She Walks in Beauty
One-Shot
Poetry Author: George Gordon
Author's Note: These characters do not belong to me, they are the property of the wonderfully imaginative J.K. Rowling.



She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

There was a moment of silence, slightly awkward, and it made Cho Chang increasingly nervous. She fiddled slightly with the corner of her sleeve, rubbing her thumb across the stitched rose. It was supposed to be the most romantic night of her life. She was in her prime teenage years after all; Beauty was almost pouring from her frame…Then why was she stuck in the corner of a cheap restaurant with a seven-year Hufflepuff whom she barely knew?

Cho shifted in her seat, waiting for the boy to start talking about the newest edition to his "brilliantly mind-blowing" collection of grounds pictures that he had taken a few days beforehand. She was now becoming more and more convinced that she'd stepped off the 'Boredom Cliff' and successfully landed in sea of mind-numbing, beat-yourself-over-the-head-with a bag of beans sort of torment. If she had to sit there for even one more minute and listen to him ramble on about lighting effects, she was going to have to poison his tea. There was simply no way around it.

In an effort to direct her eyes away from her sinister thoughts and the boy's teacup, she glanced up to see the door of the restaurant open. The tawdry cupids that had been enchanted (badly) to suspend above and around the door began their out-of-tune chorus of an unrecognizable love song. A boy, whose face was framed by eternally messy black hair and glasses, was the latest either lucky or unlucky (depending on how you look at it) person to step into the gaudy restaurant. Cho's eyes then passed over a girl who was hanging off the boy as though she was a cheap dress and he was a wire hanger. The girl's crimson hair hid most of her face and a hideous wreath of ribbons had found itself atop her head. Cho looked back down at her sleeve and sulked in the thought that even Harry Potter had someone to spend the day with.

It was not fair she reasoned. With Cedric dead, Cho was left alive and lonely. He had died a hero, yes, but his life was not cast aside by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named without giving Cho a gift that she has always wanted: acceptance. Cedric had cared for and accepted her as she was; perhaps he had even loved her as she was.

Despite how much she had pretended to change, inside she was still the same selfish girl had always been. She had not believed him when he would say those soft and loving things to her. The whispering in the ear, to her, had been as foreign as the language trees spoke to each other in the wind. Cedric’s kisses and tiny hugs were as shallow as they felt. In truth, what they had for each other was not love as he so often claimed. It was admiration for each other’s qualities.

“So did I tell you about the time when I managed to catch a photo of the gigantic squid?” The Hufflepuff began to talk again, shocking Cho back from her thoughts. She glanced up at him for a moment and he looked at her expectantly, as if begging her to become interested. She shook her head, no. With a small smile, he began to talk in an excited voice about the day as if it was the most exciting thing to happen at Hogwarts since the chocolate frog invasion of ’94.

'It’s my entire fault,' she contemplated. 'If I were not so stupid, I would have realized…I would have done something different'. She mused over her many faults, her stupidity compared to others, her selfishness. Why could she not change herself? Why did she have to be so…so horrid? If only she could change; if only she could be more like Hermione!

Cho paused after that thought. Yes, Hermione was as near perfect as a girl could get. She was beautiful when she tried, had brains, and was friends with Harry Potter. Hermione, she mouthed the name, letting the syllables roll over her tongue. Even her name was beautiful. If only she could be more like her. Cho paused from picking at the rose for a moment. Who said she could not be like Hermione? It would only be a matter of changing how she dressed and her hair, perhaps her attitude toward other people…

“Cho?” the boy said her name and she quickly looked up, almost forgetting he was there.

“Ah, yes?” she said quickly and pretending she had just been listening closely to him instead of completely bored by it.

“I asked you if…never mind.” He leaned back in his char and looked away from her, watching two closely the flying angels flapping clumsily over the small bar in the corner. Cho turned her head slightly. Her not listening…hurt him? Her mind reeled as the new though lodged. He wanted her to like him. Cho’s brows furrowed as she furiously thought. He was nice and had usually been nice to her. Even when Cedric had been with her, he’d let her borrow his homework to check the last problem or see if Zonko’s was really all that it was cracked up to be.

Cho studied his face for a moment. His features were soft, not care worn like Harry’s or slack like Cedric’s. If only she knew what to say to make him look at her. Perhaps she should just tell him the truth. After all, she realized how much of a brat she was now. Perhaps she could just tell him how much she hated herself and let him leave. It would be better for them both if she just gave up trying to please everyone now.

Cho opened her mouth slightly to speak when she froze. She forgot completely his name! Her mouth closed sharply while her mind ran a rampage. Tom? No that was not it…George? No, that was the name of one of those Gryffindor twins. Think! Frank…James…Michael? Yes! That was it! His name was Michael!

“Michael,” Cho said quietly and Michael turned to look at her, “I’m sorry for not paying attention. (He snorted in disbelief.) Really, I am! It’s just…” She closed her eyes for a moment to keep emotion from shaking her voice or shattering what little confidence she had in herself, “It’s just, I can’t help but wonder why you would want to spend Valentines Day with me.” Cho’s voice cracked slightly and she looked up to Michael. Wrong move; he was staring intently at her as if trying to see into her soul with his livid green eyes. Her own chocolate brown ones caught his and breath paused for a moment. Michael blinked and Cho quickly diverted her gaze again.

Why would he not answer her question quickly? If only he knew with what agony, she waited for his answer…

“I thought you knew why I was here,” Michael said quietly, voice low compared to Harry. Cho shook her head slowly. She had not thought to ask before and now it seemed like he had just brushed it aside, like a bug flying too close to his face. Why would he want to spend time with her? After the DA, she was the leader of the Ravenclaws…the stupid swan of patronesses…

“Cho, I think you’re really nice. I noticed that…that you seem so sad all the time.” Michael spoke slowly but his voice wavered in emotion slightly. “I thought that if…if I took you here, you’d cheer up. But…” His hand fluttered uselessly over the table. Cho blinked a couple of times. Yes, she was sad, but had she expected him actually care enough to want to cheer her up? More importantly, he thought that she was nice.

“Thank you,” Cho said suddenly, breaking the slight silence. Michael looked up, expecting different words to come out of her mouth.

“But all I did was bore you. How can you thank me for that?” He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know how you stood it…stood through my photography rant. Most girls just leave or…” Cho giggled, a small sound that was half nerves and half the ironic unfolding of the situation.

“What I meant was, thank you for caring enough to take me here. Not that many people care that much about me now. Even my parents are disappointed in me for reasons of their own. I did not expect to come back and have a wonderful year. But…thank you…for everything.” Cho smiled slightly, a pitiful crinkling of the mouth but considering that she had not smiled for a while, it felt good. Perhaps…perhaps if Michael believed in her enough to want to make her happy, she could believe in herself. Perhaps if Michael helped her stand, she could stand eventually on her own again. Perhaps if Michael helped her wipe away the tears left over than eventually she could wipe them away herself.

“Hey, do you want to go to Honeydukes? I think I need some candy after this. What do you think, Cho?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.