Disclaimer: I wrote this when I was 12 to 13 in 2003. Harry Potter is hereby © to J.K. Rowling. Everything else is © to me, or its respective owners.
Chapter Six: Weakness and Shadow
Cho tried to stand up, but fell down. Harry helped her up and made sure she could stand.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine…" Cho replied.
Everyone decided to turn in and go to their common rooms.
Cho ended up falling asleep once she reached her dormitory. She was late to Defense Against the Dark Arts the following morning. Remus or Professor Delacour weren't angry at all. They excused her and told her to take her seat. She looked very tired, and was paler than usual. They started to take notes, and Cho's hand shook slightly as she wrote. Harry took her hand and it stopped shaking instantly. He wrote the notes for her. Cho was greatly appreciated this, and thanked him.
"Now today class, we'll be learning…" Professor Delacour began.
Cho couldn't focus on the lesson. She felt extremely tired. She fell out of her seat and onto the classroom floor. Remus, Fleur, Harry, Whitney, Alyssia, and Hermione rushed over.
"Everyone back up! Give the girl some room to breathe!" Professor Delacour shouted.
She stepped forward and kneeled down by Cho. Cho suddenly awoke, screaming.
"GET HIM AWAY!!! MAKE HIM GO AWAY!!! MAKE VOLDEMORT GO AWAY!!!" She screamed.
Cho continued to scream, and Professor Delacour grasped Cho firmly by the shoulders and shook her roughly.
"Miss Chang! Please, calm yourself! There is no one here! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named isn't here!" She shouted.
Cho stopped screaming immediately, and she looked at her classmates faces. Each one had looks of shock and surprise upon them. The faces of her friends and teachers held the same expression as the students but also had worry marked upon them as well.
"Looks to me, that Chang's snapped. Professor, I think it'd be best if we carted her off to the mental ward at St. Mungo's. Don't you agree?" Slytherin Pansy Parkinson snickered.
At those words, Cho flew at Pansy and threw her at a desk. Pansy staggered and went back to attack Cho, but Cho moved out of the way and Pansy ended up hitting Whitney instead and knocking her down.
"Whitney!" Cho screamed, running to help her friend.
But Pansy had grabbed Cho, and flipped her in the air and flung her at the wall. Cho grabbed a table and landed on it. Harry was about to rush forward, but was stopped from doing so.
"Potter, you stay there! This is between me and Chang!" Pansy said rudely.
"Harry, you should stand back…we don't know if helping Cho might end up doing more damage." Remus said quietly.
"Stand back?! I can't just pull up a chair and watch this! I have to do something!" Harry shouted angrily.
Cho was feeling weak again. Then she knew there was one last hope for her.
"Lumé…get Tai…" She whispered weakly.
Pansy had grabbed Cho by the front of her robes and threw her into a corner of the wall, and had her by her throat.
"Miss Parkinson! Cease this behavior at once!" Professor Delacour ordered.
"No. This bitch has ruined our Slytherin four! She's turned them all into Gryffindors!" Pansy retorted.
Running footsteps were heard and several students were being shoved aside. Pansy had turned away, and Cho had gotten free from her grasp on her neck, but was thrown into the corner again, and was hit by several fists. Then all of a sudden they stopped. Cho had crawled into a ball, and she looked up and saw her brother standing over her, his wand out, and Pansy frozen on the floor, her eyes darting angrily about the room.
"You ok?" He asked.
Cho got up and walked toward her brother. Cho had a bruise on her face and neck, and on her arms and legs.
"This will help…Helios!" Tai muttered.
The bruises disappeared, and Harry ran forward and hugged Cho tightly.
"Ni hao." Cho said to Tai.
Tai smiled and walked away.
"How's Whitney?" Cho asked.
"She's fine." Harry replied.
"Oh good…I was worried when she fell down…" Cho said relieved.
"You don't have to worry about me! I'm fine!" Whitney said. "Honestly, Pansy can't throw a decent punch. But I sure as hell can…so really, it felt like nothing."
"That still doesn't make me feel any better…" Cho murmured.
"Oh lighten up! Honestly, I was more worried about you, than I was about myself." Whitney said kindly.
"She's not joking either. When she saw you by the wall at your throat, she was shaking like mad!" Tom added.
"Well…class dismissed! And none of you have to go to your other lessons today. I will inform the staff. And Miss Parkinson, please come with me." Professor Delacour announced.
The class left and Cho decided to go to the common room. She invited Whitney, Tom, Draco, and Alyssia to come along. As they walked down the hall they saw Josh Davies walking by. Josh saw Cho and he grinned and started walking toward their group.
"Hey Cho." Josh said smoothly.
"What do you want?" Cho asked coldly.
"Not the greeting I expected…but…oh well…I was wondering…you doing anything late this afternoon?" Josh asked.
