A/N: It just came to my attention that in my first chapter I say that the killing curse sent Sirius through the veil. That is a mistake. I apologize. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I swear some of your reviews make me just laugh my ass off. You guys make writing this stuff all worth while. Enjoy the chapter. Cheers - Midnight
Chapter 8
Harry flew hard and fast, and when a phoenix wants to it can really haul. It seemed like the countryside was little more than a blur to Harry as he flew over it. And yet with the amazingly keen vision of the phoenix he was able to pick out the license plates of cars and read the time off a wristwatch. Harry had no idea where Hogwarts was, but some kind of natural phoenix instinct guided him to where he wanted to be. And it seemed like he had just barely begun to fly when he found himself in Hogsmeade.
Harry considered changing back to his real form but decided that it would be too risky. But then again, Harry knew that Dumbledore could become invisible without an invisibility cloak, perhaps he could do the same. With a soft pop, Harry was himself again. He looked down at himself still in his hospital garb. Even though he was going to try and become invisible he might as well try and make something that's a bit warmer. And perhaps just slightly better looking than this stupid gown, he added silently to himself.
Harry closed his eyes and concentrated on the hospital robes transfiguring into a nice pair of jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and a jacket over the shirt, as well as socks and shoes. In a way that was almost becoming second nature to him, Harry called upon his magic to do his bidding, and when he opened his eyes he wasn't even surprised to see that it had worked without a hitch. Harry was finding himself more and more comfortable with his new powers, briefly he wondered just how powerful he had truly become, but he dismissed the thought as something he would undoubtedly discover later.
Now for the invisibility thing, Harry thought to himself as he once again concentrated on his body becoming invisible. Harry noticed immediately as he began to concentrate that this would be significantly harder than simply transfiguring clothing. Harry gritted his teeth as he felt his magic cover his body and almost sink directly into the skin, as though it was a sponge soaking up water. Finally, a somewhat winded Harry opened his eyes to find that he was completely invisible. Harry actually smiled to himself and wondered what his friends would say when he showed them what he could do.
If they'll even talk to me at all that is, Harry reminded himself. He had some serious explaining to do. What with the whole lack of letters thing over the summer, and now the death thing, this is going to suck, he told himself. With that thought he began to jog lightly towards Hogwarts.
He was immediately glad that he was invisible, there seemed to be people all over the place as he went through the town. In just a few minutes he had reached the gates of Hogwarts. They were closed.
Shit.
Harry hadn't expected that. He briefly considered changing to his phoenix form, but decided that he would just circle around the gates until they hit the forbidden forest. Harry knew that the gates ended at the tree line as the forest itself was a very effective natural barrier, especially late at night like this.
As Harry reached the edge of the forest, he didn't even hesitate to enter. Some part of him just knew that he was more than capable of dealing with anything out there, and because of his invisibility there really was very little danger. Harry quickly emerged from the forest onto the school grounds. Looking up at the castle Harry could not help but be impressed by the castle even after five years of seeing it, well six years now.
Harry decided that the main entrance would be too difficult to sneak into, so he decided to circle around the lake and get into the back of the school via the back entrance used mainly for quidditch games. Harry briefly wondered how far he had jogged today and decided that being able to jog at all after being in a coma for a month was impressive in it's own right.
As Harry was almost completely around the lake he heard a voice that made his heart stop in his chest. Cho. Harry looked and saw Cho standing on the other side of the lake with somebody. He had no idea how the hell he had been able to hear her from this far away, or even be able to see her so clearly in the dark. I wonder if it has something to do with my animagus form, perhaps the person gains some of the abilities of their animal while in their human form? Harry quickly set aside his thoughts as he set off at a full run towards Cho, he had no idea what the hell he was going to say to her, but just being near her was all he needed.
He was about fifty yards off when he looked to see if Cho was still there. What he saw made his heart stop yet again. But this time he wished his heart had stayed that way. From this vantage point, Harry could clearly see Cho. More importantly he could see exactly what she was doing.
She was kissing someone.
She was really kissing someone.
No words could describe the assortment of emotions that Harry felt. Tears that he hadn't shed in the worst physical torture imaginable welled up in his eyes and began to slowly trickle down his face.
