Froggie2: Thanks so much for the review. I'm having Cho stay home for a while, and I'm trying to speed up time a bit, because I have to finish this fic one day! We all look forward to the Cho/Marietta showdown, but it's going to be a bit, but yea, you know it's coming eventually.

Yea, Fiona is having a bad influence on Harry, hopefully he'll eventually snap out of it. I mean he is Harry Potter.

I really wonder how many readers I still have. I wish that would have a hit counter to let authors see.

Marietta is not so powerful, just quick on the draw and intelligent… and as evil as a Cho hater.

Gray Squall: Thanks so much for the review. The thing about fags is that I recently watched a newer movie from the UK called "Dirty War" a really great movie, and the man asked for a pack of fags. So it still is used today, and I want my story to sound as British as possible, like elevators being called lifts, and trucks being called lorry's. I really have been planning that from the beginning. That's why I asked for a beta reader with Briticisms as a strong point.

Imakeeper: Wow, good wow. Thanks for the complement. I work three jobs, so haven't been able to see Laguna Beach, but all my friends say it's a great show. "Sigh!" I miss television :( Well I just hope you'll still post something, like good chapter/bad chapter/or okay chapter to let me know your still there. I think that this one will be bad chapter/ It's been crazy busy lately, and my mind is gone.

miley stewart cyrus: Thanks for the review. Well I think that when that guy made that stupid statement it really told you a lot about him. Hopefully he will stop being such an idiot in the future, and get a clue.

Well here it is, Chapter 52. Sorry it took so long, and it's not so good, I've been well spaced for time. I'll try and do better next time. But I had to get Cho out of Hogwarts for a bit. Err. This could have been a lot better. I think I was a bit to descriptive at the beginning. I'm not very good with… oh never mind… uh, enjoy.

Chapter 52: Family Matters

The bright red, double-Decker bus pulled up to the stop near the hospital, on Wellington place, its air breaks echoing in the foggy, early morning hours.

The door hissed open, and a young Asian girl with a steamer trunk stepped off, onto the side walk. She gave a glance at her watch with sleepy eyes before looking up at the black, early morning sky. It was four thirty five AM, and dark gray clouds blocked out the light of the stars and the full moon. The glow of street lamps and a few cars were visible, but even their lights fell dim in the thick fog that blanketed the area around the girl. Cho Chang began to walk toward the hospital guided by the glowing light emanating from the hospital's A&E (Accident & Emergency) entrance. As she walked down the lonely sidewalk she saw the flashing strobe of an ambulance pull up to the front of the building, but the fog was so thick that she could still not yet make out any forms, including the ambulance itself in the distance. As she walked, Cho was so focused on the glowing red, and blue flashing lights that she strayed off the sidewalk and fell over a fire hydrant that was hidden by the fog, bruising her knee. As Cho momentarily sat on the grass rubbing her knee, in the predominant silence she heard footsteps approaching from somewhere unseen. She stood up, and looked around, to find out if she could see where the sound was coming from. The darkness made her nervous, and without a wand she felt defenseless, and afraid to call out in the dark night. Cho grabbed her steamer trunk, returned to the sidewalk, and began limping at a quick pace toward the hospital again, looking behind her as she did. As she struggled to go as fast as she could with her hurt shin, her breathing became heavy, and she started to panic. The footsteps were getting louder, and she kept looking around to see where they were coming from as she headed towards the A&E entrance. Soon the footsteps grew ever closer, and Cho looked back once more for a moment trying to gage their direction, when she bumped into something in front of her.

"Spare some change miss?" came the gruff voice of the sinister looking man that she had run into. Cho let out a scream, and dropped her steamer trunk.

"Please don't hurt me!" she shrieked. The man revealed his empty palms to calm Cho.

"Relax kid, I ain't got no knife or nothing, see. I was just asking ya for some change." The sinister looking man replied.

"Oh, no… sorry. I don't have any to spare." Cho said, her voice quivering a bit. She nervously picked up her steamer trunk, and began to walk around the man, but he stepped in her path, and took a more urgent tone with her.

