Previous chapters can be found here:

http://www.lurkerdrome.com/hp.html





Harry Potter and the Mistress of the Clow

A Studio ELL production

Harry Potter is the creation of J.K. Rowling, and is published by
Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and Scholastic, as well as other companies
internationally, and is also the property of AOL Time Warner Inc.

Cardcaptor Sakura is the creation and property of CLAMP and Kodansha.

All characters, names, and places used without permission.





11. Last Days of Summer



Again she stood, the streetlight illuminating her small frame like an angel,
a warm breeze stirring her hair and clothes. She smiled at him, her eyes
warm and inviting, her lips pink and moist--*Kiss me.*

He took a nervous step forward.

*What are you waiting for? Kiss me. I want you.*

His knees began to shake.

*What are you waiting for? Kiss me. I need you.*

Another step, and another.

A ghostly pale form, a frightful angel with gunmetal-grey wings, descended
from the darkness. Purple fire blazed in the angel's eyes as it produced a
deadly-looking black sword and smote the girl in the lamplight.

He cried out, but was rooted to the spot. The grey-eyed man in the charcoal
suit emerged from the shadows, knelt, and picked up the beautiful girl's
body. His eyes held a glare of accusation--*Why didn't you save her? Why do
you never save anyone but yourself?*

Then, head bowed, he stepped back into the shadows, leaving only a desolate,
broken boy who could not move, and a pool of glistening blood in the halo of
a streetlight.



* * * * * *



Cho whistled merrily as she walked into the kitchen and sat at the breakfast
table.

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "You know, if you were any more cheerful, I'd
swear you were getting up to something naughty."

Cho giggled. "I can't help it, Mum. I'm..." Her cheeks turned a pretty, rosy
shade. "I think I'm in love. Really in love. This summer, it's just been..."

Li Ling smiled. "You really do need to bring Harry over, dear. We only met
him briefly, after all."

Cho flushed. "I dunno, Mum. I don't want to frighten him. I'm not entirely
sure how he feels, either." She sighed. "I know he fancies me. In fact, his
best friends say he's fancied me for a long time. But..." She paused to sip
from the glass of juice her mother had given her. "He just seems so shy and
awkward all the time..."

"Has he kissed you yet?"

"No...no, he hasn't," Cho said, swishing her glass around a bit.

"Have you kissed him?"

Cho ducked her head. "Only on the cheek," she admitted. "A couple times, we
almost kissed, but we keep getting interrupted...and he always looks like
he's embarassed or ashamed of himself afterward."

Li Ling sighed. "There you have it, then. You've got yourself a boy who's in
deep, doesn't know you feel the same way, and is afraid to do anything that
might upset you and make you stop seeing him." She giggled. "Your father was
a lot like that, actually."

"Really?" Cho asked. "What did you do?"

"I tied him down and made love to him until he got the message."

Cho made a funny, squeaking sound and nearly dropped her glass.

"I...err...he'd probably die of shock if I tried that." *And so would I,*
she didn't add.

Li Ling smiled. "In your case, I imagine a nice heart-to-heart chat will
clear things up rather nicely."



* * * * * *



"But your scar didn't hurt, right?"

Harry had told Ron and Hermione about the dreams.

"No, my scar didn't hurt. It's just..." He waved his hands around vaguely,
and sighed.

Hermione reached over and patted him on the arm. "Harry...it's okay. Nothing
bad is going to happen to Cho. She's not going to die just because you love
her."

"Yeah, but..." Harry shook his head. "And anyway, what if she doesn't feel
the same way about me? What if she's..."

"She told you she didn't feel that way about Cedric, right?" Ron asked. "And
the way she acts when she's over here--and the fact that she's over here
*all the bloody time*--says to me she probably has it as bad for you as you
have it for her."

"Ron's right," Hermione said. "You're just being paranoid, Harry. That's
exactly what You-Know-Who would want. And it doesn't sound like he has
anything to do with these dreams, anyway." She smiled reassuringly. "It just
sounds like a normal nightmare to me. You've found someone special, and
you're afraid you're going to lose her. Everyone has dreams like that. But
it's nothing, Harry. Believe me. It's *nothing.*"

"I...I guess you might be right," Harry sighed. "I just...if anything
happened to Cho..."

"Hey, you know, she's got a Triwizard champion to look after her! Four-time
survivor of You-Know-Who! Slayer of horrible killer snakes!" Ron leaned back
and grinned. "Gryffindor Prefect, even! Anyone'd be crazy to try to hurt
your girl!"

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron, but added, "He's got a point, Harry. Cho
seems to be able to take care of herself, and if something should happen,
you're hardly one to be trifled with. Stop worrying about things that
*might* happen, and worry about things that *will* happen."

Harry looked vaguely panicked. "Such as?"

"Such as you and Cho having a private snog before we leave for Hogwarts,"
Ron said. "Can't avoid it forever."

