Long after Harry's intense moment alone in his dorm room, he had his school bag and was waiting just off from Dudley's group of boys in the main hall for Vernon to take him home for the weekend. He was looking around at all the groups of other boys waiting for their rides home for the weekend also. None of them paid him any attention. They were all such normal people with normal issues and normal, stupid behavior. Harry's brow furrowed thinking of just how different his life had turned out compared to how he thought it would, when someone plopped against the wall next to him. The boy was about seventeen, bleached blond hair, and ears covered in piercings. He was smiling, leaning up there against Harry's wall, and he was gorgeous. Harry had never seen him before at all.

"Who are you waiting for?" he asked Harry.

"My uncle."

The young man was beautiful. Harry wondered how he hadn't seen him around either in the cafeteria or in the halls – he would have remembered someone as good looking as him.

"Dursley's dad?"

Harry nodded, and then looked around at a few faces looking over at the two of them. He got a little worried and said, "Aren't you going to get hassled by Kenny for talking to me?"

"Naw! Kenny Johansen can try all he wants to rule the school, but he doesn't outrank me."

Harry smiled for the first time in ages; it hurt his cheeks. The other boy looked at his mouth and something came across his eyes that Harry didn't recognize, but it looked a little along the lines of worry. Harry didn't particularly want him to feel whatever this feeling was, so he asked quickly, "What's your name?"

"Ah!" He held out his hand and Harry shook it. "I'm Peter Cosset. Call me Pete, everyone does."

"Harry Potter."

"I know, Harry Potter. Big D's little cousin."

Harry got the impression that Pete liked him, and he liked that.

"Are you going home for the weekend?" Harry asked.

"Naw. I like to use the gym for training; it's a lot emptier on the weekends."

Just then something caught Pete's eye and Harry looked to see what it was. He was surprised to see that it was Dudley glaring menacingly at Pete.

"I think your bodyguard wants you to be left alone."

"Yeah," Harry said, his smile now gone. "He looks about ready to crush you. I never thought he'd treat me like this."

"Treat you like what?" Pete never took his eyes away from Dudley, but changed his expression to look menacingly back, which made Dudley fume and Harry's heart lighten.

"Like he needed to protect me," Harry said, giving Dudley a little wave off, and Dudley seemed to let out some of the steam that had collected in his head.

Pete let his expression go and smiled at Harry. Squeezing his shoulder warmly, he said, "Well, someone has to. You have Johansen on your ass." A twinkle came into Pete's eyes and he leaned far forward and whispered quietly right against Harry's ear, "You're very nice ass."

Harry stood still, neither giving nor letting anything go by that remark, but his pulse raced a little more. Pete's chestnut brown eyes danced between Harry's, and his smile broadened. Slowly he leaned away and took his hand back from Harry's shoulder.

"Have a good weekend, Harry," he said nicely, and walked away towards the back doors that led to the gym.

Harry stared at his broad shoulders moving under his loose shirt, wondering if he was being tested or played.

He was still thinking about that encounter back home at the Dursleys. Before Dudley was going to go out for a few hours with his friends, Harry approached him in the privacy of his room.

"Hey, Dudley?"

"Hmm?" Dudley asked, seeming to be looking around for something in his very cluttered room.

"Thanks for…you know…your help this week."

"You're welcome. But you know, it was Mum who asked me to help you," Dudley said, pulling a warm hat on to cover his thin yellow hair, making him look not so baby-faced.

"Really?" Harry wondered.

Dudley shrugged Harry's awe off and went to a mirror to check his self out. "Yeah. She knew they'd hassle you, and she said you didn't need that on top of everything else."

Harry couldn't imagine what the week would have been like without Dudley – although, he wondered if he really wanted Dudley's protection from Pete and his big brown eyes.