La Vie En Rose

RhianEnchanted

Story Summary:
A young woman sits alone at a small table outside a Parisian cafe. Her life has left her bitter and lonely, until a stranger changes it forever. Based on the beautiful song "La Vie En Rose" by the brilliant Edith Piaf.

Chapter 01

Posted:
08/27/2008
Hits:
314


October, 2003.

She sat alone, sipping a cup of coffee at one of the tables on the sidewalk in front of the little café. The leaves on the tree-lined street were making ready for autumn, creating a mixture of green, yellow, and orange above her. A brisk breeze caused her to tighten her trench coat around her shoulders. The strains of a love song floated out from the café. Even though she couldn't understand the words, she knew it was a love song.

Des yeux qui font baisser les miens,
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche,
Voilà le portrait sans retouche
De l'homme auquel j'appartiens

She sighed. Paris was the last place one wanted to be alone in. She had desperately needed a holiday from the vintage boutique she owned, she hadn't had a day off in the three years since it had opened. Her business partner Padma had practically ordered her to take time off, and suggested that she might come to Paris to find some new stock for their shop. The past three days had been quite lovely, she had interspersed sightseeing with shopping, picking up some beautiful jewelry and stunning couture she was sure would be a hit at the boutique.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras,
Il me parle tout bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.

She took another sip of her coffee and glanced at her wristwatch. It was nearly five in the afternoon. She had a few hours to kill before dinner. A shadow fell over her, drawing her gaze upward.

Il me dit des mots d'amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ça me fait quelque chose.

"D'you mind if I join you? It seems that every other table is taken." The stranger asked. His slightly longish, curly brown hair fell into his hazel eyes, which he brushed back carelessly. He smiled pleasantly, and she suddenly felt self conscious for staring at him.

"It's fine," she replied, looking down into her lap. "I won't be long anyways."

He sat down across from her, stretching out one of his legs.

"I'm Peter, by the way. Peter Cochran," he said, extending a large, tanned hand across the table.

"Cho Chang," she answered, taking his larger, warmer hand in hers.

Il est entré dans mon coeur,
Une part de bonheur,
Dont je connais la cause.

"British, I take it?" he asked.

Cho nodded. "And, from the accent, I suppose you're American?"

He smiled. "Born and raised." He took a drink of the coffee the waiter placed in front of him.

"So what brings you to the City of Light?" he asked with a smile.

"A holiday, with a little business mixed in," Cho answered. "You?"

He smiled again. "Just a holiday."

They began talking about her boutique and chatting amiably. Cho discovered that he was from Vermont, worked as a graphic designer, and had a two-year-old black Labrador named Oscar waiting for him at home.


C'est lui pour moi. Moi pour lui,
Dans la vie,
Il me l'a dit, l'a juré pour la vie.

Cho's stomach grumbled loudly. Both Peter and Cho looked at their watches.

"Seven-thirty!" he exclaimed. "No wonder you're hungry."

"Two and a half hours really flew by," she confessed.

She had been surprised that she had been able to talk so freely with a virtual stranger. Ever since the war, even Cedric's death really, she had found it extremely difficult to open up to people, even close friends. And here she was, talking to a man she had known for a few hours like they were old friends.


Et dès que je l'aperçois,
Alors je sens en moi,
Mon coeur qui bat.

They both stood to leave.

"Since I've held you hostage for the past couple of hours, the least I can do is buy you dinner." Peter offered, as he put his coat back on.

Cho laughed. "You didn't hold me hostage. I had a lovely time talking to you."

"Does that mean you'll have dinner with me?" He asked. "There's plenty more I can make you listen to."

She smiled. "I'd love to."

Peter extended his arm and she took it. "Well, this one time when I was ten..." he began.

Cho laughed. She noticed that he was limping slightly.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nope. I was in the Army and got deployed to Afghanistan about a year ago. Caught some shrapnel in the leg."

Peter stopped and pulled the leg of his pants on the left side up. Between the sock and the bottom of his trousers was plastic.

"They had to take it off a few inches below my knee," he explained. "The doctors said that the limp will get better with time."

"Oh," Cho replied. "I'm sorry."

Peter grinned. "At least I'm alive."

Des nuits d'amour à plus finir,
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place,
Les ennuis les chagrins s'effacent,
Heureux, heureux à en mourir.

They wandered to the metro entrance, slipping onto a crowded compartment. All of the seats were occupied, so Cho and Peter grasped onto the handrails and remained standing. Cho gasped with surprise when the man behind her bumped into her as the train lurched forward, forcing her into Peter's chest. He wrapped his free arm around her shoulder, steadying her.

"All right, Cho?" he asked.

She nodded at his Adam's apple. "Fine," she replied.

She inhaled slowly, in an effort to catch her breath, trying to figure out how she had lost it in the first place. She noticed that Peter smelled like the outdoors. Of fresh air and newly cut grass and clean laundry with a hint of wildflowers. It had been ages since she had been this close to a man. Since she and Michael had broken up three years ago, really. She'd invested so much time into the boutique she hadn't had time to think about dating, not that she'd really wanted to. The shop had been her escape, her way to deal with the pain. With Cedric, with failed relationships, with the loss of friends, with nearly everything.

