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.
The door to the Hospital
Wing opens, and the young brunette steps inside, grimacting
slightly at the memory of her recent stay here, which lasted about two weeks,
and Madam Pomfrey was still concerned and requested
to still be able to check on her. Worrywarts. As she
finally returned her books to the library, her bag is a good deal lighter than
it had been the weeks prior to her accident. And might have been the cause for
another one had not someone - who by some strange chance, happened to be Draco Malfoy - helped her.
"Madam Pomfrey?" Lavender calls, glancing
around the seemingly empty wing, half hoping that the woman wasn't there so she
could duck back out.
Long stays in the Hospital
Wing can make one wish to never have to return. Cho
could have sympathized after her heavy stays during her first three years at
the school, but instead of avoiding the place like the plague, she actually
helps out Madam Pomfrey. The woman can use a hand or
two with all these students that like to get themselves hurt. At the voice, Cho looks up from one of the corners close to the door. She
could be easily missed, as she was finishing up an inventory of remedies. She
offers a smile and says, "Madam Pomfrey's out
right now. If it's something small, like a headache, I can help." She's
getting really good at the headache remedy thanks to Harry Potter's frequent
visits.
So the Wing's not as empty
as she thought. Lavender glances around until she spots the speaker. It takes
her a moment to realize who she was; Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker. Before her accident she had been thinking
of finding the girl and speaking to her, though now, Lavender wonders if that's
even a good idea as they don't even know each other. Headache
remedy? That would be fine if it were just a headache, but she does have
one at any rate. The other thing could wait until the nurse got back. "Oh, Hi. I do have a bit of a headache, but Madam Pomfrey's been meaning to speak with me..
do you know when she'll be back?"
"She shouldn't be too
long," said Ravenclaw replies with a smile. She
looks back at the cabinet and immediately goes about fixing up a quick headache
remedy. "She'll probably be back before I even finish getting this made.
She went to see one of the Professors about something." Cho has no idea what, but it's probably something minor.
She just hopes Madam Pomfrey isn't visiting Professor
Flitwick to talk about Cho's
recent... well... sulking in the Hospital Wing. Though only
really observative people would be able to see it as
moping behind her usual smile.
"Oh." It's true
that her recent stay in the Wing had lessened her liking of the place, and now it makes her feel a little uncomfortable.
Lavender glances around a moment before returning her eyes to the older girl's
back. "You're.. Cho
Chang, aren't you?" She asks tentatively, though she already knew this. Just an attempt at making small talk. Now she almsot wished she hadn't 'threatened' Malfoy,
though he probably forgot about the entire incident.
Able to continue to work
without really looking at this particular part of the remedy (she's just sturing right now), Cho glances
over her shoulder and offers a smile, "Yeah. I'm
afraid I don't remember your name, but I know you're in Harry Potter's year and
house, yes?" She feels bad not knowing the girl's name, but then again
she's never really assosiated with her. She does
briefly recall that much at least. She returns to the remedy and adds a few
more components.
In Harry
Potter's year and house? Some recognition is better than none, and always nicer when NOT
referred to as Trelawney's best student. Which she isn't anymore either. Lavender nodded, though by then the girl had turned
around. "Yes, that's right..I'm
Lavender Brown." She's had to introduce herself a lot these past few
months.
Lavender? What a pretty name. Cho doesn't say that outloud, but
she certainly does think it almost immediately. Paired with a
last name like Brown though might make people kinda
raise an eyebrow at the two distinctly different colors being someone's name.
"Why do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?"
This Ravenclaw wasn't helping out in the Hospital
Wing much the weeks that the girl was here, in fact, none at all. Her recent
return to the Wing was prompted mainly by the fact that she doesn't want to
stay in the main flow of the school, or the Common Room after that article in
the Prophet.
So maybe that's why she's
not familiar with why Lavender is here, though she's surprised that the Daily
Prophet didn't catch wind of it. And considering what that rag has been
printing lately, it's understandable why she would want to stay out of dodge.
Lavender is surprised a little by the questions, what with the rumors flying
around the school, but it must have been kept pretty much under wraps after
all. "..I was..bitten
by a wolf. -And she insists upon seeing me. It wasn't a werewolf or anything,
but they are all extremely paranoid."
"A
wolf?"
Cho silently wonders if it's the same one that
somehow managed to get into the school on New Year's Eve. She's fairly sure
that Professor Valeth was going to do something about
that, but whatever he did, she didn't ask since. "It is good that she's
taking precausions. Her remedies work wonderfully,
but sometimes unforeseen side effects happen." She's rambling a little
bit, so she shakes her head and returns to her own remedy (not as full-proof as
Madam Pomfrey's). "Are you feeling better
though, besides the headache?"
And yet another familiar
question. She's had to say the same answer so many times that it's become
automated. "I'm fine. Else I probably wouldn't have been allowed out of
here." She smiles a little. Lavender hasn't quite decided how she's
feeling. Definitely better than those first few nights in the wing, and the
wound healed, but she has had other ailments long before that. "How are
you..?" Stupid question. STUPID
question. Lavender has a habit of asking those..
given how the Skeeter woman
tends to attack anyone who seems to have a conscience. Or not, if considering Malfoy.. "I mean, besides
everything that's been going on. Skeeter is a
horrible person. I meant besides that."
Not a stupid question
really, but it does leave some room for possible miss-understandings. Cho pauses for a second, then nods, "I'm doing all
right." Rita's article was just the beginning, unfortunately. Now Pansy
Parkinson's taken it as her personal duty to torment the older Ravenclaw. If it wasn't for a few select people, she'd be
doing a lot worse than she is right now. Though she'd still smile and try to
hide it. "I'm glad Quidditch is finally back on. I'm looking forward to facing your house's team
soon." She finishes up the remedy finally, and turns around,
offer a smile as she starts over with the potion.
Ah, yes, Quidditch.
