*9*

For the next two weeks, Harry did his best to avoid Dudley. This became increasingly difficult, as Dudley seemed to be more determined than ever. Harry started to come to meals early and leave immediately after announcements to avoid him. Dudley had even started sitting closer to him at the Gryffindor table. One time even being bold enough to sit next to Neville and hold a conversation. Neville had even mentioned how he was pleasantly surprised by the conversation. Some days, Harry tried to avoid the Great Hall entirely at mealtime which resulted in a lecture or look from Ginny which would have made Mrs. Weasley proud.

One day, Harry rounded the corner after leaving Ginny. He immediately came eye to eye with Dudley who jumped at the opportunity. Harry tried to continue walking as if he hadn't noticed Dudley or the girl he was with. As Harry walked quickly, he felt a hand close on his shoulder. He turned immediately, half expecting Dudley to throw a punch, because this is what he came to expect growing up. He tried to remind himself that Dudley hadn't in years, but he still wasn't sure if that was because he had changed or if he was just afraid to get his pig tail back.

"Hey." Dudley said.

"Hey." Harry said, quickly looking at how Dudley's hands were positioned. He could feel his wand in his pocket.

"So-um- I had planned on telling you about Hogwarts when you came home this summer, but forgot you no longer lived with us. So, where have you been living?" Dudley tried giving a friendly smile. Harry quickly looked over Dudley's shoulder to the girl he had been with. She had a concerned look on her face, as if she was really focused on Dudley and him. Harry looked back as Dudley, loosening his grip on his wand.

"At the Burrow." He said shortly, still a little suspicious of why they were having this conversation.

"The Burrow. What is that?" Dudley looked a little confused but tried to keep his face as friendly as possible.

"It's my friend Ron's house. We share a room." Harry said, finally letting go of his wand and deciding that Dudley wasn't a physical threat like he used to be.

"Is he the one who broke – "

"The window and made your dad fall, yea that was him and his two brothers." Harry nodded quickly as he spoke.

"He seems like a good friend. My dad should never have put those up in the first place." Dudley looked a bit ashamed for a minute, before trying to keep his face friendly. A little anger went through Harry as he remembered how that summer felt with Dudley teasing him from the other side of the door.

"You seemed fine with it at the time." He said curtly.

"Yea and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it. I was so stupid back then. I'm really sorry." Dudley's face fell and his eyes looked down for a moment. Harry started to believe that he could possibly be sorry.

"Anyways, I'd like to get to actually know you. Not the Harry my parents say you are, but you know, actually - like - you." Dudley paused. Harry wondered if he was trying to read how he felt before continuing.

"So, I - ah noticed you have a girlfriend, the red head girl – "

"Ginny." Harry interrupted Dudley, but with a kinder tone than before.

"So, I was wondering if you and Ginny would like to meet my girlfriend and I for lunch when we go to Hogsmeade this weekend?" Dudley asked. Harry's face must have shown his surprise, because Dudley continued immediately.

"Or for a drink? I hear it's seventeen in the wizardry world."

"Lunch is fine." Harry said, still a little surprised.

"Great, what's a good place to go?" Dudley asked.

"The Three Broomsticks." Harry said as he looked over Dudley's shoulder at his girlfriend again.

"Great! How about The Three Broomsticks at 12:30?" Dudley said excitedly.

"Sure." Harry said, he could see Dudley's girlfriend getting excited, behind them.

"We'll see you then." Dudley turned quickly and marched back to his girlfriend. Harry turned back down the corridor he had tried to escape through earlier to see his own girlfriend standing at a distance. She looked a little concerned as he walked closer.

"We have a double date."

The stress from the week was getting to Harry. He was half looking forward to Hogsmeade and half dreading it at the same time. He needed to escape, which was why he was walking down to Hagrid's Hut.

As he came closer to the hut, he noticed the windows were dark, but he hoped Hagrid had just closed the windows since dusk was approaching. Coming closer he realized he had been wrong. He knocked loudly on the door, but Hagrid was not there. Frustrated, Harry walked past Hagrid's hut heading towards a small clearing at the edge of the Dark Forest he knew of. As he came closer, he could hear voices. Entering the clearing he saw Luna Lovegood talking to a muggle girl. The two were petting Thestrals and Luna had what looked like a bag filled with apples. Harry smiled, relieved that it was Luna.

"Hello Harry." Luna said without turning away from the Thestral she was petting.

"This is Vivian." Luna said as the muggle girl turned to wave. She must have been new to his old school, because Harry did not recognize her.

"Harry can see them too." Luna explained as she took out her bag of apples. She handed one to Harry and Vivian, before giving hers to the Thestral she had been petting.

"Who did you see?" Vivian asked. As she turned to Harry. He immediately started to understand why Luna had befriended her. Her voice was breathy, a little like Luna's, and her eyes were calm as was her face. She had an air of calm around her like Luna. She also was bare foot like Luna was the first time Harry was with her and the thestrals.

