Chapter 5: The Expulsion

"You are clear to leave." Madam Pomfrey announced, clearing Harry and Cho to leave the medical area. Thankfully, Harry didn't suffer any injury during the course of the task. Delighted to be in new casual clothing and out of the wet and sticky uniform, Cho hastily walked back to the main castle together with Harry.

"So the task wasn't as difficult as the first I suppose?" Cho asked.

"Yeah, the task itself wasn't as difficult, the harder part of this task is making a plan and executing it as perfectly as possible, and the time limit I guess, we all ended up late."

"You wouldn't be if you weren't distracted with being a hero," She teased.

"Hey! I got some moral fibre points for that."

"Yes yes, you did," She said with a smile.

As they entered the castle, they were surprised to find a crowd waiting for them, or more specifically Harry. Annoyingly, they were largely made out of girls, many of whom glared at Cho for a moment when they walked past, clearly reacting to their kiss on the platform before returning to being annoying fangirls.

"Harry! What happened down there!"

"You were so heroic Harry!"

Where were all these alleged fans and followers at the start of the year? Cho thought angrily.

Harry seemingly was also rather annoyed at this sudden rebirth of a fan club (Cho oddly had a vague memory of one 2 years ago), grabbing Cho's hand, he squeezed them through the crowd. They however, were soon greeted by a rather annoying voice.

"Harry, dear, you made quite a show just now didn't you," the high-pitch rat-like voice of Rita Skeeter said.

She oddly did not seem as dressed up as she normally was, Cho noted, not that she looked great when she did as well.

"I do not want an interview Skeeter," Harry said rather hostilely.

"No need for the animosity Harry, just trying to write an article about the second task," Skeeter said, "Now now, I happened to notice that you seem awfully close to Ms Chang over here, what happened with Ms Granger? Did you 2 have a falling out, or is Ms Chang here just a fling."

Cho had never seen Harry this livid before, well, she had never heard of a more offensive question either. Harry however, did look like he was going to curse Skeeter.

"Go away Skeeter, nobody reads your article anyways," Cho said coldly in the defence of Harry, gripping his hand more tightly.

Skeeter looked at her with contempt, before cursing back at her.

"Nobody talked to you bitch, you are lucky that Potter chose a Chinese creature like you," Skeeter said before spitting at Cho.

Before Cho could even react, Skeeter flew back a couple of metres, smacking straight into the wall. Stunned, Cho turned to see Harry with his wand out, face filled with rage. At this moment, Skeeter got up, wand pointed at Harry.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled. Skeeter's wand flew straight out of her hand, landing a few feet in front of them.

"STOP THIS AT ONCE!" a furious voice bellowed from behind them. Cho turned and to her surprise. An enraged Dumbledore stood a few metres behind. With a commanding presence, Dumbledore walked up towards them, moving past Harry and Cho and walking straight to Rita Skeeter, who was still on the floor, face full of fear.

"Skeeter, you were allowed into Hogwarts on the basis of reporting, not to attack a student with senseless and offensive statements," Dumbledore said with cold fury. Cho had never seen their headmaster this livid before, now that she had seen it, she could finally understand why everyone feared him.

"The Potter boy attacked me first!" Skeeter snarled.

"He wouldn't have if you didn't provoke him with outrageous questions for a 15-year-old, nor would he have attacked you if you didn't disrespect Ms Chang with racist and disgusting statements," Dumbledore said softly as if he was whispering, though the whisper could cut through the strongest steel.

"You will not be welcomed onto the Hogwarts ground again, if you set a single foot onto this piece of land, you will be escorted out, whether by will or force," Dumbledore said, "now leave!"

Skeeter did not need to be told twice, giving a menacing look towards Dumbledore, then Harry and finally at Cho, she stormed out of the grounds.

"Mr Potter and Ms Chang, follow me to my office, we have much to discuss." Dumbledore said, turning to both Harry and Cho. However, the cold and honestly terrifying look on Dumbledore's face disappeared, replaced by one strict but concerned one.

After entering Dumbledore's office, Cho realised how different it was compared to the others. It was comfy yet elegant. Following Harry's lead, they both sat down on the sofa. He's certainly been here a few times, Cho thought, smiling.

"I'm sorry Professor, I shouldn't have attacked," Harry said guiltily. "I just got…" He stopped, thinking of a word to describe his feelings.

"Protective?" Dumbledore added, "Harry, there is nothing wrong about that, in fact, I would believe that Ms Chang appreciated what you did for her."

"Yes Harry, it isn't your fault," Cho comforted Harry.