"Look miss, it is not for me, but me children. Their poor mum died last year, and… well work is hard to find with the economy so bad and all. I was just wondering if maybe you had any small thing to help my kids out, so I could get em something to eat, that's all, they's only five and eight years old." The man finished. Cho stood their for a minute and tried to read the man, was some change all he really wanted, or was he going to hurt her, and if she did give him some change, was he going to really spend it on food for his kids, or maybe on liquor. She didn't know, but he had said that his children had lost their mother, and the thought of such a thing happening to someone almost made her physically ill. She reached into her pocket, and handed the man some change without looking at it. The man thanked Cho just as a police constable and an EMT from the hospital arrived on the scene.

"Miss, we heard a scream, is this man bothering you?" The constable asked. Cho looked at the man for a moment, and then to the constable.

"Um, no sir." Cho replied quietly. The officer looked at the man for a moment and an expression of recognition came across his face.

"Hey I know you! I've stopped you begging for change three times this week. Still haven't learned your lesson huh, well maybe a few days in a cell will teach you." The constable said agitated. The man started to frown, and looked at Cho with a pleading face. She thought quickly.

"Um, no that's not it sir!" Cho exclaimed.

"What?" asked the constable looking at her.

"He wasn't begging sir, I… well I was a bit clumsy in the fog, and… I fell over a fire hydrant, and bruised my shin. That was the scream that you heard. Anyway he was helping me up. And I had to ask directions to hospital. I was visiting my mum, well I was trying too sir." Cho explained. The EMT looked at her curiously.

"You were going to visit your mum… at this hour? Surly you must know that visiting hours are well over by now." He said surprised.

"Well, I've only just come from Scotland by train, so I just arrived in London." Cho said casually.

"Ah ha, I should have known from your accent. Yes, well. You'll be able to get some rest in one of the waiting rooms until visiting hours resume." The EMT said. The constable looked at the beggar for a moment.

"Alright sir, now move along, no loitering." The constable said.

"Right, sir, thanks sir." The man said. He looked at Cho once more. "Good day miss, a pleasure." He tipped his hat and left in the opposite direction. Cho smiled, and started limping off toward the hospital. The constable stopped her.

"Wait a moment miss, your hurt. I'll take the steamer trunk, while Mr. O'Brian gives you some support for your leg. Before Cho could politely protest, the constable picked up her trunk and carried it in front of him with both hands, as the EMT put her arm around his shoulder so that she would only put pressure on her good leg. As they walked toward the hospital they heard the beggar shout with excitement in the distance, but they kept walking.

"Wonder what he's so happy about." The EMT said. They helped Cho all the way to the lift inside the building, where she thanked them sincerely, but stated that she could take it from that point. Cho exited the lift on the fifth floor, where the ICU unit was located, and walked to the nurse's station, to ask what room her mother was in. The nurse on duty was new, and had a little trouble bringing up the information on the computer, but finally told Cho what room her mum was located in, but that visiting hours did not start until eight AM. Cho said that she understood, and would go to the fifth floor waiting room and rest until eight, but when she had reached a distance at which the nurse could no longer see her she decided to pass the waiting room, and head directly to her mum's hospital room.

Cho stopped in front of the door, slightly hesitant to what her mum would look like when she opened the door. She hadn't seen her since just before her first radical mastectomy, and now she will have been recovering from both of them. Cho took a deep breath, and started to push open the door, when she was stopped by a female nurse from behind.

"I'm sorry Miss, but you can't go in there, visiting hours are not until eight. Came the voice of a nurse.

"I'm sorry, I just came from Scotland, and… I haven't seen my mum in forever." Cho said quietly without looking back.

"Cho? Cho Chang, is that you?" The nurse asked. Cho turned to see who it was. Before her stood a smiling, tall black girl in green scrubs. Cho felt silly, she had not recognized that it was the voice of her friend, and former fellow coworker Carol Kenyetta, who had spoken to her.

