Disclaimer: I do not own these characters (other than Samantha and Mari.) J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe, including all its wonderful characters.
"Dudders, she's absolutely beautiful," Petunia cooed at her granddaughter.
"Isn't she, Mum?" Dudley said, his voice oozing with pride. "It's taken us quite a while, but the adoption's finally come through."
"It's official, Mum," Dudley's wife, Samantha, said, smiling brightly. "Meet your granddaughter, Marigold Dursley." Samantha carefully handed her mother-in-law the pink bundle of blankets that swaddled Marigold.
Marigold was only three months old, her bright blue eyes lively and full of laughter as she cooed and giggled as her gran made faces at her in an attempt to make her laugh. She had a tuft of soft blonde hair on the top of her head.
"She's going to be a special girl," Petunia said with a soft smile. "You just mark my words."
"Mari, Uncle Harry and his family are here to visit!" Samantha called up the stairs.
Five-year old Mari rushed down the stairs, just in time to jump directly into Harry's arms!
"Hi Uncle Harry, hi Auntie Ginny!" Mari greeted sweetly as Harry gently put her back on the ground. Between them stood their three children: seven-year old James, six-year old Al, and four-year old Lily.
"Hello to you too, Mari," Ginny laughed, as Harry ruffled her hair.
"My, you're getting big, my dear," Harry said. "Must be a handful for your Mum and Dad, aren't you?"
"Hello there, Samantha, Dudley," Harry greeted politely. Though Harry and Dudley had worked out their differences, they still weren't very close. But they did what they did because as much as they didn't act like it, they were family.
"C'mon, Lily, I got some new dolls! Let's go play tea party!" Mari exclaimed, grabbing the smaller, quieter girl's hand as they made their way back to the playroom.
"Don't worry, boys, there are some new comic books up there as well," Dudley told James and Al with a grin, and they made their way up to follow the girls.
Harry and Ginny followed Dudley and Samantha into their kitchen, where Samantha served some tea and they made small talk until it neared lunchtime. Samantha and Ginny got up to start making lunch; simple sandwiches, but for four picky children, would take the mothers longer than usual to make.
Just as the adults were setting the table for lunch, they heard yelling. They all rushed to see what was happening.
"Stop saying that!" Mari was yelling at Lily.
"But it's true! James and Al saw it too!" Lily yelled back. She pouted then stuck her thumb in her mouth, an old habit that came back in high emotion settings. Mari looked at the boys with a heated look as if daring to speak against her, but they just looked with wide eyes at their parents.
"Mari, what is going on here?" Samantha demanded. "You know it's not polite to yell at guests, especially family."
"Lily called me a bad name!" Mari defended, tears welling into her eyes. "She called me a witch!"
Samantha's eyes immediately sought out Harry and Ginny's, but Dudley's remained set on his daughter's. Dudley, Harry, and Ginny had explained to Samantha about magic, but had all agreed to wait until Mari was older before telling her about her uncle, aunt, and cousins' special abilities.
"Lily Luna, take your thumb out of your mouth and explain like a big girl what happened," Ginny said softly, but firmly.
Lily pouted as she took her thumb out of her mouth and explained, "We were playing tea party with Jasmine and Suzie, and we were just fixing their hair, and then I said the tea might be getting cold and then all of a sudden the teapot started whistling and floated in the air and poured into the teacups."
Harry and Ginny looked to the boys for reaffirmation.
Al nodded, and James added, "It's true. We just thought it was Lil's accidental magic again, but then she told Mari she must be a witch like us then they started yelling."
"I swear it wasn't me, Mum," Lily said. "Honest." Harry looked at her for a moment then sighed in acceptance.
Mari, confused, started to tear up. "Daddy, what's going on?" She walked to her dad with her arms up and Dudley gathered her up in his arms and carried her, giving her a hug. Samantha joined him and started rubbing her back, comforting her daughter's tears.
"Maybe we should all go downstairs for lunch, and we can talk about what happened," Ginny suggested softly.
They all quietly headed back to the kitchen and ate their lunch in relative silence.
Once they had all finished and cleared the tables, Dudley told the boys that they had recently installed a basketball hoop and that they were welcome to try it out. The boys knew a dismissal when they saw one.
"Uh uh, Lily, come here a moment," Harry said. She sulked back to her dad.
"I think you owe Mari an apology, Lily, don't you?" Ginny asked, reminiscent of her mother.
"But I didn't say anything bad! She is a witch, Mum!" Lily cried.
"And you know that Mari doesn't know about magic and wizards and witches," Harry said gently. Lily opened her mouth to argue more but her father gave her a stern look.
"I'm sorry, Mari," Lily mumbled.
"It's okay, Lily," Mari mumbled back. With one last look at her parents, Lily ran off after her brothers. Mari was about to join them, but her father stopped her.
"Marigold, we have to talk to you," Dudley said. He looked nervous. He looked to his cousin. "Are you sure we should do this now?"
"Better now before she performs bigger accidental magic," Harry replied. He knew that his cousin was still wary around magic. Thinking back on their past, it had never been good to him. Dudley turned to Samantha who then nodded to Harry. He turned to Mari. "Hey Mari, can you do me a favor?" He pulled out his wand out of the holster. "Very carefully, do you think you could wave this around?"
"This stick?" Mari asked dubiously. "Okay." She waved the wand curiously in front of her and she jumped and dropped the wand as gold sparks flew out of it.
Samantha's eyes were wide with awe, having only ever seen magic once, when Dudley, Harry, and Ginny told her about magic. Harry's eyebrows were raised with pleasant surprise, and Ginny had a small smile. Dudley's mouth was pursed into a thin line, his eyes unreadable.
Mari looked around from adult to adult, reading in their expressions. She stopped on her father's. "Daddy," she said quietly. "Did I do that?"
Dudley looked to his wife, then to Harry, who nodded slightly. "Yeah, sweetie," he said, his voice a little strained, trying to give his daughter a smile. "You did magic."
Harry, realizing that his cousin was uncomfortable, took the reins and started to explain to Mari about magic, and the Wizarding world. Samantha listened just as intently as Mari was amazed. Dudley held Mari in his lap, but his mind seemed to be somewhere else.
"Dudley," Samantha said softly, laying a hand on her husband's arm. Harry had finished speaking, but Dudley hadn't noticed.
"Sorry, dear," Dudley murmured.
"Daddy, are you mad at me? Because I have magic?" Mari asked, a slight tremor in her voice.
"Of course not, sweetie," Dudley insisted, holding her tight and kissing the top of her head. "You're still my little girl, and I love you. We love you, so much." He turned to Harry, and asked, "What do we do now?"
"Nothing for now. Love her, play with her. She's still a little five-year-old girl. She's still Mari. Just be wary of her getting emotional in public, since that tends to trigger accidental magic. She'll get her letter when she turns eleven, just like any other witch," Harry explained. He noticed the look of trepidation. "And Dudley… if you or Samantha or Mari need anything, just let me know. I even have a cell phone nowadays and everything."
Dudley offered him a small smile. "Thanks. You know, despite what my parents did to you… you're alright, Potter." He nodded in response.
Then he turned to his little blonde niece, and smiled warmly.
"Welcome to the Wizarding world, Mari."
Just a random idea that came to my head! I don't usually do Harry Potter fan fiction, but I decided to give it a try! Please let me know what you think! Ideas and comments are welcome, and will help me write more! :)