Chapter One

What if Lily and James potter never died? What if Petunia and Vernon where the ones who lost their lives instead? What if Dudley was a wizard, dealing with his cousin's popularity at school? Rated T for language & mild suggestive themes.

HARRY POV

"DUDLEY!" Mother yelled. "How many times do I have to call you, you lump! Get up!"

My cousin, Dudley Dursley, mumbled something about "Beauty sleep". I threw a pillow at him.
"Too right you need beauty sleep, Duds," I joked. "You're a mess, have you looked in the mirror?"

Dudley threw the pillow back. "Fuck off," he said. "I'm trying to sleep."

"DUDLEY DURSLEY! We do not use that language! Now get up!" Mother could be heard storming downstairs, raging to herself about how "insubordinate" Dudley was. I grinned at my cousin, and he couldn't help spluttering. Soon we were in fits of unwanted giggles. True, my cousin could be annoying, but he was human, after all. We all are human, right? We can all be annoying.

I stifled my laughter until it died down, then I threw back the pillow. "Come on, Dud, we should go get breakfast."

Me and Dudley sat down at the kitchen table. He was my cousin, living with us. Yes, Aunt and Uncle Dursley had died, but why so..

Suddenly?

I felt a poke in my ribs and my attention came back to reality. My dad was watching me. I caught his eye and he winked at me, as Mum was spluttering into the phone.

"Yes, yes, Molly, Of course, We're fine to babysit for a few hours. Yes, the twins can be a pain, I know, but I'm sure the boys will get along fine. Hmm? You have a daughter? When will you be coming over? In fifteen minutes? Excellent, see you then!" Mum hung up and turned to us.

"Boys, I need you washed and ready, We're babysitting for a new family that's just moved in. There's a boy who's the same age as you, and will be in your year. So go go go!"

Mum was funny, she really was. Dudley and I laughed, and Dad raised his hand in a salute and said "Aye aye, Captain!" Mum giggled and kissed him on the cheek. Dudley and I, however, made vomiting noises, earning us pokes and raised eyebrows.

Seriously, though, it was gross.

I ran upstairs, leaving Dudley still munching his way through the entire fridge, and dressed quickly. I attacked my hair, frowning. It never sticks up straight.

A gasp and greetings told me that they were already here. I washed my face and ran downstairs, face full of happy smiles. I was greeted by a giant family, as well as a plump woman whom I guessed was Molly. I was right.

"Well, Molly, it's quite alright. Oh, hello, Harry. These are the children staying with us for a bit."

I smiled and said hello to all of them in turn, but there was someone at the back. I craned my neck and saw a girl, around my age, gaze up at me. I watched her, she watched me. I smiled at her and her cheeks flushed. What a pretty girl.

Mum cleared her throat. "I'll be seeing you at ten, then."

The woman waved, and walked off, leaving the group of children at the doorstep. There were four of them, two Twins, the girl, and a boy. The twins bounded inside, shaking my hand simultaneously. It was all quite confusing. The boy mumbled a "Hi", and the girl didn't make any more eye contact.

I tried to catch the girl's eye, but she refused to look at me. I gave up and turned to the boy, whom I soon found out was called Ron. Dudley came in and greeted Ron enthusiastically. They started to talk about anything under the sun, and I glanced at the girl. She was staring at me, and she blushed profusely when she had been caught. She seemed surprised when I turned to her and started chatting to her as though none of the staring at happened. She opened up a bit afterwards, and said her name was Ginny. She was just a year younger than me, and I felt excited at the prospect of new friends. I offered her my hand and led her into the kitchen, hoping it didn't seem romantic to anyone. I saw the twins, which Ginny pointed out as Fred and George, talking to Dad animatedly about the pranks they had played on the caretaker at school. Dad retaliated by telling them the things him and Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius got up to. He didn't mention Uncle Peter. No-one did.

I showed Ginny the couch and made to go get some drinks for everyone. Mum was making dinner.

"Alright, dear? Need something?"

"No, just getting some drinks."

"Oh," she said, smiling. "The twins said they'd like some Butterbeer, have we got any left?"

I looked in the fridge and pulled out a brand new crate of it. Mum giggled. "You can all have some, if there's that much."

I took out five botles and handed them around, keeping one for myself. I plopped myself next to Ginny and chatted to her, laughing at anything slightly funny. After she had had some butterbeer she acted more friendly, though not talking as much as Harry. The twins, Mum, Dad, Ron and Dudley were scattered around the room, all chatting to someone. Dudley was trying to understand Quidditch and the twins were capering around the room, singing. Mum and Dad were laughing at them and me and Ginny were just talking. Her face became pink and she ended up hugging me after an hour or so. Ron raised an eyebrow and Dudley wolf whistled. I laughed and just hugged her back.