"Hello, Carol, how have you been?" Cho said softly. Ordinarily Cho's greeting might have been more exuberant, but the incidents with Harry, and Marietta, and the fact that she was about to see her mum dulled her senses. Carol came up and hugged her.

"My god Cho how have you been, I haven't heard from you since you left for school, no one has!" Carol said excited. Cho returned her hug, a sad expression on her face.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that… things have been a bit crazy lately. I… sorry." Cho said sincerely. Carlo waved the situation off with a smile.

"Oh, no problem Cho. You're here now, and… well were usually supposed not let anyone in, but I think that for you we can make an exception." Carol said. Cho gave a weak smile.

"Thank you Carol… how… how has mum been?" Cho asked. Carol's expression became very serious, and she appeared to be reaching for the words to say.

"Well Cho… the thing is that she's been sleeping a lot, and… it's been very trying for her." Carol stated, then looked down the hall. "Lets go into the room for a minute, the head nurse may not like you being here if she sees us." Carol stated. She followed Cho into the room. Cho walked up to her mum in the dimly lit room. She was hooked up to several machines, had two IV units attached to her arms and she was breathing through an oxygen mask. One machine monitored her heart rate, and showed a zigzagging line moving up and down. Her mum's skin was paler than ever, and she looked exhausted in her sleep. Carol watched from next to the closed door quietly, looking at the back of Cho's head, and feeling bad for her friend.

"So your father brought you in this morning did he Cho?" she asked. Cho's head shook slowly.

"No… he doesn't know I'm here yet." Cho said quietly without turning around.

"Oh, than how did he get the school to release you from your studies, I mean don't you have to have permission to leave school for an emergency?" Carol asked.

"No, not if you're seventeen." Cho said in an emotionally drained tone.

"I see, I'm sure when your finished visiting everyone would like to see you, how long you are here for Cho."

"I'm staying until mum gets better, until she's back home, and everything's back to normal." Cho said with conviction.

"Well that could take a long time Cho, what about your school?" Carol asked.

"I quit." Cho said depressed.

"Oh, I didn't know… does you dad know?" Carol asked. Cho shook her head.

"Carol… did they get… did they get all the cancer this time? Is mum going to be okay?" Cho asked her voice breaking. Carol put her head down, and spoke softly.

"Were not… sure Cho. I mean, they think so. She still needs to have regular checkups, and test, and treatments. Dr. Gardiah said that he thinks that they got it all this time." Carol said unsure. Cho turned to face her.

"That's… that's what he said last time that he… thought they got it all. Why won't he save her? He's supposed to be the best, but all he delivers is empty promises." Cho choked out, fresh tears in her eyes.

"Cho that's not fair, he's trying to cure her, all the doctors here are. It's not like you can just wave a magic wand at the problem and fix it. But a lot of people leave here cured, and I think that your mum is going to be one of them. You always talked about what a strong sprit she has." Said Carol.

"Do… do you know about wands Carol?" Cho asked.

"Huh?" Carol replied.

"You said that you can't just wave a magic wand, how did you know that we tried that, are their non-Muggles in your family?" Cho asked.

"What are you talking about Cho? Waving a wand was just a figure of speech. What's a Muggle?" Carol asked.

"Never mind, forget it." Cho said and gave a big sigh. "Does she ever wake up, does mum ever say anything." Cho asked turning back to her mother.

"She's awake on and off. She can eat now, but the medicines always make her a bit groggy. You can wake her up if you like; it might do her good to see you. Do… do you want some time alone with her Cho?" Carol stated. Cho turned around to Carol again.

"Yes… please, I would." Cho squeaked.

"Okay Cho, I understand." Carol smiled, and started to walk out.

"Carol!" Cho called. Carol turned back to Cho, who still had tears dropping from her eyes.

"Yes, Cho?" she asked.

"I'm sorry about what I said. I… I know Dr. Gardiah, and everyone are trying to help her, it's just that… I'm so frustrated, I just feel so useless. I'm very grateful to everyone for taking care of her." Cho said quietly. Carol hugged her one more time.

