I need to see you.
Harry traced his fingers over the three words written in black ink. He felt the small, subtle grooves of the parchment, a more delicate type than the ones normally used for letters. He gazed down upon the signature at the bottom of the paper, reading the name over and over again.
Yours,
Cho Chang.
Harry read the name repeatedly until it seemed to lose any meaning it originally possessed. "Cho Chang. Cho Chang. Cho Chang." The soft alliteration of the name stuck out in his mind, making him recall the initial attraction he felt towards the girl it was given to. He remembered the way her jet-black hair rested over her shoulder when she spoke to him for the first time. The way her soft lips formed into a crescent smile, laughing at some foolish joke he made. The way her brown eyes penetrated him, shaking him to the core with nervousness. This sensation had lasted within him for over a year, remaining strong until recent bouts of frustrated conflict had dulled the flame of their love.
He sighed, reminiscing on the feelings he hadn't felt around her in their recent meetings. His heartbeat began to quicken, the nervousness now returning, but out of a sense of dread rather than lovestruck anxiety. He knew precisely what the letter meant.
Harry strode through the Hogwarts hallways silently, his invisibility cloak clinging to him like a soaked towel. He took care to not bump into the myriad of students shuffling by him, busily approaching their evening destinations, be they their dorm rooms, some common space for a meeting with friends, or to one of Hogwarts's many libraries for a late-night cram session. This being the Ravenclaw dorm, Harry had his suspicions that the latter was likely the most prevalent. Normally he would have laughed at the contrast between this flock of earnest students and himself, considering the act of genuine delinquency he was performing at the moment. Covering himself with an invisibility cloak, sneaking his way out of his own dorm, and shuffling along to his girlfriend's room in the late hours of the night? Such a thing would certainly be grounds for suspension.
Now, however, laughter felt like some forbidden act. He carried Cho's letter in his pocket, the delicate parchment paper folded almost to the point of the expensive fibers tearing. Despite his fixation upon it earlier, he could now hardly bear to look at it.
My first breakup. He thought to himself. There's no other reason to send for me after deliberately not speaking to me for days.
Cho Chang. Cho Chang. Cho Chang. The more the name repeated in his head the more it began to seem almost alien to him, as though it were a name he had never heard at all.
After countless silent footsteps he at last reached her dorm room. He gazed upon the oak door, suddenly terrified. The reality of his situation at last began to truly sink in. He raised a pale hand, uttering three quiet raps on the door with his fingertips, just silent enough to alert Cho without attracting the attention of the horde of other Ravenclaws that continued to swarm around him.
No answer.
Harry raised his knuckles again, considering knocking louder this time, before the door at last creaked open. He quickly snuck inside as the door shut itself quietly, manipulated by some spell cast by the witch whose room it guarded. He slid the invisibility cloak from his shoulders, feeling the static generated by it rubbing against his woolen school uniform.
"Hello Harry."
Harry gazed into the corner of the room. There sat Cho, her face illuminated by candlelight, the night sky shining through Ravenclaw Tower through her window. She was seated in an oaken chair cushioned by a pillow with the logo of the Ravenclaw quidditch team on it. This was the only item reflecting any sense of school spirit in Cho's dorm, the rest of it reflecting the medieval architecture of the tower it resided within. The room felt foreign to Harry; he had never entered it before.
"Hello Cho. It's nice to see you again."
"Likewise." She said, an insincere smile forming. Her eyes sank to the floor. "I take it you got my letter?"
Harry reached into his pocket, pulling the folded parchment out and placing it on Cho's study desk.
"I did."
An awkward silence fell upon the two. After a few tense moments Harry felt that it was his obligation to break it.
"So, why the rush to see me? What's so important that it could necessitate me breaking and entering into the Ravenclaw girl's dormitory?" He said with a forced chuckle, hoping to lift the solemn spirits of the room.
Cho didn't respond. She tried to force a smile, but Harry could sense the anguish behind her face.
"Is it something important?"
Cho sighed.
"It's nothing we haven't discussed before."
Harry felt a genuine sense of confusion rising within him.
"I don't understand. If it's something we've already talked about, what could possibly be so important?"
Harry knew immediately that he had made a mistake. He saw Cho's lip begin to quiver, the solemn look on her face now replaced with a look of frustrated fury. She sat up out of the chair, rising to meet him, her black shoes clacking against the wood floor. Before Harry knew it she was within inches of him.
