Word Count: 460
It's okay, Dudley tells himself after he's had time to clear his head. It isn't the end of the world.
He hesitates outside the house, guilt souring his stomach. He shouldn't have walked off. All Cho had done was tell him the truth. Why is there still a part of him that fears magic?
No. That isn't it. It had just been a shock. He doesn't care that she's a witch. Cho is still the same woman he knows and loves. Nothing is going to change that.
Except now he's terrified he might have ruined things.
He steps inside, clutching the box tightly. "Cho?"
She's sitting at the kitchen table, and she looks exhausted. The guilt grows heavier. He really messed things up. She's been crying, and Dudley had sworn he would never make her cry.
"I brought gifts," he says, opening the box to reveal the cupcakes within. Chocolate on chocolate, her favorite. "I… Look, Cho… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run off like that."
She offers him a smile. It isn't the genuine smile he knows and loves. This is a a sad quirk of the lips, one that doesn't quite meet her eyes. "So you have your reasons," she says. "I get it. I just…"
"No. You did everything right." He takes a seat across from her, plucking a cupcake from the box and taking a bite. "I… My parents raised me to hate magic. But that changed even before I met you. It just took my surprise, and I… I was dumb and scared."
"You know I'm not going to curse you, right? Nothing to be scared of."
Dudley shudders. He still remains the pig tail that giant man had given him all those years ago. To be fair, he had deserved it; he had been an insufferable asshole in his youth. "I know," he assures her.
Silence hangs between them. Part of Dudley expects her to throw him out and tell him it isn't going to work out after all. He braces himself for the fallout, but it doesn't come.
Cho breaks the silence with a laugh, and the sound is soft and sweet, and Dudley knows everything is going to be okay now. "Looks like weird is the new normal," she muses, taking a cupcake from the box and biting into it. Her smile is more genuine as a content sigh escapes her lips.
Dudley nods his agreement. Maybe that's a good thing, and normal is overrated anyway. God knows he loves Cho, and he doesn't think anything will ever change that.
"Cheers," he says, lifting his cupcake in a mock "toast". "May we have many years of weirdness together."
Cho laughs and taps her cupcake against his. "I would be okay with that."