"Oh, Cho I know that you didn't mean what you said. I know that everything's going to get better, just have faith. I meant what I said; we cure a lot of people these days. Everything will be okay, you'll see." Carol finished. Cho hugged her tight.

"Thanks Carol, for everything." Cho said sincerely. Carol smiled.

"No problem Cho. I'll leave you two alone now. Don't let the head nurse catch you outside, or she'll make you leave, nothing personal, just her job." Carol said, she started to walk out, but stopped short, and turned around. "Hey Cho, I'm out of change, do you have any for the vending machine?" Carol asked. Cho dug in her pocket and handed some change to Carol without looking at it. "Thanks Cho, I… hey what's this? Are you kidding me?" Carol asked surprised.

"What do you mean?" Cho asked genuinely confused.

"What's with this gold and silver? It looks real! What's Gringots?" Carol said holding out the money in her hands for Cho to see. Cho put her hand to her head.

Oh great, I'm so stupid, I forgot to change my money to Muggle money at Gringots, no wonder the beggar was so happy. I must have given him gold, and silver coins. I can't do anything right. Cho thought to herself.

"Oh sorry, Carol, that was just some uh coins that I had in my family for a while, like old stuff from the attic." Cho lied. She fished around in her purse, coming up with only a pound that she had taken to Hogwarts to show her friends. Cho handed it to Carol, who handed her back the other money.

"Thanks Cho, I'll pay you back." Carol said.

"Oh, no you don't have to pay me back Carol." Cho protested.

"Okay, thanks again. I'll see you again soon Cho, ring the buzzer on your mum's bed control if you need anything." Carol said, and left the room. Cho turned back to her mum. She put a hand on her shoulder and very gently shook it.

"Mum, wake up… please wake up." Cho said softly. "Please wake up." Chi's eyes flickered, and finally opened. She looked up at Cho silently for a moment, than Cho could slight smile on her mum's face through the mask.

"Cho? Cho baby is that you… oh when did you get in? Is it Christmas holiday already?" Cho's mum asked weakly in Chinese.

"I… I only just arrived mum. It's not Christmas yet. I… I had to come and see you. I'm sorry mum. I'm sorry that I wasn't here for you like I should have been." Cho cried. She hugged her mum, and put her head on her mother's shoulder, as tears flowed from her eyes, and she sobbed uncontrollably. Her mum put her right arm, the one free of IV tubes, around Cho.

There, there my little swan, don't be so sad." Chi said, calling her daughter by her childhood nickname. "I'm going to be okay. I'm eating solid foods again you know, so… I'm getting better. The Doctors and nurses… are very nice. They still ask about you. Did you meet anyone that you know coming in here?" Chi asked. Cho had not released her mother from the hug, afraid that something would separate the two of them if she did.

"Yes, mum. I met Carol. She let me in here to see you." Cho said softly.

"Ahhh yes, Miss Kenyetta, she's a nice girl. Very hard working like you. She's helped to take… good care of me Cho. You know… I just saw your father last week… he misses you. He's been worked very long hours at Gringots, but he comes to see me here once a week if he can get away. But he has to be careful, he can't apparate at this hospital, because he has to sign in and ask the doctors how I am. But he brought me those flowers." Chi said and weakly raised her arm to some flowers that sat on a counter in the room. Cho looked at them and then back to her mum.

"They… they look beautiful mum." Cho said between sobs.

"Oh poor dear, why… do you cry. I'm going to be okay." Chi said in a comforting tone.

"I know mum, I just… missed you so much." Cho said quietly.

