Chapter 15: Power of Love, Part One

Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter belong to JKR.

A/N: Many thanks to my awesome beta, Southern_Witch_69!

Part One

Cho shivered, cold and disoriented. Panic was setting in because she couldn't move her arms or legs, but Cho instinctively knew not to give away that she was waking up. She struggled to stay awake and figure out where she was at the same time. Then suddenly, it all came back to her with vivid clarity.

"Chantel?" She heard this from the psychotic monster that was holding her captive. "You've slept long enough. Wake up now, it's time."

Time? Time for what? How long have I been here? Where are the Aurors? Where's Harry? No, I won't think about him now. I need to concentrate.

"I'll admit I must've given you too much chloroform. How's the head?"

Cho slowly opened her eyes because she knew that he realized she was awake now and glared at him, turning her face away, trying to look around the room and get her bearings.

He swiftly walked to her and soundly slapped her face, causing her already aching head to explode with pain. "You're going to want to answer me when I ask you a question, my dear. Now, how's the head?"

"How the hell do you think it is?" Cho answered defiantly. She was terrified yesterday, and truth be told, she still was today, but damn if she'd go down without a fight.

He slapped her again...on the other side this time. "I demand respect! A wife must respect her husband, Chantel! You know this! I've told you time and again!" He began pacing, lightly smacking his own cheeks, and mumbling to himself.

"Why can't she listen to me? She purposely provokes me! I can only come to one conclusion." He turned to her then and smiled the smile of a demon. "You like the pain, don't you, my dear? You... get off on it. I can oblige you."

He grabbed up the hair he'd cut off the night before...unless more time than that had passed...and began rubbing the obvious bulge in his pants that Cho hadn't noticed before then. Cho turned away, sickened, but more determined to find away out of there. She needed to think, but her headache and nerves were making it very difficult.

He walked over during her distraction and kicked the table she was lying on, and it made her whole body vibrate with pain. It also made her realize for the first time how tightly her wrists and ankles were bound.

"Watch me!" he commanded. "You used to get yourself off on it!"

Cho struggled not to look away from the grotesque sight of him pleasuring himself with her hair in his hand. She really didn't want him to knock her out again...with the chloroform or his fists.

After a few moments, he growled, closing his eyes, and stiffened. "So... damn... good!" Then he opened his eyes and looked furiously at Cho, throwing her hair on the floor. "How dare you deny me? How dare you laugh at me! I wanted you so badly!"

He swiftly walked to her and punched her in the ribs, and Cho was certain that one had cracked, if not broke. "You returned my gifts! Burned my letters! Scorned my proposal! Threw my ring in my face! I wanted to make you my wife, Chantel! The highest honor a man can bestow a woman! You are nothing but a lowly WHORE! I could've taken you out of that life, given you everything. But no, no, you laughed at me. Ahh... but you learned quickly enough, didn't you? The laughter didn't last long, did it?" He punched her low on her thigh, causing her ankle to vibrate with pain against the chains. "You learned that I'm a force to be reckoned with, didn't you?" When she was silent, he screamed, "DIDN'T YOU?"

"Yes, yes! I learned!" She had to think, had to act.

"Stop talking like that!"

She shivered. "L-like what?" Cho was trying her best not to provoke him. She was beginning to wake up more, but her head felt like it was being split in two.

"With that ridiculous accent! What are you doing, role playing for your Johns?"

Johns? "N-no... I'm sorry. This headache... It makes it hard to concentrate."

He chuckled softly and gently stroked her hair, as if she were a child. He walked away from her and pulled out a wand. Cho winced, wondering what spell he was going to use on her. "Now, this here is a wand. I can do things with it that you wouldn't believe." He flicked it towards the counter in the room and a knife slowly floated to him. He looked at her with anticipation on his face.

He thinks I'm a Muggle! Cho quickly placed an awed expression on her face, trying to buy some time. She concentrated, trying to feel if her wand was still in her boot, but she couldn't tell. Her legs and arms had gone numb.

