Enemy Of My Enemy

Enemy Of My Enemy
Chapter 2 - Whispers On The Express

Cho sat alone in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, staring forlornly out the window. She had much to think about. The last few days of term and the Leaving Feast were a disaster. She spent the time in a depressed funk, unwilling to allow her fellow Ravenclaws to draw more than a few words from her. They couldn't possibly understand what she was going through and she was certainly in no mood to explain it to them. Cho leaned her head against the window, closed her eyes, and allowed her mind to drift over the events of the past few days.

She was summoned to see the Headmaster the day after the tournament ended. Cho had never been in Dumbledore's office alone before. She'd been there with the other Prefects in happier times, but had never noticed how ominous the Headmaster's office actually was. The paintings of the former school headmasters seemed disturbing somehow, as if they slept not in deep rest, but in oblivion, unaware that life occurred all around them. Above her eye level, the others, with eyes wide open, seemed to be sitting in judgment of her, their eyes following her when she made the slightest movement.

The items that were once familiar and reassuring to her now looked shabby and gloomy. Even the Sorting Hat, which had given her one of the happiest moments of her life, being sorted into Ravenclaw, looked like nothing more than a simple, sad hat with patches and untended rips. This office was no longer a happy place for her.

Cho reckoned that Dumbledore told Harry's version of the story, unquestioning and with great sorrow. Professor Dumbledore spoke to her in calm, even tones, explaining that Harry saved Cedric from the Acromantula and despite being closer to the Cup, Cedric insisted that Harry take the cup and the win.

At this, Cho thought, 'Damn you, Cedric, for being so noble and kind. Look where it got you. It got you dead. Why did you have to trust everyone? Why did you trust Harry Potter, of all people?'

Dumbledore's story continued. Harry and Cedric decided to split the victory, because it would still be a victory for Hogwarts. He told her about the Cup as a Portkey, the graveyard, and the unidentified Death Eater who greeted Harry and Cedric there. When he explained that Voldemort ordered the Killing Curse upon Cedric, Cho jumped at the mention of the Dark Lord's name. She interrupted the Headmaster and asked, "Who was it?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Chang, but that is something that I can not tell you," Dumbledore responded with a look of pity.

Cho gaped at him. She imagined that she could feel Malfoy's hands on her shoulders and smell his peppermint breath. Her mouth dropped open and she asked in disbelief, "But, how?"

"There will be investigations, Miss Chang. It is not for me to determine whom. The Ministry of Magic will see to it that the appropriate person is captured and set to trial in the matter of Cedric's death," Dumbledore said this as if he himself did not believe it. He looked quite uncomfortable and Cho wondered why this was his demeanor. In case he was pondering how she knew enough to ask questions regarding whom, she attempted to cover her conversation with Malfoy, "No, how, could it be You-Know-Who? He's not here. I know there was Death Eater activity at the World Cup, but I haven't heard a thing since."

Dumbledore sighed and looked deeply into her eyes over the rim of his half-moon glasses. He seemed to be considering her and assessing exactly what she knew. He did not offer a sympathetic tone when he told her, "Voldemort has been resurrected."

Cho sat back in her chair with her mouth hanging open. She already knew that the Dark Lord was back, of course. What amazed her was Malfoy telling the truth. Malfoy said that Harry helped bring the Dark Lord back. At that moment, Malfoy seemed to her to have more information than the Headmaster. Dumbledore wasn't telling her the Death Eater's identity, so Cho's mind pushed the building blocks together. 'Sirius Black, that's who. Sirius Black killed Cedric and Harry Potter helped him. Then they resurrected the Dark Lord. Of course, Dumbledore would rather gnaw off his own arm than admit that Harry might be involved. He'll never admit the obvious.'

Cho began to shake. Everything that she thought was right in the world had just been flipped upside down. Bad was good, good was bad. The truth was nothing but a lie of omission. Anger began to build in the pit of her stomach. She was barely aware that Dumbledore was still droning on, extolling the virtues of everything Potter.

