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Chapter Text

Ten going-on eleven-year-old Harry Potter couldn’t believe his luck. He was sitting in the back seat of Uncle Vernon’s new car with Dudley and his best friend Piers Polkiss, on his way to London Zoo for the first time (which was also Harry’s first time going someplace that wasn’t either the Dursleys’ house, St. Grogery’s Primary School, nor the house of his sitter Mrs. Figg). Mrs. Figg had broken her leg and was unable to watch Harry as she needed to recover. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia couldn’t think of anything else on what to do with ‘the boy.’ Uncle Vernon insisted that Harry not sit in the car alone because it was brand new. Harry did suggest that they leave him at ‘home’ alone, only for Aunt Petunia to rebuff that on the belief that ‘the boy’ would do something to turn the house into ruins. After all, Harry knew his relatives weren’t going to be persuaded to leave him behind without a sitter because he kept making odd things happen.

He remembered one time last year when one of his teacher’s wigs turned blue due to said teacher insulting Harry. Another time, Harry had to have a haircut in the kitchen because Aunt Petunia got tired of taking him to a barber shop every week or something like that. Petunia had taken a pair of shears and cut Harry’s hair to the point of leaving him almost bald (save for his bangs, to keep that lightning-bolt scar hidden). The next morning, Harry woke up and found his hair exactly as it had been before it was cut off. Petunia confined Harry to his cupboard for a week as punishment, even though Harry tried explaining that he had no idea how it grew back so quickly. Another time, Petunia tried to force Harry to wear one of Dudley’s old overly-large sweaters, but it kept shrinking until it was the size of a hand puppet. Ultimately, Petunia decided that the sweater shrunk in the wash and didn’t punish Harry (much to his relief).

Several weeks ago, he got into huge trouble at school for supposedly climbing buildings during an incident when Dudley and his gang were chasing ‘the freak,’ Harry tried jumping behind a trash can, only to somehow find himself up on the roof as though the wind caught him in mid-jump. Harry was confined to his cupboard for a week as punishment. But today, Harry was determined to make sure that he avoided trouble, especially since today was Dudley’s eleventh birthday. Dudley even invited his best friend, Piers Polkiss, along as usual when it came to outings. Dudley was a blonde-haired boy who was very fat and hated exercise if it didn’t involve punching someone. Piers was a scrawny brown-haired boy with a rat-like face. They were bullies and Piers was the one who’d hold victims’ arms behind their backs while Dudley did the punching. They finally made it to the parking lot of London Zoo. As Harry, Piers, and the Dursleys got out, Uncle Vernon pulled Harry aside and pointed a finger in his face.

“I’m warning you now, boy!” Uncle Vernon told his nephew through gritted teeth. “Any funny business, any at all, and you’ll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas, kapeesh?!”

Harry nodded his head in an obedient manner while keeping a neutral expression on his face, but Uncle Vernon huffed in annoyance because he knew that ‘the boy’ was bound to do something awful. As soon as the admission was paid and they walked into the park, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia bought Dudley and Piers two large ice cream cones. The lady in charge of the frozen treats stall asked Harry what he would like before the Dursleys could hurry away. Vernon bought Harry a cheap lemon ice pop, but he appeared to like it regardless. They strolled by the penguin beach, watching a couple penguins waddling. Harry made sure to keep his distance when they strolled by the gorilla enclosure, since it looked like Dudley and Piers were getting bored and would be tempted to fall back onto their favourite hobby of hitting him.

‘So far, so good!’ thought Harry, keeping his expression neutral since a happy him was his relatives’ worst nightmare.

Harry, Piers, and the Dursleys strolled by the reptile house, but opted to wait on that one for a while. At lunchtime, they ate at the zoo restaurant where Dudley and Piers got large hamburgers and fries, with Vernon getting only a burger, Petunia getting a salad, while Harry was flat-out ignored. Only Dudley and Piers got dessert, which Dudley wanted a knickerbocker glory while Piers wanted a strawberry milkshake. Dudley threw a tantrum because he believed that his knickerbocker glory didn’t have enough ice cream on top. Uncle Vernon bought another one for Dudley, with Harry being allowed to finish the first one.

‘So far, so good… again!’ thought Harry, as he, Piers, and the Dursleys left the restaurant when they were done to continue their day at the zoo.

Harry had no idea that his luck was on the verge of getting better. He, Piers, and the Dursleys made their way over to the reptile house to see snakes and different reptiles that were housed there. Dudley knocked on the window of the enclosure housing a boa constrictor while whining for it to move, but the snake was sleeping because it didn’t move. Dudley got bored and walked away to look at another reptile, with Piers and the adult Dursleys doing the same. Harry also followed their lead, since he realized that he didn’t need to look at the snakes throughout the whole time in the reptile house (as he had seen plenty of snakes while tending the garden in the Dursleys’ backyard). Instead, Harry spotted a smaller enclosure housing a few turtles (with one of them swimming in the water).

‘At least turtles aren’t seen as much at Privet Drive,’ thought Harry. ‘As they would be more common out in the sticks.’

“You must be fascinated with turtles, huh?” asked an unexpected girl’s voice coming from his right.

Harry jumped in surprise and turned his head to his right. It was an asian girl with shoulder-length black hair hanging down and bangs covering her forehead, and a pair of dark-brown eyes. She was even wearing a turquoise short-sleeve blouse with puffy sleeves, denim shorts, and brown leather sandals. She was even giving Harry a smile, which was confusing for him (as he always saw smiles as a sign for getting beatings). She even looked to be around his age, maybe a year or so older. But the girl’s smile wasn’t shown to have any malicious intent, though Harry stayed tense in case it was a trick.

“I suppose?” Harry replied, sounding genuinely shocked that the girl wasn’t showing any fear or disgust to be around him, given that none of the students liked disagreeing with Dudley’s gang.

“You suppose?” the girl inquired, raising an eyebrow. “You were so distracted watching the turtles. Why else would you jump like that?”

“I must’ve b-been way too distracted and not paying attention to what else was going on!” Harry replied in acknowledgement.

“I’m sorry I startled you!” the girl apologized, feeling rather sheepish.

“It’s all good!” assured Harry.

“I’m Cho, Cho Chang!” the girl introduced herself, holding a hand out.

“Nice to meet you, Cho!” Harry replied, after waiting a minute or so to decide if shaking her hand was worth the risk. As he finally shook her hand, he introduced himself, “I’m Harry, Harry Potter!”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Harry!” Cho replied.

“You’re not going to walk away?” said Harry in surprise. “Who would want to interact with a freak?”

“You’re not a freak, Harry!” assured Cho in a soft voice.

“I’m not?” asked Harry, wondering if he heard right.

“Positive!” assured Cho. Then she continued on in a voice audible enough to her and Harry, “You just need to get some clothes that’re new and your size. Those rags are several sizes too big for you.”

“If only I wasn’t so expensive,” Harry replied as he followed Cho’s lead, trying to keep the sadness in his voice away (with little results). “Much less be allowed to have a good life.”

“Why don’t you come with me, Harry,” suggested Cho. “I can introduce you to my parents, and we can talk it over about you joining us for the remainder of the visit to the zoo. You’re giving off the vibe that you haven’t experienced a good life. So maybe the rest of today could help turn that around. What do you say, Harry?”

Cho even held a hand out as a means of offering Harry the chance for a good life and showing that she meant it (with the smile making it very clear). It sounded silly and risky to potentially join a family who he didn’t know, even if today was his first ever meeting with Cho. At the same time, it was intriguing because it meant that the Dursleys wouldn’t have to worry about him ‘being a waste of time and space’ for them. Plus, the Dursleys only taught Dudley not to talk to strangers. It could be a way of showing them their failure in teaching the same thing to their nephew.

“But where are your parents, Cho?” asked Harry, not wanting to risk getting on anybody’s bad side.

“They’re waiting in line at a soft drink stall close by the reptile house,” stated Cho, still holding her hand out. “Maybe they’ll ask you what you’d like to drink if we’re quick.”

“Do they know you’re in here?” asked Harry, feeling more comfortable asking (now that he was a great distance away from his relatives and didn’t have to worry about their strict ‘no questions’ policy).

“Yes,” assured Cho. “I asked them if I could look at the reptiles while waiting for drinks.

Despite the temptation, Harry almost grabbed a hold of Cho’s hand before quickly snatching it away (which was enough for her to widen her eyes in shock). Nevertheless, Cho still held her hand out and waited patiently. After another minute or so of hesitation, Harry gradually grabbed a hold of Cho’s hand. Strangely, they both felt some kind of warmth flow through their bodies. However, the two pre-teens dismissed that as the summer heat temperature increasing a little. Plus, Harry was looking somewhat uncomfortable because this was his first time experiencing a touch that was warm and friendly rather than cold and hostile.

“If it makes you more comfortable,” said Cho. “We don’t have to hold hands the whole time.”

“That might be better,” stated Harry. “I don’t want your parents getting any funny ideas. I just want to make a good first impression. Plus, I’m not that comfortable with touch.”

“Good idea,” Cho replied. “Let’s go meet up with my parents and I can introduce you to them and vice versa.”

Harry started beaming when that happened, so he followed Cho over to the soft drink stall. With her back turned to him, Harry turned around and got a look at his relatives and Piers (who were still distracted in looking at the different reptiles). Harry could tell that he was doing them and himself a favour by staying away. It was going to be a great pleasure to finally have some real fun. Now it was time to meet Cho’s parents and see what kind of people they were.

The End!

Chapter Text

It was the morning after Harry skedaddled from Privet Drive after inadvertently inflating Aunt Marge (though, she had it coming for insulting Harry’s parents without a care in the world). Upon waking up that morning, it took Harry a moment to realize that staying in a room at the Leaky Cauldron wasn’t a dream and that allowed him to relax. He realized that returning to Privet Drive would spell out a bigger disaster, so he silently vowed to stay away from his relatives for good. After breakfast, Harry headed to Diagon Alley to head to Gringotts and withdraw some money so he could buy his school supplies. However, Harry got distracted when he heard some commotion right outside the store called Quality Quidditch Supplies. So Harry went over there to investigate what was going on. Harry spotted a new kind of racing broom, with the description next to it reading:

FIREBOLT,

This state-of-the-art racing broom has a streamlined superfine ash handle with a diamond-hard polish and hand-numbered with it’s own registration number. Each individually selected birch twig in the broomtail has been honed to aerodynamic perfection, giving the firebolt unsurpassable balance and pinpoint precision. The firebolt has an acceleration of 150 miles per hour in ten seconds and incorporates an unbreakable braking charm. Price on request!

Price on request? Harry didn’t want to think how much money that could be? He already had his Nimbus 2000 and it was a good enough broom for him. Plus, it would’ve been a bad idea to empty out his vault of all of the money just to bring it to the clerk while hoping it was good enough to purchase it. Furthermore, Harry still had five more years of school, and he would be starting his third year at Hogwarts in around three-and-a-half weeks and he needed the money for school supplies. So Harry didn’t ask the clerk for the price, and instead just continued observing the firebolt on display even when most of the crowd dispersed, not yet knowing that a wonderful surprise was on it’s way.

“Hello, Harry!” greeted an unexpected female voice coming from his left.

Harry jumped a little and turned his head to his right. There he saw an asian girl around his age standing next to him with a smile on her face. She had shoulder-length black hair hanging down with bangs covering her forehead, and a pair of dark-brown eyes. She was wearing a gray short-sleeve t-shirt, a pair of white denim shorts, and gray sneakers covering a pair of white ankle-high socks. For some reason, Harry couldn’t help but smile back (as he felt that there was something about the girl before him that was giving him strangely good vibes).

“Hi, Miss… um…?” Harry began replying.

“Cho Chang!” the girl introduced herself, holding a hand out.

“Nice to meet you, Cho!” Harry replied, shaking the asian girl’s hand. “I’m Harry Potter.”

“Nice to meet you too, Harry!” said Cho.

Harry didn’t need to muse on how Cho knew his name, since he was already familiar with people in the magical world knowing his name. What surprised Harry was that Cho wasn’t making a big deal about his fame, his Boy-Who-Lived title, nor the scar on his forehead despite his bangs covering it. He had no idea what to ask Cho, considering the Dursleys always forbade him to ask questions.

“Would you like to join me for ice cream, Harry?” Cho offered. “You look like you need someone to talk to.”

Taken aback by the sudden offer, Harry nodded his head up and down to let Cho know that he accepted. Then he followed her over to Florean Fortsecue’s Ice Cream Parlour (remembering having some ice cream there last year before Lockhart’s book signing). Upon arriving and making it to the counter, Harry tried to offer to pay for both ice cream. But Cho insisted on doing it because she felt that it was her duty since she invited Harry to join her. Harry got a medium bowl of chocolate ice cream while Cho got cotton candy flavoured ice cream. Even when they found an outdoor table to sit at, Harry didn’t know how to start a conversation. He was never allowed to join any social event and always forbidden to talk to the neighbors around Privet Drive. Harry and Cho started digging into their respective bowls of ice cream, even if the ice cream was charmed to stay nice and cold despite the summer heat.

“So Harry,” Cho began,trying to strike up a conversation. “What do you like to do in your free time?”

“Just flying around on my broom whenever quidditch isn’t in session,” Harry replied, trying very hard not to let her know about his life with the Dursleys. “That’s pretty much it.”

“I seriously doubt that, Harry,” said Cho in a soft voice. “There has to be a summer activity you enjoy.”

“Well, gardening is another one,” Harry replied again, as he thought about it very hard. “I was introduced to it at age four.”

“Interesting,” said Cho. “I do enjoy picking flowers for my mum. We live out in the sticks, and that makes it easier to find and pick different kinds of flowers. Living out in the sticks also allows for some hiking in the woods.”

“Does your mum have a profession in gardening or as a florist?” asked Harry.

“No, she works for the ministry, in the Department of International Magical Cooperation,” Cho answered. “Her name is Chuya, and she has some Japanese ancestry. My dad, Chen, has some Chinese ancestry.”

“Oh, okay!” Harry replied. Then an inner panic overtook him when he had a hunch that Cho must’ve somehow found out that he used underage magic. ‘Krud! I shouldn’t have asked.’

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Cho asked, keeping her voice low enough for only Harry and herself to hear. “Is it true that you inflated your aunt?”

“Well, yeah,” Harry replied, following Cho’s example. “I didn’t mean to, I just lost control.”

“She must’ve done something to anger you,” stated Cho. “If you lost control like that.”

“She… She insulted my parents,” Harry replied again. “I can deal with any insults aimed at me, but insults aimed at my parents really makes my blood boil. It was my uncle’s sister who did that.”

“She must not be a very nice person, to insult your parents like that.” said Cho.

“Oh, ‘not nice’ doesn’t really begin to describe her,” stated Harry. “She just gets off on insulting anybody she deems unworthy.”

“So spiteful would be the right word for it?” Cho replied.

“Yeah, that would be it,” stated Harry. “She’s spiteful to a T.”

“And your aunt and uncle allow that to happen?” said Cho.

“Yeah, they don’t like my parents, either,” said Harry, somehow finding it easier to talk to Cho. “And I’m a constant reminder of that in their eyes.”

“Well, we have a guest room at my house,” Cho informed Harry. “Maybe I can talk it over with my parents and see if you’d like to stay with us, for the remainder of the holidays at least.”

“But Cho, we’ve only just met,” said Harry, hardly believing his ears. “I can’t imagine your parents wanting to allow a stranger to stay with you guys.”

“Well, no!” Cho admitted. Then she went on, “But I think they’d be thrilled to let you stay with us. Mum and dad are at work and I was thinking about asking my bestie to tag along with me out in Muggle London. You might be somewhat familiar with Sue Li, she’s a Ravenclaw in your year.”

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement, he remembered seeing Sue being sorted at the sorting ceremony a couple years ago. Harry remembered that Sue had long brown hair and was very petite even for a girl their age.

“Well, if you are planning to go into London with Sue,” Harry spoke up all of a sudden, catching Cho off guard. “Maybe I shall let you do that. It wouldn’t be right for me to cut into that.”

“Harry, you don’t have to stay behind,” assured Cho in a soft voice. “I wasn’t going to exclude you. Surely you don’t have anything against spending time with a couple of asian ladies, do you?”

Harry felt his face radiating heat as his face turned red, which resulted in Cho getting the giggles. But Cho was right, there wouldn’t be anything wrong with spending time with two ladies who had some asian ancestry. Plus, he had a hunch that if he was going to be friends with Cho, then it was a good idea for him to befriend Sue since best friends were supposed to have each others’ backs. Sue was going to need to trust him after all.

“What do you have in mind to do in London?” asked Harry.

“We can go to an arcade centre,” Cho suggested. “Or find a park to stroll in. It would be a good idea to take advantage of a nice day like this before we go back to Hogwarts. I’ll be starting my fourth year this year. Plus, going out into Muggle London will help you out in temporarily escaping from the pressures of your unwanted fame.”

“Well, alright,” Harry replied, accepting the offer. “At least in the muggle world, I won’t be recognized.”

Once they finished their ice cream, Harry and Cho put the empty bowls and dirty spoons on the recycle box that was outside so they could be returned to the kitchen for washing. Then Harry followed Cho back to the Leaky Cauldron after she explained that the floo network could be used for fire-calling (with Cho explaining that fire-calling was when floo powder was thrown into the fire and the name of a residence being called out). Harry had a strange feeling that he was going to be enjoying the day out in London.

The End!

