The Visitor

The Visitor

It had been just a few short weeks since Harry had arrived back at Number 4 Privet drive. Harry, who spent most of the year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was forced to endure summers with his Muggle relatives. This summer, so far, had been no different than the past ones. His cousin Dudley was just as much of a bully despite having reduced his size tremendously. There was something remarkably different about Harry, however. He had grown several inches since the previous summer and was now taller than his cousin. This gave him quite the advantage when Dudley was in the mood to tease him.

Harry also found himself more withdrawn since the previous summer. He no longer had any desire to see the Dursleys and spent most of his time reading in his room or outside. But most importantly, Harry couldn't get his mind off of his previous year of school, mainly Cho Chang the outcome of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

One evening at dinner, Uncle Vernon announced that his boss would be dropping by for drinks. Harry cringed at the memory of the last time this happened. Uncle Vernon turned to him.

"Listen here boy, Mr. Chang will only be here for a few hours. I want you to stay in your room and not make a noise."

Uncle Vernon's eyes squinted hard at him as he attempted to look as threatening as possible. Harry nodded in response. The last time one of Uncle Vernon's business associates had come by, Dobby, a House-Elf had come to visit him. The evening had resulted in Harry receiving a letter from the Ministry of Magic for performing a Hovering Charm. It was something Dobby had actually done, but Harry was in no hurry to repeat that experience.

Uncle Vernon turned to Dudley next.

"Mr. Chang is bringing his two daughters. I want you to put on your school uniform and charm them. They are very pretty girls."

Harry looked down at his plate and rolled his eyes. He couldn't imagine any girl liking Dudley, even if he no longer looked like a miniature whale.

After dinner (and without dessert) Harry skulked upstairs and flopped onto his bed with his Flying With The Cannons book. From the street below he could hear car doors closing and the subtle patter of feet on the driveway. He walked over to the window and what he saw gave him such a fright. There was Cho Chang; and not just one Cho, but two. Harry was confused for a moment and then realized that Mr. Chang, Uncle Vernon's boss, must be Cho's father. This meant that Cho was Muggleborn.

She looked very different from his second story window. He was used to seeing her school uniform and covered in wizard robes. Now she was dressed in a lavender sundress and her hair was up. He could not mistake the look on her face however. She looked distracted, and if Harry had known her well enough he might be bold enough to say she looked sad.

Harry's heart began to flutter. Cho was the only person from the Wizarding world he had seen since the summer began. There was no way Uncle Vernon would allow them to speak, but something inside Harry began to rebel. He looked at Hedwig and began thinking frantically of some way of getting her attention. Maybe he could climb out of his window and try to lure her outside from the window. But he instantly realized she would think it highly suspicious and be afraid. Either that or Uncle Vernon would see him.

He knew he couldn't use magic otherwise he would just create some sort of sign that only she could see. Harry began pacing the room and stopped in front of his mirror. Suddenly he realized that getting her attention was the least of his worries. Harry ran his eyes over his hole-ridden tee shirt that was three sizes too big and the dingy pants he was wearing. He certainly did not want Cho to see him like this. He ran to his closet and pulled out some dress clothes from the uniform he wore to Hogwarts. After changing into the pants and white collared shirt, he snuck quietly out of his room and to Uncle Vernon's closet. There, he picked out the least hideous tie he could find and put it on. Giving himself a final look in the mirror, and after attempting to straighten his unruly hair, he crept down the stairs.

He could hear everyone chatting cordially.

"And where do you go to school Cho?" he heard Aunt Petunia ask.

"Cho goes to a prestigious all girls school in France. You've probably never heard of it," a woman who was presumably Cho's mother said.

Harry hoped that Cho would be happy to see him. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he waited for a moment thinking what he should do now. And then a moment of opportunity arose. One of the girls asked where the bathroom was. Aunt Petunia gave her instructions on how to find it upstairs. Harry only hoped that the girl was Cho, and not her sister. He decided to throw caution to the wind and he crept back upstairs where he waited for her to come around the corner. The girl walked up the stairs and froze.

She screamed at the sight of Harry. Apparently the girl wasn't Cho. Harry could hear Uncle Vernon come rushing up the stairs. When he reached the top of them he pushed himself in front of the frightened girl.

"What did you do to her?" he shouted.

"Nothing. I only wanted to say hello."

Mr. Chang reached them shortly after and Uncle Vernon began apologizing profusely.'

"You'll have to forgive my nephew, Harry. He stays at a home for incurably criminal boys during the school year. His manners aren't very refined so we keep him away from strangers." As he said this, Uncle Vernon inspected Harry up and down with a look of shock on his face. He was apparently surprised to see Harry dressed in anything but rags.

The young girl peered around Uncle Vernon and stared at Harry. Then she yelled louder than Harry had ever heard someone yell before.

"CHO. COME UP HERE. QUICK!" Harry heard the pitter patter of a girl's feet coming up the stairs. He nervously flattened his hair and took a deep breath under the watchful eye of Uncle Vernon.

When Cho came around the corner he tried to look as casual as possible. She and Harry blushed instantly and the tie around Harry's neck suddenly felt very tight. When he opened his mouth no words came out and his hands felt sweaty. Cho stood there just as dumbfounded as he and it took her sister speaking up to break the tension.

"Is this Harry Potter?" she asked.

Uncle Vernon jumped like a scared rabbit at the name and Mr. Chang's eyes became very big. He stared at Harry and was soon joined by the rest of the Dursley clan as they waddled up the stairs.

Cho nodded shyly in response to the question and looked at her father. Harry, sensing the awkward tension broke the silence.

