The Autumn Swan

a Harry Potter fan fiction story

by Lord Akiyama

Chapter Ten

Parental Advisory

The letters Cho received from Harry following his birthday made her believe he was getting more depressed and miserable with each passing day. He would not admit as much, but she was quite certain of it. As a matter of fact, she was sure he had been depressed and miserable pretty much the entire summer. A hypothesis she conceived from reading between the lines of his responses whenever she asked how he was feeling. He would say that he was doing as well as he could. Only his handwriting would show that his hand was progressively getting less steady with each letter he sent her. He also never really elaborated on how things were going for him outside of the frustration he was feeling about his lack of communication with his friends. Almost as though he was trying to avoid talking about himself.

Cho imagined this had a great deal to do with what happened at the end of the Triwizard Tournament. The death of Cedric Diggory. His claim that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had returned. The scrutiny he was receiving from the Minister of Magic. The public opinion that he was "Disturbed and Dangerous". Coupled with the life he was already living and the things that had occurred beforehand and she could understand that he was probably experience all sort of physical, spiritual, psychological, and emotional suffering. It certainly was not helping that he was not being comforted by his friends for whatever reason. The only time he seemed at ease, from her perspective, was during his birthday dinner. Aside from the discomfort of meeting her parents, he was at peace when he was in her presence as opposed to writing to her. And that was before she gave him his birthday presents.

Cho wondered if she should try to get Harry to open up about how he was really feeling. They were dating and, as she understood it, they were supposed to be there for each other for support. Surely this included trying to ease whatever tension he was experiencing. On the other hand, she was concerned about pushing him too hard that he might shut her out. They had only been an official couple for a few months and really the only time they had ever really gone out was prior to the establishment of their relationship with his taking her to the Yule Ball. How willing was he to open up to her when they had not been together all that much? She was still debating the issue when the letter exchange came to an end for the summer just a few days after his birthday with a letter that only intensified her concern for his well-being.

"Cho,

My cousin and I were just attacked by Dementors out in the open.

The Ministry wants to expel me from Hogwarts because I had to use magic to defend ourselves.

I'm being told to stay put and I don't know why.

I've told Hedwig not to return to me until I've gotten answers, so this may be my last letter to you for a while.

I'm very sorry.

Harry"

The first thing Cho did after reading the letter over and over again was to ask her mother about what was happening at the Ministry of Magic. She did not know any thing at first, but the next day returned with word that a hearing was being scheduled addressing the matter. As the Ministry was not making any public announcement of such a thing happening, the information was coming from the gossip that was flying around in every office in every department. Cho was about to have her long-eared owl Confucius go out with a letter to Harry in the hopes of keeping open what had otherwise been a daily exchange of letters that had previously been through his snowy owl Hedwig. After a long discussion with her parents, though, she was convinced not to do so. Even though he said in his letter that he was told to stay put, chances were good that Harry had since been moved out, whether by his own accord or by force. Thus Confucius would not be able to deliver the letter.

The last time Cho ever felt so nervous and anxious about any thing was the days leading up to her first Quidditch match at Hogwarts. The butterflies in her stomach, getting more and more queasy with each passing hour. All the same, she found it rather strange that she would be experiencing these feelings over the possibility of Harry getting expelled. Granted he was her boyfriend and she would therefore have some emotional investment in his well-being. But it still just did not seem like some thing that could be considered logical. Even if she was engaging in a relationship for the first time, she could not fathom these emotions being understandable. Yet there they were overwhelming her senses. And she signed up for it when she became the girlfriend of The Boy Who Lived.

On the day of the hearing, Cho was found in her pajamas sitting at the kitchen table. She had been there since breakfast. She hardly ever got up except to use the bathroom and to make herself a light lunch. As light as her breakfast, as a matter of fact. Much of her attention was fixed on the letter from Harry, which she brought with her. If she was not staring into space, she was going over the letter as slowly as she could to make time move faster. She was waiting for her mother to return with the news of whether or not Harry was going to be expelled from Hogwarts. As much as sitting in the kitchen doing nothing would certainly cause time to slow down, she could not motivate herself to do any thing more active. So she waited and soon daylight gave way to night. That was when her mother finally returned from the Ministry of Magic.

