Snitch with the Broken Wing

As Harry Potter approached gate 9¾, he noticed a couple of loiterers on the platform. One looked like the homeless Muggles who the Dursleys always tried to avoid, as if their poverty was contagious. Another looked like a highly respectable middle-aged businessman, reading the London Times while he held a tightly furled umbrella under his arm. But Harry's experienced eye, after four years in the wizarding world and as many years as a Seeker, quickly saw the bulges under their clothes.

Wands.

They were Aurors.

He'd spent the last two weeks of summer, as he had in years past, at the Burrow, home of the Weasley family. They'd all heard from Arthur Weasley and his son Percy, both of whom worked at the Ministry of Magic, that a great deal of security was being added to the Hogwarts Express this year.

"There'll be Aurors stationed on the platform, as well as throughout King's Cross Station," Arthur had told them the night before. "They've arranged to have the train inspected, top to bottom, three days before the trip to Hogwarts, and to keep a twenty-four-hour guard on the train until it leaves."

"Is it really that bad, then?" asked Hermione Granger, who, like Harry, stayed with the Weasley family at the end of summer. "I don't recall seeing anything in the Daily Prophet about the Death Eaters."

"And you won't; at least, not from the Ministry," Arthur grumbled. Harry understood the way he felt. It was only a few months ago that Lord Voldemort had been brought back to life in a new body, but Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, refused to believe it-or to do anything about it.

When Harry walked onto the platform, he saw Aurors there too. Since Muggles weren't likely to get onto the platform, the Aurors didn't try to disguise themselves. They stared at everyone coming onto the platform; they stared at all of the luggage. Harry got the uncomfortable sense that they could see through suitcases and clothes...

Harry, Hermione, Ron Weasley and Ron's sister Ginny settled into one of the compartments, closed the door and drew the curtains. It was a bit crowded, what with four people, three owls and a cat. By now, however, everyone was used to Hermione's cat Crookshanks; even Ron casually scratched it between its ears as it lay curled up on the seat.

They looked out on the platform as students ran to get on the train. "Nothing really bad will happen, will there?" Ginny asked.

"I doubt it," Hermione answered, "although that attempt on Fudge's life was bad enough." Cornelius Fudge had been attacked while on the Continent; he was going to sign an agreement with the giants stating that they would not side with Voldemort. The negotiations were supposed to be secret, but he was attacked anyway. He would have been killed if a large black dog hadn't appeared from nowhere and jumped on the would-be assassin.

The four friends in the compartment, however, knew that the dog was really Harry's godfather, Sirius Black. He was an Animagus, who could change his shape into that of a large dog. Dumbledore had suggested that Sirius accompany Fudge as a bodyguard.

"But still," Ron added, "Percy says that Fudge and his people were grumbling about it and wanting to blame Snuffles." This was their code-name for Sirius-as-dog. "Saying that maybe Snuffles leaked the trip to You-Know-Who, or provided the assassin himself just for a bit of glory."

"That's gratitude for you. How was Snuffles supposed to get any glory out of it if he's still a wanted criminal?" Harry said as he pulled his deck of Chocolate Frog Wizard Cards out of his trouser pocket and started sifting through them. In the four years since he started collecting them, he'd put together a fairly good assortment. He was still missing the Witch of Endor, though, among others.

"Have you heard about the new set?" Ron asked. "They're finally putting out some newer cards. They'll be out around the time of our first Hogsmeade visit. The first one is going to be Gigelf Liqueur, and..."

They were interrupted by the compartment door opening. There stood Cho Chang; Seeker for Ravenclaw, a year above Harry and his not-so-secret love. As much as he cared for her, he could never find the right occasion, or the right words, to say anything to her. Of course, now it was even worse. Cho had begun seeing Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker and Hogwarts Champion, during last year's Tri-Wizard Tournament, and apparently they'd become quite fond of each other. (Harry made it a point not to be around when they were together; he simply couldn't bear it.) When Cedric was killed on orders from Lord Voldemort during the tournament, Cho was distraught, and Harry, who held himself partly responsible for Cedric's death, never knew what to say to her about it. He'd spent the summer trying to think of what to say to her, but he hadn't come up with anything.

