"Please come in. We've just finished eating but there is plenty of food left and I am sure you must be rather hungry by now." Petunia stepped aside to allow Bill entry into the clean and narrow hallway.

With a brusque nod of his head Bill made his way inside and closed the door gently behind him. The nauseous feeling had faded somewhat but his stomach still felt like it would eject anything that it came into contact with. He followed Petunia silently into the kitchen and smiled at the sight before him. Harry was definitely much happier now that things had come to light but it was such a terrible shame that even after everything he had been through, it was not yet over for the young boy.

Bill sat in the chair offered to him and thanked Harry when he placed a steaming mug of tea down on the table in-front of him. Wrapping his thick hands around the mug he gave a sigh of pleasure as the heat pervaded his very being and helped to remove more of the knot that had been growing since he had visited Margery and Vernon.

"Did everything go alright?" Petunia asked curiously after a tense few minutes. She was holding her mug as tightly as he was and he forced himself to loosen his fingers and relax his shoulders. He hadn't even realised that he had been so tense until he had seen her mirroring him.

"Things went about as well as I had expected, meaning they went dreadfully," Bill noticed the curious glances that the two boys were shooting at them and decided to keep quiet. "We will talk about it later." Bill smiled at Harry. "Have you had a good day little bro?"

Harry's smile was electric at the casual comment. Family was important to the Weasley's and it meant a lot to know that Bill thought of him as a brother. "This has been the best birthday ever!" he said breathily. The shock of the day and the overall wonderfulness that had been his life the past few weeks was catching up to the dark haired teen. He wasn't sure that he deserved so many wonderful people in his life but at the same time he felt the exact opposite due to everything he had had to go through.

"Glad to hear it!" Bill replied cheerfully.

There was silence again, only disturbed by the sounds of Petunia's fingernails on her mug and the occasional slurp of tea from Bill and Dudley. Harry was still not able to drink his tea hot, he guessed all the times he had had to drink it luke-warm meant that he just couldn't face the hot liquid until it was somewhat cooled.

"When do we get cake?" asked Dudley suddenly.

"Let Bill have some food first Dudders! Really!" Petunia gently scolded her son who looked sheepishly at Bill and offered a quiet apology to the large red-headed male.

"It's ok Dudley." Bill replied with a smile. "My mum makes great cake so I don't blame you for being excited to try it."

"Guess what Aunt Petunia and Dudley did for my birthday?" Harry said suddenly, bouncing on his chair like an excited toddler.

"It was nothing really, way past due as far as I am concerned." Petunia said awkwardly with a shrug and Dudley looked down into his mug of tea coyly as though it held the answers to the universe within its depths.

"What did they do?" Bill asked somewhat sceptically.

"They re-decorated my room!" Harry leapt up from the table and practically ran to the kitchen door. "Can I show Bill?" he asked Petunia excitably.

"It's your room so yes I suppose so; as long as Bill doesn't mind being manhandled upstairs?" She laughed lightly to show that she was joking.

Harry looked across at Bill, practically pleading him to follow with his eyes. As soon as Bill stood up Harry let out a yelp of triumph and took off towards his bedroom whilst Petunia and Dudley stayed sat, finishing their tea.

"I take it from how you are practically vibrating with excitement that you like what they have done to your room?"

"Absolutely!" Harry paused at the top of the stairs biting his lip nervously. "You know how things haven't been great here for me until recently and I really feel like they are trying to include me and make me feel like one of the family." Harry suddenly looked guilty. "I know it's awful of me to feel this way as I know Aunt Petunia must love Uncle Vernon very much, I mean she married him and had Dudley and everything." He scuffed his shoe back and forward over the landing carpet and stared at the ground before him. He spoke so quietly that Bill had to strain to hear him. "I just don't think I want to be around him. What if she takes him back and everything just goes back to how it was before?"

Bill placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "I don't think that will ever happen." Bill saw the doubt in Harry's eyes. "If one day, for whatever reason at all your Uncle comes back here I want you to know that I would never let him hurt you again."

"You might not be able to stop him."

"If he tries to hurt you again I would willingly risk the Ministry's wrath or even the chance of Azkaban to stop him. I know it isn't easy to do but you need to start trusting the people around you. Your Aunt, Dudley, myself, Remus, Tonks, Hermione, Neville, Luna…"

"You missed out Ron and Ginny." It was more of a statement than a question but Bill felt the need to explain himself.

"I know."

"Don't you trust them to be there for me?"

