Hospital Wing
Typical hospital wing. The matron here, Madame Pomfrey, can mend almost
anything in an instant, though beds have been set up for prolonged stays.
Like most days lately, when
she isn't practicing for the Quidditch matches, Cho is in the Hospital Wing or
her classes. She hasn't been spending much time in her dorm, mainly to avoid
the looks of her roommates over that unfortunate article. She stands at one of
the many racks of potion components for remedies, writing down the amounts
remaining for the daily inventory. Some components get used more than others,
so they're the ones she needs to keep an eye on. Especially with winter ending,
more and more illnesses seem to sprout up when seasons change.
On the plus side, it's not
summer ending, which would mean even more illnesses than usual. ...Not that
Pansy knows any of that. Storming into Hospital Wing, Pansy has a /very/
specific target for her wrath at the moment. Of course, stealth is... not her
forte. "HOOOOOOO!" She calls the /second/ she spots poor Cho. No
waiting to sneak up behind her and startle her--not that she could, with those
steps. "Even Cedric's family knows you're a ho!" She cries out with
her trademark Shriek. Uh-oh. "If Cedric were alive today, you know what
he'd say?"
At the loud yell, Cho jumps
slightly, the contents of one of the jars she's measuring spilling on the
counter. That... that was completely uncalled for. Her expression is one of
absolute shock, turning around to blink. Her mouth works for a moment, before
she has to pull her hands back and start to try to get the ground dust off her
hands. It's starting to burn. Ironic, healing potions that cause skin to break
out when they aren't put together properly. She grabs a quick towel not far
away and starts to wipe off her hands. "I-- I'm sure that Ms. Skeeter
was-- exaggerating." Her voice is very soft when compared to the shrieker
(and the hurt tone is apparent).
A freight train is very soft
when compared to the shrieker. Pansy goes on, pug face twisting ever more into
a malicious mask, heartlessly ignoring her pain. "He's say you're an
unfaithful _HO_ who couldn't even wait 4 months here before she betrayed him!
Three months, HO!" This is just too... convinient for her. All of this,
stacked in front of her. "Cedric would have waited a year for you! Three
years!" She can compliments someone for the sole purpose of bringing down
someone else. "You know if you had died in his place, everyone would be
happier!" And she'd be happier, which is the important thing. She's so
worked up in her hyena-like frenzy it takes her until now to notice the burns.
She doesn't do anything about that yet.
Now that has to be the
cruelest thing anyone has ever said to her. And for someone who's been spending
a lot of time with Draco Malfoy, that's saying something. Cho backs away from
pug faced Slytherin, the towel dropping from her shaking fingers. "I--..
It's not..." her voice breaks. She takes a breath then continues, still
soft, and slightly shakey, "It's not like that. I'm not... Draco's just a
friend. It isn't... betrayal..." Is it? Would Cedric feel betrayed even if
it wasn't just friendship?
Pansy snarls. "Of
course he'd think so! You've kissed! You know you like him Ho!" Cho will
never get called by her name again by Pansy, and that means the same for
Pansy's gaggle of followers. It's very dehumanizing to get a name like that.
"He feels betrayed, even his father feels betrayed. You've made everyone
feel betrayed! Wherever you go, ho, people get hurt!" She's going waaaaaay
off on a tangent now, but maybe Cho will believe it. "Ho Chang! Ho Chang! Ho
Chang! She spreads her legs and bang bang bang!"
Oh, if what she said before
was bad, that was just plain disgusting. Yes, yes, she's kissed Draco, but it's
not like any of those really counted. The burns on Cho's hands are completely
ignored, as if she totally forgot about them. She can't seem to come up with
anything at all to say in response, mouth working soundlessly. If she was
making a rational (and non-shrieky) arguement, she might be able to form a
response, but the use of such disgusting imagry and name calling... just stops
Cho's brain cold. Finally what she manages is (again, soft), "You're
wrong." There's no leg spreading going on here! But the rest could be
accurate, if one looked at it in certain ways.