"My godfather." Harry said before rolling his apple towards a baby thestral.

"I was with my grandmother when she died in her sleep. May I have another apple." Vivian turned to Luna who happily gave another.

"Luna has been telling me about the Wizard War." Vivian didn't look away from a new thestral entering the clearing.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." She continued as she approached the newcomer.

"Thanks." Harry looked down at his feet.

"I've been explaining to Vivian about blood status and how it affected the war." Luna said as she walked towards Harry.

"What are you?" Vivian asked, she continued to stroke the thestral's nose as she watched Harry almost analyzing him.

"I'm half blood."

"So that means that you either have a muggle or muggleborn in your family. Right?" Vivian said quietly.

"Yea, my dad was pure blood and my mom was a muggleborn." Harry said smiling as Luna handed him another apple.

"So if a muggle has a muggleborn witch or wizard does that mean that all their children will be magical?" Vivian asked.

"No. My mom was a witch, but her older sister is a muggle." Harry said spinning the apple between his fingers.

"Harry's cousin actually goes to your school." Luna said as she walked towards Vivian and the thestral.

"He does?" Vivian turned to face Harry.

"Dudley Dursley." Harry said without looking up.

"Oh. I don't really talk to him. His friends aren't the nicest, but last year he stopped talking to a lot of them. Victoria is nice though." Vivian smiled at Harry before sitting to pet the baby thestral.

"Victoria?" Harry asked, as he lifted his head.

"His girlfriend. She seems nice. She moved to Surrey a few months after me."

After a few more minutes Harry walked in the dark back to the castle with Luna and Vivian. They talked the whole way up and Harry had forgotten his stress for a little while.

Harry walked down the stairs towards the Great Hall in a large group. Hermione was reminding Allie and Kristen about the money conversation. Marcus was counting his muggle money and guessing how much it was in gallons, while Dean corrected him. Ginny and Luna were talking about everything they wanted to do before lunch. As they passed the Entrance Hall, Harry saw Professor Flitwick and Mr. Filch already setting up their table. A group of muggles had started to form around them before Professor Flitwick began shooing them into the Great Hall for breakfast.

The daily flock of owls flew in over everyone's heads. Some muggles and first years jumped when an owl landed near them, still not used to the birds flying everywhere. A brown owl with white tipped feathers landed in front of Harry with a Daily Prophet tied to its leg. Harry pulled the string to release his prophet. The owl hooted impatiently as Harry placed a knut in its leg pouch. Once the owl had been paid it took off. As he read his newspaper, Harry could hear McGonagall explaining all the rules for Hogsmeade. In the corner of his eye, he saw Marcus and Dean quietly get up. Harry assumed they were heading for the table in the Entrance Hall before the line got too big.

Soon everyone started to walk towards the Entrance Hall. They made four long lines as they signed out of the school. Harry and the others waited for Dean and Marcus to finish sorting through their money before heading down. The group enjoyed showing their new muggle friends some of the best places around Hogsmeade, but that slowly came to an end for Harry and Ginny.

Harry and Ginny walked hand in hand as they walked to the Three Broomsticks. As they walked in Harry noticed Dudley sitting with Victoria staring at the pub's menu in the far corner. The two walked to the counter ordering two butterbeers before moving over to Dudley and Victoria's table.

"Maybe a firewhiskey?" Harry heard Dudley say to Victoria.

"You definitely don't want your first wizard drink to be firewhiskey." Harry said laughing to himself as Dudley looked up.

"I haven't heard of any of these."

"Try a butterbeer. It's a wizard soda." Ginny said. Dudley nodded sticking out his hand.

"Dudley this is my girlfriend, Ginny." Harry said feeling more awkward than he should.

"Nice to meet you. This is my girlfriend, Victoria." Dudley said pointing to Victoria who awkwardly smiled at Ginny and Harry.

"So butterbeer?" Dudley asked Victoria who nodded. "Ok, I'll be right back." As Dudley left for the counter, the small group sat in an awkward silence with Harry and Ginny sipping their butterbeers every once in a while. After a minute, Dudley returned with the butterbeers.

"So where did you two meet?" Victoria asked as she slid the butterbeer towards herself.

"Through Ron." Harry said.

"Isn't he one of your best friends?" Dudley asked.

"Yes, he is."

"Is he one of the ones who was in the car that time when...?" Dudley asked.

"Yes." Harry stated before taking another sip of his butterbeer. Another awkward silence fell on the group.

"That was painful." Harry said as he and Ginny left the Three Broomsticks.

"Yes, it was." Ginny responded quietly as they walked through Hogsmeade.

"I don't understand why he wants to try to work things out. Things were fine before." Harry said.

"No, they weren't. He used to beat you up and think you were nothing." Ginny said angrily. "The only good thing out of this is he seems to feel actual remorse and is attempting to understand you." Harry didn't respond just thought about what Ginny had said as they kept walking down the road back towards Hogwarts.

Author's Note: Please review!