Standing in front of the mirror in the Gryffindor Dorm Bathroom, Harry was pulling and patting his hair. As always it looked a complete mess like he had just gotten out of bed, not like he had showered and worked on it for about half an hour. It just would not stay in the position Harry tried so desperately to arrange it in. When they had gone to the meeting of the Wizengamot, Narcissa had worked a little bit on it and made it decent. It still had the look of chaos and messy but the good looking messy, like he didn't need to care about his hair, not like Dawn had built a nest on his head. Harry was tempted to try a few charms he had looked up this morning but trying for the first time, right before his date with Cho? Not a great idea at all. Probably he would end up with a purple face or bald or something even worse. The door opened and Ron stuck his head inside, his hair looking like he hadn't combed either, but while Harry tried it, Ron had just not bothered with it. He eyed his black-haired friend.
"Harry, what are you doing? We're going to miss breakfast if we don't go now." He called out. Dawn, who was on the floor chirping and playing with a sock Harry had dropped, hopped over to his feet chirping at the redhead. He knelt down and tickled her under the beak. Harry raised his hands in an irritated manner.
"I'm trying to get this bird nest on my head to behave in any shape or form." He groaned turning back at the mirror. Ron tilted his head, scooping the black bird from the floor, who purred at the pets he gave her.
"Why?" He asked, stepping into the bathroom. He was wearing his usual clothes since for him this was a Hogsmeade weekend like every other. Harry, on the other hand, was wearing far more formal clothing. He would have preferred his favourite shirt with the big Peverell logo on the front, the one Malfoy always turned purple when he saw it, but he couldn't. In fact, he had taken a long time yesterday evening balancing his clothes for the meeting with Lord Greengrass vs the ones for his date.
"Uhm, because I will be going on a date today?" Harry asked back, blushing slightly that he had said it. All night, he had time to get comfortable with the idea of actually going on a date with Cho Chang since sleeping was definitely not an option at least that was what his mind was thinking. Luckily he was down in his trunk that night, because like he predicted, Dawn wasn't up for sleeping herself and so she had jumped around the small room, chasing embers or chirping loudly, something his dorm mates would have killed him for. It had been two in the morning when both of them finally fell asleep and still Harry was awake half an hour before his alarm went off, staring at the ceiling. He was nervous, like really, really nervous. Ron, on the other hand, frowned, shrugging his shoulders.
"So what? She has seen you like a million times now with that hair. You do realize that you live in the same castle right?" His voice had a little chuckle in it. Ron thought this was ridiculous, what was the problem? Harry liked her and if she liked him a little bit of messy hair wouldn't make the difference.
Harry frowned, staring at the mirror. On the one hand, Ron was right. They have lived in the same castle for four years now, seeing each other all the time. Also, they had played Quidditch against each other. She had seen him in a much worse state than this over the years so really the difference wasn't all that big. On the other hand, he wanted to do this extra bit of effort for her and taming his hair was more than a little bit of effort. Then again he had tried for half an hour now to no avail so what could be done that he hadn't tried? Harry sighed.
"I guess you're right. There isn't much I can do anymore, it's hopeless." Harry stepped back from the sink and walked up to Ron. His friend smirked holding Dawn out to him. She hopped into his hands, climbing into the already secured pouch herself. Her mere presence and the body contact did calm Harry's nerves quite a bit. Her beak poked his chest slightly in the way she often did to show him her support. He brushed his hand slightly over her pouch. Ron nodded, moving onto the dorm door.
"Probably mate. Still, you could still ask the twins for help. Or worse one of the girls." He chuckled descending the stairs. Ron's opinion on beauty tips from girls could be summed up by a simple word.
Terrifying. He would downright die before he would ask one of the girls for advice in this area even though he knew he had no clue about it, yet that was kind of the point and should stay like this, thank you very much. Still, Harry followed him with a curious look. Maybe he was right, it would be a good idea. But not one of his own class, oh god that would be so embarrassing with most of them and while she knew probably more spells than the entire Gryffindor fourth year combined, Harry couldn't picture Hermione learning beauty spells. She didn't need those at all, so why bother?
Harry shook his head and quickly moved over to Alicia Spinnet in the corner. There were good reasons to ask her instead of someone else. For one he knew her a little bit better than the other older Gryffindors, like all the Quidditch girls. And two, she always had very good looking hair, even during the big stormy game last year, she still had perfect hair. He knocked lightly on the table she was leaned over, writing something on parchment.
