I'm a keeper: Thanks for the review; I'm glad that you are enjoying hating Marietta and her gang. I hope that you enjoy cheering on Cho just as much.:)
T-person: Thanks so much for the Cho rocks! It really helped bring up my spirits. For me its all about the Cho. I hope that this keeps you interested.:)
I think that I would have preferred to get this longer, but I had to get a chapter out. Umm, well I don't know how you will like it or if you will at all. I wrote this out to have Harry really hurt Cho so that later when they hook up, there will be some emotional forgiveness moments, chapter 45! Wow, sorry it's taking so long to finish.:(
Chapter 45: Hurtful Accusations and Wrong Conclusions
One Week Later: October 4th
Cho stood in her room looking at the picture Cedric and her together at the Yule Ball. There were both holding each other, and smiling, and waving at the camera. Like all pictures in the wizarding world it was moving, and it was as if Cedric was waving to her. Like he could actually see her from inside the picture. She spoke to Cedric in her thoughts. If only you were here now Cedric If only you could help me get through all of this. When you died my world turned upside down. Nothing has gotten better. I want to talk to someone, but I'm not allowed. You're now going to be the only one that I can tell my problems too, and you can't answer back. Cho thought.
My mums still sick, and I haven't even heard from anyone for four weeks. I'm afraid for her. I should be with her, but I've been stuck here. I need to take care of her. This mail thing has kept us all in the dark, and it's really not fair. We need to hear from our families, to know how their doing. I miss my family so much, especially mum.
Harry Potter won't talk to me… I tried to convince him that I wasn't a part of the society, but he won't believe me. He doesn't want to talk to me at all. It hurts because I still have feelings for him. But he never saw me as anything more than a friend, and now I have to leave with him thinking that I'm his enemy. "Why is this happening to me?"Cho cried.
My friend Padma Patel is still missing as well. Her family has been sent here by the Ministry of Magic. They are very worried about her, we all are. It's another thing that is just so crazy in the world today. Some people are saying that it's probably You-Know-Who that has kidnapped her. I hope that it's not true, but I don't know what to believe anymore.
The Head Master had me go to his office last Monday, and I told him about Marietta, and her friends, but… but I don't have any proof. I don't know if he even believed me. He gave me a lecture about putting myself above others, and I tried to tell him that I never thought less of any non pureblood, but I think that he believed that I was jus telling him what he wanted to hear. He promises to look into the connection with Marietta and the society though.
In any event I can't concentrate on anything with my mum sick, and not being able to here from her. My grades are falling, and… and I'm afraid for my friend's safety if I stay here. Marietta may still try to hurt them to make me go over to her side. So I have to go. I don't know what I'll do. Probably get a job at my Uncles construction company. I wish I had you here to give me advice; you were the smart one of the two of us. You should have been in Ravenclaw. Madam Pomfrey gave Nancy the potion, and she was feeling better when I left, but when I saw her hours later, she didn't remember me bringing the cure to her. My friends Beverly and Nancy are better now, but… "sob" I'm not. It's my birthday tonight. I wanted to leave Hogwarts right away, but my friends insisted that I stay at here for my birthday so that they can throw me a party. I normally love my parties; we always have the best, but… I just don't feel like celebrating. They tried to keep me from leaving at all, but… I have to. I… I don't know what I'm going to do without my friends… I've always felt so lucky to have so many friends, and we've always been there for each other. Each one is very important to me. There isn't anything better than spending time with them, and now. I don't know if I'll ever see most of them again. I knew that this year was going to be sad, because it's the year that we all go our own separate ways, but… I didn't think that I would be leaving the wizarding world forever. But… I just don't see the use in staying when I can't even do magic. I'll still be able to get an owl now and then and have friends over, but… I know that I'm going to lose touch with a lot of them after I leave the wizarding world.
I think that eventually I'm going to try and get into a muggle school of medicine, and be a doctor. I can still help people that way. I'm turning in my wand in one week, that's when the Hogwarts express returns to drop off supplies, and then leaves again. My father doesn't know that I'm coming back, and I don't know what I'm going to tell everyone. I… I don't know if you can hear my thoughts, and I don't know what happens to everyone after they die, but… it helps to talk to you all the same. I miss you Cedric. Cho finished her thought, and put the picture of Cedric, next to the one of Harry on top of the folded clothes in her steamer trunk. Someone put their arms around Cho from behind, and gave her a soft hug.
