The ball, true to its course, collided into her side with a force that was so powerful, it knocked her off of her broom and rendered her unconscious almost immediately.
The crowd watched in horror as she began to fall, headfirst, almost as if it were in slow motion.
Chapter 8Madam Hooch was the first to recover from the initial shock. Pulling out her wand and reacting with admirable speed, she slowed Cho's fall and put her on a levitating stretcher as soon as she was two feet away from the ground. She then blew her whistle before grabbing Hannah's microphone, saying simply, "Game over,"
A clump of Ravenclaw girls in the stands were all crying by now, holding onto each other for support and vowing on the spot to visit their friend as soon as she was permitted to receive visitors. Ron was still in the air, staring dumbstruck at her broom, which was still hovering in the air beside him. With trembling fingers, he reached out his hand and grabbed it before descending to the ground on his own broom. Finding it hard to breathe, someone touched him lightly on the arm, almost uncertainly. He turned to find Hermione standing there, looking sympathetic.
"Come on," she said softly. "You can't stay here all day."
Still in disbelief, he let himself be guided back towards the castle.
"Don't worry," she said reassuringly, "I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will let you see her soon."
He nodded and looked straight forward, his eyes blank.
Michael, on the other hand, had turned pale as soon as he heard the sickening crunch of the impact and was now sitting on the field, his head in his hands, as though he had experienced more pain than Cho had. Nobody made a move to persuade him to come inside the school.
Harry had seen her fall, his fingers still outstretched as though the Snitch was still in front of him. The small ball had escaped from him just as he turned his head to see why the crowd had suddenly become quiet, and so the scoreboard showed that Ravenclaw and Gryffindor had tied. He took no notice of this as he walked faster to catch up with Hermione and Ron, following the crowd.
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"… And Ravenclaw scores!"
Cho looked about feverishly for the Snitch, encouraged by the latest goal. She finally saw it shimmering just beyond her reach; she stretched her slender fingers towards it, getting closer and closer before…
A mass of black came hurtling towards her, forming into the shape of a ball- a Bludger. She looked despairingly at the small gold ball in front of her, helplessly clawing towards it as she felt the same tearing sensation as the ball smashed into her. Every nerve in her body seemed to be aching, she cried out in pain as she felt sharp pangs here and there and then-
She woke up.
Sweating from her nightmare, she sat up in her bed, wondering where she was.
The sun shone into the room, falling across her covers in slanted beams. She glanced around at the walls, and at the screens pulled around her that were trademarks of the hospital wing at Hogwarts. As she sat up, she winced, taking in a sharp breath and laid back down again, her head beginning to pound from the pain. Outside the safety of the screens around her bed, however, was the babblings of a hysterical and familiar voice.
"…I told her, didn't I? I said that she shouldn't play Quidditch, that it was a dangerous sport, that she would get hurt, and now she has! I can't believe this! I knew we should've home-schooled her! We should've- we should've protected her! I-" and she broke down in tears, unable to go further.
Cho listened to her mother sob uncontrollably, shaking her head as she remembered how her mother went to pieces whenever she got so much as a scratch. She recalled a time when she was five and she had hidden for fun before falling asleep when no one had come to find her. Her mother had nearly had a heart attack and was undecided on whether to slap her for scaring everyone or to hold her close when they had finally found her huddled in a little ball under the bed, deciding instead to cry and do the latter before scolding her.
"Mum?" she called, her voice slightly weak from disuse.
The sobbing stopped before her mother wrenched an unfortunate divider from beside her bed and rushed to her side, shaking and with a tear-stained face. She looked at her daughter for a moment before breaking down again, saying over and over again, "Thank god, thank god…"
Cho awkwardly patted her mother on the back, allowing her to release all of the pent-up feelings she had.
"I'm all right now, honestly," she said, trying and failing to look healthier. "What day is it?" she added curiously.
At this her mother burst into a fresh wave of tears and her father, who had come rushing to her bedside behind her mother, was left to answer her question.
"It's been three days since your accident," he said, struggling to keep his voice steady. "You gave us a fright when you slipped into that coma,"
Her eyes grew wider as she let this new information sink in. She had been in the hospital wing for three days? In a coma? No, it couldn't be. This was something that happened to girls in novels, not to someone like her. She glanced down at her watch, which told the time and day, and found that it was true; the date was three days later than the last time she had checked it.
"You've had many admirers and friends leave you gifts," her father said, changing topics and pointing to the large pile at the foot of her bed.
She smiled as she recognized Marietta's handwriting on an elaborately designed card on the top of the heap and was surprised when she noticed a box of chocolate frogs with a small note scribbled from Michael beside it.