He laughed. "I can do all sorts of things with this wand." He pointed it at her and yelled, "Crucio!"

He'd only held the spell a few seconds, but Cho felt as if every nerve ending was on fire. "Now maybe you'll understand. Now maybe you'll take me a bit more seriously. I hope I won't have to teach you this lesson again, Chantel."

He walked back to her and gently rubbed her cheek. She flinched, thinking he was going to slap her again, and watched his smile turn into a frown of anger. "You flinch at my touch? Last time, you were begging me to touch you! You wanted my touch here!" He told her as he roughly cupped her sex through her skirt.

She couldn't help it, one tear escaped. He backed away, looking at her with disgust on his face. He kicked the tray and sent knives scattering all over the floor. "Look at what you've made me do!" he screamed as he pointed to the knives on the floor. Furious, he ran to her and drew his hand back, but then he lowered it and suddenly walked over to where the knives lay scattered on the floor.

"I'm going to have to sterilize these again! I shouldn't! I should just use a dirty one. How would you like that?" She said nothing, not sure if she was supposed to answer him or not. "Tell me!"

"I-I wouldn't. I'm sorry."

He glared at her. "I'm going to sterilize them this one last time, but I warn you, I won't again. You will obey me, Chantel. I'll come back when they're done, and I'll bring something for you to eat. It's your own fault that you're going to have to go hungry."

She didn't reply, simply watching him gather the knives off of the floor. He began murmuring incoherently to himself as he left the room. He didn't put her back to sleep, and Cho didn't know if it was because he forgot or not, but she didn't want to take any chances.

She closed her eyes, concentrating hard. They'd practiced wandless Apparating in training, but she'd never had to do it with pain and injuries before. They had also been warned it was to only be used in extreme situations, as the ramifications could be dire if anything went wrong. It didn't matter; she had to get out of there. If she could just get outside, then she could get her wand and Apparate the long distance back to Headquarters.

Deciding to act before she could worry herself too much on the consequences should she mess up and before her captor could return, Cho closed her eyes and suddenly popped outside.

Stumbling to the ground due to the numbness of her legs, she took a moment to get her bearings and then clumsily grabbed her wand out of her boot. The last thing she saw before Disapparating was the man running outside, wand at the ready, screaming, "CHANTEL!" as loudly as he could.

~*~

Harry paced around in front of the Snape's fireplace, pulling his hair and biting his thumb.

"Harry," Hermione said gently, as if not to startle him. "Do you want me to see if Ron can come over?"

"Ron?" he asked incredulously. "Why? What the hell can Ron do that I'm not already doing? What is taking so bloody long! It's been over twenty-four hours!"

Hermione walked to him, rubbing his arm. "This potion is a complicated one. You want it right, not fast. And I thought Ron might be of some comfort to you. I know there's nothing we can do right now."

Harry sighed. "I'm sorry, 'Mione. It's not necessary to owl Ron." He hugged her. "It's just that I feel like I'm going crazy here. I have to find her! You don't know what this man is capable of." He walked to the wall and started beating his head against it.

Hermione gasped, and Harry turned to her. "What? What is it? Did you think of something?"

"No. No, but I've realized something."

When she didn't elaborate, Harry growled in frustration. "Well? What did you realize?"

"That you're in love with Cho. What you're feeling is more than concern for a co-worker."

Harry nodded. "We've been dating these last three months, and I've come to realize that I do love her. And if anything happens to her..." He closed his fist over the tracking necklace that she'd been wearing, and a bit of blood trickled down his hand.

"Harry! Stop that! You're bleeding!"

He turned to comment but didn't speak when he realized that Snape was walking wearily into the room. "Here you go, Potter. There's enough in there for two, possibly three, uses."

"Thank you so much, Snape." Harry turned to run out of the castle.

