Note: This chapter was written because of the incessant pleas from my beta Heptagon. For some reason she thought that the name Cho Boot would sound just hilarious. Well, for some reason, she was right. But actually I just wanted to say that I don't own Terry and Cho, and I don't own Hogwarts, and Colin, and Parvati... yo get the drift. Enjoy!
Chapter 18: Cho and Terry
Terry Boot was not a remarkable person. For one thing, he couldn't quite understand what the Sorting Hat had seen in him to put him in Ravenclaw. Not that he didn't like it there, of course he did, but he needed to study so much to keep up with the others, and studying, naturally, was for fools — the smart didn't need to study, they understood without that. And, following the logic, the fools didn't belong in Ravenclaw. Therefore Terry just suspected that there hadn't been any bravery or ambition in him, and not even loyalty, so that the Hat had had to toss a dice or something and that's why he had ended up where he had.
Cho Chang, on the other hand, was a remarkable person in every way; and as anyone who had ever walked past her without a remark about her looks, her mind, or any other of those perfect aspects of her could tell, she had a remarkably good aim, too. But there was just one thing — she didn't quite understand how she had ended up in Ravenclaw. Not that she didn't like it there, of course she did, but she wasn't quite the studious and knowledge-hungry person that every Ravenclaw was supposed to be. She wasn't a fan of reading or studying or researching or writing, she just depended on her instincts and logic in the lessons. Therefore Cho just suspected that there had been quite equal amounts of bravery and ambition in her, and even loyalty, so that the Hat had had to toss a dice or something and that's why she had ended up where she had.
But there were some strong similarities between the two Ravenclaws, and anyone could see it in their current situation. They were sitting in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, surrounded by the likes of them, by people who had lost their families and homes and pasts, just as they had. They were sitting next to each other, bowls of porridge in front of them. It wasn't tasty, but at least it kept them alive.
Cho twirled her spoon in the food and brought it to her mouth slowly. She had learnt to block out the taste, now, after having eaten it every morning for a number of weeks. Like every other morning, her mind wasn't with the porridge she was eating, or with the people surrounding her. Her mind was busy adding up her strengths, weighing her choices of what to do with her future, calculating the greatness she could achieve on which path, and comparing them. Every morning she would try to decide how great she wanted to become while licking the tasteless porridge from her spoon, surrounded by people who could never manage to get out of their pitiful situation as well as she could.
Terry leaned his head on his hands and closed his eyes so that he wouldn't have to stare down into the brown thing they called food. He didn't feel very hungry, he never felt very hungry any more because he didn't do much else than sleep nowadays, anyway. He let his mind drift away, dreaming of what would be if everything was different, if he was different.
The Hall was slowly emptying of people, everyone went away on their own business — some to cry somewhere, some to Apparate to the ruins of their past to see if anything could still be saved, some to search for jobs, some to find a nice warm place under some tree and sleep through the day.
Cho didn't move. Instead she stared at the porridge with disgust, just like she stared with disgust at the people who had emptied their bowls and were leaving the Hall. She thought their daily activities were pointless, and irrational, and all-in-all ridiculous because they had done the same thing every day for weeks now and hadn't gotten anywhere. She knew that if she one day made up her mind on which way to choose, she would instantly be successful, and wouldn't have the need to come back to this porridge any more.
Terry didn't move either, but that was because he was asleep. In his dream he moved. In his dream he went out of the Great Hall, down to the Lake, and started yelling pointless words just out of frustration. In his dream he decided that the current situation was not to be tolerated any more. In his dream he decided that something had to change.
The next moment, something changed.
His arm received a painful whack and flew out from under his chin. His head lolled over with all the weight of sleep, and Terry fell headfirst into his inedible and now also cold porridge.
"You're more pathetic than the others," Cho voiced her thoughts, convulsing with silent laughter as she watched her House-mate trying to breathe through the stale porridge, then seem to suffocate for a little while, and then emerge from the bowl with a red porridge-covered face.
"At least I have a plan!" Terry said, trying to regain some dignity. He hadn't spoken to Cho in years, if ever, they were just so different.
"Oh really? To go out where you go every day, do what you do every day, and come back empty handed like you do every day?" Cho asked with sarcasm, and by the hue of Terry's face she had been quite right. "Or maybe just go outside and start yelling pointless words out of frustration?"
Terry blushed even redder.
"At least I do something!" Terry tried again. "Unlike you."
"Well, I'm planning my next moves. I'll be gone from here before anyone else."
"Oh, you will? So, what are your plans?" Terry pried.
"I'm going to be the High Healer of St. Mungo's. Or maybe take over Ollivander's business now that he's dead. Or I'll become the youngest Head of the International Communications Bureau. And then I'll get such a salary that…"
Cho stopped when Terry couldn't hold himself any longer and burst out laughing uncontrollably.
"You have better plans maybe?" Cho asked indignantly.
"Well, couldn't be much worse, now could they?"
"Care to elaborate?"
"I'm going to marry," Terry declared, and when Cho started laughing in her turn, added, "I'll find myself a pretty wife and then I'll borrow the camera from Colin, I already have a deal with him, and then I'll make nice pictures of my pretty wife in sexy clothes and then sell them to magazines and make my wife the first and richest and most well-known witch model, and then…" he stopped, and sent a scrutinizing look at Cho.
The woman looked eager and exited.
"Is it really possible to become so rich by doing almost nothing?"
"Well, I already have a deal with Parvati that their magazine will print the first photos for free… and after that the money will just be flying in!" Terry confirmed, a piece of dried porridge dangling from his eyebrow.
"That's easy," Cho concurred.
They sat in silence for a while.
"So, should I go get the camera?" Terry asked the same moment that Cho opened her mouth.
"So, should I go put something else on?" she said.
They smiled at each other and jumped up from the bench at the same moment, saying, "I'll go now."
They walked out of the Hall in a springy pace.
"But I want a lot of pictures of me in my amazing wedding dress!" Cho said suddenly. "I mean, I will be the most famous witch by that time and I'm sure everyone would like to see it…"
Terry smiled again and ran away towards the Gates of Hogwarts to Apparate to Colin's place and get the camera. Cho made her way slowly to the Ravenclaw Tower.
"I present to you," she told herself, though in her mind there was a world-full of people watching, "the famous, most amazing, most beautiful — Cho Boot!"