What's this? A name calling
session and he wasn't invited to take part? No bantering moments are complete
unless Draco Malfoy is taking part or at least happens to be present. He comes
from the Great Hall, probably just having finished dinner, reaching the
Hospital Wing with his usual air of confidence, blonde hair slicked back,
stormy eyes looking cold as per usual. Would you look at that? Bickering! He
can hear it straight through the door! Ho Chang? Couldn't of thought of any
better, himself, but still... The boy just stands there, stunned for a few
minutes at the two female voices, one belonging to Pansy Parkinson, the other
to Cho. He slips in in silence and seems to hesitate in order to listen without
notice, one hand on the door while the other rests on the frame. Then... BANG.
He's heard enough, fully bringing himself into the room and closing it rather
loudly behind himself, not bothering to be respectful of those who may be
resting within. "Enough!"
Pansy sneers at the
Ravenclaw. "Why don't you go ask Cedric what he thinks?" Mental note:
Deface the grave. Hopefully that will actually /stick./ Pansy's not the
brightest flower in the garden, she's just named for one. "Ho Chang! Ho
Chang! Ho Chang! She spreads her legs and bang! Bang! Ba--" That voice. It
cuts her off midstream. (Of course, the player had to get one last round of
that in before Draco cut her off.) Turning dramatically, the mask of her face
changes from horrific cruelty to her normal horrific visage and her eyes fill
with the kind of simpering puppy (pug?) love that shrieks her innermost
thoughts. They're something along the lines of 'Kiss me!' Cho could grab a
potion and smack her with it, she wouldn't notice she's so wrapped up in the bubbly
love of Draco. Well, she'd notice being smacked, she just wouldn't notice Cho
moving to do so.
Well, there's only one
person lately who's been able to bring her to wanting to smack them, and
unfortunately, it's not Pansy. Yet. One more round of Ho Chang and she might
change her mind on that matter though. Cho jumps as the loud bang, the second
time in the last few minutes startled so much that she would spill things if
she had had anymore potion coponents in her hands. "Dra--draco.." She
doesn't get a puppy love, 'Kiss me!' look on her face, but she does look
somewhat grateful that he's stopped the shrieking hyena from saying anything
more. Who would have thought it? Draco to the rescue. Or is he?
Draco's certainly no knight
in shining armor. Cancel that. He's not a knight, either. Or the type to
perform rescues, either. Just think of it this way, he has no reason to dislike
or hate Cho, nor does he have any reason to dislike or hate Pansy, plus, she's
also a Slytherin and was his date to the Yule Ball during fourth year. A smirk
begins to crawl across his lips, curling one corner upwards. "Pansy."
Must think of something quickly. "Professor Snape asked me to retrieve
you. I heard you as I was passing by, looking for you..." That smirk now
turns onto Cho, his stare just... icing over. "I'd understand completely
if you'd want to stay here, however. Evening, Cho." The words just drip
with poison. Lots and lots of poison.
Pansy is clearly torn. Snape
or Ho? Snape's wrath and Ho's misery or fun with Snape and none with Ho? Pansy
actually takes her eyes of Draco to contemplate the situation, staring at Cho
for a moment before inwardly wilting. Which makes her shoot Cho a glare to
promise more SUFFERING to come. Draco will take care of her. *.* She needs to
get Draco away from her and overwhelm him with her feminine wiles. "
Without looking at the Ho again, she turns to the Slytherin Sex Symbol and
nods. "Okay. I'll see you soon Draco." She simpers, wide-eyed. And
then, very slowly, she exits the room, basking in the glow of Malfoy's
presence.
You know, Malfoy. I think
she might like you. And for that to actually register with Cho under the
distraction of the poisony voice and cold eyes, that's saying something. It
takes a few moments, dark eyes following the pug faced girl as she leaves. It's
almost as if she's making sure that the girl is gone before she risks speaking
to the blonde Slytherin. "Evening, Draco." She says no thank you,
because she's just going to try to pretend it never happened. She looks down at
her hands, some angry red splotches on the fingers and palms, and she walks
over to a nearby sink and starts to wash them off. The source of the slight
burns is near the potion cabinet, a fine red powder was spilled there, before
he ever arrived. It's a remedy component, but it causes skin to burn. The
irony.