"Now, look up at me Cho, let me see you." Her mum requested. Cho stood up, and whipped the tears from her eyes. Her mum looked up at her with pride. "You look so nice, but you look so sad as always. It would be good to see you with a smile of your face again Cho. I haven't seen you with one in so long. Are you never happy about… about anything? I mean, you must be doing well in school now." Chi stated. Cho looked away for a second. How do I tell mum that I've just dropped out? How do I tell mum that my grades in this past year were worse than the last. Mum was always so proud of my grades before, and told all her friends. I am her only child a Chang, and I'm such a disappointment. But I can not tell her yet, I have to think of how to tell her properly, and wait until she's better. Cho thought. She looked up at her mum.

"I'm… doing okay in school mum." Cho lied, with no small amount of shame. Chi smiled.

"That's good. I knew that you would recover. You've had time to grieve over that poor Diggory boy. It's very sad what happened to him. But, now you have been able to concentrate on your studies. How are your friends, Beverly, and Marietta?" Chi asked. Cho lowered her head.

"Marietta and I are no longer friends, but… but Beverly is doing well. She's doing very well in school actually." Cho said. A frown came across Chi's face.

"Oh, I'm glad to hear about Beverly, but did something happen between you and Marietta Cho?" Chi asked.

"Well, it's not important. I just thought that I could change her, how she was, but I was wrong. It's not important really. How have you been mum, is everything okay? What did Dr. Gardiah say about the… the other mastectomy, and latest test?" Cho pleaded to know. Chi smiled.

"Dr. Gardiah is a very intelligent man, a very good man. He thinks that for sure they got all the cancer this time. I'm going to work on recovering, and going home eventually. You know Cho… I don't remember your father telling me that he was going to send for you. I was actually going to have him wait until Christmas holiday to let you know about the mastectomy. A look of confusion came across Cho's face.

"Wh… what do you mean… you were going to have him wait and tell me?" Cho asked in a shocked tone. Chi activated the control at the side of her bed and raised herself up a little before continuing.

"Well Cho, he had… wanted to take you out of school for a visit, but I kept insisting that he tell you that everything was fine. I know that you don't need any distractions in school, and I didn't want you worrying about me. School is more important. You're a Chang, and how you represent the family is important. How long did Professor Flitwick say that you could stay Cho?" Chi asked. Cho held her mothers hand with both of hers, and looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Mum, don't worry about school, I… I can make it up later. I'm going to be here for you until you get better. I'm going to help take care of you. I never should have left, but I'm here now, and I'm not going to leave again." Cho said in a shaky voice. Chi ran her hand through her daughters raven black hair, and an even bigger smile came across her face.

"My dear little swan. You make such a fuss over me, but I'm going to be okay. I'm glad to have you here, but your education is very important, so next week you'll have to go back and finish school. You can get a job in the Ministry too. You're going to make me so proud. Actually you already make me proud." Chi said softly. Cho shook her head.

"I love you mother, and I want to make you proud, but… I don't want to go back. I… I don't belong there and… and you shouldn't have kept what was going on from me. I needed to know what you were going through, and that you would be okay. I've been so worried that… it's been hard to concentrate on anything. I'm here to take care of you now, like I should have been all along." Cho said quietly. Chi smiled.

"Such a dutiful daughter. We must spend some more time talking, and catching up before you go back to school next week. But forgive me; I need to rest for now Cho." Cho nodded her understanding and watched as her mother quickly fell asleep, knowing that her words about not going back to school did not sit well with her mother.

Over the next few days Cho spent as much time with her mum as possible, telling her of her friends and what was going on in school, but being uncharacteristically vague, so as not to let her mum know about the bad things that had happened to her. Cho almost never left the hospital, and started taking showers in the adjoining bathroom, and ducking the head nurse after visiting hours were over. Cho would have lunch and dinner in the cafeteria with her friends from the hospital and catch up on what they had been doing, but when they asked her details of what she had been doing, she had been unwilling to share her stories, simply saying that she just did a lot of studying, and doing her best to make it sound really boring, so that no one would become to curious.

