Ch. 7: The Hubbub in the Common Room
The Advanced Level for Divination Studies was a class for seventh-year students with severe cases of senioritis. Though with an impressive title, the class proved to be anything but. Cho and Amita had taken the required two years of it in their third and fourth years, and this year, they'd decided to slack off a bit.
As they climbed up the ladder that led to the classroom, immediately the usual strong herbal aroma cleared their heads. Cho hauled herself onto the floor of the room and hurried across the room to situate in a cushion. As usual, Professor Trelawney was standing and glistening like a very large, very deranged bug.
"Settle down, children!" Professor Trelawney said in her distant voice as if addressing a group of deaf people, "Today, we will be doing palm reading," Something the class had been doing for a good week. No complaints arose, however. Professor Trelawney turned to the black board and proceeded in scribbling something that Cho had no intention of copying. She looked over and saw Amita, quill moving furiously, and rolled her eyes.
Cho ripped off a small piece of parchment and scrawled a note.
Bloody Divination.
She folded it neatly and pushed it over to Amita. Cho saw her writing back,
And why aren't you copying?
Cho wrote back,
Because this material is absurd, and I refuse. You, you're horribly mad.
She really was.
Are you going to talk to Madeline?
No.
Why?
Go away. Grr.
Cho was glad to have this recent little drama at hand, in a way. It meant she had something else to think about other than her very decrepit love-life.
"So did you end up finishing that paper, Cho?" Amita asked as they trudged back to the castle on their way to Potions. Cho had forgotten that her paper was just barely a fifth completed, and her stomach sunk. She instinctually stopped in her tracks, causing the person behind her to cast her a dirty look.
"Shit! No, I fell asleep last night! I have three pages finished!"
"Oh…man."
Cho heaved a heavy sigh. She was too tired and distracted to whine.
"Ask Snape for an extension. He's a hard-ass, but you were the cause of Slytherin's victory, maybe he'll let." Amita said. Cho gave her a dirty look. She pulled out the tattered parchment from the previous night and sadly read through it. It was abysmal. She hoped to God a good begging and some subtle bribes would convince Snape to give her the grade.
The dungeons were gloomier than usual that afternoon. Cho filed in with the class and sat down in her seat in the middle row. Snape was sitting at his desk, glowering. As the last few students took their seats, he stood up and swept to the front.
"Your papers," he said at once. He flicked his wand and a massive wave of parchment piled onto his desk. He counted through them, and looked up accusingly.
"Chang!" he hissed. Cho flinched violently and knocked from her desk a few sheets of parchment.
"You barely have three of the required fifteen pages written,"
Cho swallowed. "Professor, I was meaning to talk to you about it, I didn't…"
"I gave you a week to finish this assignment, and I will accept no excuses. This goes in as a zero for your severe negligence."
Cho was devastated, but not surprised. She blushed horribly and looked down at her desk. Left to stew in her own guilt and humiliation, she did not bother at all to listen to the lecture.
The hour was spent. Cho heard the familiar build-up of voices and shuffling of paper that so often followed a class. She gathered her bag and books and started tentatively to Snape's desk. Amita had gone on her way to her Muggle Studies class leaving Cho very alone to face this nightmare. As she walked reluctantly to the front of the room, someone else entered and made his way to Snape before Cho had a chance. The Slytherin prince winked at her. Heaving a sigh, she hung back patiently and waited for the two to finish talking-- by the time they'd finished and Malfoy had left, Cho knew she'd be at least fifteen minutes late to her next class (Charms).
"Professor," she started, and seeing that Snape had made no sign of interrupting, she continued,
"About my paper—I really had no intention of coming off as negligent, honest. And on top of N.E.W.T.S. and all of my other classes, you saw that fall I took at Saturday's Quidditch match…I was out for two days and now I'm still just incredibly beat…" She eventually stopped talking and soon had herself in tears. Yes, it was pitiful…but was that a flicker of compassion in Snape's expression? She sniffed and looked up at him. This only ever worked with male teachers. Snape sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"Alright, Chang. I suppose a compromise can be made," Cho's face immediately brightened, "You saw Mr. Malfoy come in—he was here for similar reasons, and I assigned him an alternative task. I asked him to go and gather samples of the Matutinus lilaeus, or the Silver Shiver Lily from the North Pond."
"Is there a paper involved?" Cho asked meekly.
"At this point, I don't need any extra papers to grade. Just find out when and how the Silver Shiver Lily should be attained, and bring several back to me in good shape. I'll be sure to tell Mr. Malfoy the new arrangement."
Snape had absolutely no idea how happy he had just made Cho (even if she had to work with Malfoy).
"Thank you, professor. Thank you so much, you have no idea. I'll brink back the best samples I can find, promise." She started toward the door. She was already twenty minutes late to Charms, but she didn't care. Her day was uplifted and she was ecstatic.