Chapter Text

It was a warm 4:00 PM on Friday May 25, 1990; and nine-going-on ten-year-old Harry Potter was on his way to St. Herbert’s Primary School to attend the end-of-the-year school dance. Normally Harry tended to avoid these dances, but his mother was going to be one of the chaperones and insisted that her son go to this one (as he hadn’t attended one before). Given how rich the Potters were, one wouldn’t blame Harry for skipping because alot of his female classmates only wanted to be with him because of his family wealth. However, Lily assured her son that there was bound to be someone there who’ll see him for just Harry. However, Harry still took it well and was sitting in the passenger seat of the Potters’ vehicle while his mother drove to the school. After all, Harry’s best mate Neville Longbottom was going to be there because his mother, Alice, was also one of the chaperones.

“Mum, are you sure that someone will dance with me for who I am?” asked Harry, still feeling uncertain.

“Positive, sweetheart!” Lily assured her son. “It just takes some good looking. But who knows, maybe one of the girls will come up and ask you to dance.”

While he was still uncertain, Harry wisely stayed quiet to avoid getting into trouble. Plus, he realized that hanging out with his friends was still there. As much as he hoped, Harry knew that if he did dance with a girl that his father, godfather, and honourary uncle would ask him for details later that evening. Harry was dressed in a set of formal attire (consisting of a long-sleeve emerald-green collared shirt with a black bowtie, black dress trousers, black socks, and a pair of black dress shoes). It was half past four in the afternoon when Harry and Lily arrived in the school parking lot. They got out and headed for the school entrance, where they were greeted by the school’s headmistress. Then Harry and Lily headed for the gymnasium, where the dance was being held due to it being bigger than the cafeteria. Harry met up with his best friends, Neville Longbottom (who was a portly brown-haired boy with brown eyes) and Ernie MacMillan (a stout-looking blonde boy who also had brown eyes). Neville and Ernie informed Harry that they were waiting for their dates to the dance, which explained why they didn’t walk into the gym yet.

“I can’t wait to dance with Susan,” Ernie told Harry and Neville, in an elated voice. “Ever since I asked her to be my date, it just seems like it took forever.”

“Same with me having asked Hannah to be my date,” stated Neville. “I’ve seen her look my way several times during science class.”

“One day during PE, like a month-and-a-half ago, Susan picked me first for dodgeball.” said Ernie. Then he turned his attention to Harry and asked, “Who’s your date for the dance, Harry?”

“Nobody… once again!” Harry replied. “If only it were that easy, but most of the girls I tried asking to be my date only were concerned with accepting because of my family wealth. That’s not what I want, I want it to be someone who sees me for just Harry.”

“Don’t worry, Harry,” assured Neville. “There’s bound to be some who’ll look past your family wealth. As long as you wait, the right one will show. It might even happen today.”

Harry smiled at his best mate to acknowledge that he understood, even if Harry remained uncertain. Not that much later, Neville and Ernie’s respective dates for the dance showed up. Susan Bones had light-brown eyes, shoulder-length bright-copper hair (which was in a bun), and was wearing a pink formal dress. Hannah Abbott had blue eyes and blonde hair that she liked keeping in pigtails, but she also put her hair in a bun for the dance. Hannah was wearing a turquoise formal dress. Susan and Hannah greeted Harry with smiles, with Harry smiling back.

“Harry, aren’t you ever gonna find a date for these end-of-the-year dances?” asked Susan.

“If only it were that simple for me,” stated Harry. “I’ve had too many other girls asking me because of my family wealth. Mum taught me to pay attention to the signs of someone after me because of the money. So I’ve given up on that because of awful luck.”

“You’ll need to hurry though, Harry,” Hannah told him in a matter-of-fact voice. “We only have one more year of primary school to go. The chances of you finding a date interested in the real you out on the dance floor will always be there.”

“You’ll never find someone interested in the real you if you continue to stay away from these events, Harry!” Susan told him, also in a matter-of-fact voice. “We can understand your concern, but taking the risk is the only way you’ll find out. You can stay here and hope for a miracle, or you can get out there and make one of your own.”

Harry was left pondering over Susan’s words just as she, Hannah, Neville, and Ernie headed into and out towards the middle of the gym where the main dancing was occurring. Harry stayed out in the hallway due to pondering his thoughts, but still got out of the way so as not to block the doorway into the gym. As Harry continued standing close to the doorway thinking over Susan’s words, someone spotted and walked up to him (which meant that something wonderful for Harry was on the verge of happening).

“Excuse me?!” said a girl’s voice unexpectedly, in a polite-sounding voice.

Harry jumped in surprise and turned his head to the right, as that was where the voice was. He saw an asian girl who looked to be his age, or maybe ten or eleven. She had shoulder-length black hair (which was in a bun because of her hair having been pulled back some) with bangs covering her forehead. She even had dark-brown eyes and was wearing a blue formal dress. The girl even had a smile on her face, which made Harry’s heart beat a little bit faster.

“Hi!” Harry replied, after a minute or so of surprised silence. “May I help you?”

“I think the question should be: may I help you?” stated the girl in an amused voice. “You looked pretty lonely out here, so I thought I’d ask you if you’d like to dance.”

“I-I’d l-love to!” Harry replied. Then he held a hand out to introduce himself, “I’m Harry Potter!”

“Nice to meet you, Harry!” the girl replied as she grabbed Harry’s hand and shook it. “I’m Cho Chang!”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” said Harry. “Why did you approach me and ask me if I’d like to dance? Everybody in this school knows about me coming from a rich family.”

“I’d like to get to know you, Harry,” stated Cho in a soft voice. “If I was only interested in you for your family wealth, I would’ve been all braggy to have walked up to you and squealed in excitement. But I’m keeping myself under control. This is my last day as a primary school student and I’ve been planning to make a moment like this very memorable for me.”

Now Harry was taken aback to see that Cho had no ulterior motives, especially since her body language proved that. Remembering what Susan said about hoping for a miracle or making a miracle of his own, Harry offered an arm for Cho (who quickly linked one of her arms into his). Then Harry began leading Cho into the gym and out towards the centre where most of the dancing was occurring. For some reason, Harry was finding it very easy to dance with Cho due to the fact that she was giving off wonderful vibes. Harry had no idea that his mother was watching it with a smile on her face.

‘Way to go, Harry!’ thought Lily. ‘I told you there was bound to be someone out there who won’t be interested in our wealth.’

Even Neville, Ernie, Susan, and Hannah saw Harry dancing with Cho. The four smiled at them and flashed them thumbs ups when they saw them looking in their direction. Harry knew that his father, his godfather Sirius Black, and honourary uncle Remus Lupin were going to pester him for details since Lily was going to tell them about it when they get home later. But for now, Harry felt it was best to focus on tonight and give Cho a night to remember.

The End!

Chapter Text

It was a mid-morning of Saturday August 15, 1992; and Harry was at Flourish & Blotts bookstore attending a book signing for Gilderoy Lockhart. He was with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, alongside Ron’s mother Molly and sister Ginny. Ron’s father Arthur was at the Leaky Cauldron trying to get acquainted with Hermione’s parents, while Ron’s twin brothers Fred and George were at Zonko’s Joke Shop with their best friend Lee Jordan, while Ron’ third eldest brother Percy was somewhere else in Diagon Alley. Then someone made the announcement that Gilderoy Lockhart was about to step out of his back room, leading Harry to keep out of sight (out of fear that this Lockhart would try to drag him into the spotlight).

“Here he is!” Molly squealed, just as the crowd began clapping and cheering.

Gilderoy (who had periwinkle-blue eyes, wavy-blonde hair, and dressed in lilac robes) stepped out and began smiling in a boastful manner as he darted his eyes around the crowd of his fans. A photographer stepped through the crowd so he could photograph the famous author for something called the Daily Prophet. After the first of likely many photos, Lockhart darted his eyes around and saw Harry’s exposed lightning-bolt scar and stopped in his tracks.

“It… can’t be… Harry Potter!” exclaimed Gilderoy.

Harry tried moving away as soon as he saw that look on Lockhart’s face, making the raven-haired boy realize that he was right in thinking that Lockhart was going to drag him into the spotlight. Because the crowd was too heavy, Harry was unable to get away and that allowed Gilderoy to grab Harry by the arm and drag him behind the table with books of Lockhart’s Magical Me Biography stacked on top. Harry gave pleading eyes to Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Molly; but they ignored it in favour of watching Harry getting pictures with Lockhart (or watch in jealousy in Ron’s case). Gilderoy put an arm around Harry’s shoulders with a delighted expression on his face, while Harry looked intensely uncomfortable (something that Lockhart’s fans ignored; including Molly, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione). Harry felt himself trembling the moment the photographer snapped the picture of him and Lockhart.

“Ladies and gentleman, what a marvelous moment this is!” Lockhart announced to his fans. “Young Harry stepped into Flourish & Blotts today and was very happy to take some time to pose with me for some pictures. Together, he and I will make the front page of the Daily Prophet. I’m happy to announce that I’ll be filling in for the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts on September first. Harry will also receive my entire works, including the books on the list of required books for Hogwarts, free of charge.”

The crowd clapped and cheered again when Lockhart thrust the books into Harry’s hands, even when the photographer snapped another picture of Harry and Gilderoy. The arrogant author finally let Harry go and sat down to start signing autographs; resulting in Harry (with the books still in his hands) storming away and out of the bookshop while ignoring Molly, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione and not even facing them (even when Molly asked Harry what was wrong). Harry had no idea that a pale-blonde boy with gray eyes was watching him intently. Harry spotted a bench right next to Madam Malkin’s Robe Shop and sat down on it, setting his books down next to him before staring down at the ground in anger.

‘I can’t believe that neither Ron, Hermione, Ginny, nor Mrs. Weasley bothered to help me!’ thought Harry in outrage. ‘I really expected better of Ron and Hermione, who were supposed to be my best friends and have my back, and yet they proved me wrong. Ginny’s refusal to help was expected, she only sees me as the bloody Boy-Who-Lived. Mrs. Weasley really should’ve shown her mama bear instincts, but she allowed that dunderhead to kidnap me! How could they just take Lockhart’s side regarding the matter? Maybe I should just get my stuff from the Burrow and come back to rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron. After all, I remember seeing stairs heading up to the first floor during my first visit, so there must be rooms available.’

“Everything alright, Harry?” asked a girl’s voice with concern.

Harry jumped in surprise as he snapped back to reality, not realizing how much time slipped by. He turned his attention to the voice and saw that it was an asian girl with shoulder-length black hair hanging down with bangs covering her forehead. She had dark-brown eyes and was dressed in a purple short-sleeve polo shirt, white capri trousers, and brown leather sandals. She was even smiling, causing Harry’s heart to flutter despite his ongoing anger towards four of the people who betrayed him. She looked to be around his age, maybe a year or two older.

“Not really,” Harry replied. “Just mad at the moment.”

“May I ask why?” the girl asked.

“I supposed,” Harry replied again. “As long as you’re not too busy.”

“Not at all, Harry!” assured the girl. She held a hand out and introduced herself, “I’m Cho Chang.”

“Nice to meet you, Cho,” Harry greeted, shaking Cho’s hand. “I’m Harry Potter.”

He felt a little sheepish to be saying his name, but he was following proper introduction protocol. Harry felt himself relaxing when Cho didn’t make a big deal about being around ‘the famous Harry Potter,’ making it clear that she didn’t care about the Boy-Who-Lived nonsense.

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Harry!” Cho replied. “I have to get something taken care of, then I’ll be back.”

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement, then Cho walked away to who-knows-where. Harry figured that Cho needed to get her school stuff purchased. He kept a close watch over the shopping district, as he didn’t want to deal with Hermione nor the three Weasleys who didn’t back him up when Lockhart kidnapped him for those pictures. Cho came back five-to-ten minutes later with a couple cauldron cakes, with Harry feeling his heart flutter again to see her.

“Here you go, Harry.” said Cho, handing him one of the cauldron cakes, with a smile on her face.

“For me?” Harry replied, utterly surprised.

“Positive, Harry,” assured Cho in a soft voice, still smiling at him. “I thought I’d help make your day better with a sweet from Sugarplum’s Sweet Shop.”

“Th-Thank you, Cho!” said Harry in a grateful voice, politely taking the cauldron cake from her.

“You’re welcome, Harry.” Cho replied.

Harry scooted over to allow Cho to take a seat next to him, which she did and continued smiling to see Harry enjoying his cauldron cake. Cho could feel her heart breaking when Harry was still somewhat tense, and it was making her wonder why Harry wasn’t fully relaxing (especially when he was checking his surroundings fairly often). After finishing his cauldron cake, Harry took a deep breath (which didn’t go unnoticed by Cho) and turned his attention to the girl sitting next to him and giving him her full attention.

“Cho, do you remember when you asked if you could ask me why I was mad?” asked Harry.

“Yes I do, Harry.” assured Cho.

“The reason was because Gilderoy Lockhart spotted me in the crowd at his book signing a little while ago,” Harry explained. “He loudly pointed me out and I tried to slip away, but the crowd refused to budge and that allowed Lockhart to drag me forward so he could get some pictures with me even though I never gave any consent. What made it worse was that neither Ron, Hermione, Ginny, nor Mrs. Weasley showed me any sympathy. They ignored my pleading eyes when I was dragged towards Lockhart, they just stared at the whole thing in awe, or jealousy in Ron’s case because I saw that look on his face. After Lockhart shoved his entire works into my hands, the photographer for the Daily Prophet snapped another picture of me and the dunderhead, after that arrogant author declared that he and I would make the front page. Once he let me go, I left Flourish and Blotts without looking in the direction of my supposed best friends and the female Weasleys.”

“I’m sorry that you had to go through that, Harry!” Cho replied in a soothing voice, reaching out and giving one of his hands a comforting squeeze.

“Though, Ginny not even lifting a finger to help wasn’t a surprise. I know she’s the ultimate fangirl of the Boy-Who-Lived. I’ve even seen her behaving like a spoiled brat even when she thinks that I’m oblivious to it,” Harry continued. “But I really expected Ron and Hermione to stand up for me, since that’s what friends are supposed to do, especially best friends. I also expected better from Mrs. Weasley, since she should’ve shown her mama bear instincts. Mr. Weasley returned to the Leaky Cauldron with Hermione’s parents to get better acquainted with them, while Fred and George headed for Zonko’s Joke Shop with Lee, though I don’t know where Percy went.”

“I find it hard to believe that Ron and Hermione ignored your silent pleading,” Cho replied. “They just proved themselves to be fake friends, with Ginevra potentially being one herself. But Mrs. Weasley also letting you get kidnapped in front of all those people is even more outrageous. If they really cared about you, they would’ve stopped Lockhart from snatching you.”

Cho scooted a little closer and wrapped her arms around Harry and embraced him. Harry flinched at the touch, as he naturally anticipated beatings when it came to physical touch of any kind. Cho could feel that and was blood-boiling inwardly, but she continued embracing Harry because she felt he needed the support. Harry slowly began hugging Cho back because her hugs were warm and soft, unlike Mrs. Weasley’s hugs due to them always being so smothering that it gave the feeling that his spine could snap. Hermione’s hugs weren’t any better because she always charged at him before wrapping her arms around him. A couple minutes or so later was when trouble showed up.

“Bet you love that, didn’t you, Potter?!” taunted a voice Harry had no trouble recognizing.

Harry and Cho jumped in surprise as they snapped back to reality. Harry and Cho stopped hugging and turned their heads in the voice’s direction. It was Draco Malfoy, a pale-blonde boy with his hair combed back and gray eyes. Harry rolled his eyes in exasperation, since Draco’s attempts to get a rise out of him weren’t anything new to the raven-haired boy. Cho glared at Draco, naturally knowing why he was even close by in the first place.

“Honestly, Malfoy,” Cho retorted. “Don’t you have anything better to do than to try getting a rise out of Harry?”

“You haven’t seen it, Chang!” Draco shot back with a sneer. “Potter was soaking in the attention with that Lockhart dude. Famous Harry Potter just can’t leave the bookshop without making the front page.”

“He didn’t want that!” shouted the voice belonging to Ginny. “He didn’t want that at all, Malfoy!!”

Harry, Cho, and Draco turned their attention to Ginny (who was standing ten feet behind Draco). The Weasley girl was standing there with her arms crossed and glaring at Draco, oblivious to Harry and Cho rolling their eyes. They knew what Ginny was really up to and what her ulterior motive was. Draco turned back around to face Harry and Cho.

“And if I didn’t know any better, Potter,” Draco taunted again. “I’d say that you have yourself a girlfriend.”

Harry just started laughing at his arch-nemesis’ assumption that Ginny was his girlfriend, with Cho also laughing due to the assumption being way too far-fetched (especially after Harry revealed that Ginny proved to have zero care and sympathy for him). Ginny looked over at Harry with a bewildered expression on her face, wondering why Harry wasn’t showing any ‘gratefulness for her help.’ The Weasley girl could feel jealousy flaring up when she saw Cho sitting next to Harry, but kept her temper in check so Harry wouldn’t see her as the bad girl.

“Yeah, that’s a good one, Malfoy!” Harry replied with sarcasm in his voice, once he and Cho finished laughing. Then in an incredulous voice, Harry went on, “What makes you think that Ginny is my girlfriend?”

“Well, the Weasley girl came to your defence,” Draco reminded Harry with a mild sneer, unaware that Ginny was glaring at him for referring to her as ‘the Weasley girl,’ “So that means that she’s your girlfriend now. Are you gonna tell me that you’re too stupid to realize what just happened, Potter? Are you too chicken to admit that you have feelings for the Weasley girl, even though you can do better than going for a blood-traitor like her?”

