OR DIE TRYING: CHO CHANG'S SIXTH YEAR
By monkeymouse
NB: JKRowling built the Potterverse; I'm just redecorating one of the rooms. And one of the great things about JKR telling the story from Harry's point of view is that stuff could be happening all over Hogwarts that Harry isn't aware of.
Rated: PG
Spoilers: Everything
xxx
10. The Owlery
Cho awoke Saturday morning, lazily opened her bed-curtains, and smiled peacefully as she saw the sun lighting up the grounds through the window next to her writing-desk. The rain was finally over, and she could--
"DAMN! DAMN AND BLAST!"
She jumped out of the bed and picked up the parcel on her desk. Today was her mother's birthday, and she'd meant to send the parcel--her mother's present--last night along with the letter. But, in her anger at Umbridge, she'd forgotten all about it!
A quick look at the window again; Quan Yin wasn't back yet. Should she wait and then make her owl go all the way back with the parcel? That would be cruel to Quan Yin; besides, who knew when she'd return? If the owl was late, her mother might not get her present until after her birthday.
There was nothing else to do. Cho dashed off a quick note to her mother:
"Dear Mummy,
Sorry I didn't send these with yesterday's letter. But some of the things happening here had me so confused and upset, I simply forgot. Here's hoping that these Dutch tulip bulbs (which I bought in Amsterdam when you weren't looking) will grow into flowers that sing as fine as they look.
Love, Cho"
Then she slipped her robes on over her nightgown, put on slippers and rushed out to the Owlery. She didn't mind using a school owl; she just preferred her own.
As she climbed the tower steps she kept replaying the events of the past week. She'd been right to worry that her bursts of emotion would alienate some of her friends. Diana Fairweather was already much cooler toward her. Jan seemed equivocal, which wasn't a good sign. Raina was friendly, but even she was a little distant at times now. She could only count Marietta as being truly in her corner. But then she had to wonder: how much of this am I doing to myself? I know I need company sometimes, probably most times, but sometimes I WANT to be alone. Is that such a bad thing?
She was still trying to analyze her situation when she reached the Owlery door, and went inside without even thinking about it. She hardly bothered to look inside; before breakfast on a Saturday was much too early for most of the students to be up and mailing anything.
"Hi."
She literally jumped, startled by the unexpected voice.
Harry.
He was leaning against one of the windows. Maybe he'd just sent an owl himself. Or maybe he just wanted to be alone too.
"Oh ... hi." That was all she could think to say for a second or two; the surprise of seeing him had stopped her cold. But now she felt nervous, as if she were intruding on him, and had to justify it. "I didn't think anyone would be up here this early. I only remembered five minutes ago, it's my mum's birthday." She raised the box of bulbs just an inch.
"Right." Harry looked as surprised and confused as Cho felt, which helped Cho move. She started walking around the long single room that was the Owlery, looking for a suitably strong bird.
She glanced back at Harry, who nodded toward the window and said, "Nice day."
Always a Seeker, Cho thought, smiling to herself. We have that in common as well. "Yeah, good Quidditch conditions," she said aloud, looking for a suitable owl and desperately trying not to look at him. She wasn't at all sure of what she should say about her flying in the stadium Thursday night, and decided to say nothing at all; he was still an opposing Seeker, after all. "I haven't been out all week, have you?"
"No."
She decided on a large barn owl that looked up to making a long trip with a package. She held out her arm; the owl considered her for a minute, then glided off of its perch and landed on Cho's arm.
"Hey," she said, trying to sound casual, "has Gryffindor got a new Keeper yet?" She cursed herself the instant she said it; he'll think all I want to do is spy on the Quidditch team!
But Harry didn't seem to think the question was improper. "Yeah. It's my friend Ron Weasley; d'you know him?"
The one you're almost always with? The one you saved in the Second Task? The one who tried to pick a fight with me a few days ago?? Why should I know him?! Part of Cho wanted to shout those words at Harry; instead, she focused on trying to tie the parcel to the owl's leg--not an easy thing to do one-handed, even after years of practice--and tried to keep her voice as cool and detached as possible: "The Tornado-hater?" She waited another second, then asked, with a bit of anxiety in her voice, "Is he any good?"
"Yeah, I think so. I didn't see his tryout, though. I was in detention."