"What... could possibly… be so important… What… could possibly… be so important…" Cho asked repeatedly. "You know exactly what could possibly be so important."
"Cho, I truly, genuinely have no idea." Harry said, a bit flustered by Cho's show of frustration."
"That's exactly the problem! You really don't know! You have no utter idea, do you? You have absolutely no clue what I'm referring to, even though we've discussed it dozens of times. You never know what it is I want. You never understand anything I tell you, do you? Do you even try?"
"Cho… I -" Harry felt totally bewildered. Cho had never spoken to him with such fury and impatience.
"No, shut up." She spat back, her frothing rage resulting in her accidentally spitting in Harry's face. "You have no fucking clue how frustrating this is." She moved back, distancing herself from the boy.
"Just out of curiosity," she asked sarcastically, "what were you doing today?"
Harry felt too stunned to respond.
"I asked you a question."
"I… I was with Ron and…"
"And who."
"Cho, please don't make it about this again -"
"Who else."
"You know who I was with, why ask?"
"Of course I know. Of fucking course I know who you were with. You're alwayswith her. You were with her today, you were with her the night before that, you were alone with her last week, you were with her the last time I tried to make plans with you… It never fucking ends with her."
"Cho, please, stop speaking like this…"
"Why? So you can go back to just not hearing what I have to say? Like you always do? Let it run through one ear and out the other? I must speak this way to even get you to listen to me." She collapsed back into her chair before letting out a deep sigh.
"Cho, I had no idea it was this bad. I had no idea-
"How? How did you not know? She replied, an exhausted tone in her voice. "I've begged you Harry, begged you to forego plans with her even once to meet up with me, to do something like we used to, to act like we're actually boyfriend and girlfriend."
Harry bowed his head with shame, unable to meet Cho's gaze. Truthfully, he had realized that he had not been the perfect boyfriend, but he never knew that she had been this hurt by him. With an exasperated sigh, she walked towards him, huffing in frustration.
"Look at me."
Harry raised his head softly before the fingers that once gently grazed through his hair yanked him up by it. He saw Cho staring back at him, her brown eyes welling up with tears, her raven hair glistening in the candlelight of the room. The fierce exterior Cho had put on had been all for show; her true feelings seeped through now.
"Do you have any idea how it makes me feel when I see you look at her like that?"
Harry bowed again silently, unable to meet her gaze. Cho matched his movement, forcing him back up, her grip on his hair tightening.
"Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to have everyone in the whole school know that your boyfriend has a thing for some other girl?"
"I don't-
Harry's reply was cut off with a fierce slap to the face. He fell to the floor in shock, crumpling under the weight of Cho's anger. Truth be told, the slap had not hurt much, but somehow, despite everything else going on, it was the most painful thing Cho had inflicted yet.
"You do. It's so clear. You spend so much time with that girl… I don't want to even say her name." Cho heaved between sobs, her tears now unable to be abated. "Every single time she comes in the room you just… you just ignore me! You give her every last bit of your attention, your affection, your time… Meanwhile I'm left here with nothing but a passing glance, a casual 'hello' in the hallways, maybe if I'm lucky you'll give me more than a courteous smile."
She turned her head to the side; it was her turn to be unable to meet her partner's gaze.
"I can't even bear to say it. I can't…"
Cho slowly began to rear her head, steadied by some unforeseen resolve.
"It's as though you're dead to me, just like… just like he is."
Harry felt his stomach sink into the floor. The sudden realization of how poorly he had treated Cho in the past few months slammed into him like a tidal wave, soaking him from head to toe in remorse. He felt tears of his own welling up, building in an ignoble fury before running down his face, his generally stoic will unable to contain them. He grasped the enormity of his failure as a boyfriend and the precision of Hermione's observations regarding how him constantly meeting her might make Cho feel. How could Cho not become jealous of him spending so much time with Hermione when he neglected her so profoundly? This compounded with Cho's unassuageable grief still lingering from the sudden death of Cedric had driven her into an emotional spiral, one that Harry neither felt comfortable addressing nor assisting her through. He felt immature, weak, and shameful; most of all, he felt this humiliation was deserved.
"Cho…" He began to stammer.