"Well, I'm all right now, or I will be." She said, smiling at her father and hugging her hiccoughing mother as best she could without hurting herself.
Her mother returned the hug, holding her gently as though she were afraid that she would break. With the two most important people in her life right there by her side, she couldn't help but feel guilty as she felt a sudden longing to see Ron, and only him.
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"Ron, you look horrible," Ginny said frankly to her brother as she patted his back and tried to make him eat some breakfast. She was kneeling in front of him on the floor of the Gryffindor common room as he sat in an armchair and stared at a stain on the carpet. It had been this way ever since they had come inside the school after the game had been ended. Ron had refused to consume anything more than an occasional glass of pumpkin juice and was worrying his little sister out of her wits.
"Please, Ron," she pleaded, "Just take a little bite of toast, anything."
"No thank you," he replied in a hollow voice, still concentrating on the blot on the floor. His hair looked as though it hadn't been brushed in several days, which it hadn't, and stuck up in wild angles, making him look completely disheveled and adding effect to the heavy rings underneath his eyes from lack of sleep.
"Couldn't you at least talk about it, if you won't eat?" she said, ready to give up. To her surprise, he looked up at her and his eyes focused on her face, something they hadn't done in a while.
"It's all my fault," he said hoarsely.
"What? Cho getting hurt and falling off of her broom?"
He nodded slowly.
Ginny sighed and enveloped her brother in a comforting hug, rocking him gently.
"It's not your fault Ron," she said softly.
"Yes it is," he said, his voice muffled as he buried his face in her shoulder.
"You weren't the one who hit her with that Bludger. It wasn't your idea,"
"I should've taken the blow." He said, withdrawing from her and putting his head in his hands.
"There was nothing you could do," she replied, rubbing his back like their mother always did whenever one of them was upset. "If she saw you now, I'd be willing to wager my entire life's savings that she would be disappointed in you. She took the hit for you, only to have you mope and become the mess that you are now."
"You- you really think she'd feel that way?" he said slowly, looking up at her again.
"I know so."
He moaned and said quietly, "It'd be better if I could see her."
"Well, I wanted to save this for later when you looked netter, but I guess now is a good a time as any to tell you the news." She said, straightening up.
"What? What?" he said frantically, grabbing her by the wrist.
"I heard just a half hour ago that she's allowed visitors now. The wing's pretty much packed to the fullest by now. Besides," she added more sternly as her brother made an attempt to rise from his chair, "you might want to wait until you're more presentable. And when you have more energy, which you can obtain through eating." And with that, she waved the plate of toast in front of him; he grabbed it reluctantly and began to eat.
Satisfied, she finished off by saying uncertainly, "You know, in the meantime, if you're interested that is, since you've been so cut off from the rest of the school for a while now, and a lot can happen in a few days- well- since you're my brother and all- I'm going out with Ernie McMillan now,"
He almost choked on his toast.
************************
For the first time in days, Cho wanted nothing more than to disappear. This had to be the most awkward confrontation she'd ever had.
Michael Corner stood in front of her bed, looking a bit shy and extremely remorseful.
After talking for a while with her parents, she was finally granted the privilege to see visitors, and she was certainly called upon by many.
First, Marietta was let in and with much difficulty kept from flying at her friend and going into hysterics. Evidently, she had been begging to see her and as a result was promised to be the first visitor. She did, however, start crying softly as she talked to her friend.
"I want to confess something to you Cho," she said, suddenly looking scared and ashamed at the same time, her eyes red. "I-I made a bet with a Hufflepuff- oh, it was in your favor," she added as Cho opened her mouth to speak, "but I still couldn't take the money after the game. Even though you did play well against your own boyfriend, I couldn't accept it… I just don't think it would be right."
Cho pondered for a moment whether or not to tell her friend that she already knew, that she had overheard. She decided not to and said, "Shh, it's all right Marietta," as the tears began to fall again. "It's all right."
"Are you sure?" she asked, still looking afraid.
"Of course," she replied, hugging her friend reassuringly, who in turn cried all the harder, exclaiming, "I don't deserve to be forgiven!" and all sorts of nonsense.
"You're being silly Marietta," Cho scolded gently. "Just let it go. No, look at me. Let- it- go."
Slowly, she nodded and swallowed hard, her sobs slowly fading away.
"So," the bed-ridden Ravenclaw asked slyly, "do you have any new gossip for me?"
At this, Marietta's face lit up instantly as she grinned impishly, giving her friend the answer through her facial expression.
