232The Autumn Swan
a Harry Potter fan fiction story
by Lord Akiyama
Chapter One
The Answer
Harry Potter braved the elements that were the cold winter temperatures of December as he made his way up the spiral staircase that would lead him into the Owlery. He had become rather anxious and nervously impatient over the course of the last few days since the first task of the Triwizard Tournament had been completed. He still did not have any idea how to obtain a clue about the forthcoming second task from the golden egg he retrieved. Hermione was back on her house-elf liberation campaign, whatever it was called again, and seemed to have found a voice for it in Dobby, who had started working at the school on a salary. Rita Skeeter was looking to obtain any more nasty gossip on him to publish in the Daily Prophet. And what will surely be a difficult potions exam to be given by Professor Snape just prior to the students being let out for Christmas break was looming on the horizon. Yet all of that was the least of his concerns. What was really making his head swirl more than any other was the Yule Ball.
As informed by Professor McGonagall, the Triwizard Tournament Champions, which Harry was one of, were expected to open the Yule Ball by dancing with their partners. From the moment he received this dreadful news, he had been a complete wreck emotionally. For one thing, he did not know how to dance. Not even lessons Professor McGonagall offered made him any more comfortable with having to do some thing that was just so foreign to him. Not to mention having to remember so many directions. Where he was supposed to step, when he was supposed to step, maintaining eye contact with his partner literally at all times, twirling them just right, all while moving gracefully and without hesitation. It was so challenging and so complex that it made having a second go with the Hungarian Horntail seem like a more appealing alternative. Yet as a Triwizard Champion, he had to do the bloody thing to start the event. With a partner, no less. As if dancing was not already bad enough, Harry had to find a girl to be his partner.
With the way the vast majority of the girls present at Hogwarts were acting, it was as though they had waited their whole lives for the Yule Ball. As though there was justification for them to be dressing up fancifully in grand fashion just so they could dance. There was nothing more important in the whole wide world, not even the threat of Voldemort returning to resume his reign of terror could deter these girls from thinking about any thing but the Yule Ball. He could even sense that Hermione, of all people, who was always more concerned about studying and reading than doing any thing else, had a difficult time masking her excitement over the event. She did a splendid job hiding it, that much Harry was willing to give her credit, but he recognized the same look in her eyes that all the other girls had. That look of anticipation that would otherwise dictate her every action as the ball drew nearer and nearer.
The need for him to have a partner to dance with was what really sent Harry through a whirlwind of emotions. On one hand, there were many a number of girls who would simply die to be asked out by him. He was, after all, Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. Being a Triwizard Champion was just a bonus title to an otherwise impressive resume that included Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, who won the House Cup last year, had put a stop to the Basilisk that was housed within the Chamber of Secrets the year before that, and just recently was victorious in overcoming a Hungarian Horntail. Being the dance partner of Harry Potter at the Yule Ball would surely provide any girl with a share of his celebrity, no matter how small it may end up being. Even just to say that they danced with Harry Potter to open the Yule Ball was more than enough for any girl to throw themselves at his feet, hoping that by doing so he would pick them over the other girls competing for that very spot.
But on the other hand, Harry did not want just any girl to be his partner. He wanted to be with some one whose presence would provide him with some form of comfort through an otherwise uncomfortable situation. A girl he could be relaxed around with so as not to feel any more nervous than he certainly would be in such a setting like the Yule Ball. It would stand to reason that this could be easily accomplished just by asking out his friend Hermione or Ron's sister Ginny or any of the girls on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Only he was hesitating. And in doing so, they were accepting invitations from other boys to be their partners. His hesitation was the result of his wanting to ask one girl in particular. To ask out any other girl, or to accept the invitation of one, would not be entertained until he could finally muster the courage to ask this one girl to be his partner.
A Ravenclaw girl named Cho Chang.
