought strategy was key in these situations, but she already knew the plan by heart and Roger had not made any changes. Besides, her thoughts were elsewhere on this crisp fall morning.

Harry Potter. Cho grimaced and tugged her gauntlets a little tighter. Stop thinking about him and focus on the match! she thought angrily. She should have known better than to try and talk with him right before the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw game. Even if things hadn't gone as badly as they had, there was no way that she could have remained unaffected. She should have waited.

Things hadn't gone at all as she had planned the night before. She'd thought she was in better control of her emotions after four months. All she had wanted was to talk to Harry, which had seemed harmless enough. He was the only person who could possibly have any idea of what she was suffering in Cedric's absence. Harry hadn't been friends with Cedric, but he had seen him die, and Cho knew that that meant something to him. She had watched his face in the days following the tragedy, and he had been solemn and withdrawn. He cared that Cedric had died, and he hadn't tried to conceal it with the false bravado that so many boys seemed to find necessary.

Cho felt the sting of salt in her eyes when she thought of Cedric. For the millionth time that year, she silently questioned, why? Why had Cedric had to die? He'd done nothing, nothing at all to deserve his fate. He'd been so wonderful, so sweet and kind, so attentive to her. Cho knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help feeling that it would have been more just if one of the other Triwizard champions had taken the Cup with Harry. Like that horrible Viktor Krum, who was always scowling and slouching around. His headmaster had been a Death Eater, and Krum had been his favorite student, hadn't he? Or snotty Fleur Delacour, who flounced around Hogwarts as if she owned it, making every boy drool into his morning porridge. Neither of them had had even half as many good qualities as Cedric.

Even though she missed Cedric terribly, Cho had found that she still had a place in her heart for Harry, too. She had so desperately wanted to tell him that she didn't blame him for what had happened. She had been certain that he thought she hated him since she had not only turned down his invitation to the Yule Ball but that he had survived the meeting with You-Know-Who… and Cedric had not. In truth, she was very sorry to have had to reject Harry last Christmas. She had been flattered beyond all measure that the Boy Who Lived had wanted her to go to the dance with him, especially when he could have had the pick of any girl in the school. If Cedric hadn't asked her first, she would have said yes. Harry wasn't as handsome as Cedric had been – few boys were – but in many other ways, he was a lot like Cedric. He was thoughtful, polite, not at all arrogant, and just… nice.

But last night Cho had been bitterly disappointed. Harry had been uncomfortable when she brought up the subject of Cedric and not nearly as supportive as she'd been hoping. She knew that it probably had something to do with the fact that he had asked her out only to discover that Cedric was her boyfriend, but she still thought that he should have realized that she just needed someone to talk to. He had been so confusing! First he'd looked as if he wanted to run away and then he'd been concerned. He'd said that she looked tired, which Cho had found oddly crushing, but then he'd said that she was one of the prettiest girls in the school…

One of the prettiest girls. Cho smiled briefly at the memory. He'd blushed when he'd said it, too, so she knew he'd been sincere. She had been so sure that he was going to make a move, but then…

Cho's smile faded away. Harry wasn't blind; he had picked up on her flirting. The problem was that he hadn't wanted to kiss her, and Cho couldn't understand that. She had been so sure that Harry liked her, certain that he'd want to start something now that she'd so clearly given him the go-ahead. Her friends had all been certain, too; they said everyone knew that Harry had a crush on her.

So why was he jerking her around like this?

Cho felt her face flush. She tugged irritably at one of her shin guards to hide her reddening face. His quiet rejection of her offer had been humiliating beyond all measure. At that moment she had felt as if he had taken her heart and smashed it with one hand. She had immediately felt both acute disappointment and hot anger at the same time. She didn't understand. He'd been sending out all the signals! What had she done wrong? Had her face gone all blotchy? Had he stopped liking her somehow? Had she been stupid to bring up Cedric in the first place?

Or was it possible that Harry Potter was just a big jerk?

Cho felt inclined to attribute the debacle to this last reason. A little voice in her head told her that this wasn't reasonable and very unlike a Ravenclaw, but she quashed it. He shouldn't have embarrassed her. He should have been more sensitive to her feelings. He shouldn't have said one thing and then behaved as if he hadn't meant what he had said.

Cho had no intention of letting Harry Potter catch the Snitch today.