He had to get out of there. He could barely breathe, but he just had to get the hell away from . . . from . . . that. He ran without a destination just to escape the scene he had just witnessed. His concentration shot to hell, his invisibility failed and he returned to his normal, visible, self. He ran until he was racing across the quidditch pitch. A small cry escaped his lips before he screamed out into the night falling to his knees. All the pain and confusion he was feeling was released with that single cry. And like what happened in the summer a wave of raw magic exploded forth from his body shattering all the windows in Hogwarts. But unlike the incident in the summer, the power did not die away.
Harry could feel himself losing control over his very magic as he had at Malfoy Manor. Already his entire body was aflame, but he couldn't control his emotions enough to keep his magic in check. Every hurt and pain Harry had ever known suddenly came back to him, he was being picked on by Dudley and his gang as a kid, his Uncle was yelling at him, he saw Cedric die again, he saw his parents dying to save him, he saw Sirius falling through the veil, he saw Voldemort rising from the cauldron, he felt the pain of his torture again, but most of all he saw Cho kissing that other boy.
With another cry of untold anguish the flame on his body increased in magnitude ten times. He knew that students everywhere were packed around windows looking over the quidditch pitch. But he didn't care as his magic, fueled by his swirling emotion, completely surrounded him in a pillar of flame that must have been five yards in radius and risen thirty yards into the sky. Harry was in the center of a pillar of flame slowly rising up as though he was floating within the flames. Harry opened his eyes looking around as he floated being gently licked by the flames he conjured. He looked up to the broken windows to see students' eyes wide with fear and awe.
The one place he had wanted to be more than anywhere was the place he desperately had to get away from, with a pop he was once again the dark phoenix and in an instant he was gone.
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Since the welcoming feast things had not much improved for Cho. She had the barest of friendships with Ron and Hermione in that about once a week they would chat for about ten minutes in the library before their respective schedules pulled them away and back to the monotony of school life. Apart from having her schedule stuffed full of the most advanced classes at Hogwarts for her final year, she was also trying to sort out her feelings for a certain fellow Ravenclaw. Stan Cooper apologized to her first thing after the welcoming feast and had since then had tried to be friendly to her. But Cho just couldn't push the thought of the kiss out of her head. Hugging Stan had been a lot like the feelings she had with Cedric, and God knows she missed being held by a guy. But comparing that feeling to what she had with Harry made it seem like comparing a spark to an explosion.
Cho's guilt over hugging Stan and the feelings that arose in her because of it, had pushed her to the most time devoted to studying in all her years at Hogwarts. She barely even bothered to maintain her oldest and dearest friendships at school. So many people kept asking her if there was anything they could do to help her. Cho would always brush their questions aside and say she was fine and just had a lot of work to do.
Even the professors had noticed her rather extreme depression. Professor Flitwick would ask her after almost every class if she was having problems with too much work because it looked like she hadn't been sleeping. Even Professor Snape seemed less inclined to dock her for house points lately. Not that she would have cared anyway. The only time a Professor had actually given her a true moments' clarity was when on pure chance she had come across the Headmaster in the library one day.
Cho had just finished a twenty-four inch paper for transfiguration, nine more than what the assignment had called for. Anything to take her mind off how much she missed Harry, and how confused she was regarding Stan. She closed her eyes and allowed herself a moment of relaxation as she sat back in her chair and sighed in content at having finished the assignment. She packed her things and was walking out the door when she fumbled with the book she was carrying and ended up dropping her bottle of ink. The black ink smashed into the hard floor and splashed everywhere. She looked down and saw that the bottom of her robes were splotched with ink as was the floor and whatever poor person was standing in front of her. Looking up, she slowly cam to realize exactly who it was standing in front of her.
"Professor Dumbledore! I'm so sorry, the book, I was trying to not drop that and the ink slipped out . . . I'm sorry." Cho had almost never really talked with the headmaster all that much. Just a few words in the halls every year about this and that like he was just a friendly acquaintance.
