Teehee, it's my birthday today! Here's my present to all of you! I know it took like four chapters, but Harry's in this one! This felt a little rushed to me, but that was because there's so much going on here. I still want to know what wizarding gift you all would want for your birthday! Let me know! Sidenote, I did receive a comment asking about if I'm bringing back people that JK Rowling killed. Not in this fic, maybe in other fics. Sorry! Alright, now that spring cleaning is done, on to chapter 4 of New Leaf to Turn!

That's odd; Archimedes never takes off like that… Harry James Potter mused as he watched the spot on the sky that his owl had taken off towards.

It was odd how much Archimedes looked like his old owl Hedwig, but the only thing the two had in common was the fact that they had both been gifts. Hedwig had been a birthday present from his first friend in the wizarding world, while Archimedes had been an apology gift from none other than Percy Weasley. The redhead had felt so bad about the way he had acted during the war that he had given Harry the snowy owl shortly after Harry and Ginny were married.

Harry should have expected that any owl of Percy Weasley would be just as strict as he was. Harry remembered one of the first times he was writing a letter to Ron using Archimedes and the owl had pecked his hand for misspelling the word 'eternity'. Needless to say, Harry's spelling had improved greatly ever since he had received Archimedes.

Another thing that differed from Harry's first owl was the fact that Archimedes liked to be on a schedule. He liked to be fed twice daily, once at 7:18 in the morning and again at 4:48 in the afternoon. He always seemed to throw a fit if ever Harry was late during either of these feeding times, but if he was early, the owl refused to eat until the correct time. And every day, without fail, Archimedes would take a flight to stretch his wings that lasted from 1:37 in the afternoon until 4:30. Harry would never know what the owl chose those times; all he knew was that Archimedes had a reason for that.

But here he was, at 4:48, and instead of eating, the snowy owl had taken off at breakneck speeds only a magical owl could manage. Out of all the things that confused Harry about this owl, that was the top of his list.

"What are you looking at Harry?" Harry turned to look at his wife, Ginny. The redhead had come up to his study just moments after Archimedes took off, most likely to tell him dinner was almost ready.

"Archimedes just left…at feeding time of all times. He's never done that before, I wonder what made him do that…" The green eyed man murmured, but his wife heard him all the same.

"Well did you need him for anything?" The former Weasley woman folded her arms against her chest as she leaned on the door frame of the study.

Harry chuckled, looking at his wife, "No, not really."

"Then don't worry Harry, Archimedes always knows when he's needed."

"I know, I guess it just bothers me that he's out of his schedule…"

Ginny arched an eyebrow, "Harry James Potter, I specifically went through the trouble of making treacle tart for you and you're more concerned your owls schedule? Get over here so I can hex some sense into you!" The fiery haired woman drew her wand threateningly. But this action only made Harry laugh.

"You make a very good point Mrs. Potter. It would be a shame to waste a good treacle tart wouldn't it?" Harry stepped away from his desk and made his way to his wife, wrapping an arm around her, "Shall we go eat then?"

Ginny tried to keep her stern face, but the twitching at the corners of her mouth, as well as the signature Weasley reddening at the ears, told Harry that all was forgiven.

"You can be a right git when you want to, you know that Harry?" Ginny remarked as the couple made their way to their dining room.

Harry smiled. Yeah, he knew.

"James! What have I told you about transfiguring your peas?" Ginny scolded her eldest boy, James.

The auburn haired boy smiled sheepishly, "Not to?"

Harry tried not to laugh at the 'serious' conversation his wife and son were having, but honestly. The idea of a mother scolding her child for transfiguring peas into carrots just made him chuckle.

An elbow in his ribs reminded him that laughing while Ginny was reprimanding. "Be careful dad, or it'll be you she yells at next."

Harry looked at his youngest son, Albus, and smiled. While his brother looked like he was more Weasley than Potter, Albus was the spitting image of his father, right down to the small circle glasses and everything.

Harry shared a wink with Albus while Ginny still chastised James, "You excited for Hogwarts Al?"

The smaller Potter boy smiled, "Yeah! I can't wait to get my wand and my books! I heard that they released the newest edition of Hogwarts: A History to include the Battle of Hogwarts and the newer paintings as well as the memorials."

Ok, maybe Albus wasn't exactly like Harry. But who would have guessed that a Potter boy would have such a love of books?

"But why do you need the book Al when you're going there?" Both green eyed men looked at the youngest Potter, Lily.

Harry smiled softly. Lily looked almost exactly like her namesake, save for the emerald eyes her grandmother had. But Harry didn't mind, she was still his little girl.

"Because Lily, it's nice to know what's behind what people see." Al smiled, Harry just rolled his eyes.

But Lily wasn't paying attention to her brother anymore, instead she pointed at the window, "Look! There's Archimedes!"