Ever since he first laid eyes upon her nearly a year ago, he had been unfathomably smitten with her. He could not understand one bit why or how. It just happened. Right then and there, seeing her standing before him just as they were about to compete against one another in a Quidditch match, his emotions suddenly made a sharp turn in a direction he never knew existed. From what Harry managed to gather about her, once he was finally brave enough to ask questions, Cho was a fairly popular girl. Not at the level he was or what generally a popular student at Hogwarts was like, but she had her admirers. She had been the only female on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team the previous term and held her own against the competition, which comprised of himself from Gryffindor, Draco Malfoy from Slytherin, and Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff, the latter also being a Triwizard Champion himself. Being in Ravenclaw obviously meant that she was an intelligent person, as much as, if not more so than Hermione. And she was a very pretty girl. Harry had overheard here and there how some other girls were supposedly considered the prettiest in the school. Then there were the students from Beauxbatons, which included another Triwizard Champion in Fleur Delacour, considered by the vast majority of boys, including Ron, to be the most beautiful of all. But to Harry, Cho appeared to be more pretty and more beautiful than any other girl he had ever seen.
And there in lay the problem. Because she was the prettiest girl to him, it made him that much more nervous to even approach her, let alone ask her to be his partner at the Yule Ball. So many emotions collided head on, along with a great many number of thoughts that played heavily into his being so hesitant. He was clearly attracted to her, but did she feel the same? If she did, was it only because of his celebrity and not from a mutual feeling of interest? Or perhaps she did not think highly of him because of his celebrity. It could be that she just may not be that interested in him without having any reason at all. Maybe she was already seeing some one else. These thoughts, among others, would overload his mind at the mere mention of talking to Cho that there were times he needed to get out of whatever room he was in for some fresh air. He had never experienced any thing like what he was feeling for Cho. It was almost a little scary in a way.
The spiral staircase that ascended all the way up into the Owlery was covered in snow, underneath of which there would surely be ice. Nevertheless, Harry heeded no caution of potentially slipping upon the ice and painfully rolling down the concrete steps. It was bloody cold outside and he wanted to get into some place warm as quickly as possible. Jogging up the stairs, he managed to set aside all thoughts about the Yule Ball, and even Cho, to concentrate on the matter at hand. He was going up to the Owlery to see if his godfather Sirius Black had sent him a note. And if one had not yet arrived, he would wait for it to come.
Stamping his feet on a particularly snow covered step just to keep his blood flowing through the cold temperatures, Harry turned the corner and was about to enter the Owlery. He just managed to catch sight of some one exiting. This split second of recognition allowed for both of them to stop and pull back just quickly enough so that they would not end up crashing into one another. The other person gasping in surprise caused him to look to see who he almost collided with. And in an instant, emotions flooded his entire being. He suddenly was no longer feeling cold. In fact, he was starting to burn up. His green eyes had shot wide open briefly and he was quite certain that there was probably a trace of pink appearing on his cheeks. For standing in front of him was the one person he had not expected to be running into in the Owlery.
"Cho!" he managed to exhale despite being short of breath.
"Harry!" she said in return.
She made a smile on her face, one that caused his heart to accelerate its beats. It did not help that she let out a light, soft laugh as a way of reacting to their near collision. Sensing that he wanted to go into the Owlery and she was going out, both moved to get out of the way. Only they found themselves moving in the same direction as the other. When he stepped to his left, she stepped to her right and blocked his path. When she stepped to her left, he stepped to his right and blocked her path. Still smiling, Cho gently grabbed Harry below his shoulders and moved him to his left so she could move past him. Feeling her grabbing him was a sensation that he could not understand and it only made his heart beat even faster.
"Watch yourself on the stairs," she said, turning to face him now that she was outside of the Owlery and he was inside. "It's a bit icy at the top." Cho spoke with a Scottish accent. Not a heavy one, but one that made it clear of where she was born. It only made her more unique to him as her name and her appearance was of Asian descent. Harry hardly knew any thing of Asia, but he presumed the people who were from there were surely different from the British, or rather the Scottish, with regards to the language they spoke and what accents they had.
