Great Hall
The Great Hall certainly seems to be the heart of
Hogwarts, as every day the four houses of Hogwarts and professors alike join
together in this magnificent corridor.
Even the elitist wizard or witch would be bedazzled by the sheer
brilliance of this hall.
The room seems to be lit by an endless number of candles
floating atop the five tables set up here.
Four of the tables are evenly placed beside each other, measuring at
least a hundred meters each. These
polished tables seem to possess an endless number of golden goblets and
platters, which are empty at the moment, but rest assured; any decent magical
institution would fill them with many eats as breakfast, lunch, and dinner each
roll around. The walls adjacent with the
four tables are decorated with elaborately ornamented flags of the four houses:
Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw,
and Slytherin.
Of course, seated at these four tables would be the students of these
houses.
At the front of the room is another table, identical to
the other tables in the room except for the fact that the professors at
Hogwarts dine there. Above that table is
the crest of Hogwarts, proudly displayed in all its glory. The occasional suit of armor is placed around
the room, as well as a few framed pictures, but it's not like the room really
needs to be decorated by things such as those.
Above the tabletops is a magnificent ceiling, if it's a
ceiling at all. It seems to be the
starry sky itself; the ceiling stretches upward so
high, it certainly is hard to tell if there's a rooftop covering the room or
not. Although someone who has been
reading his or her books about Hogwarts would tell you it's bewitched to look
like the sky outside. Nevertheless, the
room as a whole certainly is a breath-taking place.
It's time for dinner! Students are starting to pile into
the Great Hall, wanting their empty stomaches to be
filled and then there's Draco, who is not entering, but preparing to leave. He had some free time before dinner
and decided to have his earlier than normal, mostly because it would mean that
he could avoid seeing Potter over at the Gryffindor table and, hopefully, his
stupid little groupies, too. Indeed, the Malfoy boy
is still upset about yesterday. He pushes his food around the plate, though, or
what's left of it. Yay. Of course, he's at the Slytherin
table, mostly by himself, though there are a few others who populate it, just
preparing to eat.
Entering with a group of her Ravenclaw friends, smiling at them as they share a moment
of conversation. Most of them are giggling, but whatever it is about, Cho is pleased at the subject. Or at least she doesn't look
upset. Perhaps they got over the whole article business finally and no longer
feel the desire to tell her every five minutes that they know she would /never/
be seen in the Astronomy Tower with Draco Malfoy. While she hasn't corrected them, she certainly
hasn't confirmed their beliefs. If anyone would directly ask her if that really
happened she would be forced to tell them that 'yes, some of it did', but no
one has asked, so she hasn't felt the need to answer. It's none of their
business that she was up in the
Wow. Something slightly more
entertaining than watching the last of his food move around the plate while he
idly pokes it with a fork. Thank god for small miracles. Draco lazily looks up, his blue eyes locking onto the
girls' face and he finally smiles faintly, though it could be interpretted as a smirk, and simply replies, "Evening,
Cho." But before the boy manages to get out
anything else, a large tawny owl swoops into the Great Hall through one of the
upper windows and heads straight for the Slytherin
table... It circles it a few times, looking for the receiver of the delivery,
some of the students throwing their arms over the food to save it from feathers
and possible droppings. A few seconds later, the owl plunks down right in front
of blonde with an indignant squack, irritated,
obviously, at how long it took to find him, its leg stretching out. What in the
world? Isn't owl post only supposed to come in the mornings? He unties the
binding and removes the note from the bird's leg... then curiously flips it
over to see who it's addressed to... only to pale, more than he already is, at
the words.
"How are you--" That's as far as Cho gets before the sounds of the owl and the students
trying to protect their food draw her attention for a moment. She glances up to
spy the creature heading towards their table, and opens her mouth to ponder the
same exact thing. Why is an owl bringing mail at this hour? But it never comes
out as she follows it with her eyes and it reaches it's
destination. What? Something for Draco?
She says nothing as he unties the note, and she actually politely doesn't pry
on what it is, at least until she sees his reaction towards it. She moves
closer to him and leans over to try to get a look before she asks, "What's
the matter? What is it?"
It's someone's idea of a sick joke. It has to be. Maybe it's revenge for what he had said in regards to Cedric, but
even then, Draco would never, ever go as far as this.
He would never stoop this low. Obviously, his reaction to the writing has been
noticed, so he does his best to compose himself, although it doesn't seem to
work entirely. His hands shake somewhat, but the Slytherin
manages to unfold the note and his eyes scan the contents... before he just...
laughs it off... waving his hand before passing it up to Cho
to see. "It's... a note." He manages to get out, but funny enough,
his neutral tone of voice probably sounds forced. "From Aranea. Isn't that funny? Dead people can't send
letters." Or maybe they can and he doesn't know about it... But, even so,
if it's a joke, it still hurts. There's no denying that...