Cho suddenly realized that since Cedric died she had forgotten how to live. She had forgotten how to enjoy a holiday, how to savor a simple cup of coffee, how to notice what a man smelled like.

She closed her eyes. The past seven years all she had to show for her life was her boutique. No family, few friends, just her job. As she caught a hint of Peter's clean air smell again, she vowed that no matter how difficult it would be, she would put her past behind her and move forward with her life.

The train door opened, and they followed the crowd out. Neither one realized that Peter's arm was still on Cho's shoulder.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.

They slipped into the small restaurant and ordered dinner. After several moments of silence, Peter leaned forward slightly.

"You've been awful quiet since we came up from the metro," he said. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Cho exhaled, her mind reeling as she attempted to decide what to say.

"The past, several... well seven years have been pretty difficult," she admitted, shocking herself with her own honesty.

She suddenly found herself telling Peter about Cedric, Harry, and Michael. About her inability to deal with Cedric's death, carefully skirting the exact details, and how it had affected every other aspect of her life. All of the walls she had so carefully constructed around herself came tumbling down as she let out all of the pain she had held in for nearly a decade. She found that for the first time in five years tears were rolling freely down her cheeks. She was spilling her soul to a man she had known for three hours, a handsome stranger with understanding hazel eyes staring back at her from across the table.

Cho sniffed and let out a watery laugh. "I can't believe I told you all that. I've never even told my best friend any of that."

Peter reached across the table and took her hand in his. "I'm glad you told me. I lost a few good friends when I was in the Army, so I know how hard it is, and how difficult it is to talk about it to other people. My grandmother always told me that it helps to let it all out, and if it helped you to talk about it, then I'm glad I was here for you. "

Cho smiled and wiped her eyes on her napkin. "You know, I do feel better. I feel better now than I have in ages."

Il me dit des mots d'amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ça me fait quelque chose.

They wandered out into the street, joining the crowd on the sidewalk. It had grown chillier since they had entered the restaurant, and Cho pulled at the collar of her coat.

"Wait here," Peter said.

"Is something wrong?" Cho asked with surprise.

He smiled, and something inside Cho began to glow.

"No, everything's just wonderful," he replied, and limped off toward one of the small shops lining the street.

Cho looked out onto the crowded street, now shining by the light of streetlamps. Paris at night was truly beautiful. The entire city was alive and brimming with excitement. Lovers walking arm in arm, parents with children, elderly couples with hands linked all filled the sidewalk.

Il est entré dans mon Coeur,
Une part de bonheur,
Dont je connais la cause.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Peter whispered into her ear.

Cho turned and smiled up at him. "It really is," she replied.

"I bought you something," he said. "It isn't anything much, so don't get too excited," he added when she opened her mouth to protest.

He drew a dark blue embroidered silk scarf from the pocket of his coat and gently placed it around her neck.

"I noticed you were a bit cold, so I thought you might like this," he said softly.

Cho shivered when his fingertips brushed her neck. She looked up at him questioningly.

C'est toi pour moi. Moi pour toi
Dans la vie,
Il me l'a dit, l'a juré pour la vie.

Peter took a deep breath and exhaled. "I know that it might be strange, being that we've only just met," he said. "But I'd really like to tell you that I've enjoyed myself a lot this afternoon and, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to see you again tomorrow."

He brushed his hair out of his eyes. ""I know that the past few years have been really difficult for you, so I'll understand if you don't feel the same," Peter said nervously. "I think that I might like you more than I should." He looked down at his shoes shyly.

Cho gazed up at him, reaching up to cup his cheek in her hand. She smiled, and pulled his face down to meet hers in a gentle kiss.

"Likewise," she whispered.

They joined the crowd, arm in arm, never looking back.

Et dès que je l'aperçois,
Alors je sens en moi,
Mon coeur qui bat.

**********

I know that there were some people who didn't like the idea of Cho marrying a muggle because it seemed like JKR was 'demoting' her in a way. And I also know there are some of readers who aren't big fans of Cho's either because of her being pretty much an emotional mess during OOTP, or for other reasons as well. To put my two cents in, I think that she was a young woman who had been badly hurt and found it difficult to deal with. Cedric dying (who I view as her first love), her emotional conflict over liking Harry and guilt over liking him only a few months after Cedric died, as well as the war in general would be pretty traumatic events, at least in my opinion. So I decided to try and give Cho a fair shake and write a character that could relate to someone who had been through a lot of emotional conflict, someone who also had seen the hell of war- a soldier. And also I meant to show that the 'look what a crappy deal Cho got- marrying a muggle' idea can be instead changed to 'Cho found someone she can relate to and who knows what she's gone through.' Enough of my philosophizing about the emotional states of fictional characters, I just hope you enjoyed it.

"La Vie En Rose" was written and sung by Edith Piaf, which has also become the title of the film about her life. It is a beautiful song that I recommend you listen to sometime. I've included an English translation below for those of us whose French is not so good.

Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is la Vie en Rose

When you kiss me heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see la Vie en Rose

When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart,
A world where roses bloom

And when you speak, angels sing from above
Everyday words seem to turn into love songs

Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La Vie en Rose

I thought that love was just a word
They sang about in songs I heard
It took your kisses to reveal
That I was wrong and love is real