1. Herbology 2. Muggle Studies 3. Transfiguration 4. Ancient Runes 5. Astronomy 6. Divination 7. Care of Magical Creatures 8. Potions 9. Defense Against the Dark Arts 10. Arithmancy 11. History of Magic 12. Charms 13. Quidditch 14. Hogwarts, A History 15. Room 16. Dragonhide gloves 17. Cauldron 18. Whomping Willow 19. Wand 20. Hogsmeade 21. Veela 22. Kneazle 23. Telescope 24. House elf 25. Sorting Hat 26. Quill 27. Owl 28. Timeturner 29. Pensieve 30. Feast 31. Dress robes 32. Common room 33. Classroom 34. Parseltongue 35. Pureblood 36. Muggle 37. Animagus 38. Patronus 39. Duel 40. Spell 41. Thestrals 42. Portraits 43. Headmaster 44. Ford Anglia 45. torch 46. Dungeon 47. Portkey 48. Leprechaun 49. Yule Ball 50. Boggart 51. act 52. bore 53. Chase 54. Dare 55. Egg on 56. Fight 57. Gape 58. Hoot 59. Ignore 60. Joke 61. Kiss 62. Lope 63. Mooch 64. Nap 65. Ooze 66. Pace 67. Quell 68. Roar 69. Slap 70 team. 71. Untie 72. Vex 73. Warn 74. x-tinguish 75. Yodel 76. Zap 77. Cheerful 78. author's choice 79. author's choice 80. author's choice 81. Depression 82. Careful 83. Fearful 84. Angry 85. Snappish 86. Daring 87. Plaid 88. sweet tooth 89. Past 90. present 91. Future 92. Chocolate 93. Chicken 94. Allergic 95. Snowball 96. Socks 97. Dictionary 98. Pajamas 99. Newspaper 100. Homework

***

First word of choice: Depression.

A girl cuts her hair.

Snip. She is painfully aware that he sits behind her in class.

Snip. Sometimes he pulls her hair, not hard enough to hurt.

Snip. One day he stops her in the corridor.

Snip. "I couldn't believe my luck when you said yes."

Snip. "I couldn't believe mine when you asked!"

Snip. They dance. "Your hair caught my eyes first," he confesses with a twinkle. "It's so long..."

Snip. "I might leave it longer," she smiles. "For you."

Cho Chang lays down the scissors and leaves the bathroom, leaving sheaves of black hair on the floor.

Dedicated to Lee who chose this number for me.

Word: Dictionary

**

It was rumored Madam Pince would personally pull out the tongue of whoever spoke in more than a few minus decibels.

Cho reached up into the dictionary section of the library, struggling to retrieve volume 34 of 'Galoshes' and Other Synonyms for 'Plimsolls' silently.

"Let me help." Someone pressed lightly against her as he leaned up.

The long arm pulled the book off the shelf and offered it graciously to her. Cho turned around and found herself facing a very nice neck. A nervous smile spread over her face as she tucked hair behind her ear, blushing, "Um, thanks, Cedric."

Dedicated to Nadia, no matter how irritating she is.

Word: Common Room. A sort of sequel to 'Depression'.

**

It is not too overdramatic to say that the Ravenclaw Common Room falls silent at the sight of Cho Chang's shorn head. The girl herself does not say anything. She walks to her room quickly, before she starts to cry again. She's lost, lost, lost Cedric, dignity, her hair. A stifled sob that could be a bark of a laugh escapes her.

Around the fire, conversation resumes.

"She's lost it."

"Yeah. Whatever. She's just looking for attention."

Cho buries her head in her hands. Salt water runs out from between her clenched fingers. Splatters onto the scissors in her lap.

Dedicated to Di, who helped me pick the number. ^^

Word: Divination

Cho's eyelids drooped dangerously, struggling to stay awake. Even staying upright would be good at this point. "Wellll dearrrr?" Trelawney swooped down, deeping her voice portentously

Cho looked down into her cup sleepily, and blinked. "It looks like a teardrop," she said slowly.

"Ahhh. A bad omen indeed. Disappointed in love."

Cho bit her lower lip and eyed her cup. Crazy woman. She had Cedric, and his last task was coming. Whether he won or lost, they would have more time together soon.

Cho smiled as the bell rang and she snatched up her bag.