When Cho finds out what's on
the note, her reaction is immediate. A hand goes to her mouth and she too pales
considerably. Even looks as if she's either going to be ill, or about to start
crying. It's... so cruel. It's beyond anything that she would ever think a
human being of some morales and humanity would ever
do. If someone had done something like that to her about
Cedric... She doesn't think she could have even managed to force a
neutral tone. "Draco.. who.. why.. who
would do such an awful thing!?" Her voice rises to such levels that it
could probably draw a few people's attentions before she lowers it down and
tries to reach for the letter, wanting to read whatever was written by sick
person. "Whoever did this deserves--" she
trails off. She doesn't know what they deserve, but they deserve /something/.
This is just awful and cruel. So much more than what she heard Draco did last year.
Yick. Enough of this tripe. Heads start
turning in their direction and if it wasn't before, it's noticeable, now. Some
people whisper about the possible contents of the note, others about the
'relationship' of the two, saying things like 'I didn't even know Malfoy was capable of those feelings.' or 'Ick. How can she like a slimy git
like him?' to even 'Aw, they're so cute together!', but the only people who say
that are the ones that actually like Draco and those
whom he hasn't been mean to... which could be anyone but the Gryffindors. He stands up from his chair, the last of the
food disappearing from his plate, one hand reaching out to take Cho's. "Let's leave... and talk about this outside."
Of course, this causes more whispering to move around the Great Hall. D'oh.
As she sees some of what's on the note, Cho's expression starts to lean more towards about to cry
than about to be sick. But as he takes her hand and says that
about leaving, she blinks and clears her eyes a bit, nodding. Her hand
squeezes his as if in an attempt to give some form of comfort as she says,
"All right." She wishes she could say something that would erase this
horrible thing that was done to him, but she knows somewhere that she can't.
It's just too much, too horrible.
And he immediately leads Cho
out of the Great Hall by her hand. Some take it as holding hands, others say
that he's dragging the Ravenclaw out against her
will, but as soon as they leave, conversations resume and the gossip dies out. They can't see what's going on, anymore, so why
even bother to chatter about it? Well, that's the way it is with the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. Who
knows about the Ravenclaws, but some of the Slytherins whisper about it, either saying that it's cute,
or they're jealous, and Pansy's group of friends immediately begin to reassure
her that she's SO MUCH BETTER than Cho Chang. Hee hee. Out into the entrance hall they go. "It's
probably revenge for something I said last year on the train." Draco says it as though assuming she doesn't know, "It
wouldn't surprise me... but still... it looks like Aranea's
handwriting, or what I remember of it..." And that's the part that bugs
him the most...
The Ravenclaws are probably
still whispering. Mainly about 'What if that article /was/ true?' 'She never
said it wasn't...' 'You don't think it was?' And things of
the similar. Cho certainly isn't being dragged
out, because she walks more or less beside him as she does this, but the sad
expression might support being dragged out. As they are finally out of the
Great Hall, she looks over at him, trying to keep the sympathetic look at bay,
but failing miserably. And at the mention of the train she blinks, "No.. that's nothing compared to this.
This is.. so cruel.."
This makes everything that he has ever said or done in her hearing and by word
of mouth kind in her mind. This is just so awful. As for the last part, she
just looks vaguely horrified. Whoever did this went through the trouble of even
copying her hand writing!
The most he happened to see of Aranea's
handwriting was that one day, when he came into the common room and spoke with
her while she was working on something for class. There wasn't that much to
view, as there were more textbooks then actual parchment, the recent passage of
her writing burning away merrily in the fire, but regardless, Draco has seen some of it. His blue eyes widen, however, as
though in surprise. So she knows about what he said... last year on the train?
Apparently so, but he doesn't let it show... if one doesn't count his eyes. He
leads her past the Entrance Hall and into the dungeons. "The Slytherin common room should be empty right now. If there's
anyone in there, I can get them to leave." He just said to leave, not what
their destination should be, but obviously, if they wanted privacy, it'd have
to be found in a common room and no doubt the Ravenclaws
wouldn't want Draco Malfoy
in theirs. Her sympathetic look gets outright ignored, but that's probably a
good thing. It'd probably upset him, more.