On the third day Dr. Gardiah finally had some time to talk to her, and was very specific to what treatments that they were giving her mum, and that they were watching her to make sure that everything was going okay. The good news was that the cancer did seem to have finally gone into remission, and that maybe in as little time as a month Chi could go to Cho's Uncle's house to start her outpatient recovery. Dr. Gardiah finally stated that he was very happy to see Cho again, but when he asked Cho when she would be returning to school, Cho informed him that it was more important that she be with her mother right now, and that school could wait.

Finally on the seventh day of that week, as Cho was sitting in a chair, talking to her mother the door to the hospital room opened behind her, and a tired, angry looking man with a bouquet of flowers entered the room. Cho stood up as she recognized her father. He glanced at Cho for a second, and then proceeded over to his wife, kissing her on the forehead. After a few minutes speaking with Chi. Mr. Pao Chang told his daughter to wait outside the room while he spoke to his wife in private. Cho obeyed, and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall outside while her father talked to her mum. Cho was a bit nervous about what her father would finally say to her. He didn't seem surprised to see her, so she had guessed that Dr. Gardiah had called her Uncle's house, or that Professor Flitwick had sent her an Owl to let him know that she was not in school. All she could do was wait until he came out to see her.

After a short time Cho's father came out into the hall and told Cho to go back into the room and say goodbye to her mother, and get her steamer trunk, they would be going to her Uncles for the night. Cho wanted to protest, she wanted to stay with her mum, but her father had an unusually angry look on his face, and she knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to argue with him right now.

When she had finished saying goodbye, and collected her things Cho and her father headed down to the car park, and got in the lorry, not saying a word to each other along the way, until Mr. Chang turned out of the hospital parking garage. He finally turned to Cho with an unhappy look on his face.

"Do you know how I found out that you were not in school Cho?" Mr. Chang said through clenched teeth. Cho lowered her head.

"No sir." Cho said quietly.

"I had changed my mail so that I would receive it at work, since I'm spending so much time there. I received a lot of Owls this weekend from the parents of your friends saying how sorry they were about Chi, and wanting to know more about her condition. There were so many owls flying around that the goblins were not happy and I was chastised for it. Needless to say I receive all my owls at the apartment again now. Now… I wonder how all those people found out about our personal family business… how do you think that happened Cho?" Her father asked. Cho looked at her father nervously.

"Dad, I only told Luna, I thought that she could keep a secrete, but she blabbed to everyone else…"

"Do not go trying to blame this on any of your friends Cho Chang, do not even try that with me. I gave you specific instructions not to tell anyone our personal family business, you know that that's not what we do in our family, but you just couldn't keep from airing everything out to everyone could you?" Cho's father shouted at her. She was scared, he had not yelled at her for a long time. This was very serious, but she didn't see it as her fault.

"Dad, I swear, I only told Luna Lovegood, she really was the one who told every…" Cho started, but was cut off.

"That's right! You told Luna Lovegood. You told her, and she told everyone else. But you were not supposed to tell anyone about our privacy. Now everyone knows about our business. How stupid of you!" Mr. Chang shot back.

"Daddy, I'm… sorry. I had to tell someone. I couldn't keep it in. It hurt me, I needed to confined into someone. I was alone at school. I didn't have you to talk to, or mum, or anyone in the family to talk about it with." Cho pleaded.

"That's what owls are for Cho, do you expect me to believe that you couldn't send me an owl? How soon did you let this Luna know about your mum? From the first day of school?" Mr. Chang shot yelled.

"Da… dad… I" Cho started.

"I said how long did she know Cho, answer me!" Mr. Chang shot back. Tears welled up in Cho's eyes, and she looked out the window.

"Since… since… this summer." Cho said quietly. Mr. Chang pulled the lorry over to the side of the road and applied the parking break.

"Look at me Cho Chang! You know the rules about what we don't discuss with others, outside the family. Now you tell me that you were talking about it to your friend even when you were home and had us to talk to? You should be ashamed of yourself. Frankly I'm disgusted. What your cousins were not good enough to talk about it with, they were there all summer, and so was I. Her father yelled. Cho was feeling boxed in. She was upset, and angry about so much, and it all started welling up in the heated situation.