It's a wonder that it's back on at all, with the professor's becoming
increasingly paranoid. Her own close friends have suddenly turned into
annoyances, and yet she is rarely in their company anymore. Lavender nods as
the older girl comes closer. "I'm just glad it's back on. Hopefully it means
that something might actually go right this year." And given all the
craziness, Hogwarts is long overdue.
Well, after the death of a Slytherin girl and a Gryffindor and Hufflepuff
girl missing for months, not to mention the Dementor
attack on the school grounds... well... it's understandable that the Professors
would be paranoid, but Quidditch is such a anxiety
relief sport that Cho is extremely glad that it's
returned. She nods and smiles, handing over the remedy, explaining, "It
should work almost immediately, but I will warn it has a rather tart taste to
it." Could be worse though, it could taste completely
awful. "It'd be really nice if something went right."
"Thank you." Though right now nothing can taste more awful than the potions
which were given to 'help' her pain. The headache remedy's nothing
compared to that. Lavender nods as she takes the remedy from the older girl.
Something has been nagging her, but given all that's happened recently it would
be more of inserting a foot into her own mouth than doing any good. Mostly it's wanting to be helpful in some sort of way, than
following up on a threat made to Draco Malfoy and soemthing that
completely doesn't concern her at all. But he can be such a smug, arrogant
person that it's led to wonder whether he's worth nobody's time or anybody's
time if he has it in him to be a nicer person. Just recalling the conversation
she sighs slightly.
"You're welcome." Cho replies in a friendly fashion, glancing towards the
door. Still no sign of Madam Pomfrey, so she returns
her eyes to the younger Gryffindor and asks, "If you want to stay and wait
for Madam Pomfrey, we can talk for a little while. If
something's bothering you..." The girl does seem to have something on her
mind, and while she's horrible at reading some people (specifically, boys) she
can recognize certain things in other girls. "It's just I'm finished with
the inventory. I just need to update what I used to make your remedy and I can
leave as soon as Madam Pomfrey gets back." She
adds that so the girl doesn't feel like she'll be a bother. She knows they
don't know each other at all, but she'd offer the same to a random Ravenclaw who looked bothered who she'd only spoken to
once, and there's no reason she wouldn't to this girl, even if she isn't in her
own house.
That's very considerate.
Something IS bothering her, but Lavender doubts it's hardly the appropiate time to bring it up. Given the two don't even
know each other (more that Lavender knows something of the older girl while Cho knows almost nothing of her). She nods. "I'm
sorry. I used to be a much better conversationalist." The remedy is
slightly on the bitter side, but again, perhaps a hundred times better than
that other potion.
Well, Cho
has no idea that the topic that's bothering the other girl involves her, she's
just expecting to hear about some problem with a class, or a boy, or maybe a
friend that's stopped talking to her. Those are the kinds of problems she's
used to hearing about, after all. Once she's finished with the potion, she
takes the cup back and says, "It's all right. If you'd rather just wait,
you don't have to say anything." Don't be surprised if the Ravenclaw finds a topic and starts talking away though.
"Let me write down what I used really quick
though." She returns to the cabinet and puts everything back into it's place, then goes about jotting down how much she used
of each component. "Did it work?" she asks after a few moments.
"Yes. It did," Lavender smiles. "It's almost gone
already." If the Ravenclaw found something to
talk about that wouldn't be such a bad idea. Perhaps then she can figure out a
way to get .. this issue
addressed and yet in a manner so as not to come across as insulting or some
form of this, when she's really meaning to be helpful. But
helpful to who? Funny how one strange (and probably forgotten)
conversation can stir a lot in her. For instance,
thanks to Setsuna, she's taking classes a bit more
seriously and perhaps on her own is wisening up a
little.
Scrawling the last bit of
the potion down onto the list, Cho quickly checks
over it to make sure she didn't forget anything, and leaves it laying there on
the nearby table. Madam Pomfrey will likely
double-check it later, but she wants to make sure her job is done as effeciently as possible. "I'm glad it helped." is
all the girl says at first, as she finds a seat off to the side and sits
herself in it. She nods her head in the direction of another waiting chair
nearby, but the other girl doesn't have to sit down if she doesn't want to.
After a few moments she asks, "Are you starting to think about what you
might want to do with your education once you finish at Hogwarts?" It's
something she likes to ask some people, just to see how other people want to
contribute to society.
Hmmm. Very
good question, and for quite a good reason. Lavender wasn't quite
expecting that one, though it's not the first time she's been asked. And then
she couldn't think of a good answer either. She frowns slightly. "I have
often wondered about it, but it's easier to pick out what you _don't_ want to
do than what you are.. for
lack of a better word purposed for. It could be perhaps that my parents are
such common muggles," groan, there she goes,
rambling. There's that image again, the taunting face of Malfoy,
shouting out, 'mudblood, mudblood'.
It was a horrible image, she shook her head. "Sorry about that. I suppose
I'm a horribly indecisive person as well." She pauses. "..So starting..yes. But I'm not quite
down to narrowing my perspectives. What about you?"
"There's nothing wrong
with being from a Muggle family." Now, Cho herself isn't, but she doesn't share certain people's
discriminations against Muggleborn Wizards, "But
I can see how that would limit some of your knowledge in the area. I grew up
wanting to be a mediwitch, mostly because I knew
about them, had met a few, and Medical Magics were
always so fasinating to me. It's why I help out
here." She looks around the Wing for a moment. No, she doesn't want Madam Pomfrey's job, but she would like to be a mediwitch /somewhere/. She just has this intense urge to
try to help people, which has only increased as this
year has progressed. "I'd also like to play a couple years of professional
Quidditch if I can, but those things don't always
work out."
"True. Or you could
play Quidditch for a little while, at least. But a mediwitch, that's a good idea." Lavender hasn't really
given much thought to that aspect, though she does like to be helpful, potions
remains her worse subject and possibly couldn't function under too much
pressure. "It's not really that I'm from a muggle
family.. it's just that my
father has no aspirations whatsoever, and is content going to his little job
every day, same hours, same, routine things. It was just so horrible to watch
him. Mum's not much better. She doesn't work at all, just sits at home mostly.
