![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bantha_foddertitle: out from under (天高皇远)
author: bantha_fodder
fandom: harry potter
genre: gen (Cho Chang)
i do not own
please do not archive
please to be noting: one of the ideas in this i have reused from a small drabble i wrote some time ago.
with thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
stars_like_dust and zeplum
She traces patterns in the air. "Wingardium Leviosa," she says, eyes shut, and waggles her quill. Her mother shakes her head. Waves the wooden spoon in her hand as she demonstrates again.
"You'll never get it right," her mother says, "if you don't try harder."
Cho's cheeks sting with shame as she lifts her hand and tries once more.
An owl hoots behind her and she turns, eager for the reprieve from words and theories. It drops a letter in her lap.
"Chang Cho," she reads aloud off the envelope, "Kitchen table, closest to the fireplace." She grins, and her fingers shake as she unfolds the paper.
"Are you going?" asks her mother, as if this isn't the most important moment of Cho's life.
"I'm going," says Cho, mood dampened by her mother, but then her mother meets her eyes and her smile lights up the room.
She can't wait.
*
"Pack warm," says her mother. "Do you have your books?"
"They have the biggest library!" replies Cho, as if it is all the answer she needs to give.
"That might not be enough," her mother says, and sends Cho back to her room to pack again.
*
Cho's mind whirls as she stands, tapping her toes and waiting for her name to be called. She does not have long to wait, and as the professor says, "Chang Cho," she is amazed that they got her name right.
The train, she thinks, the train and the castle and the boat ride and it was everything that she was hoping for. She cannot wait to see the library, and as the hat is lowered onto her head, she wonders when they will start to get homework. Tonight? she wonders. Perhaps tomorrow.
The hat yells, "Ravenclaw!" before it finishes its descent, and as she is bustled off the stool she thinks, excellent, and starts thinking about dinner.
Her mother writes every day; long missives about cooking and her father and the people who live next door. The letters come, characters neatly written in ink, and Cho wonders how much time her mother wastes when she could be outside, flying and breathing and living. She forgets to reply, until one morning the Howler arrives, and she blushes under the laughter of her housemates.
But everyone receives Howlers, so it's okay.
In the winter, the owl drops to the table, laden with packages tied with red string. The items tumble out: ang pao and joss sticks and new year cakes, and when no one receives the same, and her housemates poke the cakes inquiringly, filled with questions and laughter, her cheeks burn with shame.
Later, she hides the gifts away in the chest at the foot of her bed, and forgets about them. When school finishes and she packs her life away for the summer, Cho finds them there, forgotten, insufficient gifts for her ancestors.
She shuts her trunk quickly, and waves them away. She does not need to see them again.
*
There are whispers on the train of a boy with a scar, and as the boats leave the shore they all clamour for a look, pushing and shoving and ignoring Hagrid's yells.
In all the hustle and commotion, Cho is glad when the hat sorts him into Gryffindor.
They don't need that sort of posing when there are more important things to be done.
*
The snakes curl up her arm, hissing and poking their tongues out. They taste the air and they taste her skin and they wrap around her, pressing close and whispering prayers to the Gods.
She opens her eyes, and looks at her empty hands. Follows the moonlight across the room.
"I hate snakes," says Marietta, and Cho frowns.
"I don't," she says, and falls asleep again.
*
She shifts from foot to foot, indecisive. "I'm just not sure," she says, and it almost sounds like whining.
"Well hurry up!" says Marietta impatiently. "We don't have all day!"
Cho reaches a hand out, and leaves it hovering in the air until Marietta huffs. "I'll leave you here," she threatens, "and you'll be lost in a maze of cockroach clusters and earwax flavoured beans!"
Cho grins, and takes her time.
*
"This year," says Cho, "the Tornados are going to win."
"You're crazy," says Bradley.
"We already knew that," says Roger, "but we like that in a seeker. Now get on your bloody broom and fly."
*
It is a surprise when the owl drops a package to the table, wrapped in red string, and her curious housemates ask questions.
She sighs at hearing the same questions year after year, and pushes her shame to one side.
"Haven't you ever seen an owl before?" she asks, and her housemates laugh.
*
Marietta pushes Cho's curtains aside. "Come on," she says. "Come outside."
"I have this essay to write," says Cho, and Marietta shakes her head and smiles.
"We all have essays to write," says Marietta, "but it's gorgeous outside, and the Hufflepuff team is practising and they've got some very nice looking boys this year."
"I have to study until twelve," protests Cho. Marietta leans past Cho's curtains and wraps a hand around Cho's wrist.
"Let's go," says Marietta, quite seriously. "You're only young once," and laughs.
Cho takes Marietta's hand, and Marietta runs and takes Cho with her. Drags Cho to classes, to practice; to parties and dinner and zooming through life.