Alicia was startled slightly but she then saw who was disturbing her and smiled.
"Oh, hi Harry what's up? You look sharp today." She smiled pointing at his clothes. Harry grinned a little embarrassed and looked down at himself.
"Oh yeah, thank you. I uhm...Can I ask for some advice?" He carefully asked, and she looked a little surprised. Not that she wouldn't help him, he was her teammate and also a rather nice young man but she wouldn't have thought he would ask her for anything. So she nodded after a short moment.
"Sure." Harry sat down, while Ron who had followed him stood a little impatient behind him.
"You see, I uhm...I have a meeting today, House Black stuff and this will not do." He pointed at his hair and made her chuckle a little bit.
"Oh, I see. Wait a moment I think I can help with that." Alicia answered and grabbed her wand. With a slight twitch of her wand and a murmured word, she pointed it at Harry's head and the boy could really feel his hair move on top of him. His first instinct was to raise his hand, but Alicia stopped him.
"Don't grab it or the charm is ruined. Here, wait." She held out a mirror for him. Leaning closer he stared at his now neat locks. Well mostly neat, it was still unruly but in this cool way, Harry couldn't for the life of him create. He let out a huff of relief.
"Thanks, Alicia, you are a lifesaver." He smiled. The older girl rose and pocketed what she was writing. Then she leaned down, planting a kiss on his cheek.
"No problem Seeker-boy. Now get moving or breakfast will be over." She chuckled at his blush and pointed at the door. An agreeing Ron grabbed Harry's forearm and pulled him with himself. The three made their way down to the great hall. They talked about the last Quidditch game and what the results meant for the league, which wasn't much because the Cannons had once again lost and the Harpies were still way ahead of everybody. Still, Ron defended his favourite team quite eagerly, saying this was just a bad year and they would turn it around next year because they had a new seeker now, Willard Willyport and he would take the league by storm. Alicia argued that Willyport hadn't caught a snitch in his last twelve games, while Harry just sighed. He had heard Ron's words before. Last year it had been Scirbs as the new Keeper and the year before that Lordish as a beater. You would mean by now the Cannons would get a good pick for once out of pure luck. He eyed over to Alicia but she didn't notice and continued the argument with his best friend. It continued all the way to the Great Hall, where Alicia waved at them as she parted. While she headed for Katie and Angelina, Harry and Ron sat down opposite of Hermione. She folded the newspaper with a huff, pushing it away annoyed.
Harry tilted his head. "Everything okay?" He asked, buttering his toast. Hermione said nothing but grabbed the newspaper and flipped it open. She held it to Ron and Harry pointing at an article.
Where will this end?
After the horrific and criminal attack on the Longbottom mansion four days ago, our nation is in turmoil and at unease. It had been an attack onto our strongest beliefs and obviously tried to disturb the pureblood lines. For those readers who missed the issues for the past few days, the Longbottom's ancient home had been under attack by a vicious Werewolf. It is now confirmed that this is the hand of Fenrir Greyback, a famous supporter of you know who. The attack luckily killed only a few house elves and no wizard was hurt.
The Auror department concluded that a gap in the wards was the cause of this attack. Over a decade ago other followers of the Dark Lord entered also the Longbottom Manor and tortured beloved war heroes Frank Longbottom and his wife into insanity, leaving behind their only son. The Prophet couldn't get an interview with the Longbottom heir as of now.
What will our government do to stop this horrific streak of violence? Dolores Umbridge the renowned Undersecretary of Minister Fudge had made a strong argument.
"Those vile beasts and their kind are a danger to our entire society. Not without reason has the renowned Hogwarts had werewolves in their curriculum for Defense Against the Dark Arts. We have to fight this plague and other halfbreeds before it gets out of hand. Where will this all end otherwise?"
This is a very good point by the well educated Undersecretary. Leading the Department of Education before becoming the direct undersecretary, Miss Umbridge would be the one to know about such things. But those who doesn't believe her would probably believe someone celebrated by our community, who worked at the Hogwarts board of governors and is also a Lord of our Wizengamot, Lucius Malfoy. Lord Malfoy had was kind enough to give a short comment.