That brought everything back into focus as she turned to look at Harry, leaving the parcel half-tied to the owl's leg. She remembered what Padma had said about Harry's hand, what Vincent has read about the Iron Quill--and the dream. Despite being a year older than Harry, she still had to look up to see Harry's vivid green eyes.
"That Umbridge woman's foul," she whispered, as if she were afraid that one of the owls might carry her words back to the professor. "Putting you in detention just because you told the truth about how..." She tried to say the name; she couldn't. "How..." She knew that if she said his name now, she'd burst into tears again and she did NOT want that, not now, not when she was finally alone with Harry. It was all she could do to force her emotion back down her throat. "...how he died." He had a bit of a confused look; he must be wondering how I knew aboiut the argument, she thought. "Everyone heard about it; it was all over the school." That's all fine, Cho scolded herself, but tell him how YOU feel! Cho waited another second, then said, again in a low voice, as if this too would be a crime in Umbridge's eyes: "You were really brave standing up to her like that."
They stood there, for a few seconds, maybe for a minute or more--Cho lost all track of time. She looked at Harry, waiting for him to do something, trying to think of what to do if he didn't do anything, and not entirely sure why they needed to do anything apart from look into each other's eyes all day long...
BANG! "AHA!"
The nature of their job--trying to clean up after hundreds of youngsters and teenagers for ten months out of the year--has soured almost every Hogwarts caretaker against students, and the students usually hated the caretaker right back, regardless of the century or the Headmaster. But it's doubtful that any student ever hated any caretaker more than Cho Chang hated Argus Filch at that moment.
Filch moved toward Harry in a towering rage; he didn't seem to notice that Cho was there at all. "I've had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive order for Dungbombs."
What??
"Who told you I was ordering Dungbombs?" Harry said, folding his arms and trying to look strong and defiant.
"I have my sources. Now, hand over whatever it is you're sending."
"I can't. It's gone." Harry seemed calmer, which only made Filch more furious.
"Gone?"
"Gone."
"How do I know you haven't got it in your pocket?" Filch eyed Harry, and his fingers twitched as if he meant to search Harry's robes, permission or not.
Harry gave a slight glance back out the window, and seemed to grow more nervous. "Because--"
Cho interrupted: "I saw him send it!"
Filch in a rage was an unnerving spectacle even for some Seventh Years, but Cho kept her own anger focused on this--this creature who dared to accuse Harry Potter!
"You saw him?"
"That's right; I saw him."
They glared at each other another minute, watched by Harry and the owl. Then Filch suddenly turned and strode angrily back to the door. He turned back to Harry. "If I get so much as a whiff of a Dungbomb..." He left the sentence unfinished and exited the Owlery, noisily descending the staircase. He'd left the door ajar, for his cat, Mrs. Norris, had followed him in; now, with an appraising look fully as sinister as Filch's, the cat also left.
Harry and Cho both breathed a sigh of relief. They again looked into each other's eyes, but the moment had passed; Cho felt extremely self-conscious as she turned her attention to the owl and finished tying on the parcel for her mother.
She had almost calmed down when Harry spoke. "Thanks."
Cho didn't turn to Harry yet, because she could tell she was still blushing. "No problem." She finished up tying the parcel, and only then turned to Harry. "You weren't ordering Dungbombs, were you?"
"No," Harry shook his head.
Cho walked over to the same window Harry had been leaning against. "I wonder why he thought you were, then." Harry simply shrugged his shoulders. As Cho watched the owl take off on its flight to Diagon Alley, she wondered; could it have been Umbridge? Could she have spies here too? More likely it was Malfoy, abusing his Prefect powers and trying to set Harry up...
Harry! She'd forgotten he was there! He was still standing there, waiting for her. They left the Owlery together and started down the long staircase. Cho wondered if Harry was thinking what she was thinking: how strange it was to be walking side by side with Ha Li Bo Te, and her with her robes thrown on over her nightclothes--and yet it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
At the foot of the stairs was a corridor leading to the West Wing, the location of Ravenclaw House. Cho wasn't supposed to tell Harry where her House was, any more than he could have told Cho where Gryffindor was. Cho simply nodded at the corridor and said, "I'm going this way." Silence from Harry. "Well, I'll..." Still nothing. "I'll see you around, Harry."
"Yeah; see you."
Finally; a spark of life! Cho smiled, turned and walked toward Ravenclaw House. Along the way all she could think was, That wasn't too bad. That wasn't too bad at all.
xxx
to be continued in part 11, wherein Cho realizes that too many people support the Ministry of Magic for all the wrong reasons.
