Author's Note (please read before reading the story).: lately I've been thinking back on the Harry Potter books. I realized my opinions on some of the characters had changed, as they often do when you grow up and get more life experience to alter your perceptions. One character that really stood out to me as better than I remembered was Cho Chang. I remember hating her back when I read in middle school. I hated how she was such a bland, one-dimensional character, who was always crying. But as I've thought about it more, I've realized that perception was really off. She was a teenage girl whose boyfriend died. Her new boyfriend was with him when he died, and wouldn't even take a minute to discuss it with her, and cut their date short to go meet another girl (who he wasn't interested in, but she didn't know that). I feel like we the reader, and Harry himself never got to see her real personality, as all we stall was her depressive state from Harry's 6th year. I feel Harry acted pretty insensitively to her, and I think their relationship could've worked out better if they had just communicated better. She's a very emotional person, which could've nicely juxtaposed Harry's tendency to hide his emotions. This story touches on how that relationship might've gone, and who the real Cho Chang might be behind her facade of sadness.

This is the first serious fanfic I've ever written as a young adult. I've written some stupid ones back when I was in my late teens, but they were trash. I'm going to try to deliver a really good story here. I'm not sure yet if I'm taking it in a super AU route, or if I'm just going to focus on the Harry/Cho relationship and how it causes a divergence in canon. Draco Malfoy is definitely going to play a prominent role in this, as is Snape (a big theme is going to be redemption and second chances). I'm an OG Harry/Ginny shipper, but let's be honest, that ship has thousands of great stories… the Harry/Cho ship has so very few, so I figured my efforts would be best used in exploring the less popular ship. I hope everyone enjoys!

Chapter 1: Dudley Do Right

Harry had begun to hate sleep, as every time he closed his eyes, it was as if a dementor was in the room, dragging his mind through every horrible memory he had in his short, but tragic life. So, he often liked to stay up late at night, using a flashlight to study advanced defense against the dark arts techniques so he'd be prepared for the showdown with Lord Voldemort he now knew to be inevitable.

It was a rare summer day where his abusive Uncle Vernon hadn't forced him into slave labor or kicked him out of the house, so he was laying in his bed, exhausted from his third night in a row of late-night reading. So, much to his chagrin, he fell asleep. And rather than daydreams of Quidditch or Cho Chang that so often occupied his mind when he napped in previous summers, his mindscape was much grimmer.

"KILL THE SPARE" ordered Lord Voldemort"

With no hesitation, Wormtail yelled, "AVADA KEDAVRA" and the body of Cedric Diggory fell lifelessly to the ground.

The sound of a snake slithering filled the corridor. Arthur Weasley appeared and the snake attacked him. He watched as Mr. Weasley's body was mutilated and he slumped over in a pile of his own blood.

Sirius was surprisingly jovial and bordering on reckless in a fight for his life. "Nice one James," he told Harry, before the happy smile was wiped off his face as he was hit with a curse from his deranged cousin Bellatrix, and fell backward into the mysterious veil.

"NO SIRIUS" yelled Harry.

After just 30 minutes of the daytime nightmares, Harry woke up in a fit of frenzy to the sound of pounding on his door.

"YES I'M SERIOUS BOY, QUITE SERIOUS INDEED. IF YOU DON'T LEARN TO SLEEP WITH YOUR MOUTH SHUT, YOU'RE GOING TO BE OUT ON THE STREETS BOY."

"The streets would be preferable to this shithole," yawned an exhausted Harry.

"What did you say, boy? What did you say, boy? Our generosity never seems to go unappreciated. I want you to pack your things and get out. NOW!"

"As much as I'd like to," began Harry in a disappointed tone, "my friend Mad-Eye wouldn't like me going out to the streets. Doesn't seem very vigilant does it? Don't worry, I'll write to my friends to see if I can stay over, but you're stuck with me for now."

Vernon recoiled at the mention of that 'freakish' Mad-Eye character. He simply walked away and when out of Harry's line of sight shrieked, "at least leave the house for today. We are having Marge over for tea and would prefer to not have her blasting off again."