"We need to act soon. Dangers are everywhere and we will need to be ready for it. Werewolves and others with impure blood need to be controlled or our society will be doomed. Just look at the Longbottoms. They had the protection of Dumbledore, someone most people believe undefeatable and still, they were attacked, even though they are a noble and pureblood family and therefore a centre of our society. Clearly, this is a declaration of war from halfbreeds against the wizarding kind."
How many more will be attacked? Who will be the next? And most importantly, who is it we are fighting against. Do you know your neighbour isn't a halfbreed? Why are they hating us so much?
Rita Skeeter
Harry blinked when he stared at the page.
"What a bunch of bullshit!" He said, pointing at the page with his finger. "A declaration of war? And Malfoy celebrated? What is this?"
"That is just the truth." A smug voice from behind him state. Harry turned and saw Draco standing there with the Prophet in his hand. Pansy was hanging off his arm grinning nastily, while Crabbe and Goyle chuckled a little. Hermione pointed at the paper, snarling back at the blond-haired boy.
"This is fear-mongering and just ridiculous! Attacking the purebloods? Nonsense!"
Pansy scrunched her nose like she smelled something disgusting.
"No one asked you, so keep your mouth shut mudblood." She hissed angrily at her. Hermione paled and is about to answer when a stern voice interrupted the starting fight.
"Detention Miss Parkinson!" Minerva McGonagall was shivering in fury when she strode down the aisle between the two tables. Pansy paled but then swallowed, muttering.
"What it is the truth." Only to flinch as the when the stern voice again called out.
"In the name of everything that is holy. Your detention will be right after breakfast Miss Parkinson. I hope you will learn not to defame your fellow students."
Pansy turned to the head of House Gryffindor, unbelieving.
"B-But it is Hogsmeade weekend Professor McGonagall!" She cried out. Suddenly they had quite a lot of attention, Harry noticed. A few students were looking and whispering to each other. Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement, looking down at Pansy.
"That is correct Miss Parkinson. Maybe this will teach you not to insult your fellow students." She said, raising an eyebrow. Pansy turned to Draco like he could do something, but the boy only glared at the teacher, before storming off, his two hulking minions following. Minerva considered the matter resolved and turned back, returning to the head table. Pansy glared over at Hermione and hissed quietly.
"This is not over Granger." And then she stormed off. Ron chuckled a little.
"Serves her right." Neither Harry nor Hermione could disagree with that statement. Hermione closed the Prophet once again, huffing.
"I don't get why they are printing these stupid things? I mean what is this besides fear-mongering?" Ron glanced over, looking a little grudgingly at this.
"I think Dad told me something about Malfoy owning most shares of the Prophet so...there you go." Ron said piling bacon onto his plate. Hermione growled very like her kneazle Crookshanks and shook her head.
"That is just ridiculous. For someone to own the only newspaper and they will print your lies? Someone has to do something about that! Don't you think?" Harry and Ron nodded in agreement. For quite some time none of them said a word, still processing the whole thing. They were almost finished when someone plopped down next down to Harry.
"Morning you guys. A little birdy told me you got yourself a date to Hogsmeade today?" Susan asked grinning at them brightly. The other three just stared at her, wide-eyed.
"Susan, what happened?" Hermione asked finally. The asked girl raised her hand brushing through her hair. It as electric blue and cut short, almost like a boy hair cut.
"What?...Oh, this?" She asked with a little chuckle, winking at them. "I just felt like I needed something new. First I wanted to go yellow, you know Hufflepuff and all but then yeah...yellow isn't really special, so I figured blue it is. It's not that big of a deal." She said shrugging. Harry frowned a little, not sure. Well, it looked good on Susan and fit her carefree rebellious way of living for the least. He nodded.
"Looks good Susan." He said while Dawn hopped over to the bluenette, looking at her head with interest. Susan leaned down in a comedic way, giving the small bird a better look at her bangs.
"There you go, sweety, blue like the sky, in which you soon will be flying like a badass. Which reminds me, when will she actually take flight, Harry?" She said, still looking at the familiar, bopping her tummy. Harry smiled and watched his familiar coo.
"Probably another month or so. Some take only a month up to six. Hard to say." He said, making Susan nod like it had been something really wise or like that. Then she grinned and threw her arm around him.