"Are you all right?" Cho blinked at the sound of Luna Lovegood's dreamy voice beside her. "If you pull that shin guard any tighter your leg will start turning blue."

Cho blushed and stopped pulling at her equipment. "I'm fine, thanks." Luna smiled vaguely and turned her attention back to her own elbow pads. Luna's dreaminess fooled a lot of people at Hogwarts, but not anyone on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Cho knew that Luna was not as dissociated as most people thought she was, and that she saw things much more clearly than she was given credit for. Cho silently chided herself for wearing her emotions so plainly on her sleeve. She had to turn off her feelings during the match, or she would not be able to be an effective Seeker.

"Right," said Roger, apparently having finished his recap of the team's strategy. "We'd better get up to the gate."

The team stood. Cho picked up her Comet Two Sixty and followed the others out of the changing room. She was reviewing her own strategy in her mind as she walked. Harry was much faster than she on his Firebolt, so she was going to have to keep an extra sharp eye out for the Snitch. More than that, she intended to make him work in this game. No more of this zipping around the stadium on his own terms. She had plans for Harry.

He could get hurt, said a little voice inside Cho's head. He might run into something. Like the ground, for instance.

Cho frowned. She thought she had buried that little voice. She brushed off her lingering doubts with cool Ravenclaw logic. The Wronski Feint is a legal move, and Harry won't hit the ground, not when he's riding a Firebolt. I'm not going to let my emotions rule me. I'm just going to get the job done.

The team had reached the gate. Lee Jordan's amplified voice was announcing the Gryffindor team. He always named the teams' Seekers last, and Cho's mouth tightened when the word "POTTER" boomed through the air.

"We've got to win today," Roger said stoutly, mounting his broomstick. "Gryffindor's defeated us twice in a row now."

Everyone looked at Cho. "It's in the bag," she said evenly.

The gate flew open, and the Ravenclaws zoomed out onto the pitch, silver and blue robes waving merrily in the breeze.

"The Ravenclaw team, looking today to defeat Gryffindor for the first time in three matchups!" Lee Jordan thundered. "Davies, Bradley, Lovegood, Spickman, West, Greer, and Chang!"

The Ravenclaws flew a lap around the stadium, basking in the cheers coming from the other students in their House. As soon as the lap was over they took their positions opposite the Gryffindors on the field. Cho swerved into position across from Harry, several feet above the Chasers. For a moment their eyes locked. She stared hard at him, letting some of her anger show. Harry's own face betrayed nothing but determination. Think you've got this one all sewn up, Harry? thought Cho, not caring if she was being unfair, not noticing that her bitter feelings were surfacing again. Well, think again!

Madam Hooch blew her whistle and threw the Quaffle in the air.

Cho spontaneously leaned forward on her broom and charged Harry, who dropped out of her way just in the nick of time. She had barely had time to notice the look of shock on his face before she'd passed. For a moment she felt guilty, but she banished the feeling almost as soon as it had come. All the same, she couldn't help giving a quick glance back over her shoulder. Harry had flown away in a different direction, beginning his own search for the Snitch. He was ignoring her entirely. Cho faced forward again, feeling newly determined. She had to focus on the Snitch, not Harry!

Lee's commentary kept Cho abreast of the game as her eyes scoured the air. "…Davies passes to Lovegood, she's heading for the goal!"

"Come on, Luna!" Cho whispered to herself, wishing she could watch her teammates at work. A Seeker could not afford to be distracted by the movement of the Quaffle.

"It's the first test of the new Gryffindor Keeper, Ron Weasley! Lovegood's dodging the Bludgers like mad, she's got an open shot – GREAT SAVE BY WEASLEY!"

Cho took her eyes off the search long enough to see Harry fly past the Gryffindor goalposts and give Ron Weasley a high-five, whooping with delight. To her very great consternation, Amy was not able to stop Gryffindor's first shot at Ravenclaw's goals. "It's Bell in possession of the Quaffle, she passes to Spinnet, Spinnet takes aim – GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"

Harry pumped his fist in the air once again. By chance he looked in Cho's direction, and she glared at him. He could have no doubt as to how she felt now.

Harry's exuberance and Gryffindor's luck put Cho in a very bad mood. She hadn't meant to unveil her ploy so soon, but feelings of irritation spurred her forward. She looked down at the pitch, fixed a point on the ground in her mind, and dove.

