What You Never Knew

Cho Chang: The Guilty One

1. She wasn't really Chinese.

She was Indonesian, actually. The only reason her last name was Chang was because she was adopted by a pureblood British family whose last name was Chang. Mr. and Mrs. Chang had been vacationing in Indonesia when they had seen a five-year-old Cho playing in the front yard of an orphanage they were passing by. Or, maybe, instead of, "playing", "Making flowers float in the air" would be more accurate. They adopted her a week later.

2. She blames herself for her parents' deaths.

After all, were her mother not pregnant with her in the first place, she wouldn't have died in childbirth. And it was four-year-old Asoka's (as Cho was then called) fault that her father had gotten distracted while he was driving her to day care. If she hadn't started crying for her bottle, he wouldn't have turned around to give it to her and would have seen the oncoming truck.

3. On her eleventh birthday, all she felt was guilt.

Yes, she was happy about receiving her much anticipated Hogwarts letter. But her sister (in every respect but blood), Cherie, was thirteen years old and had never gotten a Hogwarts letter, despite being a pureblood. Though Cherie had tried her best not to show it, Cho knew how upset her sister was. And she always hated herself for that.

4. She first met Cedric on her second day of Fourth Year, on her way to Charms class.

She had accidentally overslept, and, as a result, had missed breakfast and not had time to brush her hair, or even perform a Straightening Charm on it. Running faster than she ever had before in her life, she wasn't looking at where she was going, and had accidentally bumped into a tall figure, sending her and her books sprawling.

"Oh, blast it all," she muttered to herself irritably. "Now I'm going to be late to class!"

"Well, we can't have that, now, can we?" A pale hand quickly gathered Cho's books into a neat stack and lifted them up. Cho herself stood up and looked up at the boy who had helped her…

…And sucked in a gasp.

Cedric Diggory. Of all the people she had to make a fool of herself in front of- on a bad hair day, too!- it just had to be the heartthrob of Hogwarts. With his wavy brown hair and deep grey eyes, it was hard for Cho to keep her poise.

"Th-Thanks," she stammered, blushing furiously as Cedric handed her books to her. A tingle shot up her arm when their hands brushed against each other.

"No problem," Cedric assured her, his smile dazzling. "Would you like me to escort you to class? I'm a Prefect; I could cover for you, if you want, so Professor Flitwick won't mark you tardy."

"Really? Wow, thank you so much!" Cho exclaimed, grinning broadly and hoping her voice didn't sound too much like a squeal.

The two set off walking to Charms, and Cho looked anywhere but at Cedric and the numerous people staring at them and pointing and whispering. In other words, she just looked at the ground awkwardly. "So," Cedric began, and she looked up at him, "what's your name?"

"Cho Chang," she told him. "Ravenclaw, Fourth Year."

"Nice to meet you, Cho," Cedric said. "I'm-"

"Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff, Fifth Year," she finished for him, and then blushed a deep red. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off." Stupid Cho. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she scolded herself.

"No harm done," Cedric shrugged nonchalantly. "So, do you like the House for the brainy?"

Cho giggled. "Yes, very much, thanks. It's very easy to get some peace and quiet when everyone's reading all the time."

Cedric's laugh was loud, hearty, and just plain beautiful. "Sometimes, I wish Hufflepuff was more like that. I often find myself wanting to just escape- but it seems like everywhere I go, people just have to talk to me!"

"Of course they do!" Cho replied. "You're Cedric Diggory."

"And you're Cho Chang," he responded, eye twinkling.

They arrived at the Charms classroom, and Cedric knocked on the door before opening it. "Excuse me? Professor Flitwick?" he began politely.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Diggory!" the tiny Head of Ravenclaw squeaked. "Do come in! You don't have Charms until third period, though!"

"I know, Sir. I just thought I'd escort Miss Chang here to class," he explained, gesturing to a still-blushing Cho. "Please excuse her lateness. It's entirely my fault."

"Of course, Mr. Diggory!" Flitwick beamed. "Yes, do come in, Miss Chang!"

Cho moved to go to the seat that Marietta saved for her, but Cedric grabbed her arm, and she turned back around. "See you around, Cho," he winked at her, and then went on his way.

Still blushing as red as a ripe tomato, she turned back around and walked to her seat.