"Fŭqīn is having a business dinner with some of the Wizard investors to discuss how the London restaurant is doing," her mother said as she was putting away her coat. "And if I'm not mistaken, Chun is at her friend Joyce's for a sleepover. So it'll just be you and me tonight."

Cho thought it best not to ask her mother straight away about what happened at the hearing. So she instead helped in cooking their dinner about as quietly as she could, speaking only to make sure that they were making the spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread correctly. They were not chefs like her father, but she often thought meals that were made by the family together tasted just a little bit better. Nevertheless, how tasty a meal she cooked with her mother was not the most prominent thought on her mind. It would not be until half-way through dinner before she finally had the discussion she had been waiting all day to have. But it did not start off that way.

"Cho, how serious are you about your relationship with Harry?" her mother asked after taking her first sip of her wine.

It was a question that caught Cho off guard. One that, upon retrospect, she probably should have been asking herself over the past few days given how worried she was regarding her boyfriend. As a result, she really did not know how to answer her mother just as much as she did not know how to answer herself. How serious was she? The one time they were able to be together in person the entire summer was the result of her parents going through the trouble of setting him up a birthday dinner just so they could interrogate him. The question would reasonably be in line with her previous dilemma of weighing the positives and negatives of engaging in a relationship with The Boy Who Lived.

"Serious enough that I want to see him at Hogwarts in a few weeks," Cho finally answered. "Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to know just how committed you were to the relationship," her mother responded. She then took another sip of her wine. "Do you trust him?"

"I'm sorry?" Cho nearly choked. Where was her mother going with this now?

"Do you trust Harry?" her mother repeated in a steady voice.

"Um... yes?" Cho replied with a raised brow.

"How much do you trust him?" her mother continued to ask.

"Mŭqīn, what is this about?" Cho questioned rather sternly.

"It's one of the things fŭqīn and I are still concerned about with his dating you," her mother responded after giving out a sigh. "What kind of trust do you two have for one another?"

"I'm not sure I understand," Cho said. She watched as her mother took a third sip of her wine, this one just a little longer than the last.

"Cho, we understand that much of the public perception about Harry is not entirely true," her mother began to say in explanation. "The Daily Prophet may have labeled him 'Disturbed and Dangerous', yet he was certainly any thing but when we met him on his birthday. Nevertheless, we wonder if perhaps he has been affected by the public perception."

"What do you mean?" Cho asked curiously.

"Well, remember when Harry said that he would do just about any thing to protect you?" her mother noted in reply. "He did say that he would respect your wishes and believed you could defend yourself. But what about decisions he would have to make in the heat of the moment? When some thing happens, how willing would he be to involve you? Not just in being an active participant, but even in telling you about what was going on."

"You're concerned Harry may not trust me enough that he might push me away should some thing happen," Cho summarized.

"Have you considered the possibility?" her mother asked, taking a fourth sip of her wine.

Cho had to admit that it was some thing she probably should have considered. She did not take into account that there could be problems from Harry himself, not just around him. Did he trust her? Would he push her away if he was concerned for her safety in whatever situation befell him? The latter might be a certainty more so now than perhaps a year ago. In recent months, some one had been killed and his own Muggle cousin had been attacked by a Dementor. Regardless of whether or not she would be willing to accept taking on whatever danger occurred by being in his company, chances were he would not want her to be around. He surely would not want to see her get hurt on account of him, be it directly or indirectly. And to ensure that no harm came to her, he probably would not trust her enough to let her in as he did his friends Ron and Hermione.

The conversation was bringing back to mind early thoughts wondering if she should get him to open up to her. If she were to push him to talk even a little bit about how he was really feeling, would he let her in? Would he shut her out instead? Would he trust her with knowing just how he was coping in the months that followed the tragedy that occurred at the end of the Triwizard Tournament? Should she even bother to ask him the next time they were able to communicate? Was it really her business, even though they were in a relationship?

