Chapter three.

If we're stuck here, let's do it right!

They were quiet for a good half hour, both lost in thought. Harry didn't even know that his cousin knew how to think. But the half hour paid off. Harry had the perfect plan. At least, that depended on how much the Ministry really changed their views on their 'Golden Boy'. But after only a short time of Harry feeling an ever-growing headache, Dudley renewed it. Dudley was the one who seemed to ruin everything.

"Harry," he said shakily.

Harry sighed deeply. "Yeah, what's up Dud?"

"I was just thinking…."

"Wow, Dud, you think?" Harry smirked.

To his enormous surprise, Dudley didn't retort back. What was going on with him?

"Well, I guess I am starting to. "

Harry was so dumfounded that he could say only one thing as his mind recovered from going blank from shock.

"I've noticed. "

"Yeah, well I was thinking, "Dudley continued with a stronger edge to his voice. "Why, I mean why you would help me. All I ever did to you was made your life a living hell."

Harry opened his mouth to reply when a sudden thought hit him.

"I got it,' he said in a loud whisper. "You're not used to not getting sleep like I am,' Harry deduced. "You're cracking. "

"Err...right" Dudley mumbled.

If Harry didn't know better he'd have said Dudley was feeling taken a back.

"Well, goodnight Harry. "

"Hold on there. The only reason they were able to take me in the first place was because you and your precious parents starved me. "

Dudley finally gave Harry the reaction he wanted.

"Don't you…..WAIT!"

Harry almost fell back with shock. Here he was trying to get a rise out of Dudley, and he just kept astounding him around every corner.

"Wait what," he finally said once he recovered from the surprise that was his cousin, Dudley Dursley.

There was a scuffling sound and Harry felt Dudley moving around. Before he could ask what was going on Dudley answered him.

"I was taking food up to my room like I...Er…do at night when you found me."

Harry felt something pushed into his hands. It was harder to do since they were still tied so tightly but he managed to take what Dudley gave him. But he still couldn't see due to the lack of light.

"Oh this is stupid," Harry muttered.

If he was going to do magic anyway to get them out of this he couldn't see the harm in a simple Lumos spell.

"I'm sorry...I thought..." Dudley began awkwardly.

"No!" Harry shouted.

He felt the ground shake and knew that Dudley had jumped.

"Sorry,' Harry continued more softly. 'I meant this whole thing of literally keeping us in the dark is stupid."

"Oh, well I don't think there is a light here so…," he was cut off by the sudden burst of light that filled the pitch-black room.

Harry's hands were shielding his eyes as they took their time adjusting to the light. When they did he noticed with a smirk that Dudley was staring at him in shock.

Harry still grinning said, "Who said anything about a light?"

"I…err…I didn't know you could do that," Dudley mumbled.

"No, really," Harry cried sarcastically.

Dudley's small eyes where looking anywhere but at Harry. Seeing that Dudley's arm was still outstretched and full of the one thing Harry wanted, he took it.

"Alright Dud, I will make you a deal."

Dudley nodded for Harry to go on. Harry sighed.

"Ok, you give me whatever else is in your pockets and I will let you have the first shift for sleeping."

"Ok," Dudley said with a shrug of his shoulders.

He started awkwardly emptying out his pockets. Dudley had to struggle a little more than Harry as his ropes were so think they seemed to be cutting into his skin. However, if this was hurting him, Dudley made no indication of it.

Harry couldn't believe how much food Dudley managed to steal. By the time he was done there was a small mountain of low fat sweets and fruits. Harry stared hungrily at it all. He put his wand down and crossed his legs. Then he slowly began to eat. He was using all his self-control not to just cram it all in his mouth. He knew what that would lead to. He didn't fancy having to clean up puke in this small closet they were stuck in.

Well not really. Harry knew he could get them out, but that wasn't part of the plan. He frowned in disgust at the type of food there was.

His aunt Petunia must have deduced that Dudley always took more food at night and made sure that this wouldn't affect him as much as she could. As a result, all there was in the entire house was healthy food.