"Not at all, I would blame the problem on myself, in fact. It would seem that almost every bottle of ink I have come near today has decided to break on me. In fact I was just about to see if Madam Pince had any books on the propensity of ink to seemingly smash at a given time."
Cho wasn't sure whether the Headmaster was joking or if he was completely serious and in the end just let herself smile and blush. It had been a while since she had actually smiled like that.
"It is days like this when I am thankful for the ink removal spell I was taught by a rather clumsy roommate of mine many, many years ago," Dumbledore said. Waving his wand with a short incantation, the ink vanished from their respective clothing and the floor, and reappeared in the newly repaired bottle. Exactly as it was before, Dumbledore returned the bottle of ink to Cho.
"Thank you, sir. If there's nothing more I can do for you I'll just go then. Good luck on your book search." Cho said turning to leave.
"Actually Miss Chang, upon the mention of my old roommate I just remembered he gave me a book just last year for Christmas that might just have what I'm looking for. So if you can stand the ramblings of an old man I would gladly walk with you as I myself must get back to my study."
Cho couldn't help but be absolutely intrigued by the twinkle in his eye as he said this. While Cho actually preferred walking alone these days, there was something about the headmaster that she just couldn't help but agree to his proposal. For a while Cho remained silent as Dumbledore really did simply ramble on about the most trivial and yet amusing topics.
Finally Dumbledore asked Cho, "What do you think you will be doing after you leave these halls this year, Miss Chang."
Cho actually felt somewhat surprised at his question mostly because she had been asking herself that question more and more often these days. She was nowhere near talented enough to consider professional quidditch, and she absolutely deplored the kind of bureaucratic work her father did at the ministry. She had considered being a healer, or a curse breaker, or generally something that involved hands on work.
"I really don't know yet, sir. I guess whatever it is I do, I want it to be interesting and yet meaningful," Cho said.
"Something that isn't boring then, hmmm?" Dumbledore asked her with a bit of a chuckle. "You might consider being an auror. I have it on good knowledge that you certainly have the marks to be qualified for the position. I also know the ministry could certainly use a few good people in the days to come. Did you know that Harry actually wanted to be an auror?"
Cho stumbled before she could recover from what he had said. The topic of Harry was strictly taboo around Cho these days. Any mention of him and she would immediately tear up and walk away. But the complete casualness of how he said it would make it seem like Harry wasn't actually dead, more like he just wasn't around at the moment. And for the first time Cho actually found herself able to think about him without immediately being overwhelmed by emotions.
"Yes, actually he told me," she was able to say.
"While I must say that Mr. Potter would certainly have been a powerful auror, I think he would've hated the job," Dumbledore said.
"Really? What makes you say that, I would've thought that there would be no job better for him? Well, maybe professional quidditch but someone can't do that forever." Cho said.
"I would've loved to have seen how Mr. Potter ranked in the top quidditch players in the world but I was not thinking of that. For as long as I've known Harry he always seemed to be very independent. Even in quidditch he plays the one part of the team that depends very little on the others while so much depends on him. As an auror, I felt he would have been frustrated by always being given orders by superiors. Whenever a problem would have arisen, Mr. Potter would have wanted to jump on it immediately regardless of who was with him or what others wanted him to do. A very noble trait to be sure, but not one that makes for the best of aurors."
Cho thought about that for a little while. Harry was definitely a loner. He almost never asked for anyone's help. He accepted what was offered to him, but never actually made the request. "You're right, but he was too stubborn to have ever let that stand in his way. If he felt like he was making a difference he would have stuck to it no matter how much it frustrated him," Cho said.
Dumbledore chuckled for a moment before saying, "That is almost certainly the way he would have felt about it." He paused for a moment before saying, "What do you think he would've said about you?"
Once again Cho was shocked speechless, "Me, sir?" was all she could manage.
The Headmaster nodded and politely waited for her to collect herself. "Well," she started, "I guess he would've said that I was a good quidditch player, a friendly person, umm . . . he almost would've certainly said that I get much better marks than I actually do."
She paused trying to think of what else he would have thought about her, she was about to speak when Dumbledore asked, "Would you say he loved you?"