Well, what he has seen of her handwriting is far more
than Cho ever has, so she's willing to take his word
on it. And she knows enough about what he said, even if Harry didn't give her
the exact words that came out of his mouth. He more than well applied what had occurred,
and that it was bad enough for him and his cronies to get hit by five different
jinxes at once. She continues beside him, trying her best to quell the horror
and sympathy that's across her face. It really helps when he mentions the Slytherin Common room. What!? But--
Wouldn't-- Isn't that against rules? Won't the higher level Slytherin's get... She doesn't
continue, but the shock and surprise is obviously very apparent in her
expression, and the loosening of her grip on his hand. "But Draco... I--" She trails off
verbally, the same as she did mentally. Finally she just nods. "All right." Yes, the Ravenclaws
likely would not want him to enter their Common Room, or anyone else either.
But she really wonders if the Slytherins would really
be that much more lenient.
"Although they probably wouldn't like it very much,
don't worry about the Slytherins. They'll listen to
anything I say." He's not respected by the other houses, but in his own...
Draco Malfoy is a god...
and his father is big, bad and scary. He's like... a little prince of the Slytherin house; the other members of it are his
worshippers, followers, so on and so forth. "If I say that it's alright,
they won't worry about it. Besides, there shouldn't be anyone there, anyways,
so there's no point in fussing about it." He manages to give her a rather
short, pointed look, "Unless you can think of some place better to
go." Which he doubts. The boy doesn't even bother
to slow down or stop and wait for a reply as he should, just leads
her straight down into the dungeons until reaching the large stone wall at the
very end where he finally stops. "Nocturnal." The blonde barks the
password at it, then the stone wall begins to shudder, followed by moving...
only to reveal, just as he had thought, an empty common room with a fire
crackling dimly, the flames dancing across the dark walls, across the colored
fabrics of green and silver, plus, the emblem of the snake.
Can she think of anywhere better? Cho's
mouth opens, but no words come out. She could probably say a few things, random
corridors, but again, the chances of a ghost or someone else wandering into
them is a lot more likely in a corridor than in the privacy of one's common
room. So she keeps any ideas she might be able to supply to herself. As he says
the password so she can hear it, her mouth hangs open again, before she can
close it. She was quite willing to cover her ears while he said it... This is
one thing that a person in another house really /should not/ know. Of course
they'll likely change it soon, if anyone finds out a Ravenclaw
was in his house... Cho looks around, taking a slow
breath. This is not supposed to be a sight she should ever see, but... she
looks towards Draco. He needs somewhere he feels
comfortable right now. The fact that he's willing to take /her/ to this place
of comfort... Well, she should certainly be happy, and if she wasn't so upset
for him, she probably would be. "I-- It seems you were right. No one here." She can't think of anything else to say,
but she's giving him that sympathetic look again.
Oh. No. He was actually wrong. There is someone there. Someone that can easily be dealt with, however. He steps
into the common room, releasing Cho's hand rather
quickly with a muttered apology, as though not exactly meaning to drag her by
hand. "Goyle. Get
up." He says to the rather large boy who lounges about on the couch as
though he owned it. Of course, nothing happens. Goyle
just rolls over, kinda, and ignores him. "Move
it, you glutton. If you don't get up, now, you're going to miss dinner!"
And that seems to get through to him. Food is the only way to make an idiot
notice anything. The minion opens his eyes and looks up first at Draco, then over towards Cho, to
which his mouth drops. Goyle begins to say something,
but Draco draws himself up and looms rather
frighteningly before him, his lips turning upwards into a nasty sneer.
"This is none of your business, Goyle. You'll
have probably forgotten it by the time you reach the Great Hall. Now, get
out." Funny how Goyle could probably break Malfoy in half, but somehow, the smaller boy manages to be
more intimidating. Goyle nods his head rather dumbly,
and then rises, followed by heading out as quickly as possible. Aie! Draco's scary! Well, not
anymore. He sits down rather heavily in the seat across from where Goyle was discovered to be sleeping and sets his elbows
onto the kneecaps, his hands, turning into fists, press together at the knuckles
just so he can lean his forehead against them, kinda
like being deep in thought but more depressed. He's not going to cover his
face, for one.
How could she have missed seeing that big lug on the
couch? Well, she wasn't exactly trying to look too closely. Cho
really shouldn't be here. Watching Draco work his
intimidation on the much bigger boy, she can't help but raise eyebrows and be
somewhat impressed. It's not that she enjoys watching him cower
a much taller person, but it helps her see some insight into how he operates.
She doesn't even smile as Goyle notices her, just
looking at him calmly. Though once he leaves she does let out a small relieved
sigh. At least it wasn't someone who the young Seeker couldn't cow, though
she's wondering if such an animal exists in the Slytherin
house. She doesn't move from where she is as he seats himself. It isn't until
he pulls his head down to his hands that she breaks away and walks across to
him. She kneels down in front of the chair, adjusting her robes as she settles
down onto her knees. "Draco..