"Seems that you have
incurred the wrath of Pansy Parkinson. She didn't sound so hell-bent back at
the table way back when." Draco muses outloud, his eyes following the
femme fellow Slytherin out the door, smirk still firmly in place, hand reaching
for the handle in order to close it after her. Such puppy-love gazes go without
notice, the simpering tone winds up ignored. He truly is an emotionally retard.
"But then again, with her, you never know when she'll strike." The
young blonde Slytherin breaks away from his positioning by the entrance and
moves across the room with a gliding, relaxed pace. His hands reach out, into
the sink, attempting to retrieve hers from the water. "What happened?"
The water is mainly just to
get the excess off, she can fix up the burns easily with a quick paste, but...
Cho just continues to rinse as she nods slowly, "She just had more fuel, I
guess..." She won't go into what all the girl said, he'd heard enough
anyway, and she doesn't really want to involve him in this anyway if she can
avoid it. Though she is grateful he intervined when he did. She would be
mortified if Madam Pomfrey returned and heard all that. She allows her hands to
be retrieved, but she doesn't over at him. "She startled me while I was
measuring." She entered with a very loud shriek of 'HOOOOOOOOO!' that
nearly knocked ten years off her life. The girl has some lungs.
She walked in and just
screamed 'HOOOOOOOOOO!'? That's... some entrance. He probably could have come
up with something much better and wounding, not to mention mature, but that
shouldn't be much of a surprise. The tips of his fingers gently trace over the
burns with a half-interest, half-concern... or something akin to that.
"Fuel, indeed." Draco agrees softly, not bothering to glance at the
girl, behaving more as though he were fascinated by the wounds. "She must
have had a lot of fuel indeed to startle you, then start spouting off remarks
like that." He'll give Pansy a few points for originality, though... not
that the Slytherin mentions this outloud. "Don't think I came in here to
save you or anything. I don't have anything against either one of you."
Translation: 'I'm not playing favourites here'.
Oh, he missed the part where
she shrieked how Cedric would have waited at least a year for her, if not
three. Then proceeded to say that everyone would be happier if she'd died in
his place. That was the cruelest thing anyone had ever said to her. The rest
was just ridiculas disgusting fluff. Cho doesn't say anything as he examines
the burns, still looking into the running water as if it's far more facinating
than he is. Or perhaps she's avoiding looking at him for another reason.
"I never said you did... I'm not asking you to say anything against
your... fellow Slytherins." What is Pansy to him anyway? A friend?
He traces his fingertips one
last time over the wounds before gently setting them back beneath the running
water in order to wash the rest of the powder away. Pansy is... well... She's a
fellow Slytherin, a follower, a minion, though not quite as dedicated as Crabbe
and Goyle. Draco's never thought of the girl as much more than that, having not
even spoken to her more than a few times despite how long they've been
attending Hogwarts in the same house. "Fine. I was just mentioning it just
in case you did."
Well, good thing she isn't a
close friend, because Cho may have to think of something really whicked to do.
Though... she probably won't. She's just not that type of person, after all.
She continues to wash off her hands at one of the sinks in the Hospital Wing,
the inventory she was doing abandoned. She finally looks up from the water to
glance at him. "You did mention that I should tell you if any of the Slytherins
gave me trouble. Did you think something like this would happen?" He says
he's not trying to 'protect her' or anything, but he did say that, and he did
interupt and send the /extremely cruel and nasty/ girl away...
Harry quitely slips into the
Hospital Wing so as to not disturb any of the students that may be in here.
He's not expecting to find Cho in here, let alone Draco. Since he woke up with
one of the typical nightmares he gets, he's had a persistant headache that just
will not go away. It was even interfering with his ability to practice
Quidditch. He takes a glance around the room as he walks, looking for Pomfrey.