"Harry, what you did there was a display of your most special trait, love, love for your family, friends and even strangers, you proved that twice today, first with Ms Delacour and second with Ms Chang here," Dumbledore said.

"This is what makes you different, among wizards and muggles alike. We humans spend too much time caring about trophies, talent and money, too often we forget what makes us human, the capacity to love, if everyone had a heart of gold like yours, humans might finally be united, this is why you do not need to apologise," Dumbledore said.

"Alas, this doesn't mean what you did was right, you still did start the physical attack, hence, you would still have to be punished (Harry's mood visibly dropped at the revelation of this) however, seeing the circumstances, I have decided to give you 1 night of detention, here with me the following Saturday, I do have much to talk to you about," Dumbledore said, with a small wink.

Detention with Dumbledore, that certainly does not happen often, Cho thought. Harry probably thought the same as a look of confusion appeared on his face before he finally understood that it was only a detention on paper, bringing a huge smile onto his face.

"However, I do need to warn both of you, Skeeter will not let this slide, in fact, you should expect an article coming out soon, perhaps even tomorrow and I do expect that she will, let's say alter the facts in a way that makes her seem like a victim and make you 2 seem like the aggressor," Dumbledore said gravely.

"And Ms Chang, I would encourage you to avoid opening letters from strangers for these few weeks, I do imagine she would write rather nastily about you specifically, prompting Harry's admirers to send some harmful objects, if you do not mind, I can intercept the letters before they reach you to ensure that they are safe," Dumbledore questioned, to which Cho nodded, believing Dumbledore's judgement to be the best.

"In that case, you 2 should go and enjoy the rest of the day, do not let this altercation ruin an otherwise celebratory day, ah wait," Dumbledore said, before taking out his wand, performing a charm which cleaned off the spit marks that Cho forgot were still there.

"As good as new, leaving saliva from a mouth as vicious as Skeeter's will certainly be unhealthy," Dumbledore chuckled. Say what you want about Dumbledore, but he is rather funny despite his age, Cho thought.

"Thank you Professor," Both Harry and Cho said before leaving the office.

"Oh yes Harry," Dumbledore called out before they exited, "Congratulations for the second task and good luck for the next."

Harry beamed before thanking Dumbledore again and leaving the office.

"So urm… Where should we go now?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, I would rather avoid the crowd," Cho replied.

Harry nodded in agreement before saying, "How about a picnic?"

"Picnic? In this weather?"

"We can use the Heating Charm that we learnt during the preparation sessions, I reckon that it will be enough as long as we keep casting it.

"Sure but where are we going to get the food or a mat?"

"I happen to know someone who can help us," Harry said with a playful smile on his face.

Cho thought he meant the Weasley twins, seeing how they seemingly are able to smuggle almost anything into the school. However, Harry called out a different name.

"Dobby!"

Suddenly, Cho heard a large snap and an elf shorter than 4 feet appeared.

"Dobby is here, Mr Harry Potter!" the elf named Dobby exclaimed.

"Dobby, this is Cho Chang, Cho, this is Dobby," Harry introduced.

Cho knelt down to around Dobby's height and reached out to shake his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dobby," Cho said politely.

"The pleasure is mine, Ms Cho Chang!" Dobby said enthusiastically, shaking her hand vigorously.

"Dobby, will you happen to be able to provide us with a picnic mat and some food? We are planning to have a picnic at the grass field," Harry asked politely.

"Dobby knows exactly where to find them, what kinds of food would you want Mr Harry Potter?" Dobby asked.

"Urm… maybe some fruits and pastries?" Harry said, looking at Cho for approval who nodded.

"Right away Mr Harry Potter!" Dobby exclaimed excitedly, before disappearing with a loud snap.

"You didn't tell me you made friends with a house-elf," Cho asked curiously.

"Oh! It's a long story, he tried to kill me in my second year, to protect me though, ended up breaking my hand but I managed to pull some tricks to free him from a previous master," Harry said, acting like it was a perfectly normal story.

Cho stared at him with a puzzled look.

"What?" Harry questioned.

"You have some of the weirdest friends and stories Zhu, and what Dumbledore said was right."

"Huh?"

"You really are capable of love, someone tried to kill you and you did him a favour by freeing him…"

"Well, he didn't exactly try to kill me, he did want to protect me at the end of the day, and as I said, long story," Harry said, making Cho laugh.

"You are pretty weird yourself, you know?" Harry said.

"In what way?"

"The way you knelt down when talking to him, don't think I've seen anyone treat a house-elf like that before, not that it's wrong tho, quite the opposite actually," Harry said, smilingly and reflecting on why he never thought of it.

