Written for whispered touches' 'Live, Laugh, Love' challenge on the Harry Potter challenge forum.
Laughter is the shortest distance between two people
-Victor Borge
Cho decided to take a break from the Wizarding World the day she turned twenty to recover from the war. Even though it's been what feels like eternity when it's only been less than three years (she's since lost count of time and it doesn't bother her very much), she wanted to change her life and she wanted to change it fast.
She stayed in London even though there wasn't much going for her aside from minimal contact with Marietta (who was living with her boyfriend and didn't have much time for Cho anyway, due to said boyfriend and distance) and an okay job that could have paid better but paid the bills and she was fine with that. She lived alone, anyhow.
It was a windy Friday evening when Cho decided she needed a walk to get some fresh air. Her flat was stuffy and claustrophobic. What she needed was time outside in open air, with the endless sky expanding extending her vision.
Twenty five minutes of silence wrapping her thoughts and brisk walking made her breathe lighter. A sudden burst of laughter broke what was left of the silence.
"Did I startle you?" The voice, decidedly male, asked easily.
"Yes, yes you did," Cho responded.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to!" The male said sheepishly.
"What're you doing out so late, anyway?" She asked, genuinely curious.
"I could ask the same of you," he retorted.
"You think you're clever, don't you?"
"That is my middle name."
"What's your first name, kind sir?"
"Do I detect sarcasm in your voice?"
"Yes, you do." A satisfied grin plastered itself on Cho's face.
"I'm Joseph Adams, and what do you call yourself?"
"Cho Chang."
"You from around here?" She nodded and from there, they began talking. Cho easily learned that Joseph was of an average family and the youngest of three. She laughed when she heard of the eccentricity that came from his house, like the time when his oldest sister Marie (age about six and a half at the time) nearly flooded the house from letting the bath overflow or the time when his older brother Connor ran away from home for a week and a half but ended up living at his friend's flat near by.
"You're lucky to have two siblings," Cho mused aloud after hearing Joseph's seemingly endless family antics.
"Can't live with them, can't live without them," Joseph replied with shrug.
"Must have been interesting nonetheless."
"You can say that."
"What else could I say about your family?"
"They're crazy and I love them."
Cho smiled.
"My home life is kind of boring," Cho explained, only partially lying. She did currently live alone, which was comforting at times since she didn't have to deal with obnoxious roommates. Witch or not, living alone was, admittedly, quite boring.
"I could change that," Joseph said hopefully.
"How?" Cho asked, immediately suspicious. Joseph scribbled down numbers on Cho's arm in pen, an odd thing that never happened to her before and she doesn't mind his different approach to getting his address (she assumed the numbers he was writing were for his house).
"Come on over tomorrow!" They both laugh just because they could.
Laughter from a kind stranger made the distance from loneliness to acceptance closer. She felt at ease walking home with Joseph on her mind.
I had a ton of fun writing this and I hope you guys liked reading this as much as I liked writing it. Will there be a sequel? Maybe, I haven't decided.
