School: Mahoutokoro
Year: 5
Theme: Little Whinging (4 Privet Drive)
Main Prompt: [Any Pairing] Cho Chang/Dudley Dursley
Additional Prompts: [Plot point] Unlikely friendship
[Quote] "Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears." Rudyard Kipling
Wordcount: 3166
Petunia placed her teacup gently on the dining table. The clink of the china soothed her. It was too quiet these days, with Vernon away for long hours and Dudley busy starting a new part of his life, the house was very silent. She turned on the television to escape from the radio silence. Getting up from her chair, she walked towards the window and glanced out. The street was completely deserted, the closest house, almost a kilometre away.
No livelihood, no neighbours to spy on and a very dull town. Sighing, she shut the window, the humid heat of July was stifling. Her nylon dress was not helping matters either. Back at Little Whinging, she would bear the weather in an uncomfortable dress with a smile on her face. But there was no one to see her now.
Bang. Petunia startled.
"Pets wrecking stuff at home? Worry not. This hot glue—" Frustrated Petunia turned off the television, marched towards her room to change into loose, comfortable nightgown. Her perfectly set hair, now twisted into a messy bun.
Just as she left for her kitchen to prepare lunch, she heard a knock. She glanced at her door in confusion. She wondered if the doorbell had stopped working. Surprised at the interruption at an odd time, she glanced through the peephole. A young, petit woman stood outside.
Petunia opened the door, "Yes, how may I help you?"
"Is this the Dursleys?"
"Yes, it is." Petunia smiled at the sweet spoken girl.
"Oh, you see I'm from the Ministry of Ma—"
In a second, Petunia's face soured, and she shut the door on her face. She was alone at home and she did not trust these people. She should have known it would be one of them. What kind of freak knocked instead of ringing the doorbell?
The Ministry had shifted them to this neighbourhood, since they were forced to shift from Privet Drive. Ittook Vernon extra two hours because of the increase in his commute time.
They received a letter soon after. From the Ministry. Ignoring didn't help because the frequency of the letters increased. They finally agreed to meet the witch from Ministry. Dudley was recruited for the task, by his parents.
He grumbled all the way to the muggle cafe he had been asked to arrive at.
"All right. Just sign here," Cho said as she handed him a quill.
"How am I supposed to use this?" Dudley said with a sneer. "Honestly, but how backward you people are? I have a pen."
Cho gave a deep breath and tried to keep her temper under control. "You can't use that. You can only sign from this quill. It's spelled to prevent forged signatures."
Dudley reluctantly picked up the quill, quickly signed his name in poor handwriting and placed it down as fast as he could.
Cho controlled the urge to roll her eyes.
"Are we done now?"
"Yes, we are. See you never." With that Cho got up, packed her bag with a swish of her wand and left.
***
When they shifted back to their old home, his mother hissed and cursed. Vernon had one look at the house and turned red in the face.
"Why did I have to be cursed to be the sister of such a freak. Neither would I have known Lilly, nor would I have to live through such humiliation. The neighbours are certainly going to ask questions now…" Petunia continued to mutter manically as she started putting things right.
Dudley ignored her and made his way towards his bedroom. Other than a few things thrown here and there, his room was untouched.
Lying back on his bed, he thought about the bizarre interaction with that girl Cho.
His emotions had been a mixture of wariness, disgust, awe and curiosity. As a child, being forced to be silent about the weird occurrences he had witnessed had been difficult. Before Harry had left for his strange school, he just thought him to be a freak. It had been bizarre when he learned of magic. Perhaps if it hadn't been used against him, he would have been interested. But the entire ordeal had been traumatising and he developed a loathing stronger than before, for Harry Potter and people of his kind.
The first year at Smeltings, he had been very quiet. Still shaken up by the incident that took place at the Hut on the Rock. Every chance he got, he checked his rear for any signs of a tail. His parents had calmly, but firmly explained to him never to talk to anyone about it ever again. This was no doubt difficult for an eleven-year-old. Half of his youth was spent, considering if he should tell his friends about magic.