Everyone knew divination was rubbish.

Dedicated to my sister who is bugging me to get off right now. Brat.

Word: Wand

***

Cho's at Cedric's funeral. She sits there, watching Amos Diggory cry and her own tears seem melded together in her breast with pity and rage. Mrs. Diggory watches the coffin, her fingers shredding the handkerchief in her lap. Tears trickle out slowly, one long wet trail of pain across the wrinkled cheek.

Cho can't cry. She can barely breathe.

Then it's all over; the Diggorys approach her with a package. Mrs. Diggory has to present it to her, Amos is still crying.

They give her Cedric's wand.

Cho joins the club of sniffles and sobs as her tears begin falling.

Word: House-elf

**

Cho looked up slowly, her eyes swollen, red and crusted over. She was pressed against the headboard of her bed, the blue curtains of the fourposter shut out the rest of the world. A wrinkled brown face peered through a side parting, looking as bleary as Cho herself felt. There was a strong smell of butterbeer.

The house elf clambered through the folds, and sat on her knees. They studied each other. "Miss looks sad," the house-elf spoke first. "Winky give some butterbeer." The small brown hand held out a bottle.

"Gan bei,*" said Cho weakly.

They drank, outcasts together.

*gan bei is dialect for literally 'dry cup'. It means to drink deeply and is used as a toast.

Word: Homework


***

Cho's long black hair was loose and swirled all over her books like strands of ink. She fidgeted as she studied, cross-eyed with concentration. Every once so often, she accidentally shut a book on her own hair.

"Chang-"

"WHAT?" The word had red hot syllables.

Cedric gulped. "L-lots of homework then?" he said weakly. Actually, he meant to tease her about buying a bookmark. But since Cho, in whirling around, had just slammed the book shut on her own lock of hair resting on the page, that could be unwise.

Suicidal, possibly.

It was probably worth more than his life to remark that Cho looked remarkably pretty when she was angry.

Dedicated to my sister. Different one this time. I have four. This number was chosen by the second one. The previous, by the fourth one.

Word: Ooze. And might I just add, a most suitable choice for her.

***
Cho had resolved to kill the first person she saw.

What d'you mean 'why'? Just because.

Because she was frustrated at Roger Davis's incessant changes of plan. Because aforesaid first-person-who-saw-her hadn't gone through Davis's ranting. Because her armpits would knock down a troll. Because every muscle in her legs ached. Because she saw Cedric Diggory talking to a gorgeous girl.

Cho twisted the knob, hot water pounding her shoulders. What looked like bubble bath was poured out lavishly.

Nothing can stop... wait for it... THE OOOOOZZZZEEEE.

"Bugger."

Dedicated to my sister. No, not the same ones as before. This one's the third one.

Word: Yule Ball

***

The hall was glittering bright with a myriad of decorations; loops and loops of gold bubbles, glittering ice statues looming out silver. The air was warm and scented with food and with fragrances, the people bright-faced, laughing and gorgeously dressed (well, most of them. Harry Potter didn't belong to the former and Ron Weasley didn't belong to the latter). Cho's hand tightened on the green silk of Cedric's dress-robes, feeling his warm, firm arm underneath.

Mmm...

He smiled down at her innocently, and led her out onto the dance floor.

The butterflies in Cho's stomach trailed sparkling, crackling fairy dust.

Dedicated to Si, who helped me pick the number

Word: Team

***

Roger Davis stood in front of the board. With a quick jab of the wooden pointer he used (for pointing, obviously, but also to smack someone on the head, if need be), Roger outlined the moves. He emphasized his points with a rap, not necessarily on the board.

The coveted spots at meetings was at the back where the pointer couldn't reach, but Davis was good at chalk-throwing too. "Remember, you lot," he growled, "There's no 'me' in 'team'."

There was a pause as this was digested. "Actually," said Cho eventually. "There is."

A piece of chalk flew her way.

Dedicated to Touz who selected this number in between head-banging.

Word: Leprechaun.

***


Cho hadn't been at the Quidditch World Cup, but she'd listened, pink with excitement to the live broadcast on WWN. She fell asleep halfway through the victory song of Ireland, the tinkling of fairy gold in her ears.