"Don't do it. There's nothing you can say." She reached into her closet, grabbing a black leather belt before contorting it into something resembling a leash. She threw the makeshift leash down on the floor, the metal buckle of the belt clanging against the wood. She gazed down at her humiliated, vulnerable boyfriend, feeling a tinge of shame herself for the situation they now found themselves in.
"You have to make a decision." she said, steeling her resolve. "Clearly you think I'm tying you down, holding you back in some way. Maybe it has something to do with her, maybe there's more to it. Either way, I don't want to know."
Harry felt his heartbeat begin to quicken; he had never heard Cho speak with such steel in her voice before.
"I've thrown down the leash. I'm not going to tie you down anymore; not unless you want me to. Not unless you pick the leash back up, give what you're doing some serious thought, and hand it back to me. And maybe if you do… I'll loosen it a bit."
Harry began to gaze down at the leash, contemplating the choice Cho had offered him, a million thoughts racing through his head. Cho was right. He had felt as though she was tying him down, holding him back unjustly, trying to monitor his behavior and his interactions with someone he considered a close friend. He felt as though her jealousy was unwarranted, a starkly negative aspect of her personality that he didn't know that he could put up with. He had never stopped to consider why Cho felt the way she did.
Harry felt a sense of clarity. He owed it to Cho to pick up the leash, if only to make things right, to prove to her that he could be better than the immature, insensitive failure of a partner he had been so far. Somehow, deep within himself, he felt that not picking up the leash would be an act of cowardice. He took a deep breath and began to reach for the leash before Cho's foot gently pushed it down.
"I want you to know that you're sure."
Cho slowly raised her foot off the leash, the black stockings covering her soles gently grazing across Harry's hand. He grasped the end of the leash, feeling the black leather in his hands, and with a bowed head he raised it towards Cho, whose composure began to crack. With tears in her eyes, she took the leash back from Harry, softly running her fingers over it.
"Cho…" Harry expected resistance, but upon not hearing any come forth from her, he raised his head to meet her brown eyes. "I've been cruel to you. I didn't even realize it. I hadn't considered you or your feelings at all."
"I don't want to talk about it anymore." She replied, a small smile breaking through her solemn visage. "It's not about what you've done anymore. Now I only care about what you're going to do."
A silence permeated the air; the sounds of crickets could be heard outside the dormitory, the nighttime ambience at last infiltrating Cho's room. The formerly busy hallways now seemed quiet, the rush of footsteps through them no longer permeating the air.
"We can't just say these things, Harry. I want our bond to be one of more than just words."
"Cho, I…"
Harry could hear Cho's heart racing inside her chest, her breathing quickening to match its pace. She slowly slid her fingers under Harry's chin before grazing them up his cheek, running her fingers over the trails of his tears. Suddenly, she began to pull his face closer to her own. Harry felt powerless to resist, his own hands still resting on his thighs. For what seemed like an eternity, she drew him closer before closing her eyes and softly pressing her lips against his.
Harry once again tasted the salt of her tears intermingling with the taste of her lips just as he had during their first kiss under the mistletoe. The sheer passion between the two of them erupted in a manner it never had before, with this kiss feeling like a rectifying of that first awkward encounter they shared after the D.A. meeting. Harry raised his once shame-paralyzed hands to meet Cho, wrapping her in a firm embrace, feeling the rising and falling of her back and ribcage with every breath. They had embraced before, but never in any manner more than what would be considered a casual, obligatory hug between awkward lovers; never had they felt each other's presence in a manner such as this.
Cho traced her fingers down Harry's neck, loosening his red and gold Gryffindor tie from his white button up before sliding it over his head and neck, throwing it to the floor in a fit of passion. She pushed him down gently, pinning him under her weight to the wooden floor, its panels creaking with every movement the two lovers made. She shifted her focus to his neck, kissing it gently as the fingers of her left hand caroused down his left temple, making the boy moan in a mixture of shock and pleasure. The pressure could not all be placed on Harry; Cho was now taking the lead.
The normally reserved girl began to softly trace her wet tongue down Harry's neck, licking him gently, causing him to turn red from the heat of arousal; she felt a pressure arising between her thighs, which she had maneuvered on top of Harry to better assert control over his slender frame. His thick, bulging erection stiffened, seeming as though it could tear through his trousers at any given moment.
