Wow! I really didn't know if anyone would read this (me so happy)!

A big thanks to BlueTrillium for proof-reading! I own all HP books on CD (So much fun with the voice acting) but not one in print, so I have trouble with certain spellings and such. Blue's been the best!

Still aiming for action later on… just got to iron out the characters first. And just for the record, this isn't any form of self insertion. I do base some traits for Serenity on myself but Serenity has qualities that I don't posses – not to mention she's got a magic wand (I wants a real magic wand).

Oh, don't own it!

Chapter 2: Different Worlds; Feels the Same

As he fumbled the diary out from its hiding place, it opened. He hesitated. His eyes twitched and before he knew it, he was reading the next entry. The first entry hadn't been dated, but this one was just under a month old.

Dear stupid diary

Yeah… not in a good mood. My (insert offensive muggle slur) of a father actually contacted me. When an owl caught me out doing the shopping I thought for sure I was in trouble. The street was basically full of muggles. After a fascinating game of tag, I finally got my letter. The stupid bird hopped like a lame duck until there wasn't a soul around but me. That detour took me two miles off course. Not that I didn't find my way back, but I had to ask multiple people for directions. Having a terrible sense of direction only doubles the whole mess when I'm new to the area.

Without realizing it, Dudley made a mental note to remember Serenity had no luck with directions. He himself had a very good sense for that type of thing. The fact she had a 'weakness' also made her more like him. To a degree he had been feeling inferior to wizards. They could do magic and everything he could do. He couldn't do magic which gave them the advantage. According to his dad he was superior, but that frame of mind was dwindling as he spent time around magic. Dad saw magic as a disease. Dudley might have agreed months ago, but now he wasn't so sure. He wasn't sure of many things anymore.

Anyway… dear dad sent me a letter. Woo-hoo! NOT! I've only met the man twice in my life, neither time was pleasant, and now he wants to pretend to be concerned. He sends me a note that crumples into ash 10 minutes after the seal breaks. Guess dad doesn't want me to have any keepsakes – or he's too concerned with his rank in 'The Army of Darkness'. Too bad the real army of darkness isn't nearly as entertaining as the movie.

He chuckled. He was an expert with the telly. The mentioned movie had come on one night and he had watched it with mild amusement. Of course, he was supposed to be sleeping but the fact he had school the next day wasn't important enough to interrupt a good night in front of the telly.

He remembered when his family had first made it to the safe house. Of course, they were placed temporarily in a larger safe house to start with. There had been no telly there. Thanks to his dad, their stay was cut short. Vernon Dursley had seen to their prompt removal. Everyone, wizard and otherwise, had unanimously voted him out. The new safe house was set up for just the Dursleys and it did have a telly – though Dudley found he didn't watch it as much as he used to anyway.

Dudley was slowly realizing just how hard his dad was on everyone. The only people he treated decently were his wife, son and co-workers. Vernon lived in Vernon's own little world and it wasn't big enough for anyone outside a very small group.

Dudley had surely been on his way to growing up just like his dad. He had always thought that a good thing. Now even that seemed wrong.

He grimaced and turned his attention back to the diary.

The letter said 'Serenity, do not reply. Stay out of sight. Go back to The States if possible. This place is not safe.' Oh, and he had actually signed his name. I guess he didn't want me to think it was from someone else. But, he signed his name… not dad or your father. It's so cold and impersonal.

He's never been around. He's never contacted me before. The two times I did see him were under stressful circumstances. The note held concern but no other emotion – no love or anything like that. I shouldn't care. It shouldn't hurt my feelings. But it does and I don't understand why.

The entry ended abruptly.

His large hands closed the book. It seemed to take a while for him to snap back to reality. The more he understood Serenity, the more he wasn't sure he wanted to know more – yet he wanted to know everything.

How was it someone could lose everything but still smile almost every day? He couldn't remember a single time he felt like smiling since leaving Number 4 Privet Drive. Serenity was always tending to one task or the other but he hadn't felt motivated to do anything most of his whole life. Sure he liked boxing. But the drive there was to find something he was good at. Something that would make him feel better and prove to others that he was better. But, it wasn't boxing the sport he liked, it was feeling superior. He was turning into his dad. Even he could put that together and he knew as well as anyone his intelligence was average at best.

