I'm back! Sorry for the long wait (to say things are hectic would be the understatement of the century!) I will try to do better but afraid I can't promise as that will definitely jinx it, so let just say I'll try not to leave it so long next time!

Shout Out to GrangerPotterWeasleyMalfoy for the naming contest: I didn't get any actual suggestions for the names but I did get the suggestion to have Dudley have a say in naming them J Thank you so much for your kind review!

Once again I don't own HP or any other franchises that could make me rich!

Back to the story!

To say Dudley was relieved was an understatement. His father had decided to go along with his 'plan' for now, saying it was a cunning strategy (even claiming Dudley would make a good businessman one day with that strategic thinking). Under his relief Dudley had to admit he was afraid. He knew the temper his dad could have: he'd used it to his advantage enough, yet this was different, this time he was risking it turning on him!

He found the thought strange: he'd never even considered that! For all he'd seen his father attacking Harry and his mother swinging frying pans at him, it had never even occurred to him how dangerous they could be! His dad once threw Harry down the stairs, his mother usually aimed for the head when swinging that pan… how many time's had their actions come close to killing his cousin? How 'normal' was it to have such angry, homicidal behaviour to someone so young?

It was then something strange happened.

As Dudley passed his cousins room he heard a noise he had never heard before: his cousin's soft chuckle. Curiosity took over and before he knew what he was doing he was opening the bedroom door where he was met with the strange site of Harry nuzzling a ball of bright red fluff. Edging closer he noticed the thing was moving, and seemed to have a long tongue which seemed to be tickling the raven haired boy's nose.

"What on earth is that?" Dudley exclaimed. Harry started, looking surprised, and seemed to be debating whether to answer, Dudley decided to press further "I know about your buddies across the road so I doubt there'd be any point telling mum or dad, I just wanna know its safe"

Harry rolled his eyes at this, but looked relieved- Dudley understood the lunacy of sounding worried about what looked like a brightly coloured ball of fluff. But then again: Harry's associates could make sweets deadly. In the end Harry must have decided he may as well indulge in his cousin's curiosity

"There called pygmy puffs, Fred and George gave them to me and no, they won't harm you unless you're allergic to fur, which you can't be; you've been in Ms Figgs House" Harry stated bluntly, gesturing with his head to the tank where Dudley saw 3 more balls of fluff. Oddly, Dudley was fascinated, all his life he'd been told no good could come of magic, it was unnatural and dangerous, but there were… cute. Like mice who'd been given a makeover by a 4 year old.

"They look like someone bread mice with candyfloss" he observed cautiously, longing to touch one "those better not be my sweets!" He added, though he doubted it as his diet prevented him from indulging in such luxury.

"I guess they do, and no- they came with the tank: I didn't think you had any sweets left, any you buy you tend to eat before you get home" Harry said sounding a tad defensive, Dudley, wanting to stay on his good side changed the subject

"What are their names?"

"They don't have any yet"

Dudley looked thoughtful at this. "Boys or girls?"

Harry started to look confused, but figured Dudley was just fishing for information that wouldn't pan so he indulged

"Girls"

"So they could be Candy, Flossy, Cotton, and…Fairy?" He finished uncertainly, Harry raised an eyebrow

"Fairy?" he asked

"I think candyfloss can be called something like 'fairy floss'" Dudley replied uncertainly, he didn't think he and his cousin had ever had such a civil conversation for so long, or at all.

"Trust you to know odd facts about sweets" Harry grinned, but oddly, not in a teasing way "cute names, but a tad on the girly side don't you think?"

"Well they are girls" Dudley huffed "I suppose your kind have your own sweets?" he probed, curious to know if it was all deadly

"Yeah" Harry said, by now he was more curious to see if he could actually carry out a pleasant conversation with Dudley than suspicious of his cousins motives, if he could he might well be insane!

"Are they all dangerous?"