She began to unbutton his shirt; Harry reciprocated, sliding away the black sweater vest that concealed her from him before tearing into the buttons of her shirt, Cho's breasts slowly being revealed from behind the white button-up that hid them from Harry's gaze. She planted her lips on his once more, kissing passionately as the two truly tasted each other for the first time. As she pulled away, a string of saliva stretched out between their lips, as if it would not allow them to entirely separate from one another. She momentarily stepped off Harry to pull her skirt off, leaving only a pair of black lace panties and black stockings covering her. She could no longer resist the temptation; she began to furiously undo Harry's belt. Upon removing it, she unbuttoned his trousers, pulling them down to reveal a pair of boxer shorts that barely concealed his cock, his member bulging at the seams of the cloth that concealed them. Slowly, nervously, she pulled the boxers down, unveiling it before her. She laid down on top of Harry once more, kissing his chest, feeling his cock throbbing against her thigh, leaving drops of pre-cum on her almond skin. She could barely contain her lust; the two hadn't spoken a word to each other, but it felt as though they no longer needed to, the only proper method of communication now being the response to each other's desires.
Cho pushed herself up, anchoring her thighs next to Harry's hips. He could feel how wet she was even through the black lace of her panties. He could no longer resist the temptation, reaching his hands toward her breasts. With one fast movement, Cho pinned his arms back to the ground.
"No." she said, stunning the boy. "You have to do something for me first."
Cho shifted over, her legs still placed firmly next to Harry. She reached out for some unseen object before grasping it in her hands and sliding it across the floor to make it easier to reach. Immediately Harry knew what it was; the makeshift leash that she had fashioned out of her leather belt.
Cho gazed down at Harry, a devious smile beginning to form on her lips. It was as though she was possessed by some other entity, totally operating on instinct, seeping down into her darkest desires, planning eagerly to make them an erotic reality.
"Put this around your neck."
"Cho, are you sure?" He responded, unsure of what the girl was going to do to him.
"You already made your choice. Put it on."
Cho handed the leash to Harry, who fastened it around his neck. She stood up, bending over in front of him, her breasts distracting him from whatever she was attempting to do to him. Harry suddenly felt the leash around his neck tighten, the black leather beginning to drip with his sweat as Cho yanked him forward. He bowed prostrate before her, feeling her fingers gently run through his black hair.
"You'll be a better boy for me now, won't you?"
"Yes…" came his muffled response.
"You won't ignore me when she walks into the room, will you?"
"No… I… I won't…"
Here he was, stripped naked before Cho, all of him on display, all the while being walked like a dog. The genuine pain he had caused her had provoked all this; humiliation was the price he would have to pay to make up for it. But suddenly, it barely seemed like a price to pay at all.
"Good boy." She said, stroking his hair once more. She slowly slid her black panties off, her juices still clinging to the fabric before resting on her thighs. "Now," she whispered, "make it all up to me."
Cho laid back down on the black floor, propping herself up against the wall. She slowly pulled Harry in, her grip tightening on the leash, shoving his face into her soaked pussy. Immediately he began to service her, doing as she commanded, clumsily teasing her wet clitoris with his inexperienced tongue before attempting to suck on it. Despite his lack of technique, the sensation of control over Harry that Cho felt provided her with immense pleasure, making her moan softly as he stimulated her. He could feel his face getting soaked, the products of her lust now dripping off his chin as he tried his best to please her.
"Oh God, Harry…" She muttered between small gasps; the virgin girl had never felt a sensation remotely comparable to this. She grasped his hair, forcing him deeper into her, her thighs now wrapped firmly around his head as he worshipped her. The combination of the leash and her legs felt as though it may asphyxiate Harry, but his sheer intoxication in the face of the girl before him allowed him to remain resolute in the face of this danger.
At last, Cho reached climax, pulling Harry fiercely with the leash, suffocating him into her. The sensation overwhelmed her, plunging her into a thrilling ecstasy, her heart racing, her breathing quickening, and her muscles feeling as though they were paralyzed by pleasure. She finally pushed Harry away, allowing him to collapse onto her chest. The exhausted boy couldn't even take advantage of the situation, being forced to merely use her breasts as a pillow as Cho stroked his hair softly. She felt a measure of contentment, knowing now that she had chained Harry to her permanently, forcing an addiction to her into his psyche. She leaned into his ear, whispering softly to him, carefully positioning herself to tease him even further.
"Good boy."