Blue Woman, Red Man

Cho Corner stared down at the lilies she had just bought. They were so pretty and smelled so sweet. It ruined it slightly that the metal pot they were placed in was on top of a grave.

Cho felt tears spring into her eyes. Why did these things always happen to her? She'd lost Cedric eleven years ago, and then her fiancee had died, and now Michael. Why did nearly everyone she cared about have to die?

Michael was the worst though. Two happy years they'd spent together. Everyone told her that he'd only married her because she'd been pregnant, but there was more than that. Even without Naomi, Cho and Michael would still have been married. Why? Because they loved each other, no matter what anybody said. And now she was a widow and Naomi was fatherless. She was only fifteen months old. She was going to grow up with no memories of her father. And he was a good father to her, too. Michael had loved Naomi so much. And now he was gone.

Bitter tears swept down Cho's cheeks. Life was so unfair. Everyone had been taken from her. She sank to her knees, not caring about her appearance, and wept. She could feel a petal from a lily tickling her nose and she sneezed. This must look attractive, she thought, sniffing. Hair everywhere. Eyes red. Big red nose that's probably running. Make-up smudgy. And now sneezing. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

"Cho?"

Cho rubbed her eyes and looked up. A tall young man with brown hair and dark eyes was looking down at her, smiling. It wasn't as though he was laughing at her, though. It was friendly, like he was really pleased to see her. Cho smiled back through her tears.

The man reached a hand down to her.

"Need a hand?" he said. She took it gratefully and he pulled her to her feet.

"Hi, Oliver," she said, sniffing slightly and trying not wipe her nose discreetly. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, I know," said Oliver Wood. "We should have got in touch. How's..." he glanced down at the grave and Cho saw his eyes widen. He bit his lip. She knew who he'd been about to ask after. "...Naomi?" he finished lamely. Cho smiled and pretended not to notice.

"She's fine," she said. "We think she'll be showing her first signs of magic soon, hopefully. What about you and your family? How's Angelina?"

Oliver's expression darkened.

"I don't know," he said, stiffly. "I haven't spoken to her for eighteen months, since our divorce came through."

Cho winced at her blunder.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she said, anxiously. "Really I am. I had no idea."

"No worries," shrugged Oliver. "We were never meant for each other anyway. Not like you and..."

He suddenly stopped, realising what he was saying. But Cho didn't mind.

"Don't worry," she said, kindly. "I won't weep all over you."

Oliver smiled at her and said, "Not like you and Michael. You two were such a nice couple. Not like Angelina and me. We just didn't gel. You and Michael were...oh God; I knew I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"No, it's ok," said Cho, sniffing again as she wiped her tears away. "Really I'm fine. It's just cold, that's all."

"Come here," said Oliver, softly, and Cho fell gratefully into his arms. As she sobbed into his chest - being too short to reach his shoulder - she couldn't help but notice how warm and inviting he was.

After what seemed like a year he pushed her gently away from him, although he kept his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you sure you'll be ok?" he asked, with concern. Cho smiled up at him. A tear fell into her mouth. It was horrible and salty, but she couldn't spit for fear of seeming disgusting.

"I'll be fine."

This would have sounded a lot more convincing if she hadn't hiccupped with a noise like a sob halfway through the word "fine", she decided later.

Oliver looked worried.

"No, you're not," he told her, in a decisive way that reminded Cho of Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre. "Of course you're not. I'm living in Pontmore Gardens at the moment, that's near you, isn't it?"

"Very," said Cho. "Naomi and I live in Black Swan Court."

"Great," said Oliver. "If you ever need me, send me an owl or use the fires. I'm number 18. I'll always have time to help you out if you need help, ok, Cho?"

"Ok. Thank you so much, Oliver," she said, looking up at him with as near to a smile as she could muster. Then, on impulse, she threw her arms around him and hugged him. She managed to convince herself it was a thankful gesture, but it was partly because she wanted to feel him against her again.

---

It was half past twelve two days later when Cho next saw Oliver again. She was tucking Naomi in for an afternoon nap when the doorbell went. After making sure it hadn't aroused her daughter, Cho went to the door and opened it. For some reason her heart leapt when she saw the burly young man smiling at her in the doorway.

"Hi Oliver!" she said, happily. She was secretly glad that she wasn't in such a state as when she had last seen him, and also that she had washed her hair.

"Hullo," he said, slightly sheepishly. "Just thought I'd pop round, see how you were doing."

"Thanks," said Cho, gratefully. She let him in and went to make coffee. He followed her into the kitchen and looked around.