Ginny felt her body trembling in rage for being labelled as a blood-traitor. She wanted to strangle Malfoy for his insults and for passing ‘her Harry’ off as a chicken. Nevertheless, Ginny kept her temper in check to ensure that she would stay in Harry’s good graces (unaware or ignoring that she was never in his good graces in the first place and that her lack of helping Harry earlier made those chances pretty much nil).

“Ginny isn’t my girlfriend, Malfoy,” Harry told him, much to Draco’s surprise and Ginny’s shock. “She never was my girlfriend and never will be. She was just kissing up to me just so I’d pay attention to her. You need a reality check, Malfoy. Ginny didn’t even come to my defence when Lockhart dragged me towards him against my will for pictures at his book signing. ‘Defending my honour’ over something as trivial as this isn’t winning her any real points. She could’ve helped out in stopping Lockhart from kidnapping me, but Ginny just stood back and let it happen. In fact, Ron, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley even stood back and let me get kidnapped. Those four ignored my pleading eyes and just stood there while clapping and cheering with the crowd, though Ron just stared in jealousy instead of being the best mate he was supposed to be. While Mrs. Weasley’s motherly instincts never flared up.”

Draco widened his eyes in surprise to hear what Harry was telling him, resulting in the Malfoy scion stepping back a couple paces. Ginny just stood there looking as though she was given the ultimate insult, she felt her throat constricting with emotion. Several passersby were watching the commotion and all eyes went from Draco to Ginny. It was enough for the Weasley girl to sweat profusely just as tears were welling up in her eyes (which she tried very hard to fight).

“Harry, what are you saying?!” asked Ginny, trying her hardest not to sob.

“You know exactly what I said, Ginny,” Harry replied, not feeling any sympathy for the red-haired girl before him and Cho. “You didn’t care about me earlier, so there’s no point in starting right now.”

For once, Draco kept his mouth shut and stayed to keep watch to see what else might happen. He found another bench close by and took a seat, looking rather amused to see Harry confront one of his fake friends for her refusal to back him up at Lockhart’s book signing.

“I’m sorry, Harry,” Ginny sobbed with her voice cracking, tears streaming down her face. “I didn’t know!”

“Spare me your half-arse apologies, Ginny,” said Harry coolly. “You’re not genuinely sorry for your refusal to stick up for me, you’re only sorry that you were caught and confronted by me after your backhanded attempt to get into my good graces. You already made your bed, now sleep in it.”

Ginny looked around at the passersby giving her dirty looks instead of getting sympathy, as the latter was what she was hoping for. Due to that, Ginny forgot to report back to her mother to inform her of having found Harry. However, Ron and Hermione showed up and spotted Harry sitting on a bench with Cho while looking just as bewildered as Ginny when she showed up moments earlier.

“Well there you are, Harry!” said Hermione, sounding worried. “We’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Oh, so now you get worried?!” Harry replied incredulously. Then he began voicing to his former best female friend in anger, “Where were you when I needed you and Ron? Why didn’t you get me away from Lockhart? Real friends are supposed to back each other up, but I got no sympathy from anybody in the crowd and I had to deal with the whole thing myself. I even expected Mrs. Weasley to have my back, but not even she did a thing to help me out. How do you explain that?”

“We… just got… sidetracked, Harry!” Hermione asserted, feeling confident that Harry would ‘understand’ (but not in the way she was assuming). “You know, Lockhart is just a dashingly handsome person. If we attacked him, we could’ve gotten into trouble.”

“Yeah, Harry,” Ron spoke up, rather hesitantly. “What if he sued us for assault and battery?”

“You could’ve taken that with dignity,” Harry replied, rather fiercely to show his righteous anger. “But you chose to support Lockhart by staying right where you were while wallowing in jealousy. Hermione, Ginny, and your mother watched the whole thing in awe, making it clear that you four sided with Lockhart. I don’t want to hear your excuses, so go back to your mother and explain to her that I have no intentions of trusting you, her, Hermione, or Ginny ever again.”

“Come on, Harry,” Hermione pleaded, widening her eyes in shock. “Let’s be reasonable about this.”

“Well, look who’s telling who to be reasonable!” Cho retorted in a voice loud enough for other passersby to hear, taking a turn due to concerns that Harry shouldn’t have to keep repeating himself. “What you and those three Weasleys did to Harry was inexcusable, Granger. Not only that, but you’re trying to make it look like Harry is the one to blame instead of owning up to your actions. Harry has every right to be mad. How can you just give him the cold shoulder in favour of watching him get pictures with a complete stranger, especially without his consent?”

“Well, he is famous in our world,” Hermione replied in a rather pathetic-sounding voice. “Harry should be used to the attention he gets by now.”

Gasps were heard as the watching passersby covered their mouths in shock with wide-eyes, as if Hermione had said a dirty word. Even Draco appeared just as shocked when he heard what Hermione said to Cho. Harry felt his body trembling with rage, hardly believing that his supposed best female friend had the gall to tell him to get used to his fame and attention.

“Hermione, you’re just making it worse.” Ron spoke up, not out of genuine concern for Harry’s well-being but because Hermione was ruining the chances of Harry forgiving them (or so he thought).

“How could you say that, Hermione?” Ginny snapped, hoping it would be another opportunity to get ‘back’ in Harry’s good graces. “How can you just say that to poor Harry?”

That resulted in snickers because they could tell that Ginny was (once again) trying to suck up to Harry. Harry even glared at Ginny again to let her know that she couldn’t fool him that easily. Even more shocked by the turn of events, Draco got up and walked away to meet back up with his parents wherever they were. Before Harry could give Hermione and the two youngest Weasleys an ultimatum, Molly finally showed and spotted Harry (giving him a worried expression). Harry and Cho glared at the Weasley matriarch to let her know that they won’t be fooled, much to Molly’s confusion.

“Harry, dear,” Molly tried buttering Harry up in the motherly voice she’d use for him. “What’s wrong?!”

“You already know the answer to that, Mrs. Weasley!” Harry chastised, shocking the Weasley matriarch. “How can you just ignore my pleading eyes and let that dunderhead kidnap me??”

“It was really expected of you to get Harry away from that Lockhart, Mrs. Weasley!” snapped Cho. “Did you leave your mama bear instincts behind when you went to that book signing? It looks like it because you left Harry to endure an experience that he didn’t want especially when he never gave consent. And you have the nerve to ask him what’s wrong when you should know that answer? What if it had been one of your children, and would you stop Lockhart if any of them were dragged towards the front against their will?”

Though still shocked by getting berated by a teenager, Molly tried to act overconfident when all eyes were even on her. The same people continued glaring at Ron, Hermione, and Ginny (the latter who had gone back to shedding crocodile tears). By that time, Arthur and Hermione’s parents were walking down the walkway and spotted a crowd gathering around and it prompted the three adults to investigate. At the same time, the Weasley twins and Lee (who was a dark-skinned boy with dreadlocks, and in the same year as the twins) showed up and saw the commotion. The Gryffindor pranksters smirked when they witnessed their mother, brother, sister, and Hermione getting berated by Harry and Cho in front of countless people. Arthur and the adult Grangers folded their arms across their chests as they watched, wanting to find out more.

“I assure you, Miss Chang,” Molly replied, rather pathetically. “It’s not as bad as it seems.”

“Like I’m going to believe that!” stated Cho in a sarcastic tone of voice. Then she continued on in anger, “You don’t deserve to associate yourself with Harry, and neither do Ronald, Granger, and Ginevra. The four of you made your choices in taking Lockhart’s side when he kidnapped Harry just for pictures, now you must deal with the consequences.”

Finally getting the bigger scope, Arthur and Hermione’s parents cleared their throats. That resulted in Hermione, Molly, Ron, and Ginny turning around and facing the angry Weasley patriarch and Mr. and Mrs. Grangers. Hermione looked as though she needed to change into a cleaner outfit because her parents glaring at her was making her smile nervously while sweating profusely. The crowd dispersed, knowing what was going to happen.

“Hi mum, hi dad!” Hermione greeted her parents.

“Save it, Hermione Jean Granger!” Mr. Granger chastised his daughter, making the anger in his voice very clear. Even though Hermione cowered a bit, her father continued on in anger, “Your mother and I taught you to be there for your friends. I can’t believe that you allowed your friend to get kidnapped by an arrogant celebrity.”

“Gilderoy was just dashingly handsome,” Hermione replied. “I didn’t want to get in legal trouble, either.”

“So that was more important to you than your friendship with Mr. Potter?” asked Mr. Granger.

“What was worse moments earlier, Mr. and Mrs. Granger,” Cho informed Hermione’s parents (much to the girl’s horror). “Your daughter was rather rude about Harry’s unwanted fame. When I asked how she could just stand back and let Harry be kidnapped, her response was that Harry was famous in this world and that he should get used to it.”

“Quit being a tattle-tale!” Hermione barked, with Cho glaring at her again to show she wasn’t intimidated.

“That’s enough, young lady!” Mrs. Granger snapped, resulting in Hermione closing her mouth and cowering again. “That’s not tattling at all. Your father and I didn’t raise you to behave in such an arrogant manner. The fact that you allowed one of your friends to get kidnapped was inexcusable. We’re going to finish up the rest of your school shopping, then you’re to go to your room when we get home. Furthermore, you’ll be grounded until the start of school. Have I made myself clear?”

“But…!” Hermione tried begging.

“No buts, Hermione Jean Granger!” Mr. Granger scolded her again as he held a hand up in a ‘stop’ gesture, with a hint of finality in his voice. “You also won’t be getting any unnecessary books, in addition to having your pocket money revoked for the rest of the holidays. Any more arrogant behaviour, and we’ll pull you out of Hogwarts and have you get tutored so you can catch up on the education in our world.”

“You’d better not complain about that, young lady!” Mrs. Granger concluded in a firm voice. “You made a wrong choice, now you have to suffer the consequences.”

Before leaving with their daughter, Hermione’s parents issued apologies to Harry and Cho for the way Hermione behaved. Harry and Cho politely assured that they weren’t at fault and that Hermione brought that on herself. Once Hermione and her parents left, Arthur eyed his youngest son and only daughter very critically to let them know he was furious with them before giving his wife the same reaction. Then Arthur turned his attention back to Ron and Ginny.

“I think both of you should be grounded for the remainder of the holidays, too!” Arthur scolded his two youngest children. “I didn’t raise you to behave that way. I find it hard to believe that you let Harry suffer when friends are supposed to look out for one another. In addition to being grounded, all merchandise of the Boy-Who-Lived will be permanently confiscated to teach you a lesson about reality and fantasy.”

“NO!” Ginny screamed as more tears flowed from her light-brown eyes. “ANYTHING BUT THAT!”

“You can live without it, Ginevra Molly Weasley!” Arthur continued scolding. “The Boy-Who-Lived is a fictional character. It’s pretty clear that those stories have been influencing you to just assume that you’ll marry your hero one day. Those were just stories you were told to help you go to sleep, even though your mother usually was the one to tell you them. You’re not a child anymore, you’re eleven years old and it’s time you start acting like someone your age. Now dry those crocodile tears up, it will not deter me from following through on dishing out my punishment for you. You’re old enough to start taking responsibility for your actions. If you try throwing any more tantrums, you can just forget about being enrolled at Hogwarts or at least being sorted in Gryffindor. I won’t tolerate you behaving like a rabid fangirl anymore.”

“Arthur, dear…!” Molly tried speaking up.

“No Molly, you’ve been letting Ginny get away with behaving all spoiled rotten. You’ll see to it that Ron and Ginny realize that they won’t get out of this one, or I’ll file for divorce!” Arthur warned in a serious tone of voice, enough to shock the Weasley matriarch once more. Then Arthur turned his attention to Ron and gave him an ultimatum, “If I get a note from your headmaster or head of house about you misbehaving or bothering Harry, and I’ll pull you out of Hogwarts and have you tutored at the house. Is that clear?”

All Ron could do was nod his head in acknowledgement, knowing that there wasn’t any going back. The realization even hit him that Harry was very unlikely to trust him again even if he forgave him. Even Fred and George were all serious (which was uncharacteristic for them), knowing that making jokes in this type of situation wouldn’t end well for them. Arthur issued apologies to Harry and Cho for the trouble his wife and two youngest children caused them, with Harry and Cho assuring him that it wasn’t his fault. Then Harry handed his set of Lockhart’s books to Cho, who looked at them in surprise.

“You can have these, Cho!” stated Harry. “I can purchase my own, and you need these more than I do. Since it seems like Lockhart will still be teaching at the school, you deserve to have these without worrying about paying for them since the books are fairly expensive. I can afford my own set, so no need to pay me back.”

Cho thanked Harry in gratitude as she politely took the books from him (which made Ginny widen her eyes in shock, feeling her whole world falling apart to see Harry with ‘some other girl’), then she gave him another hug to prove her gratitude (with Harry hugging her back). Then Harry and Cho parted ways so Harry could finish the rest of his school shopping with the Weasleys and so Cho could meet up with her parents, with Harry promising Cho that he would write to her (with the asian girl smiling at that). As Harry and the Weasleys went about the rest of the school shopping trip (with Lee parting ways from the twins), Arthur thought it over and planned to ask Harry if he wanted to sleep in either Bill or Charlie’s rooms. Arthur believed that it would be beneficial for Harry, since the raven-haired boy no longer saw Ron as a friend (much less as a best mate). Plus, Bill and Charlie lived in Egypt and Romania respectively, and their bedrooms weren’t being used at the moment. Furthermore, Harry could hang around with Fred and George, since they saw Harry as a little brother in spite of their pranking nature.

The End!

Chapter Text

Harry had been called downstairs because (for the umpteenth time) Hedwig had been making alot of racket due to being locked in her cage since his first year at Hogwarts ended. It was already early evening, and the male Dursleys were getting prepped for the dinner party with some rich investor and his family. Despite explaining that Hedwig needed to get some exercise, Uncle Vernon refused to relent and insisted that she stay in the cage despite Harry asserting that he hadn’t gotten any messages from his friends all summer. That resulted in Vernon growling in anger and ‘reminding’ Harry that he needed to be more grateful. Dudley tried to pick a little bit of his ‘mother’s’ pudding with a finger and lick the frosting.

“Not now, Popkin!” Petunia lightly scolded Dudley with a gentle slap to his hand. “That’s for when the Changs arrive.”

“Which should be any minute now!” Vernon announced, gesturing for his wife and son to join him in the living room while Harry watched. Then Vernon began going over their plan for like the fourth or fifth time and reminding, “Alright Petunia, when the Changs arrive, you’ll be?”

“In the lounge,” Petunia replied in a proud voice. “Waiting to welcome them graciously into our home!”

“Wonderful!” Vernon praised his wife. Then he turned his attention to Dudley and asked, “And Dudders, where will you be?”

“I’ll be waiting to open the door as soon as they knock on it!” Dudley replied, sounding just as proud as his mother.

“Excellent!” Vernon praised his son, giving him a thumbs-up at the same time. Then he went on, “I’ll get the champagne glasses out for Chen and his wife, Chuya, and ask them if they want any champagne or brandy. Then Petunia, what will you do?”

“I’ll fix up both couches for our guests,” stated Petunia, her voice still sounding proud. “Then I’ll get the food and beverages ready and put them on the coffee table.”

“Incredible, Pet!” Vernon praised his wife again. Then he turned his attention back to Dudley and asked, “And what will you do, Dudders?”

“I’ll escort the daughters by the arms and lead them to one of the couches!” Dudley replied, again in a proud voice. “I’ll even ask them if I’d like to take their jackets and place them over the dining room chairs.”

“Awesome, Dudders!” Vernon gave his son endless praise, flashing him another thumbs up.

“They’ll love him!” Petunia replied, feeling even prouder of her son.

It was too much for her, to the point where she burst into tears and hugged her son. It was taking alot of willpower for Harry to avoid laughing because his relatives always saw a happy him as their worst nightmare. If he was caught laughing, Vernon especially would flay him in an instant. Then the three Dursleys eyed Harry rather sternly, especially Vernon as he flashed his gritting teeth in his nephew's direction.

“And you?” asked Vernon in a no-nonsense voice.

“I’ll be in my bedroom,” Harry replied. “Making no noise and pretending that I don’t exist.”

“Too right, you will!” Vernon insisted. “The Changs don’t know anything about you, and we intend to keep it that way. With any luck, this will be the biggest investment deal I make during the course of my career, and you will not mess it up. Now get upstairs, the Changs are due to arrive any minute now.”

Harry briskly left the room and headed up the stairs. The moment he made it to the top was when the doorbell was heard. Harry stayed in the hallway while keeping out of sight to eavesdrop, knowing that Dudley wasn’t someone who would be a true gentleman and was only doing it because he was ‘well paid’ for it.

“Hello Cho, Chiaki!” Harry heard Dudley greeting, giving off his best manly voice he could muster up, from downstairs. “May I escort you and take your jackets off for you before you sit down on the couch?”

Harry started laughing because he knew that Dudley had no idea how to charm a lady. He kept a hand over his mouth to prevent his laughter from reaching the ears of his spiteful relatives. Then he headed back to his room to avoid tempting fate, but his moment of joy was shattered when he spotted some kind of strange creature jumping up and down on his bed while laughing. The creature stopped and turned around to face Harry, then introduced himself as Dobby the house elf. Dobby’s eyes were the size of tennis balls, reminding Harry of E.T. the alien in some way. He remembered one of the times when the Dursleys left him on his own in the house a few years ago when he saw some of the movie E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. Harry wasn’t surprised that Dobby knew his name because of having spent a year at Hogwarts, and how everyone in Magical England at least knew his name because of the Boy-Who-Lived stories.