"Okay," he managed to utter in response to the caution she had given him. Trying desperately to form a smile of his own and not come off looking like an absolute idiot. "Thanks."
They nodded to one another, both still smiling, before turning away toward their separate destinations. Harry only took a step or two inside the Owlery before he stopped himself dead in his tracks. Within the span of one second, he mentally argued with himself about the fact that he had an opportunity to ask Cho to the Yule Ball. Now was the time to act, his own nervousness of the fact he thought of her as the prettiest girl around be damned. There was probably never going to be a more ideal chance. They were virtually all alone, so no one else would be able to see him make a fool of himself. Taking a deep breath and swallowing hard, Harry turned back and rushed out after her.
"Cho?" he called as soon as he passed through the doorway.
"Yes?" she replied. She had barely gone down a few steps when he called out to her and she immediately spun in place to face him. Still wearing that smile on her face.
"Um," he immediately uttered. Oh boy, he thought. He was already tripping over himself before he could even start a sentence. "Well… I just wondered if you…" He was still stuttering, but at least he was getting the words out. Still, he had a feeling that his nervousness was being displayed in full before her. Not just with how he was struggling to speak, but also with his body movement. Twitching and constantly shifting his body weight from left to right. He was quite surprised he was not pushing his glasses back up his nose or scratching the back of his head from within his shaggy brown hair.
"I-just-wondered-if-maybe-you-wanted-to-go-to-the-ball-with-me."
There was so much that went so wrong and he was mentally beating himself half to death over it. What in the world was he thinking speaking at such a fast pace? Even he could not register what exactly came out of his mouth. It did not help that seemingly all of the owls in the Owlery decided to create some noise right then and there. It was as though there needed to be some thing else in addition to his getting tongue tied to prevent Cho from understanding, or even hearing, what he had said. Why else would there be a brief moment of silence and her smile disappearing?
"Sorry," she said, squinting her eyes as though doing so may help her recall even a word that came out of his mouth. "I didn't catch that."
"Um," he uttered again. Then he took a deep breath and slowly repeated what he had said before. Speaking almost as if he needed to emphasize every other word. "I was just… wondering if… maybe you… wanted to go… to the ball… with me." At least it was not as humiliatingly disastrous as the last time. Not to mention Cho would surely be able to understand exactly what he was saying. He had finally found the strength to ask her to be his partner at the Yule Ball, even if he did not do so in the form of an actual question.
"Oh," she said. Giving nothing away as to what her exact reaction was. "Um… Harry…"
At that very moment, time seemed to have stopped for Harry Potter. He was not feeling any less nervous. In fact, it was only getting worse. He was getting so hot that he was sure sweat was starting to form at the top of his head. His heart was now beating at such a rate that it was like it was trying to race against a cheetah. Each breath he made was getting heavier and heavier than the last. And if there had not been any pink on his cheeks before, they were bound to be there now. It was almost like it did not matter what her response was going to be. At any minute he was more than likely going to have a heart-attack.
"Harry, I…" she continued to say before stopping. It seemed that she herself was stammering, but it still gave no clear indication of what her response was going to be. "I don't know what to say." And then, the entire world for Harry Potter seemed to have turned upside down, or at least becoming brighter than ever. Cho smiled and let out another light, soft laugh.
"Yes?"
So she did not explode with excitement and joy like some of the other girls would have. But the fact that she answered with that one word, even if it sounded more like a question than a statement, made his heart sing.
"Y-You would?" he dared to ask, wanting to make absolutely certain that she was saying what he thought she said.
"Yes," she replied with a laugh, nodding her head as she took a couple steps towards him. "I would like to go to the ball with you."
