Written for Flying Lessons – Task 1, prompt: Cerulean.

Written for Unusual Ships Challenge – Pairing: Dudley/Cho.

Boot camps: Book Quotes – Prompt25: You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Character trait – Prompt2: Independent!Dudley;

Written for The If You Dare Challenge – Prompt4: Hope

Thank you Emmeebee for beta-ing.

Word Count: 1609

Anything But Ordinary

Falling For You

Ever since Dudley moved out of his parents' home, he had been trying to live as independently as he could. He had graduated college with a degree in management and desired to take over his father's company once the older man was ready to retire. He preferred to get onsite and make sure that things progressed well while his father stayed back and enjoyed his relaxed responsibilities ever since Dudley had joined. Needless to say, his parents were very proud of him. He visited them every Sunday and had breakfast and lunch with them while Vernon went on about him living off on his own and Petunia tried to set him up with yet another girl she thought would be good for him. He smiled at his father's pride and told his mother that he wasn't ready to settle down, which always disappointed her until he promised to let her have a free reign when he was ready.

Yes, life was predictable . . . but it was good.

Despite how much his parents had wanted to pamper him, Dudley continually denied them. Every Sunday evening, he walked back to his flat, which was about thirty minutes away from Privet Drive by foot. He stopped at the departmental store to buy a few necessities to last the week before heading over to his flat.

He climbed up two flights of stairs and walked over to the door marked 202. After fumbling through his keys, he unlocked the door. Just as he was about to close it behind him, the door on the opposite side of his opened, and a black haired girl walked out, dressed impeccably as usual. His eyes wide, Dudley nodded to her and shut his door.

Hidden from view, Dudley banged his head twice on the wall beside the door as he mumbled, "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

It had been a week since his new neighbor had moved in, and he had yet to introduce himself to her. The only thing he knew was that her name was Cho – he had heard her speaking to the woman on the first floor – and she was extremely pretty. Her black hair was long and shiny, and she had the cutest smile. She had a petite body, a bit athletic too; he guessed that she played or used to play a sport. If she knew that he watched her when she wasn't looking, she – or anyone, actually – would definitely think of him as some sort of pervert.

Until about a week ago, he had been telling the truth when he told his mother that he wasn't interested in anyone. But this girl, Cho, he wanted to know her. He didn't want to ruin things before they even began though. Every day, he repeated the plan in his head – get to know her and ask her out. He was sure that a beautiful woman like her already had a boyfriend. But he hadn't seen any man around, and that gave him hope.

He didn't know what it was about her that made him so nervous. He had spoken to girls before, and had even gone on a few dates back in college. He had noticed girls taking an interest in him every time he met some of his college buddies at the bar, so he knew he wasn't bad looking – he thanked god for the nurse back in school who had decided that he needed to shed his baby fat, and, when puberty hit, his wrestling classes and nature had helped him grow taller and muscular. And yet, he was terrified to ask her. Maybe it was because he had grown much less boisterous and overconfident since his family had to go into hiding for their safety. And after that, things had just changed for Dudley.

"I'll talk to her the next time I see her," he resolved, before spending the rest of his night watching mindless telly and eating what his mother had packed for him.

For the first time in months, he realized that his predictable life was actually quite boring.

Five days had passed since Dudley had decided to talk to his new neighbour. He had seen her every morning, but had simply nodded each time. He now stood in front of her flat door with a plate of apple pie in his hands. He knocked twice and waited nervously. Thirty seconds later – he counted – the door opened and Cho stood before him. "Um, yes?" She looked surprised to see him.

"Hello, I'm Dudley, your neighbour. I, er, just wanted to welcome you to the building," he said, not quite meeting her eyes, and handed her the pie.

"Oh, wow, thank you."

"No problem. I hope you like it." He wondered if she was going to invite him in. When he had practiced the interaction in his head, she had not been surprised at all and had even invited him in. He also didn't fail to realize that she hadn't introduced herself to him either. Maybe she didn't want to.

"I'll go now," he mumbled and turned back to his flat. He felt beyond embarrassed and completely stupid and also more than a little hurt.

"Um, Dudley, would you like to come in? We can eat the pie together," Cho said.

"Sure," he agreed, turning back to her with a relieved smile.

"Oh, I'm Cho, by the way." She smiled back at him politely and held out her right hand.

"Nice to meet you, Cho." His smile grew even wider as he shook her dainty hand.

He wasn't that stupid, after all.

Dudley hung out with Cho almost every evening. He began to realize how much he had missed speaking to someone around his own age, especially someone of the opposite sex. He was happier and much more jovial at work than he had been before. He began to learn more about her, and she about him. She wasn't very specific about her job, but he gathered that she worked as a counsellor or something similar. She loved chocolate, her favourite dish was homemade chicken noodle soup, she was very independent, not as close to her family as he was, and her favourite colour was blue. Most of the things she owned were in shades of blue, and cerulean blue was her favourite.

Dudley hoped that she felt the sparks that he felt. He knew there was something between them and wanted to act on it. But he was also quite nervous and scared. He wanted her to like him as a friend before he ventured into that territory. He had evasively asked her about previous boyfriends, but she had quickly dismissed him. Although he knew her, he also felt that he didn't, really. She was a very private person; every time he tried to get too specific, she would shut him off. But Dudley was okay with that. They spent a lot of time together and enjoyed one another's company. He didn't want to know her every deepest darkest secret, anyway. Not right then. That would just make him creepy.

Weeks turned into a month and half, and Dudley realized that he was falling hard for this woman. And he knew, he just knew, that she felt something for him too. He had mentioned her a few time to his parents but hadn't gone into any details that would pique Petunia's interest. He knew that his mother would then insist on meeting her. He had no doubt that, from there, his parents would unwittingly scare her off.

Dudley rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. He was acting as if he and Cho were actually dating.

"I'll ask her tonight," he said out loud, determinedly.

That evening, they spent their time watching movies in Dudley's flat. For some weird reason, Cho was absolutely fascinated by his telly. He studied her while she raptly watched The Lion King.

"I can't believe that you hadn't watched it before," he teased her when the movie was done.

She just smiled and playfully punched him.

"Sometimes I think you spent all your life under a rock," he continued.

"Well, now you know," Cho said, rolling her eyes.

After few seconds of laughter, Dudley licked his lips and took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"Hey, Cho – are you seeing anyone?" he asked nervously. He knew the answer to that, but wanted to check anyway.

Cho looked up. Meeting his eyes, she said, "No, but you know that."

"Yeah." He nodded, feeling happy nonetheless.

"What's on your mind?" she asked softly. He wondered if she was encouraging him to continue or was actually honestly unaware of where his next words may lead. He hoped for the former.

"Um . . . Do you feel, er, anything between us?" he mumbled.

She sent him a questioning look.

"I mean other than friendship," he added hurriedly, a blush riding up his face.

"Do you?" she asked softly.

"Yes," he answered, for the first time staring into her dark eyes with an intense and confident gaze.

"Me too," she said, smiling unblushingly.

"Wow. Really?" Dudley gasped, with a beaming smile on his face.

"Yes, idiot." She laughed at his reaction.

"Wow," Dudley repeated, still smiling widely. "So, do you want to go on a date with me sometime?"

"Pick me up tomorrow at 6," she answered. Jumping up from the couch, Cho gave him a peck on his left cheek and left his flat with a cheerful 'goodnight'.

"Sleep well," he called out happily.

That night, Dudley slept with his lips curved upwards, still unable to take that stupid smile off his face.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this, please let me know your thoughts. :)