Torment and Turnips

TORMENT AND TURNIPS

Chapter 5 - Painful Discoveries

Cho made her rounds almost in a daze that night. The halls and corridors had seemed to take on a darker tone, almost as though they were reflecting her innermost thoughts. Whether it was her imagination getting the best of her or not, Cho could hardly tell, preoccupied as she was with the sickening sensation which had dwelled in her stomach all day long. She'd had hoped that by forcing herself into her usual routine the feeling would gradually abate, but instead it had only gotten worse, to the point that she'd ended up skipping dinner entirely. She was at a complete and utter loss as to what to do, having seen neither Luna nor Colin since the horrific revelation earlier that day.

That said, there was no help forthcoming at the moment, as Flitwick had been in meeting with Snape and the Headmaster all evening long, and Cho was entirely too intimidated by Professor McGonagall to turn to the stern head of Gryffindor House. No, she would have to wait until morning to bring this matter to light, terrible weight pressing on her shoulders or not.

Quite aside from the terrible feeling in her stomach, Cho had been fuming with herself with increasing vehemence. Why had she waited so long before acting?? All could have been avoided if she'd only reacted at the first signs...in the library...but she'd been blinded by...

But then, she never thought it would get so far out of hand. The trick with the Veritaserum had been highly dangerous, but it hadn't been planned that way, after all. And how could she have predicted that such pranks would escalate so abruptly into vicious and heinous personal attacks?

Cho's stomach twisted into knots as she realized she was slipping into her habit of making excuses for herself. No, she would not allow herself that luxury any longer. She would not permit herself to fall into that trap of self-disillusionment again. Doing so had already caused so much pain...and for what?

She walked along the gloomy corridor, seeing but not seeing, her mind so far from her patrolling duties that it was fortunate there were no gaping pits in the floor, lest she plummet straight down into one.

She sighed. She would tell Flitwick everything, she'd decided. Stewart Ackerly would be severely disciplined at the very least, perhaps even expelled. But that no longer mattered. And if he should try to follow through on his threat against Marietta, Cho would take full responsibility for the missing book. While she likely would not share Stewart's fate, her position as Head Girl would likely be at an end. It would be a small price to pay, considering everything...but how to explain it to Gran? She'd been so proud when she'd found out...

Worse, Harry clearly thought she was in league with her Housemates. She knew it was useless to try to explain; having done nothing to prevent the vile acts against Luna, Harry certainly had no reason to believe Cho was anything else than a willing participant in them. He'd caught her in Colin's office, to boot, which would do little to alleviate his suspicions.

What had happened in there, anyway, Cho wondered? Someone had obviously trashed the place, that was clear, but...

Cho stopped in her tracks. She was certain she'd heard a sound emanating from the school trophy room just up ahead. There should be no one in there at this time of night other than perhaps Filch, but she'd crossed paths with the cantankerous old Caretaker down on the first floor only minutes ago. He couldn't possibly have doubled back and made his way up here already!

Cho drew her wand and stilled her breathing. She moved forward and grasped the wrought iron handle while pressing her ear to the door. She heard it again; the sound of something metallic being dragged across a hard surface. Could Peeves be up to some trick?

She lit her wand. She took a deep breath, pulled the latch on the door handle and burst quickly into the room.

"Halt!" she cried at the solitary figure standing with its back to Cho.

"Eek!" the female voice cried, as the figure whipped around to face the Ravenclaw, brown eyes wide with surprise.

Cho gasped. "Hermione?"

The Gryffindor let out a sigh of relief. "Cho! Don't do that! You scared me half to death!"

"Oh, sorry," said Cho uncertainly, glimpsing an old rag in Hermione's hand. Several Quidditch trophies were out of their display cases, sitting atop a small table next to a bucket. No, no, it couldn't be -

"Er...what are you doing, exactly?"

Hermione looked embarrassed. "Doing? Oh, well...it's...um...I'm...serving detention."

Cho's eyes widened. "Wha - you?" she asked, incredulous.

Hermione looked up to the ceiling and let go a breath of resignation. "Yes, me," she admitted sheepishly. "I'm not exactly proud of myself right now, so if you don't mind..."

Cho gaped at the brown-haired girl. "But...but you're a Prefect!"

Hermione looked at her, her expression one of defeat. "Yes, well," she said tiredly, "Prefects aren't exempt from the school rules."

Cho looked about the room. There were scores of trophies in here...cleaning them all by hand was a traditional detention that she'd been wise enough to avoid over the years. But Hermione Granger?? Curiosity got the better of her.