“Not to be rude or anything,” Harry explained to Dobby. “But now’s not the best time for me to have a house elf in my bedroom.”

“Oh, yes sir!” Dobby replied with realization. “Dobby understands, it’s just that… it’s difficult, sir. Dobby wonders where to begin.”

“Why don’t you sit down?” said Harry politely, gesturing towards the stool by his desk.

“Sit down?!” Dobby replied, rather shocked as his eyes widened. Then he started bawling for some reason.

“Dobby, shush!” Harry spoke in a desperate manner, as the house elf continued sobbing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you or anything.”

“Offend Dobby?!” Dobby replied as soon as he calmed down. “Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but has never been asked to sit down by a wizard… like an equal.”

“You can’t have met many decent wizards then!” said Harry.

“No, I haven’t!” Dobby replied again. Then he widened his eyes in horror as he walked towards the dresser while sheepishly saying, “Well that was an awful thing to say!”

Then Dobby started banging his head on the dresser repeatedly (waking Hedwig up in the process) while telling himself ‘bad Dobby,’ with Harry desperately trying to convince him to stop for fear of attracting Uncle Vernon’s attention. From downstairs, Vernon was pouring a glass of red wine into Chen’s glass after having done the same for Chuya. Chen was a tall asian man with black hair combed to the left; Chuya was a tall woman with shoulder-length black hair (which was in a bun at the moment); Cho was a teen with shoulder-length black hair hanging down and bangs covering her forehead; while Chiaki was a pre-teen who’s black hair was the same length as her sister’s, but without the bangs covering her forehead.

Chen was dressed in a suit (consisting of a gray formal jacket, white long-sleeve collared shirt, blue necktie, gray formal trousers, and black shoes); Chuya was wearing a magenta short-sleeve shin-length dress, gray tights underneath, and black dress shoes; Cho was wearing a blue short-sleeve collared shirt, a black knee-length skirt with black tights underneath, and black shoes with bows; while Chiaki was wearing a bright-purple short-sleeve collared shirt, a black knee-length skirt with gray tights underneath, and black mary jane shoes. The Changs all had dark-brown eyes, which were filled with confusion when they heard banging going on from somewhere upstairs. Everybody looked up when the banging started happening and continued repeatedly.

“Oh never mind that,” assured Vernon. “That’s just the cat, he must be playing with one of the strings Petunia and I tied to one of our dresser handles. Trying to keep catching it results in him running underneath the dresser to the point of banging it.”

Chen and Chuya went back to focusing on the dinner party so they could discuss business with Vernon. Cho and Chiaki (who were both drinking glasses of pink lemonade) continued looking up at the ceiling in the direction of the banging a little longer before turning their attention to their parents and Vernon attempting to get something worked out. Back in the bedroom, Harry was desperately trying to get Dobby to stop banging his head on the dresser while looking at the door for a couple seconds in fear of his uncle stomping his way upstairs. Dobby finally stopped banging his head and walked towards the stool.

“Are you alright, Dobby?” asked Harry with concern.

“Yes sir!” Dobby replied. “Dobby had to punish himself, he almost spoke ill of his family.”

“Your family?” asked Harry.

“Yes,” Dobby explained. “The wizarding family Dobby serves, sir. Dobby is bound to serve one family forever. If they were to ever find out that he was here…!”

Dobby shuddered at the thought, much to Harry’s confusion. However, he didn’t ask Dobby which family he served because he felt that it wasn’t any of his business. Then Dobby got his composure back and faced Harry again.

“Well,” Dobby continued his explanation. “Dobby has come to tell you that… Harry Potter mustn’t return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry this year. There is a plot, a plot to make most terrible things happen.”

Confused, Harry replied, “What do you mean? Who’s plotting this bad act, and when are they due to strike?”

“Ahh!” Dobby groaned in frustration. “I… can’t…!”

“Okay, I understand,” Harry replied, trying to keep Dobby under control. “You can’t say! Let’s find a better way to discuss this.”

Without warning, Dobby leaped on top of the desk, picked the lamp up, and started banging his nose with it. Dobby was making ear-splitting yelps in the process, causing silence downstairs because of the sound of Uncle Vernon’s thundering footsteps.

“Little tyke must’ve turned the TV up too loud!” Vernon was somewhat heard telling the Changs. “Dudley’s brother, Donnie, likes watching TV with the volume really loud.”

A massive ‘oh, crap’ expression formed on Harry’s face, so he desperately tried to take the lamp away from Dobby (who was putting up a fight). Harry finally pried the lamp away from Dobby and dragged him towards the wardrobe with the door open.

“Get in there, and keep quiet!” Harry angrily instructed Dobby while shoving him into the wardrobe, as he closed the door as fast as he could.

The moment the wardrobe door was closed was when the bedroom door opened and in walked Uncle Vernon all out of breath. He looked furious because he was breathing like an angry rhinoceros while glaring at Harry.

“What in the devil are you doing up here?!” asked Vernon angrily through gritting teeth.

“I was just…!” Harry replied, before he stopped to see his wardrobe door opening and hastily closed it.

“You’ve just ruined the punchline of my chinese karate joke!” Vernon scolded his nephew, showing his gritting teeth again to show how furious he was.

“Sorry!” Harry apologized as he spotted the wardrobe door slowly opening again and closed it, even though he knew the apology wasn’t going to do any real good.

“One more sound and you’ll wish you were never born, boy!” Vernon gave the ultimatum, holding up an index finger as a gesture. Then he looked at the wardrobe door opening a third time, faced his nephew again and ordered, “And fix that door!”

“Yes sir!” Harry replied, as he closed his wardrobe door for the third time.

Then Vernon left the room, semi-slamming the door behind him as his thunderous footsteps headed back downstairs. After waiting a few more seconds, Harry opened his wardrobe door to let Dobby out. The house elf quickly walked out and back into the bedroom towards the dresser.

“You see why I have to go back?!” Harry told Dobby in an ‘I told you so’ voice. “I don’t belong here, I belong in our world. Term starts on the 1st of September. It’s the only place I have friends… or at least it’s the place I think I have friends.”

The thought of Ron and Hermione not missing him at all was making him sick to his stomach. He remembered Ron telling him he was going to ask his mother if he could invite Harry over to his house. It was already his twelfth birthday and Harry didn’t even receive one birthday card.

“Friends who don’t even write to Harry Potter?” asked Dobby when he faced Harry, pointing a finger at him.

“Well, I expect that… they…!” Harry replied. Then, as a light bulb went off in his head, he suspiciously asked, “Hang on, how do you know my friends haven’t been writing to me?”

With an ‘oh, crap’ expression on his face, Dobby answered, “Harry Potter mustn’t be angry with Dobby, but he did it for the best.”

“Have you been getting your hands on my letters?!” asked Harry, trying his best to remain cool and calm.

“Dobby has them right here, sir!” assured Dobby, as he pulled out a stack of letters (that included Ron’s letters with his big handwriting, Hermione’s tidy scribbles, and Hagrid’s scrawl) from inside what seemed to be a pillowcase of some kind. “Dobby hoped that if Harry Potter’s friends had forgotten him, he might not want to go back to school, sir!”

“Give me those… now!” ordered Harry.

“Not until you agree to stay here where you’re safe, Harry Potter!” Dobby replied.

Harry bolted forward in an attempt to grab his letters from Dobby, but the house elf quickly put them back inside the pillowcase he was wearing. Then Dobby opened the door and left the bedroom, with Harry quickly following him out (trying to be as quiet as possible). Dobby continued downstairs until he stopped by the open doorway to the dining room/kitchen combo, with Harry stopping behind him. Dobby was eyeing Aunt Petunia’s pudding. Harry felt his heart hammering in fright, knowing that Uncle Vernon was going to blow his top if he saw or heard ‘the freak’ outside the closed door from the hallway to the living room.

“Why don’t you tell Cho or Chiaki about your accomplishments during your first year at Smeltings, Dudley!” Harry heard his uncle making Dudley a suggestion.

“Or maybe you can tell both of them,” Petunia suggested. “They’d be more than happy to hear.”

“Dobby, get back here!” Harry ordered in a hasty whisper, gesturing at the house elf.

Dobby shook his head in defiance and then, with a mischievous grin on his face, snapped his fingers as he eyed the pudding intently. That caused the pudding to levitate up into the air by about nine inches, with Harry widening his eyes in further horror.

“Dobby… no, please!” Harry begged, keeping his voice low enough to where nobody in the living room could hear. “They’ll kill me if you smash my aunt’s pudding.”

“Harry Potter must say he’s not going back to school!” Dobby whispered loudly to him.

“I can’t!” Harry replied. “I don’t belong here.”

“Then Dobby must do it, sir,” stated Dobby. “It’s for Harry Potter’s own good.”

Dobby snapped his fingers again, making the pudding levitate towards the living room. Harry tiptoed his way into the kitchen to see where in the living room the pudding was headed for. He looked and saw that the couch closest to the dining table had two girls with black hair sitting down on it (since their skirts and tights underneath made it very clear to Harry). It was also clear that they were obviously distracted by Dudley bragging about his ‘achievements’ at Smeltings. The pudding was levitating towards the younger girl (the one who was wearing the bright-purple short-sleeve collared shirt), so Harry reached out with his hands to grab the pudding and put it back on the raised plate. He knew that his uncle was going to clobber him afterwards, but Harry decided that there were bigger priorities first.

It didn’t take long for Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley to realize that the pudding was levitating towards the younger Chang girl; while Harry didn’t realize that Chen and Chuya were eyeing him suspiciously for some reason. Cho turned her head to her left in time to see the pudding above her sister’s head. Once the pudding was positioned above the younger Chang girl’s head, Dobby snapped his fingers once again, making it drop on Chiaki’s head and resulting in her getting covered by the tasty dessert before Cho could warn her sister. Cho got a few mild splatters on her left sleeve and arm, but the top of Chiaki’s head was covered with the frosting dripping down her face. Even her shoulders and shirt were covered in the pudding, but the younger girl just stayed seated on her spot on the couch. Cho finally looked at Harry standing close to her sister, with his eyes as wide as saucers and his arms stiffened in place.

‘Oh… noooooooo!!!’ thought Harry in horror as he turned paste-white in fright, feeling his life flashing before his eyes.

“I’m so sorry!” Vernon apologized to the Changs. “It’s my nephew, he’s very disturbed. Meeting strangers upsets him, which was why we had him upstairs.”

Harry turned around to give Dobby a nasty glare, but the house elf (while smiling triumphantly) snapped his fingers once more and disappeared. Then Harry turned his attention back to everyone in the living room to see his relatives giving him the stink-eye. But the adult Changs and Cho continued eyeing Harry intently, clearly shocked that they saw Harry in a muggle home.

“Well, we can have ice cream as a substitute, if you all wish.” Petunia told the guests.

Chen, Chuya, and Cho nodded their heads in approval, while Chiaki continued sitting on the couch without so much as moving or even saying a word. She managed to open her eyes, but stayed as still as she could because she didn’t want to get any of the pudding on the couch (especially when some of the pudding was already dripping down her shirt). Cho brushed the few splatters on her arm, leaving her right hand somewhat sticky. Chen and Chuya saw the look in their younger daughter’s eyes and could tell that she was trying her best not to cry, even more so when they saw her swallowing hard to try and tough it out. Petunia got up and walked towards the freezer to get some ice cream out, but Vernon (with his eyes widened furiously) faced his nephew.

“Why don’t you get a couple towels for Chiaki!” Vernon instructed Harry through contrived politeness.

Harry quickly turned around and headed upstairs to get a couple towels. Even though Vernon looked all calm and polite on the outside, Harry knew that his uncle was furious on the inside. Harry knew that Vernon was going to flay him within an inch of his life afterwards for coming downstairs. There was no point in telling the Dursleys about Dobby, since anything ‘abnormal’ was a major no-no in their presence at least. The Dursleys always blamed him anytime something went wrong, even if Dudley was the culprit. After getting a couple of used towels (ones that were semi-worn out) from the towel cabinet, Harry headed back downstairs and, with his arms trembling, held them out for the younger girl.

“Thank you!” Chiaki whispered, politely taking the towels from Harry.

“You’re welcome!” Harry replied.

Chiaki managed to wipe away the remains of the pudding from her face before wiping the rest of it all over her shirt. But she was still going to have the smell of the pudding all over her until she got showered and changed into cleaner clothes. Inwardly, Harry was surprised to learn that the Changs were asian, but he couldn’t show it because his uncle’s mood would’ve worsened if he saw any signs of ‘the freak’ having a good time in any way, shape, or form. Before either Chen or Chuya could ask Harry some questions while waiting for ice cream, a barn owl of some kind flew inside from an open window and dropped an envelope right in front of Harry before turning around and flying out. The adult Changs widened their eyes in shock, but Harry never asked them why to avoid being rude.

“Pick that up and read it!” Vernon ordered his nephew, doing his best to stay calm.

His fright intensifying, Harry picked up the envelope, opened it, and pulled the contents out. To Harry’s dismay, it wasn’t any birthday cards (which he expected). It turned out to be a letter for him and, he reluctantly started reading it, which said:

Dear Mr. Potter,

We have just received intelligence that a hover charm was performed within your residence at 8:15 PM. Please bear in mind that any more use of underage magic can lead to expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. Enjoy the rest of your holidays!

Sincerely,

Mafalda Hopkirk

Ministry of Magic

Improper Use Of Magic Office

Harry gulped in further fear when he finished reading it, and looked up at his uncle with a triumphant expression on his face. The Changs finally put the puzzle pieces together, when they finally realized that Harry was living in the muggle world after all.

“You didn’t tell us you weren’t allowed to use magic outside of that school, boy!” Vernon scolded, still looking triumphant. “Forgot to mention it? Slipped your mind, I daresay?”

“And make you angrier with the whole ‘funny business’ discussions?” Harry replied so suddenly. “What would’ve been the point if you hated anything you considered abnormal?”

Uncle Vernon’s face turned puce with concealed anger, as he and Petunia taught ‘the boy’ never to ask questions no matter what. It was enough for the Chang family to widen their eyes in shock, as they saw more hints of what Harry’s life outside of Hogwarts was like. Cho helped out in wiping away the pudding on her sister, while Chen and Chuya walked up to Vernon to finally speak up as to what was on their minds.

“Mr. Dursley, do you and your family hate Harry?” asked Chen in a serious tone of voice.

“So you are freaks, too?!” asked Vernon in outrage, once he put two-and-two together. “Why haven’t you used any of that funny business?”

“We enjoy performing tasks and doing things without being reliant on magic,” stated Chuya. “Since using it too much is taking the easy way out.”

“We can tell how much you and your family hate Harry,” said Chen in a matter-of-fact voice. “Since you tried to keep his presence in this house a secret from us, and made excuses when you left the living room moments earlier.”

“If you hate Harry so much, why do you have him in your house?” asked Chuya in a no-nonsense voice.”

“That Dumbledore guy said we had to,” Petunia replied. “He claimed that he cast something called the bond of blood charm when he left Harry to us all those years ago. He even said that if we took the boy in willingly and treated him like one of our own that they would work to their finest.”

“It doesn’t look to us that you bonded with Harry at all!” stated Chuya. “Not only that, but blood charms, especially the bond of blood charm, are illegal because family isn’t about blood, it’s about loyalty and love. Judging by Harry’s fearful expression, you abused and neglected him ever since he was placed in your so-called care. It wasn’t up to Albus to place him here, he had no right to do that. Did he even ask you and your husband if you wanted to look after Harry?”

“No, he just forced us to do it!” Petunia frightfully admitted, her face paste-white. “All that came with the boy was a letter that had been tucked within his blankets. Even in the letter, there wasn’t anything regarding him asking us if we wanted to take the boy in.”

“So that means Albus just dumped Harry on your doorstep in the dead of night?” asked Chen, hardly believing what Petunia was insinuating.

Petunia didn’t answer that question, instead she just looked down at the ground. That resulted in Harry glaring at his relatives while his respect for Dumbledore just went out the window. He couldn’t believe that the headmaster left him to his magic-hating relatives and forced them to take him under their wing. Then he remembered when he, Ron, Hermione, and (to a lesser extent) Neville were given those last-minute points at the end-of-the-year feast, just after the headmaster announced that Slytherin was in first place with four-hundred-and-seventy-two points. Harry realized that Dumbledore pulled a nasty trick out of his hat and it made Harry feel bad for any of the Slytherins who were decent people and rightfully earned points. Harry made a mental note to seek out any Slytherin students who were decent to try and end that childish rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Chen and Chuya glared at the adult Dursleys for their treatment towards Harry, while Cho and Chiaki widened their eyes in shock and covered their mouths with their hands.

“Ah, so Albus really did leave Harry on your doorstep in the dead of night?” Chuya asked the adult Dursleys.

“Yes!” Petunia admitted, her voice sounding rather hasty. “But Dumbledore said that we have to look after the boy until he is of age in your freakish world.”

“Seeing that he didn’t ask you personally,” Chuya told the Dursley patriarch. “It was ill-advised to just listen to him without questioning his motives, even though he keeps secrets and never gets dissuaded once his decisions have been finalized. He also doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Do you even know what his handwriting looks like?”

“Well, I just saw his name that day,” Petunia replied in a hasty voice. “When I read the letter, that is.”