This time Cho actually stopped walking. It was too much. She could hear his voice telling her that. Feel the soft heat of his breath on her. Trying as hard as she could to stop the tears from forming they still managed to, slowly beginning to fall down her face. She inhaled a shaky breath and tried to regain her composure in front of the headmaster. But instead the tears increased and a small sob escaped her lips. "I'm sorry," she said to the aged wizard standing in front of her.
"There's no shame in showing your emotions. It is our ability to cry that makes us human." Dumbledore said. "But consider for a moment, if Harry could say one thing to you now, what do you think he would say?"
Deep down Cho knew the answer to this question, but she didn't want to say it. She wanted to hold on to his memory, she wanted to remember what it was like to be in his arms, what it was like to kiss him. She wanted to remember what it was to be in love with him. "I don't know," Cho lied through her small sobs.
"Miss Chang, you just showed me that you clearly knew Harry well. You knew him better than he knew himself in some ways. Surely you could think of what he would want for you," Dumbledore softly persisted.
"I don't want to. I don't want to let him go," she said to him, finally breaking down and sobbing before the aged wizard.
"Cho," at this Cho stopped sobbing for a moment. In all her years at Hogwarts she had never heard of let alone seen the headmaster actually addressing a student by their first name. She looked up into his eyes to see just the barest glimmer of a twinkle. "Letting go of someone we love is never an easy thing. At the same time we cannot forget to live while remembering those we lost. Harry wouldn't want any of us to forget his memory, but rather remember so that we might all be better people for having known and been loved by such an amazing person."
Cho smiled, "He would have said he wasn't amazing," she said with a faint laugh.
The headmaster smiled and said, "Indeed, he would not have said that. I'm glad we had this chat Miss Chang."
Cho looked and saw that they were just outside the Ravenclaw dorm. "Thank you professor. I guess I needed someone to talk with me about him like that."
"I think you will find, Miss Chang, that Harry will never truly be gone. I'm sure you've heard this before, but as long as people like you and myself can keep Harry's memory alive in talking like this can we truly honor his memory." Dumbledore smiled at the young student in front of him before turning around and walking back to where Cho supposed his office must be.
Feeling better than she had in weeks she stepped through door to her common room.
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Ron and Hermione had been dealing with the loss of Harry rather well considering the circumstances. Unlike Cho they didn't sink into a funk and walk around like zombies. Instead both Ron and Hermione poured themselves into their studies, although Hermione had always been zealous with her school work, Ron shocked the hell out of everyone when he could be found in either the common room or the library studying for hours everyday. When asked why they both felt the need to study like machines, they simply responded with, "Harry." Anyone who had any synapses firing in their brain could figure out that they were talking of preparing to avenge Harry one day.
Those same people would also tell you that they were the most inseparable couple in all of Hogwarts. Rumors had been circulating of the couple making out in empty classrooms despite Hermione's reputation for being a stickler for the rules. What Hermione would say is that life's too short to worry about every little rule. It wasn't long after these rumors that more rumors began of them spending the night together away from Gyrffindor tower; the reason for this being that it was assumed that they were doing something that they rather not have an audience for.
Ron and Hermione did nothing to stop these rumors. It wasn't that they were all necessarily true, it was just that they saw no reason to divulge the nature and intensity of their relationship to anyone. Truth be told though they did spend the night together on average once a week and it really doesn't take a genius to figure out why they felt the need to sleep together away from their roommates.
It was a typical September day that Ron and Hermione could be found walking hand in hand to Hagrid's hut for their Care of Magical Creatures class. They had both enrolled in the N.E.W.T. class, unwilling to give up one of their favorite teachers. Unfortunately for them they still had this class with the Syltherins, on the other hand they also had class with the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. All N.E.W.T. classes had been completely integrated, that is, they included the students from all houses. For some classes like potions, the number of students remained the same in the actual class as not many people met the requirements for that class. Others like charms had to be broken up into two sections, but both sections still had members from all four houses.
Meeting up with the rest of their classmates outside Hagrid's hut they gave a friendly nod in Hagrid's direction as they waited for class to begin.
"Alrigh' today's a very special class for yeh," Hagrid said in his usual pre-class excitement. "Today we're studyin' Phoenixes, and Professor Dumbledore kindly allowed me to borrow his own phoenix for this class."
