Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, and/or favorited this story! Your support keeps me writing! Sorry I didn't update sooner, but life got in the way. I plan to finish soon though!
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter, but I don't.
Both Petunia and Dudley became more and more anxious as the days passed until August 21st.
When the day of the wedding finally arrived, the mother-and-son pair told Vernon they were going on a day trip to London to do some shopping. They did actually travel to London together via train, but they didn't do any shopping. They changed into their wedding attire in the bathrooms of King's Cross station and then made their way to the alley where Harry had instructed them to meet.
"Congratulations, today's the big day," Dudley said when he saw Harry, clamping him on the shoulder.
"Thanks," Harry replied sheepishly. Petunia noted that he was still wearing his day clothes.
"Are you going to have enough time to get ready by the time we get to Ginny's parents' house?" She asked him, concerned.
"Definitely," he assured her. "It's only going to take us a few minutes to get there."
"What?" She inquired. She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. "How exactly are we getting there?"
"With this," Harry told her, holding up an old, wooden spoon. "It's a portkey. We'll all hold onto it, and it will magically take us to The Burrow. That's what we all call the Weasley's home. It's like teleportation."
"Will it hurt?" Dudley questioned. Both his and Petunia's faces had gone pale.
"No, but it will probably make you a bit nauseous," Harry responded honestly. He looked down at his watch. "We really should get going now. I can't be late for my own wedding."
He held out the spoon and Petunia and Dudley reluctantly grabbed onto it.
Harry was right. It did make them nauseous. Dudley turned green, and it took Petunia every ounce of strength she had not to throw up.
Once the feeling of impending sickness had finally passed, Petunia noted her surroundings. The three of them had landed on an expansive lawn in front of the strangest house she'd ever seen. It looked as though it had originally been a small cottage but had subsequently been built up over time until it was several stories high. Surely this thing can't be up to code, she thought. She quickly came to the realization that magic was likely the only reason the shoddily built home was still standing.
"So, this is The Burrow," Harry gestured to the house. "C'mon inside. The Weasley's are expecting you."
Harry led them through the front door of the home and into a very cluttered looking kitchen. The room was uninhabited except for a red-headed woman who seemed rather frazzled. She turned to face the three of them.
"Oh, Harry," she let out a breath. "There you are. I was getting worried."
"Sorry," Harry apologized. "Took a bit longer than I anticipated. Had to make sure there weren't any muggles around to see us using the portkey. Thanks for letting me borrow your spoon by the way."
At that, Harry once again turned to his relatives.
"Dudley, Aunt Petunia, this is Molly," he told them, gesturing towards the woman. "Molly is Ginny's mother. Molly, this is my aunt and cousin," he added, now gesturing towards the Dursleys.
"Hello," Molly greeted them with a half-smile. "Lovely to finally meet you."
Petunia and Dudley returned her hello, after which an uncomfortable silence washed over the four of them.
Petunia suddenly felt very uncomfortable. While Molly's tone was definitely not impolite, it certainly wasn't warm either. According to Harry, this woman had acted as a surrogate mother to him for many years now, and Petunia was sure that she was aware of the way Harry was treated while he resided at #4 Privet Drive. She could only imagine what Molly privately thought of her and her husband.
"Harry," Molly finally said. "You really must go get ready now, the ceremony starts in less than an hour."
"Less than an hour?" Harry questioned, looking mildly alarmed.
Molly nodded, and Harry quickly exited the kitchen and hurried upstairs.
"Would you two like to have a seat at the table?" Molly then asked Petunia and Dudley.
"Sure, thank you," Dudley said as he sat down. Petunia followed his example, nervously glancing around the kitchen.
Suddenly a middle-aged man burst into the room. He was balding, but the few hairs that remained on the sides of his head revealed that he too had hair just as fiery as Molly's.
"I heard the muggles are here," he exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. He quickly spotted Petunia and Dudley and excitedly offered his hand for them to shake. He was incredibly familiar to Petunia, but she couldn't quite remember where she had seen him before.
"Hello, I'm Arthur – the bride-to-be's father," he introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you," Petunia told him.
"Well, we've actually met before. If you recall, I visited your home once to pick Harry up to take him to the Quidditch World Cup," Arthur told her. He let out a small, nervous laugh. "Two of my sons played a bit of a prank on your boy. So glad to see that his tongue is back to its normal length by-the-way, and I really should apologize for destroying your sitting room. It really is a shame your husband wouldn't just let me fix it with magic – although, you muggles are so clever and innovative. I bet that with the tools you have you were able to finish the repairs in no time!"