"Is that so? Still, don't you think you can escape my questions! I learned a lot about interrogation from Auntie Amelia. Don't make me cast incendio on your hands. So you have a date today Prongslet?" She asked, grinning at him. Harry groaned, slapping his hand over his face. Hermione frowned.
"Your aunt said you could cast incendio on people?" Hermione asked while Harry said at the same time:
"The twins told you that?" Referring to his nickname. Susan laughed loudly, drawing a few gazes and shook her head. Ron smirked at the antics of his friends and kept eating.
"No she didn't and yes they did. Now no trying to distract, tell me, tell me, tell me!" With every 'tell me' she poked Harry in the side. He slapped at her hand, growling.
"I'll tell you, now stop it!" She stopped and put on her most fake innocent look. Harry groaned, noticing that all were staring at him. He blushed slightly and squirmed a little backwards, wanting to disappear.
"Yeah, I kind of asked Cho Chang out yesterday and she said yes, we're going to Hogsmeade. Happy?" He said, grumbling into himself. Susan laughed at his embarrassment again rather loudly.
"Yeah, pretty much. Still, Cho Chang, a real hottie, wouldn't say no to her either." She laughed a little. The three friends looked at her in surprise. Susan blinked, then shook her head.
"Yeah yeah, surprise surprise! Sorry, you guys just don't have the right pieces to get my motor running. Sorry dudes." Again, Harry, Ron and Hermione blinked just, staring at her. The face of the bluenette turned serious all of a sudden. "Anyone have a problem with that?" She said in such a threatening way, all three scrambled to say different variants of they were fine with it. Hermione's parents were rather liberal and had taught her to be open-minded. Harry, who had only ever heard rants about homosexuals by Vernon, didn't want to be the same bigot as him. Ron on the other hand just didn't want the girl to be mad at him. He never really thought about the topic but if you asked him he would probably say something like:
"I don't really care. As long as they are happy what does it matter?" with a slight shrug. Hermione was the first to stop their rambling.
"We were just surprised that is all." But Susan was already waving it off.
"Yeah, don't mind me, just...maybe not spread it too much, I told you guys because you are my friends and obviously Hannah knows since she is my best friend as knows my Aunt but that's it for the moment. The last thing I want is Malfoy getting his slimy fingers onto that." She said with determination. The others nodded in agreement and they started getting up. Susan held out her hand to Ron, pulling the guy from the bench. Then she grinned.
"Speaking of snakes, Harry, there is something else interesting I have heard. The word is you not only got the fine seeker girl of Ravenclaw but also the Ice-Princess on a date today. Is that true?" She said, nudging him from the side. Harry, who was just putting Dawn in her pouch, frowned.
"Where did you heard that?" He asked, looking around like he could see who told something like this about him by just looking. Susan smirked, shaking her head.
"Ah, just a little cat told me. So is it true?" Her gleeful face crept closer to Harry. He shook his head.
"We don't have a date. Sirius, Narcissa and I are meeting Lord Greengrass and her about the life debt today." He said while walking to the doors of the Great Hall. Susan looked serious all the sudden.
"Some serious shit then." She waved away Hermione's indignation for her colourful language. "Then I wish you the best of luck, Harry. The old Greengrass is a sly fox and also a ruthless one. Don't be careless." Then her eyes looked over the main Hall and her trademark shit-eating grin returned. "And good luck with your little hottie." She pointed at the other side of the Hall. Harry gulped when he saw Cho standing there, chatting lightly with a friend before waving them goodbye. She wore a simple knee-length grey skirt and a dark blue sweater. Her eyes moved over the crowd and then connected with Harry's, emptying his mind completely. The boy wouldn't be able to remember his name at that moment, or how to form a simple sentence when those dark eyes bore into his with such intensity. She smiled and walked over. Harry was barely aware that Susan said something.
"Come on you two, let's find Hannah and give these two some room. Good luck your Lordship." she said, pulling Ron to the side. Hermione wished him fun and followed, while Harry found back some control over his body and walked up to the Chinese girl.
"Hi, Harry." She said with a brilliant smile. He felt his heart speed up and his hands sweat.
"H-Hi Cho. You look nice today." Harry blurted out, mentally smacking himself for such a lame sentence. But her smile grew brighter.
"Thank you! You look good too. Maybe a little formal, but I understand, the meeting with Lord Greengrass. Still, it suits you." Her voice was lulling Harry in and he had problems forming complete sentences.