Harry wanted to say some thing, but nothing was coming out of his mouth. He was literally speechless. Cho Chang had just agreed to go with him to the Yule Ball. And he now he was having great difficulty just trying to get one word, any word, out of his mouth. This was absolutely revolting. Here he was, speaking to the girl he thought was the prettiest around, she had agreed to go to the ball with him, and could not speak. When he finally did, he sounded very hoarse, as though his voice had given out on him for no good reason.
"Thank you," he managed to say.
Her smile seemed to have gotten bigger as she laughed just a little more. Almost as if she rather enjoyed being in his company. Which helped him just ease a little. There was something about the way she smiled and laughed softly that made him relax. It was as though there was understanding in them and that she was letting him know that she did not mind him being as nervous as he was. Like a gesture of reassurance.
"So, that's it then?" she asked.
"Um," he uttered his favorite opening in response. "Yeah. Yeah, that's… That's it then… I guess… So, um… I'll be… seeing you?"
"All right," she said breathlessly. She then reached her arm out just enough for her to run her hand slightly, yet gently down his upper arm. When she had grabbed him earlier, he could not figure out the feeling he was experiencing at her touch. But this time, he was able to explain what it was. Euphoria. "See you then." Cho maintained her smile as she turned and slowly began to descend down the spiral staircase.
"Bye," he managed to say, hoping that she heard him. Even though she was no longer in sight, he brought his hand up for a wave and formed a light smile on his face.
Cho Chang said yes. That she would go to the Yule Ball with him. He could not believe what had just happened. It was a moment of his life that he would cherish forever. Of all the things he had accomplished thus far, from vanquishing a Basilisk to winning the Quidditch house cup to overcoming Dementors to freeing his godfather from captivity to taking on a Hungarian Horntail. They were nothing compared to the feeling of success he felt for not only finally asking Cho to the ball, but for her to say yes. He was in such a daze that he was barely conscious to the fact that he slowly stepped backwards into the Owlery and then suddenly collapsed onto the hay-covered floor. For quite a long while, Harry laid in place, looking up at the ceiling, watching the occasional owl fly by every now and then. His smile getting just a little bigger as he took a deep breath and then let out a sigh of great happiness.
Cho had just entered Ravenclaw Tower and was making her way to the common room when she was suddenly ambushed from behind. As the attackers started to let up, she managed to catch a glimpse of who was on top of her. They were none other than Marietta Edgecombe, Lisa Turpin, Mandy Brocklehurst, and Padma Patil, her little group of friends. All four appeared to be extremely excited, doing their best to contain the squealing that they clearly wanted to let out. And it seemed that they could not wait to include her in all of the fun. Making their way into the common room, Cho, Marietta, and Padma crashed down onto the couch while Lisa and Mandy leaned in from behind.
"You are not going to believe this," Padma stated, being the first to finally say something clearly.
"Guess who just asked Marietta to the ball?" Lisa asked, wanting so badly to have the answer to her own question revealed.
"Go on, guess!" Mandy whispered, trying to rush Cho into saying some thing even though barely a second had passed since Lisa spoke.
Cho shook her head and shrugged. "Roger Davies?" she guessed, even though she knew full well that Roger could not possibly be the correct answer. She just wanted them to get it over with and reveal who it was that asked Marietta to the Yule Ball that had them wanting to burst with joy.
"Cedric Diggory," Marietta calmly revealed. Seconds later, all of the other girls started screaming and squealing with such glee that it was deafening.
"Marietta, that's wonderful," Cho managed to say with a smile in response after the noise level had subsided. While they played against one another as opposing Seekers in Quidditch games, Cho had a small, yet respectable friendship with Cedric. The two of them had conversed a couple of times in the past, once after their first game against each other and then over the summer during the Quidditch World Cup. He seemed like a nice guy, so she imagined he would get along with Marietta. "I'm sure you guys are going to have a great time at the ball."
"Don't you know it," Marietta said, her excitement starting to build up to be of the same level as the other girls. "Me with a Triwizard Champion. Oh, I can't wait to see all the jealous faces when they see me dancing with him!"
