Library
Harry is sequestered in the library in between the last
class of the day and dinnertime. How can he possibly get into trouble if he
stays put in here working? He's been keeping himself hidden more or less since
his embarrassment over being caught fighting with Malfoy
by Cho. Of all the people to catch
him fighting. *sigh*
The fact that she went back and helped heal the bruises
that Draco had on his face probably don't help with
that embarrassment, do they? Anyway, the last few days have been a bit better. Cho hasn't gotten much flack for the article, thanks in
part to the newest article, and also due to the fact that the Slytherins won't really give her much trouble, since a
fellow house-mate is involved in the scandal. She wanders into the Library,
returning a book and planning to look for the folder of notes she lost in here
not too long ago. Her search is distracted as she sees a certain Gryffindor.
She walks over and says, "Good day, Harry." At least she doesn't look
mad at him about the fight. The flowers probably helped with that though.
Harry was in the middle of sketching out some notes on
making a spell, which would probably be a bad idea, but those locating spells
are eluding discovery! Possibly locked safe and sound in the
restricted area. u.u
He didn't see Cho's approach, so when she speaks up,
his quill goes arcing across the paper and would screech if it made more sound
than scratching. "...." Least it wasn't his homework.. "C.. Cho..
hey.." Doesn't he look guilty..
Cho can't help but smile
lightly, even if she immediately says, "Sorry for startling you." She
has that effect on him, it seems. Though the guilt expression is noticed, she
decides it's likely better not to mention the fight at
all, not even to tell him he doesn't have to worry about it. "I got your
flowers. Thank you. It's okay that they were late. You've had a lot of things
on your mind." Her smile brightens near the end.
Harry sets his quill aside and looks at the parchment,
"Eh.. no damage done. It
was just some notes I was making." At the mention of the flowers, his ears
redden, "I still felt bad for forgetting, after asking when it was n'all.. " And then the stupid
fight.. Sorry you had to see that. A lot on his mind,
that's putting it mildly.
Cho continues to smile, shaking
her head, dark hair spilling around her shoulders, "Really Harry, it's fine. You didn't have to get me anything."
Especially not right now. With Hermione and Sakura still missing, it's got to
be difficult, and the article certainly didn't help with that. Nor the fight. She stands here a moment, as if trying to
think of something more to say (and actually trying to keep the fight out of
the conversation for a little while at least) before she looks at the notes.
"What were you working on?"
Harry wanted to anyway. So there.
Actually he doesn't know what possessed him to do it. "I wanted to.." Darnit, his ears are
still red. Hopefully his hair is covering it. "Back at work on researching
locating spells. I was even looking into the possibility of even writing one.. " But he's far from even
being able to achieve something of that proportion. So he may have to raid the
restricted section after hours. "I know I've been told specifically to not
meddle, but I can't just sit back and wait." Yup.
Professor McGonagall told him to stay out of trouble, let the teacher's handle
this. Yeah.. right.
Cho nods slowly, smile suddenly
fading down some. All the notes that she lost happened to be the ones she had
found on locating spells. She's hopes that one of the teachers didn't start
going through them and realizing what she was attempting to find. She'd rather
not get the same warning as Harry. "I know you can't." She's talking
to Moral Fiber boy after all. Besides, he has a reputation for getting involved
in big things that students generally aren't supposed to do. "I have no
idea how to write a spell, but it must be done somehow."
Harry just gets.. tangled up in things through no real fault of his own. Stuff
happens to him at what seems like complete random, but by now, it's entirely
obvious that it's not so random anymore. He still has to tackle Ron into
sneaking with him into the next venture.. the girl's dorm to look for clues. That'll be interesting.
"I have no idea either.. but
spells just don't create themselves.. I know Fred and George experiment a lot
with things, so simple spells, like charms can't be too hard to create."
But something massive like a locating spell?
"It'd take a lot of work, either way." Cho says softly, leaning over to looking at the scratched
up notes. She lays a hand on the table for support before she says, "Well,
I had a lot of notes of /mentions/ of locating spells in books, but very few
for actual spells themselves. I wish I wouldn't have lost them..." But
she'd been a little distracted that night when they got lost and she has no
idea where they might have gone off to. Someone else probably picked them up.
Little does she know that someone else was one of Draco's
cronies.
You can kiss those notes goodbye in that case. They were
to help out Kiss My Feet I Have A Scar Potter and his mudblood pet Granger and an exchange student. You aren't
seeing the notes again. "It's alright.. I still
have the one's I've taken." Just a minor setback..
"I can probably manage to get into the restricted section and look
there." He could just ask his godfather to sign a permission slip, but
then he'd know what Harry's on about, and we can't have that happening. Professor
Lupin's a no go as well.
Cho nods carefully, still
leaning over a bit to look at the notes. "Well, if you can find something
in there that would help, it'd be a good idea to try. If they don't have any
actual locating spells, I bet there'd at least be a book about creating
advanced spells. Or at least one that describes the applied theory towards
it." She still wishes she had her notes. Not that these are all bad, but
she worked for hours and hours getting those notes. If they don't turn up
today, she'll likely try asking Draco. He was there
when she lost them after all. Good luck, huh? Heh.