"What'd you do?"

Hermione bit her lip. "I...it's...I just lost my head, all right? It was foolish, really," she said, struggling to get the words out. "Anyway, if you don't mind, I've got to get back to cleaning these."

Cho nodded and turned to go; clearly Hermione wasn't willing to go into details, but she supposes she couldn't really blame her. She was just about to reopen the door when something made her hesitate. She turned around.

"Hermione," she said in a low voice, "can I ask you something?"

The Gryffindor dropped her rag on the bench and faced her. "All right, but please make it quick," she said tiredly. "I was hoping to start working on an Arithmancy project tonight, until, well - " she waved her hand at the trophies on the table.

Cho took a deep breath. "Could...could you talk to Harry for me?"

Hermione looked honestly stunned. "Um...Cho, I don't think - "

"It's not that," Cho amended hastily. "It's just...could you tell him I had nothing to do with it? The story about Luna's parents, I mean? I'd never do anything like that, I really wouldn't!"

Hermione relaxed a little. "Oh, well, I suppose I can try and talk to him," she said slowly. "Have you tried telling him yourself?"

Cho nodded weakly. "He wouldn't believe me," she said dispiritedly. "He thinks I'm in with Colin and the others."

"Oh," said Hermione. "Well as I it turns out, Colin's not in league with them either."

"What?" gasped Cho. "But he published that article in the Express! I read it!"

"Yes, so did I," said Hermione. "And that's why I'm stuck in here washing trophies."

Cho's eyes widened. "You mean...you're the one who...who..."

"What?" asked Hermione, looking at Cho strangely.

"You ransacked Colin's pressroom!" exclaimed Cho, the pieces of the puzzle coming together in her head. "Didn't you?"

Hermione looked down to the floor as the tip of her foot traced small circles upon the limestone. "It's...like I said, I just...lost my head," she said softly. She looked back up at Cho. "I didn't intend to do that when I went there, I really didn't. It's just when he started denying everything I just lost it for a moment. I don't know what got into me, really..."

"Well, to tell the truth," declared Cho, "I was on my way to do pretty much the same thing when Harry came in."

Hermione seemed genuinely surprised at this bit of information. "You did?"

The Ravenclaw nodded solemnly. "I thought that Harry was chasing after him and had doubled back - "

"Oh no," interjected Hermione solemnly. "No, if Harry had gotten to Colin first..." she shuddered.

"What?"

Hermione sighed. "Well let's just say he'd have quite a bit worse than a splitting headache in the morning," she said. "Anyway, Colin's not the one to blame for what happened, I discovered a bit late..."

Cho's eyes narrowed. "Eh? What do you mean?"

Hermione seemed to consider her for a moment. "Well," she said hesitantly, "I can't go into details right now, but I think there's more going on here than meets the eye."

Cho took a step forward. "Hermione," she said seriously, "I...I'd really like to help...if there's anything I can do..."

Hermione narrowed her eyes in turn. "Forgive me, Cho," she said hesitantly. "but I was under the distinct impression you weren't very fond of Luna. I did ask you for help with this before, if you recall."

Cho swallowed hard. She did recalled, all too painfully, how she'd shrugged off Hermione's pleas only a couple of days before. It had been Cho's pettiness that had allowed things to progress to this point.

But so much had happened since then. So much had changed -

Her shoulders sagged. "I...I know," she said weakly. "I wasn't...thinking straight that day..."

Hermione appeared strangely unmoved. "It wasn't just that day, Cho," she said coolly. "Ginny told me everything. Everything she knows, anyway. This sort of thing has been going on for years!"

"B-but...I've only been Head Girl since the start of term!" she protested feebly. Something about Hermione's insinuations was striking her rather hard.

Clearly, protesting had been the wrong thing to say, as Hermione's brown eyes flashed with anger. "All right then, since you've been Head Girl, have you done anything to stop it?"

"I...I didn't think...it was going to get so bad..."

Hermione let out a growl of frustration as she rolled her eyes. "How bad were you willing to let it get, Cho?" she asked hotly. "Ginny told me someone pushed Luna down the staircase coming down from Astronomy class last week, wasn't that bad enough??"

Cho's stomach was twisting into knots. "I d-didn't know about that," she whispered as her eyes began to sting.

"Oh, come on!" said Hermione irately, stomping a foot on the limestone floor. "It was right after their class! At least a dozen Ravenclaws saw it happen! I'm sure word of that spread around Ravenclaw quickly, if only to congratulate yourselves - "

"Stop it! Please!!" cried Cho as she backed up against the wall. Her hands were trembling so badly her wand slipped from her grasp and clattered to the floor.

