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
20. Going Back
Cho went to sleep on Christmas night in a better frame of mind than she'd had in months. It was six months since Cedric was killed, and a year and a day since the Yule Ball. But now it looked as if there was some hope that Harry loved her as much as she loved him. She didn't know, of course, but how could anyone know anything like this? She wasn't certain about Cedric until that kiss, after the Second Task, and even then...
Can anyone ever be certain about these things? I thought I was certain; no, I knew I was, and I knew he was, and it wasn't the two of us that changed things, it was the world...
The Weird Sisters started playing the song they'd written for the Yule Ball, "I'll Be a Champion For You". Cho, who had never danced a step in her life, and had just admitted it at the last possible second to Cedric, looked up into his smiling gray eyes. He started to speak...
"HEM HEM!"
The music stopped. Kirley McCormack, lead singer of the Weird Sisters, was no longer onstage, Instead there, with a guitar hanging around her neck, was the short squat form of Dolores Umbridge.
"Yule Ball Decree Number One Hundred Seventy Nine!" she announced. "Seekers must not dance with Seekers!"
As if he were under a Summoning Spell, Cedric immediately moved backwards away from Cho, until he was lost in the crowd. The music started up, and everyone was dancing--except Cho. She saw people she knew, only they weren't dancing with anyone she remembered. The foreign Champions, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum, were dancing with each other; Roger Davies was dancing with Arabella Smoot, whose reputation around Hogwarts was, to put it mildly, tarnished. She thought she saw Harry dancing, but not with Parvati Patel; he was dancing, and quite expertly, with Hermione Granger, who seemed to be enjoying herself immensely.
Cho had to turn away from that sight, and that's when she saw him. Not among the dancers, but among the ghosts, near the ceiling. There floated Cedric Diggory, slowly rising toward the ceiling, then passing through it, all the while reaching back toward Cho, beckoning for her to follow--
"CEDRIC!"
Cho sat up in bed, wide awake now, and immediately covered her mouth with her hands. She wasn't sure if she'd shouted out in her sleep, and listened to see if her mother would come to her again, as she had all last summer. After a few minutes, though, she didn't hear anyone stirring. She settled back down, and tried to get back to sleep. She had to turn her pillow over, because the one side was wet from her tears.
xxx
The next morning, as soon as she got up, she tried to Floo Penelope Clearwater, but there was no answer. Madam Edgecombe, Marietta's mother, came on to tell Cho, "Apparently they're out of the country on holiday. Some of us don't get that luxury."
"Yes, ma'am," Cho said. "We have to open the shop in a little while, too." So stop complaining, you sour old thing; a lot of us still have to work on Boxing Day, you know. "Did they leave an address where they can be reached? It's rather important."
"Sorry, but Penelope is Muggle-born, you know, so the odds are that she's nowhere near a working Floo."
"I see. Thanks anyway, and happy holidays."
Madam Edgecombe muttered something and broke the connection.
xxx
It was lightly snowing around noon when Lotus Chang told Cho they were closing for the day. This was a first; business had been slow but there had been customers. Cho knew that her parents didn't like to lose a minute of potential business.
"There are just some things we need to talk about. We haven't spoken much, have we?" Lotus tried to smile, but Cho suspected that there was something behind it.
They put on their cloaks and walked down to the Leaky Cauldron, found a table for two looking out on Diagon Alley, and ordered two bowls of lamb stew. No sooner had Tom, the owner, taken their order and walked away when Lotus turned to Cho.
"I heard you last night."
Cho didn't say anything; what was there to say?
"How are you handling this at school?"
"Just fine, mother." Cho could tell from her mother's expression that this answer wouldn't do. "My Prefect helps me out sometimes, but there really are fewer and fewer nightmares now. I'm doing all right."
"How many nightmares?"
Cho could feel her cheeks burning. "Maybe once a week now."
"And when you're awake?"
"Honestly, mother, I feel much better."
Lotus didn't seem to believe it. "Tell me about this Prefect."
"You've heard me talk about Marietta; Marietta Edgecombe. Her mother works for the Ministry in the Floo Network."
"That's good. It's always good to have someone with a connection to power, no matter what you may think of it." Lotus looked suspiciously at Cho, remembering the outburst in front of the Diggorys.
"Well, leaving the Ministry out of it, right now she's the best friend I have."
They stopped talking as Tom brought their food and two mugs of mulled pumpkin cider. Cho paused with the mug below her nose, breathing in the cinnamon and other spices. She was just about to take a sip when:
"Are you seeing anyone else now?"
It took all of the concentration Cho had to set her mug down on the table rather than fling it across the room. She looked steadily at her bowl of stew as she answered, "No, mother, not really."
"What kind of answer is that?"
"Why are you asking?"
"Your father and I didn't find out about Cedric until very late. You made it difficult for us to help you when you needed help. I don't want that to happen again."
"You needn't worry; it won't."
"Who is it, then?"
Was this a bluff on her mother's part? Was she guessing? Or did she really know? "There is one boy I ... really like."
Lotus's stern expression never changed. "And when were you planning to tell us about him?"
"Mother! I ... That is, he ... it only just happened."