But then she thought about the last letter he sent her. Yes, he mentioned it might be a while before she heard from him again, which would seemingly mean that he was keeping her at a distance from the situation he was in with the Ministry. But he also told her why this was the case. That he and his cousin had been attacked by Dementors. That the Ministry wanted to expel him from Hogwarts for using magic, even though it was under extraordinary circumstances. He could have just as easily said that some thing happened, made no mention that he was attacked or that it was Dementors attacking him. Nor did he have to mention that the Ministry was trying to expel him. He even noted that his cousin had been attacked as well when he did not need to do so. Surely this meant that he trusted her enough to tell her important information. Surely.

"I believe he has enough trust in me that I'm comfortable with, mŭqīn," Cho answered her mother.

It was the most diplomatic response she could come up with at the moment. Had she thought about it some more, she might have conceived of a better answer. Fortunately, this may have achieved the intended affect as it appeared her mother was satisfied. They resumed their dinner in relative silence. This lasted until they had almost finished eating. That was when her mother finally revealed what she had been waiting all day to know.

"He was cleared," her mother said in a rather casual tone. "The full Wizengamot was called in and more than enough voted in his favor."

"Oh," Cho uttered in relief. "Good." It took a lot for her to keep her excitement at bay for the time being. She did not want to display a lot of emotion, at least not while in the presence of her mother and while they were still eating.

"Most of the offices in all of the departments practically stopped operating it was all we were thinking and talking about," her mother noted. A small sense of pride started to surface in her voice just as she took one more sip of wine. Cho was concerned her mother was going to get rather tipsy tonight because of their conversation and because of the events of the day at the Ministry as well. "Apparently Harry impressed Madam Bones. Not an easy thing to do, really."

A pair of knocks were heard on the door as Harry was in the middle of packing his belongings. Instinctively, he turned to Ron only to find that his friend was not in his bed. He was not even in the room. Perhaps it was Ron, checking to see if he had gone to bed before barging into the room. Then there was another pair of knocks. Chances were that was not Ron on the other side of the door as he would have said some thing instead of knocking again. With a sigh, Harry got up and went over to see who it was. He opened it just enough so that he could get a good look.

"Mind for some brief company before you hit the hay?" the deep, raspy voice of Sirius Black asked. He was leaning up against the door frame and looked some what tired. Perhaps from having to exert some effort into helping Lupin and Moody put Mrs. Weasley at ease following her encounter with a Boggart.

Truth be told, Harry was a little tired himself. More like he was emotionally drained. In addition to what just happened with Mrs. Weasley, he had earlier been informed by Moody about the previous incarnation of the Order of the Phoenix his parents were members of. Including the not-so-pleasant fate that befell the vast majority of them. Which made looking at the picture of the lot really hard to do in a positive manner. Along with how his entire summer had been going since leaving Hogwarts, he really was not up for being around others any longer than he had to for the rest of the day.

Only this was his godfather. Given all of the hardships that they both individually had been through the last fourteen years or so, opportunities for the two of them to really hang out together had been scarce. And the time that they had spent was usually limited, generally under duress. This moment was a rare chance for him to be with Sirius for a much longer amount of time. Enough for the possibility of them to really bond.

After giving a nod, Harry opened the door wide enough for Sirius to walk in. They made their way over to where he was packing up. His godfather scratching the back of his own head, looking as though he was trying to figure out what to say now that he made it this far. Harry thought about continuing to pack, but merely found himself seated on his bed and staring at his belongings. It was an awkward moment of silence that hung between them before some one finally spoke.

"We managed to get Molly to sleep," Sirius said. "Took some time since she wanted to smother her kids with hugs and kisses first."

"I bet," Harry uttered in response. He was really hoping they would not get into a conversation that related to things that happened within the last few hours. It was enough for him to be brooding on his own thoughts. The last thing he needed was some one else to inject their perspective. Even if it was coming from his godfather. The awkward silence returned, but only for a short moment.

"Well, this isn't gonna help," Sirius uttered, seemingly under his breath but loud enough for Harry to hear. Then he spoke more audibly. "Let's see if we can't end this miserable summer of ours on a lighter note." This caused Harry to let out a slight snort of amusement. "Great, we're on the right track."