'Focus yourself and get out of here,' Cho thought. She pulled herself up straight and took several deep breaths through her nose; expelling her emotions each time she released a breath. She concentrated on relaxing her toes since it was possibly the least visible part of her that was tense. As she regained her composure, she allowed Dumbledore's words to seep in. She soon realized he was trying to cajole a response from her. Still slightly shaky, she responded, "Thank you, Professor. I appreciate that you took the time to see me today."

With that, she stood up and turned to leave. She heard Professor Dumbledore rise as he said, "Miss Chang, I can see the anger in your face. Please try to think about this. You are a very intelligent young woman and you know that I can not divulge information that is not mine to give. In addition, I must insist that you do not breathe a word of this outside of this office. The safety of the school and the lives of others may depend upon what you choose to say about this. The other students look up to you, Miss Chang."

Cho did not turn, but nodded her ascent, "Don't worry, Sir, I won't breath a word to anyone."

In the days that followed, Cho avoided contact with both Malfoy and with anyone who associated with Harry Potter. She did not think it would be hard to do since Malfoy associated primarily with Slytherins and Potter with the Gryffindors, and both were a year behind her at school, therefore, they had completely different sets of friends. As long as she surrounded herself with Ravenclaws, she reckoned that she could avoid them both.

She turned out to be correct with Potter. She saw him at meals sitting with Weasley and that bushy-haired girl who went to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum. Occasionally she saw Harry looking at her, pity, sadness and pain all too visible in his eyes. When she caught his eyes, he looked away, his guilt mixing with the other emotions. It annoyed her that she was getting pity from him, the very person who caused it all. 'He is the only one, out of all the students here, that knows The Dark Lord. And the Dark Lord knows him. Potter is the reason we are all in danger.'

Malfoy, on the other hand, was less easy to avoid. He didn't look away when she caught his eye in the hallways or in the Great Hall. There was no sadness, guilt, or pain in his expression; in fact the opposite was true. He looked triumphant when he caught her eyes and often gave her a glimpse of that small, secret smile. At first, it angered Cho that he could be so happy and sure of himself when she was so miserable and confused.

The day before the Leaving Feast, Malfoy found her sitting alone by the lake. She'd allowed herself to escape from the Ravenclaw dormitory in the early morning hours to meditate near water. She needed quiet and solitude to center her thoughts, so she slipped out alone.

Malfoy came upon her quietly, his greeting sparking her rudely from her meditations. She remained in her meditative pose and ignored him, expecting that he would leave. But, he didn't. He slid to the ground next to her. Instinct told her to stand and leave in disgust. This was not just an ordinary Slytherin; it was Malfoy, after all. Logically, Cho knew that if someone saw her interacting with him, her reputation could be damaged. However, a small finger pushed at her brain gently, telling her to stay, just to see if she could wring any tidbit of information from him.

"Did you think about what I told you, Chang?"

Cho was silent, but she glanced sideways at him quickly. A smirk crossed Malfoy's pointed face, "I see you did. Good. Did you speak to Dumbledore again?"

Cho remained silent, willing her face to show nothing.

"Another yes," Draco said, his eyes dancing with a morbid glee.

Tears were starting to well in Cho's eyes. 'Damn him for making me cry again! '

The pair sat in silence, gazing out at the lake, Cho's face streaming with tears and Malfoy's a mask of passivity. She could feel confidence radiating from him like cold steel. All of the words she'd heard and the looks of the weary pity of others ground together in her stomach. Feeling as if she was going to be sick, she pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around her calves, laid her forehead to her knees and forced herself to breathe in steady increments. She needed more information and to get that she had to be Malfoy's intellectual equal. She knew what he was about, she'd grown up knowing the Malfoy's and she knew how to play their game. Once in control of her emotions, Cho turned her head toward Malfoy and purposefully blurted out, "What do you know about Sirius Black?"