"Wait until you hear this…" she said as she had so many times before. Two hours later, she had to be literally dragged out of the hospital wing, and she only allowed herself to be taken away with repeated promises that assured another visit.
After she left, three Ravenclaw first-year girls walked in shyly, obviously feeling as though they were finally meeting their idol.
Cho smiled warmly and said, "Hello,"
One of the girls gave a small wave and then lowered her hand as quickly as she had raised it.
"Well, it wouldn't be very comfortable standing up over there," she said, motioning to a few chairs surrounding her bed. "Sit,"
Wringing their hands slightly, each girl sat down, still looking as though they were torn as to whether they should stay or run to somewhere where they could admire their heroine from a safe distance.
"How- how much does it hurt?" one of them asked in a small voice.
"It still hurts, but I'm sure it's nothing that Madam Pomfrey can't fix," she replied, smiling.
Encouraged, the girl sitting in the middle seat said, "We think it was very brave of you to take that Bludger for your boyfriend like that."
Not quite expecting this, she said, "Yes- well, when you feel that way about someone, you just don't think about your reactions; you just follow your heart. If that someone is the one for you, you can feel it, and no matter how long you've been with this person, if you really know, then it's all worth it in the end. Never forget that," she said, before laughing and saying, "That's your moral lesson on love for today girls. Can I help you with anything else?"
"No that's enough," the last of the girls piped up, all three of them beaming at her. And with that, they ran out of the room, allowing for the next visitor to come in.
"Joan!" Cho said, delighted. "I'm so glad you could come visit me!"
"Oh, it's nothing," she said modestly, arranging the small bouquet of flowers she brought in a vase on the bedside table.
"No, really. This means a lot to me."
Joan sat down in the chair closest to the bed, crossing her legs and setting her purse down on the floor beside it.
"You had us all worried sick, you know that, right?" she started seriously, seeming to settle in, ready for a long conversation.
"Yeah," Cho said, looking guilty. "You're not upset with me though, are you? I guess- I sort of broke that promise I made you…"
"Nah," Joan said, waving her hand to dismiss the matter. "You promised that you wouldn't tell Ron any of our strategies, and you didn't. I didn't tell you not to-" – she made quote marks with her fingers – "-'follow your heart," before ducking a pillow aimed for her head.
"Sure you wouldn't rather be a Chaser instead?" the laughing Ravenclaw said while straightening up in her seat, her solemn manner gone. "That was a pretty accurate throw."
"I'm positive," she replied, laughing as well.
"So, are you planning to write an advice book now in your spare time? How about a really original title? Something like Love Advice," Joan said, smirking. "Just add a small subtitle that says by Cho Chang, Hogwarts expert. I'm sure you'd sell millions,"
She was cut off from saying anything else by another pillow that was thrown before she could react. Cho's face flushed as she laughed uncontrollably while her friend sat in her chair again, her hair topsy-turvy with a few feathers sticking out of it here and there.
"I'm sure a picture of you at this very moment would sell millions too," she managed to gasp out before breaking into a fresh outburst of giggles.
Joan pretended to frown as she did her best to tidy herself up.
"I'm serious though, you really did scare us," she said.
Cho sighed. "I don't know what to say Joan, except… I'm sorry…"
"No, don't be sorry," she said quickly, giving her a hug. "I'm just saying that we all care about you so much, and we don't know what we'd do without you. I don't know what I'd do without you, on the team or as a friend."
"Thanks,"
"Don't mention it,"
"So," she started, pushing her covers down to her waist and sitting up straighter, "who won the game?"
"We tied, 70-70,"
"Harry didn't catch the Snitch?"
Joan shook her head. "He saw you fall and in that split second the ball got away… by the way, has Ron come to see you yet?"
"No," she said, "the only people I've seen so far were Marietta, some first-years from Ravenclaw, and you."
"Hmm… strange. Maybe he hasn't heard about you being allowed to see visitors yet."
"Maybe."
"When do you think you'll be going back to classes?"
"Madam Pomfrey said that she'd keep me in her for another few days, just in case, but I'll be back by the last week of November."
"Cool… well, I'll see you later, okay? I've got some homework to do; you know how it is. Oh, and everyone in our dorm says hi, since they're either coming all together or not at all and, well, they can't all come at the same time." She shrugged. "They're stubborn girls,"
She gave Joan one last hug before letting her go. Following Joan's visit, she was paid visits by twenty Gryffindors, a few Hufflepuffs, countless Ravenclaws, and even a Slytherin who mumbled something and left a card before running out as quickly as he had come in.
And now Michael was the only other one in the room with her.
"Hi," he said quietly.
"Hello," she replied, looking cool and composed.