At the moment Harry was so hungry he would have eaten just about anything. He picked up an interesting looking bar of what was supposed to be chocolate. He ripped off the wrapper and took a bite. It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

Harry sighed again in contentment. Whilst eating the "candy" he started digging through the small pile of food.

After a minute, Harry realized how strange it was for Dudley, repeat Dudley, to ever give up something as important to him as food.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Harry eyed his cousin suspiciously.

"Well…you need your strength to get us out of here right?" Dudley said off handedly.

"Well, as long as it's about you," Harry retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Ok, look, it's well you..I never really noticed how pail you look," as he spoke Dudley seemed to be looking anywhere but at Harry.

"That's putting it lightly," Harry spat sardonically.

He didn't care how unusually nice Dudley was being, he was not going to suddenly forget his entire childhood from hell over one civil conversation.

"Ok!'Dudley barked making Harry almost jump. 'Your right ok, you look like death on legs. "

Harry rolled his eyes again.

"And you look like a freak who escaped from the zoo!"

Harry was really enjoying insulting Dudley. It was like things were normal again.

"They should have never let you off your leash."

He expected Dudley to take the food back, but he just looked away.

"Maybe," Dudley looked genuinely hurt by what Harry had said.

Harry ignored him and went on eating.

After a few minutes of that, however he became aware of Dudley who had not moved an inch.

"What," Harry spat, mouth full of imitation chocolate.

He immediately regretted this however because Dudley's face fell fast.

"Nothing it's just that…Well you didn't answer my question."

"And what was that?" Harry went on more kindly now helping himself to an apple.

"Why are you helping me?"

Harry started to cough violently and choke. Dudley raised his massive hands and thumped Harry on the back.

"Thanks," Harry wheezed.

Harry was very tempted to use Legilimency on Dudley now, but if he was being honest with himself, he knew that was unnecessary.

There was no way Dudley was acting. He was the worst actor ever. The only ones who could ever possibly fall for his acts were his gullible as hell parents.

"Look Dudley," Harry met his eyes the whole time, testing their truthfulness.

"I may severely dislike you, but I don't want you dead.' "I thought you knew that. ' "Didn't the whole dementor incident teach you anything?"

Dudley looked away as if ashamed of something.

"Harry…'his voice was so low that Harry barely heard him. Still in the same small and shaky voice Dudley continued, "Can I ask you something?"

At least he wasn't stuttering Harry thought. But he preferred it now when compared having to strain his ears just to hear him.

"Obviously you've just done so," Harry replied with a smile at his little joke.

Dudley, completely unaware of the words behind what Harry just said asked, "what did you hear when those…things came near you?"

Then his eyes widened and he quickly said in a much louder slightly high-pitched voice, "I am not the only one who hears things right?' "I mean you said they make you relive your worst memories right?" Dudley ranted.

"Yes..Yes..Everyone hears something but," Harry broke off.

Not only was he not used to having a civil conversation with Dudley, but that was something extremely personal to ask.

"I'm sorry,' he mumbled. 'I know, look you don't have to tell me."

Harry had a sudden idea." I'll tell you if you tell me," he blurted out.

Dudley looked really scared again. "I will if you promise not to laugh."

Harry's curiosity was peaked, and he quickly mumbled a 'yeah' and sat up a little straighter on the floor. Again, he could just use Legilimency , but Harry didn't want it to become a habit to invade people's privacy.

Dudley suddenly found his shoes very interesting. Talking to his laces, he whispered his answer in the same shaky voice he used before. It was strange to see "big D" almost on the verge of tears. Well not really, but his eyes were unusually bright.

"I heard you, you were crying." 'Dad had just beaten you and you were five. Then I saw you in your room, at first you were saying something about that guy."

Here he paused while his eyes went from over bright to fearful.

Harry could hear the words echoing in his own head as if he was reading his cousins mind.

Never talk about that again, do you understand me!

