Author's Note: I don't own Harry Potter or Dudley Dursley, although Natalie and Lara are my creations. I'm not entirely sure where this came from but I thought Dudley coming to terms with his cousins 'peculiarities' through his daughter's developments in a similar direction.

He had never thought about it, not really, not since that one dark night when they'd left all they knew behind, fugitives from a power he had never understood. All discussion of it had been forbidden, at first for their safety, and then eventually it had become a taboo, bigger than it had been before, the taboo that had shaped his, and his family's life. He wondered why his family had never wondered what had happened after they had left, but it was taboo and he'd never asked. It was easier to not mention it, not bring up the subject that would make his mother cry, bringing up her guilt, and cause his father to turn purple with yet another apoplectic fit.

His wife shuffled on her feet, bringing his thoughts back to the letter she had handed him with his cup of coffee. He stared at it with a mix of revulsion and horror – the emotions he knew had been ingrained in him when he was a lot younger – and, unexpectedly, pride. It took him back to the first dark night of fleeing, and the weeks of his fathers 'midlife crisis' before it. The familiarity of the colour of the parchment, the shield of the coat of arms at the top, replicated in the red wax seal that pressed against his fingers on the back of the parchment.

"Wh… when did it arrive?" he asked his wife, who stood at his side nervously. She had handed it to him with a bewildered look which had become a little afraid when she saw his reaction.

"It arrived this morning." She informed him, gently, a hand on his arm drawing him towards the lounge.

"By…" he started the sentence, but stopped on the word, realising what had been out of place outside when he had arrived home from work. Brushing of her hand he strode to the window as she finished his sentence.

"Owl." There was awe in her voice, and confusion. "The letter was addressed to Natalie, but, I thought it was odd, a wax seal, delivered by owl. That's all very odd, so I opened it."

"That's fine." Dudley Dursley stood at the window in his lounge staring at the owl that was now perched on his car. It seemed to have realised that he would want it. "I'm going to write a letter. Could you call Natalie down, and we'll tell her the, good, news." he said it almost distractedly, as he walked back to the front door. He was barely aware of the noise of his wife's footsteps making their way up the stairs. He paused before he opened it, aware that he was stepping into the world his parents had been so afraid of, and then he thought that this could be the way to finally settle his curiosity, and pulled the door open. He looked at the owl, it was different to the one that had lived in his house with his cousin for 6 years, but that didn't matter, he was sure it would find him. "Well, are you coming in? I…I need you to deliver a letter for me."

He sat at the desk, the owl perched behind him.

Harry,

You may find this correspondence unexpected, to say the least. What I have to tell you, I am sure you will find surprising. There is much to tell you, but suffice it to say, I have a young daughter. She has always been different, but today we received a letter from Hogwarts. She is, it would appear, gifted, and I am not entirely sure what to do.

I am trusting to this owl to find you, and I am certain that it in turn will be able to bring a reply. I know that there has been much bad blood between you and my family, and between you and I, but I hope that this could be a new start for us.

Sincerely,

Your cousin

Dudley Dursley.

He finished the letter and sealed it carefully in an envelope before writing his cousin's name on the outside neatly. He patted the owl on the head.

"I'm trusting you." He murmured. "You are my only link to that world."

There was a tap at the door.

"Father?" he heard his daughter's voice at the door.

"I'll meet you and your mother in the lounge. I have a lot to tell you both." He called back to her, standing and leaning across the desk to open the window. "Off you go then." He smiled slightly and shut it after the brown and black owl had flown out.

"When I was your age, Natalie, I had a cousin. His name was Harry Potter, and he lived in the cupboard under my stairs. This was, admittedly, odd, but I was quite selfish then, and I accepted it as normal. His parents, my mother told us both when we were old enough to understand, had been killed in a terrible car crash, he had been with them and that was the source of the odd lightning shaped scar on his forehead. We both accepted this, it was a reasonable explanation. But as his eleventh birthday approached we began to receive letters, peculiar letters, which arrived in a peculiar fashion. My father was so concerned by these letters that he tried to stop them from being delivered, he boarded up the house and this continued until one evening thousands of them burst through the blocked up chimney. It was quite scary, but, now that I think about it, quite exciting, and very cool." Natalie pulled a face at her father saying cool, but let it pass. "All the letters were addressed to my cousin, and when he managed to get one off my father, who had been burning them, he discovered something spectacular. He was a wizard." At this point he handed the letter to his daughter. "After that I was encouraged to treat him more like a leper than I had before. He was a freak to be ignored. And I have to admit I was quite scared. None of my experiences with his magic were very fun – I grew a pigs tail, fell into a snake tank, he made the glass disappear you see, and was nearly killed by Dementzoids… no, no they were Dementors. My father was very afraid of magic, and insisted on saying things wrong, to try to make it not exist. I haven't seen Harry since just before his seventeenth birthday. But I wrote to him today, in the hope that we can build bridges. Look at the letter Natalie. It's the same one Harry got all those years ago."

"But, it's addressed to me."

"Apparently, mine and Harry's mothers' blood was not so different after all." He smiled ruefully. There was a tapping at the window, and the Dursley's looked up to see the owl perched on the window sill. Natalie let out a small shriek, but quieted when Dudley stood to let it in, watching curiously as the owl lowered his beak to hand her father the letter, and then hold his claw out to take payment. The reply was succinct and to the point. Harry would be arriving when he finished work at 7. Lara Dursley hurried to the kitchen having read the note to begin cooking supper, she was sure, and hopeful, that Harry would stay for some food. She left Dudley to try to explain to Natalie what the letter would mean. It did explain some odd things that had happened when she was younger. The change in Dudley's character since receiving the letter was dramatic, even in so short a period of time. He seemed lighter, as though something had been lifted from his shoulders. She wasn't that surprised by the revelation of her husband's childhood, there had always been something odd and guarded about his parents.

Just after seven there was a loud crack outside in the back garden, followed by a gentle tapping at the back door. As she opened the door into the kitchen the man outside was just turning back to face the door, a streak of light bounding away into the distance above the rooftops.

"Sorry, just letting my wife know that I'll be late home. It's been a little hectic at the Ministry. I'm Harry Potter." He was average in height, with dark hair that was starting to go a little gray at the temples, his eyes were dark green and, knowing that it was there, her eyes searched his forehead for the scar that Dudley had spoken about.

"Lara, I'm Dudley's wife." Harry nodded and smiled at her. "Would you like to come in, a cup of coffee or tea?"

"Tea, please, if it's not too much trouble."

"No, no, the kettle is already on the stove." She motioned towards her aga, the kettle on top emitting a little wisp of steam. "Would you like to… sorry, this is quite strange. I didn't know you existed until two hours ago. I cooked a little supper, if you'll join us?"

"I don't know, I think I'll wait and see how this goes." She smiled slightly and led him through to the lounge. "Dudley. Harry's here." Dudley stood and walked forward to shake Harry's hand.

"Harry." He said cautiously.

"Dudley. It's been quite a while." Lara took in the scene and beckoned to Natalie to join her in the kitchen, leaving the cousins to warily address one another.