Story Title: Common Ground
School: Durmstrang
Theme: The Forest of Dean - Look at the relationship between wizards, Muggles, Muggleborns, and other sentient creatures
Year: 4
Main Prompt: [word] Superior
Additional Prompts: [Any Pairing] Cho Chang/Dudley Dursley
[Setting] Playground
Wordcount: 2461
AN Alternate Universe; Bae is a Korean name meaning Inspiration; warning for suggested child abandonment and mention of spousal abuse
Common Ground
She was shaking. Merlin, why couldn't she stop shaking? Her landlord and former friend, Mr. D., draped a blanket over her shoulders and placed a cup of tea carefully within reach.
"Breathe, Cho. In and out. You've got this. Come on now; what has you so spooked?"
Finally, Cho No-Name was able to meet his eyes. How could he be so calm? The magic use had been all too obvious; there was no way she could possibly pass it off as anything else. Without her wand, she was helpless against whatever he might try to do against her. Long minutes passed before Cho could speak. Perhaps he would only kick her out.
"You—I suppose you'll want Bae and me to leave after what you've seen?" Cho did not dare to meet D.'s eyes. Some of the earliest bedtime stories in her memory detailed the horrifying consequences that could come from a Muggle knowing about one's magic. A lack of willingness to actively harm her did not mean that D. would continue to grant her and her son a place to live.
A squeal rent through from the upstairs where Bae played with D.'s daughter, Jasmine. How would she explain their needing to leave? Bae loved it here.
Before Cho could leave the kitchen, D. grabbed her hand as gently as always.
"Leave? Why would I-Cho, I've suspected that you were a witch practically since we first met! It's the only reason I felt safe enough to let you stay here. I thought you knew." D. would have continued along the same vein, but the cry of upset children filled the room. It was getting late. "I'll work on getting Bae and Jazz settled for the night. Drink your tea. We can talk more after they're asleep."
Cho never put much stock into Divination, but as she stared into the swirling mug of tea, the years seemed to evaporate around her. She remembered…
Learning at her parents' knees the true source of their superiority. Third-generation immigrants from the Magical Kingdom of Korea, Chang marriages had always been carefully planned. They did not weaken their blood by mingling with muggles, but they also stayed far away from near relatives in accordance with their Asian heritage. As a result, both her mother's and her father's lines lacked the squib relations that plagued many in Magical Europe.
Going to Hogwarts, Cho had seen how many purebloods put their superiority on their blood alone and scoffed. What did that matter if half your children were unable to use a wand? Her superiority would be proven when her own children got their letters while unworthy Ravenclaws like Loony Lovegood acted as a decent target for any frustrations.
Falling in love with Cedric to the displeasure of her parents was her first real act of rebellion. The illogical guilt that had clawed at her heart for years; had her actions against tradition cursed her love? She remembered trying to get into a relationship with Harry partially to prove the guilt wrong and partially to punish the one who had lived if the curse was real.
Finally bowing to the inevitable and getting married to Luke Li, Cho Chang began to believe that her childhood ambitions might still come to be. If her new husband had come to Britain after the war and did not understand the nightmares that plagued her nights, well, she would simply have to adapt.
A stray hand touched her stomach as she remembered…
The frantic race to get pregnant; failing again and again. For years, nothing Cho did had held value because her womb failed to obey. Finally, she glowed the pale blue that signified a son. That beautiful two years where Luke did not hit her for fear of negatively impacting Bae were an oasis in the desert of a loveless marriage.
The nightmare of Bae's 18-month appointment still brought chills; the healer had asked if she wanted her son to be tested for magical ability. The brightness of his glow would show his magical potential. Bae had babbled happily, not knowing that his lack of glow was shattering his mommy's world.
For months, Cho kept the results a secret. She started visiting a nearby Muggle playground with Bae. It was safer for him than the magical equivalents. Hesitantly, she began to make small talk with the regulars. Most of the women were curt with her; it wouldn't be until later that she realized her Muggle costume stood out like a sore thumb. In spite of that, Bae seemed to make a friend in a little girl named Jasmine who had the most spectacular green eyes. Her father went by D. and was a widower and the perfect gentleman. D. was the one who encouraged her to reach out to her parents-something she hated and loved him for in equal measure.
Cho discovered that the family legacy was not quite as spotless as she had been led to believe. Apparently, children who did not exhibit magic before the age of five tended to suffer from terrible accidents. They thought it was a blessing to know that Bae was a squib this early. It wouldn't be unusual for him to "disappear". Cho knew that her husband would be less than understanding about Bae's status. For the life of her child, Cho had no choice but to disappear into the Muggle world. Stripping herself of both her married and maiden name to avoid being found by detection spells had been agonizing and freeing at the same time. Thankfully, she had a friend who made the transition to a new world that much easier.
-IWSC-
As Dudley No-Name ducked flying toys and books in an effort to put the two overtired children to bed, his thoughts circled to the woman downstairs. There was a time when witnessing magic like hers would have had him spewing hate. He had grown up believing that his superiority was based on his family name and their utter normalcy. It wasn't until he had grown that he realized how shallow that basis was. Everyone was different in some way; therefore, no one could truly measure up to the Dursley good name. Magic, or freakishness as it had been called back then, was the worst possible offense, but even his father's boss was talked about behind his back for having "too much".
Dudley was self-aware enough to realize that his marital expectations with his first wife had been a tad unrealistic. Their marriage had been going downhill almost since it started. His wife tried to make him care more about his health and social niceties, but it wasn't until after the accident that he really put the effort in. He was down to an almost decent weight now and could occasionally maintain a conversation, but Dudley knew that he wasn't any prize. Janice certainly had deserved better than him; for better or worse though, she had gifted him with the most precious treasure of all: their beautiful daughter, Jasmine. Unfortunately, it was Janice's death that really opened his eyes to the insanity that was his parents' home on Privet Drive.