At first glance, others would question Marietta having been sorted into Ravenclaw. She came off like the average girl who looked to improve their social standing by any means necessary. The truth was that she was academically one of the smartest girls in all of Hogwarts, if not the smartest. She could give any student a run for their money with how quickly and how accurately she could come up with an answer to any question presented to her on a test. It was just that she also wanted to be just as popular for her beauty.
"I bet the dress you'll wear will make you even more fab," Lisa stated.
"You'll definitely be the talk of the school by the time its over," Mandy commented.
Lisa and Mandy seemed like they were girls who wanted to be around popular people and say any thing positive about them. It was just that both Cho and Marietta tutored them their first year, like all second year students in Ravenclaw did, and helped shaped them into being the intelligent girls that they were. So as a way of saying thanks for helping them out, they gave them their full support and would be loyal through any thing that they went through.
"Kind of makes you wish you could go to the ball just to see the reaction they give her for being with Cedric," Padma said.
The Ravenclaw Patil ended up being part of the circle of friends almost by accident. She just happened to have a way with being able to explain certain things like Quidditch or Exploding Snap to the other girls, aside from Cho, that they could better understand and appreciate the concept. She was looked upon as being the equivalent of the street-wise member of the group, though she could clearly just be as girly as the others.
"Actually, I will be going to the ball," Cho announced, some what rather sheepishly since she really did not want to take away all of the excitement for Marietta. "I just got asked out and I said yes."
"Really?" all of the other girls gasped in unison.
While Cho was a fairly popular girl in Hogwarts, it was not necessarily by choice. She just happened to be some one with a naturally out-going personality that drew people to her. The way she looked and the way she smiled made every one who saw her feel good inside. It took a lot for her to ever think less of any one person and usually found at least one thing positive to say about them. Her being the goddaughter of a famous former professional Quidditch Seeker, as well as her having been able to hold her own in the previous term's Quidditch season, increased her popularity as people saw that she was very athletic. Modest to a fault, she also did not think of herself as being as beautiful as others would make her out to be. While she would try to look her best, she felt that she did not need to put in a whole lot of effort into being visually striking, unlike Marietta.
"You are going to tell us who asked you out, right?" Padma asked when there was a moment a silence following the revelation that had been announced. Though to be frank, the moment was awfully brief.
"So who is the lucky fellow that got Cho Chang to say yes?" Marietta questioned further, leaning as close to her friend as possible.
Cho smiled and shrugged. "Harry Potter," she answered rather simply.
"Harry Potter?" the other girls gasped, again in unison.
"The Boy Who Lived?" Lisa asked in disbelief.
"The other Hogwarts Triwizard Champion?" Mandy questioned in shock.
"The Seeker for Gryffindor?" Padma added with a curious brow raised.
"Yes, that Harry Potter," Cho answered to all three questions with a light laugh.
"Oh my gosh," Marietta managed to say, stunned at what she had just heard. "Cho, I… I really don't know what to say." There have been a few times when Cho felt Marietta might be jealous of some of the popularity she received, wanting to be the one to have that kind of attention. But eventually Marietta would come around and be happy for her friend since Cho would never display any sort of jealousy toward her if the roles had been reversed, and thus no need to feel any sort of envy.
"You don't really have to say any thing, Marietta," Cho said. "Although I'm sure how Cedric asked you to the ball would probably be the more interesting story for you to tell."
"What makes you say that?" Lisa asked curiously.
"Harry was just really nervous in asking me out and nothing more," Cho replied with a shrug. "Really couldn't come up with any thing else to say once I agreed, so that was it."
"I think you're right, Cho," Padma said in a teasing voice. "Marietta definitely has the better asking out story to tell. Your's was so boring that I think I'm going to fall asleep." Cho playfully threw a pillow at the Ravenclaw Patil, resulting in all five girls having a giggling fit. After a moment to calm down, Marietta started to tell Cho how it was that Cedric asked her to the ball with the others listening in to remember every detail of what they already knew themselves.