I should be more motivated due to their lack there-of, but I haven't found
anything yet." She shrugs slightly. Her parent's believed that they lived
in quite a perfect world, and she didn't know what was more unbearable: sitting
and realizing that their world wasn't perfect or that she would have some form
of obligation to them. She doesn't like talking about her fmily
much, but it always ends up tripping of her tongue anyway. "I'm more of a
creative person, I suppose, though there's little to be done with that which
can be thought useful."
Ah. Cho
understands now. Her own family has some minor problems, but her mother does
most of the work in the family. "My mother works for the Ministry. In the International department. That's how she met my
father, she was sent to
A hand reaches up and pushes
her bangs back. "Yeah, that's true enough," Lavender nods after a
moment. "It's good your parents actually _do_ things. Did you travel a
lot?" She finally takes the offered seat after putting her bag on the
floor next to her.
"Sometimes. I've gone to
"At least you've
traveled." What bag? Oh, that. Lavender looks down at it for a moment and
laughs. "This year it's been more of a companion than anything, strangely
enough." She shrugs. "I had
only gotten it last summer. It's quite.." Useful? Prehaps not, given all the messy situations it got her into. Particluarly
keeping her off balance when having an unlooked-for conversation with a certain
Slytherin. But he's probably looking to forget
the incident as it hurt his 'image' so badly. "Pretty." She finishes,
shaking her head.
Oh, that certain Slytherin's 'image' has been getting hurt far to often recently, hasn't it? Cho
looks over the bag and continues to smile, nodding at the word the other girl
has to search for. "It is pretty, though I would imagine it would get a
little heavy to carry around all the time." But if it's her compainion, than that's fine. She's more than welcome to
have some interesting quirks.
Indeed. And it's quite
difficult to tell if anyone is having a positive effect on him or not. The bag
is quite heavy. As for quirks, the Ravenclaw should
feel relieved that the younger Gryffindor had given up flightiness and awe over
Divination for carrying around a.. well,
almost lavender-colored bag. There really is no need for it to be as heavy as
it is, but half of it is drawing supplies that haven't even gotten much use for
the past few weeks. Lavender shrugs again. "I got so used to carrying it around
that it sort of stuck with me." So she's horrible at giving explanations.
"Some things do
that." Cho says with a nod, looking away for a
moment as she muses softly, "Some people to. Sometimes you get so used to
being around a certain someone..." Like Draco.
She's gotten so used to being around him that she almost unconsiously
forgets how much of a spoiled jerk he can be. "Anyway, it really is a nice
looking bag." She wouldn't carry it around herself, but that's another
story.
Eventually she will get rid
of the bag. These things perhaps are best thought of as phases. Pretty probably
wasn't the word; unique maybe. But for a 15 year old girl to
carry around? Perhaps not. Must be how Malfoy feels about Crabbe and Goyle. Spoiled jerk he is, along with a bunch of other
things. Then again, perhaps his tongue is so forked that it is impossible to
decide what is the truth when he speaks. Other than
deciphering him as being a scared little boy-which, given his actions and
response, was most likely true-it depends on how furious he gets. "Er.. thanks."
Lavender says, nodding. She raises an eyebrow at the 'certain someone' bit.
"..Anyone in particular?" She asks, trying
to sound quite offhanded.
Perhaps this isn't the best
subject to bring up with a Gryffindor, but Cho's
already explained to the one that matters what's going on, so mentioning it to
a Gryffindor girl shouldn't hurt anything. Besides, as she does read the
Prophet she's heard enough that she might draw some wrong conculsions,
"Just... I'm sure you've heard about my friendship with Draco Malfoy?" It's probably
whispered about a lot as well as in the paper, so most people probably have.
Though most the whispers, as well as the articles, are entirely silly
interpretations of events... Sigh.
Yes she's heard about that
all right. Some of it even from Draco
Malfoy himself, though he hardly gave a positive
response to it. In fact, he was downright nasty about it. It could have
been because he felt she wasn't worthy of his time, and nasty barbs were
exchanged by both, or there could have been some truth in his words. Which no
one, perhaps, will ever know. "Yes,"
Lavender nods, then looks down. "And I honestly hope you can see something
that the rest of us-don't." Us-ha, as if she speaks for many people. Not
many people would have attempted a civil conversation with him. She did. And
he, in turn, returned empty threats, empty words. But he was a coward, and had
his repuation to worry about besides being
"seen" with trash like her.
Perhaps this isn't the best
subject to bring up with a Gryffindor, but Cho's
already explained to the one that matters what's going on, so mentioning it to
a Gryffindor girl shouldn't hurt anything. Besides, as she does read the
Prophet she's heard enough that she might draw some wrong conculsions,
"Just... I'm sure you've heard about my friendship with Draco Malfoy?" It's probably
whispered about a lot as well as in the paper, so most people probably have.
Though most the whispers, as well as the articles, are entirely silly
interpretations of events... Sigh.
Yes she's heard about that
all right. Some of it even from Draco
Malfoy himself, though he hardly gave a positive
response to it. In fact, he was downright nasty about it. It could have
been because he felt she wasn't worthy of his time, and nasty barbs were
exchanged by both, or there could have been some truth in his words. Which no
one, perhaps, will ever know. "Yes,"
Lavender nods, then looks down. "And I honestly hope you can see something
that the rest of us-don't." Us-ha, as if she speaks for many people. Not
many people would have attempted a civil conversation with him. She did. And
he, in turn, returned empty threats, empty words. But he was a coward, and had
his repuation to worry about besides being
"seen" with trash like her.
Lowering her head for a
moment, Cho lets out a small sigh. For some reason a
lot of people seem to find something... almost noble in her attempt to befriend
Draco, even if they don't actually like the guy
themselves. Even Harry was almost 'okay' with it. But that could have just been
because he didn't want to insult her. "I wouldn't say I... see something
exactly, but I do... know that there is more to him than he'd like for most
people to know about." She won't give details exactly, but she doubts he'd
like for her to even hint that there's more to him than what he shows off.
