The Legend of Leaky Lue

The Legend of Leaky Lue

ChocolateTruffle

"Mummy! I don't know if I did the right thing!" Clarisse sobbed into her mother's shoulder. The two of them were settled on Clarisse's unmade bed, her tears staining the dark blue of her sheets as they rolled gently off of her face.

"Oh honey, don't worry about it. If you think it was right, then stop arguing with yourself. Jack will realize it was his fault he lost such a wonderful girl."

Clarisse stared at her mother wide-eyed listening intently, then burst into tears only seconds after.

"Calm down," she comforted her daughter. "You'll find yourself another wizard boy who'll care about you so much more and treat you the way a girl should be treated. You're a lovely girl and the cleverest witch of our time!"

Her chapfallen daughter brightened at this. "Not as clever as great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great Grandma 'Mione," she smiled.

"Well where else do you think your talent comes from?" her mother agreed. "I don't know any other sixteen year old witch smarter than you! And any wizard would do anything to find that in a girl, trust me." She reassured her as Clarisse slightly blushed.

"And besides," Clarisse stood up, wiping the tears from her face. "I'm very capable of finding someone else! And if he doesn't treat me right I'll break his relentless heart and find someone else! Then break his heart and find another and - " She found herself gripping her favorite teddy around the throat, ready to rip its head right off its worn out body. Her mother stared at her, horrified.

"Come now, Clarisse! Sit down." She gestured for Clarisse to take her seat back on the welcoming bed. "Now don't tell me you've never heard of the Legend of Leaky Lue! You really don't want to end up like her...."

"Legend of the whatty who??"

"Ah, I guess now's a good time as any to tell you. Listen up."

Clarisse got comfortable sitting Indian-style upon her sheets, fiddling with the teddy bear she almost snuffed just minutes before.

"Now long long ago there was a witch, your age actually."

"Did she go to Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes, she did. A Ravenclaw though, I believe."

Clarisse perked up a bit and listened more carefully. Her worst enemy, Lia, the girl who had taken her beloved Jack away from her, was housed in Ravenclaw. Clarisse resided in Gryffindor house.

"Her name," her mother continued, noticing the look of disgust on her daughter's face, "was Cho Chang."

*~*~*~*

Hogwarts - long long ago. Cho Chang's 5^th Year.

"Cho! Will you PLEASE stop crying?" All the fuss is doing my head in!" Marietta shrieked, throwing her quill down upon her unfinished essay on Bowtruckles angrily.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just that I - I m-miss...C-C...."

Cho couldn't bring herself to say her now deceased boyfriend's name.

"Yes, I know, I know," Marietta replied, annoyed. "Everyone knows," she muttered.

"Sorry, w-what was that?" Cho sniffed.

"Nothing, nothing, dear. Listen, just try and get your mind on other things, okay? Go find another guy. Its just that this bloody essay is due tomorrow and I've barely started."

"Okay, s-sorry. I'll t-try," she replied, sitting down quietly. A moment later she fled from the Ravenclaw common room, hands over her face, weeping like mad. Marietta only rolled her eyes and continued writing.

*~*~*~*

Hogwarts. Cho Chang's 6^th Year.

Harry sauntered down the corridor, arms full of books on Defense Against the Dark Arts, glancing over his shoulder every so often. He couldn't help but notice that Cho Chang, the prettiest girl he knew, was following him and had been for the past fifteen minutes. Finally, he worked up the nerve to say hello and if she needed anything from him.

"Er, hi, Cho."

Cho acted as if looking out the dusty windows and the noisy portraits along the walls.

"Wha - oh! Hi, Harry! Didn't see you there." She waved cheerfully.

Harry raised his eyebrows and sighed softly.

"Yeah...um, did you want something? It's just that you've been following me for - "

"No, no. I just happen to be going the same way you are, that's all."

"You just happened to be on your way to the boys' lavatories, the Quidditch pitch, and now to the Gryffindor common room? Now that there is what I call coincidence." Harry replied, nodding.

"Well, er...no, I needed to talk to you about...well I mean, I've been meaning to talk about him for - " Cho inhaled deeply and looked around nervously trying her best to avoid Harry's eyes.

"Oh...you want to talk about...Cedric." Harry's expression suddenly became bored. "Cho, I don't want you to...you know...start crying again or screaming at me...like the last four times you begged me to tell you what happened." He tightened his grip on the books, which were slipping loosely from under his arm.

"Oh, Harry. Don't be s-silly," she stuttered.

"Here it comes...." Harry said under his breath.

"N-no, I won't start c-crying, I promise. I just want to know - "

"Three...two..." Harry searched his pockets for a spare handkerchief.

Cho let out a wail that rang through the hall. Passersby turned sharply to see what was going on.

