Runaways
Pairing: Cho Chang x Theodore Nott Words: 2,922 You can also read this on AO3. This is dedicated to @midnightrain910 who requested that the @hprarepairnet write for this pairing months ago! I hope you enjoy it. Also, this is dedicated to all those we lost on May 2nd in the Battle of Hogwarts. It is a few hours late depending on your timezone, but I love them all and wished they survived that night.
Cho had been on the run since the beginning, but no one would have known. She was the master at running away from the things she feared most until she finally exploded. Cedric and his loss were the only things she did not run from at the beginning, and look what that did. It left her alone, and not by choice.
So she decided to make the choice again. Dumbledore died and she had graduated; she knew she would be on their list. So she did what she did best, she ran. She ran throughout the country so they would not learn who she really was. Her muggle-born status had to be kept a secret, or she would die.
At first it was hard being alone. She would often dream of Cedric, but the dreams would always end with her weeping over his dead body as others tried to pull her away. She would feel his cool skin against her own, and then she would feel dead herself. She used to wake up screaming, but now she woke up every morning in a state of calm. It was her new norm.
Her protection spells worked in the forest until they didn't; they didn't work when Theodore Nott came around. She could fool Death Eaters who were loyal to Voldemort, but she could not fool him. When he saw her thru the charm, she realized she couldn't keep running. His gaze got stuck on her's, and all she could do was stare back.
"Cho Chang?" He had asked her, "Is that you?"
She didn't answer him, but she raised her wand.
"I'm not here to hurt you," he said as he set his wand down on the forest floor, "I was just passing thru."
"How do I know you're not lying?" She finally asked him, "How do I know you're not with them?"
She watched as his expression turned to stone and as he bent down to pick up his wand he had put down in surrender. Cho kept her's raised.
"Well, now you're going to piss me off," he retorted, "I might hurt you if you keep saying shit like that."
Perplexed, Cho felt herself lower her wand, "I'm sorry? I figured it would be an honor for you to be like your-"
"You don't know shit," he interjected, "Don't act like you know everything because you're a fucking Ravenclaw."
Cho rolled her eyes. The amount of times she had gotten that retort had been too many. Most of the Ravenclaws she knew weren't even know-it alls. Many did not suffer from Hermione Granger syndrome.
"Nice comeback," she replied sarcastically, "I haven't heard that one before. But I will ask you one thing, how did you see thru my protection charm?"
Theo shrugged and adjusted the rucksack on his shoulder; he looked down to the ground. "I'm not sure," he replied, "I have always been able to see past them since I was a child. It made me an asset to my father."
"And that's why you're on the run," Cho interrupted.
Theo didn't say anything as he walked towards Cho's fire and sat down beside it. Cho cautiously decided to join him and picked at the ground with a twig.
They were quiet for the rest of the evening, and they made a silent agreement with each other that night. They would be running away together.
It wasn't until a week after they had run into each other that Theodore started to open up. She was surprised he was talking so freely. When they were at school, she hardly ever heard him speak. He was known for his solitary disposition.
"I have never wanted to be like my father, you know," he randomly told her as they walked past an abandoned house, "I was determined to be better than him from a young age, but being sorted into Slytherin didn't really help give off that impression-"
"People are way too biased about Slytherin," she told him, "There are good ones in your house. I always enjoyed Tracey Davis-"
Theodore snorted.
"What? What's wrong with Tracey?"
"Nothing, if you like those who are a little dim-"
Cho stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him. She didn't realize how close behind he had been following her until she looked into his eyes and saw they were about the same height. She was looking straight into his hazel eyes.
"I was trying to tell you Slytherin's weren't all pretentious, and then you go and say something like that. I don't think deflection is a healthy coping mechanism."
He glared at her, "I don't think running from your problems and feelings is either, but you know, we all can't be perfect, I suppose."
Cho huffed and turned around to continue walking. She had nothing else to say to him, and they needed to find shelter that wasn't in a recently raided town. The Death Eaters always seemed to go back to them later at night to catch stragglers they had missed.
"There you go again," Theo taunted, "Running away from your problems."
She turned around violently and felt her eyes blazing. She watched as fear flashed through his eyes and felt powerful, but it was only for a moment. She then felt guilt.
"I-I'm sorry," Cho said, "I don't know what came over me."
"I do," Theodore commented.
She figured he would elaborate, but he didn't. He didn't really need to.