"Josh, I'm taken. Get it through your cement-thick skull and into your pea-sized brain!" Cho snapped.
"Oh come on, don't be like that! You know you want to." Josh snickered.
"You disgust me."
"Really? I thought you found me charming!"
"Where the hell did you get that fucked up idea?"
"When you were smooth-talking me at the Quidditch match last year."
"Uh huh…I see…"
Cho slapped him then kicked Josh right between the legs, making him double over, his eyes watering in pain.
"What was that for?" Josh asked, his voice abnormally higher.
"It serves you right. You honestly need to stop hitting on me." Cho said lightly, standing over him.
Cho and the others walked away, and Josh called after her,
"You know you want me! So stop playing hard to get!"
Cho's eyes flashed, and she was about to turn around, when Harry stopped her.
"Just let him stay there and look like an idiot…" He said.
"I guess…" Cho sighed.
They walked away to the seventh floor and stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady.
"Hikari!" Cho whispered.
The portrait swung open and they entered the common room.
"What the bloody hell does the password mean, anyway?" Ron wondered.
"If you're wondering, I picked it, and it's Japanese for the word 'light', 'ray', or 'brilliance'." Cho answered.
"What a cool password!" Whitney said.
Dean Thomas looked in the direction of the portrait hole of the common room.
"Slytherins? Four of them? Why the hell are they all here?!" He demanded.
"Slytherins?! Where?!" Several other Gryffindors chorused.
"Over there! By the portrait hole!" Dean roared.
"Let's get them!" Several Gryffindors shouted.
"STOP!" Cho screamed. "I brought them here. I wanted them to come here. You will not hurt them. They are friends. They are harmless…and they will not hurt you unless you provoke them…so don't try anything that would cause you to get into a fight with them."
"But it's Malfoy and his wife! How can they not be bad?! And Felton! Both of them!" Dean shouted.
"Do not judge them by what you see! They may be of Slytherin house, but they are very kind and generous." Cho replied softly.
"They've offered you money! The Malfoys! Everyone knows they're rich snobs! They've made you keep your mouth shut! And they also made you lead them here so they can get rid of all the Muggle-Lovers and Muggle-Borns!" Dean yelled.
"That's not true!" Draco, Alyssia, Tom, and Whitney shouted.
"Let our friends go, you ruthless snakes!" Seamus yelled, coming out of a corner.
"SHUT UP!!! JUST LISTEN TO YOURSELVES!!! YOU ONLY WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR!!! YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!!! THEY ALL DESPISE VOLDEMORT AND HIS WAYS!!! AND IF YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND THAT, THEN LET ME ASK YOU, WHO'S THE REAL SLYTHERINS HERE?!!!" Cho screamed.
She had run completely out of breath and leaned on Harry so she could stay standing.
The common room was silent, Cho's words still sinking in.
"Then the real Slytherins would be you." Dean said quietly. "You've become their friends."
"So be gone from this place…Slytherins!" Seamus shouted.
The Gryffindors in the common room ran forward and Akira came down from the spiral staircase wondering what all the shouting was about, and saw the Gryffindors running forward at a small group. She saw her sister's face in the small group, and she saw her sister get thrown aside to the side of the room by Dean and Seamus. She saw Harry fighting Dean and Ron fighting Seamus. Hermione suddenly tumbled out landing on the opposite side of the room from Cho. Alyssia flew out, and hit a small table. They were about to reach for Whitney, but Cho raised her arm into the air and held her wand high above her.
"Mera Neferti!" She cried.
A light blue light came from her wand tip and soared three feet above her and burst into several small blue sparks that surrounded the entire common room. Then Cho dropped her arm, her wand slipping from her fingers and lay a few inches from her fingertips. The room froze for a moment. The Gryffindors stopped attacking Ron, Harry, Whitney, Tom, and Draco for a few seconds.
"Whitney, hide while they're still frozen. That way you won't get hurt." Tom said.
Whitney nodded and crawled past several frozen students. She got into a corner and sat there just as the spell wore off and a girl hit Tom in the face. Then Ron was tossed out, then Tom. Leaving Harry and Draco the only ones left. Both took out their wands. They glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes and nodded.
"Stupefy!" The two of them started yelling.
Students started dropping, and some boys grabbed girls to shield them. After the stunning spells stopped, Dean, Seamus, and several other boys remained. Harry and Draco raised their wands again, then Dean and Seamus backed away then came back a few minutes later, Seamus holding Cho, his wand pointed at her neck, and Dean with Alyssia, his wand pointed at her. Alyssia was still conscious and she was looking at Draco.
"What're you waiting for?! Do it!" Alyssia screamed at him.
"I can't!" Draco yelled.
"Just do it!!!" Alyssia shrieked.
"What're you going to do now, Harry? You can't hurt her can you? You don't have it in you to hurt her, do you?" Seamus teased.
