(note) I know it seems like I'm updating too quickly, but I have nothing else to do but write and write… sad life, yes. If you've read any of my other fanfics, then you must know I intended to write a long story, but in the end I just ended up rushing it because I'm very, very impatient. Oh well. Thanks for reading this far and bearing with me.
Eyes of Blue
Chapter 6
How could she possibly be any more ridiculously stupid? The second task had ended many weeks ago, but the whole school was still in an uproar over what had happened between the Beauxbaton champion and her hostage. The only piece of gossip that overshadowed it, was that of Cho's love life.
She had been dating Cedric Diggory.
Ever since he had awkwardly asked her to the Yule Ball, they were seen around school together more often than not. She had drifted away from her blonde roommate, but after what happened after the second task, it was Fleur who had severed the ties with the black-haired Ravenclaw. Fleur apparently had asked Madame Maxime to move her out, and so she was removed and put back into the Beauxbaton carriage for the rest of the stay at Hogwarts.
Once again, Cho was alone.
Sure, she had Cedric, but he was not a Ravenclaw, and he certainly didn't share the room with her. The opposing bed in the dormitory was neatly made and totally empty, but not nearly as empty as her heart.
That whole scene kept replaying in her mind. The despondent look in Fleur's eyes had crushed her for some reason. It had practically ripped a void in her soul that not even Cedric could fill. In fact, the moments that she shared with him, were not nearly as exciting as the arguments and jokes that she shared with the French girl. Although it does sound odd that she enjoyed the quarrels they had, Cho realized that she was really having fun deep down inside.
And now it was all destroyed. It had exploded into a million shattered fragments of hopelessness. Fleur was avoiding her. For all Cho knew, the blonde hated her. But then, what she said before she left, seemed to contradict that conclusion.
"To think I once cared…"What could she possibly have meant by that? That sentence flowed throughout her thoughts for hours on end. Even during class, when the teachers had called her name, she was not listening. Cho couldn't concentrate, she couldn't think straight. All of the things in her mind were just so… jumbled up.
Well, she knew how the beauty of Beauxbaton thought of her, or rather, what she used to think of her, but how did she feel towards Fleur?
At the moment, she was feeling quite an assortment of emotions. Anger, regret, guilt, it was all there. And more than she liked to admit it, she also cared very deeply for the seemingly shallow girl. Ever since she had arrived at Hogwarts, her personality had been very enigmatic. She'd act as if she hated Cho, and then the next moment, she was joking with her. Yes, she did care for Fleur, just like Fleur used to care for her.
Cho often found herself comparing Cedric to Fleur, although it was not a very fair match up. Men and women have such different traits, but if she put aside gender and sexuality, Fleur was much more appealing: Her face was not stubbly with growing hairs, her skin was much fair and less coarse than that of Cedric's, and she had the most perfect curves. Sometimes, she even imagined Fleur in the place of Cedric when they… kissed, but then she had to pull back and shut her eyes tightly to get rid of the hallucination.
Fleur's image never faded away.
Perhaps she was obsessed with the platinum-haired girl, but she couldn't accept it or admit it.
Denial?
What was she denying? Nothing. Well, maybe the fact that she found Fleur to be the most attractive girl she had ever seen. Whether it was the veela heritage or not, the girl was absolutely gorgeous. As Ron had joked once, they don't make them like that at Hogwarts.
But she didn't like her like that. Of course not, she was born and raised in a society that scorned such thinking. Cedric. She was supposed to like Cedric. She just thought that Fleur was nearly perfect, nothing more.
Denial again…?
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE MISS CHANG!"
Cho jumped up out of her seat as Mad-Eye Moody slammed his fist into the desk, knocking her senselessly out of her self-analyzing daydream. His magical eyeball swiveled in its socket as he stared at both her and some other partially dozing fifth years at the same time.
"I know you're all very excited about the last task coming up shortly," he grinned, almost maliciously for some reason, "but you'd better be on the lookout. Must be very cautious, every waking moment of your life. You never know when you'll need these counter curses and spells. Very useful stuff indeed."
He turned back around and picked up his wand. Everybody else seemed to go back to sleep.
As the class ended, everyone rushed out of the class to get away from the crazed man. He seemed overly strange today, but he was right; the last task was only tomorrow. Cho stuffed her books in her bag and walked out of the class as she caught up with a slowly walking Cedric. She placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey. Feeling nervous?"
His shoulders tensed at her touch, but he shrugged indifferently, "No. Not about the task. Last task to complete, I'm almost relieved…"
She studied his features closely, because his voice did not sound like it was relieved. It still sounded jumpy for some odd reason. Maybe he just needed to have a good time out before the third task, that'd cheer him up.
"Want to do something tonight? You know, to wind down before the task tomorrow. C'mon…" she laughed playfully but he merely stayed silent, as if he were pondering a life or death question.
He didn't look her in the eyes.
"No."
He continued walking on even after she stopped in mid-step. She watched his figure retreat into the hallway of crowded people. His reply was just so curt and so… rude.
"What's wrong with him…?" she muttered to nobody in particular.
She turned to her right and like the oh so graceful and watchful Quidditch player she is, collided hard into another walking person.