"I do but—" he sighed and ran a hand through his hair messing it up slightly. "I just don't think I can trust their loyalty as far as you are concerned until I have run my own tests. Someone has been giving you a love potion and I only have a few people that it could be."

Harry nodded but felt the weight of the older mans words hit far too close to the mark. With all the good things that had happened, especially today, he had forgotten all of the problems that had occurred previously and they hit home once more with a vengeance.

"I'm sorry to have to say that Harry, I really am. I don't think they are likely culprits. I mean Ginny may be hot tempered and Ron may be a jealous prat sometimes but they have good hearts. The thing is, with Dumbledore being as manipulative as he is I just can't be sure that they wouldn't think that they were doing the right thing."

Harry nodded his understanding and quietly walked over to his bedroom door pushing it open gently. The light had been left on for whenever Hedwig decided to come back from her hunt and the room had a cosy glow. Harry stood to the side and motioned for Bill to come inside.

He stood stiffly as Bill looked at each thing in his room, taking his time admiring the newly decorated room. Harry had already unpacked his trunk and his birthday gifts and most were displayed proudly on the shelves or counters.

"Well, what do you think?" Harry finally asked after a minute or two.

"It's very nice and though I don't know what your room looked like previously I can see that they have both put a lot of work and thought into making this a nice place for you to spend time." Bill continued to wander around the room and took his time admiring the pictures. Eventually his eyes caught something that shocked him. "I had wondered how you managed to get in touch with Ragnok."

"Huh?" Harry saw what Bill was looking at and smiled widely. "Oh that! Ragnok kindly sent me one of these boxes to make our communication faster. Apparently other Goblins were trying to relieve Hedwig of her mail before she made it to Ragnok and so he decided that in order to keep our discussions a secret we would use one of these."

"This is unheard of." Bill said quietly.

"What is?"

"I don't know of a single human that has ever been given one of these boxes to communicate with the Goblins. I mean, we have a shared box in our office that we can use but only within the walls of Gringotts."

"Oh well…uh…wow." Harry was flabbergasted but felt all the more support and trust from Ragnok at this news. The Goblin had proven himself to Harry several times over and this was another thing he needed to thank him for.

"You have been given a great gift here Harry. The trust of a Goblin is hard to win and easy to lose but if you maintain it you will know that you will always have a strong and true friend and adviser to help you whenever you need it."

Harry thought hard about what Bill said. He knew instinctively that this Goblin was trustworthy though he wasn't sure if he could say the same about any other Goblin. Not that he thought they were deceitful, just unknown. Ragnok had helped him in so many ways and had gone out of his way to keep Harry safe and out of Dumbledore's wide influence this summer. Getting him to Sirius' will reading was going to bring everything to a head and although he was nervous, he was also extremely excited for things to get out into the open. Well, not everything obviously.

. . .

Petunia sat nursing her mug of tea, the liquid quickly cooling and becoming tepid. She was glad that Harry was appreciative of the gift but was embarrassed that he was so excited to be showing off something that he should have always had. It made her angry that she had been manipulated and controlled by one man and had never even known. Obviously magic had made things all the more worse as she had quickly been made to forget things as soon as she had re-figured them out. It was all very spiteful and unnecessary.

After about 20 minutes she heard the two as they made their way back down the stairs. Dudley, she noticed wryly, immediately perked up knowing that there was the likelihood of cake in the not to distant future. She really needed to help her son help himself. He was too big for his age and desperately needed to lose some of the weight. It was sometimes scary how much he looked like Vernon from her peripheral.

Standing up she smiled as they re-entered the kitchen and sat in the chairs each had previously vacated.

"I know you haven't eaten yet Bill but it is getting a bit late and we should probably have cake now if we are going to have any at all."

Dudley looked like he was going to cry at the thought of not getting to have a slice of cake. His eyes looked across at Bill pleadingly and when the older man didn't respond right away she saw her son grip the edge of the table in a tight grip. She was proud of him for not resorting to shouting out his displeasure at having to wait and even prouder of the fact that he had actually waited so far tonight in relative silence. It seemed he was growing up.

"Cake would be wonderful Petunia." Bill said eventually, smirking as he noticed Dudley's taught frame slump in relief.

Petunia scurried around the kitchen grabbing some fresh plates and a sharp knife to cut the cake and then she began to un-wrap the large chunk of cake that Mrs Weasley had sent home for Harry, and them, to enjoy. As she peeled back the wrapping carefully she couldn't help but marvel at the creation inside.