Prior to the car accident, his private observations about his parents had been largely theoretical-something that he thought in the privacy of his mind but no reason to actively argue against. The collision changed all that.
An accident that destroyed the majority of the car had left his precious baby unharmed. Neither the police nor the paramedics could explain it. The only explanation had been magic. The thing he had been raised to hate with a passion had saved his little one, and suddenly, it was not so bad at all.
His mother and father did not see things in quite that way and were baffled when he refused to give Jazzy up for adoption. The yelling had lasted for quite a while, and by the end of it, he was ashamed to have grown up a Dursley. The last time he had seen either of his parents or even acknowledged the relationship at all had been over a year ago before he moved into a new home halfway across the country.
As a single father, he worked at home as much as possible. In an effort to avoid repeating his parents' mistakes, his daughter was encouraged to run about as much as she liked with frequent trips to the park and limited sweets or goodies. Her magic did not manifest often, but he had seen it enough to be wary of interacting overmuch with the general population.
Then he had seen Cho Li at the park with her son. Dressed in a way that was rather reminiscent of the 1920s, she had stood out like a sore thumb compared to the other adults standing around, and neither she nor her son had seemed to quite understand what the various pieces of play equipment were for. Jasmine, being her beautiful self, had taken the little boy by the hand and taught him all about the joys to be found at their little sanctuary.
Like his daughter, Dudley had been drawn to the little family even as he suspected that her fashion faux pas were connected to being a witch. Going by his first initial in case his cousin had ever mentioned his overweight bully of a relative, he had introduced himself and delicately asked if she was an immigrant. Though she had run with the story as an explanation for her strange attire, her lack of knowledge dealing with current events only solidified Dudley's assumption.
When it came out that her husband was at least somewhat abusive and her parents agreed with his stance, it seemed natural to invite the family into his home. The children got along great, and he didn't have to be concerned that accidental bouts of magic would scare them away with Cho being a witch. He could even admit to himself that he loved having them there, and was even falling hard for his first real adult friend since the move. Bae was delightful, always curious about "D.'s pooter" and wanting to push the buttons like Mr. D. Jasmine had flourished from the female presence in the house, constantly wanting to paint nails or do hair with the motherly Ms. Cho. He knew that she entertained the children occasionally by making colorful bubbles and the like appear in the playroom. It was almost like they were one big happy family. Too bad that Dudley forgot to explain to Cho that he was already in on the big family secret.
Seeing that the princess and prince of his castle had finally drifted off to dreamland, Dudley quietly crept down the stairs. It was time to come clean to Cho about some things.
-IWSC-
"I've a cousin like you. Magical, I mean. My parents hated him and all he stood for; we were better than anyone else because we were the only residents on the island of 'Normal'. I first started to get an idea of how flawed their views were when my cousin saved me from denimtors or something like that when we were about fifteen. If he was so bad, why would he bother to save me?"
"Do you mean dementors, D.?" Cho could think of very few Hogwarts students who would have been able to fight off dementors at fifteen; actually, she could only think of one: Harry Potter whom she had, in a fit of guilt and rage, dated briefly that same year.
D. nodded and continued, "After that, I mostly ignored my parents' radical views. It didn't directly impact me, so why should I care one way or another? Then there was the car crash that killed my wife. It should have killed my daughter, but she came away without a scratch on her. I knew what that meant, and my parents changed from doting grandparents to monsters who wanted me to give her up for adoption. We moved as far away as we could, eventually settling down here. Having grown up around hate, it was hard for me to let people close to us. I was afraid that they would turn against us if they witnessed some of Jazzy's accidental magic. When you came to the park dressed up like something out of a history book with no concept of current events, I figured you were a witch. Honestly, it's the only reason I felt safe enough to let you and Bae stay here. You two fit. I feel like Jazzy has a brother in Bae and enjoy helping him learn about computers. Yes, I saw you use magic tonight, just like I've seen you use magic in the playroom to entertain the kids. It doesn't bother me; please don't go because now you know."
Cho did not know what to think. His story felt like a total parallel to her own. Both had grown up believing in a superiority that simply did not exist. Even her pureblood status meant nothing in the face of this Muggle man who treated her with more respect and kindness than her own husband. Honestly, her time here had felt more like a home than Luke's ever did. If he truly didn't want her to go….
"We'll stay! Our stories are somewhat similar, actually. I was raised to believe my family was superior on false pretenses as well, something that went up in smoke when it was discovered that Bae was a squib," seeing D.'s confused expression, she explained, "A squib is like the opposite of Jasmine, a child born to magical parents without magic themselves. Like you, my parents felt that the only right move would be to forget his existence because he did not fit into the narrative they had planned. I love how kind you've been to Bae, teaching him about something I doubt I'll ever truly understand. Jasmine's a great big sis for him too. If my magic truly doesn't bother you, I really don't want to uproot his life again. I'd like for us to stay and would be willing to help you navigate having a magical daughter. Sometimes, a wand is needed to clean up a magical mess." Cho used her wand to unstick a rogue toy that had attached itself to D.'s shoulder without his notice.
"Thanks," Dudley responded, sheepishly. "I'd appreciate it. What do you say to having a picnic at the playground tomorrow to celebrate?"
"It's a date!"
And it was; October 31st to be precise. If Dudley just so happened to remember the date and planned to propose a year later at that same picnic bench where they informally became a family, that was no one's business but his own.