Chapter Twenty Five
Half an hour later the three of them thanked Madam Hooch fervently and traipsed back across the grounds to gather their school things and make their way to their classes.
"Let's not celebrate, okay? I've been celebrating one thing after another for a week, and now I just need to focus on studying for these NEWTs, I can't have come this far to drop the Quaffle now."
"You're doing really well, Cho, a wise decision, I will just say congratulations and you deserve it."
"Ginny?" Cho gave her girlfriend a stern look.
"Okay, fine," said Ginny with her hands up in resignation. She had to trust Cho's instincts, if she needed to get back to normal, then Ginny would do her best to play down possibly the greatest thing that had ever happened in the life of her girlfriend.
If truth be told, Ginny also could do with a dose of reality, all of this excitement and high emotion was actually quite exhausting, she was looking forward to a straightforward boring two hours in History of Magic. It would be a good transition from the sort of fantastic elements of the previous days and the unexpectedly welcome mundane aspects of end of year, pre examination academic application.
Ginny and Cho continued to meet for their slightly less early morning training sessions which were less intense in almost every aspect, it was really just an opportunity to spend some time together, just the two of them. The concept of six weeks seemed to colour every idea, there were six weeks until exams, six weeks left of Hogwarts, six weeks left of Cho's education… six weeks left of seeing each other every day, before they would be separated.
Everything became just a little more precious because sooner rather than later it would be the last week, the very last Monday, the last exam, the last training, the last day, the meal. It wouldn't be the last time they would see each other, they hadn't talked about it but Ginny had no intention of breaking it off with Cho and she felt sure that if Cho had any such idea, she would surely have mentioned it.
Ginny had come up with some ideas about how they might see each other in the changing conditions, the absence of the structure of school, Cho's starting her new job at some point. Ginny had fully intended to wrangle a coffee in London when her mother picked her up from the Hogwarts Express with Cho and her mother. Nothing formal, not a big deal, just an hour of getting to know each other a little. Ginny would be attending every single game that Cho played that she possibly could, even if that meant begging her brothers to buy her tickets and take her - there were benefits to have so many older brothers after all!
In addition, she had intended to invite Cho to the Burrow for a couple of days when she had a break in her schedule, there might be an invitation in reply where Ginny could meet Cho's Po po. The idea of sitting in Cho's family kitchen and being fed by an apparently amazing cook of authentic Chinese food, listening to stories of Cho as a child, watching her become embarrassed and laughing about her childish antics.
Ginny would be seventeen in August and would be able to travel more, she could go to London, she could travel around Britain and meet up with Cho occasionally. She didn't intend to become an annoyance, a high maintenance girlfriend. Ginny fully understood that Cho would start a new job, she would be training and travelling, she would be the new girl on the block, the youngest member of the team, she would be working hard to get to know all her teammates, fitting in with them, becoming part of the team. But if there were opportunities to meet up, Ginny would be only too pleased to make the journey.
These were the thoughts that Ginny enjoyed letting her mind run away with at night as she prepared for sleep, in the morning as she stretched out her long limbs and on her way between classes. Ginny seemed to be able to produce twenty minutes of uninterrupted and highly productive study in exchange for three or four minutes of well earned dreaming about her future with Cho, and then straight back to comprehensive mental hard labour.
The early morning training usually started with some stretching, some yoga poses, followed by racing up and down the various distances of the tracks, but it was more jogging and laughing than the earnest running of Terms One and Two. Then it was a little flying, mostly chasing each other around, showing off and doing tricks. If they still had time, they would pull on their bathers and jump in the swimming pool for some sneaking up to pull the other under, splashing and a little competition of who could do the most ridiculous uncoordinated belly flops.
Then they would take their sweet time showering under the steaming hot water and drag themselves across the Entrance Hall for breakfast with Hermione. Classes all day, spare hours were spent in the library, the first hour after classes the three spent in the time saving study room, then dinner and then depending on the movements of others they would sometimes return to the time saving room, go to the library, study in the dining room or take refuge in their Common Room, which as Prefects Ginny and Cho felt especially compelled to do.
Cho had been inundated with offers from various individuals interested in representing her for a fee, offering to assist and advise her to make her way through the offers, to establish a system by which to rank the offers and begin to start weeding less desirable teams out. Very few of these individuals were actually a registered Quidditch Representative or a professional Athlete Manager registered with The Department of Magical Games and Sports.
Hermione verified six licensed and registered individuals, a list from which Madam Hooch recognised two names with confidence and from those two Cho selected a young man named Helios Frostbight, also known as Frosty. Headmaster McGonagall gave special permission for Madam Hooch and Cho to travel together to Hogsmeade to meet with Frosty, to meet face to face, to sign the contract and for Frosty to get to know Cho a little bit so better to understand her needs and make the most appropriate team choice for his new client.
In the following days, before and after classes and study groups, Owls flew back and forward, Frosty alternated between clarifying Cho's employment related needs and desires and explaining contract clauses and her potential obligations. Frosty had around ten athletes under his management, so he was both new to the role and the industry, but also not completely inexperienced and still keen to leave no stone unturned in his own learning and in his representation of his clients.
As the weeks passed Frosty and Cho had whittled down the potential list to five; Appleby Arrows (England), Tutshill Tornados (England, Gloucestershire), Wimbourne Wasps (England, Dorset), Caerphilly Catapults (Wales) and Pride of Portree (Scotland). All five teams were committed to taking Cho on as understudy Seeker as soon as Cho's examinations were complete, or as soon after as she was willing to come.
The Appleby Arrows had a Seeker who had long struggled with injury and seemed the most likely opportunity that Cho would get to become starting Seeker. Cho wasn't dying for immediate pressure or fame, there was some value to be had in being taken under the wing of an experienced Seeker, taking time to participate in the training, getting to know the team and understanding the culture.
Tutshill Tornados from Gloucestershire were Cho's favourite team, and seemed to be going out of their way to court her favour. Wimbourne Wasps from Dorset were offering the most money, Caerphilly Catapults, a Welsh team had the newest and most advanced facilities and the Scottish team, the Pride of Portree seemed to have the best culture, like an extended family.
Finally Frosty and Cho announced that a decision had finally been made - money not being the driving incentive for Cho and other considerations being here or there and more or less equal, a decision was finally made. Communicating this decision, a photograph of Cho wearing a Tutshill Tornados scarf and hat, holding up a Players shirt with CHANG 24 emblazoned across the back, was published on the front page of The Daily Prophet.