"Thanks, I do feel a little awkward, so...you know." Harry rubbed the back of his neck, no idea what he should say right now. Luckily Dawn chose that moment to poke her head out and caused a distraction. Cho leaned closer.
"Awww, good morning Dawn, how are you?" She asked rubbing the small head. Harry chuckled when Dawn chirped in response.
"I would say it is her way of saying she is fine but demands more pets." Cho obliged and for a short moment just petted the small creature, while Harry was suddenly very aware how close she was and her perfume of jasmine and rose once again filled his nose, making his knees weak. He was in heaven right now and prayed dearly to all there is that he wouldn't make a fool out of himself. Finally, Cho stepped back a little.
"Shall we?" She asked, pointing to the doors.
Harry nodded and offered her his arm as he had learned from Narcissa. And he did notice the slight blush on Cho's face when she hooked her hand in his elbow. Maybe it will not turn out too bad.
The ride in the carriage out of the gates and into Hogsmeade was short but fun. Cho and Harry were in luck, having the entire carriage to themselves with the obvious addition of Dawn. Again Harry had to guard the little bird, because like when they came from the train, Dawn was excited about the carriage ride, hopping all over the two. Two times Harry caught her a moment before she fell out of the window, giving her a stern and worried talking to. Cho watched him with a wide smile and giggled when he acted that way. Harry, completely caught off guard, looked up in surprise.
"D-Did I do something stupid?" He asked while red crept into his face. Cho smiled warmly, shaking her head.
"No, It's just really cute how different you are with her, so worried and loving. In one glance I can see how important she is to you." Cho's words made Harry smile in return, brushing his fingers through her feathers. She seemed to pick up on his warm and calm mood because the ball of energy stopped jumping up and down and turned her beak towards her human. Strange eyes, yet so clear to Harry stared into his while she herself calmed down, slowly blinking at him. After a moment of just staring, Harry nodded slowly.
"Yeah. She is the most important person in my life." He almost whispered, forgetting for a moment what was happening around him and all his nervousness. He was just happy having her in his life, he couldn't imagine one without her. How had he been able to live without her bond, her love in his life, he had no idea. She was there when he fell asleep, she was the last thought of his day and the first thing he saw in the morning was her beautiful black feathers. She was so precious to him, he thought to himself, smiling and stroking over her back.
Then his mind snapped back and he realized he had ignored his date for two solid minutes, lost in the eyes of Dawn. He raised his head, smiling at Cho sheepishly.
"Sorry, lost myself there for a moment."
But Cho only shook her head, smiling. "It's okay. It's a good thing, having someone so close." She looked at him fondly. Harry smiled back. Harry had the feeling like he wanted to ask her if she had someone like that but he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer, so he smiled back and thankfully the carriage stopped at that moment, giving him an excuse not to do so. He quickly stood up and jumped out. While it seemed a little hasty, he quickly turned to hold out his hand. With a thankful smile, Cho took his offered hand and let him help her out of the carriage. Not that she needed help, she was a Quidditch Seeker and probably the same height as Harry, but still, it was nice of him to do so. Harry smiled and thanked the heavens, and Narcissa in particular, for the lessons he received over the summer. These would help him immensely, knowing the proper way of doing these things. Sometimes etiquette and rules were a really good thing. Offering Cho the crook of his elbow, again like Narcissa had told him caused the Chinese girl to raise an eyebrow in a strange way.
"You are a real gentleman Harry." She said when her hand was placed on his lower arm. Harry felt the warmth of her fingers through the thin sheet of fabric and again tensed a little. He nodded slowly, fully aware of the body contact.
"Thank you for your kind words. Narcissa taught me over the summer so I don't put House Peverell or Black to shame."
Cho nodded slowly, tilting her head slightly. "I have heard that Draco Malfoy's mother lives with you. What is she like?"
Harry thought for a moment, not quite sure to say it. "She is the noblest person I have ever met. Very graceful but stiff. She does have a dry sense of humour but isn't really someone who jokes very much. She is like, god this is really hard to describe." He asked unsure how to describe Narcissa. It was even harder because he knew the inner Narcissa, the warm and also loving person, who would smile brightly when Dawn hopped into her lap. But that wasn't the person Narcissa wanted the people to know, so it was more difficult. A mask you don't see so much yourself is difficult to describe. Yet…
"You know Daphne Greengrass from my year?" He asked, hoping that Cho knew her because that would make it easier. Cho raised her eyebrow nodding slowly.