“What if it was someone else who wrote the letter and used the headmaster’s name, or what if Albus decided to use a cover name?” asked Chen.

Petunia felt her legs losing some of the sensation when that question escaped Chen’s lips, as if he had asked her an armour-piercing question. Vernon looked as though he was on the verge of blowing his top, while Dudley kept eyeing the Chang girls with lust. Cho ignored the Dursley offspring and went back to wiping the rest of the pudding off of her sister.

“But what about that bond of blood charm that Dumbledore guy claimed?” asked Petunia.

“There’s only one way to find out!” Chuya replied.

She left the living room and out into the hallway, closing the door behind her in the best interests of the Dursleys. When Cho and Chiaki finished wiping the pudding off of the latter, Cho handed both towels to Harry and he quickly and politely took them. Vernon faced his nephew and pointed a finger at the trash can in the kitchen, with Harry understanding that his uncle wanted the towels thrown away since they were already worn-out enough. So Harry threw the pudding-covered towels away, then he turned his attention to the younger Chang girl to get a better look at her. She wasn’t nearly as covered in the pudding now, but there were still some minor spots of it still on her shirt. Then Chiaki buried her face into her sister’s shoulders and silently cried, with Cho trying her best to provide comfort for her sister. Harry had to look away because he was never able to handle the sight of a crying girl. Chuya returned five-to-ten minutes or so later, with her angry expression worsened as she glared at the adult Dursleys.

“So there… there wasn’t any… any of those… those blood charms?” asked Petunia with a stammer.

“Precisely,” stated Chuya. “And I even sent my co-worker, Mafalda, a notice that Harry was innocent of that hover charm. But you won’t be told how I managed that because you hate anything you see as abnormal. But before we discuss this any further, I’ll need a few minutes with my husband, if you’re okay with that.”

The adult Dursleys nodded their heads in approval, hoping that it meant that they would be rid of ‘the freak’ permanently. So Chen and Chuya walked out into the hallway, leaving Harry and the Chang girls confused as to what was now going to happen. It was another five-to-ten minutes later when the adult Changs came back into the living room, with Chuya pulling out what was revealed to be custody papers and showing them to Vernon and Petunia.

“I also left for a few minutes before coming back and talking with my husband,” Chuya explained. “I went to get some custody papers since there isn’t any proof that you’re Harry's true guardians due to Albus leaving him in your care illegally. While we can press charges against you two on Harry’s behalf, we’ll cut you some slack since it's in the best interests for all of us here. You agree to sign the papers to turn custody of Harry over to Chen and myself, and we’ll get out of your hair and you’ll never have to see anybody in our world anymore.”

Harry felt his jaw dropping open in utter shock, his eyes also widening at the thought of leaving Durzkaban for good. Even Cho and her sister looked over at their parents in surprise, as they hadn’t counted on that happening. Vernon and Petunia quickly went to get pens from their junk drawer and signed their names on the signature lines, officially signing custody of Harry over to Chen and Chuya. Then Vernon and Petunia turned their attention to Harry with elated expressions on their faces.

“Go get your ruddy stuff packed, boy!” Vernon ordered, with Petunia going to unlock the cupboard under the stairs. “Unless you want it to get thrown out if you leave it behind.”

Harry quickly left the living room and back up to his ‘bedroom’ to get what little belongings he had up there, one of which included Hedwig in her cage and she woke up again when she felt the cage getting picked up. Harry promised her that when they got to their new home that he would let her out so she could stretch her wings and fly (with Hedwig hooting in understanding). Even though Harry knew that going to live with another family he only just met in the same evening sounded crazy, it was better than being used like a slave and a human punching bag. Upon making it back downstairs, Harry opened the door to the cupboard and pulled his trunk (which contained the rest of his belongings, including his wand) out and set it up on it’s wheels.

“I’ll hold your owl’s cage for you, Harry!” Chuya told him in a soft voice.

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement, then he dragged his trunk behind him. Harry opened the door so the Chang ladies could walk outside first due to the ladies first policy. Once Harry and Chen were outside, the Dursleys slammed their front door shut and locked the door. Chen and Chuya were boiling with anger inside over the fact that Vernon and Petunia signed custody of Harry over to them without second thoughts, but it didn’t matter anymore because the deed was done. Now Harry was free from those horrible people forever. Harry couldn’t see what colour the Changs’ car was because it was already dark outside. Chen opened the trunk to help put Harry’s school trunk in before closing it. Then they got in so they could go home, even though Harry still felt a little unsure of calling his new residence ‘home’ because of the Dursleys keeping him as miserable as possible. Upon opening the back door to the seat behind the driver’s seat, Harry saw that the window seat was empty and that the older Chang daughter was sitting in the middle seat while her sister occupied the seat behind the passenger seat while she held Hedwig’s cage in her lap.

“Wouldn’t you rather have the other window seat?” Harry asked Cho. “I should get the middle seat, all freaks are required to sit there.”

“No, Harry, you can have the other window seat,” assured Cho. “You look like you need some cheering up.”

Harry shrugged his shoulders and got in, not wanting to waste the Chang family’s time unnecessarily. Then the Changs began properly introducing themselves to Harry and shaking hands with him, with Harry returning the favour. Then Chen started up the car and began driving away, knowing that lingering any longer would’ve angered the Dursleys. Chuya even told Harry that she and Chen were in Ravenclaw House when they were Hogwarts students, with Cho explaining that she was in Ravenclaw as well, and Chiaki telling Harry that she would be starting Hogwarts this upcoming school year.

“I’m so sorry that the pudding dropped all over you, Chiaki!” Harry apologized. “I was trying to grab it and put it back on that plate.”

“Don’t worry, Harry, it’s not your fault,” assured Chiaki with a smile. “As weird as it may seem, it was worth it because at least it helped get you away from those people in some way.”

“What also surprised me was that neither of you said anything about me being the Boy-Who-Lived,” said Harry in surprise. “Since most of the students at Hogwarts would just stare and whisper in my direction.”

“Not everybody in our world will do that, Harry,” Cho assured, gently patting his shoulder. “The stories about the Boy-Who-Lived are just that: stories. The ones who would bring up your fame will only be interested in you for your fame. If Chiaki and I were fangirls of your fame, we would’ve reacted in that manner. There’s always going to be someone who’ll enjoy being within your presence for who you are, and we’re showing you that ourselves.”

Those words started sinking in, helping Harry feel more at ease that the Chang family had no intentions of being fans of Harry’s unwanted Boy-Who-Lived image. It also made Harry realize that Ron was like the ultimate fanboy of that fictional character, since the youngest male Weasley widened his eyes when he properly met Harry and asked him if he had the scar. When Harry showed him, Ron’s response was ‘wicked!’ Harry even remembered Ron’s sister, Ginny, behaving worse than that as she kept trying to see Harry while whining about it as if he was a zoo animal and never got told off for it. It made Harry realize that not only was Ginny a spoiled brat in addition to being the ultimate fangirl of his unwanted fame, but Ron’s mother Molly was a terrible parent for allowing her daughter to behave like that out in public. It finally made Harry realize that meeting those three Weasleys was a setup, since Mrs. Weasley did say ‘muggles’ loud enough for anyone to hear before asking what the name of the platform was, with Ginny quickly and correctly answering that in a loud enough voice.

‘How did I just accept that Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley were being helpful to me that day?’ thought Harry.

Harry also realized that Hermione was likely a fangirl of the Boy-Who-Lived because her reaction to meeting him was similar to Ron’s and she went on about reading about him in books. Plus, Hermione was also bragging about having extensive knowledge of the magical world and it made Harry question whether or not she really was a muggle-born as she claimed. Furthermore, Hermione’s complaints about breaking rules was ironic because she was shown breaking rules herself, and that showed that she was also a hypocrite. Harry also realized that Fred and George didn’t care about the Boy-Who-Lived since they treated him like a person instead making a big deal about meeting someone famous. Harry also realized that Neville didn’t care about the Boy-Who-Lived since he remained silent when Hermione bragged about meeting the Boy-Who-Lived. Feeling bad about Neville being put in the full body-bind a couple months ago, Harry decided to send a letter to Neville when he got the chance and see about making plans to spend time with him and maybe even his grandmother if she was interested.

“Chiaki,” Harry began asking. “Would you like me to hold onto Hedwig’s cage, seeing that Hedwig is my owl and my responsibility?”

“Nah, I’m good!” assured Chiaki. “Your owl doesn’t seem to object to it because she keeps looking at me and Cho without beating her wings or anything like that.”

“Maybe this moment can be wonderful for me and Chiaki to befriend Hedwig, Harry.” Cho suggested.

Chiaki slowly poked a finger through the cage to see if Hedwig would allow her to stroke her feathers. To Harry’s surprise, Hedwig leaned forward as a way of giving the younger girl permission to stroke her feathers. Then Cho had a turn and, just like with her sister, Hedwig leaned forward to let Cho stroke her feathers. Harry smiled to see Hedwig warming up to the Chang girls, but Harry was still a little tense from what happened earlier. He turned his attention to look out the window as Chen continued driving home (wherever the Changs’ house was located). Harry felt a couple gentle taps on his shoulder, making him jump a little. So he turned his head around and faced Cho.

“Are you alright, Harry?” asked Cho in a soft voice.

“Yeah,” assured Harry. “Just alot that had been going on today, and how I never thought I’d be free from the Dursleys. It seems like it’s too good to be true, and I’m still expecting this to be a dream or something.”

In response to that, Cho wrapped her arms around Harry and embraced him. Harry flinched a little when physical contact was made due to all the times when Harry was whacked with a belt and simply punched. Harry felt himself easing up because Cho was being soft and gentle with her hug, unlike Hermione’s due to her tendency to charge at him first. Harry gradually found himself hugging Cho back, with Chiaki grinning when she saw the moment with her own eyes.

“Cho, don’t go too fast with that!” Chuya lightly scolded her older daughter. “We don’t want to frighten Harry. You know, one step at a time.”

“I’m sorry, mummy!” Cho replied apologetically. “It looked like Harry needed a hug. Then she turned her attention back to Harry and said, “Oh, happy birthday, Harry!”

“Thank you, Cho!” Harry replied gratefully.

Chiaki, Chuya, and Chen also wished Harry a happy birthday, with Harry also thanking them (tears welling up in his eyes when that happened). He held the tears back as best as he could, since his punishments always extended whenever his relatives saw him crying.

“Well, Harry, since tomorrow is Saturday,” Chuya told him. “We can help celebrate your birthday a little late tomorrow. What would you like to do as a late present from all of us? Do you wish to go out into London, or just stay at our house? You don’t have to answer right now, if you want some time to think about it.”

“Maybe I’ll think about it,” Harry replied. “Since I’ve almost never been on an outing. The Dursleys almost always excluded me from these moments, preferring to leave me with a sitter.”

Chuya nodded her head in acknowledgement and turned her attention back to the road as her husband drove on. Cho stopped hugging Harry, remembering that her mother said to make sure Harry took it one step at a time. Harry was now glad that he didn’t get the letters from Ron and Hermione, since they didn’t even try to find a way to get Harry away from his relatives and he hated to think what the letters might’ve said. Harry figured that they should’ve done all that long ago, like after the third time of having sent a letter and no response came in. Harry still wondered what Hagrid’s letter may have said, since Hagrid was another citizen in Magical England who didn’t see Harry as the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry felt Cho grab a hold of his left hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, allowing him to relax a little more. Harry also decided that it was best to start expanding his circle of friends, and living with the Changs was a wonderful moment for that.

The End!

Chapter Text

It was a cool morning of Saturday October 30, 1993; and it was the first Hogsmeade weekend. Harry was running outside towards the main school entrance where Professor McGonagall was helping Argus Filch out in collecting the Hogsmeade permission forms from Harry’s fellow third-year students, since breakfast was over. McGonagall was finishing up a warning about Hogsmeade being a privilege and that any misbehaviour would result in the privileges being revoked. Harry finally made it to where McGonagall was standing, in hopes that she would give him permission.

“No permission form signed, no visiting the village!” the deputy head reminded Harry. “That’s the rule, Potter.”

“Those who have permission, follow me,” said Filch, as he started leading the way to the village. “Those without, stay put!”

“But, professor,” Harry replied to his head of house. “I thought if you signed my form, then I could…”

“I can’t!” explained Professor McGonagall. “Only a parent or a guardian can do that, and it would be inappropriate for me to sign your form because I am neither.”

“But…” Harry started replying, but figured there was no point.

“I’m sorry, Potter!” Professor McGonagall apologized, gently patting him on the shoulder. “That’s my final word.”

Then she walked away to help Filch out in escorting the students with permission to Hogsmeade. Ron and Hermione had been standing close by, waiting for Harry.

“Forget it, guys,” said Harry. “I’ll see ya later.”

So Ron and Hermione walked off, with Hermione giving a small wave while Ron looked ahead as if he was anticipating something. Then Harry walked away towards his favourite spot by the Black Lake. What he didn’t know was that an asian girl with shoulder-length black hair in a low ponytail with bangs covering her forehead and dark-brown eyes had been watching him. She also had a blue scarf with bronze linings, which identified her as a Ravenclaw student. Feeling her heart breaking to see Harry looking so forlorn, the unidentified asian girl headed for Hogsmeade. She spotted Ron and Hermione in the village square having the time of their lives, which didn’t impress the unidentified Ravenclaw. So she headed for Honeydukes Sweet Shop. Meanwhile, Harry made it to his favourite spot by the Black Lake, which was a shoreline that had a tree stump and the spot was covered by trees since it couldn’t be spotted from the castle. Harry sat down on the stump and stared out across the lake to ponder his thoughts. After several minutes, he couldn’t handle the stress of his rotten luck and terrible life anymore.

“Am I really destined for rotten luck?!” Harry ranted towards the lake. “Is it really too much to ask for a normal life without being stared at? I never wanted to be the Boy-Who-Lived, I just want to be just Harry. I doubt Uncle Vernon would’ve kept his side of the bargain, he would’ve cheated me like he and my so-called aunt. They always found loopholes whenever I tried my best to behave. It’s like nothing is ever good enough for them. They enjoy watching me suffer to the best of their so-called abilities. It’s best that I just stay away from my relatives for good, and Aunt Marge’s visit was the final straw. I’m not going back there again, it’s in our best interests.”

Harry continued sitting on the tree stump while taking some deep breaths and looking at the ground, unaware that someone had been watching him rant. Harry checked his surroundings out of habit because of Dudley and his gang always beating him up. Then he spotted an asian girl standing in spot with a stunned expression on her face. When he thought he saw tears in her dark-brown eyes, Harry immediately turned back around since he never could take the sight of a crying girl that well. The girl walked closer to the tree stump, but still kept her distance to give Harry some space.

“Is everything alright, Harry?” asked the girl with concern.

Harry forced himself to turn back around and face the girl, even though some tears were streaming down her face. He felt his heart breaking to see that, but this time he faced it since the girl was showing him kindness and concern. Returning the favour was the right idea after all.

“I’m not sure!” Harry replied. “H-How much did you hear?”

“More than enough, Harry,” the girl explained. “When you started your rant, I was walking up to you.”

Harry felt even more fear in himself, since his relatives ‘warned’ him not to report their treatment to anybody or else face severe punishment. Three teachers of his in primary school tried helping, but they were never seen again after those respective days. It was enough for Harry to suspect that his wicked uncle bribed the headmistress at St. Grogery’s Primary School to keep quiet and have the teachers who dared to try helping ‘the freak’ blacklisted. So Harry ended up abandoning his desires to get his relatives in hot water rightfully, especially with his uncle getting paid extremely well as the director of the drill-making company Grunnings. Harry was taken aback to see that the girl didn’t run away in fear or anything like that. Harry saw the blue scarf with the bronze linings around the girl’s neck, so he knew that she was a Ravenclaw student. She was dressed in a purple long-sleeve polo shirt, black jeans, and black shoes decorated with bronze stars to represent her house’s secondary colour. Harry saw that she had bangs over her forehead and, judging by the way her hair was pulled back, that she had to have had her hair in a low ponytail or something.

“I… I thought I was being quiet,” Harry replied. “But this moment ended up proving otherwise.”

“May I join you, Harry?” said the girl in a soft voice. “You look all lonely sitting here by yourself, and it looks like you could talk to someone.”

Harry nodded his head to let the girl know that he was alright with her joining him, so he scooted over to make room for her. Then she sat down next to him with a smile, which was enough for Harry to feel his stomach flip-flopping. She also didn’t show any signs of being a Boy-Who-Lived fangirl (unlike a certain red-haired female), and it didn’t leak out into her voice.

“I’m Cho Chang!” the girl introduced herself, holding a hand out for Harry.

“Nice to meet you, Cho!” Harry replied as he smiled back, shaking her hand. “I’m Harry Potter.”

He felt a little sheepish to be saying his name since everyone in the magical world knew his name because of his unwanted fame. But still, he was showing proper etiquette for meeting someone new. Despite the little bit of fear trying to slither it’s way back, Harry took a deep breath to prepare himself for telling Cho the whole story (since she heard more than enough and there was no point in keeping it concealed) even if it wasn’t going to be easy. Harry told Cho everything: about how he was treated like a disease by the Dursleys, how he was given overly-large rags instead of clothes his size, how he was never praised for his hard work, how he was forced to dumb himself down, how he always felt he was a magnet for danger, how he was stared and whispered at because of his unwanted Boy-Who-Lived fame, how Ginny Weasley always hounded him and ignored his tense state whenever she was around him, and how his time at Hogwarts was something like a repeat of his days in primary school.