"I'm not saying everyone has him all wrong -- they don't -- but there are
some... things to him besides that." Is she making any sense?
Yes she is. Just with Draco it's hard to figure out what's true or not, and how
many sides does he actually have. "I almost thought so too-when I saw him
on the stairs a few weeks ago.." Nevermind it was probably her fault for getting into the
mess which Draco probably by now forgot. "A few
things I said got to him..that
he really is a scared little boy, though he's the one who used that wording
first..." Lavender shakes her head. "I usually have the habit of
remembering precise details from something long after the incident.
"That would be a nice
ability to have. I sometimes forget pieces of conversations I'm still involved
it." Cho laughs, running a hand through her hair
as she does. It's an odd admition, but if she's more
of a note taker than a memory relier. "I'm kind
of surprised he would refer to himself in that termenolgy...
but..." Scared little boy can fit him sometimes. She won't say that outloud, though the look on her face says it enough.
"What all did you say to him that caused him to be upset?" She
doesn't sound angry that she made him upset, more curious than anything else.
A faint blush bridges across
Lavender's nose as she laughs slightly as well. "An
interesting ability, but pointless if I'm the only one remembering."
He didn't precicely refer to himself in that terminolgy, it all depends on the wording of it.
"Well, he was going up, I was going down. Seemed to think that he could
get off bossing me around.." Ack,
she's talking in rhyme. "I nearly fell, he helped me..I asked him if he was worried about his image and
he said-" Well, that Cho did that enough, but
she's not sure if she should mention that part to the Ravenclaw.
She having come up numerous times in that
conversation.
Sitting off to the side of
the Wing with the Gryffindor girl, Cho glances across
the room and tries to mentally picture the scene that's being described. Draco helped her? Wow... that's impressive. While she knows
he can be somewhat of a gentleman at times... this is a Gryffindor we're
talking about. "I'm glad you weren't hurt," is all she says to the
part about not falling. In the case of herself and Draco,
he's the one who falls down the stairs. It's rather odd, but he does seem to be
fairly accident prone around her. Or maybe he's just accident prone, peroid. "What'd he say?" She can kind of imagine
some snooty remark coming out, sarcastic and cruel, but not anything close to
the disgustingly cruel stuff that comes out of a certain hyena-like Slytherin girl...
Do you *really* want to
know? It might ruin Cho's new image of the guy. Funny how she remembers things from before her accident so much
clearer than the actual accident itself. Lavender watches the Ravenclaw's glance across the room. "Oh, it was a
rather hurtful remark. Then I asked him if 'ruining his image' was for the
better, and of course, me being what I am, he never took me seriously for a
moment." No, she's not about to say what he really said.
The thundering of a single
pair of running feet can be heard coming up the corridor, getting louder as the
cause of the noise gets closer. The doors of the hospital wing slam open, as
Harry races through. He skids and nearly falls over as he scrambles to try and
shut the doors behind him. Leaning up against the doors, he pants as he tries
to catch his breath. He doesn't even notice just yet which room he ducked into.
His wand is clutched in his right hand, the other is
raking through his hair in an exasperated manner.
He's not accident-prone,
it's just that Cho tends to do things that cause him
to fall over, like... for example, frightening him when he's on the stairs and
slapping him upside the head, taking him by surprise. It's partially her fault,
not entirely his own. Anyways. Speak of the devil and
he shall come... The thundering of Harry's feet down the hallway is soon
accompanied by those of another as Draco races down
after him, only mere seconds behind and gaining. "POTTER!"
>o< I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! His white-blonde locks a mess, whipping past
his ears, pale face smeered with black smoke, as
though he walked into an explosion. Then... well...
Harry darts into a room and Draco follows without
even a second thought, turning his body into the proper position to slam into
it full-force with his shoulder at full-speed! BAAAAAAANGGGGGG! And it echos nicely through the hallway,
too. Hold him off, Harry? No. I don't think so.
Oh, you'd be surprised how
much it would take to ruin her image of the guy. She's seen some stuff that
could do some major ruining, but every time she does he seems to make up for it
somehow. Maybe she's just always looking so hard for something to like about
him that she kind of conviently forgets the bad stuff
as soon as she finds something to like. Cho isn't
usually the type of person to just hate after all. Unless you
happen to be Pansy Parkinson. "I can imagine," she responds
slowly, nodding. Probably something about being a Mudblood,
ect, ect.
Of course, this imagination can not wander long because... enter Harry Potter. With a bang. The Ravenclaw jumps
straight up in startlement, blinking at the boy as he
baracades the door... And then... the voice. Oh no.
Don't those two ever stop? She doesn't say a word, just staring.
Perhaps,
perhaps not, if you weren't the subject of conversation. And the Gryffindor
chickened out. So much for her resolve. At that last
BANG, and the rather unmistakable voice Lavender is also startled, jumping out
at her seat and looks in the same direction as the Ravenclaw.
Well, she shouldn't be *too* surprised. And of course she didn't see this
coming. She blinks for a few moments, but manages to speak. "Harry? What's
Malfoy done now?" Usually when something goes
wrong concering Harry and Draco,
the latter's to blame. Another encounter with the blonde..perhaps nows not a good
time? O.o Need help?
Harry doesn't even have time
to register which room he's in and who else is in it when Draco
tears after him. Unfortunately, Harry was leaning against the door as Malfoy slams into it, opening it with a rather violent
force. Mr. Potter, caught quite off guard is flung into the wall behind the
door as it's thrust open. Sorry Lavender, can't answer
right at the moment.. too
busy eating plaster. He's thankful that Malfoy isn't
as strong as oh, say, Hagrid. Otherwise he might have
been seriously injured. Hmm.. Apparently Cho, they never stop.