"WHAT just happened?!"
Cho thought she'd feel joyous talking about it, but her mother wasn't letting it turn out that way. "One kiss, that's all. And ... we held hands. Just before the break."
"I take it he's white."
"This again?? Mother, why does that make such a difference to you?"
"Because I've seen what happens!" Cho was afraid Lotus's harsh whisper was still carrying across the dining room. "I've seen too many white men who pin all their little fantasies on an Asian girlfriend--she's pretty, she's obedient, she's clever. And I've seen them run right back to the arms of their white girlfriends the minute you make him the least bit cross."
"Harry's not like that!"
Cho actually stood up and pounded the table with her fist. Every head in the dining room turned toward them.
Lotus was seething, but wouldn't have publicly shown it for a million Galleons. She simply said, "Finish your stew."
So they did, paid when they were finished, and went back to the shoppe. As long as there were customers, they maintained a frosty silence. Once they shut up for the night, however, things were back to the way they were before Christmas: Lotus and Cho screaming at each other in Chinese. And so it went until January 12, when the Hogwarts Express was scheduled to head back north.
One thing happened during the break, and Lotus attached no importance to it at all. Cho had brought a suitcase from Hogwarts, and had set it up open on a chair next to the wardrobe in her room. After the evening with the Diggorys, Cho had thrown her dress robes on the floor of the wardrobe and left it there. It stayed there until the morning of the 29th, when Lotus, who was probably combining a little cleaning with a little snooping, found the dress robes. She shook her head at the mistreatment of such an expensive set of robes, hung them up in Cho's wardrobe, and only then went through the pockets. She discovered the letter in the yellow envelope, tossed it into Cho's suitcase, and didn't give it a second thought.
xxx
Early on the morning of Sunday, January 12, Cho opened her bedroom window, took Quan Yin out of her cage and set her on the window-sill. "Go on," she nudged the owl, "you can fly, after all." But Quan Yin wouldn't budge.
She must be expecting me to give her a message, Cho thought. And here I thought she was like me: looking for any excuse to fly. Seems she's too well trained now: won't fly without a reason.
There were still several hours before the Hogwarts Express left the station, so she dashed off a quick scroll to Madam Hooch, telling her about Gridpipe and the autographed Snitch. Once Quan Yin had a scroll tied to her leg and heard a name, she spread her wings and took off into the winter sky.
xxx
Cho spent the first hour of the trip back to Hogwarts roaming the corridors, looking in every compartment. She had an increasingly sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she realized: Harry wasn't on the train, nor were any of his friends. Perhaps Mr. Weasley took a turn for the worse; perhaps they just missed the train. But when would Harry return to Hogwarts ... and how?
She was in the corridor worrying about Harry, and vaguely surprised as to how much she was worrying, when Roger Davies strolled up to her. "Have a good holiday?"
She wasn't about to tell him everything, but she couldn't hold back completely. "I got a Snitch autographed by Eunice Murray!"
Roger whistled. "What rich uncle did that?"
Cho told him about Gridpipe in Quality Quidditch Supplies, their chat last summer, and his coming to the last game.
"I never knew he played for the Wasps. Shows you how thick I am."
"That doesn't make you thick. I didn't know myself."
"Yeah, but you took the time to chat with him; I never would." He paused, a bit awkwardly. "Cho?"
"Yes?"
"There's a Hogsmeade date coming up next month. Do you have any plans? For Hogsmeade, I mean."
"Nothing yet."
"Well, seeing as how this may be my last chance, I wanted to ask you if, well, if you know Madam Puddifoot's..."
"Roger," Cho interrupted, with a sad smile, "I know all about that place. Ced … Cedric took me there last year." If Roger expected her to burst into tears again, she disappointed him, hanging on to her emotions. He needed to hear this, and she needed to say it. "Did you know that, the day you asked me to the Yule Ball, Cedric had asked only about two hours earlier? I wasn't hoping to go with him, but he asked first, and somehow I just didn't have it in me to tell him no. I was hoping for someone else to ask, and he finally did, but by then it was too late."
She turned and looked at the frozen landscape rushing by. "If only I'd followed my first instincts and said 'no' to Cedric; how different things would have been," Cho said, almost to herself, as she stared out the window. After a minute she turned back to Roger. "I won't do it again; I won't just say 'yes' to the first one to come along. There's someone in my mind, and in my heart, with whom I mean to go to Hogsmeade. He hasn't asked yet, but this time I will wait until he does. I'm sorry, Roger, but I can't go with you."
Roger simply looked at Cho for a minute, his face an absolute blank. Then he just sort of shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough. See you at practice." And, without waiting for a reply, he was off down the corridor.
Cho was left wondering if she hadn't made a huge mistake, but she turned it over and over in her mind for the rest of the trip. She couldn't have done or said anything differently.
She had checked almost every compartment and was about to go back and check them all again when she saw Raina al-Qaba leaving the last compartment; if she saw Cho, she gave no sign, but turned to go toward the lavatory. Cho looked inside the compartment; there sat Marietta Edgecombe.