"Harry!" Hermione called after him. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"NO!" came twin shouts, one from her husband and one from her best friend.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have to concentrate on what I need to do, and I can't do that if I'm worried about you, too." Harry wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Snape slightly nod with approval, and for some strange reason, it made him feel proud.

"Okay," Hermione said reluctantly. "But promise to owl me as soon as you find her."

Harry walked back to her and kissed her cheek. "I promise." Then he turned and sprinted for the door. He heard a gentle, "God speed," as he closed the door.

Once he got to the Apparation point, he briefly considered going to Italy's Headquarters and then decided not to. He had to go directly to Cho. She'd been with that man too long, and there was no telling what had already been done to her.

He swiftly swallowed some of the potion that would take him directly to her and screamed in pain because it suddenly felt as if he were being pulled in two directions. After a bit of time, he felt the familiar tug behind his navel and a falling sensation. He landed at Cho's feet.

"Harry!" she yelled and then instantly regretted it, grabbing her head.

"Cho!" Harry said with relief and rose to his knees to hug her, only letting go when she cried out. It was then that he really looked at her and noticed her bruised and battered face.

He looked around to discover that he was in Headquarters. "How did they find you, love?"

Suddenly, Cho burst out crying, and Harry very gently took her into his arms. "Ssh. Don't. I'm so sorry. I'm here now," he soothed.

"Nobody found me, Harry," she told him between sniffles. "I got out by myself using wandless Apparation."

Harry started to speak, but Auror Rossi interrupted him. "I really must insist now, Auror Chang, that you go to the hospital."

Cho sniffed and wiped her nose with the tissue Harry handed her. "I can help you!" she insisted. "I don't know the exact location, but I can help you find it."

"You will do no such thing!" her superior commanded. "You are hurt, so I am relieving you of your duties until you are cleared by a Healer. Is this understood?"

"But, sir..."

"Enough!" Turning to Harry, Auror Rossi asked, "How did you know that Chang would be here? You said you would not return until you found her."

"Oh, I sent an owl to his room," Cho explained.

Harry smiled sadly at her, hating to see the damage that had been done to her. "Thank you, love, but that is not why I came here. I went to Snape and had this tracking potion made with a hair of yours that I found in my room."

Cho winced when he said 'hair,' but otherwise said nothing. Then an idea came to her. "You know... He chopped off some of my hair. I bet if I took some of that, it would take me directly to him."

"Absolutely not!" Harry said. When she started to speak, he held up his hand. "Not because I think that you can't handle yourself. Obviously, you can. It's just that you're not in any condition to. I insist on taking it this time."

"But, Harry, it wouldn't work for you! Because I am here and only my hair is there! It would pull you to me, the biggest source of my body."

It made sense, and Harry growled in frustration. Then an idea came to him. "You could take it, and I could hold onto you when it took you to him!"

"Harry," Auror Rossi gently said, "she's hurt. She needs medical attention."

Cho stood and looked at her superior defiantly. "Nonetheless, I am going to do this. He has to be stopped, sir. He's mental, and I couldn't live with myself if he took another girl in rage from my escape and harmed her. It will only take a matter of minutes, and then I promise that I'll go be checked out."

Rossi sighed in defeat. "I will allow this on two conditions. That you let Harry accompany you and that you take the tracking device so that a team can be there shortly after you arrive."

"Agreed," Cho simply said.

Harry began pacing once again as Rossi put together his team. "Harry," Cho said, "I'm okay. Please don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault that the device came off in the struggle."

"We should've have put it in a more secure place! When I think of what he's done to you..."

"Don't think of that! Think of the fact that I got away." She cupped his face and gently kissed him, which surprised him because she'd always been adamant about keeping things between them a secret.

"Cho?"

Cho sighed. "I'm tired of secrets just now, Harry. I've decided that I don't want to put off our actually being together any longer. I discovered life is too precious."

"I love you, Cho."

"You do?" she asked, stunned. "Really?"

"Absolutely, I do."