"I don't think we'll be able to stay on course for much longer, though," Harry noted. Nonetheless, he could not help but smile at the attempt being made.

"Probably not," Sirius admitted as he sat himself down on the ground, his back pressed up against the bed Harry was seated on. "But since I'm your godfather, it's my job to make sure you head off to sleep feeling a little bit positive."

"How do you propose to do that?" Harry asked, raising a curious brow.

"Well, let's keep it simple," Sirius answered with a shrug. "What's a good thing that happened to you the whole summer? Doesn't matter how small."

Harry wanted to roll his eyes. This was the best his godfather could come up with as a means of cheering him up? To think up of one possible good thing that had come out of this awful summer? He stopped himself when he remembered that it probably was the best given the lack of actual experience Sirius had with being a parental figure. Not when he had spent twelve years locked up in Azkaban and the last couple years a fugitive from the world at large.

With that in mind, Harry looked to recall any thing good that happened during the summer. The fact that he was cleared by the Wizengamot would be nice, but the whole process was more uncomfortable than positive from what he could remember. His reunion with his friends and Sirius was not as uplifting as he would have liked. Not with them having to keep him in the dark and how depressing Number Twelve Grimmauld Place turned out to be. He was about to tell his godfather that he could not think of any thing even small that was good when a particular memory suddenly struck. His birthday dinner. With Cho.

"Thought of some thing, I see," Sirius uttered rather suddenly. It nearly caused Harry to hop in his seat as he looked over at his godfather. There was a smirk forming on his face. It would seem that Harry was making some sort of expression with his face or body that tipped Sirius off. But then the smirk was perhaps a give away of his own. A give away of a different sort.

"I would imagine Mrs. Figg and Mundungus would have informed you lot about all the comings and goings at my Aunt and Uncle's?" Harry started to question. Sirius responded by merely raising a brow. "Surely they would have noticed that we went out some where on my birthday, right?" Sirius simply nodded. Harry waiting in the hopes that his godfather would say some thing, but after an awkward moment he decided to speak again. "How much do you know?"

"Just that you went out to some fancy restaurant for your birthday," Sirius answered. His smirk had not wavered. "The fact that your relatives took you was curious, given that it was very uncharacteristic of them to do so after fourteen years of mistreatment. But neither 'dungus nor Mrs. Figg seemed to think that any thing happened to be too concerned about and the rest just left it at that."

"Except you?" Harry asked.

"Except me," Sirius replied. "I got 'dungus to find out more about the place you went to. Relatively new in London. Some interesting mixture of Scottish and Chinese. Run by a guy named Chang." Upon saying the name, his smirk turned into a full grin. "Would I be far off to presume that this Chang may or may not be related to this girl you fancy? Cho Chang, you said her name was?"

For the first time since his birthday dinner, Harry felt his cheeks getting warm. Part of him was unwilling to talk about his relationship with Cho. Almost out of spite for their essentially shutting him out through most of the summer, even if it was not their choice to do so. He felt the need to keep this one thing to himself. But at the same time, he also felt he was going to need whatever help he can get about being in a relationship. And for better or for worse, his godfather was maybe the one person he could to seek advice from and to make sure that his boundaries were respected.

"He's her father," Harry answered to the original question.

"Ah," Sirius uttered, adjusting himself in a more comfortable position against the bed his back was upon. Almost as though he was trying to be more relaxed. "Sounds like you met the parents. I guess this relationship of yours with this girl is very serious to get to that point rather quickly."

"It is?" Harry squeaked. He was quite sure his cheeks were now pink.

"Well, in my experience meeting the parents is a sign that the relationship is moving to a level of sincerity," Sirius explained, bringing hands upon to the back of his head. "Meaning that she genuinely likes you enough that she thinks you may be able to impress her parents for them to accept you."

"Is that supposed to include interrogation?" Harry asked.

"More often than not," Sirius replied with a chuckle. "There are not many parents of daughters out there who would immediately accept whoever is dating their little girl right off the bat. Drilling them on the first encounter is almost always a given. They feel strongly protective of their child and want assurance that she will be going out with some one they can rely on to treat her with chivalry."