"Happy New Year, Marietta," Cho said as she entered the compartment and sat opposite Marietta, happy to see a friendly face.
"Don't be too sure about that."
"What do you mean?"
"A few days ago, mum was getting some robes ready for cleaning, and she tumbled on the Galleon. She put it in her own purse, and when I realized it was missing, I had to go ask her for it back. And she said, what's the difference between one Galleon and the next? So I had to think fast and make up some tripe about it was a good-luck charm from my O.W.L.s, and I always needed it by me. Cho, this is it. I have to stop attending those meetings."
"You mustn't!"
"Why not? It's not as if we're the only Ravenclaws in the group."
"Who, then? Who should I have as a partner? Padma always teams up with Parvati, Michael Corner is with the Weasley girl, and Luna is, well, Luna. Half the time it's as if she's in a totally different room."
"I'm sure you wouldn't mind another one-on-one session with Potter."
Cho felt the blush begin before Marietta even finished her sentence. "Well, we can't do that during the lessons."
"I knew it; you two did something after the last meeting. Cho, I'm saying this as a friend, but being with Harry is the worst thing you could do right now."
"What would you know about it? Harry's very talented in defensive spells--you have to admit that--and he's, well, rather sweet."
"And what does THAT mean?"
"It means he doesn't try to just take over everything. I've seen the way some boys are at Hogwarts when they get a girlfriend. The girl just stops thinking for herself, and the boys encourage it. It's as if suddenly she's property, and has his name tattooed on her bum." Marietta smiled in spite of herself. "Harry isn't like that at all."
"I don't care if he's Merlin, Paracelsus, and Cornelius Fudge rolled up into one wizard. Right now, the Ministry doesn't like him, the Prophet doesn't like him, and Umbridge definitely doesn't like him."
"Are you saying that they're coming after him?"
"Umbridge already has, and you've seen what that got him: off Quidditch for life."
"And you seriously think they'd come after me if ..."
"Do you really want to take that chance? Think of your parents."
"I have thought of them, all my life. I'm turning seventeen in a couple of weeks; it's about time I thought of myself, and Harry."
"So you're not going to give this up?" Cho shook her head. "Well, the whole thing is still as dicey as a red Sickle, but I can stay with it a bit longer, if only to keep an eye on you."
"Don't worry; I'll be fine, I know it."
Just then Raina appeared at the compartment door, and talk of Dumbledore's Army was forgotten for the rest of the trip.
xxx
Monday morning, Cho overslept, missed breakfast, and barely made it to Astronomy on time. Then there was the usual Monday morning dash from Astronomy to the greenhouses. As she passed through the courtyard, she looked around for Harry, but didn't see him.
In fact, she didn't see him until after lunch. She was leaving the Great Hall to pick up her afternoon books when she saw Harry at the foot of the stairs, standing with his usual friends and talking with Zacharias Smith. Cho waited until Smith left; he wasn't exactly the most pleasant person in Dumbledore's Army, and even Harry looked a bit sour after dealing with him. She then walked over to them, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves and saying, "Hi, Harry."
He spun about, and appeared to be surprised, as if she was the one who wasn't on the train but had mysteriously appeared in time for classes. "Oh; hi."
Granger dragged Weasley off, as if she knew to give them some privacy; Cho was grateful for that. "Had a good Christmas?" she asked Harry.
As soon as Cho asked, she remembered Arthur Weasley and the serpent and felt bad about it, but Harry just shrugged and said, "Yeah, not bad."
He didn't say anything else. "Mine was ... pretty quiet," Cho said. Of course it wasn't, between the screaming matches with her mother and the news of a possible tryout with Tutshill this summer, but she wasn't about to tell Harry all that in passing, in a rush in the corridor. It deserved a separate time and place. Perhaps in Hogsmeade...
Cho waited for Harry to say something else, but he didn't. Perhaps he wasn't mentioning it because he didn't know. "Erm, there's another Hogsmeade trip next month. Did you see the notice?"
"What?" It was as if she'd woken Harry up. "Oh, no; I haven't checked the notice board since we got back."
"Yes," Cho nodded, starting to blush again and not caring a bit. "It's on Valentine's Day."
She expected Harry to colour a bit himself, but he seemed just to be juggling a schedule in his head. "Right. Well, I suppose you want to--"
Cho couldn't help interrupting happily: "Only if you do!" Of course, she was very sure that Harry wanted to go to Hogsmeade with her, no matter what day it was.
Except that wasn't what Harry seemed to want. All of a sudden, he looked stunned, as if Snape had just asked him the ingredients of a particularly complex potion. "I," he stammered, "er..."
Oh, no, Cho thought, I'm too late. He's already going with someone else and he doesn't want to tell me. "Oh, it's okay if you don't," she said quickly, feeling thoroughly embarrassed. "Don't worry." She had to get out of this conversation. "I ... I'll see you around." She started walking up the stairs. She wanted to run; she wanted to throw herself into the frozen lake, or off the Astronomy Tower. She had thought about this meeting since Roger had told her about the visit, and it had gone so horribly wrong--
"Cho! Hey, Cho!"
