A.N. : A big shout-out to all my reviewers. I was worried when I started this fic that there wouldn't be a lot of interest, since most people seem to hate Cho now... But you've all shown me otherwise. So on with chapter 2.

After the four Aurors had decided that it was time to go, Ron pulled four broomsticks out of a pouch that looked like it could scarcely fit his hand. They were all Firebolts, brooms that had once been the top in the world. Although once coveted and treasured by children and Quidditch players alike, they were soon replaced by better and faster brooms. Now, Firebolts were common brooms that were considered below-standards for Quidditch, but as for traveling, they were still quite useful.

The journey back was uneventful for Cho. The alleged criminal, still stunned, was tied up and holstered between Neville's and Ron's brooms. Cho and Ginny constantly circled them, ensuring that nobody would attack them. This was a bit unnecessary but after all, procedures were procedures.

While the other three chatted about trivial matters, Cho remained silent and let her mind wander to other things. It was quite difficult for her to not feel alienated by the others. But it was to be expected… They were all friends during Hogwarts, and she, she was almost a stranger to them. It didn't help that Ginny did not seem to be very fond of Cho. Sure, she acted friendly enough when the situation called for it, but otherwise Ginny preferred to act as if Cho did not exist. Cho was not used to this, for she was charming and well-liked by many, but she tried not to let it get to her.

Often Cho would wonder why Ginny acted like that, but the answer was obvious… Harry Potter. It was rather foolish, Cho thought to herself. It was difficult to determine whether or not Cho even had a relationship with Harry. Well, whatever it was, it didn't even last very long. Harry and Cho, they had let other priorities get in their way, and it ended in a disaster. And after graduating from Hogwarts, Cho never even saw Harry again. Still, it seemed that Ginny felt a bit uncomfortable around Cho. Perhaps it was her own little way of keep him alive, by being jealous of Cho.

Cho sighed to herself, as she began to wonder why Ginny Weasley should even matter to her. She was just another Auror, and besides, Cho scarcely had to see or even interact with her. It's foolish of me, really, Cho thought to herself. It's not like they were still back at Hogwarts. They were full-grown witches now and not just any witches, they were Aurors. Why was Cho letting Ginny's hostility towards her, due to a boy who was long dead, get to her? Ginny should realize that, in the end, Harry had chosen her…

Finally, they arrived at the Ministry. After exchanging casual goodbyes, everyone went their separate ways. Cho and Ginny returned to their respective offices, while Ron and Neville escorted the criminal to Arthur Weasley for interrogation.

To Cho's dismay, Marietta was not at her office. It seemed Marietta had been sent out on a mission of some sort. Cho spent the next few hours doing paperwork in her office. Nothing happened, nothing that is, until Cho heard a gentle knocking on her already open door.

Cho smiled and looked up, expecting to see Marietta. The person at the door, however, was not Marietta, instead it was the last person Cho wanted to see. His name was Raymond Lance, a wizard many would describe as dashing and handsome. Unfortunately for him, Cho Chang was not one of those many people. In fact, Cho thought he was a rather snobbish pretty boy who doesn't know when to give up.

For you see, he had taken a liking to Cho, and often made advances on her. Cho politely shot him down each and every time, but as long as she remained single, it seemed, he would not give up. Most unfortunate for Cho, he wasn't the only one either. There were about a half dozen others, but they were less aggressive and slightly more tolerable. Marietta often told Cho to just pick one and settle down, but Cho had refused to do so. Ever since Cedric Diggory, Michael Corner had been her longest lasting boyfriend, and even he only lasted a few months. Cho had decided that, at this stage in her life, she didn't really need a boyfriend.

"Happy to see me, are you?" He happily remarked, mistaking Cho's smile for him.

"I thought you were Marietta…" Cho sounded slightly sympathetic, which, perhaps, wasn't the best thing to do.

"Oh okay… Well I'm glad to see you back, haven't seen you for weeks." He was smiling, and somehow it reminded Cho of the blonde man from the forest. Only this smile was much more obnoxious, and much less charming.

"It's only been a week… and shouldn't you be in your office, in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Mr. Lance?" Again, Cho tried to sound unfriendly, but failed miserably. Marietta had told her that calling someone by their last name would help create a sense of hostility. Judging from the smile on his face, however, this did not work.

"Mr. Lance, eh? I like the sound of that… Although, Mrs. Lance has a nicer ring to it..." He gave Cho a look as he emphasized the words 'Mrs. Lance'. Cho rolled her eyes as he quickly continued, "And Amos took a sick day today, so nobody's over there to make sure I don't run off to talk to you." He spoke as though Cho wanted him to come talk to her.

