InsaneJournal

RP: A night with Mum & Dad
Who: Cho, Kelly, and Rui Chang
What: Cho goes and spends the night at her parents' house
Where: The Chang home in Glasgow
When: March 2, 2005
Rating: SFW

Despite having just spent a few days with her Mum and Dad in Hong Kong for Chinese New Year - the family had stayed with her Uncle Dai, who was the only sibling who still lived there full time - Cho had decided last minute to spend the night in Glasgow with them, after learning that Luna's father had passed away. She and Luna had certainly never been close, and if you'd asked Cho in school she'd have told you Xenophilius was certifiably batty, but there was something about someone so young losing their parent that had shaken Cho.

She'd made strides in the last two years - big ones. She'd opened her own business, which was now a great success in her opinion. She'd reconnected with friends after shutting them when the war ended. She'd even met a man she thought she might see some sort of future with. It was all more than she ever thought possible after Cedric had died, and after the war. Yes, she'd gone back to Hogwarts for the final battle, but before that she and her mother had simply hidden away. Cho was only half magical after all. And had been a former flame of Harry Potter. They'd spent a year terrified and hiding and after that final battle she'd pretty much gone back to that for another year. It had taken her over three years just to get the flat in Melinda's building, after all. And to see someone lose a family member under... Normal circumstances -- it had stopped her in her tracks and as soon as she'd written a note of condolence to Luna (which she truly hoped rang sincerely, as she'd meant it, despite not being close), she'd left the office and packed an overnight bag to floo to her mother's library in Glasgow.

Scotland in the Winter could be pretty but was mostly just wet and cold. Now she sat at the kitchen table with a steaming mug of tea before her, waiting for her father to get home from a late night at the office. "I thought you couldn't hardly stand the Lovegoods. Why the sudden concern?"

Stirred from her thoughts, Cho looked up at her beautiful mother. "What's your Boggart, Mum?" Kelly cocked her head at the abrupt change of topic. "Well, when I was a child it was snakes, great large snakes. I haven't had the misfortune of seeing one since then. Why do you ask?"

Cho swallowed thickly, "Mine's always been the same. Even with everything..." She shook her head and took a deep breath, "It's Dad, Mum. Daddy, dead, and there's nothing we can do, no magic, no potion, he's just... Dead." She was still shaking her head, seemingly lost in the conversation.

Her mum came closer and put her arms tentatively around her, recognizing the look in her daughter's eyes. Kelly felt Cho had seen too much sadness, and she had always been a feeling person, anyway. To see so much devastation and violence and death and sadness while so young - as all of Cho's generation had - broke Kelly's heart. To see a ghost of that skittering around Cho now, Kelly didn't know what to do.

Rui would know, he always did.

Just then, as if she'd conjured him with her thought, the front door opened and Rui came in, calling to her, unknowing that his daughter was also in the kitchen. "Honey, it's good to see you, to what do we owe the honor of your visit?" He asked, the sarcasm obvious but light and lilting in his tone. And then he caught the weight in the air and set down his briefcase, not bothering to shed his coat. As he crossed the kitchen, Kelly moved away from embracing her daughter to make room for her husband, and he knelt to meet her eyes. "Cho, daughter, what's wrong?"

Cho suddenly felt silly, worrying him for no reason, just missing him and she threw her arms around him in a display of affection that clearly startled him. "I just missed you Daddy, that's all," she explained, feeling relief flood her just to be in the same room with her, all her worries clearly unfounded.

Later, as they all curled up on couches - Cho hadn't hardly left her father's side since the kitchen, except to change into a pair of her mother's flannel pajamas - eating ice cream and watching something foolish on muggle telly, he hesitantly put his arm around her and held her close until she fell asleep.