She stopped halfway up the stairs, listening to Harry's voice and fast footsteps. Was it a second chance? Please let it be a second chance...
Harry stopped beside her on the step, his cheeks a bit pink from the running--or was it from nervousness?
"Erm, do you want to come into Hogsmeade with me? On Valentine's Day?" He asked as if he couldn't believe that she'd say yes! That was so--so sweet!
"Oh, yes!" Cho couldn't help it; she was blushing brightly now, and grinning like a fool, and happier than she'd been since the night they kissed.
Her happiness must have infected Harry, since he was grinning now, too. "Right," he said, "well, that's settled then." He turned and, with a last wave to Cho, he bounced toward the library. There was no other word for it; making the date with Cho had definitely put a spring in his step.
Cho, meanwhile, also felt lightweight as she dashed back to Ravenclaw. She collected her books for Ancient Runes and Magical Creatures, but she might as well have left them in her dorm: all she did in class was replay in her mind Harry's invitation to Hogsmeade, and her reply.
xxx
Tuesday, however, brought more ominous news on the front page of the Daily Prophet. There were the faces of nine wizards and one witch--all of them Death Eaters--who had done the seemingly impossible by escaping from Azkaban prison. For many students, morning classes--Cho's were Advanced Muggle Studies and Arithmancy--were pretty much a wash, as students quizzed their professors about the breakout, and the Sixth Year Ravenclaws were among those with questions.
"You ask me about Azkaban as if I've been there," sputtered an exasperated Professor Idylwyld. "Can we please get back to talking about videotape?"
"Yes, I remember Sirius Black," sighed Professor Vector, "He would be about as old as your parents are now. But I recall him being like most of you wizards here. He had his, shall I say, rambunctious side, but certainly nothing criminal back then, and absolutely nothing linking him to He Who Must Not Be Named."
"But it's over two years since Black escaped," Vincent Krixlow pointed out.
"And there hasn't been sight, sound or rumour of him since the escape. The probability is that he fled to the Continent, or perhaps America. And, having fled Ministry jurisdiction, it is statistically incalculable that he would then jeopardize himself to return to Azkaban to free other prisoners. We were on page two hundred seventy-three."
As they descended to the Great Hall for lunch after class, Cho fell back and walked beside Marietta. "I hope this doesn't reflect on your mum."
"What's my mum got to do with anything? She's Floo Network!"
"But a breakout this large from Azkaban? There's never been anything like it! The Ministry can't look too capable now."
"Fudge has already put out an explanation."
"But you heard Vector just now. It's not possible that Sirius Black could have done it."
"No, but it's possible to claim that he's responsible, and maybe that's all the Ministry needs."
"To do what?" Cho asked, astounded.
"To find out what really happened."
"If they're even interested."
"Let's not have that 'You-Know-Who-Is-Alive' lark again."
"Fine. Believe what you like."
"You just believe it because Potter said it."
"I believe it because I saw him bring Cedric back!"
They were in the middle of a pack of classmates, with Professor Vector bringing up the rear. Cho wanted to stop, but the crowd pushed her and Marietta into the Great Hall. Marietta pulled her aside.
"Cho, I ... You're right. I'm sorry. But you have to admit, Harry hasn't really told anyone what happened, has he? And he's had loads of opportunities."
"I know," Cho sighed. She'd asked herself the same question countless times since the Third Task. "But he says he doesn't like to talk about it."
"He'd better learn to like it, if he wants people to believe him. Let's get some lunch."
xxx
Wednesday morning found Cho writing a scroll to her mother. She'd had another nightmare; this one about the upcoming match against Slytherin. Except that Slytherin didn't field a team of students, but the nine escaped warlocks from Azkaban. Roger Davies tried to protest, but the referee turned out to be not Madam Hooch, but the escaped Death Eater witch Bellatrix Lestrange. She killed Davies, then the others started killing the other players and spectators. Cho dodged their spells as best she could, but one of them fired off a curse at her that seemed to come in slow motion. However, she couldn't avoid it, she couldn't counter it, she couldn't even think--
--but she screamed, and that woke her up.
The night was almost gone, so she started writing home, talking about the escape from Azkaban and how the school was reacting to it.
When the other girls started stirring, she stopped writing and got dressed for breakfast. Escaped Death Eaters and an invitation from Harry, she thought; will today be eventful as well?
It was, which Cho found out as soon as she got to the Common Room. A number of students were gathered around the notice board.
"Something happened?" she asked Pablo Molina.
"Yeh, old Umbitch is at it again."
"She's lost what's left of her mind," Roger Davies said. "Look at this."
Cho edged closer to read Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six:
"Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach."
"Makes no bleedin' sense at all," Jan Nugginbridge muttered over Cho's shoulder.
"Too right," Vincent Krixlow replied. "She can't patrol all of the classrooms at once, can she?"
Maybe she doesn't need to patrol them all, Cho thought. Maybe this is aimed at a few teachers she wishes to silence. In any case, breakfast can wait.
She went back up to her dorm to send news of this latest bit of Umbridge's lunacy to her mother.
xxx
to be continued in part 21, wherein Cho goes out on what she had hoped would be a brilliant date ...