While Cho looks to him,
Draco's looking off towards the door where Pansy Parkinson made her exit only
moments before. "Yes, but you don't have to tell me that a Slytherin was
giving you some problems since I saw it myself. I'm not really surprised that
it was Pansy, in all honesty, especially after that little remark at the
table." He glances back to Cho with a bit of a smirk, though hardly as
severe as the one he wore when first entering. "I'll speak with her about
it. That is..." The smirk turns a bit more mocking. "After she
figures out that I was lying and Professor Snape didn't want her to report to
him at all." ^o^ Ohohoho. Because his back's probably facing Harry, he
completely misses Potter's entrance, more wrapped up with an egotistical
moment. He's so witty! He's so brilliant! ^o^
"You lied?" Cho
says with a blink, almost for a second forgetting that she's rinsing off her
hands. He actually lied to a Slytherin in order to stop their fight? That's
actually... kind of nice. Sure, he didn't defend her, or make Pansy choke on
her words, but still, he /did/ effectively break it up. And by lying, he's
risking the wrath of the simpering shrieking pug. "I... thank you."
She says with a smile, "You don't have to talk to her though. I'm sure
it'll blow over eventually..." Well, she hopes it will. She certainly
wouldn't want Pansy Parkinson yelling those things all over the school again...
It was bad enough /Draco/ had to hear them. She'd be mortified if a Professor
or even most the other students did...
Harry is so glad your back
is to him because as soon as he spots the Slytherin, he about faces for the
door and pauses a moment. Cho, don't be surprised that Draco lied. But his head
is killing him. He turns back around and heads over and stops within a safe
distance. "Ah.. sorry for interrupting Cho, but I was wondering if I could
get something for a headache?" He'd stop and chat, asking how you're doing
after that article, but not with Draco here.
He opens his mouth to reply,
but stops at the sound of a new voice filling the room. You know... Things had
been going so smoothly until you decided to make an entrance, Potter. He
doesn't even bother to turn around, the pupils in the depths of his ice blue
narrowing significantly in order to display his annoyance and irritation at the
disgusting new presence. Draco just... doesn't even bother. There's been so
much bottling up over the past few weeks that he's been dying to say but
couldn't until his father managed to get a good hold on his 'innocence'. Now
that Lucius has obtained it... fear, but not today. After Pansy's little
session with Cho, he really doesn't feel like upsetting the other girl more
this evening.
That's almost nice. Another
good deed today, Draco? The world shudders at the very idea! The end must be
near. Cho turns off the water and starts to dry off her hands as Harry speaks
to her. She blinks and silently chides herself for not noticing him first and
says, "Of course, Harry. Just give me a minute. Excuse me, Draco."
She offers a warm smile, first to the Gryffindor, than to the blonde. She'll
pretend none of this happened for as long as she can manage it, even if at
least one person in this wing knows what happened. She walks over to the potion
cabinet, ignoring the still stinging burns on her hands from the powder that's
split there and works around it to get the potion ready. "Have they posted
the first matches yet?" She asks, trying to carry on some form of a
conversation. The question could be answered by either, they're both Captains,
though likely she's talking to Harry.
Harry is so glad to see you
feel the same way as he does. Thank you for not starting anything in front of
Cho. He can at least say that much for you odd level of tact. And heeeey, his
presence is not disgusting! He's rather pleasant unless provoked. Hrmph. The smile is returned before he follows after
Cho. He then shakes his head, "Not yet. I'm still just glad to have my
broom back." Glancing down to watch the girl mixing up the remedy he
notices the burns on her hands, "Here, need me to help with those bottles?
What happened to your hands?"
Him? Feeling the same way
Potter does? Certainly not. That's insulting. The exchange is watched with a
look of disgust, mostly for Harry with a wee bit saved also for Cho just
because she happens to be helping the insufferable git. Finally, the
Boy-Who-Lived pops a question that shouldn't be asked, sticking his nose in
where it doesn't belong. Hiss. "It's none of your business, Potter."
Comes right out of Draco's mouth probably before Cho can even have a chance to
respond for herself. Little does the blonde Slytherin realize at that moment
how bad it makes him seem. x.@; With his luck, Potter will suspect him of hurting
the Ravenclaw. Potter, you never were a good detective. ;P
Yes, that probably wasn't
the wisest thing to ever pop out of your mouth, young Malfoy. Cho looks over at
him for a moment before returning to Harry, and low and behold, she completely
ignores the 'what' of the question. "I'll be fine. I'll put something on
them in a few minutes." Probably not good for Draco. But to be honest, she
really doesn't want to have to say that she got startled by a shrieking pug
calling her a nasty name and spilled a powder that shouldn't touch skin all
over her hands. Especially not to Harry. She's glad that Draco happened to
wander in first, though she would have rathered no one wander in at all... She
does let him help, however, asking him to pass her two of the bottles who's
contents make the headache remedy.