"Everyone knows the Ice Queen of Slytherin." She said with a joking tone. Harry winced slightly at the title. It wasn't a very nice name for a person, yet it fit her well.
"Yeah, her. Basically, Narcissa is a lot like her but in a grown-up way, you know?" Harry said with a shrug, to which Cho nodded before she frowned.
"Isn't living with someone like that really, I don't know, exhausting?" She asked while the two of them walked down the main road. Harry shook his head slightly.
"No, not really. I mean sometimes she can be a bit, uhm, I would say focus on the manners and proper conduct, but mostly it is Sirius who has to 'suffer' at that." He said with a chuckle, while he air-quoted with his free hand. Cho laughed slightly, holding her free hand in front of her mouth.
"I can only imagine. What about him? I mean, of course, I read about his innocence and all but I have no idea what it is like living with someone you barely know. Do you miss where you have been before?"
Harry tensed noticeably when she mentioned the Dursleys, while his eye twitched slightly. He made a full stop. His agitation must have been quite obvious because Cho squeezed his arm slightly, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for, asking you such a personal question." For a moment they just stood still, while Harry took a deep breath calming himself. Dawn nipped on his robes at his chest and chirped at him ruffling in her pouch. Harry's free hand came up moving by itself, cupping Dawn.
"No, it's okay. It's just...I didn't like where I lived before very much and they disliked me. It is better now." He simply stated. Cho took that as a sign not to probe this topic anymore. Harry took up talking more, now smiling slightly.
"Actually, it is pretty great. Sirius is just awesome. He is funny, witty and not stuck up at all. He is up to all kinds of mischief. I've been caught in a few pranks, but mostly he and Remus do that with each other. In fact, he really dislikes the whole high class and etiquette thing. He says it is all bull, or at least he did before now he is too afraid Narcissa will hex him." He laughed, thinking about the last time the two Blacks had collided over Sirius's way of dressing that day. Cho smiled at him.
"It's good you have found somewhere you like staying. I'm happy for you."
"Thank you, Cho." Harry said smiling at her before he realized that she was rather closer and now he smelled the jasmine and rose once more. Feeling the blood pump into his cheeks he quickly turned the head around again.
"S-So, where to first?" He said looking around in an attempt to hide his blush when he saw a large black dog, sitting a few feet away watching him. He groaned and turned to Cho for a moment.
"Would you excuse me for one moment please?" He said with a curt smile. She took back her hand, looking at him a little confused. Harry smiled and quickly walked the few feet over to the large canine. Dawn wiggled in her pouch, chirping loudly at the dog. She knew this form quite well, had played with him a lot and also the weak bond between the two was tugging at her. Harry knelt in front of the dog.
"Padfoot, what are you doing here?" He asked curiously. The dog barked once, looking around Harry at the watching Cho. The Chinese girl was looking over, following the display with interest. Harry growled slightly.
"Padfoot no. You will not follow me and Cho around." Harry poked the floor with his finger. "That is not okay."
Padfoot flattened his ears and whined sadly. Harry shook his head, crossing his arms.
"Oh don't you give me the puppy eyes. What do you think Narcissa will say when I tell her that you are spying on me and Cho?" He knew it was a little underhanded bringing Narcissa into this but it worked so well with his godfather. Padfoot's ears shot straight up and he looked at Harry in a way that totally said:
'You wouldn't dare!'
But Harry just returned the stare and raised an eyebrow. For a moment none of them moved. Then the dog let out a very human sigh and nodded. Harry smiled.
"Thanks, Pads." He said while the dog nuzzled his chest for a moment. Dawn, finally close enough to cuddle Padfoot's face for even a moment cooed and nuzzled back. Padfoot licked once over Dawn's head, ruffling her feathers and giving her a rather storm blown look before he ducked away and vanished behind the next corner. Harry brushed the dirt from his finger and tried his best smoothing Dawn's feathers. He hated when Sirius did that, even though his annoyance was probably the reason that the animagus still did it and Dawn revelled in the ruffled look, turning her head proudly and tried ducking his smoothing fingers. Harry returned to Cho, still trying to smooth Dawn's feathers.