"I thought that you were still going to be here a week Cho. Why are you packing now." Luna said quietly. Cho turned to face Luna, fresh tears running down her cheeks. She wiped them away with her hand.
"I'm just… I'm just getting a few things packed… I'll wait until Friday night to pack the rest." Cho said softly. Luna also had a tear running down her cheek.
"I wish you would change your mind… who's going to protect me from Marietta when your gone Cho?" Luna asked, remembering that one time she was the victim of open abuse from Marietta, before Cho stepped in to her defense. Cho put her hand on Luna's shoulder.
"Nancy, and Beverly will watch your back, and you watch theirs. I told them to take good care of you. And I think when I'm gone that Marietta will stop harassing all of you… I think that I'm the reason that she's been so mean to all of you. I'm so sorry to have caused all of you such trouble." Cho said regretfully. Luna gave Cho another hug, squeezing tightly.
"Stop that Cho, the only one to blame for Marietta picking on us is Marietta Edgencombe, not you. Don't let Beverly hear you talk like that or she'll smack you for being silly… and I wouldn't blame her either." Luna finished with a chuckle. It caused Cho to giggle a little too, enough to crack a smile.
"There, you see, all of us like to see you more like that. Now let's go, and get some breakfast, I hear that the head Master has an important speech to make." Luna finished with a bright smile, and she playfully pulled Cho by the arm to get her to come with her.
Cho and Luna walked slowly down the middle of the Great Hall flanked by the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables. Cho raised her head to see Harry looking at her with an angry look upon her face. When their eyes met, Harry turned away; ignoring her, but Cho couldn't take her eyes off of him until Luna put her right arm around Cho and pulled her head to her shoulder. Luna had tried to speak to Harry before, but in his foul mood he didn't want to hear anything about Cho. Apparently Danielle's lie had really hurt him. How could he believe such things so easily? Luna thought. She looked at Cho with a sincere pity.
"Look Cho, I'll talk to him tomorrow morning, he'll listen to me this time, because I won't let him out of the room until he does. Tomorrow morning, you'll be friends again in no time." Luna promised. Cho gave a smile, but didn't believe it. Luna and Cho sat down to eat. Cho looked back at Harry; he was talking to a very exhausted looking Hermione Granger.
"Cho, I'll talk to him tomorrow morning, I promise, just stop looking at him for now, and focus on eating." Luna said. Cho turned to Luna.
"I… I always turned away from him before." She said softly. Luna gave a confused look.
"What do you mean… looked away?" Luna asked. Cho lowered her head to look at the pourage on in her bowl, and stirred it with her spoon.
"Last year… when he hurt me, when I was upset with him. It hurt to look at him. Now, it hurts to look away. I'm probably never going to see him again. It hurts." Cho said sadly. Luna gave Cho a light smack.
"I told you that I'll talk to him tomorrow, and everything will be fine, now stop it." Luna said irritated. Cho apologized. Beverly, Nancy, and Erica all sat down at the table on the opposite side of Cho. The five girls began to talk of the party that they would have later that night, and about that decorations that they had put up in the Library. Cho always had to borrow the use of the library, in the past because so many of her friends were in the other houses. But she had been afraid to go in because of how she was treated by the librarian the day that Marietta's gang beat her up. She had to have Beverly go and make sure that the librarian wouldn't be there during the party. Soon the conversation moved onto more somber news, like the disappearance of Padma Patel. It turned out that her sister was also having trouble with her schoolwork. Cho wished that she could comfort her, but she didn't want to compare her situation about Cedric with Parvatie's because she didn't want to believe that her sister was hurt… or worse. Cho wanted everyone to find Padma okay, maybe just runaway for some reason, or temporary lost, but safe. She hoped that Parvati wouldn't suffer the same shock as she did and find her sister dead, but Cho had a bad habit of thinking the worst, so it was hard to put it out of her mind. Cho eventually looked further over the table at Marietta. She was looking tired, and was propping her head up with her hand.
"What's going on with Marietta? Looks like she's had a rough night." Cho said, not concerned about Marietta, but curious. Nancy bent over the table and looked in the direction of Marietta.
