Forever Mine, Forever Yours
Chapter 9: Fairy-Tale of a Yule Ball
A/N: What'd I tell you, fast, right:) Aww, CedricCho fluff is love.
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I own nothing, yada yada yada...
"Champions! Pair up with your partners please, and we will enter the Great Hall now that everyone is ready. Follow me!" McGonagall's crisp voice cut through the quiet chatter among the eight adolescents, and as they entered the Great Hall, applause rang around them. Cho smiled self-consciously, feeling underdressed and a bit exposed in her dress, which was shorter than all the other ankle-length dress robes worn by everyone else.
When she whispered this through the corner of her mouth at Cedric, he shook his head, muttering back, "Load of nonsense. You're the most gorgeous girl here." And with that said, he smiled at Cho in a way that made her glad she was walking through the applause with Cedric by her side.
They made their way up to the round tables at the top of the Hall. Cho took her seat and Cedric, the one next to hers.
A glittering gold plate lay in front of her, and what looked like a restaurant menu right next to it. She picked up the paper, looking at it with a frown. "How d'you think these work?" she asked Cedric, clearly bemused.
"No idea," Cedric replied, turning the menu over in his hands.
Dumbledore, however, seemed to have a better grasp of how to order food. Looking down at his own plate, he said, "Pork chops!"
To Cho's surprise, a heaping portion of pork chops appeared steaming on the headmaster's plate. Following suit, Cho cleared her throat and said quite clearly to her plate, "Steak."
"Lovely," Cedric said, looking impressed, who already had a plate of chicken wings and mashed potatoes.
"What can I say?" Cho giggled. "I like a filling meal."
The next few moments passed in silence, the clanking of forks and knives on their plates the only companion for conversation. After they were nearly finished, Cedric picked up his plate and dumped the remnants of his food over Cho's plate. Halfway through a mouthful of baked potato, Cho's eyes widened as the rest of her food was deemed inedible by a slop of mashed potatoes and half-eaten pork chops. She took a scoop of their combined food, and, looking as if she was going to eat it, spilled it over Cedric's dress robes.
"Oops," she grinned. "Accident."
"Ah, that's all right," Cedric assured exaggeratedly. "I'm sure I can… oops." He reached out for his napkin and in the process of unfolding it with a large flourishing movement of his hand, spilled his pumpkin juice all over the front of Cho's dress. Cho's mouth fell open as her dress, turned from deep blue to navy blue; the silver shimmer swallowed by the dark stain spreading across her front. Gaping, she punched Cedric in the arm.
"Clean it up!" she gasped, trying to dab it off with a napkin.
Smothering laughter, Cedric picked his wand. "Don't be daft," he chuckled, pointing it at her dress. "Scourgify."
The stain disappeared and the silvery sheen returned to her dress, the exact way it had looked before the pumpkin juice drenched it. He pointed his wand back at his own robes, getting rid of the food bits that had stuck stubbornly to his robes. Still smiling, he turned towards Cho.
"So now that we're done eating—"
"Only because my food is now ruined thanks to you," Cho interrupted.
"You were being too quiet," he responded off-handedly.
"Is that such a bad thing?
"Well… no," Cedric grinned. "But I just wasn't used to it."
"You're just getting too used to those fangirls of yours. Liselle starting to look rather attractive, is she? She certainly seems to like talking to you more than I do," Cho teased.
"Does this mean you don't like talking to me?" Cedric asked, his smile still on his face. When Cho nodded, a wicked gleam in her eye, Cedric shook his head. "You break my heart Cho Chang."
"You ruined my dinner Cedric Diggory."
"Well you don't talk at all."
"Look who's talking."
"Well…"
Cho grinned, shaking out the napkin on her lap and folding it to the side of her plate. "I win."
Cedric arched a brow and consented, "I'll let you off easy this time."
"What are you talking about?" Cho laughed. "I won, fair and square."
"But that's what I want you to think," Cedric told her matter-of-factly. "And apparently, it's worked rather well."
Cho just shook her head with a smile, looking over at Harry, who seemed absorbed in doing everything but chancing a look at her. Hoping she hadn't made him angry or feel too bad about not going to the ball with her for the second time that night, she turned back to Cedric. They spent the rest of the dinner talking about the Second Task, which, according to Cedric involved mermaids, a lake and a treasure of sorts.
"What kind of treasure?" Cho asked, curious.
"No idea, really. Er… hang on, the rhyme said something like taking what I'll sorely miss. And then I have to get it back from the mermaids within an hour, or else it's gone forever," he frowned, looking a bit worried. Cho realized her mistake
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry."
"About what?"
"I reminded you about the tasks and the tournaments again," she smiled. "This is supposed to be a night away from all that, isn't it? I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize," Cedric reassured. "You didn't mean it."
Dumbledore stood, and Cho and Cedric followed suit, followed by the rest of their table and the other students. The tables were pushed to the side, and a stage rose, instruments springing up onstage. When Cho saw the Weird Sisters climb onstage, her mouth fell open, and she grabbed Cedric's arm.
"It's the Weird Sisters!" she exclaimed, joining in the applause. Cedric laughed good-humouredly, joining in the applause.
Before she knew it, Cho had one of Cedric's hands in hers and his shoulder in her other one, Cedric's hand fitting snugly at her waist. Her heart thudded loudly in her chest. Talking to Cedric was one thing, but dancing with his hand resting on her waist was quite another. She felt constricted, as if she had suddenly lost the ability to breathe. Cho could only concentrate on her feet, trying her best not to trip over them, as she felt as if she lost all coordination as well.