I know how you must feel." Her hands move to rest on his wrists, offering
a supportive hold. "I can't really say anything that will make it better,
but... I'm here." She knows it isn't much, but she can't say it'll be all
right, because it won't. Even if they find whoever did this horrible thing and
punish them, Aranea will still be dead and the pain
of receiving the note will still have existed.
He closes the blue eyes and just... doesn't say anything.
It's not because he can't think of something but more that he doesn't actually
want to, at least not for the moment. "I bet nobody did this to you after Diggory..." Draco bites down
on his tongue. No, he won't say something nasty like 'bit the dust'. Now is not
the time for it... "Passed away." The Slytherin concludes after a pause. "I've done some
pretty cruel things in my life to other people but I would have never, ever
done anything like this..." Even to Potter, he wouldn't of
sunk quite this low... and that's saying quite a lot, especially when it's
coming from him.
"No... nobody did this to
me. But I can imagine how it would feel if it had happened to me." Cho says, though it likely isn't much comfort. She keeps
her hands carefully touching his arms, trying to see his face. "I know you
wouldn't." And no matter what doubts she might have had about the amount
of his humanity, she does somehow know he never would have done something
/this/ cruel. "Whoever did this can't understand what it's like to lose
someone... even someone who's only a casual acquaintance. I don't think anyone
who had could be... so heartless." Her hands move from his arms and go to
his face, touching his jaw line. "Draco..."
She trails off. She doesn't know what she can possibly to say to erase the pain
of this, so she just offers a weak smile, even if he can't see it.
One could even probably feel the lines of tension on his
jaw, the stress due to clenching his teeth tightly together. "It's a sick,
tasteless joke." He starts, pausing to wonder if there might, by chance,
be more coming, eventually. He knows what it's like to do things like this. He
even does it, but there is a limit to how far Draco
will go... he would never, ever send notes to those who suffer and sign them as
the deceased. For example, if he had hated Cho more
than Harry, Draco still wouldn't send her notes and
sign them as Cedric. Be mean and nasty about it, yes, but he wouldn't do that. Argh. For
the moment, he doesn't do anything but sit stiffly and unmoving, his forehead
resting against the knuckles of his fists.
Staying where she is, Cho disolves into the looks of
sympathy again, though he can't even see them right now. She doesn't
have any clue what she can say or do here that might help. Offering sympathy is
so difficult sometimes. This is part of the reason she kept her friends away
from her when she was this upset. They always looked so... awkward. So scared of saying anything to make it worse. She seems to
decide that there's probably nothing she can actually say right now, so again,
she just repeats his name, "Draco?" And
slowly tries to lift his face from his fists, trying to make him look at her.
Even if his eyes stay closed though, she pushes herself up and tries to slip
her arms around to his back, attempting to pull herself up against him.
Physical comfort might work better than any words she can think of. When she
got home and her mom held her for a few hours while she cried over Cedric was
likely one of the most helpful things of them all. Draco
doesn't have anywhere here to do that for him, so she's offering herself.
His head lifts, as she had intended it to, blue eyes
opening with a slight flash of irritation at being shifted against his will. It
fades though, rather quickly, the moment he's hugged and instead, replaced with
confusion. Is she crying, again? The grounds for comfort remain a mystery to Draco, still. But wait... OH! He figures something out...
she's trying TO comfort him, not get comfort FROM him. But he isn't crying. Don't
you have to be crying? Maybe she thinks he'll start crying. Well, he's not gonna! o_o This mental argument is
getting rather tedious and if it continues, repetitive. "..." What's
he supposed to do? @_@; Well. He has no idea!
Tsk. A person does not need to
be crying to need comfort. Unfortunately he doesn't understand that, so maybe
he will need to figure it out later. Either way Cho
pulls herself against him and presses her her cheek against his, eyes closing. If he doesn't start
crying at all, she might just do it for him, but more out of empathy than
anything else. She feels so bad for him. This is so awful, and she wouldn't be
able to sit there without crying at all. She stays like that for a while, but
then she finally pulls back, leaning down enough to look into his eyes. "I--" She trails off. She still has no idea what
to say! Finally she thinks of something, "If this happens again... tell
me." She has no idea what she can do to the cruel person who's doing this,
but... she wants to make sure he knows she'll be there if it does happen again.
"...But... why?" He
asks, simply. He can't figure out how to explain it on his own. Some things
aren't meant to be taken apart, bit by bit, for they should be easy to
understand, but when introduced to someone whom is unfamiliar with the concepts
of 'comfort'... When he was a only a young boy, if he had cried, for whatever
reason, his father would say that boys aren't supposed to be the ones who shed
tears, or to grow up. His mother would smile kindly and say the same thing,
though Narcissa was never quite as cold about it as
her husband. Neither parent believed that comfort would benefit him, so Draco had never received it. He could become reliant upon
it and what they wanted was a son who could stand strong on his own, not one
who would go crying on the first shoulder offered to him.