"Nice house," he commented. "It's really neat. My place is a tip."

Cho laughed.

"You probably think I have no sort of life at all," he said, awkwardly. "You know, just turning up on the doorstep of someone I haven't seen for twelve years."

"Has it really been that long?" asked Cho, handing Oliver a mug. "It seems like so much shorter...and by the way, I don't think you have no sort of life. I think it's sweet of you to come, and you're always perfectly welcome here."

"Thanks," said Oliver, draining his cup in three swigs. Cho gaped. It wasn't like it was cold coffee. But she guessed all boys were the same. Michael was. No, she told herself severely. Don't think about him. You'll only bring on the tears again, and you don't want to look the mess you did the last time you saw Oliver.

For some reason, Cho was a lot more conscious of herself around Oliver. Maybe it was the fact that he was a man. Or maybe it was the fact he was a handsome man.

Shut up, she told her brain sternly. Don't think like that. He's nice and he's obviously willing to help, but don't think of him as handsome or it'll escalate into a crush.

"...so I came here," said Oliver, shrugging. He'd obviously just finished telling Cho something that she had been too preoccupied to listen to. She kicked herself mentally and smiled.

"Yeah," she said, vaguely, and then turned back to the kettle. "More coffee?"

"No thanks," said Oliver, stretching. "So, are you free on Monday lunchtime? It's just there's this nice Italian place in town you might like and I have a free lunch break. Fancy coming?"

It's a date! said the evil part of Cho's brain, but she shushed it and said, "Wow, that'd be really nice. Thanks! When should I meet you?"

"About half twelve?" suggested Oliver.

"Great," said Cho.

There was an awkward silence that was broken by a shout of, "Bub-bee!"

"Oh. Naomi," said Cho, a little relieved. "I'll be back in a minute." She shot upstairs and found Naomi standing up in her cot looking very chipper and very awake, but sounding very bunged up.

"Bubby," she cried in a loud and happy voice that Cho realised with horror would definitely carry down the stairs. "By dose is bollocked."

Cringing, Cho said, "Ok, ok, come on," and went to the bathroom cabinet to "un-bollock" her daughter's nose. After using Nasonex (nasal equivalent of dyno-rod) on Naomi and putting her firmly back in the cot, firmly telling her to go to sleep, she went back downstairs slightly pinker than before to where Oliver was standing looking as though he was trying desperately not to laugh.

"That Naomi?" he said.

"No, it's my secret daughter, Beulah," said Cho with a sarcastic smile. "Sorry about that. Nemz is a bit demanding, but I love her. So, d'you want to stay a bit longer, or...?"

"No, that's ok, I've got...er...stuff," said Oliver. "Nice you see you again."

"Yes, you too," said Cho, and at the risk of sounding eager, said, "Monday?"

"Monday. See you."

She opened the door for him and he left. She couldn't help but watch his retreating back as he left. He'd really grown up since the last time she'd seen him. She still couldn't get her head around the fact that he was four years older than she was. Wow, he must be thirty. Maybe even thirty one, depending on when his birthday was. Thirty seemed young to people who were in their forties and fifties, but to twenty-six-year-old Cho, thirty was a big milestone that she hadn't reached yet. It was hard to think of Oliver as thirty.

---

Cho arrived casually late. She hoped it was, anyway. It was about seven minutes after the time she'd arranged to meet Oliver. Admittedly her babysitter (Lucy from next-door) had been late and she'd poked herself in the eye with the mascara brush, so admittedly that had slowed things down a bit. She was pleased that her hair was going right that day though. It looked really...nice.

She arrived at Sfizio's and saw Oliver chatting to a red haired man she vaguely recognised. She went over.

"Hi," she said, smiling. "Sorry I'm a bit late."

"Don't worry about it," said Oliver, waving a hand as though brushing away a cloud of midges. "Cho, d'you remember George Weasley?"

"Yes," said Cho. She wasn't lying. She could remember quite clearly the Gryffindor Beater. He had been excellent, and had nearly knocked her off her broom several times. She also remembered him having a wicked sense of humour. She'd had a bit of a girlish crush on him and his brother Fred when she was a first year at Hogwarts. "Nice to see you again."

"Likewise," said George, nodding carelessly at her. "Well, I've got to go. Nice to catch up, Oliver," he said, and left. Oliver grinned.

"Still as mad as ever," he said. "But nice to catch up. Sit?"

Cho sat, and couldn't stop herself from smiling.

---

Cho sank into the sheets of her bed. She'd just got Naomi back off to sleep. It was nice to be in the quiet without a toddler wailing. She looked back on the day.