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
20. Going Back
Cho went to sleep on Christmas night in a better frame of mind than she'd had in months. It was six months since Cedric was killed, and a year and a day since the Yule Ball. But now it looked as if there was some hope that Harry loved her as much as she loved him. She didn't know, of course, but how could anyone know anything like this? She wasn't certain about Cedric until that kiss, after the Second Task, and even then...
Can anyone ever be certain about these things? I thought I was certain; no, I knew I was, and I knew he was, and it wasn't the two of us that changed things, it was the world...
The Weird Sisters started playing the song they'd written for the Yule Ball, "I'll Be a Champion For You". Cho, who had never danced a step in her life, and had just admitted it at the last possible second to Cedric, looked up into his smiling gray eyes. He started to speak...
"HEM HEM!"
The music stopped. Kirley McCormack, lead singer of the Weird Sisters, was no longer onstage, Instead there, with a guitar hanging around her neck, was the short squat form of Dolores Umbridge.
"Yule Ball Decree Number One Hundred Seventy Nine!" she announced. "Seekers must not dance with Seekers!"
As if he were under a Summoning Spell, Cedric immediately moved backwards away from Cho, until he was lost in the crowd. The music started up, and everyone was dancing--except Cho. She saw people she knew, only they weren't dancing with anyone she remembered. The foreign Champions, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum, were dancing with each other; Roger Davies was dancing with Arabella Smoot, whose reputation around Hogwarts was, to put it mildly, tarnished. She thought she saw Harry dancing, but not with Parvati Patel; he was dancing, and quite expertly, with Hermione Granger, who seemed to be enjoying herself immensely.
Cho had to turn away from that sight, and that's when she saw him. Not among the dancers, but among the ghosts, near the ceiling. There floated Cedric Diggory, slowly rising toward the ceiling, then passing through it, all the while reaching back toward Cho, beckoning for her to follow--
"CEDRIC!"
Cho sat up in bed, wide awake now, and immediately covered her mouth with her hands. She wasn't sure if she'd shouted out in her sleep, and listened to see if her mother would come to her again, as she had all last summer. After a few minutes, though, she didn't hear anyone stirring. She settled back down, and tried to get back to sleep. She had to turn her pillow over, because the one side was wet from her tears.
xxx
The next morning, as soon as she got up, she tried to Floo Penelope Clearwater, but there was no answer. Madam Edgecombe, Marietta's mother, came on to tell Cho, "Apparently they're out of the country on holiday. Some of us don't get that luxury."
"Yes, ma'am," Cho said. "We have to open the shop in a little while, too." So stop complaining, you sour old thing; a lot of us still have to work on Boxing Day, you know. "Did they leave an address where they can be reached? It's rather important."
"Sorry, but Penelope is Muggle-born, you know, so the odds are that she's nowhere near a working Floo."
"I see. Thanks anyway, and happy holidays."
Madam Edgecombe muttered something and broke the connection.
xxx
It was lightly snowing around noon when Lotus Chang told Cho they were closing for the day. This was a first; business had been slow but there had been customers. Cho knew that her parents didn't like to lose a minute of potential business.
"There are just some things we need to talk about. We haven't spoken much, have we?" Lotus tried to smile, but Cho suspected that there was something behind it.
They put on their cloaks and walked down to the Leaky Cauldron, found a table for two looking out on Diagon Alley, and ordered two bowls of lamb stew. No sooner had Tom, the owner, taken their order and walked away when Lotus turned to Cho.
"I heard you last night."
Cho didn't say anything; what was there to say?
"How are you handling this at school?"
"Just fine, mother." Cho could tell from her mother's expression that this answer wouldn't do. "My Prefect helps me out sometimes, but there really are fewer and fewer nightmares now. I'm doing all right."
"How many nightmares?"
Cho could feel her cheeks burning. "Maybe once a week now."
"And when you're awake?"
"Honestly, mother, I feel much better."
Lotus didn't seem to believe it. "Tell me about this Prefect."
"You've heard me talk about Marietta; Marietta Edgecombe. Her mother works for the Ministry in the Floo Network."
"That's good. It's always good to have someone with a connection to power, no matter what you may think of it." Lotus looked suspiciously at Cho, remembering the outburst in front of the Diggorys.
"Well, leaving the Ministry out of it, right now she's the best friend I have."
They stopped talking as Tom brought their food and two mugs of mulled pumpkin cider. Cho paused with the mug below her nose, breathing in the cinnamon and other spices. She was just about to take a sip when:
"Are you seeing anyone else now?"
It took all of the concentration Cho had to set her mug down on the table rather than fling it across the room. She looked steadily at her bowl of stew as she answered, "No, mother, not really."
"What kind of answer is that?"
"Why are you asking?"
"Your father and I didn't find out about Cedric until very late. You made it difficult for us to help you when you needed help. I don't want that to happen again."
"You needn't worry; it won't."
"Who is it, then?"
Was this a bluff on her mother's part? Was she guessing? Or did she really know? "There is one boy I ... really like."
Lotus's stern expression never changed. "And when were you planning to tell us about him?"
"Mother! I ... That is, he ... it only just happened."
