As I angrily wait for my computer to finally complete the installation of Hogwarts Legacy, I upload this chapter.

CHO XI

Cho was used to being always surrounded by many people, and she enjoyed it. Most of the time, at the very least. There were times, although they were few, that she wished her friends could give her some space. However, since the Yule Ball she had a very good reason, which all of her friends respected, to spend time with only one person. She was currently holding this person's hand as they stood side by side, looking at the Black Lake.

It was currently mostly frozen, with some students even skating on it. Cho remembered crossing it when she arrived for her first year at Hogwarts, over four years ago, and taking her first look at the castle. Back then, she was so set on the castle appearing in front of her that she paid no attention to the deep waters below her. Those waters always retained a sense of wonder and mystery, which the Giant Squid was only the most visible aspect. Now, however, Cho felt that these waters were dangerous.

"I can't believe you'll have to dive for an hour into those waters," she said, looking next to her, to the boy whose hand she was holding.

Cedric, much taller than she was, had to look down to stare into her eyes. "Everything will be fine. I'll use the Bubble-Head Charm. It will be easy," he said.

Despite his assurances, she could see that he was nervous, even though the second task was only to happen in three weeks. He told Cho about what the second task would consist a few days after the Yule Ball, when they started to date. He made her promise to not tell anybody, and Cho held to that promise.

"Are you sure that you master this spell?" she asked.

"Yes, I do. I practiced ever since I found out about the Black Lake, and I'm very good now. And if the spell fails while I'm underwater, I'll cast it again. I practiced casting it nonverbally, and it works most of the time. And I checked out in my bath, and if I voice it under water, the spell works as well."

The thought of Cedric in his bath made her cheeks turn to slightly shade of pink while smiling at the same time. A laugh was not far from escaping her throat. She rested her head against his shoulder and sighed in relief. "I guess you'll feel better when this is over."

"Something is telling me that I will not be the only one."

They smiled at each other. "I wonder what it is that you will have to recover."

"No idea," Cedric said. "We've taken what you'll sorely miss. Something that is very valuable to me. Perhaps my father's ring."

"Or your broomstick." Cho had no difficulty knowing that this would be the thing she would miss the most among her possessions.

"It could be anything. But truth be told, I don't really care. As long as it's not too heavy, I'll have to find it and bring it back within an hour."

"Are you sure that you will be able to hold all this time? I mean, I don't doubt that the Bubble-Head Charm will hold, but the water will still be extremely cold. The Lake is entirely frozen right now."

"Yeah, I know. I'll use warming spells. I'll have no choice. If I could turn into a fish or something, that would be easier. I mean, my new body would adapt to the temperature on its own, but I'm not that good in human Transfiguration, and it could go way worse than the Bubble-Head Charm."

Cho had to admit she preferred not to imagine her boyfriend into a fish or a dolphin. She and Cedric had been together for over a month, and she didn't wish to see him with protruding eyes, fins and gills.

Cho had been afraid when she saw Cedric heading into the first task. She knew that both he and she were no strangers to danger. They were Quidditch players after all, Seekers on top of that, and they were injured more than once. However, she really feared the worst when Cedric got severely burned in the first task, and she hoped nothing like that would happen in the second. She knew that Cedric was stressed at the idea of diving into this icy lake, although he did everything to appear calm, even to her. But Cho knew him for long enough to recognize when he was afraid or uncertain. He hid his fears to the others, but deep down, he was no different from anyone else.

His hand came to take hold of her shoulder. She should try to worry less. When they thought about it, Cedric's injury from the first task was not a very big thing. He was rid of the orange paste very quickly. It hadn't been worse than an injury sustained during a Quidditch match. Things would go well. And once this would all be over, they could celebrate that Cedric went through another task. And maybe this time he would occupy the first place of the ranking when it would all be over.

She rested her head more comfortably against his shoulder, a smile of contentment appearing on her face. The weeks since the Yule Ball had been wonderful. Despite the classes that resumed and the Quidditch that was still severely missing, Cho felt happier than she ever was since she arrived at Hogwarts. She spent a lot of time with Cedric during this time, despite her schedule full of homework, revisions and preparations for the O.W.L.s. In fact, Cedric even helped her with that. He was so kind and attentive. They often spent entire days together during the weekend. Cho felt good with him. Today, she wasn't going to let him anywhere far from her.

"Cedric! Cedric!"

The voice of another girl came from behind. Cedric removed his arm from around her shoulders and turned to look at the intruder. Cho groaned silently and turned on herself to look at the girl who interrupted their time together as well.

"Hi, Susan. How are you?" Cedric asked pleasantly.

Cho recognized her at this moment. She hadn't been sure first, since she was warmly wrapped up in winter clothes, but it was her. Her red hair arranged into a plait was visible behind her neck, and she also had a few strands on her forehead. No doubt, this was Susan Bones, the girl who sat at the same table than they did at the Yule Ball. Cho wasn't very happy to see her, and this girl didn't seem happy either.