At this, Malfoy finally expressed real emotion as surprise jumped onto his face. This was obviously not the question he expected to hear from her. Before he could think about it, he reacted, "Why? What's Black got to do with this?"

'Got him,' Cho thought with an inner grin. 'Keep going. This is what you wanted from him.'

"I think he was there with Potter when Cedric was killed."

Malfoy looked at her, obviously astonished, but quickly pulled his face back into one of complete cool composure. He tilted his head slightly and his voice was insolent, "He could have been, I guess."

"You mean that you don't know, Malfoy?" There was a taunt in Cho's question.

"Even if I did know, why would I tell you, Chang?" Malfoy frowned and glared at her.

"Because you obviously want something from me," Cho spit out her words in a rush. If he didn't know anything about Black, she certainly wasn't going to give him the information she had. Information, no matter how small, was valuable and Cho hoarded it greedily.

To her surprise, Malfoy chuckled. It startled her that Malfoy had a nice laugh. This was not the taunting, cruel laugh he normally used. This laugh was genuine and seemed to come from somewhere else entirely. Her reaction to his laugh must have registered on her face because his smile remained and touched the corners of his eyes. Leaning back with his palms on the bright green grass, he turned to her, and said quite plainly, "Of course I do, Chang. It's just refreshing to see someone who gets right to the point."

Cho couldn't help herself. She smiled back at him. The muscles in her face felt tight and unused, but it felt good to finally stretch them for the first time in days. There was an unspoken knowledge in the smiles that they shared. Both of them came from families that spent an inordinate amount of time with the appearance of social norms and niceties. It actually was sort of refreshing to come out from behind them. When she spoke, her voice was soft, "What do you want from me, Malfoy?"

Draco was silent and turned his expressionless gaze back to the lake. It was clear that his emotional guard was back on duty. When he finally spoke, his voice returned to slick tonality, "Truthfully, Chang, I'm not sure yet. But, I'm sick of Potter and his arrogance. I'm sure you are too. There has to be something in that. Maybe we can help each other someday."

Cho just nodded as Malfoy stood, brushed himself off, and said good-bye, leaving Cho to slip back into her muddled thinking.

The next time she saw him, they were at the Leaving Feast. The Great Hall was draped in black. Cho was aware of hundreds of eyes upon her when Dumbledore stood and began to speak. At the first mention of Cedric, Cho felt as if she wanted to burst, she wanted to scream at everyone in the hall. The fear, anger and pity were too much for her, and her carefully constructed emotional wall tumbled. Tears of anger and grief coursed down her face and dripped into her uneaten Potato Soup. The effort of lifting her hand from the table to wipe them away seemed nothing short of heroic, so she left them on the table. She was aware that everyone around her was standing and through an aural fog, she heard Cedric's name being said by everyone present.

She heard Dumbledore speaking as if through a scrap of black cloth, muffled and dim, "Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff House. He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not."

Cho's heart tore in half and emotions began to pour out against the walls of her chest in gushing waves. The physical pain was becoming unbearable. 'I loved him so much.'

Dumbledore continued, "I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about. Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

Cho felt as if she were about to faint. He was telling everyone that which he made her pledge to silence. Anger pooled in the pit of her stomach and forced more tears to the surface. Dumbledore droned on in the background as people around her reacted to the news of Voldemort.

Slowly, Cho gathered her will and picked up her head. It took a supreme effort, but she finally was able to fully open her stinging eyes. Her gaze rested on Malfoy, who was looking at her with a mixture of conquest and something else. 'Was that concern on Malfoy's face? No way.'

Cho was vaguely aware of the arms and hands her fellow Ravenclaws were using to comfort her. She held Malfoy's eyes as he leaned in to say something to the two goons attached to his hip. Her tears ground to a halt.

"Harry Potter," Dumbledore's voice rose to the front of her mind again. Anger, bordering on rage, rose hard into her throat. 'Potter again? What is it with that man and Potter? The Headmaster is a fan club of one!'

"Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort."

'How?'

"He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts."

'Yet, somehow, Cedric is still dead. I think the Headmaster is losing sight of what is important here.'

"He showed, in every respect the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort."

'Again, he survives while those around him die. Just like the legends say. Just like Cedric.'

"And for this, I honor him."

'Honor?' She thought in disbelief as she looked in Potter's direction. Those around her stood again and raised their goblets in Potter's direction. She noticed that he was looking directly at Dumbledore. 'What is it with those two?'

She flicked a glance at the Slytherin table where she noted that like her, most remained seated during the toast to Potter. The Ravenclaws slowly sat down around her and Dumbledore's voice dithered on about togetherness and other inane subjects that meant little to Cho at this point. She felt the dried salt from her tears on her cheek and slowly became aware that her friend Diane had taken her hand and was looking at her inquisitively, "Cho, are you sure you want to be here?"

Cho shook her head in the negative, ready to leave. The food was uninviting and the atmosphere suddenly felt hostile to her. As quietly as possible, Cho slipped from the bench and allowed Diane to ease her arm around Cho's shoulders. Diane was a good friend. She knew when Cho wanted to talk and when she didn't. They walked in silence back to the Ravenclaw Dormitories.

Diane helped her get ready for bed and gave her some of the Sleeping Potion that Cho had been using since the tournament ended. Cho did not want to dream. She wanted and needed uninterrupted, peaceful sleep. If she were honest with herself she would sleep all the time, if she could. So with her head on her pillow and Diane sitting beside her, Cho slid into oblivion.

Diane made sure that Cho got a compartment to herself on the Express earlier in the day. She then left Cho alone and shooed all of the other Prefects and Ravenclaws away. For that, Cho was very grateful. She didn't know why it had become so difficult to talk to her friends. They all expressed sympathy and pity, keeping their voices soft, and looking at her as if she were something that would break if they touched her to roughly. She knew that she was no longer the fun-loving, tough, centered Quidditch girl she had been a few short days ago. She was changing. She had to change or she feared that she would lose her center, her steel and her will completely. Since the Feast, anger slammed into her chest at inopportune times and tension ground at her jaw and neck. Something had to give soon.

Cho was no longer sure that simply having information would suffice. The beginnings of something else wormed its way into her brain. The desire for revenge. It sat in the back, hiding and waiting for her.

When the train finally came to a stop at King's Cross, Cho was still lost in her thoughts. It was several moments before she realized that the normally noisy train was quiet. She gathered her things and stepped from the compartment. She began to walk right, towards the open door, but something caught her eye to the left. 'Who is that laying on the floor? Is that Malfoy? What's wrong with him?'

Cho let go of her things, leaving them in the aisle as she hurried back to Malfoy's prone figure. Crabbe and Goyle lay on either side of him. Cho stepped over Goyle and pushed him out of the way with her foot. 'What the devil happened to him? Eww. That looks like a Furnunculus Curse...sort of. What's with the tentacles? He's covered in hex marks!'

Cho took out her wand and swished it over Malfoy. "Finite Incantatum."

Some of the marks disappeared, some didn't. The tentacles were noticeably smaller, though. With another swish, Cho murmured, "Ennervate."

Malfoy sat up and shook his head, the rubbery tentacles moving slightly in odd directions. Cho struggled not to laugh out loud. Malfoy looked up at her, malice shining brightly on his face. "Think this is funny, Chang?"

Cho coughed and said, "No, Draco, I don't think it's funny. Who did this to you?"

"Bloody, fucking Potter and his slimy git friends, who else?"

Malfoy's eyes burned with rage as he got to his feet and strode angrily over the prone body of Goyle.

Without glancing at Cho he said plainly, "I'll see you over the holiday, Chang."

Cho just nodded, though he couldn't see her. She always saw Malfoy over the holiday.

Always.

Cho grabbed her bags and followed Malfoy toward the platform.