And, delayed? Yes. Sorry. I kinda forgot. Blame drivers ed.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to JKR and her publishers.
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�Hey there.� Cho looked up at the voice. Draco Malfoy pushed himself off the wall of the hospital building and ambled towards her. He had changed out of his chef uniform and was wearing casual clothing. She thought he looked strangely normal.
�Hey,� Cho returned softly, crossing her arms and leaning back on her heels. He stopped within a few yards of her.
�So.�
�So.� Cho breathed out and smiled cheerily. �Walk me home?�
He didn�t reply, but he held out his arm to her.
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�How�s Su?�
�Hysterical.�
�Oh, don�t exaggerate.� Cho glared at him, but the anxious twitch around her lips gave her away.
�She�s manageable. Castor brought back some chocolate so she�s all right. The question is, are you all right?�
Cho snorted and rolled her eyes. �Of course I�m fine. Why wouldn�t I be?�
�Well, let�s see.� Draco tapped his lip with one finger. �You have this tendency to say things without thinking twice, and then torture yourself about the consequences of it for the rest of the week. Then you mope around some more, convinced that everyone thinks you�re an idiot or a blabber mouth or just plain ignorant, which you can�t stand, being the Ravenclaw perfectionist that you are. Am I right?�
�No,� Cho sulked. Draco�s lip twitched into a wry smile.
�She�s not angry with you, if that�s what you�re worried about. I�m not either, for that matter.�
�You aren�t?� Startled, Cho stopped in her tracks and stared at him. �I mean, why?� He shrugged and continued walking, forcing her to catch up.
�You were being honest, and despite what you may say against my good character, I respect that.�
�But I would be mad at me, honesty or not,� she said, looking troubled.
�You haven�t been lied to as much as I have, and you�re a lot more selfish,� Draco replied, ignoring her squeak of protest. �Besides, if you believe I killed those people, then there�s nothing much I can do to convince you otherwise, is there?�
�No, not much,� she admitted.
�Yeah, well, so there you go.� He made a small motion that looked casual, but Cho knew that he was a little bit annoyed.
�But Draco, I don�t hold it against you, not one bit.�� Cho didn�t look at him as they came to the door and she fumbled for keys. �It was war time, and you were defending yourself and your parents. I can�t see the disgrace in that,� she said, pushing the door open and motioning him to follow her.
Snorting, he followed her inside the apartment lobby and into the elevator. �Apparently, self-defense wasn�t a good enough reason to get me completely off the hook. Neither was my cover of Sir You-Know-Who suddenly self-combusting from bloating gases and wiping out the remainder of his army.�
�I could�ve told him Pepto Dismal wouldn�t work on him,� Cho quipped. �Floor eleven. Here we are. Leave your shoes out here.� She unlocked the apartment door, opened a small cabinet and pulled out a pair of slippers. �Go ahead and put these on.�
Draco obliged and followed Cho to the living room. She motioned him to a set of couches and a coffee table, all which had some sort of obscenely cute stuffed animal perched on the cushions.
�Sit here for a bit. I�ll go get tea.�
�It�s fine, I�m alright.�
�No, no. Sit. Stay. Good boy.� Cho crossed into the kitchen and pulled out a beautifully decorated box. She shook some dried leaves into a mug, then added hot water from a boiler and brought it to where Draco sat a bit uncomfortably.
�It�s a nice house,� he said, sipping the hot tea.
�Not too shabby. My brother�s not much of a decorator, but he keeps this area presentable. No sign of the floor in his own room though,� Cho said, grinning. She sat down across from him and pulled a plushy piggy into her lap. �Have you eaten yet?�
�I�m good,� he replied immediately, holding up a hand as she began to rise. �Please, stay put. I�ll be fine, I swear.�
�Okay then.�
She stared at Draco, and bit her lips.
�So, any reason in particular you wanted to see me?� she asked lightly.
�Ah.� He held up a finger, put down his cup, and took an envelope from inside of his jacket. �I was also bringing you back your pictures. I think Orla wants to make some copies of a few, so she�ll return the box to you later, but these are the ones she didn�t need.�
�Good ol� Hogwarts,� Cho said wistfully, shaking out the pictures and shuffling them. �Things were innocent then, weren�t they?�
�Of course not. But it was a damn good fa�ade, wasn�t it?�
Laughing, Cho nodded. �But at least you know where you stood.�
�I never did,� Draco remarked. �Or don�t you remember?�
�How so?�
He made an exaggerated motion with his hands. �First through fifth year; beloved asshole, rat-prince of Slytherin, witty and clever and detestable enemy of the glorious Harry Potter. Sixth year, and I�ve been recruited by my cousin to work undercover for Dumbledore, of all people. My father finds my behavior and actions more and more detestable, and my friends begin to hate me. Seventh year, I am loathed and cursed by both sides as murderer, traitor, and general low-life scum.� He shook his head. �I wonder that I was able to graduate from school.�
�Oh, Draco,� Cho murmured.