"Here, Chang." Cedric smiled at her, framed in the compartment door, swaying slightly with the motion of the train. He held out a flat package.

"You weren't there, I brought the World cup to you. Metaphorically."

Cho stared down at a picture of leprechauns making a rude gesture at the Veelas. "This... really gives me a feel of the game, Cedric. Thanks."

Dedicated to Nabs. And Aziraphale. Because plaid is kinda close to tartan, and tartan is stylish.

Word: Plaid

***

The last impressions Cho had were crash. boom. ba--

"...ngk," she muttered, trying to sit up. Her head was spinning.

"Ah, there you are, Ms. Chang," said the Madam Pomfrey, bustling over. "Nothing broken, so that's good. Drink this up. You might experience nausea and the sensation of being smacked with a teddy-bear."

The medicine was in her mouth before she could protest, and the feeling of being walloped with a soft toy was marked. "Plaid..." muttered Cho, sinking back into her pillow.

"Really? Most people tend to think of brown or pink teddies. No accounting for taste, I suppose."

Dedicated to Nabiya

Word: Mooch

***

"Did you know," said Luna one day, leaning over to smile at the older girl, "that I really believe 'sweet mooch' is the origin of 'smooch'? 'Mooch' means to shuffle-walk."

"Where does the 'sweet' come in?" asked Cho, staring up into grey eyes that seemed to look into you, through you, at some other rainbowed land.

"Oh candy, of course," said Luna easily. "Just walking along and sharing sweets."

Cho remembered walking with Cedric, a bag of chocolate between them. Him leaning over to kiss her, tasting candy in his mouth. "Yes," she said sadly. "That's a good word, Luna."

Word: Defense Against the Dark Arts

**
Take the acronym of Defense against the Dark Arts and you come up with Dumbledore's Army twice. Cho holds her head high against the glares from the Gryffindors. She walks with Marietta.

She could've walked away from her. From her first Hogwarts friend. From the friend who held her hand while she cried for Cedric. From the friend who listened to her confused, conflicting thoughts of Harry Potter.

And they think she has betrayed them, the Army. But Cho remembers being consoled after nightmares, she remembers an offered handkerchief.

She knows what betrayal is, and she refuses to do it.

Word: 89. Past

**

There are some things you never forget. Harry remembers a diminutive seeker on the Ravenclaw team with long black hair and big dark eyes. He remembers a smile in his direction. He remembers his stomach swooping. He remembers first love.

If you ask Cho to recall that day, she remembers a scrawny, green-eyed boy; the scar on his forehead and the broom in his hand. She remembers the glare of sunlight on the grass, the blue sky. She remembers seeing Cedric in the bleachers. She remembers a smile in her direction. She remembers her stomach swooping. She remembers first love.

Word: 31. Dress robes

***

Just as she got used to waking up with tears on her face and her nose already stuffed up; suddenly the pain vanished. The sharp knife digging into her was gone, the wound was wrapped in thick, thick cotton. Her senses were dulled and every color was grey.

Thoughts of Cedric no longer battened into her head, but she couldn’t feel either sunlight or rain.

Cho ran her fingers down the dress she’d worn at the Yule Ball, dancing close with Cedric. Happy.

No tears came as she pressed her cheek against the silk. The human hosepipe had run dry.

Word: 13. Quidditch

**

Harry saw Cho throw the broom onto the pitch after Ravenclaw lost the match. His lip curled.

Cho was unaware she was watched. Hair wind-whipped, looking like it had been constructed by a blind bird, she left the broom where it lay and stormed away, head down, lips tight and as thin as they could go without actually inversing. The loss hammered into her.

"Cedric!" she yelled up at the sky. "I tried. D'you see? I tried. I did my best and I still lost! I can't do it!"

The unspoken words were: Help me learn to live without you.

Word: Fearful

***



Michael Corner threw himself into a corner, long legs splayed out. "Weasley broke up with me, the freckled cow."

"Oh," said Cho.

"She wasn’t half as pretty as you anyway," he stated flatly.

Cho felt something crawl up her spine. Michael stood up, and offered her his hand. "Want to go to Hogsmeade sometime?" he asked baldly.

Cho stared up at him. Into that handsome, sulky face, those violent, heavy-lidded eyes. Fear swept over her. Fear that no one else would ever want her. Being alone. "…alright," she said finally. Satisfied, he took her hand, tightening brutally. Cho shivered inside.