Right on cue, Harry streaked across the field, racing to catch up with Cho. He was astonishingly fast on his Firebolt, but for once, that didn't bother Cho. Where the Wronski Feint was concerned, speed could be a Seeker's worst enemy. She smiled grimly as the ground raced up to meet them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry glance at her face.

At what she thought was the last possible moment, Cho gave an almighty tug on her broomstick and pulled herself out of the dive. A split second later Harry did the same, just barely saving himself from crashing.

"MERLIN'S BEARD, CHANG PULLS OFF THE WRONSKI FEINT!" Lee bellowed. The crowd roared wildly.

Harry was hovering just inches above the ground. He stared at Cho, looking poleaxed. She raised one of her eyebrows and he scowled back at her. The next instant, Cho was soaring off across the stadium, looking for the Snitch once again. That feeling of guilt was inexplicably gnawing at her again. More than anything, she wished it would go away.

Cho soon got her wish. The Ravenclaw team seemed to have been galvanized by her use of the Wronski Feint, and moments later, Joseph Bradley had scored their first goal. Then Luna scored, and the game really got going. The Gryffindors lost their cheerful expressions, seeming to have realized that Ravenclaw was serious about winning the match.

Cho was as proud as she'd ever been of the rest of her teammates. They threw themselves into the game, playing hard and fast, skirting the edge of propriety. Almost anything went in a Quidditch match, but Slytherin was the only House that ever abused the plasticity of the rules. Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor generally played civil matches against each other, but Cho was happy to see that her teammates were willing to push the edge of the envelope when it counted. Now was no time to be polite, not if they wanted to win.

For almost an hour, the match stayed nearly tied. When one team scored the other would quickly follow suit, and the gap never widened by more than thirty points. Cho did her best to watch every bit of the stadium at once, but she only caught sight of the Snitch once during that time, and it vanished almost as soon as she noticed it. Fortunately, Harry hadn't caught a break yet, either.

And then, at long last, Ravenclaw began to creep ahead just a little. The Gryffindor Chasers missed three shots in a row while Cho's teammates put all theirs in. The crowd was getting raucous again, excited by the change in fortunes. Cho soared above the middle of the field, looking down at the ground. Sometimes, if the Snitch flew beneath her, she could see the flash of gold against the green grass below.

Suddenly Lee shouted and the crowd screamed, and Cho put her Seeker's reflexes to use. She swerved as hard as she could and leaned forward, struggling to catch up with Harry, who was darting straight for Amy at the Ravenclaw goalposts with his arm outstretched. Panic fluttered in Cho's chest as she laid herself nearly flat against her broomstick, urging it ever faster. If he really had seen the Snitch, then she was dead in the water; he had a headstart, and she'd never be able to catch up. But she had to try.

Harry suddenly flew straight up, out of Cho's field of view. She was so shocked that she followed him upward with her eyes, realizing too late what he had done. She faced forward again only to find herself flying straight into Amy. Cho pulled up, slowing her headlong rush forward, but not soon enough to prevent a collision. Her momentum sent the two of them tumbling away from the goalposts. Cho gripped her broom handle tightly to avoid falling, but it was a near thing. Amy said nothing, but hurtled back to the goalposts as soon as she had disentangled the twigs of her broomstick from Cho's. Lee's commentary told Cho that Angelina Johnson had already put one in. She saw Amy make a desperate grab for the Quaffle that Katie Bell tossed toward the left hoop, but she was too late, and it soared through. The Gryffindors in the stands all cheered madly.

Cho's face flushed with frustration and anger. She wasn't shocked that Harry would turn her own tactics back on her, but at least he hadn't hit anything when she had pulled off a feint!

Another hour passed, and the game began to drag out. The Snitch was proving to be especially elusive, as Cho hardly ever caught a glimpse of it. She had rushed for it more than once, but she had been stopped every time by the Gryffindor Beaters. Harry had nearly caught it, too, but to Cho's relief, the Ravenclaw Beaters had managed to foil him. She and Harry were regularly feinting each other now, and she doubted that the crowd could tell the difference between when they were actually going for the Snitch and when they were just faking. As the third hour passed and Cho pulled her broomstick up out of yet another breakneck dive, she resisted the urge to reach up and massage her aching shoulders. Briefly she wondered if Harry was feeling the physical punishment of the demanding maneuvers, too.