Harry nods his head, "I can only hope.. and if Hogsmeade
wasn't restricted, I could check the stores there." He could just sneak
out, but once again, you can't outsneak a marauder.. Invisibility cloak or no.
"I can work advanced spells after a lot of practice and study.. but research on creating them,
that's Hermione's expertise.." and saying that hurts a bit.
"Something will get worked out anyway this goes.."
Cho looks up from the notes as
he says his friends name, biting down on her lip for a
second. When he finishes she reaches over and touches his arm, briefly giving
it a squeeze. "She'll be all right." It's said in a comforting way.
Even if she should have doubts on the safety of his friend, she isn't going to
show that at all. There's still hope after all, and best to hold onto that hope
as long as possible. "And I bet she'll be highly impressed at all the work
you're doing." If she knew Hermione beyond just reputation, she might add more
than that, but she doesn't. Poor Hermione is probably going to be horrified
when he finally finds her. She missed so many classes! Ahem.
Harry has a good many doubts and theories as to what's
being done to the girls at the moment and he doesn't like any of them. "..
I hope she'll be okay." Sorry he's not feeling optimistic enough to share
your train of thought. "Then she'd go off about why didn't I look at such
and such spell, or this book, or that idea, it's so obvious. You and Ron are SO
thick headed." Just thinking of the chastisement does make him grin a bit.
He looks down at your hand on his arm, and well, his ears stay a nice shade of
red. They can go back to a normal color anytime now.. Really.
Cho smiles more at the talk
about his friend. The ears are either ignored, or go unnoticed. Most likely ignored though. If she really minded the fact
that his ears turn red sometimes around her, she probably wouldn't continue to
smile. Some people would probably consider it flattering. "Either way, I
think you've very lucky to have friends like them. And they, you." She
gives another light squeeze of her hand, and then pulls it back to rest on the
table again. "If you find anything in the restricted section you can
contact me. I might not be able to help that much, but two minds going over the
information might help."
Harry doesn't mean for his ears to color, they just do.
It's either that or his entire face flames like a cheery fire and he stammers
worse than his clumsy dance request and attempt to ask you to the ball last
school year. Ack! His face does flush at the
compliment, "Nah.. I'm just a nobody.. I do agree that I'm incredibly lucky to have them for
friends." Yes, the Dursley's did a good number
on his self image huh? "Alright. I do agree.. One pair of eyes can miss something."
And having people like Draco
around to remind you just how 'pathetic' you are every chance he gets probably
doesn't help. Cho does shake her head at the ‘nobody’
bit and says with a smile, "You should learn to accept compliments."
She won't repeat herself though. "Well, just drop me an owl or pull me
aside at a meal and I'll help you." At least Help isn't an evil word to
this fellow Seeker. Everytime she tries to 'help' Draco she tends to get yelled at.
No, Draco doesn't help one bit.
Not that Harry really believes anything the blonde git
spews forth. He just continues to color, ".. Erhm.. I try.."
You'd think after knowing who he is and what he is, that he could accept praise
and compliments easier, but he just can't. If anything those things make him
uncomfortable. "I'll do that.. thanks..
I hope helping doesn't get you into any sort of trouble."
"As long as it doesn't end up in the newspaper, I'll
be happy." Cho teases for a moment. Her name has
been in the prophet enough times this month. Her mother actually sent an owl
and wanted to know more about this Malfoy boy that
was mentioned! That was mortifying. Hopefully she believed the return owl that
there was nothing going on really, that it was a misunderstanding. "But
even if it is, what's the worst that could happen?" Get expelled, attempt
to do the spell and turn themselves inside out, get
themselves killed.
Harry grins and shakes his head, "That all depends
on the publicity you get." You poor thing.. He's
really sorry that you got splashed across the papers with HIS name. "Don't
even say that... When someone says that, the worst DOES
happen." but too late, it's already out there. The worst that can
happen is you get associated with him, Voldemort
catches wind and bam, you're bait too. Then Harry will
just have to go hang himself or something to save Voldemort the trouble.
Well, considering her recent association with a certain Malfoy (publicized association at that) perhaps she's safe,
considering certain factors that she of course has no idea about. Cho smiles apologetically, "Sorry. Won't
say it again." There's a small pause, then she makes a sudden
choice, though she knows it will likely make the conversation tense, but she
needs to say this. So what happened the other day won't happen again. Not that
Harry and Draco really need an excuse to argue...
"Um, there is one thing that I need to tell you. Just to make things clear.. Draco isn't hurting me."
Well, not really at least. "I know you had good intentions, but--"
She trails off, shaking her head.
Harry laughs just a little, "I'm sure things will be
fine. I'm just feeling a bit paranoid about things." Especially
his friends. "... Oh.." But if you
had heard what the brat did say before you walked in..