Harry whipped his head around so fast he thought he heard his neck crack. Sure enough, there was the punctual snowy owl making his way back to the Potter compound.

Ginny's brow furrowed, "If that owl lands in my dinner, so help me…" But no one hear the Potter matriarch's complaining as Archimedes landed on Harry's shoulder like he always did.

"There's a letter for you, dad!" James all but shouted, even though he was sitting across the table from his father.

Harry looked at his owl, surprised to find that instead of the message being tied around his foot like normal, Archimedes was holding the paper in his mouth. Another oddity was that the letter was made from what looked like white printer paper instead of parchment.

Brow furrowed, Harry gently took the paper from the beak of the snowy owl and looked at the name written on the front in ball point pen. He saw his name in the middle, that wasn't a big surprise, but in the corner…

Dudley Dursley

16 Chestnut Avenue

Workingham, England

Harry's eyes widened to the point he could have sworn they were going to pop out. Dudley?

"Harry?" Ginny asked hesitantly, tearing Harry's eyes from the piece of paper, "Harry, who's it from?"

Finding that his mouth was dry, Harry only shook his head as he opened the folded note to read what his cousin had to say over all the years they hadn't seen each other,

Harry,

I know I'm probably the last person that you were expecting to hear from, but you're the only person that I trust.

My son Will is a wizard. He just received his letter to Hogwarts tonight.

Obviously, Dad wasn't thrilled…he stormed out on us. Mom seemed better, but only time will tell.

My wife and both my kids are confused and I can't give them the information they need to feel safe about the magical world.

You're the only person I trust to teach my family about this and I know Will would look up to you.

I know I haven't given you any reason to want to help me, but I don't know what to do.

Dudley

Harry wasn't sure what to be more surprised, the fact that Dudley wrote complete sentences or the fact that he had written Harry via owl. This couldn't possibly be Dudley… the green eyed man reread the letter. The part about uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia sounded completely believable, but was Dudley still the same, smaller version of Vernon? Dudley hated him just as much as the old man did.

"I don't hate you..." Harry remembered the last time they had seen each other. It had been before Harry had gone after the Horcruxes...almost 20 years ago...20 years was a long time, people could change. But people could also be just as stubborn in their ways. The Dursley's probably still called him a freak.

No…Dudley used the words 'wizard' and 'magical world' instead of calling it 'those people'…surely that means something…I should at least check...

"Harry." Ginny called again, forcing him to look at her, "What's wrong? Who wrote?"

Harry gulped, "My cousin Dudley."

"Dudley, who is this cousin of yours?" Diane demanded as the family sat down in the family room, presents forgotten.

Marigold looked at her father, "Daddy has a cousin?"

Dudley sighed, not knowing where to start. The beginning might be best… Suddenly he wished that the arm chair he was sitting in would swallow him up so he wouldn't have to tell his story. But as Mari bounced impatiently on his knee, he knew he had to say something.

"I was an only child, but I wasn't the only child in my house growing up." He looked from Will to Diane, "My cousin Harry came to live with us when he was a year old after his parents were killed."

He heard Diane's breath catch while Will had hardly moved, "He was an orphan? And your parents took him in?" Diane whispered.

Dudley scoffed, "According to my mom, he was left on our doorstep the night his parents died." It was only now that Dudley realized how odd this story sounded to an outsider, "Mom took him in because he was her sister's son, but…both my aunt Lily and uncle James were wizards, so my parents knew he would be a wizard too."

"Dad, wait-"

"Please William, let me finish." Dudley didn't mean to snap at his son, but he had to finish before it became too hard for him, "My parents have always had this fear of anything unnatural. For my dad, that fear turned into hatred more than anything else. So when Harry came, my father began to hate him and my mother didn't want anything to do with him…he was my cousin, but to a stranger, he seemed more like a servant." Here Dudley had to pause to breath, knowing his next words had to be careful, "It was so bad that Harry never had any cloths of his own, he always wore what I didn't want…for the first 11 years of his life, he lived in the storage closet under the stairs."

Diane gasped, "Dudley, tell me that isn't true!" her fists were tightly clenched. Will was just staring dumbstruck

Mari on the other hand, let her unfiltered thoughts be heard, "That's not nice daddy!"

At the admonishment from his daughter, Dudley struggled not to let his voice crack, "I didn't know why I got spoiled while Harry was neglected, I was too self-centered and spoiled to care. I happily played along with my parent's game of tormenting Harry…" He shook his head, "Harry didn't even know why our family was so horrible to him. The only thing that kept my parents fear and hatred alive were all the unexplained incidences revolving around him."

"What do you mean dad?" Will looked at his dad, still more in shock than anything else, though he was a bit paler.