"They called the prefects, and Head Boy and Head Girl into the Head Masters office last night. I talked to George Windsor, the Gryffindor Prefect in our year, and he said that whatever it was for the Head Master called them into his office, and kept them there until late. He also swore them to secrecy, because he has an important speech this morning that he wants to give." Nancy finished.
"Curious, I wonder what…" Beverly began to speak, but was cut off by the Head Master banging a spoon against his glass. When he had gotten everyone's attention he stood up and began to speak.
"My dear students. I have some bitter sweet news for you this morning. First off on the order of business, the other masters and I have decided to suspend classes today in order to search the castle for Padma Patel. I'm sure that we will find her safe and sound, or that she is not here in the castle, but we need to look for her in every part of the castle. You can never be to through, and she may have been bitten by a sleep pixy. If so she should be okay, but we need to find her as soon as possible to bring her out of it. A few cheers arose at the thought of not having to go to classes for a day. But the Head Master quitted them down quickly. "Please, I know the thought of skipping class sounds inviting, but I would like to remind you, that there is a young girl missing, and we need to find her, or confirm that she is no longer in the castle.
The second issue of the morning is that we received a large supply of student mail by Ministry helicopter yesterday, and it's being kept in the library…" Dumbledore was interrupted by a roaring applause that echoed all over the room. Everyone was wild with excitement, and some students started to jump around. It was a full three minutes before Dumbledore was able to calm the students down enough to speak again.
"Listen please, listen. It's important to tell you, that regrettably you mail has all been censored by the Ministry of Magic. Now, that means that wizards and witches at the ministry have read your mail, and we found out last night that they didn't even reseal them. But…" Dumbledore was again interrupted, but this time to jeers, directed not at him, but at the Ministry.
"What? Go through the mail? This is an outrage." One Huffelpuff girl shouted.
"That's not fair, that's our privacy, that's got to be illegal." A Ravenclaw boy shouted. More shouts of protest continued until Dumbledore raised his hand to silence everyone.
"Please, please everyone… look, I know how bad it feels, and I don't normally agree with the Ministry when it comes to things like this, but I can assure you that because of the danger of Voldermort, it is necessary for the ministry to check to make sure that the he is not sending dangerous mail into the school. It is sadly a necessary evil that we must endure for the safety of the students. However I can tell you all that the witches and wizards who were in charge, have swore an oath never to divulge any personal information that they read. Now, I've had the prefects sort all the mail, and stack it into piles of letters that you can pick up at the library this afternoon. Now the Head Girl, and Boy, and prefects worked real hard last night to get everything ready for you, so I think that they deserve a big hand for their hard work." Dumbledore finished, and began to slowly clap. The students followed suit with thunderous applause. All the prefects, who all looked very tired, blushed.
"Now, after lunch if the students will line up, at the library door, the prefects, and Head boy and Girl will be distributing the letters after lunch today. After your finished with breakfast, your to report to your first period classes to be assigned to search parties. Prefects, and Head Girl and Boy however will report to the library to start preparing the post for students. That is all, thank your for your attention, and good day." Dumbledore said and went back to his meal. Cho started to get up from the table, and looked over at Harry. He was still avoiding her gaze. Luna pulled on Cho's arm.
"Cho… what are you doing? I said that I would talk to him tomorrow." Luna said. Cho looked down at her struggling to get the words out.
"Luna… I… it's my birthday party tonight. I have to ask, don't you understand? I have to ask." Cho said quietly. Cho walked slowly over to where Harry sat next to Ron and Neville Longbottom. "Um… Harry. Can I talk to you in private… please?" Cho asked weakly. Harry gave her an irritated look.
"Look Cho, I'm having breakfast with my friends right now. You can tell me what you want in front of them." Harry said casually. Everyone around Harry looked up at Cho, waiting to hear what she would say next. Cho lowered her head.
"Harry, um… it's my birthday today, and um… well my friends and I were going to have a party tonight in the library. I was wondering if you would like to… to come." Cho asked softly. Harry raised an eyebrow surprised. He rose out of his seat, and it looked like he wanted to say yes for a second, but his facial expressions changed, and he sat back down.