"I dunno if I managed to win them over, then," Harry admitted, starting to feel a little crestfallen.

"That's because you're Harry Potter," Sirius said in an almost proud voice. "The Boy Who Lived. The parents will always be unsure simply because of your reputation, both wanted and unwanted. It's going to take a lot of time, a lot of patience, and a hardened display that who you really are beneath all the celebrity is someone who will treat their daughter right. Only then will you be able to win them over."

"Peachy..." Harry muttered with a defeated sigh. As if he did not have enough trouble figuring how to impress Cho as her boyfriend, now he had to work even harder to impress her parents. This whole relationship thing was far more complicated and far more troublesome than he could have possibly imagined.

"Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean they're against you dating her," Sirius explained further. "It's just that they're gonna be extra cautious about the fact that their daughter is the girlfriend of Harry Potter. Will probably take a good long while, but keep being yourself and they'll warm to you in the end."

"Thanks, I guess," Harry said. Admittedly, he was feeling slightly better. He did not really know why, but hearing the support from his godfather in a manner that was surprisingly comforting was enough to ease him a little. Maybe it was that idea that this was coming from some one who was the closest he had to a parental figure.

"I imagine there was more than just meeting Cho's parents on your birthday, right?" Sirius asked after there was a moment of silence between them.

It was enough to shake Harry out of the state of thought he was in. It also reminded him why they were conversing in the first place. He was to be thinking about some thing good that happened to him throughout the summer. An interrogation from the parents of his girlfriend certainly did not sound like it was good. But there was the memory of what happened afterward that was more positive than any thing else he could imagine, and not just from over the summer. He was about to speak again when he noticed his godfather had leaned over and reached out to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Just because I asked if there was a good thing that happened over the summer, doesn't necessarily mean you have to say it aloud," Sirius said. And instead of a grin or even a smirk, he had what Harry thought was an honest smile on his face. "I might have a pretty good idea what this good thing could be, but you don't have to confirm it if you don't want to. Because some of the best memories can be those that one would rather keep to themselves. Some thing that only they are privy to."

Harry looked into the eyes of Sirius and saw some thing he was not really expecting, but one that he was more than willing to accept. The kind of comfort and warmth that had been missing from him ever since he was a baby. A genuine sense of assurance that the words he spoke were honest and true.

"I know a lot about your parents and they've confided in me many things," Sirius continued. "But I know they held back on telling me things about themselves. Specifically about their relationship. The sheepish smiles and looking at one another like they have this fun little secret that no one else is allowed to know, not even their best friend. And I'm more than content with them keeping those things to themselves. Because it's theirs. And it makes them happy. So this thing, this good thing that happened to you over the summer? Keep it to yourself. It's yours. And it makes you happy."

Harry formed a smile of his own. He wanted this. How badly he wanted this. The Weasleys were wonderful people and he appreciated their treating him as if he were part of their family. But while they offered genuine love and support, it not on the same level of what the love and support would have been from his actual parents. Sirius was his godfather, the closest he felt he was going to get to any one who could offer him the genuine love and support that was on the same level as his parents.

"Thanks," Harry said breathlessly.

"Any time, kid," Sirius responded, squeezing his shoulder affectionately.

And with that, the otherwise miserable summer seemed to have ended on a lighter note for Harry.

Cho opened the compartment door to find a scene she never would have imagined laying eyes upon. In fact, she doubted that any one would have anticipated witnessing the visual before her. It was the kind of scene that raised so many questions that it was ridiculous. Perhaps the best approach was to come up with as simple of a description as she could. Harry was among four students covered in a dark green liquid holding a toad. She honestly did not know if she should laugh or not. After a while, she finally decided to at least say some thing.

"Um..." Cho began to utter, looking directly at her boyfriend. "Bad time?"

She watched as he reached up with a free hand to wipe the lenses of his glasses. Within a few seconds, he had cleared enough of his face so that she could get a better look at him. She sensed that he felt rather embarrassed being in the predicament he found himself in.