Harry sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. The golden egg he still had not figured out how to open properly was nestled in his lap while he stared into the fire, looking as though some thing was going to appear at any moment. He was lost within his own thoughts, not really paying any sort of attention to whatever went on around him. The coming and going of other Gryffindor students, who themselves seemed to have taken little notice of him sitting as close to the fireplace as he was. Hermione did take notice of him when she entered, but figured he was mentally working on the egg and thus left him alone by placing herself on the couch to read. If only she knew what was really going on inside of his head.
A commotion started to build up, making its way into the room. Harry remained still, but when he thought he heard Ron's name being mentioned he jumped to his feet to see what was going on. There he saw Ron, being accompanied by his younger sister Ginny and a few others, slowly enter the room. He was pale white, like he had just suddenly encountered an army of giant spiders gathering in the Forbidden Forest. Hermione caught sight of Ron herself and gasped, closing the book she had been reading and jumping to her feet as well.
"It's all right, Ron," Ginny said to her brother softly as she led him to the couch. "It's okay, Ron. It's all right. It doesn't matter."
"What happened to you?" Harry asked, walking up to his friend while Hermione crouched down beside him.
"He just asked Fleur Delacour out," Ginny answered for her brother.
Many had been getting on Ron's case, his brothers in particular, about his needing to ask a girl out to the ball before it was too late. Ron was quite apprehensive of the idea, believing himself to be not good enough to go out with any of the ones he fancied. When students he thought were in the same boat as him were finding girls to ask out, he started to get more uncomfortable than ever. He thought he could easily play it safe by asking out Hermione until he was shocked to find that she had already accepted an invitation from some one whose identity she would not reveal. The pressure was really starting to get on his nerves and he boldly stated that he would ask out the Triwizard Champion from Beauxbatons. If what Ginny said was true, he apparently went through with his word.
"What?" Harry asked is disbelief. "What did she say?"
"No, of course," Hermione said, basing her answer on the way Ron looked. But then he managed to muster the strength to just slightly shake his head and Hermione covered her mouth with both hands. "She said yes?"
"Don't be silly," Ron muttered. Then he started speaking more clearly. At least, as clearly as he could be under the state he was in. "There she was, walking by… You know how I like it when they walk… I couldn't help it… It just sort of slipped out…"
"Actually, he sort of screamed at her," Ginny explained in clarification. "It was a bit frightening."
"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron nearly cried. "What game was I playing at? There were people… all around… I've gone mad… everyone watching!"
"And what did you do then?" Harry asked.
"She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something," Ron answered, ignoring the question at first. "Didn't even answer. And then… I dunno… I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it." Ron then looked up to Harry, panic and fear painted across his face. "I'm not cut out for this, Harry. I don't know what got into me."
"You just wanted to get it over with," Harry said, hoping to ease his friend as much as he could. "That's all. Nothing wrong with that. Kind of brave, actually."
"Really?" Ron asked, not sure if he wanted to believe his friend. "You really think so?"
"Sure," Harry replied with a slight chuckle. "I mean, you said you'd ask out Fleur. No one believed you. But you did ask her out. So you ran away before you got a real answer. Yet you did what you said you were going to do."
"Oh yeah," Ron said, slowly starting to relax. Making Harry sigh with relief that he managed to pull that much off. "I guess you're right."
"Still leaves you without a girl to take to the ball," Ginny teased, earning her a glare from her brother that she ignored. "Both of you guys are without some one to take, actually. Perhaps you should take each other." She managed to move in time to avoid an elbow jab from Ron, causing her to laugh with delight.
"Harry, you really should hurry and ask a girl out," Hermione said. "Remember, the Triwizard Champions and their partners open the ball with a dance."
