Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything from that world. I also don't own the song, Tough Little Boys. That belongs to country singer, Gary Allan.

Special Thanks: Special Thanks to my amazing beta, SOPROL! Without her, my writing would not have been as good as it is now, and in this story's case, there would have been no disclaimer! (That had been an unintentional mistake, by the way)

Tough Little Boys

Believe it or not, Dudley Dursley was not always the giant bully that everyone feared. In fact, in his first year or two of school, he was bullied more than he bullied Harry in ten years. While his mother would coddle him when he came home, he never cried. His father took pride in having such a "manly" son and taught him how to stand up to the bullies at school.

Well I never once
Backed down from a punch
Well I'd take it square on the chin
Well I found out fast
A bully's just that
You've got to stand up to him

And stand up to them Dudley did! Soon, no one bullied Dudley Dursley. In fact, Dudley did the bullying. His cousin was his favorite victim.


So I didn't cry when I got a black eye
As bad as it hurt, I just grinned
But when tough little boys grow up to be dads
They turn into big babies again

But Dudley has changed a lot since his school days. After graduating from Smeltings, his dad got him a job at his company, and at a company party, he met the neice of his father's secretary, Leslie Neilson, who was visiting for Christmas break. A year and a half after meeting, they were dating, and three years later, he proposed, and she said yes. They got married a year after that, and almost nine months to the day of their wedding, Leslie went into labor, and made Dudley the proud father of a beautiful baby girl, Elsie Petunia Dursley.


Scared me to death
When you took your first steps
And I'd fall every time you fell down
Your first day of school, I cried like a fool
And I followed your school bus to town

Elsie was everything to Dudley, and he was determined to be the best father he could be and give his little girl everything. Elsie's early years had been the scariest of his life; her first steps, her first tooth, her first word, her first day of primary school…he was a nervous wreck for every single one of those.


Well I didn't cry, when Old Yeller died
At least not in front of my friends
But when tough little boys grow up to be dads
They turn into big babies again

Well I'm a grown man
And as strong as I am
Sometimes its hard to believe
That one little girl, with little blonde curls
Could totally terrify me

Elsie is now 15 years old, and as gorgeous as her mother. She had blonde curly hair, and his watery blue eyes. She has a delicate little nose, and her mother's soft facial features and complexion. He was always surprised by how he used to stand up to bullies and not blink an eye, but now he couldn't give his daughter one thought without being afraid something was going to happen to her, and he would be unable to protect her.


If you were to ask
My wife would just laugh
She'd say "I know all about men
How when tough little boys grow up to be dads
They turn into big babies again"
Well I know one day, I'll give you away
And I'm gonna stand there and smile
And when I get home, and I'm all alone
Well, I'll sit in your room for a while

Elsie has a boyfriend, and she looked at him the same way Leslie looks at him. He knows he is seeing his future son-in-law, and he isn't quite sure how he likes that. Maybe a new rule needs to be put into effect in the Dursley house…no one dates until they are at least thirty.

Well I didn't cry when Old Yeller died
At least not in front of my friends
But when tough little boys grow up to be dads
They turn into big babies again
When tough little boys grow up to be dads
They turn into big babies again.

Well? What do you think?