Staring up into the ceiling, Cho felt the softest touch on her face. Blonde. Blonde hair. It was everywhere. It feathered all around her vision, and then to match it, a fluttery, but also perturbed voice began to speak.
"Such manners! Watch where you're go-"
Open blue eyes stared straight into hers.
"Fleur…?"
Cho whispered the name as if it were a forbidden subject that should never be touched. The blonde-haired girl jumped back out of surprise. She stood up hastily and brushed off her somewhat dirty blue robes before looking back at Cho once more, who was reaching her hand out.
"Don't go! I need to talk to you…"
Silence.
Abysmal blue eyes began to mist over as they blinked back tears. Her eyebrows quirked up before they twisted back down into a confused, but very livid scowl.
"Why should I talk to you? You already seem to know every bit of me, so you can just answer your own questions!"
With a whirl of her blue robes, she stormed off in a seething rage. The whole corridor seemed to part just for her as she turned another corner and disappeared from sight. Cho was left speechless.
--
A spectral animal with four legs, but an indiscernible shape, was bounding in front of her through the deserted dark corridors of the night.
Why in the world am I chasing this thing…?
Well, it started after dinner.
Cho had eaten in silence. Actually, she barely even ate, she just poked her food much like in the way Fleur had once poked her mysterious potato what seemed like a time so long ago. Nearly everyone who laid eyes on her attempted to cheer her up, even the boy who lived came over and tripped just for her amusement. Or maybe he tripped because of his sheer clumsiness around her, she couldn't tell, but it did not alleviate the heaviness of her spirit.
However, after she had finished 'eating' what was on her plate, something peculiar happened. It was dark in the hallways as she made her way back to the Ravenclaw tower, but an overwhelming sensation flooded her mind.
It was a happy feeling, and a soothing voice went along with it.
Follow the light… follow the light…
The bright, ghostly image with four legs came prancing about in front of her. And so, that was how she ended up chasing the wraithlike figure. Even though it did scare her a bit, she did enjoy the blissful feeling that was surrounding her. And that voice kept speaking in her mind.
Follow the light… follow the light…
She eventually found herself outside of the library. A trance. That's what she had been under, it just had to be. Why else would she walk to such a place after hours without actually knowing it? Well, maybe consciously she was following the fox, but for what reason she did not know. The euphoric feeling and calming voice had vanished leaving her suddenly aware of what she was hearing.Voices. In the library. Two of them.
Cho pressed her back up against the wall and chanced a peek around the corner.
Impossible.
It seems that Cho wasn't the only one who had her back pressed against the wall. Cedric… he had his white shirt unbuttoned halfway down, and his face was flushed as he left a trail of kisses down the girl's neck.
Fleur's neck.
A delicate moan escaped her perfectly shaped lips as he leaned in closer to her curved form. No, this isn't right! Cedric… Fleur…you're both so… goddamn horrible! You're…
Cho tore her gaze away from the pair in the library and slumped down on to the ground. It had to be some kind of a terrible nightmare. Her boyfriend… the girl she used to admire so much…
Used to? No, she still revered her deeply, she just had a hard time expressing it. Or maybe she was lying to herself, things just seemed way too complicated lately. Everything was so confusing…nothing made sense…all reality as she knew it had come to a crashing halt and flipped upside down.
"Oh that dreadful girl! I knew she would use her veela blood… I must have been right all along, she is just a…a whore."
Cho let out a whimpering cry of vulnerability before she stood up. Rubbing her eyes, she suddenly felt compelled to take one last look at them before running back to her room.
Just one more peek.
Barely looking in, she snuck a brief glance at them. Something caught her eye, but it… didn't seem possible.
Was Fleur looking at her?
A dark blue eye that had the intensity of gravity had connected with hers. Oh yes, Cedric was still kissing her, but her left eye was not closed, rather, it was fixed precisely in her direction.
Cho continued to watch due to an odd fascination.
Fleur closed her eye to blink and when it opened it was trained on Cedric. She pulled away to speak to him, her face still relatively close to his.
"So tell me…Cedric… I thought you were from Hufflepuff, known for their loyalty, why would you tarnish your relationship with that wonderful girl… Cho Chang?"
The black-haired Ravenclaw peeking from the corner held her breath as she awaited his response. He merely smiled dreamily with a glazed look in his eyes as he responded with a flat monotone. Obviously, he had gotten caught in the veela's magic.
"I do like her, Cho, but not because I want to, because I have to," Fleur's gaze faltered momentarily into a look of confusion before she settled back into a look of nonchalance, "I was getting more and more into an uncontrollable relationship with Roger Davies. I deny my liking of him. If I'm with her…then I'm sure that I am… straight."
…
Cho accidentally made a choking noise louder than she wanted to, "What the f-"
"-for why did you come out with me tonight?" Fleur had spoken abruptly. Maybe she heard, maybe she didn't, anyways, Cho held her breath and clamped her mouth shut with her hands.
Cedric gazed at Fleur, "I came here tonight to make my thoughts of Roger Davies get out of my mind. You're the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life…"
He moved in to kiss her again, but she did something unexpected; she slapped him. His face was red as he held it gingerly with his hand. With a shocked look on his face, he took a few steps back and looked at her as if she were crazy.
