A/N:

This is written for the House Competition.

House: Slytherin.

Year: 1.

Word count: 1028.

Prompt: 1) Trope: Divorce is never a good thing. 2) Dudley Dursley. 3) Chocolate.

The smell of chocolate filled the air as Dudley Dursley opened the chocolate gift box send by his mother.

"I'm not a child anymore." he grumbled, setting the chocolates aside. He hadn't been eating for a while now, which was unlike him. But things had been difficult for their family ever since the so called 'Wizarding war' which Harry had told them about. They had all drifted apart, him from his parents because he realized how awful his family had been to Harry, and his parents grew distant from each other, his mother especially. He did not know the reason, but he once heard her whispering into the air, calling out to someone by the name 'Lily', which he had heard occasionally but never figured out who it was. All his life, he'd never once heard his mother refer to anyone by that name.

And one day, his parents had suddenly announced their divorce. To say he was shocked was an understatement. He knew things were not well, but he did not expect his parents to get a divorce. Everything around him seemed to be crumbling down and he could not take it in anymore. So he moved out from home and into a small apartment and tried to get away from everything. It felt a little like running away, but it was better than hanging around to see everything he'd known in his life fall apart.

He looked around his tattered apartment. The walls were newly whitewashed and the smell tingled his nose. His eyes moved to the box of chocolates he'd set on the worn countertop. The smell of chocolate and paint filled the apartment and he wondered why the smell seemed especially strong today. Maybe because it was making him nauseous and not appealing. He remembered his mother stuffing him with chocolates when he was a child, but now the memory made him sick to the stomach. He couldn't digest the fact that his parents were getting a divorce. Nothing in the world prepared him for this, not even the chocolates he so loved helped him.

He spoke to Harry about it, and although it was awkward at first, his cousin seemed to try his best to comfort him and he earnestly appreciated that gesture. Harry even helped him pick out his new apartment. An apartment with a broken glass, rusted window bars, creaking door which clearly needed paint work, and the apparently whitewashed walls. At least it came with a table and chairs, a bed complete with a moldy mattress, but he still didn't mind it. The sad apartment seemed to reflect his life right now and he thought it was an appropriate match. It wasn't much, but it was within his budget and close enough to work that he could walk. It was a start, an honest start.

When he moved out, his mother cried and begged him not to go, but he couldn't stay in that sad and toxic house anymore. His father seemed sullen, but he still agreed on Dudley's decision to stay away. Mostly, his father just seemed resigned to everything, like he'd given up. His mother had insisted she make him some chocolates and he agreed with fake enthusiasm. He didn't want to break his mother's heart more than it already was. Keeping up appearances, it seemed that was what their whole life had been. Fake and empty.

Dudley stood up, and walked towards the window to see what his new street had to offer him, and through the broken glass he saw his new neighbor, a middle aged woman, close to his mother's age, with her children. They seemed to be laughing and enjoying each other's company. They looked as if nothing was wrong in the world and Dudley remembered those days when he lived his life like that. Like there was nothing to fear and nothing to lose. He chuckled a little at how unaware of life he was and how much he missed out on life's lesson. But here he was, the weight of all the problems that was tucked away crumbling down, like a hailstorm. He wondered how Harry dealt with everything, his parent's death, his friends death, the harassment that was thrown to him by his own blood relatives, Dudley included. But he still survived everything and Dudley wondered whether he would survive this thunderstorm that was passing through his life. He felt as if he would be carried away by the tragedy of it all but he still wanted to survive, he wanted to be strong for himself. Not many people liked him now, his friends seemed to avoid him, although he did not understand why. Some people are just jerks, he figured. He felt more alone than ever now, locked up in an old apartment, with no one to talk to. What had happened to that beautiful life he had lived? What happened that everything just broke in front of him? He tried to move away from the sadness that consumed him but everything seemed like a burden to him.

Moving away from the window with the view of the setting sun, he walked towards the chocolate box and picked it up. This was a reminder of his life which was now falling apart piece by piece.

'No more. I'm moving on and I'll be happy. I will make it without you,' he whispered to no one in particular. He re-wrapped the chocolates in the box his mother had given him and he opened his door and walked up to the woman with the children. It was time to start doing good with his life, and stop wallowing in his own misery.

'Hi. I'm Dudley, your new neighbor. I just moved in a bit ago, and wanted to give you a little something from me.' He handed them the chocolates, with a smile on his face. He let out a breath he did not know he was holding, he was finally letting go of his past life. Divorce is never a good thing, but Dudley had learned to grow from his struggles and walked out of the storm with a new life.