He wondered what Harry was up to as fell asleep.
It's true when they say that thoughts hold power, because just a few days later Dudley was startled by furious tapping on his window.
"Blimey! What on…"
He stopped short when he noticed an owl outside.
He opened the window hesitently. The owl swooped in, settled on his desk and raised its feet. He noticed a letter was attached.
Dudley stared. The owl must have gotten impatient, for it hooted at him.
He snatched the letter and read.
Big D,
I'm not going to sugar coat stuff, but do you want to meet? Consider it an olive branch.
Harry
p.s. write a reply on that paper and send it with back with my owl, Pascal.
Dudley was surprised by his decision.
Their meeting was awkward to say the least. When Dudley reached the given address, Harry had already been waiting for him. But that was because he had purposefully arrived late. He couldn't make it easy for Harry.
"Hey Big D," Harry said as he approached the table. He had a small smile on his face, which looked a little pained. As if he was already regretting. Dudley couldn't blame him because he felt the same.
"Why?" Dudley asked as soon as he sat down.
"Why what?"
"Why did you want to meet?"
Harry stared at Dudley "I told you," Harry said, "It's an olive branch."
Just as he prepared to reply, a waiter interrupted them. Dudley unashamedly ordered a ton of food while Harry just asked for a plate of chips.
"How's the diet plan, Dud?" Harry said with a smirk.
"Fuck off."
They then sat like that for some time, both unsure of what to say.
"What are you doing now, anyway?" Harry asked after a few silent moments.
Dudley scratched the back of his head. "Well, college will start in a couple of months."
"Oh, alright. What are you studying?"
"Was this supposed to be an interview?" Dudley asked with a sneer.
"Blimey no. Can't a guy just talk to his dear cousin. What's got you so irritated?"
They both went quite for a while again.
"I'm training to join the police force by the way. Thanks for asking."
Dudley was surprised to say the least. After another cursory glance at Harry, he finally registered that the boy was no longer thin and gangly. He seemed healthy and fit, maybe a little tired but a far cry from his appearance as a child.
"Well, that's great. Uhm… I'm doing Management."
Harry's eyes shot wide at that statement.
"Seriously? That's… unexpected. Didn't know your interests were aligned that way."
Dudley shrugged. He was not interested, that was true. It was more of what his parents wanted. During the last year at Smeltings, he had been so unsure of what he was supposed to do. That's when his parents planted the seed in his head that he should take up Management. It had a lot of scope and besides, according to Mrs. Dursley, would help him manage his father's business after he would retire. Dudley didn't care either way. He didn't get into the university of his parent's choice but again Dudley was not very bothered.
His thoughts were interrupted when the waiter brought over their food. The young men sighed internally when the food arrived. Both having an excuse to not talk.
A few minutes into the meal, Dudley asked suddenly, "So what was all that commotion about last year?"
Harry's chip paused midway on hi journey towards his mouth.
Harry huffed a laugh. "That's a story for another time Big D."
"Stop calling me that," Dudley said with a scowl.
"Sure Big D. Whatever you say."
Dudley quickly finished his meal, wanting to leave suddenly. As soon as he was done, he gave Harry a brisk goodbye and took his leave without offering to contribute towards the check.
"Serves him right," he muttered under his breath.
The next few days, were spent thinking about the strange meeting with Harry. Dudley had not uttered a word to his parents about it. He did not know himself, what prompted him to meet his cousin.
Must be the nerves from starting at uni.
He still felt unsure about magical people. The only reason he had agreed to meet Harry was was because he knew Harry wouldn't attack him in public.
On a Tuesday, that week, there was a tapping on his window. Dudley was just as startled again. He opened the window to find another owl, which promptly swooped inside. He ditached the envelope attached to his leg.
The envelope weighed a lot surprisingly. He removed the letter first.