She laid her head on his chest. "I love you, too."

"We're ready," Rossi said. "Auror Chang, are you certain that you wish to do this?"

"Oh, yes. Positive."

"Okay, let's go."

Harry gently took Cho into his arms while she picked up the potion and quickly swallowed it. This time, he immediately felt the tug. They both landed in a heap at the feet of her captor.

"Chantel! You naughty girl," he spat, seemingly not even seeing Harry. "You will pay dearly for this." Before either could act, he went for Cho's throat, choking her.

Harry quickly gained his feet and wrapped his arms about the man's waist, acting on instinct and forgetting his wand. Once Harry had pulled him off of her and Cho caught her breath, she quickly raised her wand and shouted, "Petrificus Totalus!" The killer froze and fell limply to the floor just as three Aurors popped into the room.

Harry walked over to the man and kicked him in the stomach. He ordered, "Take him out of here," before turning to Cho and gently wrapping her in his arms. "Ready for the hospital now?"

"Yes," she agreed, shaking uncontrollably. "I think I'd better."

Harry quickly pulled out the Portkey he'd had Hermione make for him while he'd been at her home that would take them directly to St. Mungo's. He'd had enough of Italy. He was worried that Cho was going into shock now that things seemed to be over. She was shaking uncontrollably.

Once they arrived at St. Mungo's and the Healers had taken Cho back, Harry owled Hermione to let her know that Cho was safe. Now, there was nothing to do except wait... and wait some more. Finally, the Healer came out into the waiting room.

"Mr. Potter? Could you please come back here with me? Miss Chang is asking for you."

"Yes, of course." Harry quickly stood to follow the Healer into Cho's room.

"Have a seat, Mr. Potter. I was just about to give Miss Chang the results of her tests. Now, your rib was not broken or cracked; however, it was extremely bruised. The slight shock that you were in when you arrived seems to be under control now. Your other injuries are somewhat minor, especially compared to what they could have been.

"But our main concern, of course, was the baby, especially after the Tracking Potion you took. Fortunately, Professor Snape immediately owled us the list of ingredients used, and with the amount of each, we don't believe that it will have any ill effects. We would like to monitor you closely for the next month, though, just to be on the safe side." She stopped speaking because of the quiet and glanced up to see if either Harry or Cho had any questions.

"Er... did you say baby?" Harry asked, gobsmacked.

~*~

Oliver sat on his broom fuming. Ginny had left while he was in the shower the night before and hadn't bothered to come home. Now here she was for practice, sitting on her broom, acting as if nothing was wrong. Well, they'd just see about that.

As soon as the coach called an end to practice, Oliver grabbed his wife's arm before she could leave again. "A word, Ginevra."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "I think we said all there was to say last night."

"Then you'd be wrong, wouldn't you?"

Ginny sighed. She felt horrible, having had no sleep the night before. She was afraid that if she spoke with her husband, she'd break down, and after he'd been out with those other women drinking and Merlin knew what else, she just didn't have it in her.

"I think that you made yourself crystal clear last night, Oliver."

"No, I didn't. Now let's go back to our room, Gin, or we can do this here and now."

"Our room?"

"Yes. Our room," he told her impatiently. "Why are you acting daft?"

"You told me it was over!" Then she said in a mimicking voice, "When this is over, I hope you're happy with Potter..."

"That's it!" he yelled as he picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and Disapparated back to their room.

Once there, he immediately dropped her on her bottom onto the couch. "Where the hell were you last night?"

Ginny stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from him. She shrugged indifferently. "Maybe I have some groupies like you do."

The image of her changing jerseys at practice the day before and the catcalls from her 'groupies' flashed through Oliver's mind, causing his anger to double. "Did you go to the bar?" he asked, remembering that he'd seen at least a couple of those guys there when he'd left for home.

"Last night, you told me that you no longer cared what I did or didn't do, so why the inquisition now?"

"Just answer the damned question!"