Yes, that probably wasn't
the wisest thing to ever pop out of your mouth, young Malfoy. Cho looks over at
him for a moment before returning to Harry, and low and behold, she completely
ignores the 'what' of the question. "I'll be fine. I'll put something on
them in a few minutes." Probably not good for Draco. But to be honest, she
really doesn't want to have to say that she got startled by a shrieking pug
calling her a nasty name and spilled a powder that shouldn't touch skin all
over her hands. Especially not to Harry. She's glad that Draco happened to
wander in first, though she would have rathered no one wander in at all... She
does let him help, however, asking him to pass her two of the bottles who's contents
make the headache remedy.
Harry is a good detective!
You just make yourself look incredibly guilty over things, like now. "I
wasn't asking you, I was asking Cho." And see, there, he was talking to
her, and she chose not to answer, so yes.. well it's none of his business, but
it was Cho's place to answer him. He frowns a bit down at her hands before
glowering at Draco. "... Alright then." He then hands over the
requested bottles to Cho, even opening them for her.
Ugh. This is making his
stomach churn. Harry receives a damn nasty look for that one, Draco storing the
rest of the poison away in the back of his mind as fuel to use for later when
he has the opportunity to insult, offend, etc. etc. young Potter.
"Whatever you say, Potter." He replies, sounding catty and, yet,
hardly interested. "Perhaps you should think first before you go about
sticking your nose in other people's affairs." And that's all he has to
say to you, git. "Do try and be more careful, Cho." Draco immitates
Pansy's simpering tone for a moment before smirking and turning away to the
door. "As I have matters to discuss with Pansy, I'll maybe speak with you
later." Then again, maybe not... Whatever. The Slytherin just leaves. If
he hangs around any longer, then it's likely one of the boys, or even both,
will end up with a detention of sorts.
While the Ravenclaw doesn't
say anything at all to restrain the tones of either of the boys, Cho does sigh
a bit as she continues to put the remedy together for Harry. It isn't until
Draco starts to move towards the door that she speaks again, opening her mouth
as if to ask him to wait. But what she ends up saying instead is, "Later,
Draco." She does want to talk to him, but she knows that stopping him will
likely only end up causeing the two boys to yell at each other, and she doesn't
want that. If there was any hope of them getting along... well, it isn't going
to happen, so she'll just be happy they have enough respect to remain somewhat
decent when in her presense. And besides, he might have only stopped in because
he heard Pansy's yelling while he passed by. Or did he come to visit her? A
question she'll never have answered as she returns to the potion.
Harry returns that nasty
look with another of his own. Not wanting to start a fight, he keeps his mouth
shut and glances down to help Cho as much as possible. You just go away and
think of the day you can safely retaliate against him. He's not too sure as to
what to make of that little simpering tone, but he knows he doesn't like it. You
little git.. He ought to hex you. But if you hold your horses, he'll be gone
from the room in a few moments. Then again maybe not. Oh jeez, Cho, don't make
him feel guilty for interrupting.. ".. Sorry about that.." Looks like
you're not having a good week at all.
Oh, she isn't going to give
you a guilt trip over it. It's not as if you interupted for the sole purpose of
driving the other boy out of the room. "It's all right. You know
Draco." The moment he gets the low end of the stick, he bails. That's just
who he is, as far as she's noticed. Cho continues to brew the potion, then
finally gets it all ready and has to let it sit the appropriate amount of time
so she says, "There's a couple pairs of gloves over in the cabinet as well
as a couple small brushes. Could you grab them for me? I want to clean up this
powder before Madam Pomfrey gets back..." And she doesn't want it laying
around where it can burn unsuspecting people.
Harry nods, "Yeah.. I
do know.." No, he honestly did not know Draco was in here and driving him
away was not on his list of priorities. "Sure Cho." He heads over to
the cabinet as instructed and gets you the requested items. "Would you
like for me to help?" He almost wants to ask how you're holding up after
the article, but it's... well.. a touchy topic. Maybe it's better not
discussed.
