Hello guys! I know I said I wanted to upload each two weeks, but I think I'm going to do each week. Except if I don't get enough time to write. So if I haven't uploaded in a long time, that will probably be the case. Now anyway, here's the second chapter. It's longer than the first one, and I want it to keep it that way. I hope you like it!

"speak"

'thoughts'

Disclaimer: I'm not rich, blond or British. So no, I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 2 - Learning

"Welcome to Hide Manor." Dudley took a step into the building. The first thing he saw was that it was rather small, but still styleful and cosy. The floor looked like marmer and there were several doors. There were also paintings (they moved!). A dark boy sat on a couch and looked curiously at Dudley. He had black, short hair and was dressed in a blue hoodie and black jeans. Next to him lay a sketchbook and a few pencils.

"Well, are you going to come inside or what?" Dudley was pushed inside and Dedalus stepped beside him to go to the boy. "Dean, meet the Dursleys." Dudley walked to the boy. "You're a friend of Harry?" The boy looked at him. His eyes scanned his body. The he held out his arm. "Well, sort of. I'm Dean Thomas. I am, no was, Harry's roommate." "Dudley Dursley, Harry's cousin."

He was about to shake Dean's hand, when his father's voice rang out. "Don't you dare touch him, Dudley! He is a freak, we don't want you getting infected of some sorts!" Dean, Dedalus and Hestia looked at him with shook.

They were all inside now. His mother quickly walked towards Dudley and Dean. "Freak? Who are you calling a freak?" Dean said. Dudley could see he was angry. "Well you boy. You're all freaks. And you said there were more of them here? I had enough of that with that shame I call a nephew!" "Harry's not a shame! He's a hero!" "Hero?" The last was said by his mother. She looked curiously at Dean. "Yeah, an hero." Dudley stared at Dean ridiculously. How could his cousin, who had no strength or whatsoever, be a hero? How did he manage to do all that? Dudley felt like he needed to sit down. His father however got angrier with the second and stalked towards Dean. "Are you trying to corrupt my family, you freak? Dudley, I don't want you to listen to those lies." "Hmmpf, you sound like Umbridge. Told everyone Harry was a liar too. Almost all of the school hated Harry." "Why?" His mother had a curious expression. She looked at Dean.

"Petunia!" His father was looking at her in shock. "No Vernon, I want to know more about my nephew." "He's only a freak!" At that, Hestia exploded. "That's enough! Mr Dursley, we don't want more of that language in here. You can be happy Harry settled this for you. It's war outside!" Nobody did anything. After a few minutes Dedalus spoke. "Well, if you will follow me now, I can show you to your rooms and then you can meet the others."

His father had stayed in his room. His mother surprised Dudley though with coming with them to meet the others. "Here's the kitchen. You can come here anytime you like. There will always be someone here." Dedalus opened the door.

It was a big room. The counter were a dark brown and it had a warm atmosphere. There was a big wooden table in the middle. About 12 people sat at it. When they stepped inside, everyone went quiet. "Hello everyone. This are Dudley and Petunia. They are family of Harry." "Oh really?" A boy with mouse colored hair jumped of his chair and ran to Dudley. "Then you must know a lot about him. What is he like at home? Does he have many friends? Does he talk about us a lot?" Dudley didn't say anything. He stared at the boy. An identical boy, but older, also came to Dudley. "Excuse my brother. He is just a big fan of Harry." "You are too!" "My name is Colin and this jumpy boy here is Dennis. Nice to meet you." Dudley shook his hand. "Uhm yeah. I'm Dudley." "So.. You're Harry Potter's cousin?" Dudley was in shock again. Everyone knew who Harry was. "Yeah… Are you all friends of him?" Colin chuckled. "No. But of course everyone knows who he is." Dean stepped forward. "Dudley and Mrs. Dursley don't know much about Harry. Colin, maybe you can inform them a bit." Colin's eyes lightened up.

Colin clearly was a big fan of Harry's. He told the stories with real passion. 'Man, soon he'll tell us that he has a crush on Harry.' Dudley had to snicker at his own joke, but turned serious again when Colin began to tell them about Harry's fifth year.

"So now we, the muggleborns, have to stay here at Hide Manor because You-Know-Who will probably interfere with Hogwarts. I heard that Harry, Hermione and Ron are not coming back either." Colin's face had taken a somber expression after he was done explaining. Dudley had a conflict with himself. His cousin had been through so much, and Dudley definitely didn't make it any easier. 'I'm so stupid. I should've known better when Harry started getting those nightmares.' He berated himself. His mother had an unreadable face. There was a silence for a long time.

"How- How come you didn't knew about all this?" Colin asked curiously after half an hour when they were seated in the living room. This room was by far the biggest. The walls were a dark red and there were about four couches, of which two were seated before a fireplace. They all had a lot of cushions. There was also a big table with a chessboard and a few books. On the floor lay a thick, fluffy carpet. Dudley and Colin sat on one of the couches before the fire. His mother and Hestia were seated at the table, softly talking.

Dudley stared into the fire. "Me and Harry… We don't really get along well." "Oh.." Colin continued to stare at Dudley. "Is it true?" Dudley looked up. Dennis stood beside the couch. Dudley raised an eyebrow, not knowing what he meant. "It's just, I heard rumours in my second year that you and Harry had faced dementors and that Harry had chased them away. That that would be the reason Fudge wanted to expel Harry." Dudley stared into the fire again. It had a calming effect. "It's true, although I don't really know anything anymore. It's all blurry." He threaded his hand through his hair and sighed. He didn't want to mention what had happened before they were attacked. Colin laid a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Dennis took a seat on the other couch. Dudley realised suddenly that his mother and Hestia had left and they were only people in the room left.

According to the clock on the wall it was supposed to be five o'clock. Dudley began thinking. About what had happened to him in such a short time. In only a day he had learned that his cousin was not what his father had always said. That his cousin was actually involved in a war. That they were all involved in a war. The worst thing was that he didn't know if Harry would survive this. Colin and Dennis certainly seemed to think he would. But from what Dudley heard from him, You-Know-Who seemed to be very powerful. For the first time in his life, Dudley wished that Harry would be okay.

After dinner, Dudley and his mother settled in Dudley's room. Both were seated on his bed. His mother had grasped his hand. Dudley gave it a squeeze. "Do you regret it?" His mother looked at him. "How we treated him? Yes.." She leaned against Dudley. "Not only did I fail my nephew, I also failed my sister. Oh forgive me Lily." His mother cried out. This was the first time his mother said anything about her sister. "Do you miss her?" "Every second of my life. Whenever I would see Harry, I saw Lily looking at me through his eyes. I missed her, but was jealous at the same time. Never had I realised how special Harry actually is. We treated him really bad. How he turned out this good is a miracle." His mother's eyes began to tear up. "I know your dad won't change his mind. But I did. And I hope you do. But first I need to think. It seems like that will be all I'll be doing these days." Dudley nodded. Yeah, there was a lot to think about.

And? What did you think? If you got tips for me, please review! I most of the times like reading reviews from you guys. Anyway, have a nice day, night, or whatever time you read this :)

~ MischiefWeasley