Mr. Dudley Dursley
Here's your compensation that the ministry owned you. We again apologise for the mis-convenience we may have caused.
If there are any issues, you can send an owl to your case manager Ms. Cho Chang. Since you may not have an owl, you may use the Ministry owl.
Regards
Ministry of Magic
Dudley kept the letter aside and removed the pouch from the envelope. It was maroon coloured with Gringotts written on it. Upon opening he found an assortation of coins.
"Bloody hell. Is this a joke?"
These were clearly the currency those people used. He grabbed a pen and paper and wrote a quick note to Cho Chang. He clearly remembered asking for the mode of payment to be a cheque. After penning the note, he was a little lost what to do. He didn't have her address.
He vaguely remembered noticing Harry tell his owl to deliver it to someone.
"Uhm, do you know where Cho Chang lives?"
The owl hooted.
"Yes?"
The owl hooted again.
"Great, deliver this to her." Dudley felt stupid saying that, but the owl left with the letter.
He kept the pouch in his drawer and lay back on his bed eager to sleep. Ever since he had been back, the bed had felt smaller. He'd have to ask his parents to get him a new one. This just won't do.
The next morning found him help his mother pack his bag. It was honestly less of helping and more of him lying back on his bed and flipping through his old video game stash he had found.
This time he didn't startle at the tapping.
"What's this Diddykins?"
"Those wizards sent us magical money instead of the check we asked for. It's a reply to the complaint letter."
Petunia pursed her mouth. "Such incompetent people! What does it say, Dudders?"
"That girl apologises and has asked me to meet her to sort it out."
"And why should we take the trouble for her mistakes?"
"What can be done?"
And indeed, what could be done. So, Dudley agreed to meet her.
She met him a few streets down his house.
As soon as she saw him, she rushed over to meet him. "I'm so so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't realised I filled out the form wrong."
Dudley would have been cruel to her under different circumstances. But she was pretty and he didn't want a crying girl next to him. So, he just mumbled a it's fine.
"Where are we going?"
"Gringotts."
"Ohhkay. How?"
"If you're fine I can apparate us."
"What you mean that teleporting thing? No way. Thank you"
Cho sighed. "I thought so. Let's hail a cab."
"Aren't you curious what it would be like?" she asked in a low voice, to keep the driver from hearing them.
She asked him when they were seated in.
Dudley didn't reply. He just stared out of the window, unsure of the answer himself.
"I'm pretty sure, I would have noticed Gringotts before, if it were here. I've been here plenty times," Dudley said when the cab dropped them off at Charing Cross Road.
"It's not here, of course." Cho gave him a funny look.
They walked towards a quite part of the street. The shops looked rundown here and there were no pedestrians.
As they walked towards a shop, Dudley halted and said, "I think we are supposed to go that way…"
Cho noticed the confused look on his face. "It's here. That's just the spell influencing you."
She grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards a small shop. Dudley noticed the wand in her hand and instantly froze in fear. But all she did was tap it against few bricks. And just like that, the wall of the shop melted away into a cosy pub.
"Come." Once they were inside, she let go of his wrist.
Dudley just followed her dumbly, taking in as much as he could. Once they reached the streets, everything else seemed very normal. In fact, the streets seemed too quiet.
"Is it always this quite?"
Cho sighed sadly. "I think people need a little quite now."
Dudley wondered if something had happened but didn't ask.
They soon reached a huge, white building. It towered over the other small shops he had seen yet.
"You brought the pouch along with you right?"
"Of course."
As soon as he entered the bank he froze in fright. Instead of people, human beings, attending to customers there were Goblins.
"Why are you standing there?" she whispered at him.
"Freaks," he muttered under his breath. He should have never agreed to this.
As he started following her inside, a Goblin rushed over and halted him.
"Sir, you cannot carry weapons inside the bank. Our laws have become stricter since the war, and we request you to hand us over the knife you are carrying."
Dudley felt his face go hot, in humiliation and fury. Before leaving the house, his mother had forced him to carry a pocketknife. "You never know with these people, Dudders. Better be safe."