Harry got up and grabbed his wand and made to leave his room. He traveled down to the local playground, where he often went to waste away the long days away from the chaos of the Dursley's. He plopped onto the swing and went back and forth at a slow, relaxing pace, while looking up at the skies. He tried to clear his mind and just relax. He was often facing the difficult decision of whether or not to be alone with the Dursley's or be alone with his own thoughts, and if he was being honest with himself, he'd rather be having his mind probed by Snivellus Snape than being either of those places. So, he just kicked back and tried to tune out the pain.

His blissful state lasted only briefly, as he heard a loud sound trudging toward him, almost as if an elephant had escaped the zoo and decided to take a stroll around Little Whinging. He looked up, and his fears were confirmed when the large frame of Dudley Dursley was making his way towards him.

"Hey Big D," Harry greeted him sarcastically, "haven't seen you much this summer. Where's the gang?"

"They have names you know," Dudley retaliated, "Piers, Dennis, Gordon, & Malcolm."

"Funny, I never knew their names. Only that their name wasn't Please Stop because they'd never respond to that."

Dudley gave an awkward little chuckle at this statement. Much to Harry's surprise, Dudley took an almost apologetic tone, and said, "yeah, we've been a little rough on you over the years. I suppose I owe you an apology for that. You aren't half bad. After all, you saved my life even after all the stuff I've done to you over the years."

Harry was shocked. Not once had a member of his 'family' said the words sorry to him. And while Dudley hadn't used that word exactly, it was still the nicest thing he'd heard in going on 16 years with the Dursleys. Ain't half bad was Dursley for I love you. Though Harry would hate to rain on his parade by mentioning how often a dark lord would occupy his mind, making him literally half bad.

"Oh, you remembered that?"

"Yeah", said Dudley was a dark tone coming over him, "tough to forget an experience like that. I've never been so terrified in my life. At least not since I woke up for Christmas last year and counted only 40 presents under the tree before I saw the 3 hidden in the living room."

"Yeah, the Dementors have a real 'only got 40 more presents than Harry for Christmas' kinda vibe to them."

"Oh sorry, I was being sarcastic. I'm told by some that it never comes off that way when I say it. So that's what they're called, dementors? Seems like a pretty accurate name, I've been fairly demented by them."

"Don't think that's the proper use of demented," quipped Harry, "unless I'm remembering wrong. They teach you vocabulary like that at Smeltings?"

"Wouldn't know, I'm usually smoking with Piers down on the football pitch during English class. At least, I was until lately. This year, I've been trying to get myself together."

Harry was surprised at this. He'd never know Dudley to be a particularly ambitious boy. He'd always seemed to be content just being the spoiled brat his parents had raised him to be. "Why the change in attitude?"

"Well when the demontour attacked me, I saw my life flash before my eyes," Dudley began with a painfully honest expression on his face, "and surprisingly, I didn't see anything from my current life that was scaring me. All I saw was me as an adult.. still living with my parents, using their money. Being 400 lbs and alone. I guess you could say I was scared straight, no homo."

"Well, I'm glad to - " Harry began before he was cut off again by Dudley to begin a passionate speech.

"And I met a woman. A classmate of mine. Figured I'd better clean up my act for her."

"Ah, that would explain it," Harry said, nodding, "I didn't take you to be so popular with the ladies Dudley."

"Yeah, with a nickname like Big D, your reputation proceeds you," Dudley said arrogantly with a wink.

"Ah, now you finally sound more like the Dudley I've known my whole life."

"Fair enough," said Dudley. Harry was very impressed with his cousin. Unless he was putting on an Oscar-winning performance to set Harry up for an epic beatdown, he seemed to have a genuine desire to improve himself and change. Harry found it particularly impressive that a boy who grew up the way he did, with the parents he did, could come to this conclusion before even becoming a man.

Dudley looked a little nervous. It seemed to Harry that there was another reason for him coming up to him. So, Harry asked Dudley what's up.

