Loyalty

Finally, another year at Hogwarts had started. Cho had just returned from Greece where her mother had taken her for a bit of relaxation.

Now, Cho was listening to some of her friends talking, but only half-heartedly. Instead, she was really observing the Great Hall. There was Harry Potter, sitting next to his two friends. She remembered him asking her out for the Yule Ball.

And that Malfoy and his friends obviously slandering about the trio.

Then there was silence.

And the first years entered. Some older brothers and sisters applauded and cheered for their younger siblings.

Cho liked to look at them and try to sort them into the Houses. Of course, she knew that it was not fair to decide only by their looks. But it was just for fun, nothing serious. And besides, her success rate was not that bad. At least, she seemed to have an eye for who would be sorted into Slytherin.

The girl that was now sitting on the stool looked intimidated. Cho would have guessed Hufflepuff but she was sorted into Gryffindor.

She looked at the other first years still standing in front of the stool. Most of them looked petrified. Except for a blonde girl towards the left of the crowd. She had a bit of what seemed to be a triumphant smile. That would certainly be a new Slytherin.

And this boy over there.

Her thoughts began to race. He looked so much like Cedric.

Her head started to ache. All those memories that she had carefully pushed to the back of her mind came back to her now.

She remembered the funeral. There had been this girl who had broken down in the middle of the ceremony. A fellow Hufflepuff, she believed.

Cho had not cried. Not a single tear. The last thing that she had wanted to show was weakness or desperation.

Crying did not bring Cedric back to life, nor did it help anybody.

A lot of people had told her that crying would make her feel better. But it didn't. She had tried it once, some days after his death. It had just given her a headache and she had felt even emptier than before. And lost. So lost.

After that, she had always pulled herself together and had not cried again. This gave her the comfort she needed and she was able to control herself.

Cho concentrated on the first years again. His name was announced now.

Ravenclaw. This sounded wrong. He could not be a Ravenclaw. Cho was sure about that. He had to be a Hufflepuff with this face. The face that belonged to Cedric. Seeing another one made her heart beat faster.

Her friend nudged her. Cho turned her head towards her and they were looking at each other for a moment without saying a word. Then both of them smiled and started to applaude as the next student had just been sorted into Ravenclaw as well.

He went off the stool and nearly ran towards his House Table, therefore almost catching up with Julius.

Cho watched them sitting down next to each other and they started talking. But she also noticed how she was not the only one observing Julius. A lot of students were.

And not only him.

She saw some of them looking at Julius, then looking at her and then looking at Julius again.

Cho concentrated on the Sorting Ceremony once more and tried not to look at Julius too often. She did not want to look at him at all but the similarity between the both of them was fascinating her and she felt like being forced to do it.

However, Cho made sure never to start direct eye contact.

***

The following weeks Cho kept running into Julius.

Sometimes, she even thought it was Cedric himself walking around a corner.

Julius was tall for his age. That made him look even more like Cedric, although the latter would be five years older.

***

Cho enjoyed studying even more this year. For one, looking into a pile of books and her notes kept her from seeing Julius - who did not spend too much time in the Common Room anyway - but it also gave her a reason to get away from her friends for a while.

They all did not know how to behave towards her. Nobody said anything about her and Cedric, and Cho could not decide if it made her angry or just sadder. It was one thing when one just did not want to talk about it, but a completely different thing if the topic was simply avoided.

That's what her friends had been doing all the time. She knew that they were insecure about which behaviour was the best and thus, had decided that avoiding everything about it was the best for everyone.

Cho knew that she did not want to talk about it anyway. However, she also did not want to avoid it either. It led to many moments of tense silence between her and her friends.

Cho was sure that the others had more fun without her when they did not have to think about what to say next. And she felt a lot more comfortable being on her own from time to time.

Today was such a day. Cho was sitting at a table, alone, studying.

She just looked up from her Potions book when she saw another book on the table she had not noticed before. This book did not belong to her. Someone must have forgotten it. She remembered having a book like that in her first year at Hogwarts and opened it to see whom it belonged.

Julius Diggory

Even his handwriting looked like Cedric's.

The letters in front of her started to disappear just like her environment. Her head began to ache again and she decided to lay down on the couch for a bit.

After a few minutes she heard someone entering the Common Room. The person was coming towards her but she kept her eyes closed. She still felt dizzy.

When the person's footsteps stopped, she opened her eyes and saw him. He had already turned around again to leave.

"Julius."

That was her voice although it sounded as if it was coming from far away.

She got up and took his book from the table.

Her heart now beat as fast as it had never beaten before. Not even during her most exciting Quidditch match.

"It hurts so much to see you."

That was again her voice, but had she really said that? It was certainly true. Every little memory about Cedric hurt. But Julius did not awake little memories. He made her head spin around and turn everything upside down. Her heart jumped hastily and it truly hurt physically.

She left the Common Room without saying anything else to him.

What was there left to say anyway? He certainly knew what he looked like.

Cho just wondered if he felt like her when he looked into the mirror. Or was he simply used to it?

***

After this incident in the Common Room, Cho never spoke to Julius again. She also did not tell him she was sorry for what she had said as she had planned to do at first. Saying that would not have been right as she had merely told him the truth.

And Julius was obviously able to handle it. At least, he did not appear any differently now.

***

When she really wanted to get distraction, Cho took her broom and practiced flying on the Quidditch Field.

Especially on days like this, there was nobody outside. It was only her and the wind.

Getting some training in these weather conditions was good. Harry was definitely a very talented Seeker and a serious rival. She had not had that much time to practice during the summer break and used every free minute she had now to do that. This year, she wanted Ravenclaw to win the Quidditch Cup.

It had just started to rain when she was aiming up into the sky with her broom. She decided to take a break and just look at the castle from her position. It was a beautiful sight.

Then she heard someone scream. She could not make out where it had come from and looked at every direction until she saw a student slowly walking towards the castle. She was not sure if she knew the girl and she decided to only observe what was going on.

Apparently, nothing was wrong with her as she just continued walking towards the castle. Cho waited until the girl was out of sight and then landed back on the ground and returned to the castle as well.

She had just entered it when she was almost run over by a panicking first year. It was hard to make him speak but finally he said what had happened.

Harry Potter had been killed by You-Know-Who.

Cho told the boy to get to his Common Room as fast as possible and started to walk to hers as well.

She saw the girl again she had just seen outside. It was easy to recognize her as the two of them were the only ones having wet robes. The girl was walking through a hallway in front of her. Cho followed her. There was something strange about the girl.

Julius came from the opposite direction of the hallway.

Where did he want to go?

She looked at the hallway and saw that she was walking into the opposite direction of her own Common Room. This hallway led to the one of the Hufflepuffs.

With a last glance at the wet girl, she turned around and headed to her own Common Room only hoping that the students being in there were calmer than the ones in the hallways or had at least some more information.

Cho saw Julius walking straight towards his dorm, ignoring the others who were not even a bit calmer than the students in the halls. Her head began to ache again and Cho decided to sit down on the couch in the corner of the room. She did not want to believe that it had been You-Know-Who who had murdered Harry.