Harry Potter and the Autumn Swan

by Lord Akiyama

a Harry Potter fan fiction story

Chapter One

As she made her way toward exiting the Owlery, Cho Chang looked up and found herself coming quite suddenly face to face with Harry Potter. She gasped as they botched stepped back from one another just a little so as not to physically collide.

"Cho!" Harry nearly cried.

She watched as a light shade of pink was beginning to form on his cheeks. To this she smiled.

"Harry," she said.

Both tried to step to one side so the other could pass through on the opposite side. Only they were both stepping into each other's path. Cho giggled, Harry nervously chuckled. Soon enough, Cho grabbed his shoulders. Feeling her touch caused Harry's cheeks to burn warmer than before. Cho moved him to one side while she stepped through the other, letting go once she was past him. Another giggle from Cho and another nervous chuckle from Harry exhaled from both.

"Um, watch your step on the stairs," she said, her soft Scottish accent more clear than before. "It's a bit icy at the top."

"Okay," Harry managed to utter, though he wasn't quite sure if she heard him.

She watched as he made another nervous chuckle before entering the Owlery. She turned to make her way down the outer steps. She was past two of the snow covered cinder blocks when she heard Harry call out to her.

"Cho?" he asked, a bit more audible than before.

"Yes?" she responded, quickly turning toward him with a smile.

"Um..." Harry managed to utter. "I just wondered if..." She watched as he nervously paced in place, his eyes trying to focus on her while at the same time attempting to help him find the words he wanted to say next. "Ijuswonderifmaybeyouwangoballwime." His muttering the words rather fast combined with the cries of some crows and owls made it difficult for her to understand just what exactly came out of his mouth. She tried to figure out what he said, but was unsuccessful.

"Sorry," Cho said, "I didn't catch that."

"Um..." Harry uttered. He tried to take a deep breath, hoping it would slow down his rapidly beating heart, and pray the next set of words that came out of his mouth was much better received than the last time. "I was just... wondering if maybe you wanted to the ball with me." His beating heart slowed. Almost to the point that it ceased completely.

"Oh," Cho said as his words began to sink in. "Um..."

It seemed as though time itself came to a stand still. As if nothing else moved, or even existed, until Cho gave Harry her answer. Her smile then began to widen just a little more, momentarily turning away from Harry in an attempt to hide the blush that was starting to appear on her cheeks. After having looked down for a split second, she looked up at him and nodded.

"Okay," she said.

Blinking his eyes and his cheeks turning a deeper shade of red was enough to convince her that Harry was more alive than he was a stature. "Y-you..." he muttered, not quite sure if her answer was registering correctly. "You would?" He asked in an almost quiet tone, as if raising it would cause her to change her answer from what he thought he hear her say.

Cho nodded again with a giggle. "Yes," she replied. To him, it sounded as though she spoke breathlessly. "Yes, I would."

Harry thought that once she had given her an answer, the tough part would be over. He then realized he quite honestly didn't know what to do or say next. Either he wasn't paying attention when such an advice was being presented to him or no other bothered to tell him. Still blushing madly and blinking his eyes rapidly, he stumbled over various audible noises that came out of his mouth to figure out what to say next. To this, Cho giggled some more and covered her mouth with a free hand. She herself beginning to feel her blush deepen to a darker shade of pink.

After what seemed like days, Harry managed to finally say something with words. "I guess, uh..." he managed to utter. "I guess I'll see then. Yeah?" He mentally felt like digging a hole and burying himself in it.

"Yeah," Cho responded with another giggle after removing her hand from covering her mouth. After another moment of silence, she looked back at the outer stairs and then looked up at Harry to give him a wave. "See you then."

"Yeah," Harry said breathlessly. "See you then."

He watched her descend a pair of the snow covered steps before she stopped and looked back up at him. She giggled a little, causing him to nervously chuckle. She turned to continue her walk until it appeared she realized something.

"Oh," she said as she turned to face him again with a smile. "What will you be wearing?"

Something else Harry felt he either wasn't paying attention to or no one told him about. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, he had an answer to that. "I, uh..." he began to mutter, scratching his head with a free hand and darting his eyes away from Cho for a quick second. "I guess my regular dress robes. Nothing too fancy, really." He kind of wished he didn't say the last part, believing that might be a negative to her.

Cho giggled and nodded. "Alright," she replied, her cheery disposition still intact to Harry's surprise. "See you then."

She gave him another wave, this time resulting in him waving back with a nervous chuckle. She giggled and then turned to finally finish her descent down the snow covered outer stairs. Harry watched her leave before he turned to step back into the Owlery. His nervous smile slowly began morph into joy.

She said yes.

Harry couldn't remember what happened next. One second, everything went black. The next, he was laying on his back with Hedwig pecking gently at his cheeks to awaken him. Apparently he fainted from his brain still trying to register that he, Harry Potter, was going to the Yule Ball with Cho Chang, the girl he wanted to ask. He exhaled gently as the joyous smile slowly returned to his face.

At least no one was around to have seen him fainted.

Except for the various owls and birds making noises that resembled laughter.

"Harry Potter?!"