"Oh my…"

"What's wrong mum?"

"Nothing Dudley it's just, well, this is amazing! It's moving!"

She carried the large chunk of cake over to the table and popped in a few candles. "Ok everyone, best singing voices at the ready!"

On the count of three Petunia, Dudley and Bill began to sing and Harry watched and listened carefully as he tried to commit this moment to his memory.

Once they had finished singing they cheered as Harry blew out the candles and clapped as Petunia began to cut the cake into even slices. Dudley was watching the cake intensely or to be more specific he was watching the flying broomsticks and the golden snitches as they raced along the outside of the cake.

When the cake was placed in-front of him Dudley couldn't help but stare confusedly at the chocolate feast before him. He loved chocolate cake, heck, he loved pretty much any type of cake but the one that now sat mere inches away from him was indeed a spectacle to be seen. The winged golden ball raced back and forth along the narrow border of icing along the edge of the slice. Picking up his fork he concentrated and gently tapped the ball with the prongs of his fork. Well, he tried to at least. At the last second the ball had slid around the cake and was now racing madly around the entire piece of cake. It even came and went out of view as it passed along the side currently resting on the plate.

The others were watching Dudley intently as he stared, gob-smacked, over his slice of cake; his fork hanging as limp in his hand as was the bottom of his jaw.

Eventually Dudley turned to Harry and caught his eyes. Not realising that everyone's attention was currently on him anyway he whispered to his cousin. "How do I eat it?"

Harry answered his cousin by stabbing into his own piece of cake and munching away quite happily at the gooey chocolate glob.

"Ta-Da!" he said when he had finished his mouthful.

"Git!" Dudley stared dejectedly down at his piece of cake. It wasn't that he didn't trust Harry but he didn't understand what made the golden piece of icing move. For all he knew you weren't supposed to eat those parts and if he did he would have a little golden icing ball flying around inside him forever.

Covertly, Dudley chanced a look at everybody else's cake and saw that only he had been served up a slice with a moving element. His mum was also staring at him with one eyebrow raised as he held his fork mere centimetres from the cake. Placing his fork down on the edge of his plate Dudley pushed out his chair and walked out of the kitchen fighting tears. "I wasn't hungry anyway." He murmured sadly as he climbed the stairs.

. . .

"How was the party sweetheart?" Mrs Granger asked as her only daughter wandered into the kitchen from the back garden.

"It was great!" Hermione replied animatedly.

Immediately Mrs Granger was alert. Something had happened at the party that was causing Hermione to turn a wonderfully bright shade of scarlet. Her guess was that it most likely had something to do with the birthday boy.

"Care to elaborate?"

"You know," Hermione traced a finger over the dining table surface and scratched uninterestedly at a knot in the wooden surface. "It was fun, just a party."

"Mmm hmm." Mrs Granger stopped what she was doing and placed the pen down on the table. The shopping list for next week could wait.

"Really mum it was just a normal birthday party." Hermione crossed her arms defensively and shifted uneasily.

"Did Harry like your gift?"

*Flashback *

"I still haven't found the right thing yet." Hermione said despondently as she made her way from Flourish and Blotts book shop in Diagon Alley.

Her mother and father were also concerned as even their daughter's favourite shop in all of London hadn't brought their little girl out of her misery. It was the first time they had gone into that particular shop and not come out with at least one new tome. It was highly unusual and not just a little worrying.

"Well what does this boy like to do?" asked Mr Granger grouchily.

"Well, he likes to fly." Hermione said glancing at the quidditch store across the alley.

"Well let's go and see what they have to offer shall we?" Mrs Granger said taking her daughters arm and gently nudging her towards the shop.

They had been wandering around the store for several minutes when a voice shouted over the nearest display.

"Hermione!" The voice belonged to Ginny Weasley who was carefully nursing a wooden box to her chest as though it contained life itself. "What are you doing in here?"

"I'm trying to find a birthday present for Harry. Got any ideas?"

"Only one and no you can't get it for him." She grinned cheekily. "I've been working for Fred and George all summer to pay for it and it's finally out today. I think I have the last one, honestly the store has been nuts." Ginny tapped the lid of the box and hugged it closer as several customers peered intently at the small box having overheard their conversation.

"So you got the voice recognition snitch huh?" Hermione sounded defeated at the thought of that, though the two adults couldn't figure out what was wrong. It would probably have helped if they knew what on earth a snitch was or why it needed voice recognition.