There's a soft sigh from the slightly older Ravenclaw. Cho personally has
never tried to explain the art of comfort to anyone, so she isn't sure where to
start. Instead she reaches up and cups his jaw again, offering a warm smile.
"It's what friends do. If it happens again, I'll be here for you. I told
you that you couldn't get rid of me by doing something, and that
counts of times when you aren't doing anything at all. I'm /here/ for
you. Though..." She glances around the common room for a moment.
"Probably not /here/ exactly, but any time that you need me, you can get
me." She knows he isn't crying, and that isn't really important. Comfort
without tears is allowed.
That's probably one of the more... strange things he has
ever heard. Draco's mouth opens to say something, but
seems to think better of it and then scowls, turning his head, looking away and
over at the crackling fire. "Like I'd go running to you
to tell you of my problems. What for? You'd just feel sorry for me again
and I don't need your sympathy." Argh. It looks as though he interpretted
that as 'if you tell me, I'll come here and feel bad for you'. "Don't
think I missed those looks on your face while we were heading here, Cho."
Arg! Cho
releases his face and leans back to sit on her heels. How can he be so...
impossible!? She tries to work this carefully, without losing her temper.
"Draco, sympathy isn't always a bad thing. Not
when it's genuine. When it's from someone who's only giving it to you because
they know nothing else, then it's a bad thing. I... I'm sympathetic to you
because I'm your friend and..." She seems to want to add something there,
but doesn't. "I know some of what you must be going through, not to the
same extent, but I can certainly imagine." She had known Cedric longer
than he'd known Aranea, and in some ways they were a
lot closer. But nothing of this extent happened to her after his death. But
there is one thing she needs to mention, "And if you really didn't want my
sympathy, you wouldn't have let me into your common room... Am I correct to
assume that this isn't something you do very often? If you know of another way
I can help you that doesn't involve sympathy, than
please, tell me."
"Would you rather of stayed in the Great Hall where
people would have just stared?" He immediately retorts, looking back with
a rather nasty glare. "How many more rumors do you want traveling about
the school about us? I brought you here so we could talk, not so you could feel
sorry for me. I don't WANT your pity. I don't NEED your pity." Anger level rising. She had said just the right thing to set
him off, that he wanted pity, which he actually didn't, but it's natural for
him to blame it on someone else... "I'm not the type of person who goes
crying to another whenever I suffer. I'm not weak like you are. I bet that's
why you and Diggory got along so well, because he was
probably that sort of person. A big nancy-boy.
No wonder he went first." Perhaps, that's pushing things a bit too far,
but you hit a nerve and now Draco's going to hit one
in return.
And what a nerve he hits. Cho
just stares at him wordlessly for a few moments, eyes widened, as they grew
that way during his many words. But no tears. Hurt,
but the tears are kept buried. "Cedric was a good person, and he was a lot
stronger than you'll ever know." She finally manages voice somewhat
breathy. "I know I'm not as strong as he was and I'm certainly no one
great or powerful, but that is /not/ me. I do not run 'crying to another when I
suffer'. And if you haven't realized that at all yet..." She cuts off, her
voice finally growing too tight to continue. She takes a deep breath, steadying
herself as she moves to stand up, hands straightening her robes. "And do
you even know what pity /is/, Draco Malfoy? It's defined as a feeling of sorrow for the
distress of others; or simply compassion. The instant you agreed to try this
friendship, you unknowingly agreed to all the benefits and consequences of it.
If you really think it is that awful to care so much about someone that it
hurts you when bad things happen to them... then I don't
think you really understand what friendship can be." Then again, does she?
She doesn't hurt this bad when her Ravenclaw friends
are having hardships. Of course, her reasoning behind it is the fact that none
of them have /ever/ had a hardship like this.
Mind rewinding, erasing all of that
ramble and just simply replacing it with another backhand? In a way, he
would've honestly preferred it, if only because it would be easier to deal
with. It's simply a touch of physical pain. That goes away. It goes away much
faster than emotional suffering. His anger dissolves into shock, nasty glare
and all. Then, Draco starts to rise from the chair,
slowly pushing himself up stiffly to his feet, which don't feel as though
they're even there. It's like he just went numb. All over.
But the words no longer sting, all the pain just simply leaves him all together.
A Draco defense mechanism? No, just shock and lots of it. Lots more than he would of liked. And before it gets any worse, he just simply turns
away and starts to head for the stairs that lead to the boys dormitories of the
Slytherin common room, not even feeling himself moving in that direction, just merely knowing that
he is. Of course, she may stop him at any time, or she may leave. She could
even sit there, if she wants, but if the other Slytherins
come back, that could mean trouble...