"WHAT just happened?!"
Cho thought she'd feel joyous talking about it, but her mother wasn't letting it turn out that way. "One kiss, that's all. And ... we held hands. Just before the break."
"I take it he's white."
"This again?? Mother, why does that make such a difference to you?"
"Because I've seen what happens!" Cho was afraid Lotus's harsh whisper was still carrying across the dining room. "I've seen too many white men who pin all their little fantasies on an Asian girlfriend--she's pretty, she's obedient, she's clever. And I've seen them run right back to the arms of their white girlfriends the minute you make him the least bit cross."
"Harry's not like that!"
Cho actually stood up and pounded the table with her fist. Every head in the dining room turned toward them.
Lotus was seething, but wouldn't have publicly shown it for a million Galleons. She simply said, "Finish your stew."
So they did, paid when they were finished, and went back to the shoppe. As long as there were customers, they maintained a frosty silence. Once they shut up for the night, however, things were back to the way they were before Christmas: Lotus and Cho screaming at each other in Chinese. And so it went until January 12, when the Hogwarts Express was scheduled to head back north.
One thing happened during the break, and Lotus attached no importance to it at all. Cho had brought a suitcase from Hogwarts, and had set it up open on a chair next to the wardrobe in her room. After the evening with the Diggorys, Cho had thrown her dress robes on the floor of the wardrobe and left it there. It stayed there until the morning of the 29th, when Lotus, who was probably combining a little cleaning with a little snooping, found the dress robes. She shook her head at the mistreatment of such an expensive set of robes, hung them up in Cho's wardrobe, and only then went through the pockets. She discovered the letter in the yellow envelope, tossed it into Cho's suitcase, and didn't give it a second thought.
xxx
Early on the morning of Sunday, January 12, Cho opened her bedroom window, took Quan Yin out of her cage and set her on the window-sill. "Go on," she nudged the owl, "you can fly, after all." But Quan Yin wouldn't budge.
She must be expecting me to give her a message, Cho thought. And here I thought she was like me: looking for any excuse to fly. Seems she's too well trained now: won't fly without a reason.
There were still several hours before the Hogwarts Express left the station, so she dashed off a quick scroll to Madam Hooch, telling her about Gridpipe and the autographed Snitch. Once Quan Yin had a scroll tied to her leg and heard a name, she spread her wings and took off into the winter sky.
xxx
Cho spent the first hour of the trip back to Hogwarts roaming the corridors, looking in every compartment. She had an increasingly sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she realized: Harry wasn't on the train, nor were any of his friends. Perhaps Mr. Weasley took a turn for the worse; perhaps they just missed the train. But when would Harry return to Hogwarts ... and how?
She was in the corridor worrying about Harry, and vaguely surprised as to how much she was worrying, when Roger Davies strolled up to her. "Have a good holiday?"
She wasn't about to tell him everything, but she couldn't hold back completely. "I got a Snitch autographed by Eunice Murray!"
Roger whistled. "What rich uncle did that?"
Cho told him about Gridpipe in Quality Quidditch Supplies, their chat last summer, and his coming to the last game.
"I never knew he played for the Wasps. Shows you how thick I am."
"That doesn't make you thick. I didn't know myself."
"Yeah, but you took the time to chat with him; I never would." He paused, a bit awkwardly. "Cho?"
"Yes?"
"There's a Hogsmeade date coming up next month. Do you have any plans? For Hogsmeade, I mean."
"Nothing yet."
"Well, seeing as how this may be my last chance, I wanted to ask you if, well, if you know Madam Puddifoot's..."
"Roger," Cho interrupted, with a sad smile, "I know all about that place. Ced … Cedric took me there last year." If Roger expected her to burst into tears again, she disappointed him, hanging on to her emotions. He needed to hear this, and she needed to say it. "Did you know that, the day you asked me to the Yule Ball, Cedric had asked only about two hours earlier? I wasn't hoping to go with him, but he asked first, and somehow I just didn't have it in me to tell him no. I was hoping for someone else to ask, and he finally did, but by then it was too late."
She turned and looked at the frozen landscape rushing by. "If only I'd followed my first instincts and said 'no' to Cedric; how different things would have been," Cho said, almost to herself, as she stared out the window. After a minute she turned back to Roger. "I won't do it again; I won't just say 'yes' to the first one to come along. There's someone in my mind, and in my heart, with whom I mean to go to Hogsmeade. He hasn't asked yet, but this time I will wait until he does. I'm sorry, Roger, but I can't go with you."
Roger simply looked at Cho for a minute, his face an absolute blank. Then he just sort of shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough. See you at practice." And, without waiting for a reply, he was off down the corridor.
Cho was left wondering if she hadn't made a huge mistake, but she turned it over and over in her mind for the rest of the trip. She couldn't have done or said anything differently.
She had checked almost every compartment and was about to go back and check them all again when she saw Raina al-Qaba leaving the last compartment; if she saw Cho, she gave no sign, but turned to go toward the lavatory. Cho looked inside the compartment; there sat Marietta Edgecombe.