Amos Diggory was the head of Lance's department, and he was also the father of the late Cedric Diggory. He was hardly ever absent from his post… Cho found it peculiar that he had taken a sick day.

"Is he alright?" Cho had completely forgotten about trying to make Raymond feel unwelcomed in her office.

"Oh yeah, no need to worry… He said he had to go take care of something. Didn't really want to talk about it, so I didn't really ask h-" He stopped talking when he saw that Cho had jumped up and grabbed a calendar off one of her shelves. Upon seeing what the date was, Cho smacked herself on the forehead.

"What's wrong?" He sounded genuinely worried.

"Nothing. Go away, I have something to take care of." Raymond wanted to stay, realizing something had to have been seriously wrong for Cho to act so rude, but he decided against it, not wanting to get on Cho's bad side. He left quickly, still wondering what had upset her.

How could I forget? I'm so sorry Cedric…

It was June 24th, the day of Cedric Diggory's death. Cho had made it a habit to go visit him on this day every year. Usually when she arrived at the graveyard Mr. and Mrs. Diggory would already be there, and she'd stand from afar, waiting for them to disapparate home.

Cho sat in her office sulking and feeling extremely guilty at the same time. It was quite foolish of her, really. She had almost forgotten but in the end she still remembered. It's not like she would visit him until she got off work anyways… Still Cho felt as if she had somehow betrayed Cedric for not remembering sooner. On the day of his death, Cho had spent her time chasing a criminal, talking to a handsome stranger, worrying about Ginny Weasley, and worst of all, get hit on by a co-worker.

Cho decided that the only way to make up for it was to come to his grave early today. Before she had realized it, she had already gotten what she needed, asked her boss to leave early, and apparated to the graveyard where Cedric was buried.

Cho was surprised to find that she was the only one in the graveyard. It was only five, and usually, when she arrived at six, Cedric's parents would still be there. Perhaps they got sick, Cho told herself. She quickly dismissed her concern for the missing Diggorys as she walked up to Cedric's grave.

It was nothing short of beautiful. The Ministry had gone all out when they built it. After all, they had blamed themselves, not Voldemort, for Cedric's death. It was in the shape of an arc, around four feet long and three feet high, made of dull grey marble, which, unintentionally, matched Cedric's eyes. In the middle was a picture of Cedric in his Quidditch uniform, a golden snitch clutched in his left hand, and a broomstick in the other. Below it laid his name, and a little description of Cedric, as it were with all tombstones.

Before Cho could once again read it to herself, she heard a popping noise behind her. Certain Auror instincts took over Cho, causing her to spin around and wordlessly cast a stunning spell.

"You almost got me!" It was Marietta. Luckily, she had ducked just before the stunning spell hit her. "At least look before you attempt to stun someone."

"Sorry… Auror instincts…" Cho tried to sound apologetic while scratching her head. "How'd you know I'd be here anyways?"

"Eh, got back to the office, heard you left early… checked my calendar. It wasn't hard." At that moment, Marietta noticed something different about her friend's eyes. "You look off, what's wrong?"

"It's not that I look off… It's just that everything's been off, and its making me feel off, so I look off… do you get what I'm saying?" Cho tried to explain in a very quickly in a very confusing way.

"Well… not really. But…basically things are not as they should be?" Marietta was perhaps the only one in the world who could've gathered that much from Cho's garbled explanation.

"Yeah! Okay first of all, I spent a whole week trying to catch that guy who tried to rob Gringotts, and then out of nowhere in the forest comes this blonde guy who- What?" Marietta had given Cho a look of suspicion.

"The blonde guy was cute, wasn't he? You half smiled when you mentioned him." Marietta herself was smiling because she knew she was right.

"Okay fine he was, but that's beside the point… So anyways, the blonde guy stuns the guy I'm trying to catch. I start asking who he is, and he seems to know me, except I don't think I ever knew any cute blonde guys. Before I find out who he is, he apparates… or disapparates, I don't know…" Cho hadn't let on the fact that the blonde man not only knew her, but he also seemed to know her personality…

"Probably someone from Hogwarts, or maybe someone you've met while working for the Ministry. I mean we constantly run around trying to find criminals, he could've been some guy you asked for a clue or something." Marietta thought this would be the end of that discussion, but Cho wasn't letting it go.

"But…"

"Look, you're probably never gonna see him again, so why are you stressing out over this?" This time, Marietta had done it.

"Okay fine…" Cho sort of wanted to go on discussing the blonde man, but it didn't look like they were getting anywhere with finding out his identity anyways.

"So you said things were off… What else besides that guy?"

