she is healing.

[sinkswim]

qviddiitch​:

while oliver didn’t have much of a need to hide behind a mask,  he had always LOVED halloween. the opportunity to be someone else for the night, to cut loose and engage in activities that he’d regret in the morning, eating his weight in candy. it was ideal, it was fun. and this night was no exception- he’d gone all out, spending weeks putting together his costume and even going as far as enlisting avalon’s help with painting his body gold. he looked great, and he felt great- nothing was going to stand in the way of him having a good night.

or at least, so he had thought- but that was before he made it to the club. after consuming his drink of choice, the witch’s heart, he had been overcome with a sudden desire to tell the truth. and that’s exactly what he’d done, suddenly unable to keep his mouth shut he’d moved through the crowd blurting out the truth left and right. he was fortunate it had been so loud, otherwise, well, he probably would’ve been on the receiving end of more than one punch. 

at some point he managed to make his way outside, a loud sigh of relief escaping from his lips as he stepped into the crisp autumn air. for the first time that night, he found himself able to relax. he was alone, and that meant he was safe from ruffling any feathers. that was, until, he rounded the corner to come face to face with his ex-girlfriend. “cho,” he greeted her with a faint smile, his voice cracking as he stepped closer. “you look good,” he added, regretting it almost immediately. he was just fortunate that he managed to refrain from saying anything else, instead biting his lip as he waited for her response.

Oliver is the last person she expects to see, but perhaps she's a bit stupid to think otherwise. It's Murphy's Law at work, after all--anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Knowing Cho's questionable streak with the few she loved, the application of this law was just her blindingly brilliant luck. Of course the person Cho had willingly shared a year of her life with had to be standing in front of her, adorned in gold and muscle. It's almost painful, though she wouldn't tell him that.

The thought, like a stray bird, flies out of her mouth before she can stuff it back in. Her throat itches like she has a piece of popcorn at the back--it's possible, but that's not it. Wanting to cough, she blurts: "I should've known you'd be here." What? "Not that it's a bad thing! I just didn't think our reunion would be like this." Cho's left with her mouth hanging open, red lips formed into a surprised O. She can't deny that Oliver crosses her mind more than she'd like to admit--sometimes, when the days darken too early for comfort and she's in bed, she thinks about the way their bodies had once curled around each other for warmth. But that had been the problem. She had relied on Oliver too much. The guilt of him taking her the emotional rocks off of her back and onto his own had eaten away at her to the point that she knew it was wrong. So she left. That was the best thing for him. Cho would’ve been selfish to stay.

She tries to keep her gaze from wandering and her thoughts on track. Obviously her beverage of choice hadn't done her any favors. Was it spiked? She hadn't looked at the descriptions when she initially downed it. Shit. The sensation returns, crawling at her throat like a painful rash. Then it vanishes. The words that pour out of Oliver sound just as confusing as her own. She picks up on the way his voice breaks and caves into itself and offers a sympathetic smile. Oh. She looks good. Pursing her lips, she stares down at her outfit. Merlin, she would've worn medical robes if she knew she was going to run into him. "You look good too. I guess I have pretty splendid taste in men, yeah?" Cho wants to kick herself in the shin. Better yet, she might as well tell Oliver to hit her with his broom. "Sorry. I-I didn't mean to say that."

[sinkswim]

nevillel​:

“She’s something, all right,” agreed Neville, but it was affectionate. 

He was rather taken aback by Cho’s statement. “Well–I haven’t thought about it that way,” he said carefully. “Do you think of Hogwarts like that?” Before he could think better of asking it, he already had. “I mean–I guess I do, sometimes. But there were good memories there too.” He sounded uncertain now, and he quickly added, “For me.”

The worst of it personally for Neville had been that last year. But he didn’t think Hogwarts was like that anymore, hoped that it wouldn’t ever be again. Cho might feel differently with what she’d been through in her time there, though.

.

There’s a flash of something that crosses Neville’s typically serene features. It’s enough to make her pause before she speaks again. She wants to be as thoughtful as possible--it’s hard to be anything else when she hears him talk like he’s walking on eggshells. This is the way everyone sounds when they discuss the war with her, and she’s sure Neville understands the feeling too. The last thing she wants him to think is that she’s broken. “Of course there were good memories, you’re right.” There were, even if they’re not the first thoughts to come to mind. Cho would never get back the sensation of flying on the Hogwarts pitch for the first time, and late nights with friends didn’t feel the same as when she was in her dorm. 

“Not every year was miserable. I don’t think we would have fought the final battle if we hated Hogwarts.” She reasons. “Still, I’d be lying to myself if I believed and told everyone that it was all sunshine and rainbows. Not that that’s what I think you’re doing,” Cho is quick to sincerely add. “I’m just a hyper realist. I guess that’s why I’m a healer.”