Cho had tears streaming down her face as she patiently listened to Harry opening up to someone. Then she scooted closer to Harry and embraced him. Harry flinched with physical contact, but slowly eased his way into returning the hug because Cho was being soft and gentle. It was different from Mrs. Weasley’s hugs (which were so smothering that it felt like his spine could snap in two), and Hermione’s since she always charged at him before hugging him. Harry felt himself relaxing more as Cho continued hugging him.

“I’m so sorry to hear that, Harry,” Cho whispered into his ear softly. “You truly deserve better than that.”

“If only I wasn’t destined for rotten luck,” Harry professed. “Anytime something good happens, some jinx is bound to get in the way.”

“You’re not destined for rotten luck, Harry,” assured Cho, keeping her voice soft. “You deserve a happy life just as much as the rest of us. Even if most of our fellow students see you as the Boy-Who-Lived, especially Ginevra Weasley, there’s always going to be someone who’ll like you for who you are.”

“And you don’t care about the Boy-Who-Lived nonsense?” asked Harry, wanting to make sure there was real hope.

“Yes, Harry, I never cared too much for that!” Cho replied patiently. “Those are just stories. Besides, I have something for you.”

Before Harry could say any more, Cho reached into a pocket and pulled out two bags of candy and returned them to normal size. Then she handed one of the bags to Harry, much to his surprise. He was rendered speechless by the unexpected gift.

“Y-You didn’t have to do that, Cho!” Harry finally responded after a minute of stunned silence.

“I wanted to do it, Harry,” Cho replied with another smile. “You deserve this as a reward for all the hard work you put in and for opening up to me despite it being hard. That shows that you really are a Gryffindor, since you showed bravery for telling me about your life.”

“So Hogsmeade has a sweet shop?” asked Harry.

“Yes,” stated Cho. “It’s called Honeydukes Sweet Shop. It not only has regular sweets you’d find in the muggle world and some sweets you’d see on the food trolley in the Hogwarts Express, but there’s also special effects sweets. Examples of those include drooble’s best blowing gum, acid pops, blood-flavoured pops, exploding bonbons, and much more.”

“Well, thank you for the candy, Cho!” Harry replied, rather gratefully.

“You’re welcome, Harry.” said Cho. “I also thought that you’d like some company while we eat some of the sweets.”

“But what about you hanging out with your friends?” asked Harry.

“No need to worry about that, Harry,” assured Cho. “I told them that I would meet up with them later after I explained that I had something to take care of. I’ve already been to Hogsmeade before, since I’m a fourth-year student.”

”I see!” said Harry. Then he checked his surrounding and continued, “I wonder where Ron and Hermione are, so I can introduce you to them.”

”Well, I saw them in the village square!” stated Cho. “They did something that didn’t impress me. Do you want me to tell you or spare you from what?”

”If it made you mad,” Harry replied. “Please tell me, I just have this feeling.”

”I saw them enjoying their time,” Cho explained. “And they didn’t show any concerns for you.”

”Figures!” Harry replied. “There were times where I’ve been wondering if they really are my friends. Now that I think about it, they never gave me good first impressions, just like Ginny. It’s like they’re only ‘friends’ with the Boy-Who-Lived as opposed to the real me. I should’ve known that something about them wasn’t right since they alluded to my unwanted fame as much as Ginny went crazy when she found out herself when I met them. Mrs. Weasley even allowed her daughter to get away with such bratty behaviour. Why was I gullible enough to believe it?!”

”No need to dwell on that anymore, Harry,” assured Cho in a soft voice. “You finally figure that out. You know, better late than never.”

“Oh, okay.” Harry replied, nodding his head in understanding. Then, to keep himself distracted, he asked, “What exactly does drooble’s best blowing gum do?”

“You just chew it and blow bubbles with it like ordinary gum,” Cho explained. “But drooble’s gum refuses to pop for a few days under regular circumstances.”

Curious to find out for himself, Harry peeked in his candy bag and saw a few packs of the gum. He picked up one that was grape-flavoured, opened it, put it into his mouth, and began chewing it. After chewing the gum thoroughly, Harry stuck his gum-covered tongue out and began blowing into it and inflating a gum bubble. When it was big enough, Cho tried poking it with a finger, but the bubble refused to pop no matter how many times she tried. Harry finally saw that she was right in that the gum bubble refused to pop for several days. Harry and Cho resumed eating some of their sweets while sitting on the tree stump, intending to continue bonding.

‘Maybe, with Cho here being a friend,’ thought Harry. ‘This year can turn out wonderful, and I won’t have to worry about being placed in harm’s way!’

And that was something he really wanted, to have a quiet and normal year. It was near the end of last year and the year before when Harry remembered being placed in harm’s way. And the fact that Cho was proving to enjoy his company and not be one of those Boy-Who-Lived fangirls was a wonderful bonus. It made Harry realize that his circle of friends was very small, and thus he knew that he needed to expand that. Even if most of the students seemed to be fans of his unwanted fame, Harry could tell that there was always going to be someone who would enjoy his company for the real Harry as opposed to the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry also considered befriending his fellow dorm-mate, Neville Longbottom, since he remembered that he had a good first impression because he treated Harry like a person instead of referencing his unwanted fame.

The End!

Chapter Text

Seventeen-year-old Cho Chang had just arrived at a nightclub in London at around 8:00 PM with her best friend, Sue Li (who was around a year younger). Cho had shoulder-length black hair hanging down with bangs covering her forehead and dark-brown eyes; while Sue was a petite girl of four-foot-nine (making her seven inches shorter than Cho) with brown hair at mid-back length in a high ponytail and brown eyes that were a lighter colour. Cho was wearing a blue short-sleeve button-down shirt, a black skirt stopping just above the knees with black tights underneath, and black trainers; Sue was wearing a purple short-sleeve t-shirt, black jeans, and purple converse sneakers hiding a pair of gray ankle-high socks. The girls ordered martinis and occupied a table to drink it, wondering if they should dance in the crowd. It didn’t take long for the asian girls to finish their respective glasses of martinis, so they began thinking about whether to join the crowd on the dance floor or stay at their table.

“Well, I’m going to go out on the dance floor for a little fun, Cho,” Sue informed her bestie. “If you need me, I’ll be there.”

Cho nodded her head in acknowledgement, then Sue got up to dance. At the same time, three young men entered the nightclub looking as though they wanted some excitement. One of the young men had untidy black hair and emerald-green eyes hidden behind a pair of black full-moon glasses; one of the other young men was portly-looking and had brown hair and eyes, and the third young man was stout-looking and had blonde hair and blue eyes. The black-haired man and his friends talked to one another. Cho was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize that the black-haired man was approaching her as his friends went out on the dance floor.

“Excuse me,” the young man offered, snapping Cho out of her thoughts. “Would you like to dance?”

Cho turned her attention to the source of the voice and saw the young man with the untidy black hair giving her a lopsided grin. Cho felt as though her panties were creaming at the sight of the grin. Cho nodded her head as if to say yes, so the young man held a hand out for Cho and she grabbed it. Then the black-haired young man gently led Cho over to the dance floor and as soon as they were in the middle, the young man put his hands on Cho’s waist just as she draped her arms over the back of his neck. Cho felt her body shivering from excitement to feel the unidentified teen’s hands on her waist because of how soft and firm they were. As she gazed into the teen’s emerald-green eyes hidden behind his glasses, she found herself deep in thought because she remembered passing him in the corridors at school on some occasions (even though they were very brief).

“So how is your night going so far?” the teen with untidy hair asked.

“Actually pretty great!” Cho replied with a smile on her face. “You look a little familiar, though.”

“I’m Harry Potter,” the teen introduced himself, giving Cho the lopsided grin again. “You might’ve heard about me because of alot of girls at our school swarming me just because I come from a rich family.”

“Oh! Well, I’m Cho Chang!” Cho replied. Then, in a whisper, she asked, “What are you doing in a place like this?!”

“Well, I wanted to have a little adventure,” Harry replied. “I couldn’t deal with another of those stuck-up rich gals. One of them keeps eyeing me like a prize to be won and I wanted to steer clear of her for once as soon as my mum and dad told me that she and her parents were among the guests.”

“Wow, choosing me over her!” said Cho, feeling her excitement increasing. “But why me, of all people? Not that I’m complaining, but I’m just curious to find out why you chose me.”

“I’ve seen you from afar,” Harry explained. “A few times when I’d be surrounded by the swarm, you were keeping your distance and you quickly turned around to leave without saying a word. After all, my unwanted fans keep begging me for a date while arguing that one or the other was the better candidate to be my girlfriend. Having seen and recognizing you, I decided to take the chance to ask you to dance with me, since I’m nowhere close to the swarming fangirls and nobody here recognizes me or at least will think I’m a doppelganger since the rich don’t tend to come to the average nightclub because of going to the ballroom dances.”

“I hope you didn’t come here alone, Harry.” Cho replied with concern.

“Don’t worry, Cho,” assured Harry. “My best friends, Neville Longbottom and Ernie Macmillan tagged along since they wanted an adventure like me and they had been dealing with stuck-up ladies like me. Neville is portly and has brown hair and eyes; while Ernie is stout-looking and has blonde hair and blue eyes. They’re somewhere on the dance floor, possibly dancing with someone.”

“You go, girl!” a voice familiar to Cho blurted out in elation.

Harry and Cho turned their attention to the source to see Sue standing there with a smile. Sue introduced herself to Harry, and he returned the favour. Then Sue headed back towards the middle of the dance floor to continue giving Harry and Cho their time alone. Because they were so lost in their own world, Harry and Cho had no idea how much time passed by. Harry and Cho found themselves leaning forward appearing as though they were about to kiss each other on the lips, but then Harry felt a tap on his right shoulder (making him jump in surprise). Harry turned around to see Neville and Ernie with urgent looks on their faces.

“We have to leave, Harry!” Neville and Ernie informed him. “If we don’t make it back to your place soon, our respective mothers will be reading us the riot act for skedaddling.”

Looking down at his watch, Harry widened his eyes in horror to see that it was closing in on 10:00 PM (like ten minutes till). Then he looked back at Cho and told her, “I’m sorry to cut our time short, Cho. But I have to leave before me and my friends find ourselves in hot water.”

“I understand, Harry.” assured Cho in a soft voice.

“Maybe we can meet up at school or something if you’d like!” Harry offered.

“I’d like that, Harry!” Cho replied with a smile. Then she told him, “But go before you find yourself staying longer than necessary.”

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement before he, Neville, and Ernie turned around to hightail it out of the nightclub and back to Potter Manor. Cho stayed rooted to the spot she was in because of her time with Harry still fresh in her mind. Only when someone bumped into her did she snap out of her musings. Luckily it was Sue, so the asian girls returned to their table to take turns telling each other what they did out on the dance floor during the evening.

The End!

Chapter Text

Harry was heading for the prefects’ bathroom to work out the clue of the golden egg; he was given that advice from Cedric Diggory earlier as a way of returning the favour when he (Harry) informed him about dragons being used in the first task for the other champions. He was strolling his way with help of being under his invisibility cloak and using the Marauder’s Map to make sure that he wasn’t close to a teacher or staff, since the cloak didn’t prevent him from being heard or solid. As soon as he arrived in front of the statue of Boris the Bewitched, Harry gave it the password (which was ’pinefresh,’ as noted by Cedric) and it stepped off to the side to grant Harry access. The moment Harry entered, he saw his name disappearing from the map for some reason, so he incantated ‘mischief managed’ to wipe the map clean before continuing on and pulling the cloak off before continuing down the passageway. The moment he turned the corner, Harry stopped in his tracks to see that someone else was in the prefects’ bathroom.

‘Is this for real?’ thought Harry, his heart rate going up.

Sitting in the bathtub that was the size of a swimming pool was Cho Chang, since Harry was able to easily recognize her shoulder-length black hair hanging down with bangs covering her forehead. She was even wearing a cerulean-blue bikini because of the bikini top covering her breasts being a giveaway. She didn’t seem to be aware that someone else entered because she had her head leaning back and her eyes were closed, and the different taps pouring perfumed bubble-bath into the hot water must’ve given her the thought of being in paradise or something. Harry found himself unable to approach the bathtub because it was Cho, his first-ever crush (which was still ongoing), and he found himself unable to ruin her mood. It wasn’t too much longer when Cho lifted her head up and opened her eyes, looking shocked to see that Harry had been watching her for like a couple minutes or so. Harry felt himself stiffening in concealed fright, believing that Cho was going to clobber him. But she just smiled at him, allowing Harry to relax and quickly blush. He remembered that that was the exact smile she greeted him with last year before that quidditch game where they faced off, sometime before Draco Malfoy and his goons tried dressing up as dementors to scare Harry only to find themselves stumped when he cast the patronus charm.

“Aren’t you going to get into a pair of swim shorts and join me, Harry?” asked Cho in an amused voice because of his blushing being so priceless.

“O-Only if you’re o-okaayyyyyy with it!” Harry replied in a semi-high voice.

“Of course, Harry,” stated Cho in a soft voice. “Even if I didn’t count on you coming here, I’d be more than happy to share this time with you.”

Harry couldn’t find any objections to that, so he quickly made his way over to one of the changing rooms and walked in. Then he changed into a pair of red swim shorts he got from one of the Weasley twins when he spent the rest of the summer holidays at the Burrow before and after the Quidditch World Cup. Once he was in his swim shorts, Harry stepped out and put his stuff on top of a long countertop away from Cho’s stuff so they wouldn’t get confused even with his invisibility cloak making it obvious. After picking the golden egg back up, Harry began walking towards the bathtub. He was a little slow because his legs began wobbling due to being in such close proximity with Cho. Plus, he hadn’t really been this close to a girl in a bikini before, and his blush amplified as a result. Cho started giggling when she saw how red his face was and how he was trying his hardest not to let his crush on her be known. What Harry didn’t realize was that Cho already knew about his crush on her. Then Cho got up and stepped out of the water as she walked up the underwater steps, exposing her wonderful legs and the cerulean-blue bikini bottom.

“Haaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaah!!” Harry let out a high-pitch squeal as his heart rate increased. His mind going into overdrive at the same time.

Cho giggled a little more, finding Harry’s reaction very endearing. That didn’t stop her from walking towards Harry and gently grabbing one of his arms and leading him towards the bathtub. After all, she felt that it would help him out and prevent him from falling backwards because of his wobbling legs potentially resulting in his knees giving away. It was taking everything in Harry’s willpower to avoid touching Cho, since he didn’t want to worry about creeping her out. Once they were in the water, Cho helped get Harry seated before taking a seat next to him.

“I take it you came here to work on the clue for the second task?” Cho inquired.

“Yeah!” Harry replied, again in a high-pitch tone.

He widened his eyes as he put his hands over his mouth, feeling like a fool to keep speaking that way in front of his crush. In the process, he dropped the golden egg into the water and it sort of floated towards the middle of the bathtub. Cho giggled again since she continued finding it endearing. It didn’t take them long to spot the egg floating towards the middle of the tub.

“Cedric advised me to take a bath with the egg,” Harry explained to Cho. “It was his way of returning the favour for me informing him about the first task involving dragons. Now I just need to figure out what taking a bath with the egg is supposed to do.”

“Maybe putting it underwater and seeing what’ll happen will do the trick?” Cho suggested.

“Well, okay,” Harry replied. “That might just be it, since otherwise I kept getting the wailing that feels deafening.”

He went to retrieve it and sat back down in his spot. Then Harry put the egg underwater before opening it. To his and Cho’s surprise, there wasn’t any wailing. Instead, it seemed like some kind of song was heard. So the teens dunked their heads underwater to listen, and the song went:

Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground.

And while you’re searching ponder this;

We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss.

An hour long you’ll have to look,

And recover what we took.

But past an hour, the prospect’s black,

Too late, it’s gone. It won’t come back.

Harry and Cho stayed underwater for a couple more minutes to get it memorized and try to decipher what the ‘sorely missed’ part actually meant, since Harry figured that material possessions couldn’t possibly count and he even doubted that it would’ve included Hedwig even if she was his owl and it seemed rather unlikely that it involved pets. Upon closing the egg underwater, Harry saw Cho smiling at him again. It made him widen his eyes again, especially with Cho wearing her bikini. It was enough for Harry to blow air bubbles before resurfacing. Harry even coughed and sputtered some while wiping excess water from his face, as Cho resurfaced. She also wiped her face of the excess water and giggled once again as she and Harry sat down in their seats (with Harry putting the egg by the poolside).

“Are you alright, Harry?” asked Cho with concern.

“Uh-huh!” Harry replied, trying to avoid making his voice high-pitched with moderate success. “Sorry that I’ve been making a fool of myself!”

“You didn’t make a fool of yourself, Harry,” assured Cho in a soft voice. “I found it endearing how you were trying your best resulted in your high-pitch voice coming out, plus your reactions made me giggle.”

“Did Cedric set this up?” asked Harry before he could stop himself.

“I believe so,” Cho deduced. “He did encourage me to come here and take a bath tonight while saying that someone else would be showing up. While I had some doubts, I decided to take the chance, even if I wasn’t expecting you to show up. But I’m glad you did.”

“I-I’m glad you’re here, Cho!” Harry replied, another blushing forming on his face.

“Would you like to stay here with me a little longer?” Cho offered. “It would be an excellent opportunity to get to know each other better.”

“I would,” stated Harry. “But all I’m ever good for is attracting rotten luck, and I’d hate to have that rub off on you.”