"How could I have talked to you? You were always working! I almost never saw you at the flat. And I did talk to Sally, and Ling about it, and Aunty, and uncle too, I just needed to talk to a friend, someone that I spent time with at school. I knew that I would have to talk with someone at school about it, did you expect me to just keep it in? Do you know how lonely it can get at school? You weren't there to talk to, no one was. I'm sorry about what happened, but I had to talk to someone, I just… I'm not a good judge of friends, that's all." Cho first shouted, and then quieted at the end.

"I don't need you talking back to me like that Cho! I work hard to support this family. We have a lot of bills now that we didn't have before. You'll learn about that when you get into the real world." Mr. Chang shouted. He then suddenly stopped, and faced away from Cho looking outside the window. For a long moment her remained silent. Finally he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pack of fags, and lit one up, much to Cho's surprise.

"You smoke now?" Cho asked in shock. Her father looked at her exhausted.

"Yes I smoke now. It calms me down. I've been under a lot of stress."

"Dad, cigarettes cause cancer. Mum's suffering from cancer." Cho said in a tone that indicated a mixture of anger and concern. Cho watched as her father rolled down the window of the vehicle, and exhaled out the poisonous smoke. He looked back at her.

"I don't smoke when I visit your mother Cho. And I don't smoke in the apartment either." He said.

"Dad, they cause cancer. Can't you find some other way to relieve stress? We had a class over smoking this summer at hospital; I don't want you to be sick in hospital too. I couldn't bare it." Cho cried.

"You're exaggerating Cho. Don't give me any grief about this right now. I don't need it. Now were going back to the flat, your cousins will be glad to see you again, we'll visit your mum on Saturday again, and then I'm taking you back to school on Sunday, you'll have a lot of work to make up." Mr. Chang finished.

"I'm not going back I'm staying with mum until she gets better." Cho protested.

"Your going…" Her father started, but Cho cut him off.

"I'm not going back! I can make up the term later." Cho shouted back to her father. Mr. Chang slammed his fist on the car horn, causing it to blare and Cho to jump.

"Is that what you think Hogwarts is Cho? Do you think that it's some second rate school, like these Muggle public schools, that you can just go there and back whenever you want? Well you can't Cho! You have to have a signed letter by one of the professors to go back, and quiet frankly I don't think that they would do it considering your grades. You go back now, or you don't go back, do you understand?" Mr. Chang asked. Cho nodded. "Good, then that's that.

"I guess I'm never going back." Cho said softly. Her father glared at her.

"So that's your final word on it, is that right? Well let me tell you something Cho Chang, your seventeen now, you're an adult. You had better start acting like it. If your going to stay at your relatives for a while, than your going to have to get a job… a paying job, not that volunteer job that you held that doesn't provide you with any income. Hogwarts will only send a parchment showing that you completed your sixth year, no diploma. Now how good of a job do you think your going to get with that? You're going to end up selling beetle eyes by the scoop outside of a shop on Diagon Alley." Her father complained.

"I'll find something. There are jobs out there that don't require a diploma." Cho said softly, no longer having any energy to shout. What could she do? Her dad was right. At seventeen she needed a job to contribute to the family if she wasn't going to school, and was going to stay there. She would have to find a job at hospital, one that didn't require a diploma, she would go to the bulletin board that listed the jobs available the day after tomorrow, and look to see what they had available.

"You're capable of more than that Cho. You used to have the best grades in your year, your going to waste your intelligence on a job that you're over qualified for. You disappoint me." Mr. Chang finished. Cho looked away from her father, and stared out the window. She began reflecting again on her past few years again. She thought on the DA, and how she was the one who took Marietta there, who broke it up, her grades, the last Quidditch game, and how she lost it for everyone because she could not concentrate on it, and how Professor Flitwick had been so disappointed with them, Harry, and how he could never trust her, and how she had not been with her mum since summer. Yea… I disappoint everyone. Cho thought to herself as they pulled into the Nelson Flats car park. Cho had a very unsure future.