"Draco..." Cho calls out as soon as he turns around, sighing softly
and unsure what else she can really say. She doesn't want to physically stop
him... but she does move after him. "Please, I..." What is she
supposed to say? Sorry? She wants to apologize for what she says, but
unfortunately she meant every word. "If you'd just tell me what's so bad
about compassion maybe I could understand why you don't want it to such an
extent that you're willing to run away from me." Perhaps that's bad word
usage, but that's exactly what he's doing. Running away from
her. Well, walking, at least. This whole attempt at friendship is
getting to be a tad redundant. They have a peaceful, rather nice night
together, then something happens, she tries to be his friend, bang, she's doing
something unforgivable and he's walking away again... Sigh...
Draco stops just short of the
stairs, the last of the numbness slipping away. One can't blame him for being
this way. It wasn't as though the Slytherin had
exactly wanted to turn out the way he has, not that he had much of a choice...
He lacks the desire to change, meaning he likes being this way.
"Compassion is..." And then a pause, the boy wheels around to face
the Ravenclaw. "Why should I even answer? What's
next? Are you going to start questioning how my parents raised me? If I scraped my knee as a child?" A
pause. There was something else... ah, yes. "If you don't expect
anything from me, then stop asking stupid questions and demand the
answers." This is his way of avoiding the topic, yes. Maybe young Malfoy doesn't possess any compassion at all.
Sigh. Avoiding the topic? That's exactly the same as
running away. Cho doesn't leave it at that though.
She honestly doesn't care if he never changes at all, but she'd like to
understand him a little bit better, and at least see him grow to accept certain
things about her. Compassion is a big thing with her, after all. "I don't
think my questions are stupid, but I never /demand/ the answers. You can choose
to answer them or not, but I would at least like for you to stop running away
from me. I'm supposed to be your friend, not your enemy. I'm here to /support/
you, not upset you more. But when I try to do that, it seems to upset you,
and... if you'd just explain to me why I might be able
to adjust so I can be a better friend to you." There is a small pause,
then she in enquires softly, "Though I would like to know why you thought
what happened to day was 'pay back' for what you said on the train last
year." That he thought of it as 'pay back' almost implies some... guilt. Which means he must be capable of /some/ compassion...
"You're the one that wanted to be my friend, not the
other way around." He replies with a simple shrug of indifference, as if
tuning out everything else, whether it be because he
has nothing to say in response or because he's forcing himself not acknowledge
it. Such things just may succeed in getting him riled up a second time.
"But, really... why not 'pay back'? I'm sure if Potter or one of his
little Gryffindor groupies had said such things to me, I'd probably be out for
revenge just because." Nope. There's absolutely no guilt there, what so
ever, he just things Potter's after him because of it. "Don't think I'm
running away. I brought you here to talk. Not to have you baby be. If I need
your sympathy, your pity, your compassion, then I'll ask for it." Okay, so
he did hear it, but Draco's twisting things around,
so although it goes in one ear, it gets twisted around and comes out as
something that doesn't really make much sense at all.
"Oh.. that's
perfect." Cho says, letting out yet another
breath. It seems as if she's finally about to lose her temper, but instead she
just starts to talk, "What did you want me to talk to you about? Did you
want me to tell you that the horrible person who would do such a thing deserves
to feel what it's like to lose someone close to them? Did you want me to
reassure you that nothing you could have possibly done in the past could
compare to this? What, Draco? What did you want me to
say!?" Okay, maybe she is losing her temper a bit. "You weren't
saying much. You were just sitting there. How was I supposed to know what you
wanted? Mind reading isn't something I'm very good at, if you hadn't guessed. I
did the only thing that felt right at the time." She closes her mouth,
stopping herself from saying anything more.
She's lost her temper? Well... that's nothing new. It's kinda like the night in the library, but he doesn't exactly
want to get slapped. Draco backs off, not only because
it is wise to do so, but his hands lift from his sides and then clamp down over
his ears in a rather... childish gesture. "/Shut up/! Just shut up!"
He screams back, eyes clenching together tightly. "I never said I wanted
to hear that!" And if she had, he probably would have nodded to it and
agreed... maybe even said something about Granger. Unfortunately, the blonde Slytherin doesn't even think of that. Damn confusing Ravenclaw is making a mess of his mind!