"I see you got the chocolate frogs,"
"Yeah… I haven't really gotten a chance to eat them yet. Thanks though,"
"No problem."
And then… silence. But it was the worst silence Cho had ever experienced, and she broke it by saying, "Sit,"
He blinked blankly as though he couldn't quite comprehend what she had just commanded and said, "W-what?"
"Sit," she said again. "You're making me feel bed-ridden." She gave a short forced laugh.
Doing what she told him, he sat down in a chair.
"So how are you? Everything all right with you?" she said, attempting to make casual conversation.
"I'm fine I guess…"
"Good, good…"
"Listen- Cho," he started, then stopped.
"What?"
"I just wanted to say- I'm- I'm sorry,"
"About…?"
"Everything, I just lost my head, I suppose. Can you forgive me?"
Cho took in a deep breath and looked at him, studying his face and trying to fathom what he might be hiding in his apology. Finally, she sighed and said, "Yes. Yes, of course."
She held out her hand and he took it hesitantly; they let go quickly.
"By the way," he said suddenly, pulling a few books out of his bag, "Joan told me to give this to you… she said she forgot to leave this with you herself. It's the work you've missed for the past few days,"
"Thanks," she said, taking the small stack of books and parchment.
"Well, I guess I'll go now," he said after another long pause, getting up, his face adding as an afterthought, "I did what I thought I should and I'm getting the hell out of here now,"
"'Bye," she said.
"'Bye,"
After he left, she relaxed and leaned back more into her pillows, exhaling a sigh of relief at the fact that he was gone. But one thought particularly bothered her; why hadn't Ron come to see her yet? He might not have heard a few hours ago when it was first announced, but news like that usually spread like wildfire, reaching every dark corner. Maybe he was stuck at the back of the long line, or maybe he was out getting her a gift, although he certainly didn't need to. Maybe he didn't want to come. Maybe he was embarrassed about having a girl rescue him. Perhaps he was avoiding her. Perhaps he blamed himself.
She sighed and rubbed her temples; it had been a long day… or was it still morning? She hadn't been brought lunch yet, so it was most likely still morning. As soon as she thought this, Madam Pomfrey appeared, bringing her lunch.
"Here you are," she said briskly. "If I were you, I'd take my time eating," she added, "since you still have a long queue of callers."
"Thanks," she called after the nurse as she left.
Picking up her fork and deciding to take the advice given her and eat a bit more slowly, she wondered about the truth in what she had told those first-years. Did she really feel that way, or was she simply going along with the plan? The way her heart began to beat more quickly than usual whenever his name was mentioned was more than likely a hint. She wondered whether he had heard that she was allowed to see visitors yet and thought of Madam Pomfrey's words, and how the line of people waiting to see her was still lengthy and started to chew a little bit faster, thinking of Ron.
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A/N: Happy Thanksgiving everybody, Americans and everyone else alike! Sorry I took so long to update; I'm marching in the Hollywood parade with my marching band and we're leaving for California tomorrow, so you guys might have the wait just a little bit longer. This is a really rushed chapter, so please excuse any mistakes I may have made in spelling, etc. Oh, and we were one review away from the goal of 35 reviews! ONE! Come on people, go review! Anyway, first read my thanks:
To LogicalRaven: Yeah, maybe she should be in Gryffindor, huh? :-) I'm sad that Harry's turned out to be such a pain in the butt though… Your patience is again appreciated.
To shortywithbrains: I'll see what I can do about getting in more evil Hermione… lol… But yeah, I thought that it would be nice little twist. I'm glad you love my story for being unique!
To glitterfairyxoxo: Yes, I am an evil person! Anyway, I just thought that Harry needed to deflate his ego a bit, and the Wronski Feint is the perfect revenge!
To toxiclove1: Mwahahahaha!! EVIL!!!!!!!
To Sheen Rox: I keep forgetting to tell you this, but I love your name! Sheen is like, my favorite Jimmy Neutron character! :-) You're so nice, and I'm so… EVIL! lol
To LauriAnn: I hope you like how everything's worked out! (*winks*) And thanks for that sweet compliment about how I made you fall in love with C/R!
To Pout: I'm glad you managed to control yourself in time! What you said in your review is, I think, one of the nicest compliments I've ever received about how I wrote Cho's character. Thanks!
To ChoChang100: Sorry if this chapter was a little bit disappointing! But I promise the visit with Ron will be nice, okay?
I love all of you guys (and not in a weird way) and I hope you have the best Thanksgiving and if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I'm sorry that you don't have a day off from school! Can't wait to hear from you!
-Unicorn13