(note)Just a side-note, I do mix in some real quotes word for word from the book. I don't own those lines, J.K. Rowling does. She probably doesn't read fanfiction (at least I don't think she does) but DON'T SUE! TT
Eyes of Blue
Chapter 4
"Who are you going with?"
That was the single most overused question of the week. After the exciting events of the first task, the news of a dance began to spread. It was officially announced by teachers and staff that there was to be a formal ballroom dance for everyone fourth year and up. All the students began to suddenly stalk one another as they waited for the perfect chance to ask them to the Yule Ball.
Cho and Fleur were suddenly both magnets to the opposite sex. Since they were usually found not too far from each other, almost the entire male population had followed the pair from a distance, not wanting to get too close.
Whether it was during break, eating lunch, or walking to the class History of Magic, it seemed like Harry had been following Cho. She would turn down a hallway and out of the corner of her eye, she could see the dark-haired boy anxiously hiding behind a book, or a statue. She knew he wanted to ask her.
However he would be rejected because one Friday, when she was studying quietly in the library, a certain Hufflepuff had taken a seat next to her. Many of the girls nearby had started to whisper enviously to each other as Cedric Diggory began to talk to her. His voice was dripping with apprehension as he began to stutter out his invitation for her to go to the dance.
"Er… Cho, I don't suppose…you know, since the Yule Ball is so close…and all the champions need partners…I was wondering…if…you'd like to go with…me? I mean, that is, if you don't already have a person to go with…since you know, you're one of the most prettiest girls in the school…and popular…and…and…"
She closed the book she was reading and silently thought about the offer in her mind.
Cedric was a nice guy, but she didn't know if she liked him or not. Not that it really matters, it's not like he's asking her out or anything. But…the thought of going with him didn't exactly feel right.
I feel like I want to go with someone else, but I don't know who or why...
Shrugging away that thought, she nodded. Cedric's face brightened up considerably as she smiled faintly.
"I wouldn't mind going with you. Besides, you had a wonderful performance last task. I really enjoyed it."
He grinned boyishly and stood up, making his way to the door and waving. "Thanks. I'll see you…Christmas. Right? Bye."
He walked out of the library with a happy grin sitting on his nicely proportionate face. Cho watched him leave but was soon attacked by nearly every girl in the library. They had apparently overheard the whole conversation, and even though they appeared as if they were reading, they really weren't.
Padma Patil put a hand on her shoulder excitedly, "Oh, did he ask you to go with him to the Yule ball? I bet he did, ohhh you're so fortunate. I seem to be unlucky when it comes to all things guy-related. But Cedric… wow."
The huddle of girls surrounding her began to whisper and giggle as they talked about how cute a couple they were.
Someone sighed heavily behind them.
Leaning up against a nearby wall with her arms folded across her chest, Fleur was dressed in her normal Beauxbaton robes and was eyeing Cho with an uninterested smirk. She looked at her fingernails casually and began to talk without looking anyone in the eyes.
"Why are you all so obsessed with such a guy? There are so many more better catches out there, I wonder why you all just focus on this one."
The group surrounding Cho immediately frowned at the blonde-haired girl and began to shoot comments back at her.
"You just resent the fact that he didn't ask you."
Fleur laughed at them mockingly, "Me, envious of Cho? Over what? That boy isn't even my type. Besides, if I wanted any guy I could go out anytime and snatch him up. Nearly every person here is willing to give into my impeccable charm. It's just pathetic that Cho doesn't get to go to the ball with someone better for her. That boy…Cedric, doesn't deserve one such as her."
Cho looked at Fleur as she spoke and although her words were harsh, her deep blue eyes seemed sad, but a flicker of…jealousy seemed to flash across her features. Jealous of Cho, or…Cedric… she couldn't tell.
As Fleur finished her sentence, the people surrounding Cho got fed up with her presence and left the library still whispering about Cedric. Walking up and taking a seat beside her on the desk, Fleur sat up straight and stared at the book on the table with distaste. She shook her head.
