Harry Potter and all aspects of the books belong to JK Rowling
 

  A solitary figure plodded through the snow near the lake at Hogwarts.  She reached up, and adjusted the Hufflepuff scarf around her face, and continued on, seemingly oblivious to the weather.   The cold snap of the last few days had lifted, sort of.  It was still cold and gray and blustery, but it was actually the warmest it had been in several days, and the temperature had finally climbed slightly above freezing.

    Cho Chang stopped and looked up, startled by a low, throbbing  wail coming from the nearby trees of the Forbidden Forest.  As she listened to it, she was struck by the way that the wail seemed to fit her mood.  The last day or so had been terribly confusing, to put it mildly.  She had really wanted to talk to Harry today, but when she looked for him at breakfast, he was nowhere in sight.  In fact, none of the crowd that he usually sat with was there.  Ron Weasley, the Cannons fanatic was gone, as were all the other Weasleys.  It was kind of odd to see the Gryffindor table without red hair, but that was the case.  Hermione Granger had come down to breakfast, but before she even went to her seat, Professor McGonagall had spoken with her, and led her out of the Great Hall.

  Lunch hadn’t been any better with still no sign of Harry.  She really needed to talk to him about yesterday.  She wanted to talk to him before the Christmas holiday, when they would all be apart.  However, there was no still Harry, instead, the remaining Gryffindors were all talking amongst themselves,  and Hermione looked pale and troubled.  Cho hadn’t been able to get much out of them, just that Harry had gotten terribly sick the night before, and that he and the Weasleys had  left overnight.

  Her head snapped up, as that same mournful wail brought her out of her reverie.  Cho tried to place what kind of animal might make a  sound like that, but she had never heard it before.  Before she could try to think back through her Care of Magical Creatures lessons though, she felt cold wetness on her face.  The gray clouds had decided to open up with rain, a cold rain that chilled the bones.  Cho broke out into a run, towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest, as it was too far to try to get back to Hogwarts.

  A few moments later, she found herself under the thick canopy of the forest, panting, her chest burning with the effort of pulling the frigid air into her lungs.  She sank down, her back against a yew tree, to wait out the shower.  Catching her breath, she looked up, and saw the answer to the mysterious cry.  A small, thin bird was perched on the branches of a nearby tree.  It looked a bit like a vulture, but was a rather sickly looking greenish black.  An Augurey.  She’d never seen one before, but she’d seen the pictures in her books.  Chuckling sheepishly, she realized that if she had realized where the cry was coming from, she could have turned back to the school before the rain arrived.

  “Hi there”  The ugly bird looked at her a moment, and then flew down, landing next to her.  Surprised, Cho reached out and began to stroke it.  “I didn’t know that you were tame.”   The bird turned it’s head, and looked at her, and wailed once again, more softly.  “I feel like that too”, replied Cho, feeling oddly comforted by the strange bird.

  Cho sat there against the tree, not really sure how much time was passing.  Soon though, looking out toward the field that led back to the school, she saw the rain beginning to let up, and seeming to sense the rain was leaving the Augurey flew off, and was soon out of sight.  Cho watched it go, already missing the company, when she noticed that the odd bird had left a single black feather on the ground, large enough to be a quill.

  “Augurey quills... there is something about them… but what is it?”  Cho mused, idly rolling the feather in her hand.  “Oh, that’s right.”   An odd look seemed to come into her eyes, and she reached into her pack and pulled out a bottle of ink and a piece of parchment.  She dipped the quill into the ink, and smiled as the ink in the bottle seemed to flee away from the quill.  Putting the parchment on one of her textbooks, she began to write, not at all surprised when nothing appeared on the parchment.

Dear Cedric,
  I’m supposed to be in class right now.  These last days have been so hard.  No, the last 6 months have been so hard.  I never had the chance to tell you how wonderful you were in the Third Task.  You were so brave, and so noble.  As I waited for you to bring the Cup out, I knew that I wanted to spend forever with you.  I never dreamed I’d never see you again.

 I hope you don’t mind the tear stains on this parchment.  I can’t help but think about that day.  Did you know I’m wearing the scarf you gave me right now?  Your good little Ravenpuff.   I’m supposed to be in History of Magic right now, before I go home later today, but I just couldn’t bring myself to walk into class.  I was almost there, and then just turned and walked out the door.

 I have a confession to make Cedric.  I kissed Harry yesterday.  He is so kind and sweet.  Still though, I couldn’t help but think of our last kiss, just before you went to the Third Task.  “Good luck” I said.  “I’ll be waiting”.  I still am.  I hope you aren’t upset with me.  No, I know you aren’t, I can hear your voice already “I just want you to be happy”.  I know that is what you are saying, wherever you are.  It’s not you that’s confused, it’ s me.  I can’t even write a letter that makes sense, I just ramble back and forth. Look at these short sentences.  I’m just so confused.  I like Harry, and I think he likes me, but it’s hard.  I needed to talk to him about yesterday.  He is gone though.  Something happened last night, but I don’t know what.  I know I’ll be worrying all holiday until I find out he’s ok.  Maybe I’m some sort of curse.  Get too close to me and you get hurt.

  Cedric, I miss you.  Life is so empty without you.  I get on my broom and miss you.  I go to Charms, and remember how you helped me last year, and I miss you.  I kiss Harry, and I miss you.  They say that everyone meets again on the other side.

Wait for me.

Yours eternally,
Cho
 

  Cho took the blank parchment  that contained so much more than ink could have managed, and folded it in half while she walked to the edge of the forest.  “Wingardium Leviosa.”  The scroll lifted into the air, until the wind caught it, and it flew off.  “Take it to him” Cho whispered, as she turned her back on the flying parchment, and started back up to the school.  Hearing the Augurey again, she picked up the pace to get back into the castle before the rain returned.  In the distance, the parchment flew away, with a message that no one could ever read, except just maybe the one it was addressed to.