"Um, look Cho; I have a lot to do tonight. I can't make it." Harry said softly, but firmly.
"But Harry, if you could just…" Cho started, but was cut off.
"I said no thank you." Harry said in raised voice. Cho swallowed, and turned away, heading back to the Ravenclaw table. Something in Harry caused him to instinctively call for Cho. He shot up out of his seat.
"Cho!" Harry called. Cho turned around, and stared at him blankly, breathing heavily. For a moment they stared at each other and all other noise in the room faded into the background. Harry didn't know what to say, he looked into Cho's eyes, and found only three words.
"Um, Happy Birthday Cho." Harry than sat down, and looked down at his plate pretending to be interested in his food. Cho waited for a moment for him to say more, but when it became apparent that he wasn't going to she returned to her table, and said not another word.
Several Hours Later:
Cho and Nancy were in the corridor of one of Hogwarts endless dungons looking through every room that they passed for the missing girl. Nancy looked around, what part of the area in front and back of her.
"Where are we Cho?" She asked.
"The storage area, I had to go down here once last year, to help bring some supplies to Professor Flitwick's office." Cho replied.
"Are there any classrooms down here?" Nancy asked. Cho looked the area over.
"No, I don't think that they use this place that often. It's just old storage." Cho stated.
"Well it stinks, what's that smell?" Nancy asked.
"I don't know, but it's nauseous. Lets try this one," Cho said, looking at the number above the door. It read Room #470. There were no torches, and it was very dark, Cho raised her wand, and shouted luminous, to light it up. It was full of parchment, and quills, and Cho thought that she saw a rat scurry past the floor. She moved her wand around to focus the light on the different corners of the room.
"Is anybody here? Padma?" Cho asked. She waited for a minute, after looking around, and finally closed the door. As Cho and Nancy walked toward the next class room, the foul smell in the air intensified, Cho tried to hold her breath, and Nancy held her nose. They then opened the door to Room #471, and Nancy went in and illuminated her wand, finding only stacked desk, and chairs that filled half the room. As Cho and Nancy walked further down the corridor they saw other students walking down the other end, but couldn't make out who they were. The terrible smell was stronger than ever now, and both Cho and Nancy started choking a little. Cho opened the door, to Room#472, and looked inside with her wand lit; it was completely empty, so Cho closed the door. When she turned around she saw Nancy covering her mouth with one hand, and looking at her watch with her other. Nancy looked at her.
"Hey Cho, I'm going to throw up if I stay down here, it's going to be lunch time soon, lets head back now. We have the party to get ready for tonight, and we get to finally have our mail when were done eating." Nancy said, looking sick from the horrid smell.
"Just one more room." Cho said, as she put her hand on the door knob of Room#473, but before she turned it she looked up and saw Harry, and Hermione Granger. "Harry! What are you two doing here?" Cho asked surprised. Harry started to speak, but choked on the foul air.
"We're here for the same reason that you two are, to look for Padma Patel. Ugh! What's that putrid smell?" Hermione choked.
"Dunno, but I'm getting out of here, it stinks!" Nancy said repulsed at the smell. Cho walked beside Harry.
Harry, please, you must believe me… I, I've nothing to do with the society; I only went there to protect my friends. I'm not a part of the society." Cho pleaded.
"Well that society girl had a different story to tell. You certainly weren't there to protest, you were on the other side of the barricades. I can't help but think that you're lying to me now Cho. I saw you there. I saw you coming out of that tent with those people, and that girl said you were a guest speaker there. And then when she realized that you didn't want me to know about your affiliation with them she tried to say that you really didn't want to be there. And she was a bad actor!" Harry said more frustrated than angry.
"Harry, that was Danielle, she was lying, and she only wanted to make it look like I was a member. Marietta made my friends sick, and she told me that Nancy wouldn't get better unless I went to the rally." Cho cried.
"Look, I don't want to talk about this right now, just go back to your friend Marietta, I'm not going to let you spy on me anymore, your covers been blown." Harry said.
"Now just a minute! You…" Nancy Cromwell started, but Cho interrupted her.