"Strange things always happened when Harry was involved, especially when he was upset or scared. Like whenever he was being chased on the playground by bullies, he would somehow end up on the roof of a building; or if a teacher punished him, their hair would turn blue-" Dudley stopped, seeing how Will's hands were shaking. "William?"

Will bit his lip, "Mr. Wilson's toupee…I was so mad about him punishing me for having one white sock…Dad, he got second degree burns on his head! I hurt him!"

Diane hugged her oldest child close, "Will, it's alright, we know you didn't mean to…"

Dudley watch his wife and son, but his daughter was watching him, "What happened to Harry, daddy?"

Mari's too smart for her own good… "Harry got a letter, just like Will's, Mari. But my dad tore it up before he got to read it. My dad knew that the letter was from Hogwarts, and that if he went, he would learn magic. He didn't want that. But the thing about wizards is that they seem to know if they're being ignored, because the letters kept coming in massive amounts. But my dad still refused to let Harry read his letter. It got so bad that we ran away to a remote cabin near the coast." He chuckled despite himself. "And you know what happened then?"

Mari grinned, "What?"

"A giant came to the cabin."

Both Diane and Will's jaws dropped, "A giant?"

Dudley nodded, "he was massive, able to knock the door clean off its hinges. He even took the shotgun my dad had and turned it into a pretzel."

Will was leaning forward in his seat, "Why was the giant there?"

"To give Harry his letter personally…after that, Harry began to learn magic, and my father hated him even more. He even locked Harry in his room one summer."

Diane looked at the sorry look on her husband's face, "What changed?"

Dudley shared a look with his wife, "I was a horrible person to Harry. But things changed when we were 15. I can't explain exactly what happened, but Harry saved my life even after all I had done to him. It made me realize what a horrible person I was…in a way, Harry made me want to be someone my father wasn't. After Harry left us, I strove to be a better person."

"But why did Harry leave? What happened when you were 15?" Will was full of question, and Dudley was afraid that he wouldn't be able to answer them all.

Luckily, Dudley was saved when the family heard the now familiar rustle of feathers.

"Mr. Owl is here!" Mari jumped off her father's lap and rushed to greet the white owl.

Harry responded… Dudley was surprised to say the least as Diane took the letter from the owl slowly. Unlike last time, the owl took off as soon as it's message was delivered, meaning that this message would be the last.

Diane was oddly pale as she handed Dudley the message.

I'll be there at 10. Wait for me on your front lawn.

HJP

Dudley's eyes quickly darted to the clock on the wall.

9:59 p.m.

"We have to go in the front yard!" Dudley called to his family, already halfway out the door.

Diane was right behind him, holding Mari, "Why the front yard?"

Dudley stood in the middle of their grass, "I have no idea…" He looked back at Diane, at their house, and most importantly, at Will, who was standing on the porch. "What's wrong Will?"

Will shook his head, "What if he's mean to me because of what grandpa did? What if he tells me I shouldn't study magic?"

The older blonde man looked at his son, "Will, let me tell you something. Harry is one of the most selfless, kind people I know. He would never-"

A car backfired some ways up the road, it's loud crackling echoing through the night. No…there are no cars anywhere near here… That's when he saw it.

And by it, he meant him.

The Dursley family was able to see a tall, dark figure making his way down the street. He wore a dark cloak that billowed around his body as he walked, wearing the hood up to conceal his face.

"Daddy I'm scared…" Mari whispered from Diane's arms. Diane nodded subconsciously, taking a step backwards. Will looked like he was contemplating running back inside.

Dudley instead moved off the front lawn and onto the sidewalk to meet Harry as the cloaked man got closer and closer. He was only a house away from where Dudley was standing. Dudley could feel his heart racing as his cousin got closer.

Only to have the cloaked man walk right past him as he made his way down the sidewalk.

Confused, Dudley turned around and called out to the wizard, "Harry?"

At the sound of his name, the cloaked wizard turned to face him, "…By Merlin, Dudley?"

Further confused, Dudley nodded, "Yes, it's me…you told me to meet you on the front lawn didn't you?"

"Yes yes, I did, but where's the rest of you?" Harry said, still keeping his hood up as he stepped closer.

Dudley raised an eyebrow, "The…rest of me?"

Harry's hood nodded, "Of course." From beneath Harry's cloak, a pale hand reached out.

And poked Dudley's stomach.

Suddenly it all made sense to the Dursley man.

He had been 300 pounds heavier last time Harry had seen him.

Bwahahahaha, I'm evil that way. Set up an epic scene, only to have Harry dork it up. I hope you like the chapter, I love hearing from you guys. Here's another question for the forum, where would you sort the Dursley family at Hogwarts? Hypothetically of course, Dudley isn't going to be going to Hogwarts at like 36. Why do I ask? Because I love reading your answers! Next chapter, Harry meets Will and Diane and Mari!