"Well," Dudley began in an atypical nervous tone, "My girlfriend's been wanting to meet my family lately. And for obvious reasons, I don't want to show her to my parents. It's embarrassing enough to introduce her to my friends, I think my family would push her over the line and get her to leave me. So, I was thinking maybe you could meet her? Even with the magic and all, you're the most normal family I've got."

Harry was taken aback by Dudley's request. Just this morning he had a terribly negative opinion of his cousin, who'd spent his whole life bullying him. Part of him wanted to tell Dudley to bugger off and handle his problems on his own. But, he wanted to give Dudley a chance. Family is something that Harry seldom had in his life, and he couldn't just go turning around good opportunities to form a connection. He needed some distraction from his day to day life to, so he figured he'd give it a go."

"Ok then, I'll help you out. Are we meeting her now?"

"Yeah, she's actually waiting for me at the coffee shop down the street. Let's go."

The newly cordial family members walked over to the coffee shop in silence. After nearly 16 years of violent interactions, it was nice to just stand peacefully in each other's presence. When they entered the coffee shop, Harry was shocked to see a beautiful blonde girl waving at Dudley.

"Talk me up, will you?" Dudley asked Harry, as he waved back at the girl. Harry nodded and watched as Dudley walked up and gave the girl a hug and peck on the lips. Harry was a little grossed out, but also impressed that Dudley could pull such a stunner.

"...cousin Harry Potter," he heard Dudley say, "he's lived with me since we were kids though. Basically a brother to me, though we definitely fight like brothers."

The blonde girl chuckled and said, "nice to meet you, Harry, my name's Diana," reaching out a hand for him to shake. Harry shook her hand and said "likewise."

They all set down at the coffee table and ordered a coffee. Harry order a double espresso shot, as he was in desperate need of caffeine to keep his fatigued body moving. Dudley & Diana just got decaf frappuccinos, as they were in a more celebratory mood, and it was a bit late in the day for caffeine for normal people who actually sleep at night.

"So how did you two meet?" asked Harry, not wanting to awkwardly sit as a third wheel while they whisper to each other.

"Dudders didn't tell you?" asked Diana with a sad look on her face, "I'd have thought he talked all about me."

Harry chuckled on the inside at the pet name. Dudley gave him a little look that said turn this around now Potter. Harry said, "I'm sure Dudders would've, but I haven't been around much this year. I go to a boarding school in Scotland, and we don't really talk much over the phone."

Dudley gave a short nod to thank Harry for turning that around for him. "Oh," she said, "well we can tell you about it now I suppose. Dudders and I met at Smeltings. I'm a year below him. I had dropped my food at lunch, and he offered me his as a replacement. It was so romantic. He asked out me the next week."

Harry chuckled. "Wow you know Dudders must be crazy about you if he's willing to give up his food for you. Food is his love language. But I'm sure he was just able to just steal some lunch money from some other kid to replace it."

Diana laughed, "yes my Dudders has a bit of a checkered past, but he's on the straight and narrow right, right Dudders?"

"Yes my love," he answered straight away, which caused Harry to break out in uncontrollable laughter.

"I'm sorry, it's just I've never seen him act so soft in 16 years. Thank you, Diana, you're helping him grow up so much." This caused Dudley to blush and chuckle.

They made more small talk about each other. Harry was pleasantly surprised by Dudley's choice of partner. She was a bit ditsy on the outside, but she seemed to be a really solid person who's having a profound positive impact on Dudley's personal development. "So Harry," Diana asked out of the blue, "is there a special someone in your life?"

Harry got a little less enthusiastic after this question. "Ummm... It's kinda complicated. I was dating this girl last school year, but things didn't really work out. I'm single now."

"If you don't mind me asking," said Diana, "why did you two break up?"