"God, Dawn don't you...argh, fine, stay this way young lady. You are a little diva, you know that right?" He asked his familiar while the bird chirped happily, showing proudly the messy head feathers. Cho giggled slightly.
"What was that Harry? Are you some kind of animal whisperer? I know you can speak to snakes but dogs?" Harry growled slightly, offering her his arm again.
"That wasn't a dog. My godfather was trying to spy on us using his animagus form. Like I wouldn't notice a large black dog in Hogsmeade." Cho chuckled a little and then smiled at him.
"Probably thought you would be too distracted." Harry blushed slightly, while she continued. "Now, where to first, as you said before?"
Harry scanned the street once more before he smiled. Luckily this one was easy.
"How about the Quidditch shop?" He asked. Cho nodded with a warm smile.
"Good idea."
So that was where they went first. Their seeker positions made it a mandatory visit but after the first few minutes, in which Harry still felt really nervous now that there weren't many distractions, he calmed down a bit. They spent forty minutes in the shop, talking about Quidditch and manoeuvres. They both laughed when Dawn hopped into one of the large beater gloves, only her head sticking out and chirping happily at them. For a short while, Dawn was propped up in Cho's hands, while Harry tested the fitting of new seeker gloves, completely new on the market. Not that he needed new ones but it was fun and the way Cho smiled when she held Dawn was worth it. Also, Harry noticed in a happy moment, Dawn seemed to genuinely like the dark-haired girl, nuzzling into her hands. So Harry left her there for a little bit of time until she started struggling, the bond tugging on the both of them. Harry gave Cho an apologetic glance and explained the bond and that is was strained a little bit at the moment.
He evaded the question of why it was strained, not wanting to talk about Snape on such a wonderful day. Still, the thought came back to him and he petted his small friend even more than usual.
After a lengthy stay at Honeyduke's they finally came to the Three Broomsticks to just sit and talk. Cho was surprisingly funny, she had a joking side that Harry hadn't known before, well, to be honest, they never had really talked in length before. She told him about her family and what it was like in China. While her parents and her sister lived in the UK, the rest of Cho's family was still over in Asia and she visited frequently. Harry learned that Cho's mother was a muggle-born witch and her father came from a long and proud line of the Chinese Wizarding world. Their marriage was a little bit frowned upon, hence their move to England. When Harry asked what this was about, if it was all that pureblood thing, Cho shook her head. Apparently, her mother was a Qin and her father a Wei, like it would explain everything.
Harry just blinked. He could guess that this was something, but he had no idea what exactly. Cho seemed to notice his curious gaze and started explaining. Apparently, China's wizarding world wasn't unified like the muggle version of the country. There were two states now, the Wei and the Qin state, both founded during the period of the Warring States. Harry tried to follow the explanations and tried to remember the names, but it was utterly confusing. It didn't help that most names sounded alien and rather similar to him, which he knew deep down was a little insensitive of him. But he got the core problem. It was apparently a little like black and white people in America. An old conflict that still boiled under the surface and quite a lot of people who hadn't let go of the hate. And after Cho's Qin mother married her Wei father, Cho's mother's family made it pretty clear they disagreed quite a lot with that. After a few letters and what you could almost describe as an attempt to murder her father with the use of Howlers, her parents had left the country. Still, they would visit her father's family quite often. Cho also told Harry with gritted teeth about someone named Quin Yo, a man that was fueling the hate between the two parties with hateful speeches and the proclamation of being sent by the heavens itself. Harry wasn't sure what to say about this.
First Harry wanted to say that this sounded really sad and the thing with being sent from heaven just stupid, but then he thought about all the drama from being the Boy-who-lived and the pureblood stuff. That was similar. Apparently, hate was everywhere you just had to look for it. Luckily Cho ended there, stating she was sorry but this was a topic she was rather passionate about. Harry smiled shaking his head, saying it is okay.
Their conversation then turned to lighter topics, Harry told her about his summer and some of the pranks Sirius and Remus had pulled and Cho made him laugh with a really hilarious story about that one time her sister and she had been stuck in a really boring family get together for hours only to have it end with two horses stampeding through the meeting room. Harry's butterbeer shot out of his nose, he laughed so hard.
