Disclaimer: The Harry potter series belongs to J. K. Rowling. The only profit I gain from this
story is the enjoyment and experience of writing it.
Written for the The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition- Finals Round 2
Main prompt: Dark!Harry
Additional prompts:
2. (narrative device) flashback
4. (song) 'Remembering Sunday' by All Time Low
14. (quote) 'Family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten.' - Lilo & Stitch
Changes That Might Have Been
Dudley stared blankly out the window, his shoulders sagging slightly. He could hear the whirring of a fan and a bark of a dog further down the street. The street itself was empty, as most people were either at work or indoors to escape the scorching heat.
"Mr Dursley?" spoke a cool, collected voice from behind him.
"Sorry," Dudley said, turning as he ran a hand over his face. "Got lost in thought."
The woman smiled and took a sip out of the cup of tea. "It's quite alright." She paused for a second as she looked down at the pad of paper on her lap. "In my records you have a cousin that lived with you and your parents… I would like to talk about him, if we may?"
Dudley frowned, but nodded and hesitantly moving over to the chair across from her. "Why?"
She tilted her head to the side slightly. "Why what?"
"Why talk about him?"
"Do you not want to talk about him?"
Dudley shrugged. "Not really."
The lady set down her tea and picked up a pen. "Why would that be? Did you two not have a very good relationship?"
#
Harry winced as Dudley punched him. The small kid raised his hand in front of him in a helpless attempt to block the next hit.
"What? Not going to fight back, freak?" one of his friends shouted, his voice high.
Dudley wheezed, not used to the effort. Harry opened his eyes and looked up at him. Dudley could see the fear and dislike brimming in his cousin's eyes.
#
A cough from the Lady had him jerking back to reality with a grimace. "It was better for a while," he muttered, and slouched in his chair.
She wrote something down on the paper, the scratch of the pen making him shift uneasily.
"Why did it decline again?" she asked, her voice low and calming.
Dudley scowled and crossed his arms.
Looking up at him, she pursed her lips in disapproval. "We won't get anywhere if you won't talk to me."
"I just don't want to talk about Harry," Dudley said through gritted teeth. The knot between his shoulder blades started to ache, making him even more agitated.
She sighed and started to write again, "Very well. We will talk about something else…" She paused and tapped her pen as she thought. "How about your girlfriend. Her name is Cho, isn't it?"
Dudley nodded, eyes drifting to the window again. "Yes."
"How would you describe your relationship with her?"
"It's nice…"
"Just nice?"
He could hear a song quietly playing from somewhere. Glancing around, he spotted an old fashioned looking radio on the bookshelf behind the desk.
He woke up from dreaming and put on his shoes
Started making his way past two in the morning
He hasn't been sober for days…
"Mr Dursley!" The sternness in her voice made him grimace; it reminded him of one of his school teachers.
"I guess…" He shrugged again and fidgeted. The Doctor clicked her pen and looked down at her paper again.
"How did the two of you meet?"
#
Dudley pushed the door of the coffee shop open, feeling desperate for a shot of caffeine. He had been down at the gym for a couple hours that morning, so a pick-me-up before he met up with the rest of the gang seemed like a wonderful idea. After ordering, he looked around the shop with interest. He didn't come here often, but that might change. He leaned against the counter as he half listened to the music that wafted through the speakers of the radio by his elbow.
…Leaning now into the breeze
Remembering Sunday, he falls to his knees
They had breakfast together
But two eggs don't last
Like the feeling of what he needs…
He didn't recognize the band, but he liked the tune. He was half tempted to look it up on his computer once he got home.
"Here you go!" said the barista cheerfully, handing him the coffee cup. He grinned as he took the cup and headed back out of the shop, the bell above the door jingling pleasantly as he left. He lifted to take a sip out of the cup when someone harshly hit his elbow. The impact made him jerk and effectively spill hot coffee over his chest. Dudley cursed as he tried to hold the wet shirt off his skin so he wasn't burned.
"I'm so sorry!" said a panicked female voice beside him. Looking up, he found himself looking at a very pretty girl with long shiny dark hair and eyes. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot and puffy like she had been crying recently.
"It's alright, just watch where you're going next time," he said, trying to laugh it off and let any anger slip away without her noticing.
"I could buy you another one," she offered, obviously worried he was angry.
He waved her off with a shrug. "No need, I didn't spill that much." Then he added after a moment: "maybe some other time though," with a not so suitable wink.
Instead of storming off with an eye roll like he expected, she smiled back at him. "Alright, some other time then." Then she strolled off down the street, leaving him gaping after her like a fish.
#
…Now this place seemed familiar to him…
"We met outside of a coffee shop. This song was playing," Dudley said as he glanced back over to the Doctor.
"What song?" she asked, tilting her head to the side again.