It seemed Diana had a knack for just speaking her mind, even when it made others a little uncomfortable. She reminded Harry of Luna in this way. "Well, it just wasn't a great fit. We had a kinda spontaneous kiss under the mistletoe at Christmas time, but when we went on a date, it just didn't work. Her previous boyfriend had died in an accident the previous year, which I was present for, and she spent the whole date trying to get me to talk about the accident, even crying at times. She even mentioned how an older popular boy had asked her out that very weekend, but she had turned him down! Then I had to go meet my friend Hermione, so we ended the date. We never went out again, and I found out that she'd moved on and went out with another guy at the end of the year. It was pretty terrible."

Diana looked a little frustrated at Harry's response. "So wait, let me get this straight," she began in an upset tone, "Her boyfriend died. In an accident, you were also involved in, but you're actually upset at her for trying to get some closure with a conversation with you? And you ended your date early to go meet another female friend?"

A wave of realization came over Harry and he felt bad. "Well, when you put it that way, it does seem pretty bad. I didn't really see it like that. I felt she was obsessed over a dead boy and was regretting going with me when a popular guy had asked her too."

Diana gave a huge sigh of exasperation, and then out of nowhere smacked Harry in the face, causing some of the shop's other patrons to look over at them in shock. "Dudley, you didn't tell me your cousin was such a jerk. You treated this girl so poorly. You were so insensitive to her boyfriend's death. You didn't even consider that maybe she was just bringing up the other guy to try to make you jealous and get more attention, and then you just left her thinking you were off to go on a date with another girl. For all you know, this girl was totally into, but I doubt she is now with how you treated her."

"Boys, am I right," quipped Dudley, to nods from Diana.

Harry started to feel really bad. He really hadn't thought about things that way. It had just seemed like Cho was this super sad girl with no personality. He hadn't considered that maybe she was feeling depressed because Cedric had died. And he, the one person who could give her closure, was refusing to do so and getting mad at her for even asking. Then he had just left to see Hermione, whom obviously he wasn't interested in, but how was Cho to know that? Hermione, while he thought of her as a sister, is a girl a lot of guys would find to be an appealing date. Harry hadn't considered Cho's perspective on the date at all, and his worldview was kind of shattered.

Harry actually started to tear up a little. Diana looked up with a little concern. "I'm sorry if I was being too harsh Harry. You seem like a nice guy. I just wanted you to know how badly you hurt this poor girl."

Harry was a little choked up. He'd been through a lot of tragedy in his life. Every year it felt he had another shocking tragedy occur. His life had been so tragedy filled, that sometimes he forgot what kind of struggles the other people around him went through. Even last year, he had forgotten that Ginny Weasley had been possessed by Lord Voldemort. Suffering in this world wasn't just limited to Harry Potter. "No, you're right. Thank you for telling me this, it really puts things in perspective for me. You've picked a good girlfriend Dudley. I just feel really bad now. I really hurt Cho... my ex-girlfriend. What can I do to make it up to her? I want to give her another chance. I really liked her, but I fucked it up royally."

Diana pondered this for a few seconds. "You need to just be honest and admit your mistake. Nothing wins a girl over like honesty & vulnerability."

"But she's dating another boy now," Harry lamented.

"How do you know that?" asked Diana.

"A friend of mine told me," remarked Harry.

"Well, it's possible that she was just trying to make you jealous, and that the relationship wasn't very serious? Girls do this sometimes. She might've just needed a quick distraction from the pain she was going through and needed someone to spend time with. I'd bet you 10 sterling she's single now, or was never in a serious relationship with the other guy, to begin with."

Harry considered this and supposed it was possible and thought more of it. They all said their goodbyes and went home. Harry sat on his bed, and for the first night, he was able to sleep without nightmares. Instead, he dreamed of going on another date with Cho Chang. It was an important day for him in his life, that brought him a lot of realizations, that would go on to affect not just his dating life, but his relationships with lots of other peoples. Harry started considering things from other people's perspectives, and that would drastically change his life, and the life of those around him, for the better, and drastically change the tale of Harry Potter. And all of it wouldn't have happened with his cousin Dudley maturing. Harry rested easy knowing he finally had family.

Please leave a review! This is my first fic, and I want to know how I'm doing. I'm hoping to publish chapters weekly, but we'll see how things go with my life obligations!