"NO! First, why don't you tell me who you were with last night?"

"I wasn't with anyone, per se..."

Ginny turned her head. She couldn't look at her husband any longer without either crying or scratching his eyes out. "Neither was I. Nor did I come here reeking of cologne."

"Ginny..."

"I wasn't with another man," she told him. "Happy now? Can I go?"

"I've not been with another woman!"

Ginny looked at her husband skeptically. "Oh yeah? Then why did your jersey have two different shades of lipstick? Why did you smell like a perfume factory? Why is it that when I specifically asked you, you blew me off. I know you knew what I was thinking, yet you did nothing to defend yourself or placate me. You seemed to want me to come to the conclusion that you'd been unfaithful actually."

Oliver sat down beside his wife, and she moved a little further away from him. "You're right. I did want you to think that. But, Ginny, I wasn't with another woman last night or any other night since I've married you."

"Do you expect me to believe you? You told me you want to end things, so why wouldn't you be with another woman?"

"Because I was only saying that to protect myself!" he admitted and then instantly regretted giving away so much of his feelings for her.

"Protect yourself? From what?" she asked, confused.

"From you!"

"From me? You're the one talking about leaving me and this marriage once our year is up!"

"Right, so that you can go running back to Potter!"

"Oliver, it's over between Harry and me. There won't be any reconciliation there, even if we don't stay married. I know that you think otherwise, but honestly, we're only friends now. Nothing more. If you want to know the truth, I think there's something going on between Cho and him...if I read the signs correctly during the match in Italy."

"Then why didn't you tell me he was in Italy? Why the big secret? It made me feel as if you were trying to hide something from me, Gin."

Ginny let out a long breath. "I wasn't keeping it a secret, not really, I just didn't mention it. I honestly didn't see the point, but you can bet your arse I do now. In the future, I won't keep anything to do with Harry Potter from you." She gasped. "I mean to say... I wouldn't now, but it doesn't matter anymore."

Oliver took Ginny's hand and attempted to pull her closer, but she held her ground. "Come here."

"I don't think that's a good idea." She stood suddenly. "I'm going to go ahead and get the rest of my things... to go back to the Burrow. That's were I stayed last night, if you still want to know."

He grabbed her waist and pulled her down onto his lap. "Like hell you will!" he informed her and passionately kissed her until she was breathless.

When he'd had his fill, he slowly moved his gaze from her lips to her eyes. "What are you doing to me?"

"Nothing! Let me up. I have to go!" She struggled against him, but he only held her tighter.

When she tired herself out, she sagged against him. "Oliver, I cannot do this. You've got to let me go. I can't stay here knowing that when our year is up, you will be ending things with me. Okay?"

"No, it's not okay. I don't want us to end things. Not now, and not when our year is up."

Her eyes were full of doubt when she looked at him. "You... You don't? But what about Harry? What about the fact that I can't promise never to see him again?"

"Can we compromise there?" he asked, uncertain.

"Compromise how?"

"Would you be willing to let me know as soon as you know if he is going to be where we are or if he'll be attending any of our games? And would you try to make sure I am with you if you know in advance that he'll be at your parents' house the same time as you are? I'm never going to like the fact that he's a huge part of your family, but I do understand it, I suppose."

She studied him a moment and hesitantly said, "Yes, I think I could agree to those terms. However, I do have a few of my own."

"All right, I'm listening."

"Okay, well, I really don't want you to go drinking after every practice, especially without me being there. If we do discuss it, and you do end up going without me, I want you to promise that if any groupies get the urge to hang all over you, you'll come directly home. I... I don't like seeing lipstick on your jersey, especially when it's not mine!"

"Okay, I can understand that. So, we've come to a compromise then? Nobody's leaving?"

"It appears that we have."

"Good!" he told her as he picked her up and headed for their bedroom. "It looks as if we have some serious making up to do."

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A/N: Okay, part two up in the next couple of days, promise. :) This chapter was getting to be too long!