He was confused. Utterly. And he had no idea how to handle it. So he did the only thing he could think of: he stuffed the tiny diary into his oversized pocket and left his room. The hall took all of two steps to cross, but he hesitated a moment before knocking quietly on Serenity's door.

He heard a rustle like she was hiding something. Soft footsteps crept to the door and the doorknob turned slowly. Opening it a crack, her blue-green eyes studied him for a second before opening the door wider.

"Oh, hi. Err… something wrong?"

He heard only mild surprise in her voice. She wasn't angry nor did she seem upset. This calmed him.

"Wondering if we could, um, talk?"

She stuck her head out and scanned the hallway. Satisfied it was clear, she opened the door fully and invited him in.

Now, even a boy of only average intelligence knew enough to feel awkward entering a girl's bedroom. He stepped in, diverting his attention from her. Her room was free of clutter and personal items. She hadn't brought much with her to England to begin with. The realization hit him that maybe she felt the same as him. She had been moved out of her 'world' (The States) and into a new one with little say on the matter. Just as he had been – only his world was one with out magic.

"Are you okay?"

He stiffened slightly. "Uh, yeah. I guess."

She giggled softly. "First time in a girl's bedroom? Don't go and get the wrong impression now. I had lots of friends back home and most of them were guys. Rest assured that I will not make any attempts to take advantage of you."

Dudley went into a harsh coughing fit. Serenity tapped him on the back, laughing hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"Sorry. Sorry. I'm joking! Please calm down. You wanted to talk and I didn't think the hallway would be ideal. If you want, we can go somewhere else."

Dudley cleared his throat. His head pounded slightly but he shook it anyway. "No, here's fine. Just caught me off guard."

Serenity smiled and motioned to a spot on the floor. She took a seat, leaning her head on the post of her bed. Dudley followed. He was more secure sitting with her on the floor. The only other place to sit would be on the bed and that would have been way too weird.

He fumbled with his hands before noticing a radio partially hidden under the bed. Was that what she was hiding before he knocked? If so, why?

"What's that?" he asked pointing to the black box under the bed.

"Oh… just a radio."

"Why's it under the bed?"

She wrung her hands. "It's…um…it runs off magic," she whispered.

"Oh. Where you listening to it?"

She seemed to relax. He was fairly sure she thought the mention of magic might upset him. Maybe it would have before, but not so much now.

"I was about to. But there's no need to worry about it. There's no guarantee the show's on. There's never a guarantee but that's what we deal with thanks to Lord Who's-it."

Dudley wrinkled his eyebrows. "Lord Who's-it? You mean that wizard that's the cause of all this?"

Serenity nodded. "Oh, don't say the name, if you know it," she added quickly.

Dudley had been searching his brain. He was sure he'd heard the name and was about to attempt it.

"Why?"

"It's jinxed. You say it and POOF! Death Eaters at your front door. Not a good thing."

He tilted his head. "What's the show about?"

She stared mutely at him. Her lips moved slightly but no sound came out. It was as if she was contemplating whether to share the information with him or not.

"I know it's magic stuff. And I know my family isn't…" He searched for the right word but drew a blank.

"Tolerant?" Serenity offered.

"Yeah. But I would like to know. I'm curious."

She bit her bottom lip and let it slide out of her teeth before answering. "The show's called Potterwatch. It gives updates on the situation…well, as much as we know."

"Potterwatch," Dudley repeated bewildered. "Is Harry really that important?"

Serenity nodded. "I know I'm not from here, but we know the name in America too. He's the wizarding world's most known wizard. And…well…"

Dudley raised an eyebrow. She stuttered, and he knew she was trying to figure out if she had already gone too far with the information or if she could go further.

"Yeah?" he prompted.

"Since he's your cousin, I was just wondering what kind of person he is. But you don't have to answer," she held up her hands. "If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine."

His lips twitched toward a smile, but never completed it. An almost-smile. Well, it was better than no smile, he concluded. She was trying so hard not to offend him.

"He's okay. Pretty much just a regular guy."

She breathed a sigh (he assumed of relief). "Oh, good. I was worried he would have this better-than-you-high-and-mighty attitude. If he's not full of himself than that's great."

Dudley did smile at that. He tried to imagine a Harry that thought he was better than anyone else. The total opposite of how he really is – but close to whom Dudley himself was turning out to be.

