Breathe

A flash of red flickered in front of her eyes, and she awoke with a start.  As her vision focused she saw gorgeous, flowing red hair, and a genuine smile.  It was Ginny Weasley who had discovered her disheveled on the floor, her body and face threatening to show just how broken she really was.  She should have been horrified, but Ginny’s smile was so real she was unable to feel anything besides a strange rush of relief.  Friendship exuded from the girl, and Cho felt the strange sensation of wanting to envelop her with a hug.

“Cho?  Are you ok?  You look beat.”  Ginny’s warm words were comfort and Cho glanced up at her sheepishly.

“I’m fine.  I guess N.E.W.T preparation just got the best of me for a second.  I should probably go.”  She pulled herself off of the floor and grabbed her bag, looking around her for anything she may have dropped, brushing off her robes as she did so.  She smoothed her hair and took a deep breath.  “Please don’t tell anyone about this,” she uttered, trying her hardest not to sound as though she was begging, though she knew that she was.

Ginny looked confused.  “Of course not, why would I want to?”  Her eyes bore into Cho, as though she was trying not to ask something, though Cho could only guess at the question that might be puzzling her.

Cho ignored the question.  “Thanks. “  She ran her hands through her hair, hoping that her stolen nap had not destroyed the illusion of beauty, trying to straighten any loose ends that might be trying to escape.  “Do I look alright?”

Ginny did not hesitate in her response.  “Do you really need to ask that question?”  Cho’s face must have given away her insecurity, for Ginny quickly added, “You look beautiful.”

Cho glanced down at her watch and horror took over her.  She had missed all of Transfiguration and most of lunch.  She turned to hurry down the hall, hoping that she would be able to make it down to the dungeons in time for Potions.  She didn’t think that she would be able to handle Professor Snape’s wrath today.  Ginny’s voice stopped her.

“Do you wanna take a walk?  You look like you need a break.” 

A walk?  During the middle of the day when there were lessons to take and information to be consumed?  She was perplexed and bewildered and her tongue seemed to be frozen.

“Let’s go.” The redhead stated, not waiting for an answer.  She seemed to know that a walk sounded like heaven to Cho, like a dream that wasn’t possible, and she grabbed her by the arm and led her toward the main doors.

Cho was so utterly confused.  She was laughing, and her smile took no effort at all.  The youngest Weasley was so full of life she seemed unreal to her, she seemed so carefree.  Ginny had admitted to taking these mental health days more often than she should have, but insisted that they were necessary.

“I don’t think I could survive here without escaping every once in a while.  Being alone out here I can breathe when it’s too stifling in there.”  Ginny jerked her head back to the castle.

It was true.  Cho was taking in deep breaths, gasping breaths, as though she had been underwater for a very, very long time.  Her thoughts seemed to begin to organize themselves into neat piles in her mind, and problems began to resolve without effort.  She knew at this moment she could perform a protection spell perfectly, and could no longer remember why it had been so hard this morning.

While the two walked together by the lake, Ginny’s hand somehow seemed to find its way into Cho’s.  Cho nearly jumped at the spark it made, and for a moment forgot how to breathe.  Her heart pounded while her brain did a quick backflip.  All this happened in a fraction of a second, and Cho hoped that Ginny didn’t notice.  At the same time, she found herself wishing that Ginny had noticed it to.  She turned her eyes to the other girls’, searching for any indication that there was… well, something, though she couldn’t for the life of her explain what she wanted.

But there was something.