It's something new for her. She doesn't lose her temper
very often. Cho moves forward as he covers his ears grabbs for his wrists, almost an equally childish attempt
to pry his hands off so he can hear her. "Is this the ONLY way to get thru
to you!? Yelling! It certainly seems to be the only method that ever gets you
to accept any form of /compassion./" There's that word again. It's
starting to become evil, no doubt. She really wishes she wouldn't have to stoop
to this to get him to respond to her in some way she can understand, but... it
seems to be the only way. "Listen to yourself, Draco.
You never said. You. Never. Said. That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you! How am I supposed to know what you want if you don't TELL ME!"
Oh ho. Like it's going to be that easy
to pull his hands away because he holds on as though it were for dear life and
actually goes as far as to fight back. His elbows jerk at her arms in an
attempt to knock them way, feet moving, but it's not that Draco
has very far he can go, heel lightly bumping into the first step up to the boys
dormitories. It's probably not the most easy of
battles, as he refuses to give in until he's heard enough, even though it does
get muffled when the sound travels through his hands and palms pressed hard
against his ears. "Shut up!" The Slytherin
barks back once again and then, she succeeds in what she had set out to do as
he actually succumbs to it. His eyes open, wildly looking for an escape route,
but the vision blurs completely... fresh tears spill over his pale cheeks. No.
No. He can't start crying! He can't acknowledge it either. As much as Draco wants to furiously wipe them away and leave, with Cho holding onto his wrists, it just something which can
not be done. Apparently, the first half hadn't been enough, for he certainly is
blessed with more and that's when his voice just... rises. "SHUT UP!"
He jerks his arms back, hopping that her grip stays true on his wrists, and
moves the rest of his body forwards, including his head, lips seeking to seize
the Ravenclaw's own before she can say anything else.
When in doubt, resort to old tactics.
Now, let's be clear. She didn't set out to make him cry
exactly. She was trying to get him to express his emotions in her presence. Be
they tears or laughter, she didn't really care, but she wanted him to be honest
and show her how he felt. If she had to yank it out of him forcefully...
well... that's what she has to do. Cho holds on to
his wrists as best she can, holding her footing the same way as he jerks
around. It's a good thing she's just a graceful on the ground as she is in the
air, or else he'd probably be able to knock her away more easily. And then.. are those tears? The thought
only has solidity for a moment. The rising yell and sudden jerking of his arms
and movement of his body... prove to be ample distraction. The fact that his
mouth is suddenly on hers causes her eyes to spring wide and a soft muffled
sound to emit. She should be shocked and disgusted! She should be highly upset!
Well, shocked, yes, but certainly not the rest... She isn't even sure why, but
her eyes close and for once in their short history of contact of the like, the
other side returns the pressure. Though likely it won't stay that way long,
because the grip on his wrists loosens enough that he could probably pull out.
What? No! You're supposed to act shocked, pull away or
something! What is he supposed to do, now? Well... one thought comes to his
mind... if he draws back, she just may start all over, again... and... he doesn't want this to end, either. The glassy eyes vanish,
once again, his dark eyelashes made wet by the tears left on his cheeks. Draco slips his hands away as the grip on his wrists is
loosened and then... allows them to move on their own accord as they see fit.
His arms move to slip around her waist in a oddly
timid, inexperienced embrace. At least he doesn't try to force it to go any
further, but when it comes to pulling back, it's
obviously not going to be the Slytherin.
As if Mr. Inexperienced Kisser would even have the
slightest idea where to go to force it further. Either way, as the hands end up
slipping around her waist, Cho's own hands move to
his shoulders. It was that, or his face, and based on the tears, probably best
she chose where she did. Since he isn't going to be the one to pull away, this
goes on for quite a decent amount of time, certainly longer than the last two
times put together and multiplied by ten. When she does pull away, she doesn't
pull back completely. She separates her lips from his and her eyes remain closed,
but she stays close to him, her face still nearly touching his. And nope, she
doesn't say anything at all, or try to brush away his tears or do anything yet.
Is the shock setting in /now?/ Bit late, huh?
Very true. He wouldn't, but he
could /tried/ is the thing, which he certainly didn't. He goes no further than
he already has, nor does he try to force another
connection between them. When she moves away from him, that's it... but she
didn't exactly pull back, which leaves him somewhat confused. What? Are you
going to just hang off him all evening? Wait. It's not as though he's moved
back, either. Wouldn't it be rather embarrassing some of the other Slytherins just happened to walk in, right about now?
Whatever's keeping them, he's certainly happy thankful for it, though. His eyes open, again, finally his vision is clear
once more, but like Cho, Draco
doesn't say a thing, not a word. He just blinks and breathes... well, because
he has to. Force of habit, you know.