And the boy stands in the
entrance of the door, watching it swing open, his mouth twisted up in a sick
smile of satisfaction at the sight of Potter nibbling on the plaster. It's a
pity he ISN'T as strong as Hagrid, otherwise he would
have done more than seriously injured the Boy-Who-Lived. He'd probably put the
boy straight through not only that wall but the one made of stone located
directly behind it. Draco's left hand lifts to his
face, fingers clenching the end of his robes, slipping it up beneath some hair
that falls over his face in a wild spray. He rubs at the smoke mark upon his
face and chuckles, wand arm extending to point at the prone Gryffindor.
"Oh please, this is entirely too easy." Um, sorry, Cho and Lavender. He hasn't really noticed the two
females occupying the room, yet. In fact, it doesn't even register to him that
he's standing in the middle of the hospital wing, either.
Oh dear. Cho
seems to be having a little mental dilemna. She wants
to stop them if she can, they could seriously injure each other! But... but...
she doesn't know what to do! The last time she happened to be around them when
they were fighting... they kind of ignored her presense!
Maybe they won't this time. She jumps up from the chair fully and runs towards
the two, focusing her attention on the one still standing, "Draco! Stop! I don't know what happened, but... Please,
don't--" Hurt him? Do anything that'll get you expelled? Well, she doesn't
know what he has in mind with the wand pointing, but she can imagine. There are
some pretty nasty curses out there that the Slytherin
likely knows.
Harry is the one who needs
the attention! Lavender quickly moves over towards her housemate, her russet
eyes wide as she glances back and forth between the two,
and an extra glare at Malfoy as she reaches Harry's
side. Darn it, she should have told Cho. Perhaps it
wasn't coincidence that sent the Slytherin into the
room at that moment. "Cut that out!" She snaps, pulling out her own
wand. "He could be hurt-maybe I should go look for Pomfrey
myself." She glares at the blonde, half tempted to throw in a snooty
remark of her own to get him offguard at least. Hey,
do something, Cho! You're the oldest here, and have
some seniority over these two!
Harry peels himself off the
wall, shaking his head. Oomph. Memo to self, don't
stand behind door again when being chased. He shakes his head, still somewhat
dazed but not so badly that he doesn't raise his own wand in Draco's direction. "M'alright
Lavender.." Ack!
Lavender, Cho! Well.. at least we're in the hospital wing in case we get really
hurt? At least he's more alert now that he's noticed who all is present.. Cripes. "Knock it off Malfoy!"
Don't stand behind the door
again when being chased by Draco Malfoy,
you mean, because he'll do an all-out, full-force shoulder check right into it
JUST to get to you for DARING to hide when he's trying to chase you down and
beat you senseless. The blue eyes flicker away from the target momentarily,
shooting a quick glance towards Cho, then return to
the unfortunate victim. "How about this, Potter?
I'll knock it off..." A bit of a pause for effect... "After I repay
the favour you did for me a few weeks ago?" And
with that, not even waiting for a reply, Draco aims
his wand at Harry's waist and utters the words, firing off a severing charm. Ut oh.
And if it works just how it's supposed to, well, we ALL know what's going to
happen...
The
oldest? Power of those two? Ha. Maybe Harry, but one wouldn't call
her power over him age. "Go, Lavender. Get Madam Pomfrey
here." If she isn't able to stop them, maybe the Nurse will. Cho paid the most attention to the Slytherin,
not because he was more deserving, but because he was the one who could consiously do the most harm in this case... as he's just
shown. Oh no. Not the severing charm.... "Draco!"
And you know how hard it is not to look even when you know what's going to happen?
Well... Harry had a feeling
that would come back to haunt him eventually. Thank goodness for long robes and
plain old boxers. A angered snarl is given as he yanks
his pants back up. Holding them in place with one hand, his wand is given a
flick and an empty bedpan picks itself up off a table and goes flying towards Malfoy. "Eat dung you serpent loving nutter!" Angry? Just a bit. This is all so stupid! >.< Malfoy started the fight! (as per
usual.) One of these days Harry will learn to not let himself be goaded into
childish scuffles.
"Serpent
loving?"
Draco begins to laugh. Your words don't mean much to
him at the moment, Cho. Just saying his name isn't
going to earn much of a response while he's butting heads with the 'wonderful'
and 'special' Harry Potter, the boy who lived and survived a stupid curse only
due to the power of love. Wretch. "I seem to
remember a duelling club back in second year."
His eyes close, lips forming a twisted but fond smile for the memory as he
steps to the side, the bedpan whizzing right by his head and clattering down
the hallway. "Ah, yes. You set a snake on that Hufflepuff
mudblood. You're the only one around here that makes kissy faces for the snakes, Potter, besides the Dark Lord,
of course, you dirty parselmouth."
Oh yeah, that certainly does
make Harry special. It's not something that'll ever happen to Draco, after all. Who'd love him so much they'd die for
him? Cho just stares in horror, eyes moving from one
to the other. Why won't they just stop? Why can't she do something that will
stop them completely? Why doesn't she just whip out her wand and hit them both
with something that will imbolize them for the time
being? She could do it! She's horrible with curses, but she could probably
manage something. Parselmouth? Well, of course she remembers all the rumors going around
that year, it was the talk of the school, after all.
Plus Rita's article last year reminded everyone of the story. "Draco, stop," is all she can manage again. Lame, yes,
but perhaps she'll try better to stop them if this continues more.
Serpent lover, yes you are.
Who's the one in Slytherin afterall?
A muscle twitches in Harry's cheek as you just went somewhere you shouldn't
have gone. Through clenched teeth he
manages to spit out, "I. Did. Not. Set. A. Snake. On.
Him." You little bastard.
You summoned the bloody snake. "... watch your
filthy mouth Malfoy.." He stands there for a
moment, debating on hexing or hitting Draco, or just turning around and leaving.
Just because he happens to
be in Slytherin doesn't mean he just loves and adores
snakes, you know. Draco's more of a person who tends
to lean towards eagle owls, after all, they are almost like a sort of symbol
for the Malfoy family. "My
filthy mouth?" And his bored, drawling voice just makes a meal out
of the question which he does not allow Potter any time in between to answer
it. "I'm not the one that speaks Parseltongue.