Cho was beginning to worry. If the scores continued to be so close together, then it was really going to be up to the Seekers to determine the outcome of the game. Even if Harry was feeling as tired as she was, he was still on a faster broomstick and that gave him the advantage. Cho knew that she had to spot the Snitch when he was looking the other way, or she would almost certainly lose the contest.

And then, at long last, something happened that turned the tables on the Gryffindor team. Cho was making one of her regular circuits around the stadium, listening to Lee's commentary. "And Gryffindor's back in possession after a lucky save by Weasley! Johnson passes to Spinnet, Spinnet passes to Bell, they're really tearing down the field – WATCH OUT, ALICIA!"

Cho's eyes were involuntarily drawn to the field where a black Bludger made contact with the side of Alicia's head. The crowd gasped and the watching Gryffindors moaned in disappointment. The other Gryffindor Chasers dropped the Quaffle long enough to get Alicia safely to the ground, reentering the game as quickly as possible. But Cho knew, as everyone surely did, that unless Ravenclaw lost one of their own Chasers or Harry caught the Snitch, the match was over.

Therein lay the key – to prevent Harry from finding the tiny golden ball. He was as dismayed by the loss of a player as the rest of his teammates were, and had put on a new burst of speed, clearly determined to save Gryffindor from defeat. Cho leaned forward on her own broomstick, urging it to go faster. She had to find that Snitch before he did!

Ravenclaw's lead steadily increased. Thirty points. Forty points. Fifty points. Cho merely glanced at Harry as Angelina pulled up beside him to harangue him. Sixty points. Seventy points. Harry was at the opposite end of the field from Cho, searching as desperately as she was. Lee's reverberating voice only served to increase their anxiety.

"And Davies is charging up the field, there's nothing but Ron Weasley between him and the goalposts, come on, Ron –"

The crowd groaned, and Cho knew that Ron had missed.

"Ravenclaw's lead increases to eighty points!" said Lee, sounding disheartened.

There! Right in the middle of the field was a flash of gold. Cho did not stop to ascertain that it really was the Snitch and not a trick of the light. She flattened herself against her Comet Two-Sixty and took off as fast as she could go.

"JUMPING JEHOSEPHAT, THE SEEKERS HAVE SEEN THE SNITCH!"

Cho didn't need to be told that Harry had caught sight of the prize, too. She could see his blurry form on the other side of the fluttering golden ball growing larger and larger, tearing directly toward her. She had no idea which one of them had started moving first. One of her hands gripped the handle of her broomstick, ready to pull herself out of the way to keep from colliding with Harry. She stretched out her other arm, her fingers straining to reach the Snitch first. Cho desperately hoped that her arms were longer than Harry's.

And then, just as she was sure that they were about to hit, Harry suddenly dropped out of the way and darted right beneath Cho. For a brief moment she wondered what had possessed Harry to do such a thing, but then she realized that he must have blinked first in their high-stakes game of chicken.

The roar of the crowd filled Cho's ears, and she suddenly became aware that there was something struggling in her closed fist. She stared down at the two golden wings poking out from between her fingers, still fluttering wildly. In her surprise, she hadn't even felt her hand close upon it.

Elation flooded through Cho, and she thrust her fist into the air in triumph. Yes – she had caught the Snitch! Her teammates swarmed around her, laughing and crying, trying to hug her without falling off their own broomsticks.

It was the proudest moment of Cho's life. She had done it! She had beaten Harry Potter! No one had thought she could do it. Everyone said that Harry was the best Seeker at Hogwarts since Charlie Weasley. Some even said he was unbeatable – but she had won!

The Ravenclaws landed on the field and were promptly mobbed by their classmates. Cho found herself hoisted up on someone's shoulders, and soon she was bobbing around the field above the others' heads, still clutching the Snitch in one fist. Everyone was cheering and celebrating. "RAVENCLAW! RAVENCLAW! RAVENCLAW!"

All thoughts of Harry and his strange behavior had flown right out of Cho's head. She was too caught up in the tidal wave of excitement and exhilaration to think about him anymore. She didn't notice when the Gryffindor team left the field, crowding protectively around their Keeper. She didn't see the angry look that Harry shot in her direction or the incredulous faces of the rest of the Gryffindors.