“Well, screw that, Harry,” Cho replied in an encouraging voice. “It’s time that we change that into you attracting marvelous luck for once. Besides, this’ll give you some more time to see me in a bikini and you appear to be enjoying it.”

Knowing that he couldn’t deny it, Harry asked, “You can’t hide anything from a Ravenclaw student so easily, can you?”

“Nope!” Cho replied. “I wasn’t sorted into Ravenclaw for nothing.”

“In that case,” said Harry, summoning up his Gryffindor courage. “Yes, I enjoyed it.”

Then the two swam out towards the middle of the tub, where they began playing with the bubbles and making them look like they were wearing clothes made from bubbles. They even gave themselves bubble beards. Occasionally, Cho would climb on top of the underwater seats to give Harry some chances to see her in a bikini while soaking wet, and even exposing her nice-looking thighs as water dribbled down them (with Harry’s face turning red again). What Harry found endearing about Cho wasn’t just her showing him how to have a good time and not be like most Ravenclaws when it came to knowledge, but Harry also realized that Cho wasn’t a fangirl of the Boy-Who-Lived since she never blushed in his presence and wasn’t afraid to be around him. It was also like she was encouraging Harry to just be himself and avoid living up to the expectations of the Boy-Who-Lived persona. Harry and Cho also made themselves mental notes to thank Cedric for this moment as soon as possible.

‘Maybe the rest of the year will become more and more tolerable for me with Cho there with me!’ thought Harry, as he and Cho continued playing in the bubble-bath water and just doing anything they could to have fun before going to sleep.

The End!

Chapter Text

Harry was heading for the school kitchens because he was hungry, even though it was midnight. Luckily, it was early Saturday so he didn’t have to worry about getting up for classes within a few hours or so. He was using the Marauder’s Map that the Weasley twins gifted him around the Christmas holidays, and he had his dad’s invisibility cloak over himself. Even with both tools, Harry still needed to be careful since the cloak didn’t stop him from remaining solid and audible. Plus, the map needed to stay out of the wrong hands. Even with the map being activated, Harry knew that he needed to be careful so he wouldn’t accidentally bump into a wall or something and attract unwanted attention. He eventually made it down the corridor on the ground level, as that was where the entrance to the kitchens was located (as noted by the twins), coincidentally in the same corridor housing the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room.

“Oh, there it is!” Harry whispered to himself, when he cast the night eye spell on himself for assistance.

The entrance turned out to be a portrait of a bowl of fruit. According to Fred and George, getting into the kitchens required the pear to be tickled so it would giggle before a handle would be revealed. Harry did just that before cancelling the night-eye charm and pulling the handle to open the door. Once he made it inside the kitchens and closed the door, Harry spotted a visitor sitting at one of the tables eating a slice of chocolate cake (or was about to, from the looks of it) since the scent from it reached Harry’s nose. The visitor looked up towards the door, with Harry’s heart fluttering when he saw it was one person he least expected: Cho Chang. She was a Ravenclaw girl in her fourth year who had some asian ancestry (half-chinese and half-japanese from the looks of it). Harry remembered meeting Cho at that quidditch game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, the one that had Draco Malfoy and his cronies attempting to dress up as dementors to scare Harry (which ended in failure, since it was the effects that Harry went through that was the true problem). Cho had shoulder-length black hair hanging down and bangs covering her forehead and dark-brown eyes.

‘Cho?! Here in the kitchens… at midnight?!’ thought Harry, his face radiating heat as his heart fluttered again.

He began revisiting the moment when he met Cho for the first time, when Oliver Wood and Roger Davies (who were the quidditch captains of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectively) walked up to each other and shook hands. Cho was the only female player on the Ravenclaw team and their seeker. The first thing Cho did was greet Harry with a smile, and he ended up smiling back. Given her asian ancestry, Cho was pretty and Harry found himself getting distracted by her beauty momentarily during that quidditch match. It was enough for Oliver to snap him out of it and remind him to focus on his job as seeker. What was even more surprising to Harry was that Cho never showed any signs of being a fangirl of his unwanted Boy-Who-Lived image, and her smile being genuine that day made it pretty clear. Cho looked down at the plate with her slice of chocolate cake, thinking that one of the ghosts or perhaps Peeves was trying to play tricks on her. Harry smoothly whipped his wand out and pointed it at the map.

“Mischief managed!” Harry recited, wiping the map clean.

He tried to be as quiet as he could, but he wasn’t quite quiet enough due to being in the same room as Cho. Clear enough, Cho looked up again and faced the direction she heard the semi-whisper coming from. Harry felt as though Cho could see through him since he knew she was looking in his direction, even though she had no idea who else was in the kitchens.

“Who’s there?” Cho spoke up, darting her eyes around the kitchens. “If that’s you, Peeves, I’ll make sure that you won’t have a moment's peace from me for the next month or two!”

Harry was taken aback to find out about his recently-acquired crush having some run-ins with Peeves (who was the school’s poltergeist). He felt certain that only the Weasley twins and their best friend, Lee Jordan, could only get by Peeves without something happening to them. Not wanting to potentially frighten his crush, Harry slowly pulled the cloak off of his head to make himself known to Cho. The asian Ravenclaw female looked over at Harry with a surprised expression on her face to see him, but also relieved that it wasn’t Peeves up to his usual antics this time around. Then Cho gave Harry that very smile the day she met him, making Harry’s heart flutter and his face turn red at the same time as a smile on his face formed.

“Well, this is a nice surprise!” Cho spoke up again, after a minute or so of elated silence.

“Yeah!” Harry replied in a high-pitched voice.

He widened his eyes in shock before covering his mouth with his hands, with Cho giggling when she saw Harry’s reaction to the high-pitch tone in his voice. Harry still felt like a fool for that and he was expecting the worst to happen, even with Cho continuing to sit in her chair while giggling. He saw that Cho was in a nice pair of purple satin pajamas, since her short-sleeve button-down pajama shirt was shown. One of the chairs next to Cho had her blue bathrobe hanging over it. After getting the last of the giggles out, Cho took some deep breaths to try and relax. Then she looked back over at Harry with another smile.

“Would you like to join me, Harry?” Cho offered.

Harry couldn’t say anything because of concerns he would let out another high-pitched voice, so he just nodded his head before walking towards the table Cho was sitting at. Harry’s legs were wobbling the whole time because it was his first-ever crush sitting close by. But Cho couldn’t see that because he still had his cloak over the rest of himself. To Harry’s relief, Cho didn't make a big deal about seeing his head supposedly floating in midair. Once he made it to the other chair next to Cho, Harry took a seat before pulling the cloak off of himself while making sure to keep the Marauder’s Map hidden even if it was wiped clean. When Harry turned his attention to Cho, he saw that she also had on purple pajama shorts that were showing off her nice legs. Turning red in the face again as it radiated heat, Harry immediately turned back around out of fear that Cho would think he was eyeing her like a piece of meat and retaliate viciously. He knew that many asian people took some form of martial arts classes and he wasn’t about to tempt fate.

“Are you alright, Harry?” asked Cho with concern.

“Hopefully,” Harry replied, still not trusting himself to face Cho. “As long as I’m not going to get beat up.”

Cho scooted towards him and leaned forward, then she put a finger under his chin and gently turned his head back towards her. The feeling of that made Harry’s heart flutter again, and he saw that Cho was smiling again as if to tell him not to worry so much.

“Harry, why would I beat you up?” said Cho in a soft voice. “There’s nothing wrong with looking, I saw that you didn’t stare. Besides, you look like someone who needs some excitement. After what Malfoy and his goons did to you that day we met and faced each other during the quidditch match, it would be nice to see you enjoying life.”

“Well, okay!” Harry replied. Then he went on, “Those are a nice pair of pajamas, Cho.”

“Thank you, Harry!” said Cho with a smile, a blush also creeping up onto her face.

“So how did you get here without being spotted by one of the teachers?” asked Harry.

“I just used a disillusionment charm,” Cho explained. “But I still made sure to be stealthy because the charm doesn’t stop you from being heard or solid.”

“That’s how it is with my invisibility cloak,” said Harry. “But without the hassle of having to keep casting that charm.”

“How about getting you some chocolate cake, Harry,” Cho suggested. “I would like to share the experience with you.”

Harry nodded his head in approval, then one of the house elves went to get Harry a plate with a slice of chocolate cake. Once the house elf returned with it and set it down next to Harry, he and Cho began eating their respective slices of the tasty cake. Harry tried his hardest not to look at Cho’s legs, but it wasn’t easy and Cho even giggled when she saw it. Despite Cho being a fun and encouraging person so far, Harry wasn’t ready to tell her yet about the Marauder’s Map, knowing the importance of one step at a time. As the two continued eating their respective slices of chocolate cake, Harry began wondering how the rest of his third year would play out with Cho there with him. Maybe she had some other surprises in store for him.

The End!

Chapter Text

Harry was sitting on a couch watching tv on a warm Saturday summer morning of July 21, 1990; and he heard a knock at the front door. Harry got up to answer it and, to his surprise, was a girl around his age who happened to be asian. She had shoulder-length black hair hanging down with bangs covering her forehead, dark-brown eyes, and a smile that made his stomach flutter a little. She was even dressed in a white short-sleeve shirt with a brown vest over it, a brown knee-length skirt, white socks, and black shoes. Standing beside her was her mother, who was like a spitting image of her daughter (but she didn’t have bangs, and her black hair was in a bun because of her hair pulled behind her). The girl’s mother was wearing a purple short-sleeve shin-length dress and brown leather sandals. Seeing boxes of different kinds of cookies in a wagon combined with the girl’s vest showing different badges made it clear that she was a girl scout.

“Hello!” Harry greeted. “How may I help you?!”

“Yes, would you and your family like to buy some girl scout cookies?” the girl asked.

“Well,” Harry replied. “I would like to say yes, but I don’t have my money with me at this time, and I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to leave you waiting outside in the heat.”

“Who’s at the door, Harry?” asked his mother, when she showed up.

Harry’s mother, Lily, showed up and saw that one of the girl scouts was at the door. The Potter matriarch greeted the girl and her mother with a smile and invited them inside so they wouldn’t have to deal with being outside in the summer heat. The girl introduced herself as Cho Chang, and her mother introduced herself as Chuya (with the Potters also introducing themselves). Then Lily went to get some cash while Harry kept the Changs company. Cho appeared to be Harry’s age, maybe a year older, but Harry couldn’t ask because it was considered rude to ask a lady what her age was. It looked as though Harry was quickly crushing on Cho because he looked away, resulting in Cho getting the giggles while Chuya smiled.

“Harry,” said Cho. “I think we may have crossed paths at school a few times in the past.”

“Yeah, we did,” Harry replied, as he revisited those moments. “You looked a little familiar. It would be nice to get to know you better, but being in different years will make that harder.”

“We can do that after school, Harry,” stated Cho. “We can go to the local neighborhood playground since I live a few streets away, after we change out of our school uniforms and into casual wear of course.”

“Maybe we can invite you and your parents to our house for a barbeque in the future, Harry,” Chuya suggested. “That would also be another good chance for us to get to know one another.”

Harry felt a smile forming on his face, with Lily showing back up not long after. Then Chuya told Lily about getting together for a barbeque sometime. Lily smiled at the suggestion and assured that she would talk it over with James when he got home later. Lily purchased one box of every kind of cookie that was on the wagon. Lily and Chuya even exchanged phone numbers and addresses before the Changs left so Cho could get back to her task of selling girl scout cookies, then Lily went to put the boxes of cookies in the pantry while Harry returned to the living room to get back to watching tv. Since he was going to be having a birthday party on the weekend before his official birthday, Harry even considered inviting the Changs in return for the barbeque plans as a way of returning the favour.

The End!

Chapter Text

It was a cool early evening of November 4, 1994; and fourteen-year-old Harry Potter began making his way to the top of the astronomy tower with his depression at an all-time high. The goblet of fire spewed his name out to unofficially announce him as the fourth champion despite his lack of agreement to be in. He was still told that he had no choice supposedly because of a magical binding contract. What made it worse was that most of his housemates (and the school for that matter) accused him of cheating his way in, including his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. While Harry still had his quidditch teammates, Lee Jordan (Fred and George’s best friend), and Neville Longbottom supporting him, it didn’t help Harry much when he hadn’t been able to have a moment's peace. Cedric Diggory (the true Hogwarts champion), Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbott were the only Hufflepuffs who supported Harry; the only Ravenclaws being Cho Chang, Sue Li, and Luna Lovegood; while no one in Slytherin showed support (which Harry naturally expected). Sirius also wrote to Harry to let him know he supported him, but still didn’t help Harry’s situation. Even Hagrid’s assurances that he believed Harry innocent also didn't do much to help Harry feel better. Dumbledore and McGonagall didn’t put up a fight in getting Harry withdrawn as a competitor, proving that they also thought of Harry as a cheater and glory hound. Harry made it to the top of the astronomy tower as it was the tallest tower in the castle, intending to put an end to his misery by jumping to his death as he was unable to take it anymore.

‘I can’t take this Boy-Who-Lived stuff any more!’ thought Harry, tears threatening to flow out. ‘All I wanted was a normal life out of the bloody spotlight for once, and yet I get thrust into danger once more!’

Harry had chosen this moment to commit suicide because everybody was in the Great Hall getting ready to eat dinner. He also had a note in his pocket intending to turn his possessions to those who supported him once he was deceased (if he could really pull himself through with the attempt). When he climbed over the rail, he held onto it as he looked down at the ground two-hundred feet below or something. Harry found himself unable to let go and jump to his death even with the laid-out plan he made.

‘Just let go, Harry!’ thought Harry as the tears spill gates finally opened, with the tears streaming down his face. ‘You can do it! The misery will end painlessly and you can finally meet your parents in the next great adventure.’

Despite trying his hardest to convince himself to let go and end his pain, Harry was unable to bring himself to let go of the railing. It was like his hands didn’t want to cooperate with his brain. Harry couldn’t understand why his hands wouldn’t let go of the railing so he could jump from the tower. The plan was supposed to be failproof, he had spent the last few days thinking it over and now his hands refused to cooperate and didn’t even lift up an inch. Then he figured he could let the cold weather freeze him to the point where he could succumb to frostbite if his hands refused to let go of the railing.

“Don’t do it, Harry!” a girl’s voice was heard pleading from behind him.

Harry immediately turned his head and saw that it was his crush, Cho Chang. She was an asian girl in Ravenclaw with shoulder-length black hair hanging down with bangs covering her forehead, dark-brown eyes (which were filled with sadness), and stood at a height of five-foot-four. She was still dressed in her school uniform that consisted of a white long-sleeve collared shirt, blue-and-bronze striped necktie, gray sweater vest, gray knee-length skirt with black tights underneath (as the skirt and leggings were part of the girls uniform, with the boys requiring trousers), black shoes, and a black robe (which was open) with her house emblem monogrammed to the left side. Normally Harry would’ve found himself blushing and his face radiating heat to be even this close to Cho (as she was teen feet away from him), but Harry was still too upset to even get such thoughts. So he turned his attention back to the ground below to try and jump from the tower.

“Don’t do it, Harry!” Cho pleaded again, making sure not to pay attention to the overly-large rags Harry was wearing and the tears in his eyes streaming down his face, instead concentrating on his face.

Turning his head back around, Harry replied in a forlorn voice, “Why, just to let the sheeple continue to degrade me and keep up with the false accusations thrown at me? It’s like they never learn their lesson!”

“You don’t have to do this, Harry!” assured Cho in a soft voice, keeping her distance to give him his space. “You still have some supporters, myself included.”

“But what can I do?” Harry replied. “It’s like no matter what I try, it’s never good enough for anybody, and yet one mistake and you’re branded for life! Not only that, but it seems like living a good life is only a pipe dream for me, especially with fangirls and fanboys loving nothing more than to hound me while ignoring the fact that I hate my fame. They just assume that my tensing up is all a joke.”

“You can talk to me if you want,” Cho assured while keeping her voice soft, slowly approaching Harry so she wouldn’t frighten him. “But please don’t jump from the tower! I’m here if you need someone to talk to. Your supporters enjoy your company for being yourself, Harry. You really matter to your friends, you really do. Anybody would be lucky to be friends with you.”

As Harry continued standing by the railing while still holding on, he found himself unable to consider suicide as an option again. Even with Cho slowly approaching him, Harry began feeling his stomach twisting at the thought of his real friends coming across his corpse sometime after the attempt. The thought of Sirius finding out about his death made Harry shudder, since it would’ve made his godfather think that his plans to break out of Azkaban were fruitless. Cho made it to the railing while keeping her distance enough for her arm’s reach and held a hand out towards Harry as if to offer to help him back over to safety. Harry was still too upset to take Cho’s hand, but she waited patiently and he was taking it into consideration.

“Why don’t you come on back over, Harry?” Cho pleaded once again, as tears began streaming down her face. Then she assured him again, “You can talk to me any time if you feel that you need it!”

Harry could feel his heart breaking to see that Cho was crying, as he never could handle the sight of a crying girl all that well. He quickly reminded himself to be on the lookout for crocodile tears as he remembered seeing Hermione pulling that guilt-trip tactic off on him multiple times. In fact, he remembered seeing Ginny (Ron’s sister who was the biggest Boy-Who-Lived fangirl and a spoiled brat, who also never backed Harry up unless it was bound to work out in her favour) had also been known to do that any time she never got her way and/or whatever she wanted. As Harry looked into Cho’s eyes, he could tell that her tears were genuine and that she was just as scared as he was. Looking down at the ground from far up again, Harry decided not to follow through after all (the thought of his friends and Sirius finding him dead continued making him shudder in fright). Plus, Harry realized that he may not die from the jump, but may end up as a paraplegic or something and add more misery to himself. So Harry turned his attention back to Cho, with his right hand letting go and quickly grabbing Cho’s held-out hand to accept her help in his climbing back over to safety.