"History of Magic is a rather drab class. Arithmancy is much more appealing."
Laughing softly, Cho looked at Fleur seriously, "So has anyone asked you to the dance yet?"
Glaring at the table as if it were her mortal enemy, thoughts and memories of all the guys who had asked her out flashed before Fleur's eyes. Of course nearly the entire school had asked her to the dance, but none of them fascinated her enough. They were all so tasteless and dull, with no personality whatsoever. All they seemed interested in was…well, her. The way they stared at her and nearly choke as she would speak.
"Many men have asked me to the dance, but they do not suit my preference. I'd rather it if I could just go alone, but according to the cursed rules, I need a partner. That Weasley boy had the audacity to come up to me and ask. I do not even know who he is and he thinks he can just walk up to me when I am in the middle of a conversation with Cedric. The nerve! I did not even bother to laugh insultingly at him. But that one boy though, Roger Davies, he seems…acceptable…"
Oh, that's why she looked green. She had probably asked Cedric earlier and he turned her down. So that explains it…
Cho grinned almost sadly at the flustered girl, "It must be your veela charm you're working on them. It's not completely your fault that you're a magnet for all sorts of people."
Scowling back at Cho, Fleur grit her teeth, "Even… a girl asked me! It was purely unbelievable! As if I were interested in her, that is rich… It's almost as if this stupid veela blood is more a nuisance than a blessing. It just adds to my irresistibility. And stop laughing at me! It is most definitely not a funny subject, so wipe that grin off your face."
Throughout Fleur's entire speech, Cho had to suppress rising laughter in the pit of her stomach. But at the mention of even a girl asking Fleur to the dance, the giggles burst out of her.
"It seems your charm goes beyond that of guys. Good job Queen of All Things Desirable."
Fleur punched her arm half-jokingly and stood up smirking playfully, "Well, any girl is better than that feminine Cedric. Have you seen the way that poor boy dresses? It's as if he were raised with multiple sisters and inherited their clothes."
They both chuckled heartily and as Fleur made her way to the Library's exit, Cho grabbed her hand. The platinum blonde jumped in surprise but turned around with a neutral expression. Her eyebrow quirked up as she stared at their grasping hands peculiarly.
"Now don't tell me even the mighty Cho has fallen for my uncontrollably sexy aura?"
Blushing and quickly dropping hands, Cho brushed aside stray black hair nervously and grinned, "Don't even count on it. As much as I know you'd love to have the most popular girl in school smother you, I think that you're out of luck. What I meant to say was I'll see you at the Yule ball. I need to get to my Defense Against the Dark Arts class."
Both girls laughed and walked out of the library in separate directions.
As she walked down the corridors, Cho's thoughts kept getting distracted. Fleur always acted so strangely, it was hard to tell how she felt about stuff. Her face would certainly never betray any feelings; she always kept it neutral. But the things she said and the way she said them, she couldn't tell whether Fleur despised or liked her. She laughed, she yelled, she's happy, she's angry.
"A flippin' mystery if you ask me."
She entered the classroom and took a seat. A bunch of her acquaintances sat near her as the class started. All they kept talking about was how Cedric had asked her to the Yule Ball. It seemed news traveled very fast at Hogwarts. The only thing that bothered her was their need to giggle incessantly.
She especially wished they would stop their snickering as soon as the class ended and Harry had ambushed her outside her classroom. It sounded like a horde of snakes were around her with all of their hissing and giggling.
"Er – Cho? Could I have a word with you?" he asked timidly.
She nodded and replied, "Okay." Before going off with him to a place out of earshot.
He stared at her awkwardly and kept shuffling his feet. He was nervous, and Cho knew why.
"Er…wangoballwime?"
…
What the heck did he just say?"Sorry?" said Cho.