Cho didn't think about Harry at all as the rest of her House bore her all the way back to the castle.

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It was very late at night, and the party in Ravenclaw Tower was finally winding down. Nearly all of the students had gone to bed, but Cho was still up, languishing in a soft armchair near the warmth of the fire. She had spent a very enjoyable evening laughing and talking with her classmates, drinking contraband butterbeer and eating sweets. She was growing very sleepy, being exhausted from the match and subsequent celebration. If she didn't drag herself up to bed soon, she knew she'd never get there.

As Cho stood up and stretched, she noticed a figure sitting in the far corner of the room. Cho squinted sleepily. It looked like Marty Greer, but she was at a loss to explain the solemn expression on his face. Come to think of it, she hadn't noticed him at the celebration.

"Hey, Marty," Cho said conversationally as she shuffled over to his chair. "Are you going to be heading off to bed soon? It's getting late."

"Yeah," said Marty, who did not look up. He was staring into the fire.

Cho frowned. It wasn't like Marty to be so distant. "Good game today, huh?" she prodded.

"Sure," said Marty, still looking at the flames.

Cho hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Is something wrong?"

At last, Marty's eyes found Cho's face. "You don't know what happened at the end of the match, do you?" he said.

"What?" said Cho. "I caught the Snitch, or hadn't you noticed?" She ventured a smile which Marty did not return.

"Right before you caught it," said Marty.

Cho shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Only Roger and I saw it," he continued in an oddly flat voice. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you didn't notice; you were too busy focusing on the Snitch and all…"

"What are you talking about?" said Cho, beginning to feel irritated.

Marty looked back at the fire. "I knocked Ron Weasley off his broom. With the Bludger that I hit, I mean. I didn't intend to – I thought he'd dodge it – but I guess he was too tired. Or maybe he just wasn't watching. Anyway, it doesn't matter why. Harry caught him."

Cho stared at Marty, feeling like a balloon that was slowly deflating.

"No one else noticed for a few seconds," said Marty. "Everybody was too caught up in the two of you, vying for the Snitch and all. I didn't even notice until Harry was nearly there. If Harry hadn't seen…" He sucked in a breath. "No one else was watching the Keepers. Ron could have hit the ground."

Cho was rooted to the spot. This was why Harry had suddenly swerved to avoid her? To stop his friend from falling? And she had never even looked back at him.

"The other three Houses have to know," said Marty. "Half the people watching probably followed Harry when he abandoned the chase – you know, wondering what he was doing and all. Hardly anyone in our House seems aware of it, though." He sighed. "What everyone must be thinking of us…"

Cho stared straight ahead at an unremarkable spot on the wall, shock and dismay replacing her drowsy contentment. Marty was right. All of Ravenclaw had been celebrating, too overjoyed to notice what had happened to Ron. What were the other Houses thinking of Ravenclaw right now?

What did Harry think?

Tears sprang unbidden to Cho's eyes. She hadn't bested Harry; he'd given up victory to help his friend. Surely he hated her now. He'd never believe that she had only just learned of Ron's fall, not after the way she'd behaved during the match. She remembered the look on his face after he'd fallen prey to her Wronski Feint. In that moment, she'd known that he had understood her. He probably thought that she had deliberately ignored Gryffindor after the match, and that she didn't care that Ron had barely escaped serious injury. If only she'd known! She wouldn't have waved her fist in the air like an idiot, celebrating her victory while in fact Harry had done something much nobler than she had.

"I… I have to go to bed," Cho stammered. Marty did not reply.

Cho numbly made her way up the staircase to her dormitory. Judging by the silence inside, her roommates were already asleep. She put on her pajamas, climbed into bed, and pulled the curtains of her four-poster shut so that she was enveloped in complete darkness.

Cho lay back on her pillow and snugged her blankets up under her chin. She shivered though the air wasn't cold; the coldness seemed to be coming from within herself. She was still tired, but she knew that sleep would not be coming anytime soon. She stared into the smothering darkness, wondering if she had done something irrevocable today.

She wondered if Harry would ever even speak to her again.

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Krysalys73: Yep, you're the only one this time! It's sweet of you to write something every time. I do like men like Ardoc – you know, the big, happy sort of people that see humor in everything.