"Then," Dudley tried to say but his voice came out hi pitched. He cleared his throat and more audibly said, "I also heard you at night, I think you were seven. You kept saying you were sorry and please love me. But at the same time you…well you were saying mum dad and something like that and I"….Dudley trailed off.

His gaze rose from his shoes to the blank wall right in front of his eyes.

Harry's mouth fell open in utter shock.

"What," he rasped.

His own voice was a little shaky now too. No way, Dudley's worst memories were of him being mistreated. That was a BIG eye opener. All this time he thought that Dudley never knew him. But he never imagined that he didn't know Dudley.

"Yeah, don't laugh," he reminded.

"I wasn't going to. I was just thinking. I…well I can't say I am not surprised. Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Dudley's head snapped up and met Harry's.

"I was scared. And to be honest I didn't know how to go about it."

"Wow, just wow," Harry muttered distractedly, mind reeling with this new view of Dudley.

"Yeah," Dudley breathed.

"So…err…what do you hear?" He asked again.

"I hear my parents last dying moments," Harry said dully.

Dudley's eyes widened. He looked horror stricken.

"What,' Harry snapped! 'Did you expect it to be you beating me up or something?"

"No, no I didn't think...I didn't mean…I didn't know…I…"but Harry interrupted.

"Well, obviously you didn't know."

There was silence again for a short time. Harry was getting sick of eating with his hands tied. Surely, a little more magic wouldn't hurt. Right?

He knew that there was a flaw in the Ministry's plan to trace underage magic. They couldn't detect really small spells. That's why Harry got away with the Lumos spell so often. But he only knew that because Mr. Weasley told him hoping to make his stay at Privet Drive a little better.

No one was supposed to know that. But Harry suspected that if they couldn't trace a really small spell then it made sense to think that they couldn't trace a spell produced by wandless magic too, right?

It was worth a shot. Harry was no expert. In fact, he only started it in the previous year. Hermione wanted to try even more challenging things for the D.A.

So Harry, Ron, and Hermione set out to learn new things again. It was a lot like Harry's preparations for the first task in his fourth year. Only this time Ron was with them too.

But he figured a small cutting spell shouldn't take too much magic.

Harry concentrated really hard, his eyes staring unblinkingly at his bands. He said very firmly and clearly, "raptoo."

There was a loud ripping sound followed by a crash. Harry and Dudley both jumped from the shock. Dudley from the noise and Harry because he couldn't believe it worked.

He stretched and rubbed his sore wrists. He was really surprised that there captors didn't come in and check on them, surely after all the noise they were making it would attract one of them.

Dudley was eyeing Harry, silently asking if Harry would do his bands as well.

"Sorry, but they will notice if I get rid of yours. They worked extra hard on your ropes. I could just say they were loose and I slipped out."

Dudley was still eyeing Harry wearily.

"I didn't know you could do m…magic (harry smirked) without using that…thing."

"Say wand, it sounds so much better," Harry laughed.

Dudley didn't return his smile.

"It's new for me, alright. But you're going to have to trust me here okay."

"Yeah, thanks."

Harry, sensing Dudley was still not saying what he wanted to, opened his mouth to ask about it when Dudley beat him to it.

"You know I'm not really tired anymore."

Harry would have laughed if Dudley weren't being so serious. Dudley gave a loud sniff, and Harry thought he knew why Dudley wanted him to sleep first. And it wasn't about Harry needing his strength as Dudley put it before, to get them out.

Harry gave a kind smile.

"Ok," he started shifting around trying to get comfy.

He'd slept in worse places then this. But still, the hard concrete floor was no four-poster. He picked up his wand and pointed it, and Dudley, whose face paled for just a second before he raised his eyebrows.

"Ok…,"Harry unsurely muttered, more to himself then to Dudley.

He felt his brain already shutting down from what could be described as one of the weirdest days of Harry's life.

"I was just going to ask if you minded if I turned off this light."

Dudley's shoulders sagged in relief.

