Chap 11: Swan of The Sky
"They better not be late," Mr Dursley said angrily.
Harry was in the car together with Mr Dursley on the way to London, specifically the Leaky Cauldron. Today was finally the day that Harry was going to leave Privet Drive and spend time together with Cho and her family in Scotland for a week. As part of the agreement between Mr Chang and Mr Dursley, he was supposed to bring Harry to Leaky Cauldron where Harry would be picked up by Mr Chang and transported to their house in Scotland through the Floo Network there.
"Even if they are late you can just drop me off at the entrance," Harry countered.
Thankfully, as they approached the entrance of Leaky Cauldron, Harry quickly spotted Mr Chang standing there, patiently waiting for Harry. After retrieving his trunk, Harry excitedly exited the car and joined Mr Chang.
"Ah Harry, it's good to see you," Mr Chang said politely, before turning to thank Mr Dursley for transporting Harry who scowled and left immediately.
"Sorry for his attitude, he isn't exactly the polite type," Harry said, glaring at the car disappearing into the traffic in London.
"No problem Harry, would not be the first, muggle or wizard," Mr Chang said with a smile, "well let's get going then shall we."
As they both entered Leaky Cauldron, Harry was greeted by a familiar sight of the place where he spent a considerable amount of time staying during his 3rd year, greeting familiar faces such as Tom the Innkeeper. After navigating through the pub, they finally made it to a fireplace.
"Ah Thomas, it's so good to see you," said a stranger, approaching Mr Chang to give him a hug.
"It's great to see you Kingsley," Mr Chang replied.
"Merlin's beard, are you Harry Potter?" Kingsley said, breaking away from the hug and eyeing Harry, who nodded.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr Potter, I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt," Kingsley said, reaching out to shake Harry's hand who reciprocated.
"It's a pleasure meeting you 2 here but I'm afraid that I have to make my leave, see you at work next week Thomas," Kingsley said, before making his leave.
"That Harry, is Kingsley Shacklebolt, one of my fellow Aurors, one of the best at it," Mr Chang said, introducing Kingsley to him
"Did he call you Thomas?"
"Yes, why?" Mr Chang asked curiously.
"I didn't know that you had an English name."
"Ah… Well, I gave myself one when I shifted to the UK, makes it easier when I introduce myself," Mr Chang explained, "You do know that Cho has one as well right?"
Harry stared at Mr Chang blankly, absolutely dumbfounded.
"Ah… she hasn't told you, not surprised honestly, she's been really adamant about sticking to her Chinese name, always has been proud of her heritage."
"Oh, yeah she is, kinda like it," Harry shrugged, Mr Chang however, nodded in agreement.
"What is her English name though?" Harry asked
"Celina, which means heavenly or of the sky and represents purity, kinda describes her in hindsight," Mr Chang answered.
Celina, it's really a beautiful name for Cho, and it does really describe her, Harry thought.
"Anyways Harry, we are running late," Mr Chang said, checking his watch, "However I do want to warn you about something first, I'm not sure if Cho ever told you about this but my wife is awfully stuck in the more traditional Chinese ways and is overprotective of Cho, I do encourage you to bow to her when you see her and greet her politely, first impressions hm?" He added. This made Harry a ton more nervous than he already was, he was Cho's first boyfriend and is entering the house of a family of a completely different culture, now add the fact that Cho's mum is overprotective, it's a recipe for disaster."
"Don't worry Harry, once she grows comfortable with you, she will dote on you like a mother," Mr Chang said with a smile, "Let's go and greet them shall we?"
After emerging from the fireplace, Harry looked around to see a large and spacious house which looked elegant and organised unlike The Burrow. Looking around, he quickly spotted a middle-aged Chinese woman standing nearby, eyes fixated on Harry, seemingly making her judgement of him. Remembering Mr Chang's advice, Harry quickly greeted her.
"Good afternoon Ms Chang," Harry said, bowing down a little as a sign of respect.
"Afternoon." Mrs Chang said, with a slight tinge of coldness in her voice, but did seem slightly warmer now after the greeting.
The sound of a fire crackle disrupted Harry's thoughts as Mr Chang emerged out of the fireplace. He walked towards his wife, saying something in Mandarin before giving her a peck on the lips, bringing a wide smile onto her face, one that looked exactly like Cho's. Taking in a good look at Mrs Chang once again, he noticed the many similarities between her and Cho, from the dark brown eyes to the silky long black hair to even the freckled nose, he could see where exactly Cho got her looks from.
At this moment, Harry heard someone running down the stairs. Turning to look at who had arrived, Harry was greeted by a young overly enthusiastic girl.
"Are you Harry Potter?" The little girl asked.
"Yes, you must be Cheng right?" Harry said, smiling brightly for her.
"Mhm, are you dating my sister?" Cheng asked, staring at Harry intently.
"Er… yes," Harry muttered, aware of the eyes glued onto him.