�What?�
�You are in awful need of a hug,� she told him, a slightly exaggerated look of pity on her face. The expression had the desired affect and he broke into a lopsided grin.
�I did sound a bit slushy there, didn�t I?�
�You can say that again,� Cho said laughing. He had the grace to look faintly embarrassed.
�Ah, I guess I�m getting a bit reminiscent too.�
�What for?� Cho rolled her eyes and made a �pshaaaw� noise. �You live a new life now. There�s no need to return to the past anymore.� She smiled at him, and barely missed the stiffening in his posture.
�You�re right,� he said after a moment. �There�s no need at all.�
��Anything wrong?� Cho asked, straightening up. He looked at her, then away, and shrugged.
�Nothing. Everything�s going on swimmingly.� He watched as her eyebrow rose in disbelief.
�Swimmingly?� she asked. She deliberately tossed the plushy pig into the air. �Now I know something�s wrong. What is it?�
He caught the pig and glared at her. �Nothing.�
�Draco-�
�These pictures are great,� he said, leaning over the table, and picking out some of them.
�Can�t you tell me anything?�
�Isn�t that the Creevey boy? I say you�re lucky to get rid of him.�
�Draco-�
�And look, here�s one of you and Insanely Scarred Boy. You know he still has a humongous crush on you today? What an idiot, hey?�
�You�re very frustrating, you know?� Cho tried to interrupt, but Draco refused to look at her and continued on relentlessly.
�I know- and here�s Michael Corner. And Roger Davies. Good looking bloke.�
�Will you stop it? What is this, dig up all of Cho�s ex-boyfriends day? Draco-� She stopped when he found a picture and tapped it with a humorless smile.
�Ah, and good ol� Cedric. He was decent enough. Lucky bastard. I don�t think you ever got over him, did you? Even today, despite your professionalism and doctor whatever, you never stopped pining for him. That makes me all the more curious. So how many of those after him, exactly, were replacements? You know, I�ve always wondered, is that why you left the wizarding world? Because if I�m wrong, by all means, stop me.� He stopped at stared at her coolly. �Because if I�m right, then you have no reason at all to question me about anything at all. You�re as bad as I am, and just as selfish too, except more so. At least I don�t use on others, milk them for all their worth then toss them aside like unwanted dirty laundry-�
Cho slapped him and the silence that followed afterwards was ice cold.
�Get a grip, Malfoy,� she hissed, tears bright in her eyes. �I don�t know what�s wrong with you, but I don�t want to talk to you when you�re like this.�
Draco didn�t move; only his jaw clenched and he swallowed deliberately. Finally, he looked up at her slowly.
�I apologize. That was not my business. I forgot myself.�
�It�s alright,� she whispered back, a harsh rasp in her voice. His gray eyes didn�t move from her, but she didn�t return his gaze.
�It�s just,� and then suddenly, Draco reached out. Hesitantly, the tips of his slender fingers brushed over her cheek. Startled, Cho looked up, and found his eyes very bright and very intense on hers. �I�ve been the biggest fool of all. I never could understand why, if you needed replacements, you couldn�t have considered me, even a little bit.�
�Draco?� Cho whispered, confused and stunned as the implications of his words hit her. He smirked, but not without a good amount of bitter self-derision, and stood up abruptly. With numbing slowness, Cho�s mind processed his retreat from the couch and to the door.
�Draco?� she repeated, turning her head to where he stood by the door.
�I�m going back home,� he replied simply. �Next week. It�s time I returned there anyways.�
�To-to- You can�t! That�s-that�s awful!� Cho cried, leaping up from her seat. He snorted.
�Of course not. Don�t be dramatic. I�m just going home.� He opened the door and stepped outside, then raised a finger and turned around again.
�By the way, before I forget.� He fumbled around his neck, pulled something out, and tossed it to Cho, who caught it fumblingly.
�It�s been my lucky charm for awhile now,� he admitted. �But since you miss it, then I should probably return it to you.� He waved jauntily, a carefree grin on his face and closed the door behind him.
Cho looked down slowly, the sound of the closing door still in her ears, and stared at the jade pendant in her palm. It was still as smooth and beautiful as she remembered it, as unchanged as the day he�d taken it away.
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����������� I think this is about as sappy as I can possibly get without verging on outright nausea. Whee, I think there will be one more chapter of this, and then RSC will end.
And to quote my Civics teacher: Questions? Comments? Violent disagreements?