"D'you – d'you want to go to the ball with me?" said Harry. His face had turned so deep crimson that it looked like he was going to burst open from pressure. Cho guessed that she too had turned a slight shade lighter because she felt heat rise to her face.
"Oh Harry, I'm really sorry, I've already said I'll go with someone else."
Her words crushed harder than a ten-ton weight. His face seemed to turn off like a broken light bulb as what little radiance he had got sucked clean out of his gawky smile. He turned back around, his shoulders slumped as low as possible, and began walking away.
She started walking back to her common room.
Don't ask it Harry, don't ask it…"Who're you going with?"
Cho grimaced and paused, slowly turning around. Hearing the name would obliterate what little dignity was left in him. The only other person to be in the tournament who everyone said deserved the spotlight instead of Harry. She didn't necessarily dislike him, but she didn't want to hurt him. It was too late for that though.
"Oh – Cedric," she said. "Cedric Diggory."
That did it. His whole heart seemed to explode into tiny, itty-bitty pieces as he dragged his lifeless body back to his own Gryffindor dormitory.
After that, he had avoided all contact with her. Not that it mattered much, since the holidays were coming up so soon.
Christmas had snuck up on everyone rather quickly as a winter blanket of white covered everything about four inches deep. Everyone had woken up to the wonderful smell of freshly baked stews and puddings. Cho stared at the foot of her bed and looked at all of the boxes of candies.
Fleur's laughter rang clear through the crisp morning air as she too stared at the mound of chocolates near the foot of her bed.
"It seems we are equally popular. I hope you like chocolate, because I will not eat mine. Must keep my figure up, yes indeed."
She hopped out of the bed and ran her fingers through her seemingly perfect hair as she scratched the nape of her neck. Cho marveled at her gleaming and untangled hair. Even bed-head did not affect the Beauxbaton goddess. The pair had gone down to eat some breakfast since that was the day of the Yule Ball.
"It is too heavy, all this Hogwarts food," Fleur lifted up her spoon and let the thick contents dribble down, "I will not fit into my dress robes! There was a reason why I didn't eat those chocolates, but this might as well be a substitute for all of it."
Cho laughed as she took a sip of the rich stew. It did taste really good, and on such a cold morning, the steaming hot soup tasted delicious.
"It's better to eat than starve yourself. Besides, I don't think it's possible for you to gain weight. You're so slim."
Fleur took another sip and smiled, "I guess you are right, as always. It is better to eat than look like an emaciated ghost. A few rich foods here and there won't hurt…"
She took more sips before shaking her spoon at Cho, "But if I suddenly burst into a gigantic ugly ball then I shall forever hate you! I cannot go to the ball looking like a kid's toy." They laughed.
After the quite uneventful breakfast, they had decided to spend most of their time in the Ravenclaw common room. Nothing exciting was going on really. Padma was sitting in the comfiest armchair reading a thick book, Cho was staring out the window and watching kids enjoy themselves throwing snowballs at each other, and Fleur…well, she was complaining again, but not about food.
"It has gotten rather cold all of a sudden! This Hogwarts place, does it not have a heater at all? So uncomfortable. I wish I was back at Beauxbaton again. Oh, the halls it has, and all of the luxurious…"
Everyone had learned to tune out her ramblings about the medieval feel of Hogwarts. She had eventually stopped talking as she decided to go down to eat more food for lunch. Turkeys were being served, and many Christmas puddings were accompanying them. Cho heard Fleur mumbling more about how she 'wouldn't fit into her dress robes' again.
Outside in the fluffy blanket of white, students were abandoning their snowmen and snowballs and began to flood back into the school to get ready for the night's festivities. It was nearly seven o'clock as all the girls ran back to their dormitories to change into their fancy dress robes.
Fleur was pulling out her satiny robes from the trunk and began to smooth them out as she spread them across the bed. Cho had also pulled out her own white dress robe.
Even though Fleur had her back to her, Cho couldn't help but stare at her as she changed. She knew it was an invasion of privacy, but her eyes kept wandering and she couldn't help it.