"Is that so? Well then where is the bird? Or did you forget about that little thing?" Malfoy sneered. No one could really figure out why Malfoy decided to take this class as his distaste for Hagrid was blatantly obvious, but Hermione told Ron it was probably because he lacked the grades to get into any other N.E.W.T. class.
This did not stop Ron from being extremely pissed at Malfoy. "Fuck off Malfoy!" Ron said fully prepared to throw down. Since getting back to school, Ron had long since stopped caring about obeying any rule when it came to the Syltherins and Malfoy in particular. Already this year he had cursed several Slytherins so badly they were in the hospital wing for days, and had actually gotten into a fist fight with a Slytherin 7th year who must have outweighed Ron by fifty pounds. That small detail didn't stop Ron from breaking several of the other boy's bones walking away with little more than a bruise on his arm.
Punishment had of course been swift in almost all these cases but Ron served every detention without a single complaint and always got back points that he lost the next day in his classes.
"Ron! There's no need for that language here! An' as for you, Malfoy, Fawkes will come when he is called," Hagrid said stopping the fight before anything could happen. Hagrid, as if to prove a point, pursed his lips and let out a very loud long whistle. A moment passed and nothing happened, Ron could see Malfoy preparing to laugh when in a flutter of feathers a phoenix landed on Hagrid's outstretched arm.
There was a rather audible "awww" sound made by almost every girl present, Hermione included, and even the guys were impressed by the majestic looking bird now gazing over each of them.
"Class, this is Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix. Fawkes is also Dumbledore's familiar. Can anyone tell me what it means for an animal to be a familiar?" Hagrid asked.
Hermione's hand rose into the hair, "A familiar is a magical animal that has bonded itself to its wizard owner. The wizard and familiar share some kind of communication so that they always know what the other is thinking, though this is not a telepathic link. More like just some kind of understanding. The animal also has to be magical, because non-magical animals are incapable of the intelligence required for a familiar."
"Couldn't have said it better meself, 10 points to Gryffindor. Many of you are probably already aware of some of the properties of phoenixes but I will go over them all now to make sure everyone knows. Phoenixes are among the most powerful and rare of all magical creatures, the only other creatures that even come close are several breeds of dragons too dangerous for even the most skilled of wizards to control. Phoenixes are strongly attuned to the forces of light magic and dark magic, and as such will shun all wizards whose auras are too tainted by dark magic."
Ron was pleased to note that Fawkes seemed to bristle and glare at Malfoy when his gaze rested on him.
Hagrid continued his lecture, "Phoenix tears have the mos' amazin' healing properties known to the world, but due to their rarity are only used in extreme cases of poisoning. Pheonix feathers also have made for many of the most powerful wands in history, legend has it that Merlin had a phoenix feather in his wand. They can fly extremely fast and carry immensely heavy loads. Finally Phoenixes are also almost completely immortal. About once every six months a phoenix will go thorough a burning day. The actual burning process takes about two weeks, a week leading up to the burning day, and then another week for the phoenix to recover. The burning day is simply the day that the phoenix bursts into flames and is reduced to ashes for about a minute before a baby phoenix emerges from the ashes. It is at this critical stage where a phoenix is actually made mortal. Should the ashes be scattered before the baby phoenix can emerge, the phoenix will die. However, in this case, should the ashes ever be completely reunited, not a single grain missing, the phoenix will rise again. It was the interest in the ashes and how they might be used to stop death in wizards that lead to the mass hunting and near eradication of phoenixes several hundred years ago. Phoenixes have still yet to make a recovery from that."
A Ravenclaw boy raised his hand and asked, "Do phoenixes lay eggs like other birds?"