"Happy New Year, Marietta," Cho said as she entered the compartment and sat opposite Marietta, happy to see a friendly face.
"Don't be too sure about that."
"What do you mean?"
"A few days ago, mum was getting some robes ready for cleaning, and she tumbled on the Galleon. She put it in her own purse, and when I realized it was missing, I had to go ask her for it back. And she said, what's the difference between one Galleon and the next? So I had to think fast and make up some tripe about it was a good-luck charm from my O.W.L.s, and I always needed it by me. Cho, this is it. I have to stop attending those meetings."
"You mustn't!"
"Why not? It's not as if we're the only Ravenclaws in the group."
"Who, then? Who should I have as a partner? Padma always teams up with Parvati, Michael Corner is with the Weasley girl, and Luna is, well, Luna. Half the time it's as if she's in a totally different room."
"I'm sure you wouldn't mind another one-on-one session with Potter."
Cho felt the blush begin before Marietta even finished her sentence. "Well, we can't do that during the lessons."
"I knew it; you two did something after the last meeting. Cho, I'm saying this as a friend, but being with Harry is the worst thing you could do right now."
"What would you know about it? Harry's very talented in defensive spells--you have to admit that--and he's, well, rather sweet."
"And what does THAT mean?"
"It means he doesn't try to just take over everything. I've seen the way some boys are at Hogwarts when they get a girlfriend. The girl just stops thinking for herself, and the boys encourage it. It's as if suddenly she's property, and has his name tattooed on her bum." Marietta smiled in spite of herself. "Harry isn't like that at all."
"I don't care if he's Merlin, Paracelsus, and Cornelius Fudge rolled up into one wizard. Right now, the Ministry doesn't like him, the Prophet doesn't like him, and Umbridge definitely doesn't like him."
"Are you saying that they're coming after him?"
"Umbridge already has, and you've seen what that got him: off Quidditch for life."
"And you seriously think they'd come after me if ..."
"Do you really want to take that chance? Think of your parents."
"I have thought of them, all my life. I'm turning seventeen in a couple of weeks; it's about time I thought of myself, and Harry."
"So you're not going to give this up?" Cho shook her head. "Well, the whole thing is still as dicey as a red Sickle, but I can stay with it a bit longer, if only to keep an eye on you."
"Don't worry; I'll be fine, I know it."
Just then Raina appeared at the compartment door, and talk of Dumbledore's Army was forgotten for the rest of the trip.
xxx
Monday morning, Cho overslept, missed breakfast, and barely made it to Astronomy on time. Then there was the usual Monday morning dash from Astronomy to the greenhouses. As she passed through the courtyard, she looked around for Harry, but didn't see him.
In fact, she didn't see him until after lunch. She was leaving the Great Hall to pick up her afternoon books when she saw Harry at the foot of the stairs, standing with his usual friends and talking with Zacharias Smith. Cho waited until Smith left; he wasn't exactly the most pleasant person in Dumbledore's Army, and even Harry looked a bit sour after dealing with him. She then walked over to them, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves and saying, "Hi, Harry."
He spun about, and appeared to be surprised, as if she was the one who wasn't on the train but had mysteriously appeared in time for classes. "Oh; hi."
Granger dragged Weasley off, as if she knew to give them some privacy; Cho was grateful for that. "Had a good Christmas?" she asked Harry.
As soon as Cho asked, she remembered Arthur Weasley and the serpent and felt bad about it, but Harry just shrugged and said, "Yeah, not bad."
He didn't say anything else. "Mine was ... pretty quiet," Cho said. Of course it wasn't, between the screaming matches with her mother and the news of a possible tryout with Tutshill this summer, but she wasn't about to tell Harry all that in passing, in a rush in the corridor. It deserved a separate time and place. Perhaps in Hogsmeade...
Cho waited for Harry to say something else, but he didn't. Perhaps he wasn't mentioning it because he didn't know. "Erm, there's another Hogsmeade trip next month. Did you see the notice?"
"What?" It was as if she'd woken Harry up. "Oh, no; I haven't checked the notice board since we got back."
"Yes," Cho nodded, starting to blush again and not caring a bit. "It's on Valentine's Day."
She expected Harry to colour a bit himself, but he seemed just to be juggling a schedule in his head. "Right. Well, I suppose you want to--"
Cho couldn't help interrupting happily: "Only if you do!" Of course, she was very sure that Harry wanted to go to Hogsmeade with her, no matter what day it was.
Except that wasn't what Harry seemed to want. All of a sudden, he looked stunned, as if Snape had just asked him the ingredients of a particularly complex potion. "I," he stammered, "er..."
Oh, no, Cho thought, I'm too late. He's already going with someone else and he doesn't want to tell me. "Oh, it's okay if you don't," she said quickly, feeling thoroughly embarrassed. "Don't worry." She had to get out of this conversation. "I ... I'll see you around." She started walking up the stairs. She wanted to run; she wanted to throw herself into the frozen lake, or off the Astronomy Tower. She had thought about this meeting since Roger had told her about the visit, and it had gone so horribly wrong--
"Cho! Hey, Cho!"