Dudley and Ron stayed talking downstairs while I showed Ginny the bedroom I had to share with Dudley. Ginny perched on the end of my bed, and I shut my door. I only brought her up here to give us some quiet time. I sat next to her and we started talking again. What was weird, though, was how she seemed to be friendlier in privacy. She started telling me about her social and family life, as well as school.

She had just finished talking about all the stupid pranks Fred and George got up to when she quietened.

"What's wrong, Ginny?" I asked her, concerned. She smiled at me.

"Nothing. Did I tell you about what one of the boys in my class did to the teacher? It was so funny. They switched the USB stick on the computer to show bums instead of the maths class. The teacher's face when she saw them! The teacher didn't know who did it, but we did. It was so funny!"

I had been looking at the floor, listening. When I looked at her, I saw she had moved right next to me, so we were barely a centimeter apart. Our lips brushed as he looked up and she smiled at me. We stared at each other for a while, until she finally rested her head on my shoulder. I hugged her, and her arms slowly creeped around me , too. We stayed entwined like this for a minute or so when Fred and George came bursting in. Their chatter died down as they saw us, happily hugging. She recoiled, but I stayed hugging her, meaning that we ended up in a giggly heap on the bed. Fred and George sat on Dudley's bed and they pointed at the door, forcing it to lock. They turned to us.

"Talk."

"What?" I said, still giggly, though Ginny looked worried. I squeezed her hand behind my back, and she grinned at me.

"How did you get her to be so happy? Are you a wizard? Oh, wait, we all are magical. Yelp." The taller of the twins said. The smaller one continued it. "Why did you choose Ginny when you could have chosen Ron? True, he is a git, but he's better than Ginny! Why her? She's as smart as a-"

Fortunately, I didn't hear what he had to say, because Ginny flew at him, eyes glaring. The other twin stared, laughing, as the two had a wrestling match. I soon learned the Taller one to be Fred.

He rolled his eyes and turned to me. "So, you're Harry Potter?"

I smiled at him. "Yes, I am. And I'd like your sister back here please, she's cuddly."

Fred and George burst out laughing, and pushed Ginny back.

She didn't land next to me, though. She spun in mid air and landed on top of me, knocking me backwards. She had a black eye, and I hugged her. She was full of bruises, too. I glared at George.

"Think you're tough, do you? Tough because you beat up a ten year old?" Fred's face filled with glee and George's face went stony. He grabbed his twin and left the room.

As soon as we could hear them downstairs, talking to Dudley and Ron, I sat up and let Ginny sit in my lap as I searched her arms and face for any further damage. She kept wincing at her hip, and I gently asked her if I for see what was there. When I saw what was there, I stared. There were deep cuts there. I placed my hand on them to stop the blood flow and she blushed. I jokingly placed my hand on her other hip and she scooted back suddenly, causing us to fall back again. This time, she landed next to me.

Her face was so pretty, and her eyes such a delicate shade of blue.

I almost gave in and kissed her..

Downstairs, we didn't talk about what had happened after the twins had left. They were talking to eachother, and they wolf whistled at us holding hands as we slowly entered the room. When Mum saw Ginny, she ran up to her, asking what had happened. She sat us down in the Kitchen and told us to say what happened. We told her the fighting part, but I stated that they were making fun of us for being friends. She scolded the twins, and rung up Mrs. Weasley. She floo'd over and took the twins home. That left Ron and Ginny.

Speaking of Ron, he came ambling in with Dudley. They sat next to us and tried to engage conversation, until Dudley told Ron that I was a miserable bastard, earning him a scolding from Mum. While this happened. Me and Ginny sneaked out into the living room. Ron followed us.

I couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to Ron. He was a massive Quidditch fan, and once I knew the rules, we started talking about it. Mum opened the door and found Mrs. Weasley looking slightly flustered. I had a vague suspicion about why, but my hopes weren't high.

Mrs. Weasley smiled and hugged her children when they ran to her, but then she saw Ginny's wounds and recoiled, horrified. She looked at Ron, Dudley, me and Mum for explanation and I spoke up. "The twins."

Mrs. Weasley's face clouded, and she looked at Mum.

"So, who made friends with who?"

"Ginny and harry made friends, so did Dudley and Ronald." Mum stated proudly. Mrs. Weasley looked at Ginny in surprise, but shrugged it off. "Would Dudley like to stay the night at my home?" She asked Mum. Dudley bounced up and down happily, eating chocolate. Ron looked equally happy, and Mum agreed. Mum asked Mrs. Weasley if Ginny would like to stay over, too, and she Miraculously agreed. What a fun night!

What we didn't know is that there would be a lot more to it than one night..