[sinkswim]

gabrixllede​:

Gabrielle began writing down her answer, making mental notes as well on more questions to ask, potential mock ups, and also just astounded at the answer itself. She expected an expert, but she also didn’t think the other would have thought this through so well. When she approached the other with the idea, she was sure she’d get turned away. It was silly, trying to design a line especially for those at St. Mungo’s? Who would waste the time? “Personally, any type of pant or skirt should have pockets. I mean, sérieusement, they’re the most handy part of any outfit! “Quills and portable equipment… Would charming the pockets to be deeper than they seem be too much?” 

“Exactly.” Cho’s a bit dazzled by Gabrielle’s nonchalant use of French. Cho had spent the year after the war wishing to be somewhere else--France would have been nice, but anywhere would have fulfilled her wish. Instead, though, she had kept her head down and tried to fix her worn-torn plan. Which had worked to some extent. Had she not finished her training, she would have never been invited by Gabrielle to work with her. If this went well, it would change the way healers dressed for years to come. Gabrielle had a dangerous work ethic too. She would have been a phenomenal quidditch player had she applied her drive for fashion to the pitch. If not for the war, would Gabrielle have not been a designer? There are too many what if’s for Cho to consider, so she returns to the task at hand. “They should, right? I’d argue it’s pretty sexist that they don’t, but that’s just me.” Her words come out much slower than the speed of her thoughts--she doesn’t want her companion to feel pressed about taking notes because of her. “If this works out, healers at St. Mungo’s won’t go back to normal robes ever again.”

[sinkswim]

sneakscar​:

“merlin, me neither,” it isn’t as though marietta was ever one to CLUB, always just this side of too TIMID as a teenager ( WON’T WE GET IN TROUBLE? ) and then too wary of spotting a familiar face, and then too tired from work and war and the world around her. the idea of going to some space crowded with the crush of bodies and trying to navigate through the maze of flying limbs to get to the bar seems more exhausting than exciting. “oh - yeah, of course.” marietta smiles, raising the glass to her lips, “seeing as i’ve already spent far too much on my costume, i think pulling out now would be a pretty bad idea.” she giggles a bit at cho’s words and tucks her legs beneath her as marietta gets more and more comfortable. “oh, jeez. i bet. nothing like, uh, relative peace to boost birth rates, huh?” marietta is fairly certain that is a FACT, something she read while studying muggle wars on a whim of boredom and interest in a field she had realized she had little knowledge on.

These days, it would likely be a surprise to most that Cho was, in fact, the louder voice among the two of them back when they were at Hogwarts. At school, Cho’s extraverted personality ensured that she was never without friends wherever she went. Still, Marietta was the person she held closest back then and is still the person dearest to her now. People who speak little possess enough thoughts to have more of a personality than even the most outgoing person. That’s why Marietta is her best friend-maybe, she thinks with a pang, this is why she once dated Harry, who is too far gone. “Something like that.” Cho finally replies. “And while I’m not saying parentage kills youth, I wouldn’t expect a lot of new parents to hit the clubs on Halloween. Which, you know, is all to say: Lydia’s costume. I want all of the details.”

[sinkswim]

LOCATION: The Poison Apple, exterior.

Celebrating Halloween is something that, historically, Cho hasn’t done among the masses. At this time last year, she and Marietta had lazed around at her best friend’s flat and drunkenly read each other horror novels from Flourish & Blotts. The year before, Cho had donned classic cat ears and drawn precise whiskers in the mirror while a person she now tries not to think about had cheekily watched from the doorway. This time, however, the world has changed and Cho has been all too adroit to transform with it, but only for one night. There is nothing recognizable about her: her medical robes have been replaced with a mustard yellow turtleneck, a short red skirt that she eventually stops trying to prevent from riding up, and even redder lipstick. Behind Velma Dinkley’s classic black frames, though, Cho Chang still exists, even if she’s already two drinks out. Somewhere along the way, she’s lost Marietta and Ginny, but she is keenly aware from days of post-quidditch game victory parties that she’ll come back to her senses is she steps out for a moment. 