"Harry, please, I'm not friends with Marietta, I hate her, and I hate that society." Cho looked at Nancy. "Tell Harry about how you and Beverly were sick!" Cho pleaded. Nancy looked at her blankly. "Well I know that that's what you told me Cho, but I told you that I don't remember much because I was really sick. Remember?" Nancy said, honestly not able to remember how she had been cured, just that she felt better later, and Cho had relayed the story to her. Cho said the same about Beverly, but Beverly had remembered that Madam Pomfrey had found the medicine in a medicine cabinet, and it was unlikely that Marietta had access to cures that Madam Pomfrey did not.
"Harry, maybe Cho's telling the truth, I mean… she did warn me about Marietta, and… well she has a reputation for not being like Marietta." Hermione came surprisingly to Cho's defense. But Harry was in the process of putting all the clues together. Cho's odd behavior, the night that they found her in the potions classroom, and then she was at the rally. It was too much for Harry who had been brooding about it all week. He had been suspecting Cho for sometime, but kept telling himself that there was some explanation for it. But seeing her at the rally had really hurt him, and the other girl there had confirmed his suspicions. He was like a teapot without a spout, and the only way that he could release the pressure right now was to blow his top. This he did.
"She also has a history of keeping things from me! I've suspected that she was doing something for some time now, but… I just didn't want to believe it. I wanted to believe you Cho. But seeing you at the rally only confirmed my suspicions. It was all about that night that we found the third bewitched room. Ron and I ran into you in the hall when you had your invisibility cloak on, and then you were practicing jinxes on the Jinxing Torso, from that dark book. Probably to practice hurting me, or Hermione because she's not a pureblood! Isn't that what your rally was all about Cho? And why couldn't Ron and I see the dark book? You never passed us again when we left the bewitched room, and you would have had too to go back to your dorm room somewhere in the North Tower. It was you who bewitched the room earlier weren't it!" Harry accused. Cho simply shook her head, as tears fell from her eyes.
"No Harry, it wasn't me. I don't have an invisibility cloak, where would I get one? And it wasn't a dark book, it was… well it wasn't a dark book! How could you… how could you even think that. I never bewitched any room. Harry… I would never do any thing to hurt you… please don't believe that I would." Cho said raising her voice. Harry looked at Cho, wanting to believe her, but how could he. All the evidence points to her so far, and I can't let the feelings I've been having for her cloud my judgment. But what if she is telling the truth, and I am making a terrible mistake. Cho doesn't seem the type of person to do such things, but isn't that what a spy is, someone who pretends to be someone that they are not. Harry put his hand in his pocket, and felt that earring that he had been keeping, hoping to confront Cho sometime about it. He would have preferred it to be somewhere else, not a putrid smelling corridor, but he had to know. He had feelings for Cho, and he needed to know if she was playing him for a fool, or if she really was innocent. Harry looked her in her crying almond eyes.
"Cho, have you ever been to the room on the second floor, of the Southwest corner of the castle, the one with the tapestry of Helga Huffelpuff on the wall?" Harry asked seriously. Cho was speechless for a moment. Why is Harry asking me this? Why is he accusing me of these things? This has to be a nightmare! Wake up Cho! She screamed inside. She couldn't remember ever being in such a room, and told Harry as much. Harry pulled something out of his pocket, and held it up in front of Cho's face.
"Does this look familiar to you Cho?" He asked without emotion. Cho wiped the fresh tears from her eyes, and looked back at Hermione, and Nancy. They were both standing speechless at the interaction of the two of them. Then Cho looked back at the item in Harry's hand. It was a silver earring in the shape of a star, with a red, white, blue, and yellow roundel in it. Cho recognized it at once.
"That's my earring Harry! Where did you get it?" Cho asked. A tear ran down Harry's cheek. He put his head down for a moment, and when he came back up he looked Cho in the eyes, with a sincere hurt in his.
"I see, so you were in the bewitched room, and you just lied to me about it, because Ron and I found this in that room. You and I… are no longer friends Cho, I don't want to ever see you again." Harry said on the verge of tears himself. "Come on Hermione." He said and started to walk off. Cho started to follow him.
"Harry let me explain, I gave the earring…" she started. Harry turned on her with an angry look in his eyes.
"No more lies! I've had enough of them from you. They stink worse than this stinking corridor! God! You couldn't tell the truth to save you life could you. Just… God." Harry shouted frustrated. Cho fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around his leg.
