Written for:
Hogwarts: Demonology
Task 12: Write about abandoning or betraying a family member.
Hogwarts: 365 Prompts
Prompt - Superior
Hogwarts: Appreciate a Dragon Day
Romanian Longhorn - Write about something sought after (friendship and acceptance, in this case)
A Cousin's Abandonment
xXx
Dudley stared at all of the kids in the playground. They all acted so great. He remembered the word Harry taught him from that new book of his. So superior.
Dudley didn't like superior people. They thought they were so awesome. Dudley knew he might not be the greatest. He was big and not that smart. He also sometimes hurt kids that were smaller because he rather they were scared of him instead of mean to him.
The only ones who treated him like he wasn't that bad were his parents and Harry. He knew his mum and dad didn't like Harry; he didn't know why of course. But Harry was his cousin. Harry was family. And Harry always treated him like a friend. He didn't care if Dudley was slow and dumb. Harry was always there to play with him, and read to him, and teach him new words.
Still, he watched the other kids all play together. Harry stood with him. "Want to go play on the slide?" he asked.
Dudley thought about the kids laughing at him as he huffed and puffed, climbing up the stairs to use the slide. "No," he said with a quick shake of his head.
Harry shrugged. "So, what do you want to do?"
"Let's go play in the sandbox."
Harry happily nodded and followed him to the box that no other kids were in. He didn't need those other kids; he had Harry.
X
"Hey Dursley," a kid, Piers called him to his surprise one day.
Dudley blinked. "Me?"
"We're playing a game called Sumo. Want to play?" Piers asked in a loud voice.
No one, except Harry, ever asked him to play. He didn't even think about it. He nodded and ran as fast as could to the chalk-drawn circle on the ground. "How do you play?" he asked, not even thinking about the cousin that he left standing by himself.
X
Somehow, Dudley found himself with actual friends. None of his new friends were that smart. And they didn't mind that Dudley was big. In fact, they seemed to like the fact that he could be used to scare the other kids to do their bidding.
He knew they weren't nice. In fact, he heard some of the kids, like Mike and Piers calling Harry names about his too big clothes and the crooked glasses that he wore.
Dudley wanted to say something, but he didn't want his new friends to hate him. Shamefully, he kept his mouth closed, even when they invented a game called Harry Hunting.
He knew he should stay something, especially when Harry's eyes silently asked how Dudley could betray him like that. Still, he didn't come to Harry's rescue as his new gang started chasing him, only to catch him so they could use their fists on the smaller boy.
He wanted friends. He wanted to be liked. He might hate himself a little bit each day for every time Harry asked him 'why,' but at least he had friends now.
(word count: 507)