Ch. 3: Hairy Encounters

Cho awoke to the clatter of silverware. She opened her eyes heavily and lifted her hand to rub the sleep away, but found she couldn't move a muscle. What a way to ruin this weekend even more for me she thought bitterly. With effort, she managed to turn her head to see who was standing over her. Madam Pomphrey with a tray. How exciting. And she thought it would be one of her friends, shame.

"Eat up now, girl. I haven't all day."

Cho cast the nurse a wildly dirty look, and in turn was roughly spoon-fed. She choked on the bland porridge (and the spoon) causing Madam Pomphrey to shuffle away at a mad pace, mumbling and fretting.

An hour passed perhaps, and Cho began to feel slightly better. With the use of her limbs once again, she slowly sat up and got out of her bed. The hospital wing was spare and high-ceilinged, and she flinched when her bare feet touched the cold stone floor. This week had not been a good one. Tuesday, she had received a failing grade on the Potions paper that she had spent all night writing. On Wednesday, practice was hell, and Roger Davies spent two hours lecturing the team. Thursday, an owl from her mother that berated her for not writing enough. And then this conveniently planted fiasco. It was Sunday, her weekend spent and ruined quite sufficiently.

While stepping into the hospital shower, she slipped on the tiles and bit her tongue. Cursing loudly, she took a short, hot shower and dressed in the clothes she wore the day before. She picked up her Quidditch robes and wandered out.

The halls of Hogwarts were unusually quiet. Cho felt foolish listening to her own echoing footsteps. As she rounded a corner to the main stairwell, she stopped so suddenly as to avoid an incomer that she nearly toppled over for the third time in two days. Harry Potter. She was devastated. The last thing she needed was to come face-to-face with this unstable head-case. Not to mention, someone she had recently (and regrettably) been involved with. Apparently, Harry was even more surprised with the encounter, and his glasses had flown askew. He uttered a strangled, 'ack!' and dropped instantly to his knees to scavenge. Cho found it pathetic, yet cute.

"Ch-Cho!" Harry sputtered without making eye-contact.

"Yes, I suppose that is my name, Harry," she responded with a mental eye-roll.

"Erm..." He seemed to be outrageously flustered. "Er…hey, I saw that knock you took yesterday. Quite a bugger, eh?" he laughed nervously. "You feeling alright, then?"

"Well, yes, if you count bleeding from my ears a right state."

Harry blushed and his eye twitched. Cho felt she'd been a bit harsh. However, the time when they'd been "together" was quite arguably one of the most grating experiences of her life. Harry had been incessantly off his rocker, and she herself couldn't stop bursting into tears. How very sad.

Harry looked a bit constrained for a while, and then said quickly,

"Cho, I'm sorry, I guess, for everything. I suppose I was a bit of a nut-case…you know, with the whole Dark Lord business and all…" He trailed off and looked at her guiltily. Cho knew Harry and Ginny were a bit of an item at the moment. Why was he being so apologetic now? And she just couldn't be mean to a boy with such a horrible price on his head.

"Well, Harry, I appreciate the apology," she was being very nice, "Shall we agree to stay friends then?"

Harry looked relieved.

"See you around," she said slowly, and edged around him. She decided that Harry must have something severely wrong with his head, but was all-in-all, a sweet boy. However, she would never consider taking interest in him again. Ever.

As Cho entered the comfort of the Ravenclaw Common Room, she immediately found a seat in front of the fire. The sky was already dull. A few students sat scattered and quiet in the corners of the room. Again, she found herself without the presence of her friends.

She found herself staring, bleary-eyed, for quite some timeat a painting of Gregory the Hermit and remembering that she still had a term paper to write by Tuesday. While wallowing in her own disappointment and exhaustion, she fell asleep to the crackling embers of the fire.