"This is ridiculous! I won't be handing over anything. Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?" He felt the eyes of a dozen of Goblins on him.
Cho rushed over and quietly explained him. "Dudley just do as they say. No harm will be done, we'll finish our business and leave. Just do as they say."
"Yeah well, your wand is a weapon too isn't it? Why is that allowed?"
At this, the Goblin turned towards Cho. "Do you have any transactions to be made or need to visit your vault?"
"No," she replied.
"Then you can hand over your wand as well."
Dudley noticed the quiver in Cho's hand as she gave her wand to the Goblin. Her face was white. Both looked at Dudley. He reluctantly relinquished the hold on his small, foldable knife that he grasped.
"Very well, thank you," the Goblin said. "I'll entertain you today. Please follow me."
Dudley walked in a daze towards one of the empty desks.
"Yes, hello. I am Cho Chang from the Ministry. My department had to make a few reimbursements to the Dursleys. But there was a mistake on the form, from my part. Instead of a Muggle cheque, I requested the money in Wizarding currency. Which Mr. Dursley has no use of. Can you help us?"
The Goblin nodded throughout the explanation and while Cho fished out the documents, he eyed Dudley. Dudley was supremely uncomfortable, and he felt cold from the sweat. He just wanted to get out of this place.
The Goblin asked them to wait, while he worked on the cheque.
Cho eyed him warily, but Dudley didn't look her way.
When their business was concluded, Cho stopped outside the bank.
"Do you want to have a quick bite by at a restaurant nearby? My apology treat."
Dudley tried to refuse, but Cho insisted. He gave in.
They reached a restaurant called Three Broomsticks. Dudley followed her to one of the booths.
As soon as they were seated, a lady named Rosmerta came to take their orders.
Cho asked for something called a butterbeer. Dudley didn't pay much attention. He was still a little zoned out.
When their drinks arrived, Dudley made no move. He was content on staring out of the window.
"You should try that," Cho said.
He fell in love with the drink after his first sip. It was heavenly. It was over within a few minutes. He ordered for a second one.
"I told you, you'd like it," Cho said with a weak smile.
Dudley had calmed down mostly and was feeling much better, so he asked her. "What's the war .they were talking about?"
Cho stared at him in shock. "You don't know?"
"Why should I?"
"Oh, well. I—I just thought, since you are Harry's cousin, you might." Cho shrugged
"No, I don't know."
"I don't know how to explain it to you. Bu the war had been going on for years now. That's the reason Harry's parents died. They were murdered by this man."
"Oh. So what happened to him?"
"Harry killed him a few months back," Cho said, looking straight into his eyes. "It was the best day of my life."
Dudley was taken aback by her tone. Her soft voice had turned hard and her eyes reflected pain.
Dudley was quite the rest of the day. In fact, when they were preparing to leave, he even agreed to her Apparating him.
It was irony, that Cho Apparated them to the same lane, where they had been attacked by those scary creatures called Dementors, a few years ago.
"I'll leave you here," she told him. "I hope you had an… adventurous day?" Cho grimaced.
Dudley nodded. "The last time my day had been this adventurous I had punched someone at the cinema."
"At the what?"
"Cinema? The place where we watch movies?"
"Oh! Oh, that. I've heard a lot about it. But never been there."
"You've never seen movies?" Dudley was shocked.
"No, my parents were always very protective of me. Especially after fourth year."
"Well, you're missing out then."
"Maybe you can tell me where it is? Only if you want to. You're the only Muggle I know, honestly."
Dudley shrugged. He was surprised, he didn't mind.
"Alright, send me an owl. Or however you guys communicate."
"I will. Goodnight Dudley."
"Goodnight."
And with a pop, she left.
A/N: There was so much more I wanted to say, but could not because the word count :( I also want to point out that Cho, is a victim of war and is more subdued than she would otherwise have been. If I could, I would have written from her pov as well