Cho Chang and the Mystery of Harry Potter

Cho Chang and the Mystery of Harry Potter

Chapter 4

Under the Mistletoe

***Mum's birthday***

I went to the Owlery to deliver a gift to my mother, and I saw Harry there, just watching his owl fly away with a letter. I explained to him that it was Mum's birthday and that I had to send her this gift. All of a sudden, Filch bursted in the Owlery and completely ruined our magical moment by saying that he'd had a "tip-off that you [Harry] were sending orders for Dungbombs!"

Harry rebuttled these accusations. Filch didn't believe him, so I stepped in for Harry, defending him, his witness. Filch didn't believe me, either, but I stood firm, a five-foot-three Chinese sixteen-year-old staring with a firm, stubbourn expression, looking up fiercely into a six-foot-five tall, ugly, doubtful man. In the end, I won the staring contest between us. Ha! In your face, Filch!

As it turned out, Harry wasn't ordering Dungbombs after all.

I'm brilliant.

***Around Christmastime***

Wow.

Half of me wants to tell Marietta what just happened, but the other half of me wants to take the secret to the grave with me.

We had a D.A. meeting tonight (which is what we had decided to call the Defense Against the Dark Arts Club that Harry, his friends Granger and Weasley had started, it's also short for the Defense Association, and Dumbledore's Army). As usual, we met at the specified time in the Room of Requirement. We were practicing and decided not to learn anything new, because the Christmas holidays were coming up and whatnot...and before I knew it, the meeting was over.

I had a sudden impulse to talk to Harry, so I told Marietta to go ahead, and that I'd meet her in the Common Room. She gave me a skeptical look, but I stared right back at her without flinching, and she finally gave up (knowing that I would win) and headed for the Common Room. It was time to tell Harry how I really felt. He deserved to know.

I stood in the middle of the room, waiting for Harry to finish pretending to straighten the pillows in a corner, after Marietta had left, and wondered to myself (I don't know why) if Cedric knew any of the things Harry was teaching us in the D.A. meetings? All of a sudden, before I could stop myself, the tears started brimming at my eyes at the thought of Cedric, and I started to cry again.

Harry must've been taken aback to see me shedding silent tears, for he said, "What--?" Then the surprise turned to sympathy. "Cho, what's wrong?"

I hesitated to answer. Well, he had asked. Might as well be honest. "I--I just w--wonder," I began, sobbing and forcing the words out despite the lump in my throat and the salty tears streaming out and staining my acne-less face, "I wonder if--if h--he knew any of th--this."

Harry's face seemed to fall. He knew I was talking about Cedric. "He knew his stuff," he said, somewhat resentfully and tonelessly, "but if Voldemort wants to kill you, you have no chance of survival." I hiccupped at the sound of You-Know-Who's name, but gazed at him without flinching.

"You survived when you were just a baby," I pointed out.

"Yeah, well, know one knows why, so that doesn't really matter." He sighed. "I have to get going--" He turned toward the door.

"Oh no, please don't go!" I pleaded, pulling his arm back. My eyes were on the verge of tears again. Had I scared him off? Did he dislike being around me? Was he offended because I kept asking about Cedric? I decided to apologize anyway. "Listen--I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to--you know..."

Harry said nothing.

I said nothing.

We were both thinking about the same thing--Cedric.

We looked around the room, forcefully trying to avoid each other's eyes, as if that would ease the tension between us. Then something caught my eye.

It was about our heads.

"Mistletoe."

He looked up to where I pointed.

We both saw it.

I stepped closer, as my mission suddenly came back to me. He deserved to know how I felt.

I had no idea what I was doing. It was as if everything was happening in fast motion. Everything that happened next was all a blur.

I was moving closer and closer. I didn't remember telling my feet to move. My heart was beating wildly and harder with every step. It seemed like a fast eternity. The tears were on the verge of coming out once more. And then I blurted the words out uncontrollably:

"I really like you, Harry."

I could not believe what had just happened; that I had just said those words. To top it all off, I did something astonishing.

Before I could figure out what was happening, I heard music and I could see the tip of his nose just above mine...

***later that day***

Nah, I don't think I'll tell Marietta.

I still can't believe what happened, though...

***even later, same day***

"You WHAT?!"

Me and my big mouth. "Calm down, Mum Number Two! It's not like I married him!"

"SO?! You SNOGGED the Boy Who Lived! He's a year younger than you, he is famous, and you can never have him!"

"Who cares?! Maybe one day I'll end up with Draco Malfoy, but that doesn't change the fact that I kissed Harry, all right?!"

Marietta snorted. She didn't like the fact that I had this mad crush on Harry. She didn't even like him at all in the first place.

"Oh, you'll be sorry," she threatened. "You'll be sorry, you should never have snogged him! Both you will be sorry!" I rolled my eyes. Marietta and her big threats. (That almost never happen) I took the threat like a grain of salt.

Then she left.

*** Five days later***

Hmm...Marietta's been acting up...wonder what that's about?

She's been going to D.A. meetings with me without complaint...and being sugary sweet to everybody. She hasn't been talking to me as often as she normally does, which is odd...considering the fact that we both live in the same room. Every night she comes sneaks in the dorm just before ten o'clock, and everyone's in bed. And when I aske her where she's been, she simply says (almost too quickly), "Places," and before I can ask her any more questions, she hurries into the bathroom and doesn't come out for a while, so long that I just fall asleep before she comes out, I suspect. And then the next morning, she's gone before I can talk to her anymore. In class, she just shushes me and becomes more attentive than usual to the teachers...even Snape. She's had a phony, bright smile on her face around the professors, and a spacey, mischievous one on when she's around anyone--everyone--else. Even me! I've got to find out what she's up to. She's always tired (go figure), and has been doing her homework the night before it's due rather than the hour she gets it, which is when she (and the typical Ravenclaw) would normally do her homework. This is chaos, I tell you, utter CHAOS!!!

I've got to find out what she's up to! I'm her best friend! What if she's doing something wrong or bad, like...

Oh, no...

***That same night***

Tonight, I'm going to stay up when Marietta comes out of the bathroom. I'm going to go into her thoughts when she's asleep.

***Two hours later***

Wow...Marietta's thoughts are the most complex thoughts I've ever seen in my life. When she was asleep, I took out my wand and whispered a small--literally--shrinking charm on myself. Then I dove--literally--into her head. (Her hair is really hard to get through, since it's so thick and curly...and red.) It was really cool, but her thoughts weren't. Her thoughts were cold.

Ice cold.

It's just as I'd feared...Marietta's conspiring with Umbridge's Slytherin special patrol people. How or what the conspiracy was (or is), I didn't know. But it didn't look good.

***The next day***

One of These Days

One of these days...

I'll find you

I'll find out

You'll regret this

One of these days...

You'll be sorry

You'll repent

I'll not forgive you

One of these days...

Just wait

It'll come back to haunt you

And you'll never forget the pain you've caused

You'll never forget how one little grudge

Can lead you far away from the truth...

One of these days...

By Cho Chang

One of these days...I'll get her and find out her Slytherin conspiracy...

**********

Disclaimer: "One of These Days" is by Gabrielle D. Castro. Neither Cho, nor JKR, nor I wrote them.