They had been on the road together for a month by the time all hell broke loose. It had seemed like any other night. Cho was gathering firewood as Theodore put up enchantments around their camp. For someone who could see thru them, he was good at putting them up. She had gone slightly out of their camp's bounds. She was becoming too trusting of the forest. That was always Cho's biggest downfall in the past. She was too trusting and too sincere.
So it came as a surprise when she suddenly felt a wand against her throat and a hand over her mouth.
"Don't move," the voice hissed, "We need to check you out."
Cho struggled against the Death Eater's body and tried to scream, but her screams were muffled.
She watched as the other Death Eater pulled out a booklet and a quill.
"Now, aren't you a pretty one?" He commented, "If you don't scream, we will uncover your mouth. Understood?"
Cho wasn't going to make any promises, but she nodded.
The Death Eater with the wand against her throat moved his hand off of her mouth but kept his wand in place. Cho didn't dare move as the other one asked, "Name?"
She looked around her environment to see what she knew about the trees around her and the nonverbal magic she could cast, but before she knew it, the Death Eater with the booklet was stupefyed.
Shocked, the other Death Eater holding her firmly in his grasp loosened his grip, and that's when Cho took her chance. She snatched her wand from his pocket and stomped on his foot for good measure. As she held up her wand, she looked over to see her savior. It was Theodore Nott. She shouldn't have been surprised, but she was. For all she knew, he was facing down his own family. Why was he risking his life for her?
As her captor hobbled around and his friend was trying to stand back up, Cho moved closer to Theodore's side. His wand was still raised as he threatened, "Don't make me kill you."
His voice was like ice, and it sent chills up Cho's spine. He really wouldn't use an Unforgivable, would he? She wasn't sure of anything anymore.
She watched as the Death Eater on the ground laughed. It was a condescending laugh, the type of laugh that Cho heard too many times when she expressed emotion in the past. She felt her eyes shift into a glare.
"Oh son," the Death Eater commented, "You wouldn't really kill me, would you?"
Theodore's father gave him a sadistic smile, but Theodore kept his calm composure and didn't lower his wand. "You don't know what I am capable of, father."
"Oh," his father replied, "But I do."
Cho watched as his father raised his wand, but that sight was quickly taken away once Theodore grabbed her hand and apparated out of the forest.
Cho panted as they apparated to a town they were at a week ago. It was still deserted, and she leaned against a street sign to catch her breath.
"Theodore, that-that was your-"
"I know," he replied as he started putting up protective enchantments, "We don't need to talk about it."
The old Cho would have pressed the issue further, but she decided not to. She decided to help Theo set up camp in the alley down the way, and when he was done putting up their protective enchantments, he came to sit down next to her by the flame she was making with her wand.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to grab your rucksack," he told her, "It all just happened so fast."
"It's okay," Cho told him sincerely, "I had nothing in there that was overly important."
He nodded to himself as he watched her flame move in the night's wind.
That night, she watched Theodore sleep. It was then she realized he was still just a boy, a boy who was running away from his own past. He was just like her, and he risked everything to save her. She knew at that moment she would do anything to save him, too.
Another week went by before they really talked about what happened. It was late at night around their fire, and neither of them could sleep.
"What did your father do to you?" Cho finally asked.
She watched as Theodore took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck. It must have been a nervous habit of his. Part of her found it endearing.
"He did what every pureblood father does to their children," he replied, "He would beat me into submission, verbally or physically, but for most of my childhood, my mum protected me, at least. Then when she-"
He didn't finish his statement, and he didn't need to. Cho knew.
"How did she die?" She whispered.
He didn't look at her as he answered, but she watched a tear slip from the corner of his eye, "My father sacrificed her to the Dark Lord when she wouldn't do his bidding."
Cho took a sharp intake of breath and instinctively grabbed his hand. He was shocked by her touch, but he didn't move away from her. He just looked up into her eyes. It was then Cho saw him for who he truly was.
"I'm so sorry, Theodore," she apologized, "I can't believe-I shouldn't have-"
But Theodore placed his free hand on top of their joined ones. "It's okay," he reassured her, "Now you know, that's all that matters."
And he was right. She did know. The moment was so vulnerable that she could feel its depth throughout her body. Suddenly shaken by their connection, she let his hand go and broke their connection. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Theodore did not seem offended. If anything, he seemed to understand perfectly.