"Here." He extended his arm to give her the white hankie. She snatched it from his reach and glared at him.

"Are you making FUN of m-me?" she cried. "It's not m-my fault I can't find someone decent enough to talk about C-Ced...." She let out another shrill cry.

"No, Cho. You do this all the time," Harry told her calmly. He was used to this by now.

"Eh, come on, Parvati, let's go. It's only Lue," Lavender told her best friend loudly as they continued in the direction they were going.

"Lue? " Parvati looked confused.

"Oh don't tell me you haven't heard about Lue!" Lavender exclaimed, making sure Harry, Cho, and everyone else walking by could hear. "Leaky Lue! The girl who cries over every single boy she knows!"

Parvati giggled as the onlookers snickered. "But why 'Lue'?"

"Because! Her favorite place she likes to cry in is the loo!" Lavender replied as if it were the obvious.

"Ohh...that's very clever!" Parvati approved as the pair walked on.

Harry knew it was true, but felt just as bad nonetheless.

"Listen, Cho. Do you want to come with me to Hogsmeade on Saturday? Since it's Valentine's Day and all...."

She blew her nose and looked at Harry, puffy-eyed. "R-really?"

"Yes, really. Only if you want to, of course."

"YES! I mean, yeah, sure." She smiled.

Harry was just about to turn on his heel and escape to the Gryffindor common room while he had the chance when suddenly Cho starting to sob. Again.

"Cho! What is it now? I mean, er...what's wrong?"

"It's just that I-I'm s-so happy you asked me...asked me...ooouutt!" she wailed, burying her face in the handkerchief from Harry. Harry raised both his eyebrows in response.

"Um...yes, it's no problem. But really, it's nothing to cry over...."

"Y-yes it is! I r-really appreciate I-it and - "

"MISS CHANG! PLEASE DO CALM YOURSELF! YOU HAVE BEEN DISRUPTING SEVERAL ONGOING CLASSES! TEN POINTS FROM RAVENCLAW." Professor McGonagall scampered over to where Cho and Harry were standing.

"Well? What are you all looking at? Show's over! Go do your homework!" she yelled at the small audience Cho seemed to have earned herself. Frightened, they hurried out of the corridor fast, Harry blending in with them.

*~*~*~*

That Saturday....

"Wow, Cho. This place is really...something." Harry glanced around the blinding hot-pink colored decorations covering the walls, the millions of red and white heart-shaped pieces of confetti scattered over all the tiny tables and every inch of the floor. It looked as if the confetti-making machine had exploded and no one had bothered to clean it up.

"Isn't it! I can't believe you've never been here. Madam Puddifoot is the sweetest."

"I'll bet!" Harry smiled with an obvious look of uncertainty.

"You should try her special hot chocolate! One sip is enough to make anyone happy for the rest of the day."

"Maybe I could get everyone to chip in and buy you a lifetime supply, then...." he said quietly to himself.

"Hmm? Sorry, what was that?" Cho asked, snapping out of her dreamy appearance.

"What? Oh, I just said 'I would supply everyone with chips for a lifetime, then'!" Harry smiled innocently.

"Oh, right," she agreed. "But anyway, since we're here alone and all...do you think we could talk about...about...C-Cedric...?" she stammered.

Harry rolled his eyes. He then realized he didn't have any handkerchiefs to spare her and he really did not want to offer one of those hideously pink heart-shaped napkins covered in...well, hearts.

"P-please, Harry? I w-won't c-cr - " Tears started flowing freely from her eyes as she bawled into the palms of her hands. Guests in the tiny tea shop looked terrified.

"Okay, okay! Calm down. I'll tell you about it. But we have to talk fast, I'm meeting Hermione at - "

"WHAT? You're meeting a-another g-girl? On OUR date??" she said loud enough for everyone to hear. She was standing when she yelled it but then plopped right back down into her seat only to cry some more.

Just then, a few Hogwarts students came strolling in and stopped at the sight of Cho.

"Oh, let's go, Fred. Leaky Lue's only going to ruin our date," Angelina announced, pulling the red-haired boy's arm and leading him out of the shop. The others, however, walked up to Harry.

"You can't be serious, Potter! A date with Leaky Lue?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, I know. But I think I'm ending it here. And I don't think Leaky Lue suits her anymore, it should be...Rainstorm Lue! Haha!" Harry doubled over in laughter, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. When he stood up he noticed the others were staring at him worriedly.

"No, Potter. Just...no. Let's go, mate, before you hurt yourself." They stole Harry from the sweet, cheery little tea shop and exited talking excitedly about the new products down at Zonko's. Cho angrily stared at them through a spot in the window and stayed standing. She stared back at the entire tea shop whose eyes were now all upon her.