"She keeps talking about you," Cheng said, looking rather unhappy, "It's so annoying."
"Are you bad-mouthing me Cheng?" said a voice coming from the staircase.
From the staircase emerged what Harry could only describe as an angel. Cho stood at the base of the staircase in a beautiful simple white dress, living up to the 'of the sky' name. Locking eyes with Cho, they both knew that they wanted to embrace each other closely and have a nice long kiss, but seeing the circumstances, they knew that they couldn't.
"No I wasn't, did you dress up just for him?" She said, staring at Cho blankly.
"What! No!" Cho replied in denial, though her cheeks were turning slightly red.
"She definitely did," Cheng said, whispering to Harry, before running away.
"Come on Harry, let me show you your room," Cho said, frowning at her sister.
"Guess you've met my whole family," Cho said as they climbed up the stairs.
"Yeah, your sister is really cute."
"And annoying at the same time, but yes she very much is," Cho said with a smile, "What did she whisper to you by the way."
"She said that you definitely dressed up, did you?" Harry asked.
"Urm, maybe just a little," Cho said.
"You didn't have to, but you do look fantastic," Harry said, making Cho blush a little, leaving a satisfied smile on her face.
"Thanks Harry, this is the room," Cho said, entering the room on the left.
The room was spacious and while it was slightly more messy, with different parchments and books lying around, it was very much still more organised than Harry's. As Harry continued to explore the room, he spotted posters of The Tutshill Tornados posted on the walls and notably, his Firebolt displayed at the back.
"I'm staying in your room?" Harry asked.
"Mhm."
"Together with you?"
"Yep"
"Your parents allowed this?"
"They didn't exactly have a choice, we did not have a guest room and Cheng was not going to allow me to shift into hers. Ma required some convincing while Pa was fine with it, believes that we are mature enough," Cho said happily, "They did warn me though, if we do anything funny, you are getting kicked out."
"Well thankfully we are really good kids who won't think of that eh?" Harry said, making Cho laugh.
Continuing his exploration of the room, he saw many photos of Cho throughout the years, one where she couldn't be older than 5, together with her relatives, one where she seemed to be around 10 on the Great Wall of China, another in what seemed to be her first year in Hogwarts and finally one with her group of friends, taken more recently.
"We do really need photos together," Cho commented, placing her arms around Harry's lower body before leaning in for a peck.
"Didn't you say no funny business?" Harry teased.
"They will not kick you out for a tiny little peck." Cho protested.
"In that case," Harry said, before turning his head and kissing her on the lips.
"I've missed you so much," Cho said softly.
"So have I."
"Then let's make this week count," Cho said, "Wanna go to the beach."
Without hearing Harry's response, Cho dragged Harry out of the house and to the beach right outside of the house. Taking in the scenery around him, he couldn't help but be jealous that this was the summer home Cho lived in. A large and spacious house lying right next to the beach where waves gently crashed onto the beach, soothing the spirits and the mind, a small quidditch pitch next to the house that was of a much better quality than the Burrow's where Harry presumed Cho honed her skills at and a small garden without the infestation of Gnomes.
"So, how has your summer been?" Harry asked as they sat down on the beach.
"Eh, nothing much really, spending most of my time completing the assignments and practising quidditch."
"You like the Firebolt?"
"Oh my, yes! It's so much better than the stupid Cleansweep. I'm so going to smoke you the next time we play," Cho said confidently.
"Whoa whoa no way," Harry protested.
"Nope, you messed up giving your competitor the fastest broom in the world."
"Well, if that gets you a contract, I won't mind losing the snitch to you, only once though, one chance is all you get," Harry said adamantly.
"We shall see then Mr Brand Ambassador," Cho teased, reminding him that he had officially been announced as Nimbus ambassador at the school level.
"Anyways, who's gonna be your captain now?" Cho asked.
"No clue, probably one of the year 7s, Angelina or Alicia."
"Not Fred or George?" Cho asked sarcastically.
"Hell no, McGonagall would rather make a year 1 a captain over them 2," Harry replied, cracking a laugh.
Cho leaned her head onto Harry's shoulder as they spent a few minutes in silence, taking in the scenery and watching the waves crash onto the beach. Just to think that a week ago Harry was spending almost all his time in parks trying to avoid the Dursley and a week later he's sitting next to his lover, life really changes rapidly.
"You didn't tell me that you had an English name," Harry finally said, breaking the silence.
"Huh?" Cho said, looking at him confused.
"Your father told me that you had an English name, Celina."
"Oh, yeah, that's my English name, but I don't use it." Cho sighed.
"You prefer Cho?"
"Mhm, that's my identity."
"It's a very sexy name though," Harry said, to which Cho rolled her eyes.
"I guess so, but don't start calling me that."
"Ok Celina," Harry said playfully as he received a playful punch to the body.