"And studying for the O.W.L.s, of course," Hermione added. "Don't forget
about that."

"Like we could, with you reminding us every three seconds," Ron snorted.



* * * * * *



Sakura lay face-down on her bed, kicking her bare feet absently in the air
as she thumbed through her copy of "Magical Theory" by Adalbert Waffling.
Tomoyo sat against the wall, camcorder focused on the young witch, a dreamy
expression on her face. "You look so cute with those glasses on,
Sakura-chan," she said.

Sakura gave a small, nervous laugh. "Do you really have to videotape me
reading my new books, Tomoyo-chan?"

"Of course! I must document Sakura-chan's last month before she goes off to
Hogwarts! I won't have a chance to record anything after you leave, so I
have to work extra-hard now!"

"Eh...heheh," Sakura giggled, feeling beads of nervous sweat prickling her
brow. Sometimes, Tomoyo *really* scared her.

"I really wish I could at least *see* this school," Tomoyo sighed. "It
sounds like a lot of fun."

"Oh, it's great!" Keroberos piped up. "It's a big castle, and all the
paintings move, and the staircases, and it has a banquet hall with a ceiling
that looks like the sky, and a lake, and...oh, it's just magnificent!" He
let out a happy sigh. "I'm really looking forward to going back. I love
Hogwarts."

At Tomoyo's sad expression, Sakura piped up, "I'll try to send you lots of
pictures from school, Tomoyo-chan."

Tomoyo cheered up. "Make sure to put yourself in them, Sakura-chan!"

"Er...okay..."

Just then, an owl fluttered through the bedroom window, carrying a small
parcel, which it dropped on the desk before flying away.

"Ah, I think that's your new wand!" Keroberos said, flying over to the desk.
He picked the package up with some difficulty and brought it over to Sakura.

"Wow! Open it, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo cheered.

Sitting up on the bed, Sakura unwrapped the parcel, which contained a long,
thin box, along with a brief note.

There you are. Cherrywood, nine inches, light and whippy, with a single hair
from that creature of Clow Reed's. Hope it works well for you. If you have
any problems, owl back and we'll see what we can do about it. -Ollivander



Sakura took the lid off the box and withdrew a small, thin,
beautifully-polished wand. Tomoyo leaned in for a closer look with her
camcorder.

"Give it a little wave, Sakura-chan," Keroberos advised.

"Er...okay..." Sakura raised the wand over her head and flicked it. A shower
of cherry blossoms burst forth and rained slowly down on the bed.

"Cool!" Tomoyo cried. "Do it again!"

Sakura, looking quite embarassed, made cherry blossoms rain down four more
times before finally deciding enough was enough. "So this is a real magic
wand, then," she said, examining it appreciatively.

"Yup!" Keroberos smiled. "Let me teach you a spell. Hold it in front of you
and say Lumos."

Sakura did as she was told. The end of her wand lit up, casting a beam of
light across the floor.

"Wow, that was easy!" Sakura exclaimed.

"That's a basic spell. Say Nox to turn it off." As she did that, Keroberos
crossed his paws. "Now, let's see if you can do a few more little spells..."



* * * * * *



Harry sat with Cho on the sofa in the Weasleys' living room. Everyone else
had cleared off, using some excuse or another to give the two teenagers some
privacy. They had been talking about inconsequential things for a while.

"Hey, Harry?" Cho asked.

"Yeah?"

Cho shifted around to look Harry straight in the eyes. "I...we need to
talk."

Uh-oh. "Err...okay. What about?"

"About us."

Harry had an odd feeling in his stomach just then. "Us? What...what about
us?" he asked.

Cho paused thoughtfully. "It's just that..." she shook her head. "Harry,
we've been seeing a lot of each other this summer. I enjoy being with you. A
lot. I just--I just want to know how you feel about me. Really."

Harry blushed. "Well, I, er..." He cleared his throat. "I like you a lot,
Cho. I mean, er..."

"As more than friends?" Cho asked. "And please, be honest. I need to know."

Harry looked down, and almost too softly to hear, said, "I really like you a
lot, Cho. I--" He glanced up at her, somewhat miserably. "I want to be more
than friends with you." He fell silent then, looking as though he thought he
was about to be punished.

Cho reached out and grasped his hand in hers. "Harry." He looked up. "I'm
glad."

"You--you are?"

Cho nodded. "I'm glad, because I...I want to be more than friends too." She
blushed slightly. "I just needed to know if--if you felt the same."

"Cho..." Harry looked up--

And his eyes widened as her lips met his. It was a shy, tender kiss, not the
sort you saw on television dramas, and it was really rather brief, but for a
single, perfect moment, Harry thought his heart might explode from sheer
joy.

She leaned away from him slightly, and he looked into her dark eyes, which
shone with pure, unbridled affection--love?

Harry wrapped his arms around Cho, and held her close; she returned his
embrace, and snuggled tightly against his chest. Neither of them spoke for
some time.

They didn't need to.


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