".. I just had a feeling he was trying to. He certainly sounded as if he
was out to.. I dunno, cause you intentional harm." Because you've been
talking to him, and the stupid slimy git caught on
that Harry fancies you. Wonderful. ".. I lost my
temper. After four years of putting up with him, he still manages to push me
over the edge." Under the best of circumstances, he has a hard time
restraining himself. Usually he retaliates with words, but after this past
term, and then the jerk's comments on the train going home last year.. "He just seems to have gotten worse since the Final
Task.. and me being on edge
doesn't help."
Cho certainly understands
losing your temper around Draco. She smacked him
pretty good herself once, though she still feels like she ought to apologize
for it, even if he deserved it. "I'm not blaming you for what happened, I
just--" Again, she trails off. But this time because the last bit that
Harry said soaks in. The Third Task? Oh, she knows good and well what happened then, but she had no idea that
anything happened with Draco around that time. Her
voice is tighter as she asks, "What do you mean by that?"
Harry uhohs mentally.. he shouldn't have said that..
Now he's starting to sound like Hagrid. "...
Nothing.." He doesn't want to be the one to tell
you the nasty comments Malfoy was making on the
train, causing a chain reaction of jinxes and hexes to be thrown at him and his
cronies. Nice to see that the Slytherin's were able
to get rid of the effects .. He then looks down at a
book in front of him, anything to keep from looking up at you. Hopefully his
response will do and he won't be pressed..
Unfortunately, the mention of 'nothing' isn't what Cho is willing to accept right now. "What
happened?" comes not long after he looks away. She doesn't move at all as
she asks this, but her voice is growing still tighter. While she generally
isn't the pressing type, anything related to that fateful time has a tendency
to make her desire some explanation, even if it's painful.
Harry keeps his eyes down on the book, keeping silent for
a few minutes as if a great mental debate was being waged in his head. He
doesn't want to tell you this, but you deserve to know what kind of swotty little git Malfoy is.. ".. Let's just
say he was showing no sympathy over matters.. I saw
him muttering to Crabbe and Goyle
during Professor Dumbledore's end of the year speech, when he was talking about
Cedric.. and then on the
train home.. they came in to taunt us.. Hermione, Ron,
Fred, George and I jinxed them for their comments." Much to the delight of
Fred and George at some of the odd results.. not that anyone felt any real satisfaction over it.
As he speaks, there's a very long silence from the older Ravenclaw. Since his eyes aren't on her, he likely doesn't
see the expression that crosses her face, nor the fact that she closes her eyes
and lowers her head, still braced against the table. Probably
a good thing now too. Cho won't say that she
can't believe that, or that it isn't like Draco
because... well... it's exactly like Draco. She just
never expected him to-- Finally she makes a sound, a low sigh and says. "I
understand."
Harry does glance up after another moment. ".. I'm
sorry..." Yeah.. well.. that's Malfoy for you. One could
have hoped that the boy wouldn't have felt so.. cold towards the death of a fellow student. Maybe the kid is
already signed up for Junior Death Eaters or something. ".. I don't know
if he honestly meant what he said, or if he did just to get a rise out of
Hermione, Ron and I. They didn't realize Fred and George were behind
them." Maybe after the death of that Slytherin
girl Malfoy wised up a bit. Probably not, but now he
at least knows how it feels to lose someone. Granted they weren't even close,
but.. well.. Here's to
hoping.
The Prophet certainly seemed to think that Malfoy suffered a similar tragedy to Cho's
own. And for a few days perhaps he was actually upset, he certainly seemed like
a wreck. But then the Dementors might have had
something to do with that. There's a few deep slow
breaths, meant to keep her calm by the looks of it. She doesn't want to get too
upset standing here in the Library, "It's okay. I've already learned to
not try to expect anything from him." For once she doesn't say his name.
She opens her eyes; unable to take out the hurt in them, but at least she
doesn't look upset to the point of tears or anything. "So, when are you
going to try to get into the Restricted Section."
Suddenly desperate to change subjects back, isn't she?
Harry doesn't blame you for wanting the subject change. Malfoy's not a very good topic, nor are thoughts of last
school year.. He just nods in regards to your comment
about Malfoy. ".. I'm not sure..
I have to be extremely careful." Meaning he's going to have to break out
the Marauder's Map, make sure his godfather isn't prowling his office and
hoping that he doesn't have his own map out.
"Yes. You better not get caught." Cho already helped him out of potential points taken away
for the fight with Malfoy. Part of the reason she
offered to heal up Draco's cheek. Keeps questions
from being asked that might hurt. "I better go now. Let me know if you get
in, all right?" She straightens, and the fact that her voice is still
tight and her eyes have that hurt expression might show part of the reason
she's leaving.
Harry feels like a complete heel now. HE should have kept
his fat mouth shut. ".. I will. Thanks again.. for your offers to help out.." He sits back in his
chair, watching as you depart.