Serenity must have misread the frown on his face. "Sorry. I know your folks aren't fond of all this magic stuff. I get the vibe they don't really like having a wizard in the family. But you seem different. I'm not honestly sure how much of it you mind or don't mind."

"I…" Dudley shut his mouth and swallowed. So much had changed. He had changed and still didn't know how much more he would change. "I used to hate it. I used to think mum and dad were right to be like they are, but… but now I'm not sure. I don't think it's bad. Magic, that is. I don't think magic is bad but it's still a little…"

She smiled and rested her hand momentarily on his shoulder. "You're just a bit apprehensive, that's all."

"I'm not scared," he said defensively.

"No, that's not what I meant. Apprehensive is more like saying it worries you a bit but I didn't mean you were afraid."

He tried to smile. She clearly was trying to make him comfortable, but the truth was that magic did frighten him. He didn't understand it and that scared him. Plus, he had had bad experiences with magic before. The pig's tail was bad enough but those dementor things were horrible.

He darted his eyes back to the radio in an attempt to find another topic of conversation.

"What's that?"

Serenity followed his gaze to the space just behind the radio. She withdrew a long stick.

"Oh," she replied being sure to hold the stick sideways. "It's my wand. It's what I use to find the radio show with."

Dudley was happy to turn the conversation away from the topic of fear. "What's it made of? Always wondered what made one stick a wand and the other a normal stick. Do you have a magic forest where you can get them from the trees?"

Serenity smiled and suppressed a giggle. "I used to wonder the same thing, when I was little. I would go and pick up twigs in the back yard and try swinging them around. Mom told me that wands are made by wand makers. There are all different kinds. Mine's made of ivy. But it's not just the wood; there's also the core. My wand has balam whisker core."

Dragons - now there was a thing Dudley could identify. Along with unicorns and elves… though he really thought elves were beautiful people with pointed ears and not the thing he had seen Harry tell to shut up a year ago.

"What's a balam?"

"It's a supernatural jaguar native to America. They are guardians of nature. I guess they might not have that type of core here in England, but I could be wrong. They might import it. The wand maker back home was surprised this wand chose me since I'm really native to England. At the same time, my mom was born in America so I guess that's why." She paused and smiled at Dudley's bewildered expression. "Sorry, my mouth tends to run away with me at times. I'm just so lonely here. No offense, but there's no one else here around my age that's a wizard or witch. No one I can talk to about… that stuff."

"I don't mind," he sputtered despite the fact that the conversation did make him uneasy. Still, it seemed to bring Serenity's mood up. After the incident at dinner and the things he had read in her diary, he figured she needed it.

Dudley frowned again. For once he was actually thinking of someone other than himself. What had happened to the boy who would have retorted with some smart remark? The boy who wouldn't care if some stupid witch got her feelings hurt? What was going on with him?

He was more confused than ever. He had hoped that through some miracle talking to Serenity would clear his thoughts. If he could somehow give back her diary then he could be less like his father and more like… More like what?

And what would happen if he gave her back the diary? Would she be happy? Not even Dudley thought that possible. Certainly her mood was improving, but to tell her he had read her personal thoughts… No, she would be hurt and angry. Not to mention she was holding a real wand. She seemed nice but he had caught a glimpse of another side of her when she talked about those Death Eaters. No doubt she would turn him into a frog.

Again Serenity misread his frown. "Sorry again. I'm talking about my stuff. Didn't you need to talk? What's on your mind?"

"Um…," he searched his mind. There was no way he was revealing the diary. "Just wanted to…check and see if you were okay I guess. Dad's in a bad mood. He can be a bit…um…"

"Difficult," Serenity offered.

Dudley nodded. He stood slowly. Serenity followed, pressing her shirt straight. She was a bit plump around the middle; though not nearly as 'plump' as Dudley himself was. Her cheeks were fuller than mum's but there was no double chin. All in all, she had a very average build. She looked completely normal and could easily pass for someone like him. Someone who wasn't a witch.

Before Dudley let his head spin around the fact that maybe magic people weren't so different, he excused himself, wishing her a good night. After she lightly snapped the door shut behind him, he crept back downstairs to the living room. He would return the diary to the place he found it. Right now, that was the best he could do.