"Good question, there are male and female Phoenixes, and females can indeed lay eggs. However do not mistake this for the common breeding of other birds. Phoenixes can only lay one egg their entire life, regardless of how many burning days they go through. When Phoenixes do mate, they mate for life. That is why the recovery for phoenixes is going so slowly. It can take hundreds of years for a Phoenix to find his mate, some Phoenixes never do. The egg that is laid is so valuable to the phoenixes that only a familiar could ever even be allowed close to it. To this date there has only been one account of a phoenix egg. The egg is wreathed in flames and takes about eighteen months to hatch. This is another stage where a phoenix is vulnerable to death. Because phoenixes are so strongly light creatures, the egg of a phoenix acts like a beacon to all dark creatures. They will feel strongly compelled to destroy the egg. Should this happen, death is not in anyway reversible. Phoenixes will guard their eggs with their life and fight off any creature that attempts to come near the egg."
Hagrid paused for a moment before saying, "It is here when the most terrible of things can happen. Ancient texts only record two instances of this occurrence. If a phoenix should lose its egg, nothing can ever replace the loss, but both phoenixes still live and can continue to fight against dark creatures. But should a phoenix lose both its egg and its mate something terrible happens. The phoenix loses its light. It no longer is a being of light, instead grief and vengeance consume the phoenix. A midnight phoenix is born. These rare phoenixes embrace neither the light nor the dark but will instead kill any that it ever sees as responsible for its losses. The phoenix is turned into a killing machine with black flames surrounding it at all times, and talons that can pierce any substance. A midnight phoenix is far more powerful than a normal phoenix, but the price of the power, is that midnight phoenixes do not have burning days, if a midnight phoenix dies, it stays dead."
Hagrid paused for a moment to let the meaning of his words sink in. "Of course as I said earlier, it is something that at this time is almost more legend than fact. For this class we'll simply observe Fawkes as he flies around and discuss the meaning of his familiarity with Professor Dumbledore."
And so for the remainder of class Ron and Hermione took careful notes on the phoenix and were assigned a roll of parchment on the magical properties of the phoenix.
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The next week saw remarkable changes for Cho Chang. The professors were almost at a loss for words. Gone was the tear-streaked, depressed shell of a person that had so many people worrying. Replaced by someone who was only too familiar and wholly welcome back. Cho Chang quickly resumed her top-notch work in all her classes, resumed practicing for the quidditch team and patched up the many friendships that had been suffering throughout her ordeal. She even took a few moments out of every day to stop and chat with Ron and Hermione.
To say that Ron and Hermione were shocked when Cho sat down next to them one day at lunch with a smile on her face, saying that Harry would have hated the lunch that was being served at the moment, would be an understatement. But for their part they took it completely in stride, not questioning how she had managed to pull herself out of her funk, they were quick to make sure that they could be there for each other whenever they needed.
Cho also began to spend a bit more time thinking about Stan. On several occasions after they would finish studying in the library Cho would hug him and tell him that she was glad that he was there for her. She wasn't rushing the relationship, they hadn't even made plans to go to Hogsmeade, but she could definitely feel the beginning of something.
It was after a particularly grueling study session in the library that Stan asked if she wanted to go for a quick walk on the grounds before curfew. Cho loved to walk in the twilight just before nightfall and quickly agreed. They walked around the lake just talking and admiring the scenery. Apparently the walk had taken longer than they thought it would and before they knew it stars were already bright in the sky.
"Cho, if you don't mind my asking, this past week you've almost completely changed back to what you were like before . . . well . . . you know." Stan was still uncomfortable about pushing the conversation towards Harry.
"It's okay Stan," Cho said. "It's true that after Harry . . . died, I had a bit of trouble dealing with it. But someone helped me realize that what Harry would want from me would not be to dwell on the past. He would want me to be happy now and move on. I'm not saying that I've simply forgotten about it, but I think I'm starting to be at peace with it."
"Well I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear that. I was really worried about you. Seeing you like that was just so . . . sad. I really wanted to help you but I just didn't know how." Stan looked at her and she could see in his eyes that he was being genuine.
Smiling, Cho pulled him into a hug and said, "Oh Stan that's sweet of you. Thank you. And you have helped, even if you didn't realize it."
Not loosening his arms around her, Stan looked into her eyes and said, "I really mean that, Cho. I was worried about you so much because I . . . I really . . . I like you. I like you a lot, Cho." Stan rushed the last part but Cho understood every word.
