Chapter One
A/N: I only own anything characters that you do not recognize from the Harry Potter series. These are original, as they came from my brain.
Riley Joanne Dursley was born on June 7, 2004 to one Mr. Dudley Vernon Dursley and Mrs. Suzanne Katharine Dursley. She was the second Dursley child, as her elder sister Jasmine had been born in the previous year.
"Oh look Dud," Suzanne smiled as she held her little girl in her arms. Even without a lot of hair, it was clear that Riley would inherit her mum's light brown hair instead of her dad's blonde, "she's got your eyes."
"Poor girl," Dudley chuckled but froze upon hearing a tap on the glass window. Looking into the room was a thin man of medium height. His messy raven-black hair was thinning slightly and if one looked closely they could see the streaks of grey making the young 23 year old seem older than he truly was.
"Who's that dear?" Suzanne asked, looking up as well. She had never met the man, nor had Dudley ever talked about him before.
"I'll be right back love," Dudley said and stepped out into the hall. "Harry, what are you doing here? You didn't show up when Jasmine was born."
"I'm here to let you know something," Harry whispered as to not be overheard. "Minerva let me know that a name was placed on the Hogwarts Register at 9:13 this morning."
"9:13? That's the time Riley was born," Dudley frowned. Surely, it must be an odd circumstance. Right?
"Exactly," Harry nodded, his voice lowering even more so that Dudley strained to read his cousin's lips. "Dud, Riley is a witch."
Dudley froze. All his life, he wanted an escape from magic. Sure, he didn't think it was freaky but he never wanted it in his life again. What if there was another war?
"Is Jasmine….?"
"No," Harry shook his head. "Your eldest daughter is pure muggle. I've got Hermione looking into your wife's family."
"Why?" Dudley asked, straightening his stance a little as to try to intimidate his cousin—forgetting just who Harry had faced (well, not even knowing).
"Dud, stand down. We're only doing it because Hermione's curious as to how a man with Vernon Dursley's blood fathered a witch."
I've got Aunt Lily's blood too, Dudley thought. "We are cousins after all," he pointed out to Harry.
"Yeah," Harry nodded, giving Dudley an odd look. "We are. Look, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia are coming in about five minutes so I'm going to get out of here."
"Wait!" Dudley exclaimed. "You're not going to meet her? You never met Jasmine when she was born so…."
"Dudley, I don't have much time," Harry ran a hand through his already messy hair. "I'm technically still on the clock. Look, in a few weeks my wife's family is having a get together. If you want to come, you're more than welcome to."
He turned and left, leaving a slightly disturbed Dudley Dursley. Sure, his relationship with his cousin had improved some since that year Harry helped them get into hiding but they had never really been friendly. Why had Harry warned him about his daughter?
"I'd still love her," he muttered to himself and made to walk back into the room. Regrettably, he was too late as his parents walked around the corner.
"Dudley!" his mum squealed and from the window, Dudley could see Suzanne making a face at that. "Let me see my granddaughter!"
"Who's watching Jasmine, son?" Vernon asked as he watched his wife fawn over the newborn.
"Suzanne's sister Riley," Dudley said. "We named the baby after her."
"Is Riley a good name for a girl?"
Dudley sighed. His father had voiced these concerns every time they'd gotten together since they announced the name of the child.
"Yes Dad," Dudley said, trying to keep his happy feeling in check. "It is, and if she doesn't like it then she can go by her middle name Joanne."
Vernon didn't look happy about it, but he didn't say anything. Dudley sighed in relief.
0000
Later that evening, Dudley sat by his wife's bedside as she fed their child.
"Who was that man Dudley?" Suzanne asked. "The one with the black hair and green eyes who came earlier?"
Dudley froze. He didn't know how his wife would react to magic. While she wasn't fond of his parents, Dudley really hoped the saying of boys marrying girls who reminded them of their mums proved false for him.
"He's my cousin," Dudley told her. "He heard about the baby through one of his contacts at my job and he wanted to stop by and congratulate us. He invited us to his wife's family's get-together in a few weeks."
Suzanne smiled at her husband. "I never knew you had a cousin."
"Yeah well, we kinda had a falling out when we were teens and the relationship wasn't the same," Dudley gave a half-truth. What relationship? Their relationship consisted of him being a spoiled brat and Harry living in a cupboard for ten years of his life. He didn't want his wife to know the truth of his childhood.
"Well then, I think that get-together would be splendid," Suzanne grinned. "The doctors said Riley and I could leave in a few day's time. I'd love to get to know this mysterious cousin of yours."
Let's just hope you feel the same when you've met him, Dudley thought as he left his wife's side to go help out his sister-in-law. Jasmine could be a handful at times. Actually, it reminded him a bit of himself when he was younger.
0000
The few weeks before the get-together were hectic. Jasmine, not liking that Riley was demanding so much of their parents' attention, hollered late at night—waking her little sister in the process.
"Jasmine," Dudley groaned one night during the scream fest. "Pet, please go to sleep."
"No!" the one year-old shook her head. "No!"
Dudley honestly wanted to cry. They were going on empty; the only place Dudley could get a wink of sleep was at his office and that was few and far between. His wife was on maturity leave but that had ended a week prior. As a attorney, she couldn't just sleep during cases.
"Hush now my baby," Suzanne could be heard singing to Riley in an attempt to calm her down and get her back to sleep. Dudley had an idea.
"Hey Jas, you want a bedtime story?" he asked and Jasmine stopped screaming at once. She loved it when Dudley would tell her stories, and loved it even more when he used her nickname.
"Stowy?"
"Yeah," Dudley smiled at the little girl. "Story. Once upon a time, there was a brilliant princess named…."
"Jas!"
"Jas," Dudley nodded as he tucked the covers in around his daughter. "Now Jas had everything she ever wanted but she was cursed."
"No Dada! Me no cursed!"
"The only way the curse could be removed was if the princess slept the entire night," Dudley continued, ignoring his daughter's cries. "If she did so, then a good fairy would come and remove the—"
Jasmine had fallen asleep before Dudley could finish the sentence. Sighing in relief, he returned to his room and fell straight on the bed.
"I was thinking," Suzanne said as she walked into the room, "why don't we let your parents watch Jasmine when we go visit your cousin's family?"
"Why?" Dudley brought his head up.
"Well, we want to make a good impression don't we?" Suzanne shrugged. "Also, you know how Jasmine acts around strangers. I don't want to strain your relationship with your cousin anymore than it is."
"Thanks love," Dudley smiled. "Let's get some sleep though. I give it three hours before one of them wakes up again."
"I give it four," Suzanne chuckled and they both drifted off to sleep. Five hours later, the hungry cries of Riley woke them both out of a sound slumber.
"Five hours?" Dudley gasped, looking at the clock in shock. "It felt like nine."
"Come on, love," Suzanne sighed. "Better get up. What day are we visiting your cousin's wife's family?"
"Uh…next Tuesday."
Suzanne nodded and made a note on a memo pad that was sitting by the desk. "Alright, I've got a trial on Monday but my associate should be able to take over should I need it."
"I've got that big meeting on Wednesday so we can't stay overnight," Dudley reminded her.
Suzanne smiled at her husband. "We'll be fine. You'll see."