Dark hazel eyes open a few moments after his and Cho finally pulls back some, though nowhere near far enough
that it wouldn't be considered a tad compromising should the Slytherins decide to come back right that instant. For a
moment, she continues the silence, but then she says, "Shutting me up
again..." Not a question, more a statement. She gives her head a small
shake, as if trying to clear something from her thoughts. Her hands lift from
his shoulders and she tries to rub her fingers over the tear residue, wipeing it away if he allows her. She still wishes he would
have answered her questions, but for some reason she won't bring herself to ask
again. Perhaps the kiss to shut her up worked, even if the shock wasn't the
important reaction.
Draco gives a snort at the
statement, and then begins to laugh... rather... pleasantly, which must be
quite the shock. Free of the sarcasm, of the cruelty, of the arrogance. And
then, well, of course, he smirks. Because no evening is complete without a
smirk. "Sorry." But it doesn't sound the least bit sincere, nor did
he try to make it sound that way, either. Young Malfoy
doesn't regret doing it. No, not at all. Cho's certainly allowed to wipe what's left of the tears
from his face. Hell, he even leans the cheek a little into the touch, unknowingly.
Crying, now laughing... Cho
isn't exactly sure which way she prefers him. Her thumbs work to pick up the
residue, and she /does/ notice the way he seems to lean into the touch. A smile
appears on her face and she shakes her head. Even if the apology isn't sincere,
it isn't needed to be. There's nothing that he really needs to apologize for.
Once the tears seem to be cleared away, her hands slowly lower down and she
says, "I better go. People might starting saying... odd things." If they haven't already made assumptions as to where the 'young
couple' ran off to. Sigh. x.x "Do me a
favor though... next time, mean it." She starts to pull away from him.
'Mean it' can have quite a large number of meanings. Mean
what? The kiss? The apology? The laughter? Oh, no you don't. He doesn't let go. In fact,
if anything, his hold around the girl's waist seems to tighten, somewhat, as he
locks his arms in place just so she can't. "Mean what?" The question
that was once only a thought now gets asked. An eyebrow lifts and Draco peers at the Ravenclaw
curiously.
Damn! For once he does what she keeps trying to do. Cho bites on her lip for a moment, pondering doing what he
does and avoiding answering at all costs, even so far as to cover ears and yell
childishly. But it's not really that important of a thing, so... while she was
actually very careful to leave it quite open to definition, she doesn't even
try to struggle out of his grip. "The kiss. Next
time you do that to someone, make sure you mean it." Just so he's clear
that she isn't necessarily talking about herself in this case. Kisses are...
important things (at least in an idealized romantic sense), and just giving
them out to shut a girl up... well...
...How would know if he happened to mean it or not? e.e; Sure, it was just to shut her up at first, but he
actually meant it... um... later after it had served its initial purpose? Not
that actually gets said out loud, just because it's not appropriate and he
knows it. See, sometimes Draco does know what to say
and what not to and that was certainly on the 'not to say' list. His eyebrow
lowers, curiosity satisfied and then... "Will you let me mean it,
then?" Whee!
Perhaps she would feel some relief over him meaning it
even somewhat, but she really isn't very good at reading him. All she knows is,
once again, he kissed her to make her stop talking and... She complied. At least on the subject of conversation when it happened.
The question though, seems to stun her even more than this particular kiss did.
Cho's mouth opens, closes, opens.
Not quite a fish imitation, but close. Finally she says, "If you honestly
meant it.. yes." That
came out coherent at least. For some reason him asking that made her suddenly
feel a little light headed. She dismisses it as needing to get something to
eat. She did skip dinner to make this attempt at comfort. (Oh, how well that
turned out. x.@)
He could now, but Draco chooses
not to. Instead, he releases the girl and returns her freedom to her. That answer
is good enough, so it shall be kept in mind for later. The young man takes a
step back with a funny little smile playing across his lips, his arms folding
before his abdomen. You were going to leave? Well, now's the perfect
opportunity to do so, because he's certainly not going to bar the way for any
longer.
Oh, sure, not barring her way, but that look on his face
certainly doesn't help much. Cho opens her mouth
again, as if to inquire on the sudden smile he's sporting, but decides whatever
it is, he'd never give a straight answer anyway. "Good night." Is
what she opts for saying instead, turning to go to the entrance or exit. It
probably takes her a second to figure out the trick to it (Ravenclaw's
door is no doubt quite different) but right before she leaves she glances back
again. That smile really doesn't help much with comfort...
Nyahaha. He lifts his hand, but doesn't bother to wave it or
anything. That'd be just a bit too friendly for Draco.
The smile certainly sticks around, though. "Have a nice evening." Is
the blonde's reply and that's pretty much it as he watches her leave before
probably heading up into the boys dormitories to go to bed, afterwards. Ugh.
That was exhausting. Emotional sparring matches aren't good for him.