If there's anyone's mouth who's filthy, it's yours.
Don't try and convince me you didn't set the snake on him. We all knew you
did." Sorry, Cho... you're just kinda getting drowned right out, here.
Why is it that Draco's so good at getting Pansy to stop being a bitch, but
he just manages to completely ignore her presense
when he's being like that? Guess it's because the hyena is infactuated
with the blonde Slytherin, and the blonde is hardly infactuated with anyone. Or that could be one way to see
it. Cho isn't sure what to think, all she knows is
that it isn't working, cause the fight is still
happening. She doesn't really want to get between them, but... if this
continues, who knows what might happen. She starts towards them, trying to get
physically between them if she can, "Harry wouldn't set a snake on
/anyone/, Draco! Not even you. And you know it. So
just stop, please!"
Harry's expression darkens
with each word Malfoy utters. ".. Yes your
filthy mouth." Voldemort supporter.. >.< Fine, he won't stand there and try to
convince you otherwise about the snake incident. There's no hope of pulling
that off. Thanks for the show of support Cho. If he
would sink to such levels, he would have by now. "Piss off Malfoy!" He raises his wand again, this time sending a
chair flying at the other boy as he spins on heel and stalks out of the room
best he can without having his pants falling down to his ankles.
What? People want him to be
infatuated with others, now? No thanks. That might mean that Draco would have to be concerned
about someone /other/ than himself. With his wand up, eyes soon opening, he
gives the chair a rather funny look, one that almost says 'Is that the best you
can do?'. A flick of the wrist and the seat halts in
mid-air right before him, then returns to its original spot, being set nicely
upon the ground. "Now who has the filthy mouth, Potter? I'm not the one
who's using profanity here, you smarmy little git."
Okay, enough of him... time to pay attention to the girl who's decided to step
right into the middle of the fight right when it was coming to a conclusion.
His face just simply ices over and he just glares at her coldly. Yay for bad
poses.
No mention was made of
wanting an infactuation, but some semblance of
concern beyond himself would certainly be nice! Cho gives a sympathetic look towards Harry, both glad he's
leaving (it's safest and the life-long fight will end, at least for now) but
she wouldn't mind being able to speak to him. She doesn't say goodbye this
time, because she returns her eyes to the Slytherin
and... sighs at the glare. "Don't look at me like
that..." She doesn't like it. Don't make her give him that teary eyed look
that he doesn't seem to care much for either.
The glare simply continues. Draco doesn't steer it away, even when told not to look
that away, he doesn't blink... unless he absolutely has to. It stays level, his
breathing disturbing some of the white-blonde strands of hair that fall over
his face and the mark that was once black but now faded to gray due to his
rubbing it with the robe sleeve. "And why not?"
Finally, in a sharp and icy tone, rather than the bored
drawl. "I can look at you in any way I please."
"Fine..." Cho whispers after a moment, turning away from him and
walking over to a facet nearby, grabbing a towel and getting it wet.
"Would you rather me not interupt next
time?" Would she keep with that if he said yes? Probably
depending on the situation. It'd be rather difficult to just stand there
and do nothing though... she isn't like him. She can't just stand aside and not
care. Once she has the towel damp enough she starts back over and instead of
offering it to him, she tries to reach out and grab his head with one hand, and
wipe away the remaining mark with the towel, though she knows he probably won't
let her. He hates this sort of 'babying' after all.
"Actually, that would
probably be the best idea." He muses, followed by adding, "Wouldn't
want you to get caught in the middle. That might upset Potter very much."
And that's when the Malfoy sneer winds its way onto Draco's face, but the cold doesn't not seem as though it
will be leaving from his blue eyes any time soon. Indeed, he hates the
'babying' thing. When it comes to the Ravenclaw,
however, he can sorta tell when she's going to treat
him that way. Not so fast. As Cho reaches out for his
head, he reaches out for her hand, attempting to snag it and drag her more
close than what she's probably comfortable with... meaning... right into his
arms... or, arm, as this case may be.
Hey, is he trying to put
them into compromising positions all over the place? Cho
is indeed pulled closer than she had intended and she lets out a soft gasp
before she can steady herself, putting her occupied hand against his shoulder.
Luckily the cloth isn't damp enough that it's going to make a big mess on his
robes, so it shouldn't cause too much of a problem. She flushes across the
cheeks as she looks up at him, but tries to cover it up as she responds,
"He'd be upset if I got caught in the middle and you think it'd be best if
I didn't? And here I thought you liked upsetting Harry..." It does make a
little sense. If he wanted to really hurt Harry he'd let her get involved. But
then again, perhaps he doesn't want her involved because it's 'none of her
business'. She has a hard enough time figuring out what's going on in his head,
so she isn't even going to attempt to figure it out for herself.
These words cause one eyebrow to quirk, but his expression remains the
same, hardly changing at all save for that one. "As much as I enjoy
upsetting Harry, I have nothing against you... or, at least I didn't, until
now. It's also none of your business. You have no right to get involved."
So, it is one of those 'none of your business' things. Go figure. She looks up,
he begins to lean down. This isn't really the time, but it seems as though Draco's intent on seizing the Ravenclaw's
lips for whatever reasons... and he's not trying to pull her into a
compromising position! This has a purpose! Just wait and see!
"What?" Cho asks softly, blinking. She doesn't get to explain the
reason for her sudden shock, because he does something that just causes all
mental function to get blocked up in a sudden buzz of confusion. At first she
was confused over the 'until now'. What did she do to make him have something
against her? Is it because she defended Harry? Is it because of all the horrible
things that Pansy has been saying? Is it because the last article from Skeeter? Is it.. is it.. Aaaah. At times like this she really needs to have a close friend
who happens to be a girl. And on top of this, he's leaning down and seems
intent on kissing her. Why is he doing this? If he has something against her
now... why...? He can't be trying to shut her up,
she's not really saying anything... While she doesn't struggle to the point of
where she could pull out of his arm if he didn't want her to, she does lean
away from him, unconsiously.