Cho suddenly opened her eyes and she felt a wand at her neck, and someone heavily breathing by her ear.
"Harry! Stun him already!" She shouted.
"Cho, I can't." Harry replied.
Cho stepped roughly on Seamus's foot, and he fell over, and Cho found herself pinned between the floor and Seamus. Then she looked around, and she saw her wand lying a foot away. She freed one of her arms, and tried desperately to reach her wand. Seamus saw this and took Cho's arm that he still had hold of behind her back, and pulled it backwards. Cho screamed, but still tried to get her wand.
"Wand…wand…wand!" She whispered.
Her wand flew to her hand, and she pointed it at Seamus. A red light was shining in front of her. Akira. She had let Kashya free. Akira now looked very different. So did Kashya's form. Akira had red eyes, red hair, a red vinyl catsuit that had short sleeves and shorts. It was completed with a long flowing red cape that had a high collar. Akira raised her hand, and Seamus flew off of Cho, and against a wall. Alyssia came free from Dean, and flew next to Seamus. The other boys looked on fearfully, and started to run for the dormitories, but Akira disappeared then reappeared in front of them and then snapped her fingers, and they were soaring to the wall next to Dean and Seamus. Then Akira fell over, and she returned to normal, all the red disappearing, and her school uniform taking place of the red clothes she wore moments before. Cho got up and clutched her arm painfully. Alyssia flung her arms around Draco and held him tightly. Tom had run over to Whitney and held her close. Ron and Hermione were in each others arms, and Harry walked next to Cho.
"You alright?" He asked.
"Yeah…just really tired…and my arm hurts like hell…" Cho replied.
"Wow…look at this mess! McGonagall's going to be furious!" Ron said loudly.
"Oh shut up, Ron…she'll never know…watch this…Evanesco!" Hermione said, taking out her wand.
The broken tables and burn holes in the wall disappeared. Whitney went around repairing the tables, and then rid the common room of the white dust that covered the floor and walls. Nick, Angela, Alicia, and Liam came rushing out of their dormitories. Liam saw Akira and was horrified.
"What the hell just happened?" Nick asked.
"Liam, Akira became Kashya again…" Cho said quietly.
"Who's Kashya?!" Alicia, Angela, and Nick asked.
"Nothing of your concern…" Cho answered.
"Whoa! Why's everyone look so beat up? And what happened to Dean, Seamus, Aaron, Adam, Kayla, Jessie, and Ashley?" Angela wondered.
"Oh um…because they didn't like the fact that we brought four of our friends along with us." Ron replied.
"What house are they in?" Alicia asked.
"Slytherin. But they're really nice people." Cho said quickly.
"So anyway, this lot attacked us…" Harry said.
"Are you all ok? Because you all look pretty badly hurt." Angela asked, her olive green eyes round as saucers.
"We're alright, but I think Tom, Alyssia, and Draco got hit the worst…although I think it's mostly Tom…" answered Ron.
"Tom Felton, right?" Alicia asked.
Tom nodded.
Cho walked over and tapped him with her wand.
"Helios!" She whispered.
"Thanks…" Tom muttered.
"No problem." Cho said.
"Well, I think we should be going now…" Draco said.
"Yeah…I don't want to be around when that lot wakes up…" Tom agreed.
The four of them left. Akira came round and rubbed her head.
"Oi…my head hurts…" She mumbled.
"Aki, are you alright?" Liam asked.
"Oh…I'm fine, Mez…just fine…" Akira replied.
She got up and dusted herself off.
"I'm going to bed…" Hermione, Ron, Liam, Akira, Alicia, Angela, and Nick said in unison.
They split up to their dormitories, leaving Harry and Cho alone in the common room. Harry shot Cho a mischievous grin. Cho grinned back, her eyes flashing mysteriously.
"We're alone." Harry said.
"Not really…they're all still here…" Cho said, nodding toward the unconscious Gryffindors at the wall.
Harry grinned and took her hand and let her upstairs to his dormitory. Ron was brushing his teeth in the bathroom, totally oblivious of what was going on. Harry sat down on his bed, and Cho sat next him. They closed the scarlet curtains around his bed, and Cho created a soundproof bubble around the bed. Both started kissing passionately, and Harry started to unbutton Cho's shirt, then went for the zipper on her skirt.
"No, Harry…we can't…" Cho whispered.
"I know…" He replied, sounding somewhat disappointed.
Cho laid down on his bed, feeling quite comfortable.
"Come here…" She said quietly.
Harry was confused but went over anyway and laid down next her. Cho pulled him closer to her, then kissed him softly. She rested his head on her chest, and gently ran her fingers through his messy black hair. They quietly talked to each other, and Cho even sang to him.
"You have a beautiful voice, you know?" Harry commented.