The command to move echoes in her head as she pushes through the Poison Apple’s back door and into the freezing October night. Through the thick wall, she can hear the relatively unknown band commence with the first bars of a muggle song. Her mind is a blurry swimming pool as she wonders who the original band is, only to realize that she had picked it herself and slid over a few galleons in front of the act a while ago. Making sure her wand is with her, she stares up at the sky, trying to focus herself by picking a singular star and eyeing it with a precision she usually reserves for scanning her patients’ ultrasounds. With her back to the bricks, Cho tries her best not to startle when the door swings open. Whoever it is, it’s best to ignore them until she can shake her half-haze. Her consciousness is slightly damaged but nowhere close to gone: she’ll go back and find the others eventually. ( @qviddiitch​ )

[lewisknows]

[sinkswim]

sneakscar​:

marietta has liked cho’s apartment since she helped move her into it; there’s something comforting about the order of it all, the lack of clutter, the way she can settle against the arm of the sofa and feel at home here in a way she cannot most places. maybe that is just because of the company here. the glass in her hand is raised in response to the warning. “i’m fine with that,” she smiles, “why not.” it wasn’t a bad day at work - it rarely is, luckily enough for marietta - but the general stress of the day, of LIFE, sometimes wears on her in ways marietta knows cho already understands; they’ve spoken about it before, about how world-weary daily life can make her. “was work that bad?”

“Perfect. Honestly? I don’t get the point of getting drunk in a club anymore.” Cho’s twenty five and considers herself at the point where she’s making the dreaded yet understanding millennial switch from late nights out to home dinner parties and early nights in. A beautifully executed charcuterie board enchanted her far more than any DJ lineup at a club. Pouring another intentionally heavy-handed glass for her best friend, she greets her eyes with a somewhat weary smile. “You’re still coming to that Halloween event, aren’t you? It’s too late for us to back out now so it looks like we’ll be in for quite the evening.” There’s a pause at Marietta’s question. Work isn’t bad--if anything, work as a whole is a joyful series of little victories compared to the rest of her life. “As long as people are having babies, St. Mungo’s will always be the best place I could be.  And trust me--people are popping them out.”

[sinkswim]

nevillel​:

Neville smiled back at her easily, appreciating both the warmth and reasoning in her answer. He supposed she had a lot of practice setting her patients at ease. “Thanks, Cho. And it’s nice to connect with them. Even if Gran’s a bit of a hoarder for keeping all this stuff around.” He flipped the book around in his hands and then tucked it safely under his arm, sliding down the line with his tray.

“Yeah? D’you reckon we’ll have enormous Hogwarts classes in eleven years?” Neville shook his head. “When I was a kid, I thought everyone would be parents by our age. Kind of a relief and kind of weird that we’re not. Twenties seem…way younger now than they did before.” Well. They hadn’t been too young to go to war as teens. Still, he felt nowhere near as equipped to settle down and have children as he was to duel a Death Eater. 

Maybe Cho felt differently, who knew. At the very least, he couldn’t remember seeing her with a serious significant other. Well, not since her two that had both been murdered by Voldemort.

.

“Your grandmother’s a saint if I’ve ever known one,” Cho says, sounding all too sure of herself. It hadn’t been her first thought, though. That one was drastically different. Still, for all of her frankness, she could have never brought herself to deliver a truth as bluntly honest as hoarding is a a way to cope with grief and, the longer that grief lasted, so did the hoarding. A part of her hopes she’s wrong but she knows better than to deny herself the truth. She’s sick of being the bringer of bad news, even if it comes with the job. Cho is off-duty right now and hurting Neville is not a part of her break. 

“It’s hard to tell, but signs are pointing to yes. There’s the chance parents won’t want their kids to go to Hogwarts since they dealt with a lot of difficult traumatic events there but by the time their children become of age, most of the population should have achieved closure.” Key word: should. It doesn’t mean most people would, especially those as involved in the war as Neville. In Cho’s experience, the best way to achieve closure is by ignoring the need for it completely. It is a logical fallacy at best. “Twenties are young but, when you consider that most are still paranoid about another war, they might be trying to conceive now.” Cho shrugs at this, a bit too nonchalant and easy for the normal individual. Pregnancy, in a way, is her entire life--she’s past the point of mustering any shame about it.

[gabrixllede-deactivated20250630]

closed starter: @sinkswim​

Gabrielle was a highly collaborative person. It was one of her favorite parts about her job, being able to talk with her client and discuss all the improvements she can put into the garment. Her newest client and idea led to her newest idea - nursing robes. She got the idea through none other than Cho Chang, and it was the most excited she has been about designing something new in a long time. “So… How many pockets did you say again?” 

