Just a disclaimer, I do not own any of the characters or anything related to the Harry Potter stories I write about!
Harry listened to Ginny bustling about the kitchen as he grabbed the letter off the pile of mail on the table. Sure enough, it was a Muggle post envelope addressed to him. What took Harry absolutely by surprise, however, was that the postmark read Salem, Massachusettes, USA. There was no return address on the envelope, and the handwriting was unfamiliar to him. Harry knew that Salem was a central hub for witches and wizards in the United States, but he didn't know anyone who'd ever been there, let alone who would be sending him a letter by Muggle post.
"Well? Who's it from?" Asked Ginny. She was standing behind his chair now, peering over his shoulder.
"I don't know yet. There's no return address, and look," he pointed to the top right corner, next to the little pumpkin stamp where the postmark was. "It's from the United States, Salem."
Ginny's eyebrows furrowed together. "That's odd."
"Well, let's see," said Harry, and he flipped the letter over and slid it open. Inside was a single piece of paper.
Harry,
I hope this letter finds you well. It's Dudley. When your Order hid my parents and me, they took us to a place in the United States, Salem, Massachusetts. There is a lot of your kind of people here; that's actually how I found out how I could send this letter to you. I heard that your war is over, that you won over that Lord Voldy-person. I was quite happy to hear you hadn't been killed. I told you the last time we saw each other that I don't think you're a waste of space, and I wanted to tell you that, well...you were always like a brother to me, Harry, and I know that I never treated you too well. Truth is, I can't picture having grown up without you, and of course we both know you've saved my life. Well, I've been thinking about you since I heard your war is all over, and I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for how I was when we were growing up. I think I've changed a lot since I got to Salem. I'm writing to you because I want to invite you and your friends to come spend the American holiday Thanksgiving with me here in the States. I think we'll have a lot more in common now, and I hope I can show you that I really have changed. I was told that your owl will know where to find me, or you can use the regular post and send the letter to the return address on this envelope. Hope to hear from you soon.
Dudley
Harry stared at the letter, slightly dazed. His first thought was that this had to be a bad joke. Dudley was the biggest prat, and Harry had seriously doubted whether he even knew how to write. But as he looked at the signature, he realized that the scrawl was indeed Dudley's.
"It...It's from my cousin. Dudley," Harry said to Ginny, handing her the letter. He saw her brown eye flash in anger. Harry had told Ginny about how he had been treated growing up with the Dursleys, and he had been surprised at how indignant Ginny had become on his behalf. He had even had to stop her from trying to send them a Howler, she had been so angry. Even now, her temper would flare up if there was ever any mention of his aunt, uncle, or cousin.
"What does that prat want?" She snarled, and she narrowed her eyes and started reading. She scoffed, and looked up to Harry. "'I was quite happy you hadn't been killed.' Wow, he certainly has a way with words. Has the troll finally learned how to care about someone other than his fat self? Does he not even realize you got married? How could he not know that his cousin, that HARRY POTTER, the savior of the wizarding world, got married! There were enough articles in every stupid magazine, " Ginny snorted, and tossed the letter back to Harry. "Well, what do you think? Do you want to go, Harry?"
Harry ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm so confused. I know Dudley. Maybe he has had a change of heart, but with the old Dudley, there would have had to be something in it for him. Do you want to go?" He asked her.
"I've been interested in foreign witches and wizards ever since we visited Bill in Egypt. And I'm sure Hermione would jump at the educational possibilities, so we should ask her and Rom to come when we see them tonight. Sounds like we have ourselves an adventure," She grinned, "Even if it is just a visit to Dudley."
"I guess we're going then. I should write back to him. Wait a minute..." Harry remembered there had been no sender address on the envelope, but Dudley had told him to reach him there. "What an idiot," Harry muttered under his breath. He picked the envelope up again. This time however, to his shock, there was an address printed in the top left corner, where there had most certainly been nothing written before. This was turning out to be a very odd morning. Harry hesitated as he reached for a quill and parchment.
"I want to talk to Ron and Hermione before I write back to him. This is too strange to make sense of right now; I don't want to agree to something I can't do without knowing what Dudley wants. He's bound to cause trouble somehow," Harry said to Ginny. "Let's head to the Burrow when you're ready."