"What was that for?"
Fleur glared at him, "You filthy pig. How dare you pull Cho into such a fruitless relationship! She deserves much better, and yet you date her because of some ridiculous thing such as liking Roger Davies? You're despicable… and like I said back when you asked her to the Yule Ball…"
She slapped him again, leaving another red welt on his face.
"…you don't deserve one such as her."
Fleur had started walking to the library's exit, so Cho ran as quickly back to her dormitory as possible with the least amount of noise. She threw herself onto the sanctity of her cushiony bed. It was truly the only place she could think straight.
"What happened tonight…?"
It seemed like Fleur knew she was there. Maybe…
No…she shook her head. That was just impossible, almost as much as Fleur standing up for her, but that's exactly what she did. So…maybe she was aware of Cho's presence.
--
They had not spoken since last night. In fact, since this was the day of the third task, they had not even seen each other. Cho assumed that Fleur had been called away due to being a champion, but she wasn't entirely certain. She really wanted to speak to her, and somehow bring up what happened last night, if possible.
She couldn't concentrate however, since there was a wondrous evening feast that day in the great hall. They were serving many more courses than usual, most likely because of the third task, and so Cho had eaten quite a lot, more than usual anyways. The third task had come up much faster than she had anticipated, and before she could leave the Great Hall, the enchanted ceiling changed to a dusky purple as Dumbledore stood up.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."
Suddenly, Fleur had gracefully appeared from the other end of the Ravenclaw table. Cho hadn't even noticed the part-veela was even sitting at her own house table. Before she left the Great Hall, she immediately found Cho's eyes and mouthed a silent request.
Meet me at the Quidditch pitch.
Cho nodded, and then instantaneously sprang out of the table, much to the surprise of her fellow Ravenclaws, and headed directly to the Quidditch pitch.
Fleur was waiting.
Blonde hair was flowing gently in the breeze as she smoothed her robes down as she saw Cho approaching her.
Then they came face to face.
In order to break the awkward silence, Fleur coughed. Her voice was not so clipped as it usually was. Instead, it sounded more open and exposed. Cho was, for once in her short time at Hogwarts, able to read her expression; sorrow. The emotion even danced all across her blue eyes as she began speaking.
"You want to know why I asked you here, correct?"
Cho nodded, but didn't say anything in response. Fleur continued.
"Well, as you know, last night was what I pretty much expected, except for the confession about Roger. You were there, I know, you don't need to say anything. I was the one who summoned you there through the imperio curse."
"You used an unforgivable curse on me?" Cho shouted crossly. Fleur merely nodded.
"I wanted you to know the truth. His…infidelity was unacceptable. I didn't want to see you hurt…"
Oh, this had to be a joke. Cho laughed mockingly, "Didn't want me hurt? So then why did you use your veela heritage in order to entrance him and… and… kiss him while you knew I was watching? That still hurt me!"
"Well you're killing me!"
Cho stopped, and just stared at Fleur. The subtle creases on her forehead had become accentuated by her stress and grief. She didn't know what was wrong with her.
"What do you mean…?" stammered Cho hesitantly, not wanting to upset the Beauxbaton girl anymore than she already ostensibly was.
"Don't you get it? The reason as to why I chose to room with you in the beginning of my stay here, all the times I joked, but also harassed you, why I was so… damn surprised when you found Roger practically attempting to rape me, why I showed you what you needed to know last night, the whole demented reason why I did all the stuff I did!"
Fleur took deep and ragged breaths as she spilled out her thoughts. She advanced upon Cho with what looked like rage and anger in her melancholic blue eyes. But what happened was entirely contradicting those feelings.
"I did it for you."
And her lips crushed Cho's. It was a kiss of desperation and pent up feelings. Soft, yet electrifying, both girls shuddered at the sensation. Normally delicate arms had turned rough as they encircled Cho's thin waist pulling her into a constricting embrace. Not giving any time to breath, Fleur deepened the kiss harshly. She pulled away quickly, breathing hard, and bore her blue eyes deep into Cho's.
"Now do you understand what I have been feeling, and dealing with? It's you, these feelings that I shouldn't be having, and all of these other compounding complications that are making my life living hell. Say something!"
Cho's head was spinning out of control. Too much all too quickly. It happened within the blink of an eye, but what scared her most was that it had felt so normal. It somehow… completed her in a way. That missing part in her soul, it seemed to have been filled like cement pouring into a gaping chasm. She loved it, she practically wanted to drink in the exhilarating feeling, but what came out was all wrong.
"I can't!"
She pushed away from Fleur's warm arms, rejecting the one thing that she truly wanted most, and ran towards the erected stadium seating, leaving the heartbroken girl behind her. As she shoved her way through the crowds, she took a seat at the very top and collapsed onto the bench, her head in her hands and tears pouring freely from her distraught face.
The only thing that flooded her thoughts was Fleur. Her lips, her touch, her smell, all of it blinded her senses as she tried to shake the blonde goddess from her memory. She wouldn't go away, she just couldn't.
"I've made a mistake."