"That's what you should've done, Cho," said Hermione in a strained voice, her own eyes welling up with tears. "The moment you made Head Girl you had the power to do just that...but you didn't, did you?"

Cho pressed her hands flat against the wall.

"N-no..."

Hermione was looking at her with an unfathomable expression. "She's one of your own, Cho," she choked. "We all have one little corner of Hogwarts we can call home, but Luna doesn't have even that anymore! She's lost whatever small sanctuary she ever had in Ravenclaw!"

Cho's legs buckled. She slid down against the wall until she fell in a heap to the floor, burying her head between her legs as the tears came flowing.

"I-I'm s_sorry!" she cried, her shoulders wracked with sorrow. "I just - I didn't - "

Cho felt a hand on her arm. She raised her head slowly, her breathing ragged and mixed in with sobs.

Hermione was kneeling on the floor before her, looking rather apologetic as her own tears trailed down her cheeks. "Cho...I'm the one who should be sorry," she said sadly. "I don't really mean to take it out on you, specifically; it's been getting to me lately, all this business..."

She reached into her robes and pulled out a white rag, which she proceeded to tear in two, squeezing one half into Cho's hand. "Here, this one's clean - "

Cho gratefully accepted the offering and proceeded to wipe away the tears, though they were considerably difficult to stem entirely.

"I don't know what's wrong with me today," said Hermione plaintively as she flipped the other half of the rag over and wipe her eyes. "I just...when I saw that article, I just...exploded!"

"Hermione, I know I c-can't change what happened before," said Cho sadly, "but I can stop what's happening now..."

Hermione looked at her carefully. "Don't go after Colin, Cho," she said, "if that's what you're planning - "

Cho shook her head. "No, I wasn't," she said hoarsely. "But...I am going to tell Professor Flitwick about all this."

Hermione sighed. "I think that's the best course, Cho," she said consolingly. "Especially now that...well..."

"What?" asked Cho. "Hermione, tell me, please - "

The Gryffindor looked at Cho uncertainly. "Oh...all right, but please keep this to yourself for now. I think there are certain Slytherins acting in concert in all this, Pansy Parkinson for sure, maybe others. But I'm still trying to get the proof."

Cho gasped. "S-Slytherins? But what do they have against Luna? She's never done anything to them! She's not even in their House!"

Hermione's frowned and gazed at her foot, and for a moment Cho thought she was going to snap at her.

The Gryffindor seemed to struggle with herself a moment. "Yes, well," she said slowly, "I think some of them are determined to make life miserable for anyone who happens to be close to Harry. Pansy put up that story yesterday, I'm sure of it."

"She...she did?" asked Cho, stunned. The thought that other Houses might be involved sent chills down her back.

Hermione looked back up at her and nodded. "Colin's going to print a statement refuting that article tomorrow. Well, as soon as he gets his release from Madam Pomfrey, anyway."

"Oh...well, good..." said Cho softly. "That should make Luna feel better..."

Hermione's shoulders drooped slightly. "I'm not so sure, Cho," she said sadly. "Luna's quite protective of her father. I know all too well. This really shook her..."

Cho blinked. "Her father? But what about...um..."

Hermione took a shaky breath. "I asked Harry about that," she said in a quivering voice. "I'd never stopped to think about it until now, why she could see Thestrals."

Cho's eyes widened alarmingly. "Her...mother?" she asked, a sense of foreboding running through her as she dreaded the answer.

The Gryffindor nodded solemnly, wiping her eyes once more.

Cho swallowed hard. "I...didn't know..." she whispered. "Was it...when did it..."

"Six years ago," answered Hermione, her voice strained. "All he told me was that it was some sort of horrible accident. I don't think anyone else knows, aside from Ginny."

Cho felt her emotions rising once more as she made a silent but determined resolution. She clutched the damp cloth in her hand, sensing that it would be all too inadequate this night.

* * *

Cho quietly closed the painting behind her and stepped into the Common Room, dragging her weary feet across the cold limestone floor, emotionally drained and exhausted. But at least one considerable weight had been lifted from her shoulders this night; in the morning, she would go to Flitwick and tell him everything. There was no longer any lingering doubt, any question of doing otherwise; she'd may have failed miserably in her duties as Head Girl, but it wasn't yet too late to take action...

One glance towards the ancient granite hearth served to remind her that she was far from the most wretched student in the school this night. Her heart sank at the pitiful sight near the fireplace.

