Title: Beauty with Butterflies
Rating: G
Category: General/Angst
Summary: Sometimes connection comes from the strangest of places.
Disclaimer: Not mine… it all JKR's.
It started when the girl moved into the bed next to his. She was a quiet little thing who would stare off into nothing with tears flowing down her cheeks and then fall asleep when she was not being treated by the Healers.
Very boring.
So one day, after he had finished signing his winking crayon drawing of himself (meant for any visitors who happened by because who wouldn't want a hand drawn, signed portrait of him? Quite dashing and skillfully done, if he did say so himself!), Gilderoy began teaching her to do his hair. (Because, really, it was so difficult to keep it up with the potions he had that the only thing to do was to get help.)
She was startled when he spoke to her the first time, interrupting one of her crying sessions. When he asked her name (because who can remember everyone?) she couldn't remember and her eyes began to water again. Gilderoy would have none of that and interrupted her again with instructions about his hair. She looked at the back of his head with drying eyes and then at the materials he had put in her hands. Then she stared to brush his glorious hair.
While she worked, Gilderoy regaled her with his latest adventures eluding last afternoon's raisin pudding (after all, who could eat pie with raisins in it? Banana cream was much better and made for a lovely moisturizer when that strange man from down the hall happened by and smeared it in his face.) He continued on about his explorations of the hospital and the encounter he'd had with a hysterical woman who, nonetheless, had gladly accepted all of the signed drawings that Gilderoy had offered her. He'd had to draw the line when she tried to take a piece of his hair though. It was far too lovely to be tampered with.
After a while, the girl finished with her styling and his hair was just as dashing as it ought to be (not that he couldn't do better himself but with the right potions, of course.) Gilderoy kept talking as they switched positions and he began to work his magic on her hair (because if she was going to be associated with him, she had to look almost as good as he did… and anyway, he had a lavender ribbon that would just look fabulous on her! With butterflies even.) When he was done, she almost smiled as she touched her plaited hair and settled back into her bed.
The next day, she didn't stare and cry quite as much. She even talked to Gilderoy a bit. And when supper came, he gave her his raisin pudding.
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"Have you noticed that Mr. Lockhart seems to have taken Ms. Chang under his wing?"
"Well, he was her teacher so perhaps he's remembering a bit of that responsibility?"
"Now if only she would remember her name."
Fin.
Author's Notes- This was a story for Misura on live journal. It was supposed to have Gilderoy Lockhart in it… I'm not sure how Cho managed to make her way in there nor am I sure why she is there. I think it turned out okay… please let me know.