Word: 61. Kiss

***
"You're really good at teaching," she told Harry, looking at him through her lashes, watching him blush. Cho leaned forward before she allowed herself to think.

Their lips met sloppily. The mistletoe wavered before her eyes like pearls on a velvet green background. Cedric's dress-robes had been green with a white, pearly lining when he bent down to kiss her in the rose garden, his lips warm. Wrapping his arms around her, their breaths coming in frozen puffs.

Tears slid out before Cho could stop them. She pulled away. "I'm sorry," she choked out, to Harry's confused face. "I can't."

Word: 20. Hogsmeade

**
With Cedric, Hogsmeade was wonderful. They had races to the sweet shop, loser bought a packet of Bertie Botts to share, just between them. They picked out quills together, sometimes reaching for the same one so their hands brushed.

With Harry, Hogsmeade is humiliating. Cho can't remember the events of Madam Puddifoots without wanting to cast a merciful obliviate on herself and on Harry.

With Michael, Hogsmeade is dull. They sit in a corner, he talks and she tries to listen because he's frightening when he thinks she's not paying him enough attention.

She wonders how Hogsmeade changed so much.

Dedicated to Nadia. Not because she helped me pick the number this time because I'm pretty sure she'd picked something like 'yodel' just to spite me.

Word: 44. Ford Anglia

***

Cho Chang was looking forward to her third year. There were friends to exchange summer stories with (if anyone wants to break out into summer lovin' had me a bla-ast, do it now while you have the chance). "I might have a chance on the Quidditch team this time," she said eagerly, "The doctor said that with some -"

She stopped, staring out of the train window.

"Some...?" prompted Marietta.

"...rest," said Cho weakly. She sat back, looking a little pale. "Did any of you... did you see... More rest. I’ll be fine"

There’d been a Ford Anglia flying by.

Word: 38. Patronus

***

Sometimes when Cho is feeling worse than usual, or Michael has been sulking more, she conjures up her patronus.

Sat on the bleachers of the Quidditch field, tilted her head up to the sun.

... Cedric walks past her in the hallways and reaches out to ruffle her hair…

Caught the snitch in one daring lunge.

...walking with Cedric, hand in hand, through the halls...

Crowd roared.

…Cedric kisses her…

Memories come alive. The tip of her wand glows silver as the patronus glides out, unfolding itself gracefully. The swan spreads its wings widely over Cho and she feels protected.

Word: 18. Whomping Willow

***

The Whomping Willow had always fascinated Cho. She loved to see those long green tendrils suddenly whip into a murderous frenzy and ruthlessly throttle some bluebird.

Sometimes, after being woken up early by those godforsaken warblers (cheerful singing at six in the morning?!), the sight of forlorn feathers made Cho feel like raising a cheer.

Today, snatching a moment before meeting Michael in the Great Hall, she looked out of the window dreamily. Cho felt the wind ruffle her hair like a ghost's hand, and entertained a moment's fantasy about walking away into those swinging green tendrils and never coming back.

Word: 14. Hogwarts, A History

***

One day, when they update Hogwarts, a History, they will make mention of Harry Potter, the Chosen One, the Scarred Hero, etc, ad nauseum. Perhaps Hermione Granger's face will be there too, and Ronald Weasley, as the Wise Woman and Brave Sidekick (and comedic relief?) respectively.

There will be no mention of Ernie MacMillan and his endearing pomposity. Nor of Parvati Patil, dark and vivacious. Nor of Cho Chang with a smile like a porcelain mask. But they will fight in the war, and history will remember them only as a few of the brave forgotten who gave their lives.

Words: 43. Headmaster

***

To Harry, Dumbledore was a mentor, teacher, a father, grandfather and friend, all at the same time. He will always remember, with tears in his eyes, how Dumbledore helped him cope with the myriad deaths he witnesses (Definitely not just thumbtacks on the average merry road of life).

He remembers the twinkle in his eyes, temporarily quenched with sadness. He knows that Dumbledore cares.

For Cho, there is no such comfort. She's adrift, rudderless, in a pond that's suddenly flooded into a large, cold lake . After all, Dumbledore can't be everywhere at once. He has to concentrate on the important ones.