"Never mind…" he muttered, and pulled at the hem of his T-shirt, having nothing better to distract himself with.
"Would you like to talk about the incident?" This time the Doctor's voice was softer, as she knew she was treading on even more dangerous territory.
"That's what I'm here to talk about, ain't it?" Dudley said flatly as he twisted the fabric of his T-shirt tighter.
"We can wait until a later session," she offered calmly.
"They say it's easier to speak to a stranger about some things than to…" Dudley trailed off, his breath coming in a rush.
"Family," the Doctor said with a nod, and wrote something down.
"I was going to say someone you know," he huffed.
She smiled and nodded. "Of course. Now, would you like to tell me what you remember?"
"I got home late… I had spent the afternoon with Cho, and then hung out with the gang until past dinner."
"Was there anything unusual about that day?"
Dudley bit his lip as he thought about what Cho had said to him that day.
#
"I like this," she said as she set her cup down and looked out the window at the passersby.
Dudley smiled broadly as he took a sip out of his own cup. "Yeah, it's nice."
She frown into her cup for a moment before hesitantly speaking, "Y-your cousin…" She stopped, the grip on her cup tightening until her knuckles were white. "L-Look…" She started again as her eyes fixed on something over his shoulder. "Don't trust him…"
Dudley frowned in confusion at her request. It wasn't like it was hard for him to follow, since he doubted he would ever truly trust the freak.
"Cho?" He questioned, his hand reaching towards hers, but he didn't dare touch. She was clearly agitated, and he really couldn't handle it if she started to cry. "I am not saying I trust him… But I don't understand where this is coming from. You haven't even met him."
"I-" She started to speak, but quickly closed her mouth. Looking him straight in the eye, she whispered, "Just please don't trust him." She let go of her cup with one hand and clasped his hand tightly. The pleading look in her eyes made his gut shift with unease.
#
"There was something that Cho said, but nothing that related to the incident," he said, hoping that the Doctor wouldn't pry. He didn't want to think about what Cho had said too hard.
…Forgive me, I'm trying to find
My calling, I'm calling at night…
The music filled the silence as the Doctor wrote. She looked up and smiled reassuringly. "Once you got home, what happened?"
"Well, there is not much to tell… I found them in the living room… dead." Dudley said, the flashes of lifeless eyes and contorted faces rising to the surface of his mind.
"Your cousin didn't hear anything?"
"He was in his room, door shut tight. Plus, with his pet bird and the telly…" Dudley shrugged, the hem of his T-shirt threatening to rip in his grip.
"The coroner said they both died from heart attacks," the Doctor said softly.
Dudley nodded jerkily in agreement, his eyes not meeting hers.
"You do believe the report, don't you?" she asked, her voice taking a sterner tone once more.
She was expecting an answer, he was sure, but he couldn't bring himself to give her one. He wanted to say yes, but something nagging in the back of his mind said no. "They say the most important years of your life are when you're a teen. The lessons you learn make you who you are as an adult."
The Doctor nodded, "I suppose that is true in most cases."
"Secondary school was the first time me and Harry started to attend different schools. It changed us both in more ways than one."
"For the better?" she asked, clicking her pen absentmindedly as she listened to him.
"I think for me it did. I stopped bullying!" he said, flushing slightly at the memories that came with that declaration. He could hear the scratch of a pen, and bet that they would be coming back to that in a later session. "Harry… I think something went to his head."
"Something?"
"It's hard to explain… he just wasn't the same when he started attending that school." He wanted to add magic had changed his cousin, but for the sake of his own sanity, he didn't.
"Did your view of your cousin change?"
#
"Here!" he said, thrusting a cup of tea at his cousin. Harry, in return, looked at him like he had grown an extra head or something. Dudley guessed this was a bit barking, since he had barged into his cousin's room to give him a cup of tea. But he was trying to at least be a bit nice.
After a moment where they just stared at each other, Harry warily took the cup, "Thanks, Diddydums."
Dudley gritted back his irritation at the nickname and left the room, slamming the door behind him.
#
"Harry is my cousin, which means he is family. Family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten," he said softly.
…I'm not coming back (forgive me)
I've done something so terrible…
"Did Harry think of your parents as family?"
Dudley tore the hem of his T-shirt and finally forced himself to let go. "They never gave him a reason to… not really…"
There was a chime of a clock, making them both turn to look at it.
"Looks like our time is up, but we can talk about this in our next session," the Doctor said as she stood up.
Dudley rose as well and nodded.
"It is a bit of a relief to talk about things," he said, wincing slightly as he stretched.
…Well I guess I'll go home now
I guess I'll go home now
I guess I'll go home now
I guess I'll go home
The last verse of the song faded as he stepped out of the office. Dudley knew that someday he would need to confront Harry, but right now he was just going to go home.