A Promise For Tomorrow

Cho Chang felt her eyes well up with tears again the moment she saw Hufflepuff Ernie Macmillan wander across her line of vision. It certainly didn't help that a whole entourage of Hufflepuffs were trailing along after him, each looking depressed and downtrodden.

It was the end of Cho's fifth-year at Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry, and what seemed like an end of an era to her. With the death of Cedric Diggory at the Triwizard Tournaments, Cho supposed that it wasn't surprising that all the Hufflepuffs looked as if someone had collectively kicked the lot of them. Come to think of it, I look as if someone's kicked me, Cho thought, swallowing hard as another Hufflepuff trailed past her hiding place.

From where she was in her little niche within the Great Hall, it looked to Cho as if the whole school was an endless trail of Hufflepuffs with long faces. A continual reminder that Cedric was dead.

"Dead." Cho whispered the word out loud, testing it on her tongue. Her voice was hoarse from hours of guilt-ridden tears and grief, hours of feeling sick to her stomach. Wondering how she would face Cedric's parents if they ever tried hunting her out.

Wondering too if she could ever face Fleur Delacour.

Touching one hand to her swollen eyelids, Cho decided that she wouldn't be able to face anyone anyway, so it was a moot point. From the way things seemed to be going, she just couldn't seem to stop the waterworks. In fact, the dam hadn't just broken, it had disappeared altogether.

"All because you're dead." Her words came out in a hoarse whisper as she saw Cedric's father wander aimlessly past her.

And then, she let the tears come.

***

"Cho?" Fleur Delacour's voice was softened in the darkness, easily recognisable from her French accent. "Cho? I know zat you are 'ere."

Fleur didn't get an answer, but then, she didn't suppose she would. In the hours that Cedric Diggory had died, the Asian girl had gone into hiding. No one seemed to be able to find her.

No one but Fleur.

She'd had to wait until everyone had left the Great Hall first though, and that had been a mission in itself. Staying behind long enough for that to happen had been even harder - Madam Maxime didn't miss much. But Fleur was determined to find Cho. After twenty-four hours of weeping, she'd have surely got it all out, Fleur decided.

"Cho?" A smothered sniffle on her left answered, and Fleur immediately spun around, pointing her wand in the direction of the sound. Muttering a quick charm under her breath, Fleur marked where the sniffle had come from.

"Why ees it zat you 'ide ma cherie?" Fleur asked softly.

Another sniff answered her, a sniff that could only be Cho's. Only she, Fleur thought, could make a sniffle sound cute. In fact, Fleur amended, she is cute no matter when. Even when she cries, she is cute. A flare of desire went through Fleur's body at the thought of Cho's body, and Fleur smiled. Maybe not cute then. Maybe just sexy. All the time.

Cho's hoarse voice broke through Fleur's lusty thoughts. "Fleur?"

"Oui?"

"Go away."

Fleur felt hurt wend its way through her. "You do not know what it ees zat you say."

A slight shuffling sound from the niche. "Yes, I do. Now go away."

"You are seemply upset. It is understandable."

"Go away Fleur." Cho's voice had gone slightly wobbly, and from the dim light of the Great Hall, Fleur could see the lithe outline of Cho, tucked up in the niche. Her body was nearly bent in two, the place was so small, and how Cho could fit in there was beyond Fleur. But then, Fleur knew that Cho was flexible in bed...

Fleur swallowed. Hard.

"Fleur? I said, go away."

The words came tumbling out before she could stop them. "Why? I wish to-"

"YOU WISH TO FUCK ME IS WHAT YOU WISH!" Cho's ragged scream echoed around the Great Hall. "YOU FUCKED ME, AND CEDRIC'S DEAD, AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT. I NEVER...NEVER SHOULD'VE GONE TO BED WITH YOU. EVER!"

Somewhere throughout the proclamation, Cho had stood up, and was now within inches of Fleur, her expression distraught.

"I...I...I thought zat...zat you wanted..."