Well, from you, it wouldn't
be that bad. Cho would know you aren't asking to be cruel, or bringing it up to
hurt her, and that makes a big difference in how she takes things. Unlike
certain people who took the fuel given in the article and used it to light up a
huge fire with no purpose other than to hurt. "Sure," she smiles at
the offered help, and says, "Just be careful. This stuff goes in some
rather potent remedies. You've already seen what it can do to skin."
There's the what of 'what' happened before, though she isn't going to say how
unless he asks.
Harry aaahs as he pulls on a
pair of gloves and brings you your pair and the requested brushes. He doesn't
hand them over just yet, "On second thought, you take care of your hands,
and give me instructions on how to handle this powder?" He'll get it
cleaned up, your hands don't look like they're ready for too much more abuse
tonight. If Draco wasn't disgusted before, he would be by this display of
assistance.
Good thing he isn't here
anymore than, hmm? Cho pauses for a moment, looking over the powder before she
nods and lets him keep the gloves. "All right. Just put on the gloves and
sweep the powder into a empty container. It can't be used now, not for remedies,
but I can return it to Professor Snape and he might be able to use it in class
still." She waits until he showsthat he understands some what of he's
supposed to do, then she walks to a different remedy cabinet and starts to put
this smelly paste on each of the burns.
Harry nods and puts the
spare gloves aside. An empty container is procured which he uses to sweep the
powder into. "If it burns hands, just what in the world is it used to
cure?" Or does he not want to know? He already doesn't want to know what
was in practically all of the medications forced down his throat the past few
years here. He keeps his eyes down on sweeping up the powder so as to not get
distracted.
Cho can't help but smile as
she answers, glancing over her shoulder, "Skele-Grow." She is
speaking the truth, but she can't help but laugh. That's the reason she was
doing inventory. Madam Pomfrey doesn't want to have Quidditch get started
without a large stock of the best remedies for injuries that might be percured.
No, Madam Pomfrey is not happy about the return of the Quidditch practices.
"It's used in a few others, but it's a bone-strengthener. You don't want
to swallow it in the pure form though." It'd do to your throat and stomach
what it did to her hands. It needs the other components.
Harry stops sweeping and
STARES at you, ".... No wonder that stuff burned going down. I can't
believe I had to drink THAT." Yeah, it would need to be mixed in other
things, but still! He shakes his head and goes back to sweeping it up, making a
grotesque face. "Ugh!" Joy.. he's going to make doubly sure he
doesn't lose any more bones. The first person to try removing his bones again
is going to get it. u.u He glances down to make sure all the powder has been
swept up, "This stuff didn't get anywhere else did it?" He's not
seeing any.. but he could just be blind.
"Yeah, sorry." She
says, though she wasn't the one who gave him a deboning, so she hardly has to
be sorry over it. The fact that she's still smiling shows that she doesn't take
it too seriously. "Just on me, but I got most of it rinsed off," Cho
answers the question, finishing with the paste on her hands. It feels better
immediately, but it will take a while to fully heal. If only she could practice
healing charms! "You might check the floor though." She walks back
over, slick looking paste on each one of the red splotches.
Harry glances at your hands
before looking back up at your face. "You've got nothing to be sorry
over." It was one of many unpleasant experiences he's had in his life.
Luckily it was taken care of and Lockhart got what was coming to him in the
end. ".. Sure.." He looks away to crouch down and check the floor.
"... not to bring up an unpleasant subject but.. I saw the paper the other
day.. I'm really sorry about that." Mr. Diggory was always ... a little
bit of a jerk that Harry saw. Not that he isn't sympathetic to him losing his
son. "Just ignore what Rita wrote. I'm sure she provoked them somehow and
just used what sounded the worst and embellished. She's going to get what she
deserves eventually."