"Can we talk alone for a moment?" she asked Cedric straight.

"Eh…" He looked at Cho for a moment. She made a sign that was meant to signify she didn't mind, although she did mind. She didn't appreciate being told by another girl to let her speak with her boyfriend alone. "Okay. Wait for me here, Cho."

He squeezed her hand before going with the other girl. They didn't go far though, and Cho had to admit that she made a few steps in their direction. As a result, she heard all their conversation, although it was at the limit of understanding what they were saying.

"Cedric, what is this story with taking a bath?" Susan Bones asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"Take a bath! That's what you told Harry. What is that supposed to mean?"

Cedric didn't reply before a moment. "He told you?"

"Well, yes. I'm his girlfriend. Just in case you're one of the very few people to not already be aware of it."

"Yes, I'm aware of it, of course. I just…" Cho thought he took a glance in her direction without moving his face. "I thought he would tell no one."

"Well, he just told me. Now, can you explain to me what it means? Because we're only three weeks from the second task, Harry has no idea what it is, and he is certain that you're laughing at him with your advice."

Cho's heart made a bump. Harry didn't know what the second task was? That couldn't be. She thought that Cedric… Well, he did. She saw him talk with Harry after the Yule Ball. He told Cho that he made sure Harry would know what to expect from the second task after he warned him for the first task. It was Cho who advised Cedric to give Harry some help after Cedric confessed that Harry warned him about the dragons.

"Wait… Harry still doesn't know?" Cedric looked as surprised and upset by this as Cho was.

"Well, no, he doesn't. He believes that you're tricking him," Susan said.

"I'm not."

"Well…" Susan seemed to calm down. "I don't believe you are, but it looks like it. Why didn't you just tell him what the second task was about? This is what he told you for the first task."

Cedric looked desperate. "Damn. Okay. So he didn't go into the Prefects' bathroom?"

At that, it seemed that it was Susan's turn to look surprised. "The Prefects' bathroom? He needs to go there?"

"Yes, that's what I told him. That's where I solved the egg." He looked around, but no one was around as far as Cho could tell. "Look. He must bring the golden egg in this bathroom and plunge it under water. That's how the egg can be solved. This is where I solved it. That's why I told him to go there. I even gave him the location and the password of the bathroom."

For a moment, no word was said. But then Susan sighed. "Really? I'm going to start believing Hermione when she says that boys are stupid. And I don't know who between you and Harry is the stupidest," she said on a discouraging tone.

She walked away on that, leaving Cedric alone behind. Well, not really alone. Cho wasn't that far from him. Cedric walked slowly back to her.

"Heard anything?" he asked when next to her again.

"Everything," she confirmed. "Harry doesn't know what to expect from the second task yet?"

"It seems not. Well, hopefully, Susan can make him see reason. Maybe she's right and I should have told Harry what to expect in a more straightforward way."

"Don't blame yourself, Cedric. You were trying to help him." Under her suggestion, furthermore.

"I know. I told him to go to the Prefects' bathroom because I thought he would like it. There aren't many students who can have access to it."

Indeed. Cho herself never went into it. "Could you show it to me someday?" she asked playfully.

"You know I can't," he replied with a playful smile.

"Oh. So you can tell Harry about it, but not me?" she said in false outrage.

They both laughed, and then they kissed. His lips were warm and soft. They resumed to walk around the Black Lake.

"I wonder why Harry thought that I was making fun of him," Cedric said after a while. "I mean, I thought we were friends, after the things that happened in Quidditch. And he warned me for the first task. I don't get why he would think that I'm mocking him. Even though I must admit that I didn't provide him with the best clue I could have."

"I don't know," Cho replied. "Maybe you should just have given something more precise."

Cedric nodded. But in the meantime, Cho suspected that something else could explain Harry's suspicion towards the advice Cedric gave him. It may have a link with what Harry asked her before the Yule Ball, the request which she had to decline. She never told Cedric about that. Usually, she tried to avoid talking about Harry when she was with Cedric. In fact, she tried to avoid talking about him in all circumstances. Cedric was always on her mind lately, and she felt he and Harry didn't cohabit very well in her head. So she tried to avoid thinking about him most of the time, even though it was almost impossible.

However, since the subject was on the table, she decided to ask Cedric a question that was related to Harry, but not directly. It was a topic on which Cho wished to know more, she had to admit it.

"The girl you just talked with… Her name is Susan Bones, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's her name. She's in my house, but in fourth year. The same as Harry."

"You know her well? Do you think everything she told you could have been only to put on a show?"