By monkeymouse
NB: JKRowling built the Potterverse; I'm just redecorating one of the rooms. And one of the great things about JKR telling the story from Harry's point of view is that stuff could be happening all over Hogwarts that Harry isn't aware of.
Rated: PG
Spoilers: Everything
xxx
10. The Owlery
Cho awoke Saturday morning, lazily opened her bed-curtains, and smiled peacefully as she saw the sun lighting up the grounds through the window next to her writing-desk. The rain was finally over, and she could--
"DAMN! DAMN AND BLAST!"
She jumped out of the bed and picked up the parcel on her desk. Today was her mother's birthday, and she'd meant to send the parcel--her mother's present--last night along with the letter. But, in her anger at Umbridge, she'd forgotten all about it!
A quick look at the window again; Quan Yin wasn't back yet. Should she wait and then make her owl go all the way back with the parcel? That would be cruel to Quan Yin; besides, who knew when she'd return? If the owl was late, her mother might not get her present until after her birthday.
There was nothing else to do. Cho dashed off a quick note to her mother:
"Dear Mummy,
Sorry I didn't send these with yesterday's letter. But some of the things happening here had me so confused and upset, I simply forgot. Here's hoping that these Dutch tulip bulbs (which I bought in Amsterdam when you weren't looking) will grow into flowers that sing as fine as they look.
Love, Cho"
Then she slipped her robes on over her nightgown, put on slippers and rushed out to the Owlery. She didn't mind using a school owl; she just preferred her own.
As she climbed the tower steps she kept replaying the events of the past week. She'd been right to worry that her bursts of emotion would alienate some of her friends. Diana Fairweather was already much cooler toward her. Jan seemed equivocal, which wasn't a good sign. Raina was friendly, but even she was a little distant at times now. She could only count Marietta as being truly in her corner. But then she had to wonder: how much of this am I doing to myself? I know I need company sometimes, probably most times, but sometimes I WANT to be alone. Is that such a bad thing?
She was still trying to analyze her situation when she reached the Owlery door, and went inside without even thinking about it. She hardly bothered to look inside; before breakfast on a Saturday was much too early for most of the students to be up and mailing anything.
"Hi."
She literally jumped, startled by the unexpected voice.
Harry.
He was leaning against one of the windows. Maybe he'd just sent an owl himself. Or maybe he just wanted to be alone too.
"Oh ... hi." That was all she could think to say for a second or two; the surprise of seeing him had stopped her cold. But now she felt nervous, as if she were intruding on him, and had to justify it. "I didn't think anyone would be up here this early. I only remembered five minutes ago, it's my mum's birthday." She raised the box of bulbs just an inch.
"Right." Harry looked as surprised and confused as Cho felt, which helped Cho move. She started walking around the long single room that was the Owlery, looking for a suitably strong bird.
She glanced back at Harry, who nodded toward the window and said, "Nice day."
Always a Seeker, Cho thought, smiling to herself. We have that in common as well. "Yeah, good Quidditch conditions," she said aloud, looking for a suitable owl and desperately trying not to look at him. She wasn't at all sure of what she should say about her flying in the stadium Thursday night, and decided to say nothing at all; he was still an opposing Seeker, after all. "I haven't been out all week, have you?"
"No."
She decided on a large barn owl that looked up to making a long trip with a package. She held out her arm; the owl considered her for a minute, then glided off of its perch and landed on Cho's arm.
"Hey," she said, trying to sound casual, "has Gryffindor got a new Keeper yet?" She cursed herself the instant she said it; he'll think all I want to do is spy on the Quidditch team!
But Harry didn't seem to think the question was improper. "Yeah. It's my friend Ron Weasley; d'you know him?"
The one you're almost always with? The one you saved in the Second Task? The one who tried to pick a fight with me a few days ago?? Why should I know him?! Part of Cho wanted to shout those words at Harry; instead, she focused on trying to tie the parcel to the owl's leg--not an easy thing to do one-handed, even after years of practice--and tried to keep her voice as cool and detached as possible: "The Tornado-hater?" She waited another second, then asked, with a bit of anxiety in her voice, "Is he any good?"
"Yeah, I think so. I didn't see his tryout, though. I was in detention."
That brought everything back into focus as she turned to look at Harry, leaving the parcel half-tied to the owl's leg. She remembered what Padma had said about Harry's hand, what Vincent has read about the Iron Quill--and the dream. Despite being a year older than Harry, she still had to look up to see Harry's vivid green eyes.