"Sorry to interrupt you 2 lovebirds," someone said behind them, turning around, Harry's face turned slightly red as he saw Mr Chang walk up towards them, "Cho, Ma called you to go and help her in the kitchen."
"Ke yi," Cho said in Chinese, "Come on Zhu, let's go back to the house."
"Hold on Harry, I want to speak to you," Mr Chang said.
Both Harry and Cho stared at him, with Cho quickly discussing it with him in rapid Mandarin. However, she soon resigned to the fact that there was nothing she could do to stop her father from talking to Harry, bidding him goodbye and leaving for the kitchen, frowning at her father. Mr Chang however, didn't seem to care and sat down next to Harry.
"So, how do you find our house?" Mr Chang asked.
"It's really nice, being next to a beach and all, kinda wished that this was my house," Harry admitted.
"Glad that you like it, my wife and I shifted in when she was in the later stages of pregnancy, the waves and the breeze helped her deal with the stresses of pregnancy better," Mr Chang said, "anyways, that's not the reason I want to talk to you, I want to talk about you and Cho."
There it is, the dreaded talk about their relationship, Harry thought.
"Firstly, I would have to put it out there that I am not against a relationship with my daughter, I very much would like to believe that she is old enough to make decisions by herself and from what I've learnt about my daughter, she is one smart witch, emotionally and intellectually."
"Agreed," Harry muttered.
"I also have nothing against you Harry, I have seen many articles about you that paint you in a negative light but I have also heard many things about you from more trustable sources, I very much do believe that you are a very good person," Mr Chang, now looking firmly at Harry.
"However, I do really want to know why my daughter, why do you like her," He continued, catching Harry off guard.
"Urm… Well, I kinda had a crush on her 2 years ago when we competed against each other during Quidditch because of her looks, but after going to the Yule Ball together I started learning more about her, and something about her was just different than the others," Harry said, resulting in Mr Chang raising an eyebrow, "she's popular but quiet, kind but ferocious, talented but humble and she's the only person who understands what I'm feeling."
"Quite a list indeed," Mr Chang commented.
"Mr Chang, I do really love her and want to be with her, she's really the only person who managed to bring me happiness through all the suffering, especially after the end of last year," Harry said, bringing back bad memories which he had been having nightmares of throughout the holiday.
"I do believe you Harry, and I'm certain that she really wants to be with you too, she would probably fight a war to live the rest of her life with you, she got into a fight with her mother about your relationship, we've never seen her so defiant and stubborn before, convinced my wife to give you a chance," Mr Chang said, "however Harry, what you must understand is that being around you is dangerous, it isn't your fault but trouble seems to find you every time, think about every year since you came into Hogwarts, how many times have you gotten into a life or death situation"
Harry sat in silence as he watched the waves crashing onto the beach, what Mr Chang said was true, Ron and Hermione had gotten into so much danger just by being friends with him, with You-Know-Who back, shit is just gonna get worse.
"This is not me telling you that I do not allow this relationship with Harry, I'm simply asking a favour," He looked at Harry pleadingly, "would you do whatever it takes to keep Cho safe?"
"I will," Harry replied immediately.
"Good," Mr Chang heaved a sigh of relief, "that's all I needed to hear, my wife would probably need more time, you have to show her that you do really devote yourself to Cho and that you are a great guy."
"How do I do that?"
"Just continue what you are doing, you might want to learn Mandarin as well, that would impress her," Mr Chang said, to which Harry nodded.
"In the meantime, let's go back and help to prepare for dinner tonight," Mr Chang said, looking at his watch.
The dinner was one of the most unique ones he ever had, every dish on the table was something new for Harry, ranging from dishes Cho called Dim Sum to different types of chicken and soups. Having never tried Chinese cuisine before, he was amazed by the experience. After dinner, Harry spent most of his time being educated more about Chinese culture and wizarding life back in China, before changing into his pyjamas and preparing to go to sleep.
"What did Pa talk to you about just now?" Cho asked him when they were finally alone again.
"Nothing much, just had the typical father-to-boyfriend talk," Harry replied, resulting in Cho frowning.
"He didn't ask you anything stupid did he?"
"Nah, he was really chill about it, but he did warn me about your mum," Harry said.
"Yeah, she would be difficult," Cho sighed, "But once she warms up to you she would be very loving."
"Hopefully. Your father also told me that I should learn Mandarin to speed up the process."
"He's not wrong, I can teach you but it will be really hard, Mandarin isn't the easiest language to master."
"I would do anything to make our lives easier."
"I know you would," Cho smiled.
Suddenly, someone downstairs shouted in Chinese to which Cho replied back before cursing in Chinese again.
"I assume your parents are warning you about doing anything stupid," Harry said.
"Wow, look at who understands Mandarin now," Cho teased, before leaning in for a kiss.
"Good night Zhu."
"Good night Cho," Harry replied before the lights went out.