"Yeah, don't worry though, you know Harry would be cool with anything you got him. What about a book?" Ginny looked slightly sheepish at her idea.

"Yeah because all I could think of to buy would be a book right?" Hermione looked crestfallen and just as Ginny looked like she was going to say something else Hermione piped up once more. "Don't worry Ginny I'm just a little uptight right now. I'm totally stressing out. You chose really well Harry is going to love that but we'll let you go and pay and I'll see you at the party alright?"

Ginny nodded and watched as Hermione and her parents slowly left the store. She felt a hand try and grab the precious box and slapped it away. "Don't think I won't hex you if you try and take this again." The owner of said hand looked petulant but slinked away from the angry red head as Ginny made her way over to the cashier.

. . .

"Sweetheart you need to calm down." Mrs Granger balked as her daughter threw her a dirty look. She had honestly never seen her as stressed about something so simple as a gift before. This boy obviously meant a lot more to Hermione that the girl was letting on, or possibly than she knew herself. "They say if you stop actively looking for something then it is sure to find you." She added as an afterthought.

"What about this shop?" Mr Granger said pointing at a dingy shop front. The paint was peeling away and the windows were so grimy that you couldn't see what was on the other side.

Hermione turned up her nose but her penchant for knowledge and her general curiosity had her reading the name on the sign anyway.

'Bitterford's Antique's and Curio's - Est 1776 '

With a small sigh and a shrug Hermione followed her mother and father into the old store.

The dust was thick and the air was stale. Would it really hurt the proprietor to let in a little sunlight and fresh air? There was absolutely no reason to keep a shop in this state.

Before beginning to look around Hermione warned her parents to be careful adding that they not touch anything as some of the items looked as though they may hold curses or worse. Timidly she began browsing the shelves and was taken aback at the items on offer.

There was what appeared to be a mini pensieve which stored memories for you to re-watch at a later point. The price tag was incredible; though she didn't know enough to know if that was a fair price having only read about the items in passing in the Hogwarts library the year before.

There were also a few crystals that were humming in an oddly menacing way which Hermione sensibly stayed well away from.

The whole store was just a mish-mash of hidden treasures, average items and trash. She wouldn't mention her thoughts on the trashy items in-front of the shopkeeper though as she was not yet able to defend herself should he or she take offence.

Speaking of shop keepers, Hermione had not seen one yet. It made the shop seem somewhat ominous to her frazzled and young mind.

Turning into a small alcove Hermione's jaw dropped visibly. Before her was an impressive bookcase filled with old tomes. Forgetting her mission immediately she began to read the names on the tatty and peeling spines; occasionally perusing a book more thoroughly before either placing it back on the shelf where she had plucked it from or placing it neatly onto the quickly growing pile at her feet.

Mr and Mrs Granger found their daughter still browsing the bookshelf ten minutes later and were happy that she seemed to have perked up but were also worried about the pile of books that Hermione seemed intent on buying.

"Errr pumpkin?"

"Yes Daddy?" Hermione said sweetly without looking up from her perusal of an old potions text.

"Your mother and I are glad to see you having fun but are you aware of how much you have spent so far? It's just it looks like you have a lot of books and…" he trailed off, not really sure how to broach the subject of putting some of them back.

Hermione glanced up, a confused expression on her face. Slowly remembering where she was she looked sheepishly at her father and back at the pile of books. With a deep sigh Hermione began plucking books from the pile and replacing them on the shelf before her. Occasionally she stopped midway and fumbled with the book for a minute and then placed it back down with the others. Eventually the giant pile was reduced to a meagre six and Hermione's parents were genuinely relieved.

"Have you finished browsing yet sweetheart?" Hermione's mother asked with trepidation.

"I think so." Replied Hermione as she hefted the books up into her arms. Taking one last, brief look around the store she turned and headed to the counter placing them down next to the till and wondering how to get the attention of a shopkeeper.

They stood there for a few moments until Mrs Granger spotter a small service bell and pressed it quickly. Movement in their peripheral made them each turn their heads in time to see an elderly man appear from a dingy, dark wood door. As the man hobbled his way slowly towards them he let out a disgusting and phlegm filled cough before wiping his hands down his shirt front and picking up the topmost book on Hermione's pile.

The girl in question cringed at the possible germs now inhabiting her purchases and made a quick mental note to wipe them off when she got home.

"These everything you was lookin' for eh?" The man rasped.