Petunia just smiled back at him, unable to come-up with a polite response. It was months before that room was back to normal, and Dudley still occasionally had nightmares about chocking on his own tongue. Dudley appeared to be thinking the same way as he held his hands tightly over his mouth and stared backed at Arthur with wide-eyes.
Arthur could clearly sense their discomfort and proceeded to nervously scratch behind his ear.
"I should really get my son to apologize to you too," he said to Dudley. "Best to clear the air before the wedding starts. GEORGE!"
There was a loud popping noise, and one of the young men who had pranked Dudley all those years ago abruptly appeared in the middle of the kitchen.
"GEORGE, CAN YOU NEVER JUST WALK DOWN THE STAIRS!?" Molly screamed at him. Both Dudley and Petunia jumped at her rapid change in demeanor, but George seemed unfazed.
"Where's the fun in that?" He calmly responded to her before noticing the two Dursleys at the table. He laughed and pointed at Dudley. "I remember you! Harry's cousin! Wow, Harry said you were coming to the wedding, but I thought he was just joking around! How's your tongue by the way?"
"It's fine now," Dudley told him, cringing at the way his voice was shaking. Magic is nothing to be afraid of. Magic is nothing to be afraid off, he mentally repeated to himself.
"Sorry about that, mate," George responded, although he didn't sound very apologetic at all. "You should really consider yourself lucky though. You're one of the first users of an original Weasley's Wizard Wheezes product. WWW is currently one of the most successful shops on Diagon Alley."
"Great," Dudley said, although he truly had no idea what George was talking about. "Hey, didn't you have a twin brother?" He asked in an attempt to change the topic of conversation.
"Yeah," George replied, all the amusement leaving his face. Molly and Arthur too suddenly appeared rather sad. "I have to finish getting ready," George said. There was another loud pop, and George was gone.
Oh God, no, thought Dudley, realizing that there were likely more than a few causalities during that wizard war Harry had to fight in. However, he didn't have long to dwell on these thoughts as yet another ginger-haired young man strode through the doorway.
"Mom," the young man spoke to Molly. "On a scale from one-to-ten, how mad would you be if I brought a dragon as my plus-one to the wedding?"
At this, Petunia went pale and clutched her hand to her heart.
"CHARLIE!" Molly bellowed.
"Wait, hear me out. It's a very young dragon that I've been taking care of - practically a newborn – and I'm the first living thing he saw after he hatched, so of course he imprinted on me," Charlie tried to explain. "Long story short, now he's going through this phase where he's been having terrible separation anxiety, and it just didn't feel right to leave him when I could very easily take him with me to meet the rest of his family."
"NO, CHARLIE!" Molly bellowed. "We are not his family! He is a dragon, we are human-beings! I can't even imagine the havoc a dragon could cause at your sister's wedding. It would be a disaster."
"Well, I've had him with me for the past three days I've been here, and you haven't noticed him yet."
"WHAT?! YOU LET A DRAGON LOOSE IN MY HOUSE?!"
"No," Charlie rolled his eyes. "Joshua – that's what I've been calling him – is not 'loose' in the house. I have him in a cage, in my room, and he hasn't caused any trouble yet… Well, except for that small incident with the carpet…"
"That's how your carpet caught fire! You said you knocked over a candle!"
"It wasn't totally a lie! I was trying to get Joshua to light a candle for me, but his aim was a little off. It really wasn't his fault, he's just a baby after all."
"ARTHUR!" Molly turned to her husband. "Say something! Your son has brought a wild animal into our home, and now he wants to bring it as a guest to our daughter's wedding!"
"Yes, of course," Arthur stuttered. "Charlie, that was very irresponsible of you, very irresponsible indeed. You should have at least had enough sense to keep the dragon in the backyard."
"ARTHUR!" Molly scolded. "He shouldn't have brought the dragon with him at all!"
"Right," Charlie interjected. "I can see that this is causing a lot of unneeded drama right before the wedding. I know what I'll do! I'll just point Joshua's cage towards the window so he can watch the ceremony from my room."
With that, Charlie ran out of the kitchen, leaving his mother and father speechless, and the Dursleys very concerned that they may be killed by a dragon named Joshua.
"Well," Arthur finally said. "The wedding is going to start very soon. Molly and I must get ready to greet the rest of the guests. If you two would just follow me to the backyard, I'll get you seated."
With that, Petunia and Dudley stood up and followed Arthur out of the kitchen, ready to finally see Harry get married.