Once Harry was back over the rail, Cho gently led him to a nearby empty classroom and over to a couch. Then she closed the door and added advanced locking charms and another charm Harry was unfamiliar with. Then Cho joined Harry on the couch after the necessary precautions were taken. Seeing Harry in tears also broke Cho’s heart, knowing that Harry deserved better than the cruel and unjust treatment he was frequently subjected to. So she wrapped her arms around his torso and embraced him, with Harry slowly returning the hug despite his flinching a little (since the hug felt so soft and warm). Harry found himself taking some deep breaths to try to relax, since Cho’s hug felt very reassuring. He didn’t need to keep seeing it to see that she was crying with him since he saw her tears when she held her hand out to help him back over the railing.

“Everything will be alright, Harry!” Cho whispered to him soothingly. “Everything will be alright!”

The teens continued embracing each other, with Harry enjoying it since Cho’s hug was so soft and warm. It was different from Hermione’s hugs because she always charged at him before wrapping her arms around his torso. Plus, Molly’s hugs always felt so smoldering that it could’ve snapped Harry’s spine in two. Despite enjoying Cho’s hug, the teens pulled away after sixty seconds or so, to ensure that they (or rather, Harry) understood the importance of one step at a time. It didn’t stop Harry from feeling sheepish and scared that he considered suicide as an option. But what was done was done, he couldn’t change it.

“I’m sorry you had to see that, Cho!” Harry apologized, his throat constricting with emotion. “Until you showed up, I felt that it was the only option I had since I kept experiencing ‘damned if you, damned if you don’t’ moments.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Harry,” assured Cho in a soft voice. “I understand how distraught you were. I helped you out because it was the right thing to do. Never apologize for being yourself.”

Harry smiled in acknowledgement, since he was at a loss for words. It made him realize that every time he played the hero, he was giving off the impression that he was trying to be something he hated with a passion. Now it was time that he quit doing that and just start being himself, since playing the hero wasn’t supposed to be his responsibility. It was also time for Harry to start taking control of his life, since he also concluded that relying on others’ to make decisions for him as if he was a five-year-old was another reason that drove him towards his suicide attempt. It felt as though alot of the emotional baggage was being lifted off of his shoulders and it was feeling rather good. Given what he tried doing earlier, Harry no longer had an appetite, and Cho seemed to have lost her’s as well because she didn’t get up to leave and head for the Great Hall.

“If it makes you feel better, Harry,” Cho offered. “I can stay here and keep you company until you feel ready to return to Gryffindor Tower.”

“Well, okay,” Harry replied. “But I don’t think I’m returning there tonight.”

“That’ll give us a good chance to bond,” stated Cho. “I can always tell Sue where I was when she asks me why I didn’t show up in the Great Hall. But I won’t tell her about what you tried doing, since I think it’s best to let you do that when you feel ready.”

Harry felt a smile forming on his face the more Cho reassured him. The whole moment became exhausting for Harry, so Cho gently laid his head down on her lap (causing Harry’s heart to flutter despite Cho wearing the skirt and tights). Then she began running her fingers through his untidy black hair, with Harry’s eyes closing in relief because even that felt good. More emotional baggage was being lifted off since it was like Cho doing her best to distract him from his troubles. And the fact that she continued proving that she wasn’t a fangirl of his unwanted fame was more icing on the cake (since she did greet him with a smile last year when they met for the first time at that quidditch game before Malfoy and his goons tried dressing up as dementors to try scaring him without knowledge that the effects was what did the real damage). It also meant that Cho had a good first impression. Maybe with Cho being there with him, the rest of the year could turn into something for the better.

The End!

Chapter Text

Harry had just stepped off of the Knight Bus near a back entrance to the Leaky Cauldron located in Central London. Tom the innkeeper told him that he had been expecting him for some reason. Harry had skedaddled from Privet Drive earlier after inadvertently inflating Marge (which she brought on herself because of insulting Harry and his parents one too many times). Tom escorted Harry inside and up the stairs to the first level. Harry was taken into some kind of office where he spotted a vaguely-familiar gray-haired middle-aged man dressed in some kind of uniform; and accompanying him was an asian lady with black hair in a bun, dark-brown eyes, standing at a height of five-foot-four, and wearing a black uniform. The man looked vaguely familiar, but Harry was still too frightened to think it through. Tom offered some refreshments to Harry, but he politely declined them except for a glass of water. The woman introduced herself as Chuya Chang, and she worked at the ministry in the Department of International Magical Cooperation.

“Hello, Mr. Potter,” said the middle-aged man, holding a hand out. “I’m the minister for magic, Cornelius Fudge.”

Harry knew this because Ron told him several months ago. But as they were under the invisibility cloak inside Hagrid’s hut at the time, Harry wasn’t going to let the minister know that. But he still shook hands with the minister and also introduced himself, since politeness was always welcome.

“Now we’re here to inform you as to what happened at your relatives’ house, Mr. Potter,” Cornelius informed. “It was around 6:30 PM when the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad was dispatched to their house to reverse the inflation spell you cast on Miss Marjorie Dursley. Her memory was also modified once that was done, so she won’t have any recollection of the incident. So that’s that, and no harm done.”

“W-What about my punishment?” asked Harry.

“Punishment?!” Cornelius replied in confusion.

“Well, I broke the law,” said Harry. “Since underage wizards and witches are forbidden to use magic outside of Hogwarts.”

“No need to worry about that, Harry,” assured the minister. “We knew it was an accident, so we aren’t going to punish you for something like that. It’s nowhere near serious enough for you to be sent to Azkaban or even a juvenile ministry cell.”

“Another reason I was expecting a punishment was because I got a warning about underage magic last year because of a house elf using the hover charm to smash my aunt’s pudding during a dinner party.” Harry replied.

“I see,” said Cornelius. “I’ll let Mafalda know of that as soon as possible. However, running away like that was very irresponsible, especially with a mass murderer on the loose.”

“Well, I… I couldn’t take it anymore,” stated Harry. “So I felt that leaving before the situation worsened was the best option I had.”

“We’re also here to take that into consideration,” said Cornelius. “To ensure that you’re in a safe place.”

“All of the rooms are occupied, Mr. Potter,” Tom informed. “Otherwise, I would’ve let you stay in one of the rooms free of charge.”

“My house has a guest room you can stay in if you’re interested, Mr. Potter.” said Chuya.

Harry thought he could feel tears welling up, since all he knew with the Dursleys was hatred and being used as a slave and a human punching bag. They did whatever they could to squash out his hopes and dreams, and at the same time keep him living in never-ending despair. It didn’t stop Harry from trying to remember where he heard the surname ‘Chang’ from because of the memory being way too vague. But he also realized he needed to expand his circle and stop exclusively interacting with Ron and Hermione (especially since it wouldn’t be for another couple weeks before he would get to see them). So with that in mind, Harry nodded his head to let Chuya know that he would like to stay at her house as a guest. Then he got back on his feet, with Chuya instructing him to follow her. Harry dragged his trunk behind him while Chuya held Hedwig’s unoccupied cage so Harry wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with holding too much.

“Harry, have you met my daughter, Cho?” asked Chuya.

“No ma’am, I haven’t!” Harry replied.

“I thought you might have,” said Chuya. “She’s a Ravenclaw who’ll be starting her fourth year. She’s even on their quidditch team as a reserve seeker.”

That rang the bell in that Harry remembered hearing the name at least a couple times, but it eventually slipped his mind when he would go about the rest of those particular days. Up until now, he didn’t think that Chang was an asian surname. Sometimes he’d hear her name during quidditch practice, but he never knew what she looked like. They walked out of the tavern to find an empty alleyway, since Chuya had been leading him to one.

“Will my stay only be overnight, and then I leave to return to the Leaky Cauldron?” asked Harry.

“Not at all, Harry,” assured Chuya. “You’re free to stay with us for the rest of the holidays. My husband’s name is Chen, and maybe we all can teach you about asian culture when and if you feel more comfortable around us.”

Now Harry found himself intrigued by that, figuring that learning more about asian culture was another excellent opportunity to expand his circle. The moment they made it to a dead end, Chuya instructed Harry to grab a hold of her arm so she could side-apparated him and herself away. Ron even told Harry about apparition a bit almost a year ago, when they missed the train due to the barrier sealing up before they could get through. The moment Harry grabbed a hold of Chuya’s arm, they whisked away and almost immediately, they arrived outside the wards of a decent-sized two-story house somewhere out in the country. Harry felt a little dizzy since this was his first time experiencing something along the lines of apparition, and for him floo travel was just the same with terms of difficulty.

“Is there a way to make that more comfortable?” asked Harry once the dizziness went away.

“I’m afraid not, Harry,” Chuya replied. “With wizarding transportation, we trade comfort for speed.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to wizarding transportation,” said Harry. “I was just as bad with the floo powder as apparition.”

“You’ll get to learn apparition when you’re seventeen, hopefully by then you’ll be more used to magical transportation.” stated Chuya. Then she continued on in a warm voice, “Welcome to the Changs’ house, Harry!”

Harry followed Chuya up to the front door of the house and opened the door. Harry told her about being strictly adamant on the ladies first policy, but Chuya told him that his safety was her bigger priority. So Harry walked inside with that realization, with Chuya following him inside before showing him the way to the guest room upstairs (which was behind the first door to the right near the top of the stairs). After helping Harry in getting his stuff situated, Chuya led him back downstairs and over to the living room. Chen was sitting in an armchair and when he heard his wife and Harry walking in, he got up onto his feet and walked over to them. Chen was a muscular man at five-foot-ten, short black hair, and dark-brown eyes. The Chang patriarch greeted Harry warmly with a smile and shook hands with him, with Harry returning the favour.

“Where is Cho?” asked Chuya.

“She’s out in the backyard,” Chen replied. “I saw her stroking the feathers of a snowy owl, so I let them be.”

Harry had a hunch that it was his owl, Hedwig, due to her being too easily recognized. Then Harry followed Chuya towards the backyard, which Harry could tell it’s location of the sliding glass door. There was a swimming pool and some sun chairs near one side, and close to the door was a patio table and benches with a barbeque grill close by. There were also a few patio chairs and one of them was occupied by a girl with shoulder-length black hair. She was even wearing a short-sleeve pink t-shirt, a pair of gray cotton short shorts, and was barefoot. Chuya opened the sliding door and it caught her daughter’s attention.

When Cho turned around to see her mother with Harry standing in the open doorway, the raven-haired young man saw that Cho had bangs covering her forehead and the same dark-brown eyes as her parents. Harry even saw that Cho was, indeed, stroking the feathers belonging to Hedwig, much to his relief since he wasn’t sure if she was going to bite Cho’s fingers or something. But they seemed to have formed quite a bond. Harry felt his face radiating heat and was certain that he was blushing. Strangely, Cho was having a similar reaction and they both smiled at each other.

“Hi, mummy!” Cho greeted once she turned her attention back to her.

“Hi, sweetie!” Chuya greeted back. Then she informed, “Just thought you’d like to know that Harry will be staying with us for a while, maybe for the rest of the holidays if he’s alright with it.”

Cho was taken aback by that revelation, as it wasn’t anything she would’ve expected. None of the Changs even showed any signs of being Boy-Who-Lived fans due to their lack of bringing it up. Harry also came to the conclusion that Chuya had to have told her husband and their daughter about his accidental magic with Aunt Marge since Chuya revealed earlier that she worked for the ministry in the Department of International Magical Cooperation and she had to have informed her family sometime before he arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. Even though he wasn't about to explicitly acknowledge it, Harry was quickly finding himself unable to follow through with staying at the magical tavern. Asian ladies were generally pretty, and Harry could tell that Cho wasn’t an exception. As best as he could remember, he never encountered her joining in on tormenting him in some way.

“Why don't you help Harry out,” Chuya suggested to her daughter in an encouraging voice. “In getting adjusted to being with a loving and caring family. Looking at the sunset can be an excellent moment for that, while your father and I get started on cooking dinner.”

“Okay, mummy!” Cho replied with a smile.

Harry didn’t need any reminders, since he slowly made his way towards a vacant chair next to the one Cho was sitting in. Chuya turned back around to help her husband in cooking dinner. Harry felt his legs wobbling as he walked towards the one chair next to Cho’s. He wasn’t sure if he was able to handle Cho’s beauty and wondered if it was way too soon to sit next to her. Nevertheless, Harry summoned up his Gryffindor courage and took his seat, being slow and steady about it to avoid any potential embarrassment. Cho found herself smirking as she was amused by Harry’s attempts to be a gentleman for her, but she still appreciated his efforts. Once Harry sat down, Hedwig turned around to face her owner and Harry began stroking her feathers.

“That’s a smart owl you have, Harry,” Cho told him. “She arrived her five-to-ten minutes before yourself.”

“Thank you!” Harry replied in gratitude.

The two shook hands as they made proper introductions. Harry tried his best to avoid looking at Cho’s legs even though he got a brief glimpse, since he didn’t want to potentially creep her out. Cho caught Harry getting glimpses but quickly looking away, further amusing her since her smirk lingered (making it clear that she knew that he was getting glimpses of her legs).

“So, Harry,” Cho began asking. “If you don’t mind me asking, what was it that made you blow up your aunt?”

Well, I didn’t mean to, just lost control,” Harry replied, his throat constricting in between several words. “She was going on an unrelenting insult frenzy, mainly at me. I can deal with insults aimed at me due to being used to it, but any insults at my parents was what really set off my berserk button.”

“She doesn’t sound like a very nice person to do that,” said Cho. “And to provoke you certainly made it worse.”

“She’s nasty, she enjoys insulting anybody she deems inferior,” stated Harry. “But she’s my uncle’s sister, so it doesn’t make her my biological aunt. My uncle invited his sister over for a week-long visit and I tried making a deal with him that I would behave like a muggle on my best behaviour in exchange for him signing my Hogsmeade permission form. But my uncle’s sister was allowed to belittle me and my parents, it was like they were always looking for loopholes to keep me in never-ending despair.”

“How come you keep going back to those people?” asked Cho with concern.

“Well,” Harry replied. “My relatives always told me that no one was going to want a freak while labelling me as one. So I never tried looking for a different home because everyone who tried helping me during primary school were never seen again, so my uncle had to have bribed the headmistress to keep quiet and blacklist the teachers and staff who tried helping me. The reason I kept returning was because I hoped that they would see the error of their ways, but their hatred and cruel treatment towards me just increases no matter what.”

“Do you plan to stay away from those people?” asked Cho.

“Yes,” stated Harry. “This time for good, as it’s in our best interests.”

“Did you enjoy looking at my legs?” asked Cho, another smirk forming.

“Wha… I mean, uh… well…!” said Harry, trying to avoid being nervous (albeit with mixed results).

“It seemed like you did!” stated Cho, the smirk still on her face.

“You can’t hide anything from a Ravenclaw student, can you?” asked Harry.

“No, not as easily at least.” Cho replied.

“Well,” said Harry. “I would be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy it. But I was trying not to look for too long to avoid creeping you out.”

“Harry, I could tell that you’re not that kind of person,” said Cho softly. “I’ve learned to tell the difference between a quick look and a lustful one due to my beauty because of my ancestry. Some of our fellow male students have sent me lustful looks in the past. Some of the more notorious ones are Malfoy Jr, Zacharias Smith, Miles Bletchley, Marcus Flint, and Theo Nott.”

“That’s not surprising, especially Malfoy and Flint since they’re the most lustful fellow students above all.” stated Harry. “But there could be more amongst our peers that we don’t know of.”

“That’s true,” said Cho. “Since there’s always going to be someone who manages to hide it better than others. Should any of them try any of those stunts on me, I have ways to make sure they’re unlikely to try again even if some refuse to learn due to having taken martial arts.”

“A good not to mess… I mean, a good reason with anybody,” stated Harry, his throat constricting with nervousness. “Since you never know what they’re capable of, and it’s best to just mind your own business.”

“How are you liking staying with us?” asked Cho.

“So far, so good,” Harry replied. “Since it appears that I’m in a place where I’m treated like a welcome addition.”

“I can give you some swimming lessons tomorrow if you’d like,” Cho offered. “I can also talk to my parents about us going to a restaurant anywhere sometime before the end of the summer so you can have a real birthday celebration even if it’s a little late.”

“Intriguing,” Harry replied. “Especially the swimming part.”

“You wouldn’t be afraid of seeing a lady in a bikini, would you?” asked Cho, smirking once again.

“I’m not sure if ‘afraid’ is the right word,” Harry replied, his face turning red as it radiated heat. “Maybe ‘nervous’ would be the better one since I’ve never got to see a lady in a swimsuit.”

“Tomorrow will be an excellent time for that,” said Cho, giving Harry a wink. “Since there’s always a first time for everything. My dad will even let you borrow a spare set of swim shorts for you. We can stay out here and look at the sunset while we wait for my parents to finish getting dinner prepared.”

Harry felt his face radiating more heat at the thought of seeing Cho in a bikini while giving him swimming lessons. Then Cho reached out, grabbed a hold of one of his hands, and gave it a comforting squeeze. Harry felt his heart rate increasing a little when that happened. With Cho there with him, Harry began wondering how his third year at Hogwarts would play out.

The End!