"Nothing much… It's just, I didn't realize what today was until a little while ago." Cho looked down at her feet.

"Cho… It's been ages, and you still come here every year… It's okay if you forget until the last second." Marietta was trying to comfort Cho, as she always would.

"Yeah, I know…" Cho looked up and decided that it was time to change the subject, "So where have you been?"

"Well, I've been on the trail of this Metamorphagus who has been smuggling dangerous Dark Arts artifacts… You can imagine how easy it was to catch someone who can change his appearance at will, of course…" Marietta sarcastically said, "Luckily for me, he wasn't very good at it. I mean, the guy couldn't even change his eye colors yet."

"I thought being a Metamorphagus meant you can change every aspect of your appearance?" Something triggered in the back of Cho's mind, but she quickly dismissed it as Marietta continued with her tale.

"Yeah, but eyes are the most difficult things to change. How it works is that you imagine the thing you want to change changing, but how often do you see your eyes? I mean most people don't even know if their eyes are black or brown, so it's not very easy to imagine it change, if you don't know what it looks like in the first place."

"So, how did you catch him then?"

"Luckily for me, I ran into Mad-Eye Moody, and he taught me a spell that would force a Metamorphagus back into his or her original form. Think he said he learnt it from Tonks… So I rounded up a couple of suspicious looking guys with bright blue eyes, and that was it." Marietta looked like she was very proud of herself.

"Good job." Cho smiled before continuing, "Just curious, what's the spell?" She had a feeling it would be rather useful, despite the fact that Metamorphagi were very rare.

"The incantation is 'aperio'. So what about the Gringotts g-" Marietta never got to finish her question. Both Aurors quickly spun around, wands raised, after hearing a cracking noise behind them.

A house elf had apparated behind them. Marietta, who had a house elf of her own, could see that this one was rather old. He looked around, terrified, and before anyone could say anything, he disapparated with a sound like the crack of a whip.

"What was that all about?" Before Marietta could answer Cho, both Aurors felt a warm feeling on their left hands. Their Auror Signets were glowing. Cho and Marietta looked at each other. Cho had a quizzical look, while Marietta's was full of fear.

It's not hard to see why they feel that way. The Ministry would hardly call on more than one Auror at a time, much less Aurors who had left early. Something was wrong, seriously wrong.

Without wasting any more time, they apparated into Remus Lupin's office. Despite the discrimination towards werewolves, Arthur Weasley still decided the give the position of Head Auror to Lupin. He was a capable man at leading, and his experience speaks for itself. His office was nothing more than a bright large room with papers stacked all around. Cho looked around and saw that in addition to herself, and Marietta, Ron, Ginny, and Neville had just apparated in.

"Amos Diggory is missing." Lupin wasted no time before explaining why they had been summoned. The Aurors understood that they were simply to listen, for any second that they waste could result in the mission's failure. "They were visiting their son's grave when his wife fell ill, so they returned home. Mrs.Diggory forgot her purse, so Amos went back to retrieve it. Or at least we think he did… He didn't return home. Their house elf was sent there to look for him but he was gone. We've tracked him down to the Yuhtunga Rainforest in Africa." Lupin conjured a map and pointed out where it was. It was the same forest where Cho had met the blonde man.

"You five will go in and split off into two teams." It was apparent why Lupin had chosen the five of them for this mission. Ron, Ginny, and Neville made a strong team, and they had been in the forest before. Cho and Marietta worked extremely well together, and Cho knew the terrain there well. "Any questions?"

"When I was there before, there was a blonde man… He saw through my invisibility cloak." It wasn't a question, but Cho still had to tell Lupin. This kind of information was vital to the mission. Despite the fact that Cho sort of trusted him, any stranger had to be regarded as an enemy right now.

"It takes a powerful wizard to be able to do that… He'd probably be able to detect presence of others in the forest. Very well, Cho, Ron, Ginny, you three go in. Ron, you're the team leader for this mission. Marietta and Neville will stay here as backup." Lupin made a wise decision, the five of them traveling together in a thickly wooded forest would be a foolish thing to do. Splitting up into two teams would make their presence more likely to detect. Lupin opted to send the strongest three in as one team.

"Let's go." Ron's tone was clear, it was not a suggestion, it was an order. He apparated, leaving Cho and Ginny there to look at one another. Ginny smiled the same smile Cho would use on Lance, a fake one. She looked as though she would rather eat a hippogryph than run through the forest with Cho. Cho returned a similar smile before apparating.

A.N. : This chapter was really only the set-up for chapter three. The not-so-mysterious blonde stranger returns in the next action-packed chapter. I'm not making any promises, but it should be longer and will probably be out by Friday.