Cho had not noticed that girl very much before the Yule Ball. They weren't in the same year, nor in the same house, and the girl didn't play Quidditch either. She vaguely recalled her name when she saw her at the beginning of the Yule Ball, but even for Cho, it was hard to tell since everyone was dressed in such a different way than usual that it made it harder to recognize everybody. She didn't recognize Hermione Granger next to Viktor Krum before Harry called her name. What she remembered pretty well from the Yule Ball when it came to this girl though was when she had Fleur Delacour lashing out at her for some comment she made in French. She never found out what she actually told the French champion, and the rumors about it in Hogwarts were many and uncertain, but whatever it was, it made Fleur Delacour very angry.

"I doubt it. I don't believe it would be her style," Cedric said.

"You know her? Well enough, I mean?"

"A little. She's two years younger than I am. We're not friends, but we know each other. And she doesn't strike me as someone who would throw a tantrum for nothing."

"How much do you know about her? What kind of person is she?"

"I don't know much," Cedric confessed. "We are more like acquaintances, like I said. I do know that her aunt occupies a very high position at the Ministry though."

Cho stopped all of a sudden. She was holding Cedric's arm, so he stopped as well. Cho just realized something. She knew the family name of that girl. "Wait. She is the niece of Amelia Bones? The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?"

"Yes. You know her?"

"No." Whether Cedric was talking about the niece or the aunt, she didn't know either of them. "But my father works in her department."

"Oh, it's true. He is the personal assistant of Rufus Scrimgeour. Well, yes, Susan is her niece. But I never heard her mentioning it. From what I can tell, she's not really the kind of girl who attracts attention. Not that she is not sociable, but… She's more of an introvert than an extravert, if you understand what I mean."

"Well, I don't get the impression that she doesn't attract attention."

Cedric laughed. "Yeah. It is true that since she and Harry are dating, she does attract a lot of attention."

Cedric didn't need to tell Cho about it. She didn't pay much attention to that girl during the Yule Ball. She focused on Cedric, and tried to look as little as it was possible to Harry during the ball. It was helped by the fact that Cho was very happy to be at the ball with Cedric, and also that Harry and his partner left the dancing floor very early, as soon as the first dance was over. It was a long time later before Cho took any interest in that girl.

One Monday morning, during breakfast, after the weekend when she and Cedric went to Hogsmeade together, Cho was eating before the day would begin when one of her friends came to tell them something she just heard from Padma Patil, whose twin sister was in Gryffindor.

"You'll never guess. Harry Potter is dating a girl from Hufflepuff."

Cho didn't almost strangle herself with water this time. Maybe only because she didn't have any in her mouth.

"Seriously?" Marietta asked. "From Hufflepuff? What is he doing with a girl from that house? Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are in competition in the Tournament."

"I'm only relaying the information I was given," the other girl replied.

"Wait… Is that the same girl he went to the Yule Ball with?" Marietta further asked.

"I don't know," the other girl shrugged.

This had been the first time Cho heard that Harry actually had a girlfriend. She assumed that the girl he went to the ball with was only a friend. But over the days that followed, despite the fact that Cho never asked for any detail, she soon found out with certainty that Harry's girlfriend was the same girl who accompanied him to the Yule Ball, a girl he supposedly invited barely a few hours after Cho declined his invitation. This left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth. Maybe she had been wrong, and Harry had no romantic feelings for her, like she thought he could have. Still, when Cho heard the name of Susan Bones, then crossed the girl's path in some corridor as some students were pointing at her and whispering behind her back, she recognized without possible mistake the redheaded girl. It was her, no doubt about it. It was the same girl who just talked to Cedric about Harry, the second task and the golden egg.

"As long as she doesn't attract your attention more than I do," she said, jesting, but with a certain warning in her voice.

"You don't have to worry about that. You're the only girl I have eyes for," Cedric reassured her.

She did feel reassured. She wasn't worried that Cedric might look at another girl. She knew that he managed to reject Fleur Delacour's advances, so she didn't have to worry about it. Still, a part of Cho's mind remained curious about this Susan Bones.

"In this case, think about me when you'll be down there," Cho told him. "I'll be waiting for you at the surface."

"That is more powerful to make me hurry than any time limit," Cedric said with his usual seductive smile.

That made Cho smile widely. "Once the year is over, I'd like you to come to my home. I would like you to meet my parents. They're already excited."

"You wrote to them about me?" he asked, surprised.

"Of course. Did you really think I would not tell them about you?"

"True. I also told my parents They're eager to meet you as well."

They kept walking on the snow around the lake for quite some time, discussing about everything and nothing. Cho, in this moment, was certain that things would go well as she told Cedric a story about the first time Marietta tried to mount a broomstick and crashed against a tree.

And now, I go to finally play what is apparently the best Harry Potter game of all time. (I cannot be entirely sure of that statement since I haven't played it yet.)

Please review.

Next chapter: Ron (second task)