"Hold in there, Chang," Snape said. She smiled and was on her way.
The rest of Cho's classes that day were strangely very fascinating, and by the time she and Madeline were walking back to the Common Room after their last class of the day, (Defense Against the Dark Arts) she still had a smile on her face.
"Cho, you know, I hate to break it to you, but despite this -ahem- lucky break, you still have to do it with that prick Malfoy," Madeline said.
"Mad, you're just jealous that you're not getting a better grade. I fell off a broom. Did you fall off a broom?"
"No, but I don't have to gather Silver Shiver Lilies from the North Pond with Draco fucking Malfoy."
You're jealous, dear Madeline. Christ, I don't care if I have to do this with Draco fucking Malfoy. I'm getting an A. And it was out of pity."
Madeline laughed and said the password to the Common Room (now 'Mint Pasties' in honor of the spring season). They strolled in and sat down in front of the fire, scattering their parchment and books on the floor. It was 5:00, and the early spring sun cast its rays coldly through the arched windows: a reminder that she had no Quidditch practice that night. Cho stretched and propped her feet up on a coffee table.
"So, are you going to try and talk to Amita?" Cho asked as she heaved her Charms book onto her lap.
"I've tried. She won't look at me,"
"I really don't think she should be this mad."
"I know, it's a bother."
They worked in silence. Within an hour, Cho had finished her Charms essay and was just beginning her Divination when she knocked over her ink-well.
"Bugger," she said under her breath. She muttered a charm and the ink disappeared. She went off to retrieve a new ink-well and as she walked up the stairs to her dorm, she tripped and skinned her knee.
What is it with me and hurting myself this week? she thought as she clutched her leg. She had ripped her jeans and her knee was burning considerably. She hobbled up to her room and tended to her knee. Then, fixing the rip with a tap of her wand, she went back down to finish up her work. She walked carefully down the steps, and nearing the bottom, she heard voices. Two voices. Namely the voices of Amita and Madeline. They sounded very angry. Cho took a deep breath and entered the Common Room.
She stood near the doorway and watched as her two best friends shouted loudly and fervently as each other. Both were standing up. People were looking at them.
"…How can you NOT know why I'm angry!" Amita shouted.
"Well, I'm sorry; I suppose I'm just STUPID!" Madeline yelled at equal volume.
"YOU HAD SEX WITH ROGER DAVIES!" Now they'd drawn a small crowd.
"SO?"
Amita looked stumped for a moment, but recovered.
"You're a right SLUT, Madeline. You two aren't even involved!"
Madeline was purple in the face with anger.
"And this is coming from you, Amita! You've only slept with half the bloody school!"
"WELL, MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE CONSIDERED YOUR FRIENDS BEFORE YOU'D GONE OFF AND SLEPT WITH ROGER DAVIES!"
"WHY THE HELL SHOULD I! IT'S NOT OF YOUR CONCERN AT ALL, IS IT?"
Amita looked near tears. At this point, Cho decided to leave. She thought it best not to get in the middle of a near-catfight, and made her way through the crowd of whispering spectators. So apparently Amita liked Davies. What a fiasco.
The halls of the school were cool and empty that evening. She strolled calmly, ears still ringing with Amita and Madeline's heated voices. She thought about Amita and Madeline. School. Her parents. Quidditch. Sex. She wandered aimlessly around the school, and didn't realize she had ended up in front of the Slytherin Common Room until a familiar voice cut through her reveries.
"Up for stalking me now, eh, Chang?" Draco Malfoy was standing with a group of his Slytherin cronies. Cho hadn't even seen him.
"Making my daily rounds, Malfoy," she lied. After all, she was a prefect. She glanced over at the group he was with: Crabbe and Goyle, Marcus Flint, Pansy Parkinson, and another girl with long blonde hair Cho didn't know the name of. All were giving her horrifying death glares.
"Actually, it was good you stopped by, Chang. Snape's told me our new little arrangement—looks like you really fucked up that paper."
Cho decided not to respond to this. Malfoy walked over to her.
"The Silver Shiver Lily only blooms at early dusk," Malfoy said, leading Cho farther away. His tone seemed to change considerably as he left the company of his posse, "I expect Snape wanted us to figure that out ourselves."
"Then, we should be there at say…5:00 tomorrow morning?" Cho asked.
"I would say earlier-- I looked it up and found they appear right before the sun rises. We'd want them at their prime, after all." Cho was surprised at the lengths he had taken to find this information. She had always thought Malfoy was a bit of a slacker.
"Alright…how about 3:30?"
"Sounds grand. See you bright and early tomorrow, Chang. Don't be late." As Cho went on her way, she saw the glowering eyes of Pansy Parkinson and the girl-with-no-name follow her movements contemptuously.
I hope I haven't caused a riot with them she thought with an amused snigger. Quite spent, she made her way through the marble courtyard that led back to the East Tower. The breeze lightly tickled her face.