"No, go right ahead."

Harry, still eyeing him warily whispered, "nox", and the only scores of light in the "room" was gone.

"You have a watch right?"

"Yeah why?" Dudley said distractingly.

Now there's the stupid Dudley I know, Harry observed.

But he still refrained from saying that out loud, however tempting that might be.

"Because I want you to wake me up in two hours. Then you can go to sleep."

"Fine," Dudley deadpanned. His tone was holly and emotionless.

Harry sighed very deeply into his arms, which he was using as a pillow. The second he closed his eyes he fell asleep.

**********************

Harry groaned. Something was shaking him slightly.

"Ron go away," Harry tried to roll over but found himself on something really hard and uncomfortable.

He noticed now too that his back was aching slightly.

"Harry came a soft voice. But it wasn't Ron's."

Memories of the night before flashed full force into Harry's mind and he groaned again.

"Sorry Dudley. It's your turn to sleep now yeah?"

"Uh yeah, I kinda let you sleep one more hour."

Harry sat bolt upright nearly knocking Dudley in the head.

"You did what!"

"I'm sorry I didn't think you would mind I…"Dudley was cowering slightly his arms in front of his face as if he feared Harry would punch him.

"What's the matter with you, I'm not going to hit you. I'm just…well surprised, that you would do something like that for me."

"Right, sorry err so can I go to sleep now then," Dudley gave a huge yawn and his eyes were glazing over with tiredness.

"Yeah go right ahead." Harry said sitting up to make room for Dudley.

Dudley shifted around for a while trying to get comfortable. It took him a lot longer than Harry but at last Dudley snores started to fill the room.

Harry pressed his palms to his eyes. While lights popped in front of them, and he yawned. He checked Dudley's watch and saw that it was now seven in the morning.

Harry didn't think he would get another chance to sleep. But it was still more sleep then he had gotten in a long time. He laid his head gently on the bare wall. There was a small light coming in from the crack between door and floor. It was enough to see at least a little of the room.

Harry didn't really pay attention to where they were before. But now he couldn't really find anything better to do while he waited.

The room, which was really more like a closet, had nothing on the gray walls. There was nothing in the room other then the two boys. It was completely empty and plain, unless you counted the dust that was lying there since who knows when.

Harry didn't dare close his eyes. He knew he might fall asleep. He was startled slightly when Dudley didn't ask him why they were going to take turns sleeping. He didn't expect blind trust, and most surely not from Dudley.

He yawned again; this is going to be a long few hours.

Around nine thirty in the morning Harry could once again here voices from outside their door. He leaned over and started shaking Dudley.

"Come on wake up," he said in an under tone.

He didn't want them knowing that they were awake just yet.

"Mum go away," Dudley sleepily said.

Harry smiled again. This was turning out to be more fun then he thought.

He hadn't smiled this much in a long time. He never dreamed he would even smile once all summer. If someone would have told him a few days ago that he would not only get along, but find something that he had in common with Dudley, he would have asked how long they had been on the run from St. Mungo's again.

"Come on Dudley wake up,' Harry hissed, they're coming.

Dudley's eyes snapped open.

"They are?" he squeaked in a voice full of terror.

They could hear the sound of footsteps getting closer. The doorknob rattled, and light flooded the room as the door opened.

"It's show time," Harry said under his breath.

Author Notes:

First off, I would like to take this moment to thank my wonderful beta Patwas-Potter. Thanks so much for all your help. Now I love a good cliffy don't you? This was one of my faster update. I told you the more reviews I get the fast I update. I would love to thank-BloOm- whose review really got me going. I just wrote this whole thing in one shot. Thanks to everyone who reviewed this so far. Please stay tuned for the next chapter. And remember the more reviews the faster the update. PS this is a lot longer than I thought it would be. This one is 8 ½ pages on the word. The next chapter is where things get really good. Oh and I know this might come as a shock but there are only three more chapters to go. This is not going to be a very long story. But the next three chapters might be longer than the previous ones.