She stopped halfway up the stairs, listening to Harry's voice and fast footsteps. Was it a second chance? Please let it be a second chance...
Harry stopped beside her on the step, his cheeks a bit pink from the running--or was it from nervousness?
"Erm, do you want to come into Hogsmeade with me? On Valentine's Day?" He asked as if he couldn't believe that she'd say yes! That was so--so sweet!
"Oh, yes!" Cho couldn't help it; she was blushing brightly now, and grinning like a fool, and happier than she'd been since the night they kissed.
Her happiness must have infected Harry, since he was grinning now, too. "Right," he said, "well, that's settled then." He turned and, with a last wave to Cho, he bounced toward the library. There was no other word for it; making the date with Cho had definitely put a spring in his step.
Cho, meanwhile, also felt lightweight as she dashed back to Ravenclaw. She collected her books for Ancient Runes and Magical Creatures, but she might as well have left them in her dorm: all she did in class was replay in her mind Harry's invitation to Hogsmeade, and her reply.
xxx
Tuesday, however, brought more ominous news on the front page of the Daily Prophet. There were the faces of nine wizards and one witch--all of them Death Eaters--who had done the seemingly impossible by escaping from Azkaban prison. For many students, morning classes--Cho's were Advanced Muggle Studies and Arithmancy--were pretty much a wash, as students quizzed their professors about the breakout, and the Sixth Year Ravenclaws were among those with questions.
"You ask me about Azkaban as if I've been there," sputtered an exasperated Professor Idylwyld. "Can we please get back to talking about videotape?"
"Yes, I remember Sirius Black," sighed Professor Vector, "He would be about as old as your parents are now. But I recall him being like most of you wizards here. He had his, shall I say, rambunctious side, but certainly nothing criminal back then, and absolutely nothing linking him to He Who Must Not Be Named."
"But it's over two years since Black escaped," Vincent Krixlow pointed out.
"And there hasn't been sight, sound or rumour of him since the escape. The probability is that he fled to the Continent, or perhaps America. And, having fled Ministry jurisdiction, it is statistically incalculable that he would then jeopardize himself to return to Azkaban to free other prisoners. We were on page two hundred seventy-three."
As they descended to the Great Hall for lunch after class, Cho fell back and walked beside Marietta. "I hope this doesn't reflect on your mum."
"What's my mum got to do with anything? She's Floo Network!"
"But a breakout this large from Azkaban? There's never been anything like it! The Ministry can't look too capable now."
"Fudge has already put out an explanation."
"But you heard Vector just now. It's not possible that Sirius Black could have done it."
"No, but it's possible to claim that he's responsible, and maybe that's all the Ministry needs."
"To do what?" Cho asked, astounded.
"To find out what really happened."
"If they're even interested."
"Let's not have that 'You-Know-Who-Is-Alive' lark again."
"Fine. Believe what you like."
"You just believe it because Potter said it."
"I believe it because I saw him bring Cedric back!"
They were in the middle of a pack of classmates, with Professor Vector bringing up the rear. Cho wanted to stop, but the crowd pushed her and Marietta into the Great Hall. Marietta pulled her aside.
"Cho, I ... You're right. I'm sorry. But you have to admit, Harry hasn't really told anyone what happened, has he? And he's had loads of opportunities."
"I know," Cho sighed. She'd asked herself the same question countless times since the Third Task. "But he says he doesn't like to talk about it."
"He'd better learn to like it, if he wants people to believe him. Let's get some lunch."
xxx
Wednesday morning found Cho writing a scroll to her mother. She'd had another nightmare; this one about the upcoming match against Slytherin. Except that Slytherin didn't field a team of students, but the nine escaped warlocks from Azkaban. Roger Davies tried to protest, but the referee turned out to be not Madam Hooch, but the escaped Death Eater witch Bellatrix Lestrange. She killed Davies, then the others started killing the other players and spectators. Cho dodged their spells as best she could, but one of them fired off a curse at her that seemed to come in slow motion. However, she couldn't avoid it, she couldn't counter it, she couldn't even think--
--but she screamed, and that woke her up.
The night was almost gone, so she started writing home, talking about the escape from Azkaban and how the school was reacting to it.
When the other girls started stirring, she stopped writing and got dressed for breakfast. Escaped Death Eaters and an invitation from Harry, she thought; will today be eventful as well?
It was, which Cho found out as soon as she got to the Common Room. A number of students were gathered around the notice board.
"Something happened?" she asked Pablo Molina.
"Yeh, old Umbitch is at it again."
"She's lost what's left of her mind," Roger Davies said. "Look at this."
Cho edged closer to read Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six:
"Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach."
"Makes no bleedin' sense at all," Jan Nugginbridge muttered over Cho's shoulder.
"Too right," Vincent Krixlow replied. "She can't patrol all of the classrooms at once, can she?"
Maybe she doesn't need to patrol them all, Cho thought. Maybe this is aimed at a few teachers she wishes to silence. In any case, breakfast can wait.
She went back up to her dorm to send news of this latest bit of Umbridge's lunacy to her mother.
xxx
to be continued in part 21, wherein Cho goes out on what she had hoped would be a brilliant date ...