Lean away from him all you
like. It seems as though Draco seems to sense it and,
not wanting to exactly force anything like that on the girl, he immediate
straightens, sneer returning, his eyes still looking rather icy. "I
suppose not, then. You told me that the next time, I had to mean it. I thought
I might as well seize that opportunity, but..." He shrugs his shoulders in
a tell-tale way that says he no longer cares. "It makes no difference,
now. It's a pity I even liked you remotely at all, Cho.
I had known that you had no problems with Potter, but this? Such
a surprise." And we all know what happens when someone sides with
Potter in front of Draco, even if it is something
that he's responsible for... What a prick. "Consider this the end of our
'friendship'." And with that, he releases the girl's hand and steps away,
moving backwards through the entrance of the hospital wing to leave...
This is just adding more and
more confusion. Cho can't help but feel as if she's
being smacked around by something that she can't even see. She didn't pull away
because she didn't want him to kiss her... it's just that it was so confusing
and she didn't understand why... and what he says doesn't exactly help. He was
going to mean it? That's a minor relief, but next to what he says afterwards it
doesn't give much. Her mouth slacks, eyes widening and an expression of pain
immediately overtakes her eyes. What was she supposed to do? Just stand there
and let them fight? They could have gotten expelled, or lost points, or
something /bad/ if Lavender had gotten back with Madam Pomfrey.
She did it as much for Draco as for Harry's
defense... She only defended Harry because he was the one being 'attacked'. If
it had been reversed... "Draco..." she
whispers. She could just let him go... well, no she can't. The very idea of
losing him, especially now... She darts forward and tries to grab his hand and
stop him, "What 'this?!' I have nothing against Harry, but what does that
have to do with us? I don't--" She cuts off, she's not in tears, but she's
not too far away.
He's trying to leave, do you
mind? Just a few steps away from freedom. Just a few
steps and he could have darted down the hallway to escape, perhaps down a few
secret passageways as well. But no, not like this.
Like this, he can't exactly do anything. When her hand snatches up his, Draco already has one foot out the door, but the other
still remains inside the hospital wing. His tongue flickers out quickly to wet
his dry lips, blue eyes moving to their limits, but refusing to turn his head
in order to see at the exact same time. "You don't WHAT?" He drawls
out, voice dripping its usual poison and disgust. "Let go of me and let me
leave, Cho."
Hand tightly clasping onto
his own, Cho stops moving towards him and just holds
on, her arm leaving a good distance between them. While her fingers aren't
exactly in a death grip, they hold on so tight that her skin is starting to
turn as white as his normally is. But that could be something besides just her
hold, because her face is paler than usual as well. "I can't." Her
hand doesn't let go, but one might wonder if she wasn't talking about her hand,
nor his leaving the Hospital Wing completely. "I
don't understand... Why? Why did you try to kiss me if you were just going to
leave?" Would it have made a difference if she hadn't flinched away? She
doesn't understand what's going on in his crazy little gelled up head.
Hey. Draco's
hair isn't gelled, today. It's a royal mess, thanks to Harry Potter, blonde
strands darting this way in that in a wind-blown spray upon his head, some
bangs trickling down like water over his blue eyes, the rest content in its
current positionment. "Why?" A soft, sarcastic chuckle. "Because I asked if you'd
let me, thus, I asked if I could. I figured I might as well act upon what I had
asked before there was no opportunity to act upon it at all. Don't ask stupid
questions to which you already know the answers. Let go of me, Cho." There's that tone of finality, accompanied by
the icy tones, combining together into a royally nasty pairing.
Well, all right, normally
gelled up head. Perhaps that's why he's suddenly trying to throw away their
friendship. He's got no gel on his head to keep his emotional retardity down. Though he may not be able to see it very
well, there are some tears begining to form in her
eyes, though Cho tries to push them away, fighting
off the urge to blink lest they start to fall. "Why didn't you kiss me
earlier?" Instead of letting go, she takes a step closer to him and brings
her other hand up, reaching for his shoulder and trying to turn him towards
her. She doesn't think these questions are stupid, but they probably have
different definitions of the word.
What makes you think that
hair gel keeps that emotional retard scale factor thingy down? Draco turns around without much physical protest and
absolutely no verbal argument, wearing the biggest, nastiest smirk imaginable,
looking down at the Ravenclaw with his usual 'lookit me, I'm superior to you' angle. "Why would I
have to? Now seemed like a good a time as any. Is this the end of 'Twenty
Questions', Cho? I'd like to leave." His free
hand departs from his side and smoothly sweeps back some of the white-blonde
bangs, placing them into a bit more of an organized order.
Apparently, it isn't the end
of the Twenty Questions, because Cho asks softly,
lowering her eyes from his face as she does, "There is nothing I can do
that will fix this...?" She wishes she could have more confidence when it
comes to him, but she always feels as if she's holding onto something that
would either bite her one second or struggle out of her hands the next. It's
always felt a little bit like that. Did she really expect to be able to hold
onto this friendship forever? Her hand slides down from his shoulder, running
down his arm until it joins her other hand at his. She really isn't going to
let him leave, is she? Well, her grip has loosened now, even if the second hand
has joined it. Eyes on the floor, she adds in the same soft tone, "You
don't really understand how I feel, do you? You've said that you liked
me..." Though he took it down to 'remotely' just a few seconds ago,
"but.. I don't think you know..." She breaks
off, and there's a quick, and brief, squeeze of her hands, her body hunching
slightly, eyes closing while he face remains tilted to the floor.
Oh, this oughta
be interesting. "This is getting ridiculous." Gosh darn emotional
stuff. He doesn't understand it at all. Why is it wrong for him to just cancel
a friendship and walk away? Why does he have to be clung onto this way and then
attempted to be talked out of it? "And if I don't understand how you feel,
Cho, why don't you tell me rather than beating around
the bush and playing stupid games? My patience is wearing thin." Not that
he had much in the first place. Draco really doesn't
get it. His voice in no way softens, maintaining its original harsh and icy
demeanor. Lucky Cho. Kudos to picking the emotional retard. Heh.