"He's dead. And it's because of what we did...dead...Cedric's dead..."

"He was your-"

"NO! NO! DON'T SAY IT! HE WASN'T MY COVER. I'M NOT A DAMN LESBIAN! I LOVED HIM. AND HE'S DEAD!" Cho's voice started giving out near the end, sounding like nails on a board. The tears that glittered on her face were real.

But Fleur had to know for sure. "So you do not love me like you said."

Cho's mouth tightened. "You tricked me into saying it. I love Cedric." Her tone was stubborn, stony almost.

Nodding slowly, Fleur turned to walk away.

***

That night, Cho could not stop thrashing around in bed, moaning out Fleur's name, over and over again. They were erotic dreams of Fleur, who was naked on top of her, the part-veela's hair falling, pouring like liquid diamond over a full, lush breast. Fleur was loving her, their sweaty bodies tangled together as she bent to take Cho's mouth. Lips, gently caressing hers, making her moan for more. Made her forget about Cedric...

Cho sat up, just as she felt herself orgasm.

The curtains around her bed ripped open to reveal Marietta Edgecomb. "Cho, what the Merlin? Are you alright? Damn, we thought for a moment that Fleur was in there trying to maul you or something..."

"Um..." Cho commanded her vocals to start functioning again, a hard task, considering all the crying and screaming she'd done since Cedric had died. "Ah...I was...having a dream, nightmare, that Fleur...was...murdering...Ce-Ced..."

The tears began welling up again.

"Oh...Cho...honey..."

Cho swallowed, trying to control herself, yet liking Marietta's sympathy.

"...you sound like hell. Come have some breakfast, you'll feel better."

Cho gaped at Marietta as her friend left the Ravenclaw fifth-year dormitory, feeling utterly confounded, tears set aside for a while. Her confusion, however, lasted long enough for her to get dressed into robes and down to breakfast before Cho realised what the tears were for.

She already missed Fleur.

***

As the day wore on, Cho realised that it wasn't that she just missed Fleur, but that her tears weren't for Cedric any longer. They were for her and Fleur.

Certainly, it wasn't just the sex, although Cho had to admit that sex with Fleur had definitely been more invigorating than sex with Cedric. Sure, Cedric had been brilliant sexually, and he'd been careful the first time Cho had slept with him. But there didn't seem to be the same...passion between them.

Besides, Fleur's gentle lavender smell had been more arousing than Cedric's rolled-off-the-Quidditch-Pitch smell.

Cho sighed, flopping over beside a kumquat bush. The summer sun shone down on her, and the day seemed perfect. From her position, she could see Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, talking in what seemed to be intimate tones. Well, Cho smirked, it's about time those two stopped pussy-footing around.

A shadow dropped across Cho's musings. Without looking up, Cho knew who it was.

Fleur.

"I was wondering were you went after last night."

Cho tilted her head, still not looking up.

"He was your cover, whezer you like it or not." The hurt in Fleur's voice was clear, but Cho shrugged again, wishing Fleur would go away. Instead, Fleur continued, voice persistent. "I want you to know zat no matter what happens, I will love you. Zat you did not know what you were saying last night."

"I knew what I was saying just fine Fleur," Cho said. "And...I'm sorry. So sorry. But it's not going to work out. It won't."

They were both silent for a moment, letting the sounds of the other students overtake them.

"One day..."

"Maybe," Cho said. Finally, she looked up, at Fleur's beautiful face, trying to remember every detail. "Maybe."

Fleur sighed, before reaching behind her neck, and as Cho watched, Fleur undid the clasp of a diamond necklace that hung around her neck. "It was my maman's," she said in explanation, holding it out to Cho, "she said my papa gave it to her. As a token of love. And I give it to you now. For one day."

Cho held out her hand, as Fleur let it go. It dropped in the middle of her palm. As Fleur walked away, Cho looked at the flawless diamond, before putting it around her own neck. It was still warm from Fleur's body.

"For one day," Cho whispered softly, touching the necklace.