"Oh..." Harry responded blankly. "Hi." The fact that he was slowly beginning to blanch made the dark green liquid stand out all the more.

"Hi," Cho said in return. She tried to form on a smile and felt she partially succeeded. Then she took a sniff. The scent reminded her of rancid manure. "Stinksap?"

"Guess so," he answered. There might have been a hint in his voice that he tried some sort of attempt to regain whatever composure that had been lost.

"It's not poisonous," a voice said. It belonged to what was apparently a male student Harry was sitting next to. And it would seem he got the brunt of the Stinksap. Cho turned to him when he spoke and, as if ashamed of doing so, sank within himself a little.

"I seem to recall that being the case," Cho said, trying to sound comforting.

"And it's some thing we can get rid of easily," another voice proclaimed. Across from Harry were two more bodies, both female and relatively less drenched in comparison. One of them had pulled out a wand and looked as though she was about to cast some thing. "Scourgify!"

Within seconds, the Stinksap was gone. Allowing Cho a chance to examine those who were occupying the compartment with Harry. The male student seated next to him had a round face that, for the moment, was wearing an expression of increased ignominy. In hand was a plant that looked like a small gray cactus covered in boils. This was presumably the source of the Stinksap. The female who had removed the liquid had a long mane of red hair and faded freckles. She seemed rather amused and proud at managing to clean up the mess. The fourth body Cho recognized almost instantly now that the Stinksap was gone. After all, she could not think of any one else who would have a copy of The Quibbler in hand upside down.

"Hello, Luna," she said with a light wave.

"Hello, Cho Chang," Luna replied in her sing-song, Irish voice. She was peering over the magazine, the far away, dreamy look ever present in her eyes.

For a brief moment, silence fell over the compartment. No one said any thing, nor did any one make an attempt to say some thing. It was quite awkward. Made stranger by Harry continuing to be in possession of a toad, the male student sitting next to him clutching a potted plant, and Luna reading her magazine upside down. Cho imagined that if she had been any one else she would probably have tried to come up with some excuse to run as far away as possible. After a little while longer, she decided to break up the silence with a slight cough.

"May I come in, then?" she asked, looking to Harry. As if her speaking roused him from the apparent stupor he was in, Harry uttered something in surprise as he scrambled to his feet so that there was a choice of open seat for her to take. He was still maintaining a hold of the toad.

"Oh!" he managed to let out with a quiet squeak. "O-Of course!" His cheeks had started to turn to a light shade of pink.

Cho flashed him a smile of appreciation as she made her way over to an open seat. She took the spot up against the window, allowing Harry to sit between her and the other male student. Upon doing so, he apparently realized he was holding a toad and proceeded to hand it over to the other, who did with little hesitation and an apparent sense of relief. There was a brief awkward moment of silence that fell upon the compartment before some one spoke.

"Um..." Harry began some what nervously with a cough. "Guys, this is Cho Chang." Cho nodded, maintaining her smile as she was being introduced to the others. Harry then waved a hand over at the male student he was sitting next to while turning slightly to some what face her. "Cho, this is Neville Longbottom." Neville nervously smiled and sheepishly waved with a free hand in response. Harry then directed his hand over to the redhead. "And she's Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister."

"Hey," Ginny uttered with a slight wave. The display of apparent pride she had earlier suddenly disappeared. Instead she appeared rather guarded, defensive perhaps. This did not go unnoticed by Cho and she wondered if perhaps that was intended.

"Ron and Hermione would be here, but they're in a prefects meeting," Harry continued, though it seemed like he was trailing off into a mutter. As if for added effect, he brought hand over to scratch the back his head nervously. It seemed to Cho like he was make some sort of effort to present himself in an interesting manner.

"Oh, they're prefects this year?" Cho exclaimed in a delighted tone. "Good for them."

"Surprised you're not a prefect yourself," Ginny uttered. It seemed rather sudden, thereby catching the attention of nearly every one except the preoccupied Luna. Ginny looked to present herself as curious and yet Cho wondered if that defensive posture she had seen seconds ago was still lingering.

"Wasn't interested," Cho responded with a mere shrug. She received intrigued looks from Harry and Ginny. She wanted to laugh as a result, but managed to keep it in.