A mean
emotional retard at that. And if she had been picking with her head, she
certainly wouldn't have tried to stop him, and she probably wouldn't have
chosen him in the first place. Cho takes a breath and
slowly starts to relax. She's lost anyway... She lets go of his hands, bringing
a hand up to wipe off her face before she says, "I wasn't going to tell
you. I was afraid you would break off the friendship if I did. But since you've already done that, there's no reason not to tell
you." The only other reason she wasn't going to was because of
everything that was happening with Rita Skeeter and
Pansy Parkinson. But for now, she can do this calmly and not cry until after
he's already gone. She can be that strong at least. "I care about
you." She pauses, then adds on, somewhat relucently, "As much more than a friend." That's
as much as she can say, because she can't bring herself to say more since he's
just going to leave anyway. It's as clear as she's willing to make it for
someone that might try to use it against her later. Her eyes remain on her now
empty hands for the time being. She doesn't really want to watch him walk out.
Um. Ah. Er.
Durr.
Huh? What? His train of thought rams full force into a nicely-sized brick
wall... WHA-BANG!!! And not just one of them, either. Numerous.
And I do mean /NUMEROUS/. Crash after crash after crash.
Draco just blinks stupidly. Then
wrinkles his nose. Followed by blinking again.
Was that a love confession? What's my name, again? Where am I? Who are you, where
are my pants and how in hell did you get in my bed?! Wait, wrong context.
"E..." Um. "A..." Er. "D..." D'oh! Gape,
gape, gape. Head-reeling! He does the only thing he can do that probably won't
result in accidently hurting himself... Draco just stands there, his mouth partially hanging open,
blinking the blue eyes again and again while the little workers in his head
attempt to repair the train and get it back on track. @.@
Um... Sorry? Cho
stays standing where she is, waiting for the sound of his footsteps and the
doors slaming shut. That's what is supposed to happen
at this point, isn't it? Well, she doesn't hear any footsteps, and if those
weren't little attempts to speak that got cut off, than she's imagining things.
She takes a breath and chances looking up, blinking a few times at the sight
before her. He really didn't know, did he? It seems like that's the case... Her
first reaction is, "Sorry." For what? For
having those feelings or for admiting to them and
shocking him? It's the last part, just in case anyone's curious. "I.. guess you're probably confused. But you told me to say
it, so..." There you go. She said it. Not all of it, but still, as much as
she's willing to say with him pending on an about face, which she's convinced
will still happen.
C'mon, little workers. Fix up his
brain faster so he can start using it, again. Confused, Draco
certainly is, not to mention rendered without the ability to say anything at
all. Even after the apology, the recognizing of his current state, he still
stands there, gawking, just as he had done before, only now... he remembers
that breathing is essential to ones survival and takes in some oxygen. x.@; Phew... that was kinda
nice... the faint blue tint begins to leave his features. Just as his lungs started
working again on their own, his legs seem to do the same, carrying himself unconsciously a foot back... The boy blinks... and
blinks... and... well... blinks. He can't even begin
to think of anything else to do. After all, even breathing didn't come to mind.
His body had to force it upon him. "I... wasn't... expecting... you...
to... say... /that/." He finally manages to get out, sounding as though he
were just taught how to speak. Finally, those little workers finish their jobs
and get that train back in order! "You're right, though. I don't
understand. I don't understand at all!"
"What did you think I
was going to say...?" Cho asks softly, but she's
starting to sound a little uncomfortable, the calm facade she'd adopted
starting to fade away. He was supposed to turn around and leave, closing the
door and never looking back. He's not supposed to stick around and be all
confused. She honestly doesn't want him to leave, but she's getting a anxious since it appears that she really surprised him.
"I didn't mean to confuse you... If it makes you feel any better I didn't
even realize it until a few weeks ago." And wouldn't he love to hear what
actually sparked her realization, cause it wasn't a
conversation with him at all... "You can actually be nice sometimes... and
you..." she trails off. Why is she trying to justify the way she feels to
him anyway? "I.. I'm not stopping you anymore, Draco." She says, trying to regain the calm, and not
managing very well. At least she isn't crying again though.
Indeed, she's not stopping
him, anymore. It's more him who's stopping himself, mostly because he's at a
complete lost of what to do. That train of thought only /just/ managed to get
back on track after being derailed for a few minutes. The boy manages to take
another step back... this time, fully into the hallway where he comes to a
stop, again, blinking, again. "You really pick bad times to say these
sorts of things. I don't know what to say to you... I don't know what to say at
all... I don't understand... but I'll tell you this..." And Draco finally manages to get his wits about him, his head
lifting to that superior angle, but his face... well... it remains confused
and... lost. "I don't feel the same." But
there's that uncertain note... "Especially not now.
Perhaps you should go admit something like that to Potter, since you're so
eager to defend him." And with that... well...
The blonde Slytherin does exactly what he was
supposed to do in the beginning... He turns and leaves, which is probably one
of the more harder things he's ever had to do in his life, turning around and
leaving the girl there...
Though she wasn't really
expecting him to return the feeling in any way, there is a slight flinch of
pain as he says that. The uncertain note is probably the only thing that keeps
it from hurting too much. The next few words are what causes
Cho to look confused, but then she understands.
That's why. Does he think she likes Harry like that? She takes a breath and
walks the few feet to the doors. She doesn't appear to be coming after him,
because she stops, grabbing onto the door handles as she says, "I don't
feel this way about Harry." She does like him, even to the point that
she'd like to be his friend, but it's completely different, "And if he'd
been the one yelling at you, I would have defended you." It's true, she
would have, but he was the one being confrontational, not Harry... It's not
like she can really defend someone who's doing all the yelling... "You may
not want me as your friend anymore... but if you need anything..." And are
willing to admit it, "just ask." Instead of stepping out into the
hall, she starts to close the doors, with her still on the inside.