"We've had a good look around and I think that's everything, right poppet?" Mr Granger stared at his daughter in hopes that she just nod and they could leave this shop. The facade of the shop and the somewhat lecherous appearing man was really freaking him out and he wanted nothing more than to breath in some fresh air.

Unfortunately for Mr Granger Hermione had been distracted by a small velvet box filled with various items of jewellery of varying price.

"Ahh," the old man said pushing the velvet box closer for Hermione's inspection. "The young lady likes pretty things as well as knowledge I see."

Not even glancing up at the elders words Hermione continued to stare at a fairly sizable gold brooch in the shape of a blooming lily. It sparkled in light although the shop was dull all around it and Hermione was drawn to it instinctively.

Neither Mr nor Mrs Granger could understand what was drawing their daughter's attention so much. Even the shopkeeper looked perplexed by the attention this brooch, rather plain in his opinion, was receiving.

"May I?" Hermione said politely, glancing up only to confirm that she was allowed to pluck the flower brooch from its velvet cushion. In doing so she felt a warmth, a comforting heat radiating from the pin and looked closer. In doing so she spotted the engraving on the back and had to do a double take. She could not believe it! James and Lily. It could only mean one thing. This brooch was Harry's mother's. How this man had managed to get a hold of it she had no idea but it was in that moment that she decided to purchase it for her best friend. He had several items that had belonged to his father but as far as she knew he did not have a single item that had been his mothers.

"How much?" She asked the shopkeeper bluntly.

"It's solid gold that, rather pretty too." Said the old man shrewdly.

"Yes, yes how much?"

"For a pretty little girlie like yourself I would part with that particular brooch for 15 galleons." He smiled at her darkly, showing off his stained and chipped teeth.

Hermione quickly did the math. A galleon was approximately £5.00 and this meant that the shrewd man wanted a staggering £75.00 for the brooch. Of course Harry was worth it but she was not going to let this old man diddle her out of her money. She would pay as little as possible for what was rightly her best friends property. No doubt the old goat behind the counter had come across it unlawfully.

"Nonsense," she began haughtily. "This brooch has an engraving on the back and I would need to have that removed in order to really feel that I owned the piece which would be extra cost to me of course." She paused for breath. "Not to mention that the value of the brooch itself as just scrap can't be worth more that say…8 galleons," she was completely guessing but he didn't seem to notice, in fact he was steadily gritting his teeth. She was actually worried that he was going to crack a few more. One thing was for sure, her parents would love to get him in their dentist chair.

"Hermione do you really want that old thing? I mean you have plenty of pretty things at home." Mrs Granger looked at her daughter and then down at the brooch in despair.

"I will give you 7 galleons for it." Hermione spoke, ignoring her mother's input.

"7 GALLEONS?!" The old man spluttered and blustered for a few seconds. "Are you having a laugh missy?"

"Not at all; 7 galleons, take it or leave it." Inside she was shaking like a leaf at the angry expression on the old codger's face but on the outside she kept her face blank and stared him down.

The old man was fuming at the young lady before him. She had the nerve to come into his shop and try and knock him down such a large amount. Ok so technically it was still a profit. He had bought it years ago for 2 galleons along with a load of other stuff from a shady couple who claimed they needed to sell of a load of stuff. Moving away they said but he had known better.

It was odd though that this young lady was the first person who had ever noticed this particular piece. Gold was a fast seller and even though it was a plain piece it was rather fetching and should have attracted a lot of attention. Everything else that he had bought from the young couple had sold within weeks making him a nice tidy profit on each item but this was hanging around like a bad smell. Not to mention the fact that every time he picked it up to clean it or a customer deigned to admire it they received a nasty shock. Either this girl was the first not to be shocked or else she didn't care.

"Fine 7 galleons." He spat the sentence out like it caused him physical pain.

As soon as Hermione handed the money over for her books and the brooch the old man slammed his hand on the counter and spoke, his tone dripping acid. "You've bought your stuff now get out."

*End Flashback*

"Well, I repeat. Did Harry like the gift you got for him?" Mrs Granger had watched quietly for a minute or two as Hermione had become lost in her thoughts but parental instinct told her there was something very interesting that had happened and she was desperate to find out.

"He was confused at first but once he read the inscription his face just…changed. I know it meant a lot to him and to Remus also; he's Lily and James friend from school and was a professor during my third year. Anyway, he saw it and remembered when Harry's dad gave it to Lily. I think it meant more than Harry let on." The rosy flush once more appeared on Hermione's cheeks and she fidgeted nervously under her mothers stare.