She remembered an enjoyable lunch having an equally enjoyable conversation. Oliver was good company. He was friendly. He was funny. He was understanding, more to the point. He didn't make careless slip-ups like mentioning Michael. He was a bit on the competitive side, but he was nice. She got on well with him. She almost counted him as a friend, although it was too early to decide.

After eating she remembered not wanting to leave, but having to. Lucy could not be around Naomi for too long. Lucy was a Muggle, and Naomi was almost certainly going to be a witch. If Naomi demonstrated her first signs of magic in front of Lucy, that'd be it. But for some reason the thing that stuck out most in her mind was when she left, Oliver had kissed her cheek. She'd enjoyed it for some reason. His lips were soft and sort of inviting.

The inevitable tides of sleep washed over Cho. She smiled as everything around her slowly went black...

It was light. She was at what looked like the Yule Ball, but everyone was older. She noted Hermione Granger with Ron Weasley - that irritating friend of Harry Potter's who had a go at her for supporting Tutshill Tornados, she couldn't help remembering - looking incredibly pretty, and Harry Potter with a beard. For some reason he was with that little redhead...what was her name? Virginia Weasley. Roger Davies was there with Marietta. (Cho had always suspected something between them, despite the pimples.) There was no sign of Cedric or Michael, but someone was holding her arm. She looked around. It was Oliver Wood!

"Oliver, what...?"

He shushed her.

"Come with me," he said, softly, and led her out of a door into the grounds. It was a mass of fountains and roses. Very romantic. She looked up into those brown eyes she'd come to know over the past couple of days.

"Oliver, I don't know w..."

His lips brushed against hers, gently, silencing her. He held his face a few centimetres from hers before moving in again, his kiss stronger, more passionate than before. Cho returned his kiss. She could feel his hands on her back, holding her close, and his warm embrace. It was so inviting.

They broke apart. Cho stared into Oliver's eyes, completely entranced.

"You're so..."

Before Oliver could reach the end of some tantalising observation, Cho's eyes snapped open and she heard the sound of something beeping. She rolled over and got out of bed, turning the alarm off her clock.

All that day, Cho couldn't banish her dream. Why Oliver of all people? Ok, she liked him. He was nice. But she hadn't felt that certain...sexual thing when she was around him like she had done with Cedric and Michael. He was just a nice guy who happened to be handsome.

Anyway, she thought as she tucked Naomi into her cot for her afternoon nap. He's just divorced. Even if you did like him, there's no way he'd be able to take you.

Something was tapping at the window. Cho turned and saw a tawny owl tapping at the window with its claws. Cho dashed to the window and let it in. She didn't want her Muggle neighbours having fits.

She untied the letter that was attached to the owl's leg and read it.

Cho,

I had a good time yesterday. Hope you liked it. We should do it again some time.

There's a bunch of us meeting up at The Feathers on Saturday. It's a Muggle pub but there'll be a load of people from school there. Roger Davies will I think. You know him, don't you?

Hope to see you there,

Oliver

xxx

Cho made a note in her diary to go, but the thing that interested her most about the letter was not the invitation to meet up with a load of her old school chums. It was actually the xxx at the end of the letter.

---

Cho laughed along with everyone else as Fred Weasley cracked yet another joke. He'd definitely made his sense of humour more sophisticated since Hogwarts. Cho couldn't stop laughing. And nobody had asked after Michael, either. Although some of them probably didn't know she'd been married and had a daughter.

The funny moment was ruined somewhat when Ron Weasley - who had his arm around Hermione Granger who sadly didn't look as pretty as she had in Cho's dream - and said, quite irritably, "So, d'you still support the Tutshill Tornados, Chang?"

I winced. Not because of the reference to my Quiditch team (I expected nothing less from Ron Weasley, after all), but because of his use of my maiden name.

"Chang isn't my name any more," I said, stiffly.

"Isn't it? What is it now?" asked Hermione keenly. Cho hadn't always liked Hermione Granger much, but at least she was making an effort. She actually seemed very friendly.

"...Corner," Cho said, after a long pause. Don't think about him, don't think about him, don't think about him, said her brain.

"Corner? As in Michael Corner?"

"Yes," said Cho. She noticed Oliver looking slightly worried. He threw her a sympathetic glance.

"Wasn't he killed in the...? Ouch!"

Cho felt the chair leg near her wobble slightly as Hermione gave Ron a very hard kick under the table. Cho felt her eyes stinging. She left the table under the pretence of going to buy another drink.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned. It was Oliver.