"But I'm already going with some one," Harry said without hesitation. He immediately stopped himself upon realizing what he just said. Unfortunately for him, the others heard him very clearly.
"You asked out a girl?" Ginny asked curiously.
"When were you going to tell us?" Hermione questioned with great interest. "When did you ask her?"
"It just happened," Harry answered, as though he needed to defend himself for some reason. "When I went to the Owlery an hour ago."
"Who's the lucky girl?" Ron asked.
Harry hesitated a little bit, tapping his fingers along the golden egg in his hands. "Cho Chang," he finally answered. The others were taken by surprise.
"The Seeker for Ravenclaw?" Ginny asked in stunned disbelief. "Why her?"
"He's been crushing on her since the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw game," Ron answered for his friend. "Smitten as soon as he laid eyes on her, isn't that right, mate?" Harry did not respond except for unconsciously forming shades of pink upon his cheeks. This made Ron chuckle with amusement.
"Well, I can imagine you taking so long to ask out a girl, then," Hermione said with a slight sigh. "I mean, there was a girl you've been interested in for roughly a year now and I guess you were just trying to muster up the courage to ask her out. Just like Ron tried to do."
"Only Harry was more successful," Ginny pointed out. She said it as a way of messing with her brother, but there was a slight hint of disappointment in her voice. Some thing that the others did not necessarily pick up on.
"Thank you for the reminder, Ginny," Ron grumbled. He turned his attention back to his friend. "So why aren't you bouncing off the walls? I mean, I would if I knew I was going to be going out with the girl I was crushing on."
"You clearly don't get it, Ron," Hermione said, as if needing to explain for Harry. "It's because that he had been interested in her that he's still as nervous as he probably was before he asked her out. Finally being able to ask her was only the first step. Now he has to actually take her to the ball. And that's where the challenge really begins."
"What do you mean by that?" Ron asked curiously.
Hermione was about to explain further, but Harry said some thing that helped illustrate the point rather easily. "I don't know how to bloody dance," he proclaimed in an exhale.
"Oh," Ron whistled. "Yeah, I can see how that can be a problem, mate. You've been smitten with her and you finally ask her out, but now you have to dance with her. In front of a lot of people, even."
"Gee, you don't say," Harry said with depressed sarcasm. He leaned himself up against the nearest wall then knocked the back of his head upon it. "Why does every thing have to be so difficult?"
"It's part of growing up, Harry," Hermione answered with a sigh. "It never gets any easier."
Author's Note: First of all, thank you all for the support you have been giving me thus far. I appreciate you guys hanging in there while I not only deal with my own personal business, but also with the decision to restart from the beginning. A lot of very interesting feedback, I should say. Which is excellent because it really helps me in understanding how to proceed with this version of the story. One thing I can reveal is that in this version the entire story will be told from Harry and Cho's perspectives. No one else's. This way, I can keep myself focused on the main point and not deviate into so many other directions like I had done previously.
ZarosKnight - You said "three hooded figures were four Slytherin students." Which is… not possible.
That's how Rowling wrote it in the book, if I recall correctly. I would imagine two of them, Goyle and Crabbe probably, were stacked upon one another to make one figure. I actually like to think of it that way, so that explains the four Slytherin students becoming three hooded figures.
On a related note, I have started listening to the audiobooks as read by the lovely Stephen Fry while I do my walks. I have been a fan of his even before the books were first published in watching his few appearances on the original British version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? back when they aired on Comedy Central. I actually did not know he did the British audiobooks until maybe a couple years ago, during which I was looking into all things that contained his double act with Hugh Laurie of House, M.D. fame. He does a wonderful job and I have tried to imagine how he would read the words I put down as I'm writing. I highly recommend getting your hands on those, if you haven't already.
Please don't forget to send in your reviews and spread the word. The more the merrier.
Harry Potter and all the characters, locations, and world created and copyright © JK Rowling. This story was created out of pure fun and enjoyment, so please don't sue or place an Imperius Curse on me.