"Please Harry just listen to me. I didn't do anything against you. I never would." Cho cried. Harry shook her off roughly, and walked faster down the corridor, until he was pulled by his collar from behind. Harry spun around to face Cho, and tell her to get off him, but to his surprise he came face to face with her friend who had a very angry look on her face.
"Hey look arsehole! You don't do my friend like that! If Cho said that she wasn't in the room than she's telling the truth, and the same about why she was at the rally. And you should show some respect to someone who's been such a champion for you in the past. Ya know last year when you weren't "The Boy Who Lived" she was telling My friends and I what a great guy you were, so you aught to show her some respect, and another thing, it's her fucking birthday, and your ruining it for her. All she ever did was want to be your friend, and this is how you treat her. You're a real creep Potter!" Nancy said letting go of him. She went over to where Cho was crying hysterically on the floor, and pulled her to her feet. "Come on Cho, its Potter that's stinking up this place. Hermione looked at Cho concerned as they passed her.
"Cho, I'm sorry about Harry, I'll talk with him, I didn't know it was your birthday, I… happy birthday." Hermione said weakly as the two Ravenclaw girls left the corridor. Harry put his back to the wall, sat down, and started crying after Cho and Nancy turned the corner, and were out of sight.
"I just can't take it anymore, it's too much, sob it's just too much." Harry sobbed. Hermione was about to give him a piece of her mind, but instead, sat down next to him, and held him in her arms. Harry buried his head in her shoulder, and cried for several minutes, while Hermione ran her fingers through his messy hair. Finally after some time Harry looked up at Hermione.
"I… I wanted to believe her Hermione. I wanted to believe that… that she really was trying to help, but… I know that she lied to me. I have too much evidence. I wish that I didn't, but I know that she's working for the society as a spy. Why does it have to be true, why does it have to be her?" Harry asked Hermione. She looked down at Harry sadly, not understanding everything that he was saying. Since she was not speaking to Ron, she was missing out on a lot of the adventures that the three used to have together.
"Harry… what proof are you talking about? What happened that day? Actually let's go somewhere else, and you tell me, I can't stand the smell here. " Hermione said. Harry nodded.
Half an hour later, Harry and Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room, discussing the events of the night that Harry caught Cho in the potions room. Hermione listened with intense interest.
"So let me get this strait Harry, Cho was working on some type of vicious curses on the torso, and she was using a book of dark arts? What was the name of the book?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know, Harry said somberly. She… she wouldn't let us see it. She held it tight, like she would get caught or something. Moaning Myrtle was the one who said that she was giving nasty curses to the torso, and when Cho found out that I was in the room she erased all evidence. We had run into a girl with an invisibility cloak before, and who ever it was under there had run in the direction of the potions class where we found Cho. Myrtle guided me and Ron to the bewitched room by the North Tower, and we found this earring." Harry said handing it to Hermione. Anyway, after we investigated, we headed back toward the potions room, and Cho wasn't there. She would have had to have passed us to get to the North Tower, but we didn't see her. She's keeping something from me, and then when we saw her at the rally and that other girl said that she was a guest speaker. It really bothers me Hermione. I don't want to believe that she's doing this, but… how can I not?" Harry said somberly. Hermione looked at him sorrowfully.
"Harry, maybe you should give Cho a chance to explain herself." Hermione offered. Harry looked at her with sorrowful eyes.
"I know Hermione, I know. I shouldn't have treated her like that today. I just… I've had all this, anger welling up in me, and it just all came out then and there. I feel so bad about what I did, but I really don't know that I can trust her. I just want her to tell me what's going on, and I get so frustrated when she hides things from me." Hermione thought for a few minutes. Finally she raised her head, to look at Harry.
"Look Harry, you've been under a lot of stress, and you just blew up. Maybe you shouldn't have, but it's done, and you can't change it. So, what you need to do is… apologize to Cho and say just that, that you have been under a lot of stress. And then ask to attend her party as her friend. I don't think that Cho is a member of that society, and I don't think that you believe she is either. But… she does owe you an explanation for her behavior. However, this being her birthday, just let it go for now, and even ask her to let you come to her party, after you apologize. You can confront her about everything else another time. I mean it's not like she's going anywhere.