It's the uncontrollably sexy aura. Damn those veelas.
She chuckled to herself silently as Fleur pulled up the dress and folded over the silvery-gray straps. The elegant robes glimmered in the light as she swept her platinum hair behind her shoulder. She started to turn back around, so Cho ripped her gaze from her dorm partner.
Her face burned red as she changed as quickly as possible because she felt a pair of cool blue eyes raking her body up and down. She could feel her eyes tracing her curves all over her body and…
Cho shook her head furiously as she fastened the last strap. Turning back around, she smiled warmly and suddenly her jaw dropped.
Fleur was stunning.
Veela or not, she still had the effect of drawing her in. Walking up to her slowly, Cho paused a few feet away from the taller blonde with a glazed look in her eye.
Smiling a perfectly white grin, Fleur ran her finger along Cho's cheek before placing a quick kiss on the spot as she started walking towards the door.
"We must hurry or we shall disappoint our partners."
Fleur is an enigma. Sexy aura and all.
Once again shaking her head to get her mind and thoughts cool and collected again, Cho stared in the mirror and fixed her hair up a bit, and then put an ornamental decoration through her hair. It was a small, blue, crystal flower that gleamed multiple shades of blue when twirled in the light.
Outside of the Ravenclaw entrance, Roger Davies, Cedric, and Fleur were waiting. As she stepped out of the hole and took Cedric's offered arm, Cho began to feel nervous. She had forgotten that he was one of the champions and that she had to open the dance along with the other couples.
It was nearly eight o'clock and the entrance hall was packed to the brim with waiting students. The doors to the Great Hall were to open very soon, but the oak doors behind them opened up first.
Durmstrang students filed in with Krum leading them and a happy Hermione accompanying him.
"Champions over here, please!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang over the boisterous chatting as the special select couples wandered over to her. They lined up by the door as the other students were allowed entry to the Great Hall. Fleur and Roger had gone to the front of the line and were first to enter. It almost seemed like he was drooling at his good fortune for having Fleur as a partner, but her face seemed rather annoyed.
Cedric flashed Cho a friendly smile as the pair walked into the hall following Fleur and Roger. A sea of students and hundreds upon hundreds of eyes followed them as they made their way to a large round table at the top of the Hall next to the judges. Everybody broke out clapping until everyone was seated.
It was a perfect place for the Yule Ball to be held. Stars glittered the dark night ceiling as sparkling silver frost covered the walls. Hundreds and hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy criss-crossed around the frosted walls. All around the champions, small tables sporting about twelve people and little lanterns had replaced the regular house tables.
Everyone looked at the menu in front of them and then stared at their plates as they said the name of what they wished to eat.
"Pork Chops!"
"Roast Chicken."
"Stew."
Magically, the golden plates filled up with the said foods and everyone went off to eating and talking.
Cho was deep in conversation with Cedric about Quidditch and how they missed it so far this year.
She nodded in agreement, "Yes, I completely agree. I know the Triwizard Cup is very important, but I just wish that they had practice games or something like that. Any sort of Quidditch would be nice. Practice or not, I miss it very much."
He took a bite of steak and bacon, nodding his head, "Yeah. I miss catching that little golden snitch, but this Triwizard Tournament is very exciting. Dangerous, fun, and it lets me do some spells we're not supposed to use regularly. It's almost sad that you didn't get a chance to be in it."
Cho thought back about when Fleur made her enter her name into the goblet, but then she snapped back to the present as she heard the icy voice complaining about the decorations.
"This is nothing, at the Palace of Beauxbatons, we have ice sculptures all around the dining chamber at Christmas. They do not melt, of course… they are like huge statues of diamond, glittering around the place. And the food is simply superb. And we have choirs of wood nymphs, who serenade us as we eat. We have none of this ugly armor in the halls, and if a poltergeist ever entered into Beauxbatons, he would be expelled like that."