Leaning in closer to him she said, "I like you too Stan . . . but I just don't know if now is the right time to really start something." She looked into his blue eyes and even though something inside of her was screaming not to do it, she couldn't help but moving in closer. Thoughts of Harry flitted through the back of her mind. She didn't know what she wanted, part of her wanted to pull away, part of her was thinking only about Harry, part of her just wanted to feel like how Harry made her feel. Cho knew that Stan could never replace Harry, but maybe . . . he could come close enough.
Cho wasn't given the option for much more thought as Stan lowered his face to hers and met her lips in kiss that she couldn't help but return. In an instant every thought of Harry was brought to the front of her mind, even though she knew it was wrong, she couldn't help but feel like it was Harry's lips not Stan's. She returned the kiss, hungrily trying to bring back the feeling that Harry gave her. They broke away her eyes still closed, "Harry," escaped her lips before she could stop herself.
In one horrifying instant she realized what she had done and looked up fearfully at Stan. Cho never even had a chance to explain herself.
A piercing, gut wrenching wail cut through the night air. Cho looked over to where the sound of the cry came from to see a figure vanish behind the castle moving towards the quidditch pitch.
Cho had no idea what was going on but as the cry was once again tore through the air she felt a magic wave wash over her. She looked up to see all the windows of Hogwarts shattered by the mysterious wave. Barely aware of what was happening she tore after the figure. Running faster than she had ever done before something inside of her was screaming for her to go find that person. As yet another gut-wrenching cry washed over her she felt a barrage of emotion. It was like every sad moment in her life had been rolled up into one huge terrible emotion, doubled, and then delivered to her at one single moment. She almost passed out from the alien onslaught of emotion.
Running around to the quidditch pitch Cho saw something that took her breath away. In the middle of the field was something that could only be described as a pillar of fire. It must have stretched a hundred feet into the sky by her reckoning. She was not even close to it and still the heat from it made her shield her face. Cho could feel in the very air the amount of magic centered on that pillar of fire, it made the hairs on her arms stand up and sent shivers down her spine.
And then in one amazing instant, something that could only be described as black flames burst forth from the top of the pillar and sped off into the night sky. It was at that time that the pillar itself slowly began to die down until nothing more was left except for the smoldering bit of grass on the border of where the pillar had been.
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Ron was breathing heavily as the sweat ran down his forehead and naked torso. Several yards away his girlfriend was doing likewise (except with a shirt on). Ever since returning to school the pair of them had planned to start up the DA again this year. The only hitch was that neither of them possessed the defense skills that Harry had. So, because they had resolved to reform the DA, they first needed to hone their own skills first, and that was what led them to the room of requirement every night to practice defense on each other.
Unfortunately for them, they had no idea how taxing practicing curses and hexes for hours could be on their bodies. The first week they were barely able to practice hard for about a half-hour before they nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Now they were both able to go for much longer but both of them realized just how truly talented their late friend had been.
During these training sessions, Ron would generally discard his shirt as he simply sweated too much. Hermione, on the other hand, generally did not completely remove her top but instead elected to go for a sports bra.
"So how much longer do you think we'll have to do this before we can start up the DA again?" Ron asked, trying not to let his labored breathing affect his speech.
"Honestly, I think we're about ready, we'll go to the end of the week, just the two of us, and then we'll get in contact with last year's members about how to proceed this year." Hermione replied.
"What do you mean, 'proceed with this year'? How's this year going to be different from last year?"
"Well this year, since we have the permission of the teachers to have the DA, we need to ask the members about if we want to let others join the DA or just leave membership as it is, and when we all leave school it fades away."
"I don't think Harry meant for the DA to be a legacy, but now . . . I just don't think we can let it fade away," Ron said.
"I agree with you, Ron." Hermione said standing on her toes and kissing him softly.
"I think we've had enough for the night. That damn blindness curse really takes a lot out of you." Ron said putting his shirt back on.
"Oh is that the case? Well I hope you still have enough energy left for some . . . physical conditioning," Hermione said with a mischievous glint in her eye, "cause if not, I guess I could sleep in my own bed tonight."