There is a very slight
flinch as you bring up the subject, but it fades quickly. So much so that you
likely wouldn't have noticed even if you had been looking at her, instead of
the floor. "You don't have to be sorry," Cho says softly, moving to
look at the floor as well. There probably is a little powder, but not much. She
doesn't have gloves, so she offers no assistance. "She didn't print
anything that everyone else wasn't thinking already anyway..." Is that
what she really thinks? Well, yes. That's why her 'friends' avoided eye contact
with her after the article, and why Pansy so venomously responded. Skeeter
didn't print anything that wasn't already there inside most people's head. She
just had the cruelity to put it in writen word. Not saying it was entirely
accurate though...
Harry finds the powder
that's on the floor and gets it cleaned up. "Yeah, but I still am."
And hopefully before you can interject there, he hastily adds, "I know
none of it is my fault.. but I still feel responsible as I was indirectly the
reason for this.. I know she didn't print what people weren't already thinking,
but still. She didn't have to go and pester the Diggory's and bring up bad
memories. I don't think they're handling the situation any easier than they did
last year.. I know I'm not." And he wasn't even close to the guy! "..
besides.. Cedric would probably understand anyway. You've got to move on..
Dumbledore told me once it's not good to dwell on things. He's right. I spent
the whole summer ... nevermind, I've got this cleaned up for you.." He
straightens up and sets the container and brush on the table.
Even though the subject is
hardly something to smile about, by the time he straightens, Cho is smiling
lightly. Those were things that she needed to hear /someone/ say. And none of
her 'friends' were saying them, not even her mother was saying them in the
letters. And it wasn't as if /Draco/ would have said that. "Thank
you." she says first, making sure that she says that before she delves
back into the sad topic. "It really isn't your fault though. I know my
saying that doesn't help anything... but it isn't." While she doesn't know
the whole story, she does believe that it's no one's fault in the matter,
except perhaps the person who killed him. "I do hope that you at least
know that I haven't forgotten Cedric. He meant more to me than what... that
article suggested."
Harry is glad that you
needed to hear those words. Sheesh, your own mother should have said as much.
".. No need to thank me. I know he did." He saw your face during the
leaving feast. "I know it's not my fault, I still feel responsible, but
there's no sense in me arguing over that repeatedly." And he must be
taking leave of his senses or something as he moves to put an arm around you to
give a hug. (Being careful of your hands too.)
That is completely strange.
Cho doesn't have anything against hugs at all, but the only person she's hugged
lately... well... not much of a hugger. She blinks as your arm slides around
her, then she closes her eyes and leans against you. Sometimes it's just nice
to be close to someone else, even if not for very long. Her own arms half-way
move around you as well, though not completely, because while it won't hurt her
hands much, she doesn't want to get the slick paste all over your robes.
Hopefully you won't mind if she stays like this for a little while, not saying
anything else right away.
Harry blinks in surprise at
his own bold move. Gaaaah, what's come over him? Not that he's complaining, no,
he doesn't mind at all, but he's still surprised over his actions. He's usually
too reserved and err emotionally stunted somewhat. Ergh. He's going to blame
this on uhm.. patterns of irrational teenaged behavior. Yeah. I mean, well, not
that he's making excuses as he likes you well enough, he just normally doesn't
have the nerve to do anything about it.
Ah, a funning thing, nerve.
It's so easy to face an enemy that killed your parents, or fly into a hale, but
oh no, can't handle one small, little girl. Cho continues to stay like that for
a few moments, then she pulls away and says, as if nothing at all was odd with
what they were doing, "You're remedy should be ready now." She offers
a small smile, then backs moves towards the counter where the remedy was
waiting. She doesn't take it though, due again, to the slick paste still on her
hands. While the hug was odd, as long as she believes it was nothing more than
comfort offered after a rather harsh topic, she won't need to suffer any mental
lock ups.
Erhm, no, he can't actually.
But you looked like you needed a hug and .. well.. err.. So Harry did. Err, hey
you aren't accusing him of any funny business are you? He's not like Malfoy!
He's still looking a bit surprised at himself as he nods and pulls off the
gloves, disposing of them in a nearby receptacle. He follows after you and
picks up the remedy himself, taking it. He'll be so glad if he never has to
look at another headache remedy again. Grimacing at the taste before answering,
"Thanks.. I feel bad about constantly having to come up here for one of
these."
Funny business? Hardly.