"WHAT? Wouldn't you cry if your d-date j-just left you and...and..." A piercing cry sounded all through the shop, people covering their ears as they heard it.

"I hate you, Harry!" she sobbed to herself.

"Hey, my name's Harry! You hate me?" an older man asked from the corner of the room.

"Well! I hate you, too, then!"

The man looked crestfallen for only a moment.

Cho screamed in frustration and chucked her teacup in the direction of the door, but it collided with the hard wood and smashed into tiny pieces on the floor.

"You! Get out! Get out! How dare you! Go cry somewhere else, Lue!" Madam Puddifoot scrambled over to the pieces of her broken china and uttered, "Reparo!" as the pieces flew back together instantly and an unscathed teacup lay in her hand.

"I'm not Lue! Cho!" Cho reminded her, fresh tears falling from her eyes.

"Lucho, whoever you are. Out!"

Cho quietly sat down for a second and stared at the table. Then yet again, she started to weep.

"What now?" the entire tea shop chorused. Cho looked up blankly at them all.

"H-Harry f-forgot his...his...haattt!" she bawled holding the red and gold woolen hat close to her.

The shop immediately went back to talking and drinking tea.

*~*~*~*

"Cho Chang went to school with Harry Potter?? And acted like that toward him? What a brat! A crybaby! A - " Clarisse was interrupted by her mother.

"Yes, yes, indeed she was. But when she grew up and graduated, her adult life wasn't so easy for her either. 'Leaky Lue' stuck with her for the rest of her life."

"The rest of her life?! HA! Good. She deserved it." Clarisse smiled approvingly.

Her mother looked at her, eyebrow raised, neither smiling nor frowning.

*~*~*~*

Cho graduated from Hogwarts, somewhere in the middle of her class. She found herself in a few bad relationships - well, more than a few, let's say. She would find a nice, charming young gentleman and when things started getting rocky, she'd be the first to break his heart, leaving tear-stained notes on their beds and then find someone else who would enjoy her company.

Years after Cho's Graduation.

"I'll have...oh, give me anything," Cho wept, searching for sympathy from the poor bartender.

"Rough day, Miss?" he asked kindly.

"Terrible! Absolutely terrible. I w-was on a date a-and I just started bawling! Out of n-no where! And my date s-said he needed to use the l-loo and he never c-came back...."

"Excuse me, but speaking of the loo," a man in emerald robes spoke up next to her. "Are you by any chance...Leaky Lue?"

The bartender glanced from the man to the woman sitting miserably in front of him, her once sleek black hair now a mess of tangles and frizz.

"You...you know of me?" she asked, straightening herself up and running her fingers through her hair. "Well I mean, that was my school nickname. I'm a much different person now." She eyed him seductively. "But enough about me, tell me about you...." Cho brushed the top of the man's hand lightly with her fingertips.

The man looked at the bartender in a you've-got-to-be-joking-me sort of way.

"Okay, but before I do...Ted, have you got some buckets and a mop on hand? Towels maybe?" he joked, laughing heartily with the bartender.

Cho slapped the man hard across the face and dropped her head violently to the bar's surface. Tears leaked from her hidden face onto the bar, wetting napkins and coasters.

"Oi! Keep that up and I won't need salt for my Margarita rims anymore!" the bartender teased as the man in emerald robes howled with laughter.

"Here, drink this. On the house." The bartender offered Cho a tall glass of Firewhiskey. "And don't you try and pull any of that 'tell me more about you' garbage with me. I might become Teary Ted if you do!" The man and the bartender roared with more amusement, banging the table causing heads to turn and catch a glance of the famous Leaky Lue.

*~*~*~*

"Wow, Mum. I would really hate to be her," Clarisse declared thoughtfully after the story. "But I mean, she was such a hag to Harry Potter! HARRY POTTER. If he lived today I would be worshipping the ground he walked on."

Her mother laughed. "Well yes, but remember, it's only a legend. But Cho used wonderful charismatic gentleman, toyed with their hearts, and then cried herself rivers. Doesn't sound like anything you'd want to do now, is it?"

Clarisse stared at her mother.

"I take that as a 'no'," she chuckled.

"Mum, what did you say her last name was again?"

"Chang, dear."

"Chang. Ugh what a stupid name! Lia's last name is Chang. I hate that name." She walked out of her bedroom leaving her mother alone, mumbling things about the girl she hated most.

Clarisse's mother sat on the bed thinking profoundly about whether or not she should tell her daughter the truth about the legend. Clarisse's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great Grandmother Hermione Granger was certainly one of Harry Potter's best friends back in his day and without a doubt both knew Cho Chang very well. For she did eventually end up having a daughter and little did Clarisse know that the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter of Cho Chang was, sadly enough, Lia Chang.

THE END