Cho was burying her face with both hands, finding herself completely embarrassed as her friends were squealing over who she was going to the Yule Ball with. While she had no problem being one of the most popular girls in Hogwarts, she sometimes felt she would rather have been content with just a few friends and a normal school life. She just happened to be the only muggle-born female in Ravenclaw and the only female on the house Quidditch team. Not to mention winning the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup in her first year as Seeker.

"How'd it happen?" Lisa Turpin asked rather excitedly. "How'd it happen?"

"What are you going to wear?" Mandy Brocklehurst asked, almost at the same time as Lisa's question. "You have a dress that would compliment being a champion's date, right?"

Most of the other girls were either repeating the questions asked before or were looking to pry into Cho's emotions, wondering if her going to the Yule Ball with Harry would develop into a relationship with him. The drawback to being popular is that everyone wants to know everything. This only made her blush deepen and her wanting to be left alone more desirable.

Then came a more familiar squeal, followed moments later by Cho being glomped from behind. This caused everyone, even the embarrassed Cho, to giggle. Cho dropped her hands from her face and looked over to her hugger with a grin.

"I didn't think you'd be this excited, Marietta," she said.

"It gets better," Marietta Edgecombe responded, almost ready to squeal once more. She bit her bottom lip gently before finally hopping up and down while still clutching onto Cho. "I'm going to the ball with Cedric!"

An explosion of squeals and cheers erupted from that one particular spot in the Ravenclaw common room. Loud enough for the portraits to stare at them, most of whom shaking their heads with disapproval. Cho could only giggle gently, glad that her friend was able to receive some share of popularity. While she was still being asked question, some of the attention was now being directed to Marietta who was more than willing to answer.

"He actually thought about asking Cho," Marietta gladly explained. "But then he asked me instead. I guess maybe he knew that Cho was going with Harry. Cedric Diggory asked me to the ball! Can you believe it?"

Hearing that Cedric thought about asking her out as well made Cho blush a shade of red. If there was ever any doubt of her popularity, the knowledge that two champions wanted to ask her to the Yule Ball dashed them for good. She felt a mixture of flattery and shyness, the likes of which she hadn't felt before.

The girls' excitement was interrupted by the sounds of groans and a few cheers. They turned to see a small group of their male housemates gathering. After a few moments, they noticed that the center of attention was Roger Davies, captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. He had a big smile on his face, shaking hands and mouthing "thanks" every now and then.

"What happened?" Padma Patil managed to ask.

"It's Roger," Eddie Carmichael answered, being the male closest to the girls. "He asked Fleur Delacour to the ball and she accepted."

"Roger is going with Fleur Delacour?" Lisa nearly cried.

"Merlin's ghost, this is exciting!" Mandy cheered. "That's three champions each going with a Ravenclaw!"

"Say what?" Terry Boot asked. He managed to hear the last thing Mandy said and turned to the girls to make sure he heard it correctly. "Other champions are going with Ravenclaw students?"

"Cedric is taking Marietta and Harry is taking Cho," Lisa squealed.

"Wizard!" Eddie and Terry said in excitement before turning to the other males to inform them of the news.

Soon enough, all the male students were made aware that three of the four Triwizard Tournament champions were taking Ravenclaw students to the ball. The males and females joined together in cheering as they managed to create a circle around Roger, Marietta, and Cho. Roger smiled wider, as if to show off just how proud he was to be a Ravenclaw as well as the center of attention. Marietta continued to hop with excitement and retain her clutch on Cho, filled with joy as she was getting some attention she never had before. Cho tried to look away, feeling just a little more embarrassed about her increasing popularity.

"Well that settles it, ladies and chaps," Roger announced. "We Ravenclaws are certainly better than those other houses. We have the brains. We have the talent. And we certainly have the charm. We are the true champions of Hogwarts!"

Nearly every Ravenclaw that had found themselves nestled in the common room cheered at Roger's proclamation. Cho just kept her mouth shut behind a shy smile as everyone else followed Roger in chanting "Ravenclaw!" many times before breaking out in the familiar fight song they would sing before a Quidditch game. On one hand, a Ravenclaw victory is a Ravenclaw victory and she certainly had the house spirit pride flowing through her. On the other hand, she didn't think three Ravenclaw students going to the Yule Ball with champions should constitute the kind of victory similar to a Quidditch win.

It was times like this she wondered if it would have been better to have been a plain Muggle just like her folks.

I want to take this time to give some thanks to Brone Greyclaw, Howard "True Blue" Chu, and Monkey Mouse, whose stories have been of inspiration in helping me find my way in developing this story. In particular, Greyclaw's "Different Magic," Chu's "Harry Potter and the Prodigy Mystics," and Mouse's stories of what Cho's POV would have been like in "The Order of the Phoenix" and "The Half-Blood Prince." I found these stories to be pretty spot-on when it comes to staying true to the characters and the world created by JK Rowling and have found myself plenty of times rereading them so as to get a better idea of how I should approach this story. I also want to give notice to Phoenix King and The Novice whose stories, "Harry Potter and the Fury of the Elements" and "The Seekers" respectively, were just pure fun to read along with the previously mentioned authors and their stories. Thanks for helping me find my path.

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