"I overheard," he said, with concern. "Don't mind Ron, he can be a tactless git sometimes. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," said Cho, although there was a lump in her throat.

"No you're not," said Oliver. "Of course you're not. Come here."

Cho was glad she was out of sight of the table, because Oliver put his arms around her and gave her a tight hug. Her heart jolted, and she smiled as she felt his warm arms around her. She was reminded forcibly of her dream.

"Right," said Oliver, letting go after quite a while. "Let's get those drinks."

Cho grinned and she and Oliver returned to the table with the round of drinks they'd purchased, looking forward to a night without Michael on her brain.

---

Cho woke up with a slight hangover, popped round to next door to pay Lucy for babysitting Naomi and was just sorting out her breakfast when she had a brainwave. There was a rack of lamb ready for roasting and a table with two chairs. And a newly-befriended divorcee living around the corner.

Cho hastily scribbled an invitation to Sunday dinner on a scrap of parchment, gave it her owl to deliver and rushed upstairs to change. After quickly washing and drying her hair, doing her make-up and dressing she ran to get the answer off Nightshade's leg. Nightshade was looking irritable as she perched on the plate rack, as if she didn't appreciate being kept waiting. Cho grabbed the letter and petted her before shooing her off the clean plates. She opened the letter.

That'd be great, thanks for inviting me. See you around 1:30. Oliver xxx

Cho grinned and put the letter down. She began to make the lamb.

When Oliver arrived dinner was ready. Cho prided herself on her cooking. She really was excellent. Oliver seemed to enjoy it, too, judging by the fact that he finished a whole plate and seconds. Cho smiled to herself as she watched him eat and listened to him talk. He was funny. She liked him. And there was something about those magnetic brown eyes...ooh, they were nice! They made her feel as if she was falling...

"Cho? Are you staring at me?"

Cho shook her head absently. She had been staring.

"N-no," she stammered, trying to stay composed.

"Do I have gravy around my mouth?" said Oliver suspiciously.

"No, no, it's fine," said Cho, feeling her face go red.

"Cho..." said Oliver, slowly. "You were staring. Tell me why, it's bugging me now."

Cho felt like killing herself. Why had she stared?

"Well, I was just...er...thinking," she said, trying not to meet his eyes. "And I just...eh...happened to...look in that direction."

Oliver laughed.

"Whatever," he said. "You live in your own world, don't you? Anyway, did I tell you about that time when I was in...?"

And the story went on. It was funny. Cho found herself listening to endless anecdotes, and all of them were interesting. She wasn't kidding, they were. She hadn't realised how long Oliver had stayed until Naomi toddled in.

"Mumma," she said, holding up her chubby little arms pleadingly. "I'm tie-erd."

"Ok, Nemzy," said Cho, soothingly, and took Naomi upstairs to her cot. To her surprise Oliver followed her.

She'd settled down Naomi and was just gazing at her fondly when Oliver peered over her shoulder.

"She really looks like you," he said, quietly. "You've got the same face and the same dark eyes."

Cho was surprised at this. She'd always thought Naomi looked like Michael. But as she looked, she realised yes, Naomi did have her eyes and face. She smiled at Oliver lovingly, momentarily losing her concentration. She kicked herself afterwards, because his expression had changed.

"Cho, can I ask you something?" he said, sitting on a chair near to Naomi's cot.

"Ok," said Cho.

"My friend's husband left her recently," he said. "The divorce came through a couple of months ago. And there's someone she likes. He's a nice guy and she thinks it could be the start of something really special, but his wife was killed recently and he's living alone with his son. She doesn't know how he feels even though she's had a few signs. What do you think?"

Cho could see right through the encoded "problem". Her heart lifted, and for some reason she found herself thinking, He is interested!

"I think," she said, with a smile, getting up and walking towards him until she was standing right in front of his chair, "that your friend should stay over this guy's house tonight because he agrees with her."

Oliver smiled at her, a real smile. Like he was really, really pleased. He stood up, and despite being quite a bit taller than Cho, he kissed her. It was so...deep. Really sensual. Cho found herself almost melting into Oliver, and she closed her eyes as she returned his kiss.

---

Cho's eyes opened slowly as she woke up. She smiled. It was very comfortable waking up in Oliver's strong, inviting arms. She moved closer to him, making sure her hair didn't tickle his face and wake him up. He was so lovely when he slept.

She thought about it. Did she love Oliver? Yes, she did. But she wasn't about to forget about Michael. Nobody could ever replace him. But she loved Oliver just as much, and she was sure she could find room for both.