"I'm sorry Mr. Chang for frightening your daughter. I had just wanted to say hello to Cho." Harry thought he saw Cho's cheeks become even redder. If you don't mind, we could speak in the kitchen while my Uncle gets you another drink."

Harry couldn't guess what the look on Uncle Vernon's face meant. He had obviously come to the realization that Mr. Chang had an 'abnormality' in his family, that Harry was wearing one of his ties and he for once did not look like a vagabond. He was also no doubt in awe of Cho's reaction to him.

Mr. Chang smiled, much to Harry's relief.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Harry. Cho has told us much about you." He leaned forward and shook Harry's hand.

"Home for incurable criminals, eh, Vernon? I bet that's just what they make you say. To make sure no one finds him, right?"

"What? Oh. Yes. Quite right."

"Well then. We should leave these two alone to talk. You were just about to tell me the joke about the bald fisherman, I believe?" With that everyone proceeded downstairs.

A feeling of relief came over Harry as he now had at least one friendly person to talk to in this house. When they reached the hallway, Harry silently invited Cho into the kitchen. She followed him and the door closed. He didn't know what to say.

"Uh, Would you like something to drink?" was all he could think of.

"No thanks," she said while nodding her head.

Harry sat down at the breakfast table for fear his legs might collapse out from under him. She sat down across from him and smiled gently.

They sat there for several moments and Harry was disappointed that he hadn't thought beforehand of what he would say. It wasn't as though he had ever had a conversation with Cho before and he found out quickly that it wasn't like talking to Hermione where they could discuss Sirius or Voldemort.

"I didn't mean to frighten your sister. It's just that you look a lot a like."

Cho smiled. "That's okay. She scares easily. She is a Muggle after all."

They both laughed and Harry began to relax instantly at the realization that she had a sense of humor. He took a deep breath as Cho changed the topic of conversation.

"I hope you don't mind me talking about this, and if you do please tell me so. I've been thinking a lot about you over the summer, I mean... who hasn't? What I meant to say is that I hope you're okay after what happened with You-Know-Who."

"I'm okay," he lied. "I'm really sorry about Cedric." She looked down at the table in silence and Harry realized he had said the wrong thing.

Just then the kitchen door opened; it was Cho's sister. She sat down beside her sister, looking furious.

"I hope you don't mind if I join you," she said to Harry. "No offense, but Dudley keeps looking at me and I couldn't stand it anymore." Harry broke out into quiet laugher.

Not long after, the door opened again. This time it was Dudley and he looked at Harry with hatred never before seen. He went to the refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of mineral water and then proceeded to invite himself into their conversation.

Cho was the first to speak after that, although she seemed unsure of whether or not to say anything.

"Harry, I know Dumbledore asked us not to question you about that night, but I..." her voice drifted off and her eyes shot to her sister. Harry simply nodded and put on his best compassionate face - a face he had perfected since the night he had talked to Diggorys.

"It's okay. I don't mind telling the story." And he did. He made sure to tell Cho how Cedric really deserved to win but had insisted Harry take the cup. Dudley was staring at Harry the entire time and occasionally interjected questions like "a six foot spider?" and then rude comments like "don't lie, Potter." Then there were the normal questions like "What is a Portkey?" which Cho's sister seemed to appreciate for the purpose of clarity. When Harry got to the part where Wormtail had cut open his arm, Cho interrupted him and asked to see the scar. Harry rolled up his sleeve and stretched his arm out on the table for all to see.

When Cho stood up and leaned over the table to touch his skin, Harry nearly passed out. Dudley has a look of horror on his face as the pretty girl paid so much attention to his scrawny good for nothing cousin. It was the first time Cho had ever touched Harry. Sure they had brushed against one another while on their racing brooms, but never had they had this kind of contact. Harry could feel the blood rushing in his ears and it felt wonderful. He had to drop his head to keep her from seeing the smile.

Cho sat back down and Harry continued the story. "Who is Voldemort?" Dudley asked. Cho flinched at the name.

Harry wiped the sad look off of his face, and put on his fearless look. He then met Dudley's eyes.

"Voldemort is the wizard that killed my parents and gave me this scar." He reached up and brushed his hair away from his forehead.

Dudley's only response was "Oh." Cho seemed very impressed with Harry's forthcoming.

When he got to the part of the story about the Death Eaters, Harry didn't reveal any names and left out the fact that he had seen his parents during the Priori Incantatum anomaly. When he was finished Cho was sobbing quietly and her sister was holding her hand.

"I'm really sorry," he told her again.

"You shouldn't be. If you hadn't taken the cup with him we wouldn't have ever known what happened."

Everyone sat in silence until the kitchen door opened again. This time it was all the grownups and the walked in to see a bunch of gloomy teenagers. Cho was still crying and Dudley had a look of shock on his face.

"I do think it's time we go," Mrs. Chang said quietly. "Cho has had a rough few weeks, as I'm sure your nephew has as well."

Cho stood up and walked over to Harry. She put his arms around his neck and whispered in his ear.

"I will write to you. I got an owl for my birthday." Harry put his arms around her as well and hugged her back. He was torn between sadness and joy. When the front door closed behind the Chang's, he decided he should make a quick exit to his room before Uncle Vernon could begin yelling.

He wasn't quick enough to avoid Dudley however, who raced after him.

"Harry, do you think you could ask Cho if her sister like me?" Harry stared at him for a moment and then closed and locked the door in his face. He sat on his bed, said goodnight to Hedwig and fell asleep with his clothes on.