They all sat still and quiet as Cho looked around the compartment. "Sorry," she said, her eyes fixing for a moment on Harry's; "I seem to have lost track of my friends..."

"Down here, Cho!" came a voice further down the corridor.

Cho bit her lower lip, smiled sadly and closed the door.

Harry just stared at the door.

"Oy, you; No Littering." Ron nudged Harry, who realized that he had dropped all of his wizard cards on the floor.

xxx

The train ride was uneventful, although Harry didn't take much part in the conversation. He made more trips to the loo than usual, which just happened to take him past the compartment where Cho and her friends were riding. The first couple of times he passed, he caught Cho's eye and they smiled rather weakly at each other. By his third trip past the compartment, its curtains had been drawn.

At the Hogwarts stop hours later, the sun was just setting. Harry wished that it was his first year again. Only First-Years approached the castle by sailing across the lake; everyone else rode carriages around the lake, and the view was not so spectacular.

He and his friends piled into a carriage, although Harry tried to see where Cho was. Unfortunately, he was shorter than average, and she-although a year older-was shorter still; between that and the growing twilight, he couldn't catch sight of her again until they were all in the Great Hall, sitting through the Sorting Ceremony.

But Harry wasn't the only one stealing glances at Cho Chang. From the moment Cho appeared at their compartment, Ginny was experiencing feelings she never felt before, and couldn't understand now. Was it pity? No; Ginny knew better than that. Cho's family was fairly well off; unlike the Weasley clan. Was it empathy for her sorrow over losing Cedric? No; surely everyone at Hogwarts felt that last year after the Tournament. This feeling was ... different. Stronger, somehow, yet softer at the same time. All Ginny could do was compare what she felt to her long-standing crush on Harry. And it was with a jolt that she realized that, while the feelings were similar, there was a difference:

She was over Harry.

She hardly spoke during dinner, except to make brief replies she didn't have to think about. Words kept spinning through her heads like snowflakes in a high wind. At the first opportunity, she excused herself, nearly ran to Gryffindor; then she realized that she didn't know the new password. She was stuck; she had to hang about waiting for a Prefect to lead up the new First-Years and find out the password ("cantus firmus"). Once she got in, she dashed to her dormitory, jumped into her bed with a parchment, quill and inkpot, and closed the curtains. When anyone asked about her, she said that she didn't feel well--an explanation nobody believed as they heard the quill scratching away over the parchment.

It took Ginny most of the night to write what she wanted to say, then another hour to make a clean copy of it. Then it was off to the Owlery to send it via a school owl. Her work was unsigned, but that was the idea. She wanted to get Cho's attention, and let her know that someone cared; identifying herself could come later.

By the time she was finished, it was almost time to wake up. She pulled herself together, went back down to her dormitory, got ready for class, went down for breakfast ...

Then laid her head in her arms and promptly fell asleep.

She didn't see her owl enter the Great Hall with so many others, delivering her parchment to Cho. She didn't see Cho read it, then re-read it:

You should be light and free as air

But I see you now chained to the earth

Return to the clouds where you ought to be

Snitch with the Broken Wing

A heart was taken away from you

A heart was buried in the ground

Take back that heart and fly again

Snitch with the Broken Wing

Make of the buried heart a seed

Grow from that buried seed a tree

The heart was his love; the tree is your love

Snitch with the Broken Wing

Find shelter in the tree and heal

Find food within the tree, grow strong

Live, for his love will never die

Snitch with the Broken Wing

Snitches should fly, and so should you

Fly with speed and strength and joy

That I may chase you among the clouds

My Snitch with the Broken Wing

She didn't see Cho's face, where feelings of sorrow battled feelings of anger.