"In Ravenclaw, we volunteer interest after our first year," Luna chirped, seemingly injecting herself into the conversation though her attention remained fixed on The Quibbler. "Every year after, they state whether they're still interested or not. Helps Professor Flitwick evaluate from a smaller field than having to look at everyone."

"Really?" Harry said with genuine curiosity. "But what happens if there's no one left who's interested?"

"He would probably determine likely candidates and speak with them in person on the potentiality of being prefects," Cho answered. "As far as we know, though, that hasn't happened in at least a century. There's always enough students left still volunteering by the time he has to choose."

The conversation continued on for a little while longer before other topics of discussion were introduced. Most of the talking was between Cho and Ginny with Harry jumping in every now and then, Neville only attempting when he felt confident in participating, and Luna doing so rarely and randomly. It was certainly different than the conversations Cho was used to with her usual sort of friends, but she could also tell this was not normal for the others in the compartment either. Ginny seemed like she trying not to open up. Neville was too shy to be engaging. Luna was an enigma. And then there was Harry and the behaviour he was displaying.

It was an interesting situation she found herself in. Having to assess the entirety of the scene as it was happening and conduct herself accordingly. She quickly picked up on how her presence was putting Harry slightly on edge. Not in a negative way, but one that made clear that he was in a state of discomfort. She had seemingly caught him in an embarrassing moment and now she was sitting next to him with friends present. He did not introduce her as his girlfriend and it looked as though he was hesitating to do so.

"Not to be rude or any thing," Ginny said. There might of been hint in her voice that she was being otherwise. "Aren't there friends you usually hang out with?"

"Yeah..." Cho responded, her voice beginning to trail. "Marietta... I don't think she's been... coping very well..."

It was instantly clear upon mentioning Marietta how dangerously close the topic of discussion would be leaning toward a direction that was very uncomfortable for just about every one in the compartment. Not the least of which for Harry. There was little doubt that she should not mention what she saw of Marietta minutes prior to appearing in this compartment. And certainly not to Harry that Marietta cryptically wanted to speak with him. Cho knew she needed to move the conversation along a different path.

"Padma was absent herself," she stated rather quickly. "But I recall she was interested in being a prefect for a while."

"Parvati seemed like the type to want a chance at displaying her natural talent for leadership," Luna uttered from behind her magazine. Cho did not know if Luna was intentionally helping, it was nonetheless very much appreciated.

"Don't you mean Padma?" Neville asked in confusion. "Parvati is the one in Gryffindor."

"Uh huh," Luna replied.

Ginny let out a snort and quickly slapped a hand over her own mouth. Cho similarly dropped her head and gently bit her tongue. Both Harry and Neville coughed with Harry tugging at his collar while Neville started to pet his toad. Cho reminded herself to later thank Luna for lightening the mood, whether she meant to or not. Not long after the food trolley arrived and there was now more things to occupy themselves with.

She did feel, though, that she got a better read of Harry and his present behaviour. He definitely tensed up to the point of rigid stiffness when Marietta was brought up and the fear that he would have to talk about what happened at the end of the Triwizard Tournament. The subject he clearly was not up for. And through that Cho hypothesized that he was being cautious with and around her when in the presence of others. That perhaps he did not want it to be known just yet that she was his girlfriend out of protection.

So even among friends, it appeared Harry was not ready to reveal that he was dating Cho. She honestly was not sure if should find this off-putting or acceptable. Even more strangely, she wondered if perhaps his behaviour was maybe understandable. She recalled the conversation she had with her mother when she was trying to find out whether or not Harry was going to be expelled from Hogwarts. Specifically the notion of how much he trusted her. She believed he had enough trust in her that she was comfortable with. And yet it seemed like he did not trust her enough to be introduced as his girlfriend to others.

Unless it was his attempt at protecting her. He did mention to her parents that he would do just about any thing to protect her. Perhaps that included keeping the knowledge of them dating to as few people as possible. The idea that doing so would keep her safe, to avoid being targeted as it were the way her friends Ron and Hermione tended to be. But in essentially trying to keep her away from harm, he was keeping her from being let too far in. One of the things that was concerning to her, and seemingly her parents. That once again he might trust her despite his proclamation that he believed she could defend herself against whatever harm happened within his presence.