They were quiet for a few moments, and Cho laid down on her side beside him to sleep. She heard him follow suit behind her, and she heard him softly whisper, "Call me Theo."
Cho swallowed but didn't respond, she just shut her eyes and hoped she would only see him.
Weeks had gone by, and as they grew closer, Cho became more afraid. She was afraid, because she had something to lose again. She promised herself she wouldn't have attachments again until Voldemort was defeated. He couldn't take another person from her, he wouldn't. But she couldn't stop herself from falling for Theo, and she wondered if he noticed.
Cho watched Theo as he looked up at the stars, but she quickly looked away as he glanced in her direction. She decided to braid her hair and counted the amount of crosses she made to calm her erratic heart.
"I see the way you look at me when I'm not looking," Theo commented.
Exasperated, Cho felt her cheeks turn pink and she let go of the braid she was working on.
"Ex-excuse me?" Cho croaked out.
"You don't need to be afraid," Theo reassured her, "I watch you, too."
She was breathless as he walked over to sit down next to her. He was so close to her that their shoulders were touching, and when she looked over at him, his eyes were watching her parted lips.
"I sometimes wonder what would have happened to me if I didn't find you that night," he confessed. He was still watching her lips as he spoke, "I think I still would have been lost."
Cho rubbed her lips together and looked up from his lips to his eyes. She was tempted to cup his cheek with her hand, but she stopped herself from doing so. To diffuse the seriousness, Cho joked, "But aren't we lost right now? I have no idea where we are on the run."
Theo smirked, and he surprised her by cupping her cheek with his hand. He rubbed his thumb against her skin gently. She closed her eyes at the sensation.
"Those who wander are not lost," he told her.
She opened her eyes as he leaned in and his lips touched her's. She closed her eyes again and let her hand trail up his arm until it was wrapped around his neck. It was gentle. It was the safest she had felt since she ran, and she had been running for years.
Once he pulled away, Cho took a few moments to cherish their kiss before opening her eyes. He was staring back at her as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
That night, she fell asleep in his arms and listened to his calm heartbeat in his chest. It was the first night since she had started running that she didn't have a nightmare and only felt warmth wrapped around her body.
In the middle of the night, Cho was woken up by Potterwatch blaring thru her radio. Theo was already up and listening intently. It was Lee Jordan, and he was telling everyone that Harry Potter was at Hogwarts, and the battle to end it all was about to begin.
Cho couldn't believe her ears and sat up to listen intently. She could feel Theo's eyes on her as she let Lee's words sink in.
"Can you believe it?" Cho asked him, "They are going to fight. It is going to hopefully end. Then you can be safe."
Her eyes were full of fear and hope, and he smiled weakly at her.
"You don't have to stay," he told her, "You should go and fight. I know you want to."
"I'm not leaving you," she said fiercely.
"You need to fight, and I can't," he told her, "You will always regret it if you don't."
"I will regret if anything happens to you when I'm gone," she confessed, "And I won't ask you to risk your life for me."
He cupped her cheek and he rubbed it gently, "You're a fighter, Cho. I will be fine. I promise I will see you on the other side."
The old Cho would have argued more. She even would have been angry that he didn't offer to come with her. But she knew he couldn't go. He would be killed by both sides on the spot, and he was right, she had to go. She had been waiting for this. She had not been running for nothing. She was running until the Phoenix called.
She felt tears fall from her eyes as she leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed her back like he was trying to remember this moment forever. Maybe he was more afraid he would lose her than he let on.
As she pulled away from him and stood up, she looked back at him sitting by the fire. He gave her a reassuring nod, and she apparated away.
The battle had been over for three hours, and Cho was exhausted. It was over. Cedric was vindicated, all that they lost had a purpose. It brought her a sense of peace, but she could not stop worrying about Theo. She wondered if he had been caught after-all, but she realistically knew that all of the Death Eaters would have been at Hogwarts fighting instead of looking for those on the run.
She decided to take a break from the Great Hall and walked out to the courtyard. It was nearly decimated, and Cho was kicking rubble with her boot as she walked. She chose a standing pillar to lean up against and looked out in front of her.
It was then that she saw him. Theo was standing at the end of the courtyard with his arms crossed. He was completely unscathed, and she watched him smile from relief as he caught sight of her. Neither of them moved as they watched the other, until Theo raised a single hand and waved to her. She couldn't help but laugh, and she grinned as she ran into his arms.
Theo was right, all those who wandered weren't lost.