When they stop running, Cho looks up, and the sun is bright and the Hufflepuff boys really are quite attractive this year. Marietta nudges her and smiles.
"You love it," says Marietta.
"I love you," says Cho, and hugs her.
Holds on tight.
*
Cedric presses kisses into her neck, and his grin makes her stomach flutter. She kisses him, and it's all awkward fumbling and sweaty skin, and one memorable occasion where they're racing through the halls just ahead of Mrs Norris, giggling and with palms sweaty but clasped together, but he makes her smile and her mother will hate him.
She very probably loves him.
She kisses him again.
*
She watches the maze, all flashes of light and screams of horror, and worries.
Closes her eyes, and draws luck on the ground with her toes.
*
As the train rolls into the station, Cho looks up and meets her mother's eyes. She gathers her bags and steps off the train, where her mother holds her close, and her father kisses her forehead.
She walks into her father's house and breathes deep: smells the pot simmering on the stove and the incense in the air. She lights sticks and bows before the little red altar, her mother by her side, and whispers prayers to her ancestors and leaves love letters for the dead.
It is not what she wants, but it's what she has, and it helps.
*
When she cries, she watches her tears tumble to the ground: sobs until she thinks there's nothing left.
She wants to say goodbye.
It's harder than it looks.
END
author: bantha_fodder
fandom: harry potter
genre: gen (Cho Chang)
i do not own
please do not archive
please to be noting: one of the ideas in this i have reused from a small drabble i wrote some time ago.
with thanks to
stars_like_dust and zeplumShe traces patterns in the air. "Wingardium Leviosa," she says, eyes shut, and waggles her quill. Her mother shakes her head. Waves the wooden spoon in her hand as she demonstrates again.
"You'll never get it right," her mother says, "if you don't try harder."
Cho's cheeks sting with shame as she lifts her hand and tries once more.
An owl hoots behind her and she turns, eager for the reprieve from words and theories. It drops a letter in her lap.
"Chang Cho," she reads aloud off the envelope, "Kitchen table, closest to the fireplace." She grins, and her fingers shake as she unfolds the paper.
"Are you going?" asks her mother, as if this isn't the most important moment of Cho's life.
"I'm going," says Cho, mood dampened by her mother, but then her mother meets her eyes and her smile lights up the room.
She can't wait.
*
"Pack warm," says her mother. "Do you have your books?"
"They have the biggest library!" replies Cho, as if it is all the answer she needs to give.
"That might not be enough," her mother says, and sends Cho back to her room to pack again.
*
Cho's mind whirls as she stands, tapping her toes and waiting for her name to be called. She does not have long to wait, and as the professor says, "Chang Cho," she is amazed that they got her name right.
The train, she thinks, the train and the castle and the boat ride and it was everything that she was hoping for. She cannot wait to see the library, and as the hat is lowered onto her head, she wonders when they will start to get homework. Tonight? she wonders. Perhaps tomorrow.
The hat yells, "Ravenclaw!" before it finishes its descent, and as she is bustled off the stool she thinks, excellent, and starts thinking about dinner.
Her mother writes every day; long missives about cooking and her father and the people who live next door. The letters come, characters neatly written in ink, and Cho wonders how much time her mother wastes when she could be outside, flying and breathing and living. She forgets to reply, until one morning the Howler arrives, and she blushes under the laughter of her housemates.
But everyone receives Howlers, so it's okay.
In the winter, the owl drops to the table, laden with packages tied with red string. The items tumble out: ang pao and joss sticks and new year cakes, and when no one receives the same, and her housemates poke the cakes inquiringly, filled with questions and laughter, her cheeks burn with shame.
Later, she hides the gifts away in the chest at the foot of her bed, and forgets about them. When school finishes and she packs her life away for the summer, Cho finds them there, forgotten, insufficient gifts for her ancestors.
She shuts her trunk quickly, and waves them away. She does not need to see them again.
*
There are whispers on the train of a boy with a scar, and as the boats leave the shore they all clamour for a look, pushing and shoving and ignoring Hagrid's yells.
In all the hustle and commotion, Cho is glad when the hat sorts him into Gryffindor.
They don't need that sort of posing when there are more important things to be done.
*
The snakes curl up her arm, hissing and poking their tongues out. They taste the air and they taste her skin and they wrap around her, pressing close and whispering prayers to the Gods.
She opens her eyes, and looks at her empty hands. Follows the moonlight across the room.
"I hate snakes," says Marietta, and Cho frowns.
"I don't," she says, and falls asleep again.
*
She shifts from foot to foot, indecisive. "I'm just not sure," she says, and it almost sounds like whining.
"Well hurry up!" says Marietta impatiently. "We don't have all day!"
Cho reaches a hand out, and leaves it hovering in the air until Marietta huffs. "I'll leave you here," she threatens, "and you'll be lost in a maze of cockroach clusters and earwax flavoured beans!"