It was a fun time and neither of them really noticed how fast the time went by. They were sharing school stories about Professor Flitwick when suddenly a firm hand placed itself on Harry's shoulder. Almost jumping out of his chair in surprise, he turned, seeing Sirius and Narcissa standing there. Both wore their formal robes, Sirius his dark green and onyx coloured House Black robes and Narcissa the midnight blue and silver robes of House Peverell, as it was right in her function as Harry's proxy.
Harry blushed a little, glancing over at the clock on the wall.
"Am I late?" He asked a little nervous, while Cho slowly rose from her chair. Sirius smiled, squeezing his shoulder.
"Not at all, we thought we should be a little early, so don't worry. How about you introduce us to your lovely companion?" Sirius said, showing his most charming smile. Harry nodded, turning to Cho.
"Cho, this is my godfather Lord Sirius Black of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. And this is Miss Narcissa Black, who is my proxy in the Wizengamot. Narcissa, Sirius, this is Cho Chang." He felt a little weird when he gave just this short statement about Cho, while Narcissa's and Sirius' introduction was a lot longer. Sirius shook his head, chuckling.
"All right enough with this stuffy nonsense. Harry, you will end up more stuck up than others if you keep doing that. Very nice to meet you, Miss Chang." His eyes glanced over at Narcissa, making sure all knew who he thought was stuck up. Narcissa raised a pointed eyebrow at her cousin, obviously already thinking about what the correct punishment for his comment would be. Cho looked over to Harry, not sure what to do, but he just shrugged and smiled. Cho turned her eyes back to Sirius, smiling.
"Thank you, Lord Black."
Sirius just waved it off, shaking his head. He did not look very much like a noble Lord right then, even with all the fancy clothes.
"Oh don't Lord me, Sirius is fine. Lord Black makes me feel old." He said with a grin. Narcissa raised her eyebrow again.
"You are old, Sirius." She pointed out, her arms crossed. Harry stepped a step back towards Cho, while they both watched the adults. Sirius shook his head.
"I'm not old, I'm still a young man. Almost just like I left school, full of energy and all. Also, you are older than I am, that would make you old too." Harry and Cho tried their best not to laugh at the face that Narcissa made. It was a really cold glare she shot him, squinting her eyes. If looks could kill, Sirius would be dead right now or at least severely maimed. Cho leaned over, whispering to him.
"I see what you meant before about her." Apparently, Narcissa pulled herself together, before hexing her cousin in the middle of the Three Broomsticks. That wouldn't be proper and also not her style.
Two days later Sirius would find out what revenge Narcissa-style meant. But right now he was grinning like he had won this battle, smiling widely. Narcissa glanced over to the clock on the wall, before turning to Cho.
"I'm sorry Miss Chang, but we have a meeting in a few minutes. I'm afraid I have to take Lord Peverell with me for now." She made a point to call Harry by his title, trying to fight Sirius's improper way. Cho nodded, standing her ground in Narcissa's cold glance. It wasn't unfriendly per se, just void of any emotion, making it impossible for Cho to know what Miss Black thought or felt.
"Not a problem Miss Black. Harry told me there would be a meeting with Daphne Greengrass and her father." Narcissa nodded and then pulled the gleefully grinning Sirius a few steps away to give the children a little bit of privacy. Harry looked a little sheepish at Cho.
"Sorry I have to do this, but there is no way around it." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Cho smiled, shaking her head. "It's okay. Like I told you, my friends would probably revolt if I don't spend at least a little bit of time with them today. Meet me here when you are done? I will be over there." She pointed at a hoard of girls sitting on the other side of the room. All of them were trying very unsubtly to look over, only to turn back and giggle when Harry looked over. He felt a strong blush and had to swallow hard for a moment. He was supposed to go over there later to get Cho? Oh god, please kill me now. But he nodded.
"All right. I'll try to get it done quickly. Have fun with your friends." He said. Cho surprised him by taking his hand for a moment and squeezing. "You too Harry." She said before she waved at Sirius and Narcissa and made her way over to her friends. Harry joined the two older members of House Black.
"Nice girl." Sirius said winking at the blushing teenager. Narcissa said nothing but she gave Harry a short and warm smile, while her hand rested on Harry's shoulder.
"Time to go." She said. They made their way through the Three Broomsticks and up the stairs for a meeting with two snakes.