"Something happened didn't it?" Mrs Granger said suddenly.

"Nothing happened." Hermione couldn't face her mother, embarrassed at what she would say. After all, the kiss was just an accident. He was her best friend and she his and it was silly of her to even consider that it may have meant more than that to either of them. No, best to just forget it ever happened.

. . .

Dudley sat slumped on his bed trying not to cry. He knew it was silly to be so upset but he felt like he was the butt of some practical joke. He knew he was fat. No one but the nurse at Smeltings had ever actually told him that he was overweight and the knowledge now haunted him.

His father was big and as a child he had always wanted to be just like his father. Now though…he shivered. He didn't want to be anything like that man. If he didn't think it would upset his mother then he would stop talking about the man altogether and refuse to call him his father. He was ashamed of Vernon Dursley, pure and simple.

It had been foolish to leave the table and hide away in his room, it was Harry's birthday and the last thing he wanted to do was to ruin it. It was just the looks on their faces; eat it I dare you. In those looks he had seen himself ten years from now looking exactly like Vernon and it had sickened him. The weird flying ball hadn't helped either.

Having spent some time talking to his cousin about magic, Dudley could say that he was less afraid now than he had been ever in his life. It was the idea of eating something that contained what to him seemed like pure magic that scared him.

Would he get sick? Would he have a golden and winged ball flying around inside of him forever? Would he be able to feel it as it flew around inside of him? Could it ever be removed? What would it taste like?

There were too many questions and too few answers.

Frustrated he gathered his shaggy blonde hair in his fists and collapsed back on the bed with a groan. Mere seconds later there was a gentle knock on his bedroom door. Choosing to ignore it Dudley closed his eyes and focused on breathing deeply through his nose. In…out…in…out…more knocking…in out….in….louder knocking…out...

"Dudley?"

His mothers' voice permeated the growing frustration within and he opened his eyes sadly. "Come in" He spoke softly but she heard immediately and cracked open the door slowly.

"Are you ok?" The words were sincere, unsure.

"Yeah." He sat up thought it was quite difficult to do so. He became aware of another two shapes behind his mother and realised that he had an audience. He flattened his t-shirt as best as he could though he knew he looked hideous.

"What was all that about?" Petunia asked carefully, waving her hands in the direction of the stairs.

How was he going to explain what was currently happening in his mind. Would they hate him? Be offended or worse?

"Nothing."

"Don't you lie to me young man!" Petunia said sternly, placing her bony hands on her even bonier hips.

"It felt like you were all laughing at me!" he nervously twisted the hem of his t-shirt between his fingers but the dam had been broken. "I don't know if you're supposed to eat that stuff and the rest of you didn't have any moving bits on your cake. I tried to ask, I did, but Harry didn't answer me. When I looked at all of you, you were just staring at me almost daring me to eat it. I know I am fat and ugly but I won't be like him. I promise." The last words were whispered, almost as though he were trying to convince himself.

Petunia sat next to her son, mouth agape, confusion and sadness evident. Harry and Bill shifted uneasily in the doorframe. None of them had intended to make Dudley feel bad about himself and they had not realised that the usually confident demeanour was just a mask. They would not make that mistake again.

Not really knowing what to say Petunia hugged her son, gently ruffling his hair and stayed silent.

"It stops moving once you're able to catch it." Harry spoke from the doorway as Bill nodded behind him. "We wanted to see your reaction. We didn't mean to make you feel bad Dudley. Sorry."

Hearing nothing but sincerity from his cousin he looked up and gave a soft grin. "It's Ok."

"Come on Dudders, let's go back to the kitchen and enjoy the cake Bill's mother made for Harry." Petunia said, standing up and holding her hand out to her son.

Noticing the hesitation on his cousins face Harry spoke up once more. "You just wait Dud, it's the best cake ever!"

Standing up slowly Dudley headed towards the door. He made a mental vow to himself that he was going to change. He would never be like his father. Never!

Authors Note

All I can say is that I am truly sorry for the length of time this has taken to post. I had a bit of a falling out with my computer when my almost complete first draft of this was lost due to a faulty hard-drive. £50 later and a new hard-drive I just lost the will to write. Every time I sat down to do something I just felt anger at losing all of the work previously and felt that nothing I wrote would be good enough. A few months and a long cooling off period and I have finally managed to put it behind me and write this for you all.

I hope you can forgive me; this story is not over and will not be forsaken until it is finished. It may take a while between posts but I promise I will continue it.