Cho's Chic

Chapter 7

It was the afternoon of the day of Hermione's party. She had hired a room in the university called The Undercroft, which was deep under the oldest part of the building. The large room had a stone flagged floor and a low arched ceiling held up by sturdy carved stone pillars. There was a bar, an area with tables and chairs, a large space for dancing, and a small stage where the musicians were to play. These were A Bit Of The Other, a very popular group of undergraduates who made extra money by performing a mixture of music from the Muggle and magic worlds. Hermione was checking that everything was just so before she went back to her flat to get ready for the evening, when Harry came into the room. Hermione, who was expecting him to be full of good cheer for her special day, noticed at once that he had a face like thunder.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. Harry shook his head as if he were too angry to speak. Hermione suggested that they went back to her flat, hoping that their being undisturbed might persuade him to tell her. There, she asked him again. In reply, he dug into the pocket of his robes, and produced a small package. Silently, he emptied the contents onto the dining table. Hermione's heart stopped as she recognised the same four photos she had given to Cho. She looked at Harry, wondering what to say, wondering what he would say. Harry's opinion of things was very simplistic: there was good and bad, and no room for a grey area in between. Harry's view of other people was coloured entirely by how he reacted to things, and he found it impossible to see that sometimes other people approached a situation from a completely different angle. Hermione waited.

Harry looked at her, sensing that her reaction was less than he had expected. "You knew," he said accusingly. Hermione nodded. "How long have you known? You didn't tell me." Hermione shrugged. "I haven't known for very long. Someone sent me the same photos."

"What did you do with them? And why didn't you tell me?" demanded Harry.

"I gave them to Cho so she would know about them. I expect she burnt them. I didn't tell you because I hoped you wouldn't find out. I knew you'd react like this."

Harry shook his head. "How could she?" he shouted. "They killed Cedric. How could she do that with a murderer? I thought she loved Cedric. What can she possibly see in a Malfoy? Did you find out before Cho finished your dress?"

Hermione chose her words carefully. "It's difficult for you, I know," she said. Harry looked at her in disbelief. "Difficult for me? To do what? To like a Malfoy? What are you on about?"

"It's difficult for you to understand what Cho sees in Lucius Malfoy because you hate him so much. So do I," she added hastily. "Harry, I can hardly believe I'm saying this, but he's a very attractive man, and I expect he can be charming if he wants to be. He's using her of course, but maybe she wants to be used."

Harry looked at Hermione as if she were a complete stranger, an expression of absolute incomprehension on his face. "I can't believe you're saying it either, or taking Cho's side. This is the Malfoys we're talking about. They hate people like you. Given the chance, they'd kill your parents. And you say the man's attractive!"

Hermione looked at Harry. She could see she would be wasting her time trying to defend Cho further, so instead she said, "Look, Harry, this isn't the time to have a discussion about this. It's my birthday party in a couple of hours. Please try to forget about this at least for tonight." She gathered up the photos and put them back in the packet, handing it firmly to Harry. She saw he was making an effort, but Harry always wore his heart on his sleeve, and it was clear that he was still unhappy when Ron turned up. For once, Hermione thanked providence that Ron was far too insensitive to pick up on the atmosphere between them. Ron was his usual cheerful, careless self, and Hermione blessed him for it. He even managed to cheer up Harry with his stories about the latest developments at Fred and George's magical joke shop. They were making plans for a branch at Hogsmeade. Harry was always interested in this topic, as he had provided the funding to help start the business.

Relieved, Hermione left them to it while she went to change, and to do her hair as Cho had shown her. She had every reason to be very grateful to Cho: she had been really surprised that Cho, who had such beautiful straight black hair, knew anything at all about curls. It turned out that Cho's cousin was a hairdresser. Hermione had learned more about how to care for natural curls in ten minutes with Cho than in a whole lifetime previously. Hermione's mother did not have the same curly hair, and had treated Hermione's rebellious tangles as a problem, always attempting to subdue her bushy head with the brutal application of a hairbrush. Cho had shown Hermione that curls should be left well alone once dry, and allowed to go their own way. That, and a little magic too, had made Hermione feel real confidence in her appearance for the first time in her life. In return, she was going to protect Cho from Harry's wrath as well as she could - and she would need to do it this evening, because Cho and Alan were coming to the party.

Hermione kicked off her shoes, which had been pinching for hours, and sank into an easy chair. She lay back and relaxed, thinking over the evening. She had mixed feelings about what had happened. On the positive side, everyone she had hoped to see at her party had been able to come, and she had received some wonderful presents. The food and music had been a great success, and so was her dress and the new hairstyle. Everyone complimented Hermione on her appearance, and not a few of the men had looked at her in a new way. She had been surrounded by male admirers the whole time, and all of them seemed to enjoy her company just as she was, she had felt no need to pretend to be less intelligent - she had not scared anyone off.

Harry had avoided making any remarks about Cho. He had also avoided Cho, but only Hermione realised it was deliberate, the room was so crowded that even good friends found they missed each other unless they made an effort to get together. Hermione could see that Cho had dressed down so that she would not outshine the hostess, but unfortunately Cho was so pretty that this made little difference. Hermione had never begrudged Cho her looks before now, but the one person she had wanted to be by her side this evening had gravitated to Cho's side instead.

Hermione had invited all the Weasleys to her party. Mr and Mrs Weasley, like Hermione's own parents, came for a couple of hours to be sociable, then, like most of the other older guests, left the party to the younger folk, claiming that the music was too loud. All the Weasley siblings were there, but the one that Hermione had really wanted to see was Bill. She had had a bit of a crush on Bill for years. When she first met him, he had seemed so glamorous with his pony tail, his fang earring, and his dragon skin boots, plus unusually for a redhead, he had a sun tan from his time in Egypt. He could have passed easily for a Muggle pop star. Now, with her new-found confidence, Hermione dared to hope that he would pay her some attention. He had indeed been very pleasant to her when he presented her with an Egyptian scarab beetle brooch set with deep green malachite, and they had been getting along very well, when Bill had spotted Cho, who was talking to Lavender Brown.