She heard a slap on the table and her dinner glass shook, spilling a little sparkling apple cider contents onto the table. Cho turned her head slightly and smiled in amusement. Apparently, Roger was just imitating her absentmindedly. He was much more interested in just…well, drooling and staring. Half the time his fork missed his mouth, resulting in steak juice on each sides of his mouth.
Hermione was beside her trying to teach Krum how to say her name. It was quite humorous until she gave up and just let him call her 'Herm-own-ninny.'
After a long while of eating and conversing, hungry students had demolished the food so Dumbledore rose up from his seat. Everyone followed suit as he tapped his wand and all of the tables flew against the wall. A stage magically appeared before their eyes and the Weird Sisters walked up on stage picking up their instruments.
A mournful tune was struck up as the champions, accompanied by their partners, walked to the center floor.
Hesitantly, Cedric put his hand on Cho's hip and grasped her other with his. They waltzed around slowly to the melodic tune.
He seemed like he would be the perfect guy for anyone. Being one of the few boys in school who had a flawless physique, picturesque smile, and the most endearing personality, Cho wondered why she didn't like him. Unlike all of his fangirls, she wasn't included.
Why don't I like him…? It seems like I should, but I oddly don't, it's strange…Eventually other students began to flood the floor as they waltzed around with their ballroom dance partners. Suddenly aware that Fleur's complaining voice was nowhere to be heard, Cho looked around in the crowd for a flash of platinum, but saw none.
"That's peculiar…" she mumbled.
"What is?" Cedric was looking down at her as she realized she just said that out loud. She shook her head and said nothing. After dancing through a few more songs, Fleur still remained unseen.
"Mind if I sit this one out? I think I want to go get some fresh air or something…"
Cedric looked at her and grinned, "Sure, go ahead. Mind if I go talk to a few Beauxbaton girls…? Seeing as how this is supposed to be a ball to unite the students and all…you know…"
She smiled, but as she walked towards the glowing garden outside, it seemed more like Cedric was also looking for someone else.
As she exited into the cool crisp air of the night, she stopped to look at the lit-up rosebushes. It was utterly breathtaking, but she was alone, and it seemed like not being with someone spoiled the moment. She continued on.
Oh, why am I looking for Fleur right now? I should be enjoying my time with Cedric. She's not nice to me, well, not always anyways, and she just complains all the time. Why do I worry so much? Not like anything happened to her. She's probably off complaining about…I don't know, the lights in the bushes being too bright or something ridiculous like that-
Just as she thought of Fleur in a rosebush complaining about the fairy lights, she heard her voice over in the corner. Her voice seemed heavy, out of breath even.
"These…bushes…are so…bright."
Cho smirked. Of course, leave it to Fleur to complain about beautifully lit rosebushes. She walked over to the increasingly loud voice.
"Don't…don't…" continued Fleur in a rising tone.
Too late.
"Hey Fleur, I can't believe even you can find something to say about the…rosebushes?"
Bad time.
Very bad time.
Pressed against the wall with Roger pressed up against her, Fleur stared open-wide in embarrassment and fear as Cho stopped dead in her tracks. The Quidditch captain and chaser for the Ravenclaw team seemed to be nearly crushing the delicate Fleur with his weight as he attempted to kiss her even deeper to satisfy his primal urges.
Shoving his face to the side, she reached out to Cho, "No! It's not what it looks like!"
For some reason, the fact that Roger had been completely making out with her seemed like something very hard to deny. How could it not look like what has happening? His lips were on hers, and that's all to it. This reality also seemed to hurt Cho, much deeper than she thought it would. An infuriated voice bellowed within the confines of her mind.
What are you so mad about! You should have expected this, so…why does it hurt so much! Slap her, hit him, do something, just…
She didn't know what to do, but as little tears rolled down her cheeks, she just gave Fleur a look of utter despair and disappointment before running away.