[sinkswim]

“I’ll have to sit on that one.” There’s a brief silence while Cho considers, half-amused by the rate of information flying through her head in an attempt to answer Gabrielle’s question with as much accuracy as possible. It’s just the way Cho is: a perfectionist in every light. Doctors don’t perform the same tasks as nurses, a gap that widened significantly when one considers that she’s not a general healer but a specialized physician. Still, when Gabrielle asked her for Cho’s input, she couldn’t turn her down. Might part of it was the fact that she was partially veela, but most of Cho’s acceptance had come from her desire to help. After all, it was the very same desire that had prompted her to become an OBGYN. “Right. For nurses, they need at least three pockets. Two where their hands naturally fall and then a pocket near the breast for easy access. I think they mostly carry quills and small portable equipment, but they’d appreciate as many pockets as possible. Nursing robes without pockets are like jeans without pockets--nobody wants them and everyone groans when they buy one by accident.” She asserted, trying to stifle a misplaced snicker.

[sinkswim]

LOCATION: Cho’s apartment, kitchen.

Cho’s winding down for the night. Well, honestly, she had been “winding down” ever since she finished her second glass of wine in an hour. Her view on alcohol isn’t strict like her parents’. To them, consuming copious amounts is a loss of control, which is certainly valid. However, she has learned from the war that she can be as in control of her physical body as much as she wants to and yet she would still be helpless when it came to the greater situation. Besides, she can trust Marietta: she’s trusted Marietta for the greater part of her life. Noticing her friend’s empty glass, Cho glances over at her cart. Half-full bottles sparkle like jewels in Cho’s otherwise minimalistic apartment. One time, while entertaining a one night stand, he had remarked that her living room looked like an Ikea. To anyone else, it would have been an insult. To Cho, it was a backhanded compliment. Grabbing another bottle, she’s about to pour more into Marietta’s glass when she stops. “If you don’t feel like getting drunk tonight, I think you should say so now.” @sneakscar​

[nevillel]

closed starter for cho [[@sinkswim​]]

“Cho!” Neville slid into the line at the St. Mungo’s cafeteria right after her, offering a smile. It was the tail end of the lunch rush and the whole place was relatively empty and quiet. It had been a good visit with Alice and Frank today. “How’s it been with your patients today?” he asked her. He ran into Cho fairly often at St. Mungo’s; she had a much happier job, generally, than the Healers who worked with his parents.

He held up a worn book. “I read this to my parents today. Apparently my mum read this to me when she was pregnant with me. Kinda heavy reading for you know, a baby…” He looked bemused. His parents were really amazing, really interesting people. He could only imagine what it would have been like to have friends round at theirs, growing up. Because they had been so interconnected with their community, he had the fortune to keep learning bits and pieces about their lives before their torture. At the same time, sometimes it really seemed like his parents were strangers he’d never met at all.

[sinkswim]

Cho’s shifts at St. Mungo’s are perhaps the highlights of her days. There is a certain level of unpredictability that always keeps her on her feet. No, Cho’s lying to herself. She’s not thirteen and not much more than a student anymore--now, right in the middle of her 20s, she rather take pleasure in cyclicality--shifts where births happen right when they’re supposed to, when they happen without her having to worry if something will go wrong or consul terrified mothers when their child emerges without a bang but with a whisper. Still, seeing Neville is a welcome surprise. A fellow member of Dumbledore’s Army, he’s always been nothing but pleasant, even to her. He never fully soured, not even when Marietta betrayed their organization. Cho is grateful for this and by the way she treats Neville, she hopes he knows it too. 

“This? Hm,” she stares at its thickness with an amused expression. “I’ll put it like this: parents bond with their children in the womb in different ways. Seeing that you turned out more than just fine, I would say that their choice method was fitting.” She smiles, then, willing herself to not openly show what can only be described as bittersweet emotions towards his parents. Well, now was a good of a time as any to switch the subject. “My patients are doing well. You know, Neville, they honestly keep me busy these days. It’s good to see so many people bringing new lives into our world.”

[sinkswim]

⧼   natasha liu bordizzo, cis female , she/her   /  i need my girl by the national + rubbing your eyes in the earliest hours of the morning while trying to ignore the sun’s too-evident rays, the constant switching of nude and blood red lipsticks tossed into your unorganized purse, too many laps on the quidditch field after late-night shifts at the hospital while trying not to cough from the cold wind and your dry throat.   ⧽   ━━   hey, isn’t that CHO CHANG? i read a daily prophet article on them, once ; the 25 year old HALF BLOOD WITCH is a RAVENCLAW alumnus who has gone on to be an OBGYN. i’ve heard they can be quite ALTRUISTIC & ELOQUENT, but i don’t know… they came off very HARD-SHELLED & WARY in that interview. it really is hard to know what to believe these days though, isn’t it?   [   laur, 19, et, she/her  ]

CLICK HERE TO BE DIRECTED TO A GDOC INTRODUCTION, BIOGRAPHY AND WANTED CONNECTIONS!

[sinkswim]

tag dump!