"That Umbridge woman's foul," she whispered, as if she were afraid that one of the owls might carry her words back to the professor. "Putting you in detention just because you told the truth about how..." She tried to say the name; she couldn't. "How..." She knew that if she said his name now, she'd burst into tears again and she did NOT want that, not now, not when she was finally alone with Harry. It was all she could do to force her emotion back down her throat. "...how he died." He had a bit of a confused look; he must be wondering how I knew aboiut the argument, she thought. "Everyone heard about it; it was all over the school." That's all fine, Cho scolded herself, but tell him how YOU feel! Cho waited another second, then said, again in a low voice, as if this too would be a crime in Umbridge's eyes: "You were really brave standing up to her like that."
They stood there, for a few seconds, maybe for a minute or more--Cho lost all track of time. She looked at Harry, waiting for him to do something, trying to think of what to do if he didn't do anything, and not entirely sure why they needed to do anything apart from look into each other's eyes all day long...
BANG! "AHA!"
The nature of their job--trying to clean up after hundreds of youngsters and teenagers for ten months out of the year--has soured almost every Hogwarts caretaker against students, and the students usually hated the caretaker right back, regardless of the century or the Headmaster. But it's doubtful that any student ever hated any caretaker more than Cho Chang hated Argus Filch at that moment.
Filch moved toward Harry in a towering rage; he didn't seem to notice that Cho was there at all. "I've had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive order for Dungbombs."
What??
"Who told you I was ordering Dungbombs?" Harry said, folding his arms and trying to look strong and defiant.
"I have my sources. Now, hand over whatever it is you're sending."
"I can't. It's gone." Harry seemed calmer, which only made Filch more furious.
"Gone?"
"Gone."
"How do I know you haven't got it in your pocket?" Filch eyed Harry, and his fingers twitched as if he meant to search Harry's robes, permission or not.
Harry gave a slight glance back out the window, and seemed to grow more nervous. "Because--"
Cho interrupted: "I saw him send it!"
Filch in a rage was an unnerving spectacle even for some Seventh Years, but Cho kept her own anger focused on this--this creature who dared to accuse Harry Potter!
"You saw him?"
"That's right; I saw him."
They glared at each other another minute, watched by Harry and the owl. Then Filch suddenly turned and strode angrily back to the door. He turned back to Harry. "If I get so much as a whiff of a Dungbomb..." He left the sentence unfinished and exited the Owlery, noisily descending the staircase. He'd left the door ajar, for his cat, Mrs. Norris, had followed him in; now, with an appraising look fully as sinister as Filch's, the cat also left.
Harry and Cho both breathed a sigh of relief. They again looked into each other's eyes, but the moment had passed; Cho felt extremely self-conscious as she turned her attention to the owl and finished tying on the parcel for her mother.
She had almost calmed down when Harry spoke. "Thanks."
Cho didn't turn to Harry yet, because she could tell she was still blushing. "No problem." She finished up tying the parcel, and only then turned to Harry. "You weren't ordering Dungbombs, were you?"
"No," Harry shook his head.
Cho walked over to the same window Harry had been leaning against. "I wonder why he thought you were, then." Harry simply shrugged his shoulders. As Cho watched the owl take off on its flight to Diagon Alley, she wondered; could it have been Umbridge? Could she have spies here too? More likely it was Malfoy, abusing his Prefect powers and trying to set Harry up...
Harry! She'd forgotten he was there! He was still standing there, waiting for her. They left the Owlery together and started down the long staircase. Cho wondered if Harry was thinking what she was thinking: how strange it was to be walking side by side with Ha Li Bo Te, and her with her robes thrown on over her nightclothes--and yet it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
At the foot of the stairs was a corridor leading to the West Wing, the location of Ravenclaw House. Cho wasn't supposed to tell Harry where her House was, any more than he could have told Cho where Gryffindor was. Cho simply nodded at the corridor and said, "I'm going this way." Silence from Harry. "Well, I'll..." Still nothing. "I'll see you around, Harry."
"Yeah; see you."
Finally; a spark of life! Cho smiled, turned and walked toward Ravenclaw House. Along the way all she could think was, That wasn't too bad. That wasn't too bad at all.
xxx
to be continued in part 11, wherein Cho realizes that too many people support the Ministry of Magic for all the wrong reasons.