Then he lifted her, spinning her around, his hands firmly holding her up. And suddenly, everything felt right. She looked up at Cedric and grinned.
He smiled back.
It was then she noticed they weren't the only ones on the dance floor anymore. Everyone else had joined in; the floor was packed with twirling and dancing. Cho even swore she saw the hem of Marietta's dress disappear in a flourish. She felt like a feather in his strong hold, floating and sweeping through the dance floor.
"You just stepped on my toe."
"What?"
"You just stepped on my toe," Cedric laughed.
"I did?"
"You did," he grinned.
"Oh… Well, then I'm sorry," Cho replied with a raised brow. The waltz ended with a final twirl. Cedric held Cho up in the air long after everyone else had touched the floor and Cho grinned.
"Let me down," she giggled.
"But you stepped on my toe. Up here, you can't do that," Cedric teased, his grip still staying strong as the Weird Sisters struck up with a livelier tune.
"You can't hold me up forever you know," Cho replied as students started to press against them on all sides.
"Wanna bet?"
"Okay, okay, you win this time, let me down," she consented. Cedric seemed to consider this, then lowered her slowly onto the ground.
"I win," he agreed.
Cho just shook her head with a grin. At first, she was hesitant, afraid to move, not knowing what he would do. Once the first song had ended, they claimed their own section of the dance floor, waving their arms and bobbing their heads wildly to the music as the bodies of other students bumped around them. He twirled her and held her, dancing until her feet and legs started to complain vehemently for standing up so long.
"Cedric!" she yelled above the raucous, her cheeks flushed deeply pink. "Cedric, want to sit this one out?"
The boy nodded, taking her hand and walking her out of the crowd. After downing two cups of punch, Cedric looked as if he were contemplating something. Then he stood, motioning that Cho should do the same. She did so, frowning as he took her hand and lead her out of the Great Hall.
"Cedric, where are we going?" she asked.
"Just wait, you'll see," he smiled, looking extremely pleased with himself. He led her through the outside gardens, which had been decorated beautifully and turned into a section of the grounds Cho had never seen before. It was thick with trees, though it was not a section of the Forbidden forest. The densely populated area had a large willow tree waving next to a small, but enchanting lagoon.
"Oh it's beautiful," Cho breathed, her eyes wide. Cedric brushed through the foliage and pushed back the long, sheltering leaves of the tree, leading her inside the shelter the tree gave. The whole inside was lit up by the same fairy lights that were decorating the back of the Great Hall, and Cho's smile grew bigger, as she wrapped her arm around Cedric's, leaning against his shoulder in awe.
"It's great, isn't it?" he sighed, looking down at her.
"It is," Cho agreed. "How did you find it?"
"Well… when I was in first year, my friend Dom and I, liked to roam the school and we found this place. Dom doesn't really come here anymore, but I like coming back to think or… contemplate on things. As far as I know, nobody knows about it."
"Except me?" Cho asked.
"Except you," he smiled.
"As much as I like it here, I think we're due back inside the Great Hall," Cho reminded, still holding onto his arm and still leaning on his shoulder.
"We still have ages before the ball ends," Cedric laughed.
"I know," Cho beamed, taking his hand in hers and leading him outside and through the gardens again. They entered the Great Hall again, and joined the throngs of students dancing.
The last few songs were slow, and Cho wrapped herself in Cedric's arms, closing her eyes as she rested her head on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat; it was slow, strong, and constant. Her own chest seemed to swell with an indescribable feeling as she felt his warm body enclosed around hers. Her body tingled pleasantly, and she buried her face deeper into his robes, breathing in his scent. She could have fallen asleep to his heartbeat and his boyish smell if she hadn't been so happy.
When the last song finally ended, Cho rested quietly in his arms until the applause faded around them. Taking one last deep breath, she let go. He took her arm led her out of the Great Hall. He paused, looking up at a staircase.
"Wait a minute," he told her, sprinting up the steps, in hot pursuit of someone in bottle green dress robes.
Cho frowned, and when the boy turned, she remembered. Harry wore the green robes. Cedric was talking to Harry. She watched them, Cedric bending over and talking to Harry, who seemed somewhat bemused. She was too, but she waited patiently until Cedric seemed to finish and came bounding back down the stairs.
"What was that about?" she asked.
"What? Oh that? It was nothing… just some champion business. I owed him one."
He walked with her to the common room, Cho reveling silently in the fairy-tale of a Yule Ball she had. She moved closer to Cedric, glad she had actually ended up going with him. When they reached the Ravenclaw common room, Cho was reluctant to leave Cedric. She hugged him one last time, and was about to say the password when she hesitated, turned around and looked back at the boy who had taken her to the dance.
"Er… Cedric?" she asked, going back towards him.
"Yeah?"
She found herself unable to say speak, looking into his gray-blue eyes. He searched her own, and she found her want to stay with him grow considerably.
"I… should go," she choked.
"Yeah…"
Before she could change her mind, she stood on tiptoe and made to kiss him on the cheek. Before she could, Cedric's head had turned, moving down, in obvious attempts to do the same thing.
For one electrifying moment, their lips touched.
Cho drew backwards, eyes wide, Cedric following suit. Her lips tingled, and her entire body felt weak, as if it was going to crumble underneath her. She offered him a shaky smile, her head spinning and her heart thudding out of control, as if it were ready to burst out of her chest.
"Goodnight… Cedric. I had a wonderful time."
"G'night Cho," he responded. "See you tomorrow."
"Yeah… see you."
He leaned down, but then seemed to think better of it, and straightened himself. He rounded the corner and disappeared, leaving Cho alone in the corridor.