Luna was sitting in the same divan she'd adopted as a makeshift bed, though the girl beheld no trace of the serenity of previous nights. Cho bit her lip and approached slowly.

Luna was staring wide-eyed into the flames, curled up as far back in the chair as she could, with her arms wrapped around her legs and knees drawn up under her chin. Her hands were tightly clutching a tiny pouch, her knuckles white with strain. The redness around her eyes and tear-stained cheeks sent painful jabs through Cho's stomach.

A parchment and quill lay on the small table beside the chair, next to an unopened tiny turquoise-coloured box wrapped with a bronze ribbon and bow.

Cho drew closer and knelt next to the teal divan, her hands gripping the armrest.

"Luna?" she whispered.

The girl gave no reaction, instead continuing to stare off fixedly into the fireplace as though its fiery embers might somehow bring relief from the pain Cho knew she was suffering. Cho could see the flames reflected in Luna's large misty eyes; the sight was strangely emulative of Cho's own inner anguish...

She leaned closer, interposing herself between Luna and the flames. "Luna...hey...it's me, it's Cho..."

Luna slowly stirred from her near trance-like state, gradually refocusing her gaze on her older housemate.

"Oh...hello..." she whispered, in a tiny wisp of a voice.

Cho went to put her hand on Luna's in an attempt to bring comfort but drew back quickly when she saw the younger girl tense noticeably and draw her legs tighter against herself, as though Cho's fingers were so many hot pokers. Luna was now staring at her with eyes that, to Cho's astonishment and grief, seemed filled with terror.

"It's okay," said Cho hastily, her own eyes welling up with tears once more. "It's okay, Luna...I...I won't..."

Hurt you, she thought painfully, though she couldn't bring herself to say it. She'd done exactly that through her lingering apathy over the last several days; as far as Cho was concerned, she was no less guilty than whomever had posted the horrible article about Luna's home life...but there was still time to make things right. At least, she hoped so.

"I'm going to talk to Professor Flitwick first thing in the morning, Luna," she said softly. "About...about all this. It's going to stop. And Colin's going to print a denial of that article too. I thought...you'd like to know..."

Luna's gaze slowly drifted down as she stared at her knees.

Cho's heart sank. This wasn't helping at all -

She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Luna," she began slowly, "I had a long talk with Hermione Granger a little while ago. She thought...maybe it might be better for you...if you transferred to Gryffindor. If you want I can ask Professor Flitwick for you if - "

Luna's head snapped up. "No...you mustn't," she whispered with heartbreaking desperation.

Cho blinked. "B-but...Luna," she choked, "Hermione said they'd be more than happy to have you! You said yourself your friends are in Gryffindor. Wouldn't you like - "

Luna slowly shook her head. "I would never do that to Daddy," she whispered.

Cho gaped at her. "Luna," she said softly, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind, especially if he knew what was going on here. It's not like you're leaving Hogwarts, after all."

Luna slowly unfolded her legs and straightened her back in a more normal posture, though Cho was under no illusions; Luna was very fragile at the moment.

She took a deep, shaky breath and looked at Cho. "Daddy was...rather pleased when I was sorted into Ravenclaw," she said, her voice little more than a faint whisper. "It was Mum's house too, you see...it...it really made him happy..."

Cho swallowed hard. she recalled vividly what Hermione had told her. "Oh..."

"I'll never betray her memory to Daddy," continued Luna, almost defiantly, Cho thought. "No, I'll stay in Ravenclaw..."

Cho felt her emotions threatening to overcome her, fighting desperately hard to keep her voice from betraying the intense grief she now felt. "All right," she said softly. "I...I won't mention it to Flitwick, then, Luna...but I will speak to him about what happened today. And before. It can't keep going on like this - "

Luna's eyes misted over. "They don't know what Daddy went through," she said in a voice so strained Cho thought it might break. "It was so hard for him...after Mum..."

She trailed off. Cho saw tears start trailing down her cheeks before she drew her legs up against her chest once more. She took one more pained breath before wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her face between her knees.

Cho clasped her hand over her mouth in an effort to muffle the sobs that were now impossible to contain. She knew she couldn't stay; what comfort could she possibly bring to Luna in this state?

She drew up from the chair and headed slowly to the staircase, taking in gulps of air as she went. She made her way slowly up the staircase, her feet feeling as though they were chained to stone Quaffles all the way.

She fell across her bed without bothering to remove her robes, pressing her face into the pillows as the pain and rage converged in her.