Cho rolled the parchment back up, sat and--like the Seeker she was--waited for Harry Potter to make his move. Harry, who had noticed Cho, as he did every day, finished his breakfast and started out of the Great Hall. Cho got up, to intercept him at the door.

Ginny was still asleep when Ron shook her by the shoulder. "Come on, Ginny, you're missing it."

"Huh? Missing what?"

"Something dramatic is about to happen; mark my words."

Oh no; the poem! Cho was taking it to Harry! She had to find out what was happening. She hastily rose and tried to get to the door, but Harry and Cho were already through it.

Ginny passed out of the Great Hall, but didn't see Harry or Cho. They must have gone down a passageway. She looked around and almost missed seeing Harry and Cho in an alcove. Ginny tried to get close enough to hear, without being seen.

"Harry," Cho was saying, "we have to talk about this." She thrust the parchment at Harry.

"What is it?"

"Don't play games with me, Harry Potter; I really can't take it right now."

"But Cho..."

"It was all I could do to come back this term. My parents were going to keep me out, and maybe after Christmas..."

"I didn't write this!"

"What?"

"I've never seen this before."

"You didn't...?"

"I promise." He rolled up the parchment and handed it back to Cho. With a half-smile he added, "Although I agree with what it says. I could never write it that well, is all."

Cho took hold of the parchment, but didn't pull it from Harry's grasp. She spent what seemed like a long minute looking into his eyes. "Well, I don't exactly agree with all of it. I mean, I don't think of myself as broken. Bruised, maybe..."

And, for the first time in months, she chuckled. It was as close to laughter as she'd been since the Tournament. Hearing it, Harry's heart leapt up; as did Ginny's. They both knew that, one way or another, Cho was going to get through this all right.

"Cho," Harry said, barely keeping control of his voice, looking down at the floor rather than at her, "I couldn't have done anything. It all happened so fast..."

"It's all right, Harry," she said softly, her eyes on the ground as well. "I know what happened. I don't blame you."

"How did you find out?"

"Dumbledore told me."

"Oh."

There was another minute of silence. Then Cho asked, "So you don't know who my secret admirer is?"

"No, I don't. Just that it's not me."

"You're hardly a secret."

"What do you mean?"

"That ... well ... I've known how you feel for ... some time now."

Harry thought his heart would stop beating. "And?"

"Harry, everything that's happened since last Christmas ... I still need time. To sort it all out. I don't really need an admirer now, but I need a friend."

"But can I ... do you think it's a good idea? For me to ..."

Harry and Ginny both barely heard Cho's "Yes".

"I'm a Seeker."

"Cedric was a Seeker."

"Oh. Yeh." Another awkward silence. "So, I'll ... be seeing you."

"And, Harry..."

"Yeh?"

"You could have pretended you wrote this poem. You didn't. That was ... very honourable. Thank you."

"Well ... thank you." After another awkward pause: "You have any other poems I didn't write?"

Cho chuckled again; "Not right now."

"See you later."

"Bye Harry."

Harry watched Cho walk up the stairs, hardly daring to believe what had just happened. After all this time, he spoke to Cho! She knew! And she still wanted him to be her friend! Maybe that wasn't exactly what he had dreamed of for two years now, but it was a start. Holding in the impulse to whoop for joy, he ran up the steps to Gryffindor two at a time.

Ginny Weasley, in her hiding-place, was also overjoyed, but for a different reason. There was no more second-guessing; she knew. Cho wanted a friend. And she'd find a way to be that friend. She knew she could beat Harry at this contest--and she thought she knew how.

She went back into the Great Hall, now almost empty with most students gone to class. She pulled a quill, a piece of parchment and her inkwell out of her bag, and wrote at the bottom of the parchment: "Your friend, Ginny Weasley"

Now, all she needed was another poem...