Charlie Weasley, on holiday from his work with dragons in Romania, was just about to hand over his gift, and it was the perfect time for Bill to slip away. Hermione liked Charlie, and was intrigued by his parcel, that turned out to be very elegant dark green dragon skin gloves, made from the softest part of the hide from underneath the wings. The two of them chatted for a while, and more guests approached Hermione, each laden with parcels of varying sizes. When Hermione had opened the last one, she discovered two things: Bill was dancing with Cho Chang, and seemed totally fascinated by his companion; and Charlie was still at Hermione's side, and had obviously waited on purpose so he could dance with her. Charlie appreciated the changed Hermione very much, and wanted to get to know her better.

Hermione sighed as she thought of the irony of spending most of her birthday party with the wrong brother. She liked Charlie well enough, but there was no spark, he was nowhere near as good looking as Bill, and he was obsessive in his love of Quidditch. Hermione enjoyed watching Quidditch too, but when real fans like Harry, Viktor or Charlie got started, it was extremely tedious. She knew Bill had a brain, after all he was a curse-breaker for Gringott's Bank, and it would have been the icing on the cake if she had got to know him better, instead of hearing about Charlie's latest dragon-inflicted injuries.

She felt slightly resentful towards Cho, in contrast to her earlier protective feelings. Cho now had two good looking men interested in her: Lucius Malfoy and Bill Weasley. Hermione partly understood the physical attraction of Malfoy senior, especially when she thought of those photos. She sighed. In books evil people were ugly. In real life, they could be the opposite. Malfoy senior hated Hermione, and it had been easy to hate him back, but she guessed he could be charm itself if he chose. She did not think it would end well for Cho, she was sure Lucius was a selfish bastard who would get bored with her after a while.

But now Cho had Bill Weasley eating out of her hand, and if that relationship were to develop, that would change everything. The fact that Bill was a Weasley was very significant indeed. The animosity between the Malfoys and the Weasleys was well known. Hermione wondered what would happen if Malfoy found out about Bill, or vice versa. She did not envy Cho if this were to happen. She tried to stop herself feeling a slight twinge of satisfaction at the thought.

Two weeks after Hermione's party, Bill Weasley took Cho Chang to a Quidditch match between the Tutshill Tornadoes, Cho's favourite team, and the Chudley Cannons, the Weasley family's local team. It was a while since Cho had been to see a match, so she was very excited, both by the occasion and by the fact that Bill, the only glamorous Weasley male, was her escort. When they arrived, they were just about to go to their allotted seats, when a voice behind Cho said, "Cho, my dear, is that you?"

Cho turned round to see her grandfather, Sun Chang, smiling at her. She was delighted. "Hello, Grandad! I didn't know you'd be here. I thought you were still ill. I'm so pleased you're better. Grandad, this is Bill Weasley. Bill, this is my grandfather, Sun Chang."

Sun Chang was a director of the Tutshill Tornadoes, and his seat was in the directors' box, so they parted company until the end of the match, when they agreed to meet up again, as Sun Chang had invited Cho and Bill to join him in the members' bar. "If we win, it will be a celebration, and if we don't, we can drown our sorrows," he had smiled.

Cho and Bill found their seats were situated below the directors' box, and it was almost impossible to see into the box from that angle. They therefore concentrated on the match, each cheering on a different team, and trying to drown out the shouts of the other. Much to Cho's joy and Bill's disappointment, the Tutshill Tornadoes beat the Chudley Cannons by 290 points to 250, with the larger home crowd cheering them on raucously. The two Quidditch fans followed the crowds to the exit, where they waited for the directors to come down from their box. Cho was the first to spot her grandfather, who was smaller than most people in the crowd. Then her heart stopped, for sauntering behind Sun Chang was Lucius Malfoy. He had not yet seen her, but it would only be a couple of minutes before he did.

Cho waited, her heart in her mouth. Her grandfather halted in front of her, and greeted her once more, hugging her to him, and shaking Bill's hand as he commiserated with him at his team's loss. Then he turned, and introduced them to Lucius Malfoy. Sun Chang said that Malfoy was a business acquaintance, and was his guest. Cho looked at Lucius, wondering fearfully how he would react to seeing her with Bill Weasley. Lucius informed Sun Chang coolly that he was a satisfied customer of his granddaughter, and praised her skill. However, although he spoke words of approval, his eyes were hard as flint as he looked at Cho and Bill. Lucius knew who Bill was, he recognised all the Weasleys by sight, and if he had not, the long red hair would have given away his origins. The sneer on Lucius' face was unmistakable as his gaze swept over Bill. He next looked at Cho, and she thought she would curl up and die. It was as if a steel shutter had come down between them, he did not acknowledge her at all. Sun Chang, meanwhile, did not see Malfoy's expression, but merely heard the words of commendation, and was delighted. He invited all of them to accompany him to the bar. He did not appear to notice the awkward silence, as three people tried to think of a polite way to refuse, and simultaneously decided that this ordeal was something that must be endured.

The next half hour was full of stilted conversation, with Sun Chang the only one of the four who was in a cheerful mood. Lucius ignored Bill completely, as Bill did him. Lucius did occasionally cast malevolent glances in Bill's direction, some of which Cho caught. Cho herself looked and felt torn in three by the conflicting demands on her loyalties. The unwilling participants left as soon as was decently possible, deliberately leaving in opposite directions.