"Well, it's kind of a by-product of growing as a Chinese, Pa and Ma emphasised treating everyone with equal respect, whether it's a teacher or a house-elf, figured that it would be more respectful if I knelt down when introducing myself to him," Cho shrugged.

"Perhaps this is why I like you so much," Harry said, making Cho blush.

The rest of the day was the opposite of the first half, it was probably the most peaceful afternoon they could ask for. Other than Hermione who found them, concerned about whether Harry got into any trouble, no one bothered them at the picnic. This allowed them to spend a few precious hours with each other's company, learning more about each other. Despite being only a few months since the Yule Ball, Cho could feel their relationship strengthening, now to the point beyond friendship. Both knew that they liked each other for a while already, but neither wanted to make the move, each with their very own reasons. Cho originally suspected that Harry was simply shy, but it seems that there was something else deeper than that. She didn't have any idea as to what it was, it seemed like fear, but Cho couldn't lay her finger on it, neither did she want to push Harry into telling her about it, stuff like this might be uncomfortable for Harry to talk about, she thought. Cho on the other hand, wanted to be cautious about entering a relationship and wanted to take things slowly. There was no question as to whether Harry was a good person, or whether she actually liked him. She was sure of both. However, she wanted to take things slow, not rushing into something that perhaps would ruin their relationship. Thankfully for the both of them, Harry's rather surprising move on the platform sealed things rather quickly, while it was a little fast for Cho, she did not regret her decision.

Suddenly, she saw a familiar crow flying towards her. It was her house crow, carrying a letter.

"Jin!" She exclaimed as it landed on her shoulder, dropping the letter which fell onto her lap. She quickly took one of the empty glasses, magically filling it with water before giving it to her crow to drink.

"Jin? Interesting name, what kind of bird is that?" Harry questioned.

"It's a crow, it was originally Pa's, brought it from China to Scotland when he shifted her with Ma," Cho said, "Its name is in Mandarin, it means gold."

"Well, I can see why."

The answer was obvious, unlike normal crows, Jin had a unique gold stripe on its wings, henceforth the name. Cho stroked the crow before turning her attention to the letter. She recognised the author of it immediately. Ma… She swiftly opened the letter.

"Cao," Cho cursed in Mandarin under her breath, to which Harry looked very confused. However, he seemingly understood that it wasn't a good thing.

"What is it?" Harry asked worriedly

"It's from Ma," Cho replied. She noticed Harry staring intently at her, the reason was obvious, her cheeks were bright red.

"Urm… Ma was listening to the second task on the Wireless… they reported the urm… kiss and she realised that with me being in the river means there's something going on between us."

"Oh!" Harry said.

At least she wasn't the only one blushing anymore.

"She isn't exactly mad or anything, she just wants clarification, she seems to be in shock as well, but… she's read the articles about you, let's say they do not shine you in the greatest light."

"Shit," Harry cursed

"Yep, shit, Pa seemingly doesn't have a problem with it though, he said he doesn't believe the articles and doesn't want to judge you explicitly off that, said he wants to meet you to have a chat, he also added that you trying to save everyone is a pretty noble thing, I guess you can infer who uses their brain more in the household," Cho joked, making Harry roar with laughter.

"Well, unfortunately, I think I would have to return to the common room to craft a response, it's also getting late so I reckon we should go," Cho said with Harry nodding in agreement.

As they packed up the items, Cho comforted Harry.

"Don't worry Zhu, my parents aren't really judging or hard to please type, and if they are, I will impersonate a lawyer to win their favour for you," Cho teased. Harry visibly looked more relaxed, knowing that he had Cho.

They soon reached the Ravenclaw common room (Harry insisted on accompanying her again to her delight) when Cho asked Harry about next week.

"Zhu, next week there is another Hogsmeade weekend, wanna go together?"

Unfortunately, Harry's facial expressions told her that she was going to be disappointed this time.

"Oh, sorry Cho, I can't," Harry said guiltily, "I'm going to meet one of my father's old friends, I met him recently and he is always travelling so he wanted to meet me to talk about life before he heads out of the country again."

"Oh… It's fine then," Cho said, trying to hide her disappointment which she clearly failed at seeing how guilty Harry looked.

"How about we meet later in the day, we can have dinner together before we head back to the castle?" Harry hastily suggested.

"Oh sure, I would love to!"

She then leaned into Harry, giving him another kiss, before bidding him goodbye and entering the common room, glad that they have finally crossed the border in their relationship.