"No, no, no!" Ron said quickly, "No need for that." Quickly regaining his composure he said, "I can assure you, that I'll always have enough for you . . . and several of your friends."
Hermione laughed, "Well since all my friends are asleep, we'll just have to do it all by ourselves . . . several times."
Now it was Ron's turn to laugh. He knew that Hermione knew that he was completely joking about the 'friends' comment, and he was eternally grateful to have such a cool and understanding girlfriend who, truly, was also (now) his best friend.
They quickly gathered together their miscellaneous things, and set off towards Gryffindor Tower. On a sudden whim Ron decided to reach behind Hermione and give a small pinch to her rear end. Generally in the past when he had done this the reaction from Hermione had always been hilarious as she would take on this scandalized look right before she called Ron a jerk and tried her best to hit him back. Of course Ron would stop her "assault" with almost no difficulty and they would just wrestle around and end up having a great laugh over it.
This would not be the case tonight. Hermione let out a surprised squeak and jerked away her ass from Ron's hand. But instead of going into a playful attack, she just gave Ron a look that could only be described as . . . hungry . . .?
Of course Ron had no idea what was going on. Why isn't Hermione attacking me? Why does she look, of all things, like she was turned on by . . . oh. Ron had no sooner made the connection before Hermione launched herself into his arms kissing him on his lips, neck, ear, and whatever else she could get to. Before Ron could even begin to respond, Hermione wrapped her leg around him, causing him lose his balance and crash into the wall behind him. Hermione looked up at him with a bit of concern in her eye saying, "Are you alright?"
Ron could little more than say, "Yup," before Hermione began kissing him and letting her hands run along his torso and even down his thighs. Ron finally snapped out of his stupor and began to return the favor, kissing her neck and that little spot below her ears that he knew drove her crazy.
Hermione let a small moan escape her lips as they quickly let their passion override all concerns of being caught. It was only in these moments of passion when the weight of the world seemed to lift from their lives. They weren't a pair a wizards training to fight a war, they weren't the best friends of a boy recently murdered. They were a pair of teenagers snogging in a frenzied passion that only teenagers and their ridiculous hormones seemed capable of. Hermione was actually reaching into Ron's pants when they first heard it.
An unmistakable cry of anguish filtered in through the window for them to hear. They paused for a moment and then resumed not wanting to let something that clearly wasn't their problem stop them in their moment of passion. Ron allowed his hands to softly stroke her backside drifting lower and lower until his left hand firmly grasped her buttocks.
Just as she gave a sigh of content, it happened. A wave of magic shattered the window next to them spraying them with bits of glass. Fortunately, neither of them were at all hurt by this. They both went to the now glass-less window and peered outside.
What they saw left them speechless.
A lone figure just outside the quidditch pitch was kneeling and screaming into the night. Just as they were about to ask each the other what could possibly be the matter, the kneeling figure was consumed by a plume of flame that seemed to explode from the very ground on which he knelt. They could only stare in absolute amazement as the flame grew into the sky almost reaching the level of the window they were looking out of. The heat from the flame was so intense that even as far as they were they could the feel the heat on their skin almost like they were reaching for the flames of a torch.
They could have sworn that they heard another cry from the figure barely visible through the flame, but the cry was obscured the flame growing even hotter and larger. Ron and Hermione actually had to shield themselves from the intense heat. Ron didn't catch it but Hermione noticed when a seeming black flame leapt from the top of the pillar of fire into the sky.
Soon there after the flames began to dissipate, and in just a few moments the pillar of flame seemed to be carried away by the wind. What was left was a great circle where the flame had been, the ground had been heated so intensely that the very soil and rocks had been liquefied and it almost seemed to be a pool of lava. At the edge of the pool was a bit of smoldering grass where the flame had not touched but the heat had ignited the grass.
Ron and Hermione turned to each other and without words being spoken asked each other just what the hell they had just witnessed. Sadly, neither could answer.
A/N: So you can all see now that Cho isn't already falling in love with another guy, but she is seeking comfort. And I think that's a very apt portrayal of what her character does, I mean she did the same thing to Harry when Cedric died, it just took a bit longer. Let me know what you think . . . or not . . . whatever. Next update in a week.