Cho grins, and takes her time.
*
"This year," says Cho, "the Tornados are going to win."
"You're crazy," says Bradley.
"We already knew that," says Roger, "but we like that in a seeker. Now get on your bloody broom and fly."
*
It is a surprise when the owl drops a package to the table, wrapped in red string, and her curious housemates ask questions.
She sighs at hearing the same questions year after year, and pushes her shame to one side.
"Haven't you ever seen an owl before?" she asks, and her housemates laugh.
*
Marietta pushes Cho's curtains aside. "Come on," she says. "Come outside."
"I have this essay to write," says Cho, and Marietta shakes her head and smiles.
"We all have essays to write," says Marietta, "but it's gorgeous outside, and the Hufflepuff team is practising and they've got some very nice looking boys this year."
"I have to study until twelve," protests Cho. Marietta leans past Cho's curtains and wraps a hand around Cho's wrist.
"Let's go," says Marietta, quite seriously. "You're only young once," and laughs.
Cho takes Marietta's hand, and Marietta runs and takes Cho with her. Drags Cho to classes, to practice; to parties and dinner and zooming through life.
When they stop running, Cho looks up, and the sun is bright and the Hufflepuff boys really are quite attractive this year. Marietta nudges her and smiles.
"You love it," says Marietta.
"I love you," says Cho, and hugs her.
Holds on tight.
*
Cedric presses kisses into her neck, and his grin makes her stomach flutter. She kisses him, and it's all awkward fumbling and sweaty skin, and one memorable occasion where they're racing through the halls just ahead of Mrs Norris, giggling and with palms sweaty but clasped together, but he makes her smile and her mother will hate him.
She very probably loves him.
She kisses him again.
*
She watches the maze, all flashes of light and screams of horror, and worries.
Closes her eyes, and draws luck on the ground with her toes.
*
As the train rolls into the station, Cho looks up and meets her mother's eyes. She gathers her bags and steps off the train, where her mother holds her close, and her father kisses her forehead.
She walks into her father's house and breathes deep: smells the pot simmering on the stove and the incense in the air. She lights sticks and bows before the little red altar, her mother by her side, and whispers prayers to her ancestors and leaves love letters for the dead.
It is not what she wants, but it's what she has, and it helps.
*
When she cries, she watches her tears tumble to the ground: sobs until she thinks there's nothing left.
She wants to say goodbye.
It's harder than it looks.
END
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 08:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 02:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 08:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 02:23 am (UTC)I'm really glad that you liked it, and that you think it worked. I am so attached to this story.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 09:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 02:26 am (UTC)Thank you so much for your words, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 10:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 02:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 04:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 02:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 04:32 pm (UTC)Fantastic job, old bean.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 02:29 am (UTC)(yay!)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-28 07:53 pm (UTC)Your show of Cho really deepens her, adds depth through memory, as it should, and draws on the problems she faces to show what kind of person she is. I loved it :)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 02:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 04:39 am (UTC)*loves*
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 06:11 pm (UTC)New Year is the hardest time of year to be away, but the most exciting thing in the world to share with non-Chinese friends. Which is why I wanted to write about it here, trying to reconcile it being the most fabulous time of year with the fact that she couldn't share it with anyone who understood.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 07:56 am (UTC)Closes her eyes, and draws luck on the ground with her toes.</i>
Uhm, yeah. That very nearly broke my heart.
This is so, so, so good.
So good, in fact, that it makes me consider HP things when I abandoned that fandom months ago.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 07:56 am (UTC)WHATEVER.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 06:09 pm (UTC)I do love HP. But my love for it has sort of been taken over by HotPilots, and I don't regret it.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 03:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-29 06:08 pm (UTC)ALSO, I mention this because you were away, and I would not want you to miss any of the G/D love; did you see the Gaeta/Dee thing I posted last week?
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-30 08:30 am (UTC)Anyway: as I think someone else commented, this integrates into canon seamlessly, and as multiple people have said, it really gives Cho depth. I guess I'm one of the few who thinks she actually does have some depth in the books, but it's difficult with a character like Cho, someone we only know about through Harry's admiring/frustrated eyes. You've written some great little scenes in here, and I absolutely love how you've made her SUCH a Ravenclaw. :D
I think this is the first Cho fic I've read since...Cho Chang Must Die. Which is actually just an excuse for Harry and Draco to mess about, it's not really about her at all. So. PROPS.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-08 07:10 am (UTC)I am GLAD that you think this gives Cho depth, because she DESERVES IT. :o)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-08 08:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-08 06:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-08 07:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-09 04:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-08 07:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-08 09:02 am (UTC)Cho's mum worries. It's what Chinese mum's do.
And I love Cho so much. I wish that others could love her too, but I suppose that I'm biased.