It had taken but a short while for Cho to realize she would get no sleep this night. Waiting until morning wouldn't do; while she couldn't very well rouse the head of Ravenclaw House from his sleep at this late hour, there was still something she could do for Luna now, meager as it was.

She finally drew up from her bed, exhausted and drained. She remade the bed as best she could in the darkness, being too tired to bother lighting her wand. She drew ack and looked at the bed with at least some satisfaction; Luna would at least have some real blankets to sleep in this night. Cho fished out her Grandmother's quilt from her trunk and proceeded downstairs. She'd never slept in the Common Room before, but it was the tiniest sacrifice, all things considered. And besides, it's not like she would have gotten any meaningful slumber in her current state anyway.

She emerged into the Common Room and was stunned to find it deserted. She approached the now empty divan and saw everything appeared as it did a short time before, all except a missing Luna. Cho drew closer.

She looked at the table next to the chair. There was no doubt; the small box was unquestionably from Marietta. Cho could recognize the familiar bow pattern her friend always used. She noticed a small card sticking out from beneath the package -

Her hand reached out instinctively. She knew she really shouldn't, but she wished to make sure this wasn't another attempted prank...

She drew the card up to her face and read the brief inscription:

"Luna,

I'm so sorry to hear of your problems at home. I never knew. Anyway, I made this for you. I know it's not much, but I only found out today about your situation - "

Cho sighed dispiritedly as ran her hand through her hair and dropped the card back to the table. While Marietta seemed to mean well, Cho seriously doubted stating Luna's 'problems at home' would've done anything to improve the girl's morale. She'd have to talk to Marietta in the morning.

She glanced at the parchment beneath the worn-out quill, which she noticed had a broken tip as though it had been snapped under pressure. She reached down and hesitantly took the parchment from the table. Cho was decidedly uncomfortable; it felt as though she were ransacking Luna's private property. But these were far from normal circumstances, and she was experiencing a growing sense of unease. Where could Luna have gone at such an hour? Perhaps the parchment might provide a clue.

"Dear Snookums,

How was your week? Did you get your Arithmancy results yet? I know it's a boring subject, but I know you'll do well. You always do.

Oh, by the way, your little rain catcher outside your window is doing quite well; I caught sight of a Jobberknoll up there this morning, so it looks like you were right after all, it just took a bit longer that you'd imagined (though that might be due to the lack of rain this past summer).

I know what you're going to ask, but no, I wasn't close enough to see its plumage on the back, but the moment I get a better look I'll owl you, posthaste!

Otherwise, things here are shaping up nicely. I'll have enough extra columns written up by midsummer that I'll only need a few days to put out the July edition, that way we can make a better try of it in Sweden next season.

Anyway, I'm sending you a few extra hatchlings from the garden; I'm frankly surprised how well they grew, considering the lack of rain recently. I can't wait to see what you'll turn these into! You do have your mother's imagination...

I'll be in London most of the weekend for a new article I'm working on, but I'll owl you again first thing Monday, I promise.

Always believe,

Love,

Dad"

Cho could see writing on the back of the parchment through the glow from the fireplace. She flipped it over, biting her lip at the sight of Luna's reply, a series of scribbled "I love you", repeated over and over, filling up the entire reverse side of the letter. Luna's normally languid writing became increasingly feverish and shrill with each repetition, until Cho came to a dark squiggle near the bottom where she quill tip had evidently snapped.

She dropped the letter to the table. She wished she could have such 'troubles' at home...clearly Luna and her father loved each other dearly...

She saw the tiny bag Luna had been clutching so tightly lying on the table, a pair of small turnips having slipped out of their confines.

Cho sighed. The letter had been painful to read, particularly Luna's desperate response, and it had given Cho no clue as to her whereabouts. She looked around the Common Room and spied another parchment lying on the floor near the short alcove behind the painting leading out into the hall. She quickly walked over and picked it up -

"Luna,

I've been worrying about you all day. I'm not sure what's going on anymore, but I'd feel a lot better if I heard it from you; everyone's got a different story here...

Would you like to go for a walk? You always wanted to show me that place in the forest during a full moon, didn't you? Well, it's a full moon tonight...I'll wait for you in the courtyard if you'd like some company. If not, just tell Hedwig to hoot twice when she comes back, I'll understand.

I'm here for you Luna, if you ever need to talk. You've been listening to me all this time...and I've never told you how much I appreciated that. Now it's my turn to listen...

Harry"

A tear splattered down onto the parchment before Cho drew her eyes up to the window up above, fixing her gaze on the brilliantly glowing Moon.

"Take care of her, Harry..."

THE END