5. Cedric was her first love.

She loved him from the moment he helped her pick up her books in Fourth Year, and she loved him even after he died. Which was why she felt so guilty when she began going out with Harry. And yet… that was part of why she started liking Harry in the first place. He was brave, and kind, and handsome; just like Cedric. The two shared so many qualities that sometimes, when Cho and Harry kissed, she could imagine that it was Cedric she was kissing instead.

But Harry deserved better, and she knew this. So she pretended that she thought Harry had feelings for Hermione (even though he obviously didn't), and broke it off with him.

6. She first met Samuel at Cedric's funeral.

Cedric's mother was a Muggleborn; as a result, Samuel, the son of Cedric's aunt, was a Muggle. When Cho met him, she was fifteen, and he was seventeen.

"You're Cho, right? Cedric's girlfriend?" Cho looked up at the sound of someone addressing her, tears still streaming down her face, as she glanced over at the tall boy with wavy brown hair who had spoken to her. He wasn't even looking at her, instead staring desolately at Cedric's coffin, much like she had been doing. Her heart softened a bit when she saw a tear roll down his cheek.

"Yes," she replied shortly.

"Cedric told me about you," the boy began slowly. "I hope you know that he was utterly smitten with you. Every time he wrote to me, there was at least a paragraph about how beautiful and wonderful and perfect you were. Then there was another paragraph about how he didn't think he was nearly good enough for you, and how he constantly wondered how he had gotten so lucky."

Cho sniffed, wiping her freshly damp eyes. "That sounds like something he would say… he was always so sweet. He used to tell me all of that, too… and I'd always tell him that I was the one who wasn't good enough for him."

"You miss him, don't you?"

"I loved him," Cho answered simply. "I still do, in fact. I miss him more than words can say."

"That's poetic of you," the boy nodded, and then stuck out his hand. "By the way, I'm Samuel Nichols. You can call me Sam." Cho turned to face the boy, fully prepared to introduce herself formally and shake his hand, and gasped.

He had Cedric's eyes.

7. She was never really all that fond of Marietta.

Yes, they were friends, but not very close. However, when Cedric died, and Cho was reduced to an utter wreck, Marietta was one of few of Cho's friend that stayed by her side and helped her gradually get over her grief and heartbreak. So, when Marietta betrayed Dumbledore's Army, even though Cho knew what her friend had done was wrong, she stuck by her friend's side all the way.

8. Michael Corner was like a younger brother to her.

Sure, they dated for a bit- a much shorter period of time than most of Hogwarts thought- but after about a month, they both had to admit that no matter how attractive the other was, there was no spark when they kissed. And so, they broke up- or rather, he broke up with her (the only boy to ever do so) on good terms. Even when Cho graduated, the two talked as much as they could. She was the sister he never had, and he was the brother she never had.

So when Cho found his dead body after the Battle of Hogwarts, she cried like no one was watching.

9. She first knew that she loved Samuel three years after the Battle of Hogwarts.

They had met up more than a few times before that, yes, but they all those times, Cho would look at him and think, "He looks so much like Cedric," or "He has Cedric's eyes," or "Sweetness must run in the family; Cedric was really sweet, too."

Then, one day, she met up with him for coffee and thought to herself, "Sam has such beautiful eyes." For once, they weren't Cedric's eyes; they were Samuel's.

They were married two years later, on that same day.

10. Her daughter was her pride and joy.

Cho had had several miscarriages before she finally gave birth to her beautiful, healthy daughter, Cherie Michaela, when she was thirty-six years old. Cherie was Cho and Samuel's only child, but they never minded. She had Cho's long black hair and Samuel's gorgeous grey eyes, and she was as beautiful as a girl could get; not to mention smarter and kinder than Cho had ever been.

In truth, Cherie was a better version of Cho. And Cho loved her for it.

Cho Chang had a good life, all in all. But throughout her whole life, guilt was an all-too-common emotion. She felt guilty about her parents' death. She felt guilty about being a witch, when her adopted sister wasn't. She felt guilty about stringing Harry along, and while doing that, she felt guilty for "cheating" on Cedric. She even felt a little guilty for siding with Marietta when she knew the latter was wrong. She felt guilty when she married Sam, because he looked so much like Cedric, who she had always thought that she would marry. She felt guilty about Cherie being an only child, because if not for her miscarriages, she would have had many more children to love, even though she didn't mind only being the mother of one.

Cho Chang- later Cho Nichols- was The Guilty One. Even if she wasn't guilty of any of the things she felt guilty about.

I don't know about you, but I actually really like this one! Thanks for reading, PLEASE review!

-Joelle8