Stuff like that wouldn't cause her brain to freeze up. It's the idea of...
well... other things that cause that unfortunate side effect. Cho watches as he
drinks, smiling lightly at the grimace. If there was something she could do
about the taste, she would, but alas, she doesn't want to alter remedies for
fear of losing the effect, or causing something else to occur. "It's all
right. You'd be surprised how often some people come in with silly things. I
think Gladys Thomas, a Ravenclaw first year, has come in five times just the
last three days for her stubbed her toe, which Madam Pomfrey had already
healed, but she still insists it's broken. I think she just wants to get out of
taking flying lessons now that brooms are allowed again." Besides, his
headaches are hardly trival. She knows that. She doesn't know /how/ big they
are, but she knows they must hurt a lot.
Harry understands completely
about not wanting to tamper with remedies. It's not to be done. Maybe Miss
Thomas is trying to get attention and milk an injury for all it's worth.
"Really? Maybe the expert fliers in Ravenclaw could help her out of any fears
she has of flying?" He grins, feeling like a prat for the obvious
compliment, but hey..
Perhaps she is, and it seems
that Cho at least has been giving her some of the attention that she desired,
because she never kicked the girl out and always checked over her toe again to
make sure that nothing was wrong. She knew there wasn't, but that wasn't why
she did it. "Expert fliers, hmm?" she says with a grin, looking
towards the door as if expecting the girl to be sneaking back in going,
'Chooooooo, my toe's hurting again.' Instead, there's nothing, and her eyes
return to you, "I suppose I could ask one of the team to take her
out." Is this her attempt at being modest?
Harry puts his hands on his
hips and looks at you, "Yes, expert fliers, I was meaning you. But if
you'd rather someone else show her..." Not that he's volunteering. That
would be fraternizing with the enemy. Wait.. we've already done that. Erp. Oh
well. "You're an excellent flier, otherwise you wouldn't have made
Seeker."
Cho can't help but chuckle
softly, shaking her head. "I know, I know." She knows she isn't a bad
flier, but she does think that the remainder of the Ravenclaw team is also
quite good. "I'm starting to wonder if that's why she keeps showing up
when I'm in here..." It would make sense, as the girl often brings up the
subject of how terrifying flying looks. "I guess you probably have a lot
of first years asking you how to fly, don't you, Harry?" She could imagine
a little pack of eleven year old Gryffindors following you around asking to
learn how to fly from the amazing Harry Potter. But oh, wouldn't Professor
Lockhart have just eaten that right up. And Draco probably would have made some
interesting comments.
Harry laughs, "Yeah,
all of the Quidditch team members are good." Yes, Malfoy can fly and well,
he just can't catch the snitch to save his life. "Well.. err.. not as many
as you think..." Now who's being modest? To be truthful, the lot of them
seem to be in awe or frightened of him. Too many people listening to bad
publicity. Ugh.. Lockhart would just eat that up...
Poor Harry. It must be
difficult to have people form opinions about you before they ever meet you.
Admitedly, even Cho was guilty of this, but what else would one expect from a
Wizard raised child, honestly? Everyone grew up with stories about 'The Harry
Potter' and how he stopped You-Know-Who. And his years at Hogwarts, no matter
the bad publicity, haven't helped his name fall into the background any.
"I'm sure. I'm just glad that flying can be done again at all."
Especially now. Flying came back just in time for that blasted article.
It's something Harry is
getting steadily used to. The preformed opinions don't bother him as much as
they used to. "I'm glad too. Do you want to practice after your hands are
healed up? Maybe tomorrow?" It'll help take your mind off that article. We
can smack a bludger around or something with a little challenge to it.
"Maybe tomorrow, sure.
I still need to finish up the inventory today," Cho says, looking down at
her hands and fingering one of the burns for a moment. Whatever she seems to
feel, she nods and goes over to the sink and rinses the stuff off. She doesn't
want to walk around with the substance on her skin, after all. The burns aren't
completely healed, but they're close enough.
Harry nods his head,
"I'll go on and let you get back to the inventory. Thanks again for the
headache remedy." It would be nice if the headaches would stop coming
altogether tho. "I'll see you later then." He offers a grin before
turning and walking out of the hospital wing.