Then again, they had only been a couple for a few months. Neither was experienced enough to know whether or not it would be a good idea to present themselves as such just yet, even to friends. For all she knew, he probably wanted to make it known that they were dating, but felt she needed to be comfortably integrated into his circle of friends first so that the others would be more accepting of her when she would be eventually revealed as his girlfriend. And maybe, just maybe, she was overthinking the whole thing. That because they had been going out for a short while that she probably should hold back on analyzing as deeply as she might have.

It had been about an hour since she had first arrived in the compartment was when Ron and Hermione joined them. Though she was not physically up against him, Cho could sense that Harry tensed just sightly when the door had opened and then relaxed when it was his friends. Seemed like she was going to have to get used to him being jittery for a while. At least for as long as he held off from introducing her as his girlfriend to the others. Just as Ron and Hermione were entering the compartment, Harry turned to Cho and gave her what appeared to be an assuring smile. It was brief, but she felt it meant a lot.

For now, she was willing to go along with how Harry would introduce her to his friends for now. She figured it would be more incentive to get him to be more affectionate to her when they're alone as compensation.

Author's Note: So... Four years, eh? It's been that long since I last updated this thing. Yeah. Totally not making this into a habit. Let's go with the standard answer of life getting in the way. Numerous many things happening in my life that were totally getting into the way of me continuing to write.

Instead of making excuses, I'll just reveal one of the inspiring moments that managed to get me to finally update the bloody story. At this year's San Diego Comic Con, there was a panel on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Illusionists Jamie Harrison, Chris Fisher, and Skylar Fox revealed as little as they allowed themselves to about how they developed and visualized the magic effects that appear on stage. They were also joined by Nicholas Podany, who currently plays Ablus Potter in the Broadway production, and Jon Steiger, who will play Scorpius Malfoy in the San Francisco production, showing off some neat tricks. I got to briefly meet Podany and Steiger afterwards and the whole presentation made me really want to see the show at some point.

So it essentially took Cursed Child to push me into completing this chapter. Hopefully it will keep me inspired to get the next chapter out more quickly than four years. Speaking of, I also met James Snyder, who currently plays Harry on Broadway. This was prior to even the last chapter being published, but figured it would help with the inspiration. He's a great performer, having seen him on Broadway in If/Then playing Idina Menzel's love interest.

There was one thing I will say that garnered a lot of my attention the last few years. I've become absolutely hooked on Critical Role, a live internet stream of animation and video game voice actors playing Dungeons & Dragons. It's absolutely outstanding and I've been watching it religiously every week. If I can get at least one person interested, they did a one-shot outside of their main campaign where the game was a crossover of Harry Potter and The Breakfast Club. You can find it on YouTube as "Critical Role and the Club of Misfits". Be warned that there's a lot of naughty language throughout the three hour venture. And the one non-voice actor playing does a ridiculously terrible British accent to match his equally ridiculous hairstyle for the game.

Some one mentioned the Hedwig poll, some thing I definitely forgot about after four years. I decided to close it since it had been up for that long and pull it from my profile page. If haven't figured out a way to see the results, it will be revealed in the story at some point.

Shalk Zailackar - One thing you may want to enlighten on is what Hermione meant by sending no post except for a pitiful birthday card. If she really didn't I think Harry might be quite a bit more upset then he was in the original book.

I think it was more of that she, along with the others, didn't send much to Harry on his birthday aside from a card, which would be a send down from previous years where he was sent presents and cake. If I recall from the book, because of the secrecy they were supposed to keep up, they had to pretty much send little more than cards for his birthday, which would frustrate Harry as he's been hardly receiving any thing as it was during that summer.

Oh, and I have been sorted at Pottermore. Ravenclaw represent!

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Harry Potter and all the characters, locations, and world created and copyright © JK Rowling. This story was created out of pure fun and enjoyment, so please don't sue or place an Imperius Curse on me.