"No- the one you had was a prototype for a joke shop, they make a whole bunch of em, like Canary Cremes which make you sprout feathers" Harry stated simply

"Are there any, non-joke ones?" Dudley asked, wanting a heads up if he needed to start avoiding anything

"Yeah: Chocolate Frogs- basically just chocolate, Peppermint toads- they kinda hop around; feels kinda nice, Pepper imps- make your ears smoke, Every flavour beans- like every flavour: from cinnamon to earwax (Dudley cringed at that one), Fizzing Whizzbees- make you float, even Droobles gum" Harry lists, he wasn't sure why he was so willing to talk to his cousin about magical confectionery, maybe because he'd never had someone to talk to who hadn't already tried them, who wasn't raised by dentists.

"What's special about the gum?"

"It makes blue bubbles that float around the room for ages"

"Cool!" Dudley exclaimed, he suddenly regretted never learning more about Harry's world- some of it sounded pretty fun. He looked at the balls of fuzz again: Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green…

"You say the bubbles are blue right?"

"Yeah… why?"

"So the blue one could be Droobie, or Bubbles?"

"I guess. Why the sudden eagerness to name my pets? You planning on stealing them?" Harry asked, only half joking (he kinda liked Bubbles), placing the red one back in the tank and closing the lid

"I just think there kinda cool" Dudley said nervously. He really wanted to get a closer look but wouldn't come into the room any further "I mean, if they look like sweets, and eat sweets, maybe you should stick with the theme"

Both boys were suddenly distracted by the slamming of the front door. Before they could question it they both heard Petunia calling Dudley that his show was on and he hurried downstairs.

Harry sat and thought for a moment. Today was getting stranger and stranger, the twins moving to the suburbs, the order showing up, Harry's new mix of feelings, and now Dudley and he had just spoken without any real insults being thrown around! Maybe the pressure was finally getting to him.

Conflicted he sat in his chair by the desk and looked at the puffs. Bubbles did suit the blue one, she seemed to like water and was plenty energetic. In the end Harry couldn't escape the idea, and after debating all sweets, both muggle and magic he came up with names he thought even Dumbledore would like:

Bubbles, Peppermint, Beenie, and Canary.

…

…

…

Molly Weasley should be used to this! She had been in this situation too many times: one of her kids (or all too often two) had gotten into trouble and she had to make a journey to try and sort thing out.

But this was different.

She and her children had faced stakes of detentions, expulsions, even criminal charges! And yet this was far more extreme- this time her sons were facing the wrath of Albus Dumbledore and the threat of Voldemort rolled into one choice!

In other word's… Molly was scared.

She had supported he son's decisions when she first heard about it, but now she was standing here. On the street that heald the hope of her families future… she was having doubt.

Never before had she realised how smothering the weight of such things could be! Yes she had seen the first war, witnessed unimaginable horrors and fought her way through… but this was different. This time there was no sheltering her children.

She had never had the delusion of thinking there was any choice other than winning: her family were 'blood traitors'. They were distinctive. And they were known.

There would be no hiding if they lost, and even if they weren't so easy to recognise they couldn't; Arther may be an 'expert' with muggles but there was no way they could hide among them- they were just too reliant on magic!

At first her main fear when Ron had befriended Harry was her youngest was Ron would feel inadequate, or unintentionally insult Harry, or even that Harry's fame and wealth would make him feel better than Ron! But since actually meeting and interacting Harry she knew those fears were nothing short of ridiculous! True Ron had felt jealousy and they had their ups and downs but the fact was Harry was one of the best friend's Ron could have!

But now she was faced with another side of the matter: it didn't matter how good a friend Harry was, he would always have people hunting him- even if Voldemort dropped dead now, thier would be his followers, and if they were stopped more would arise. It was a sad realisation: no matter what he did Harry would never be safe; his chance for a normal life died with his parents.

And anyone who was associated with him was at risk of being caught in the crossfire.

Molly shook herself from the line of thought: she had already accepted years ago her family would always be a target, why shouldn't they be friends with the boy they owed so much too! The fact was it wasn't just a case that they 'owed' it to Harry! Harry was a genuinely good person who deserved all the kindness he received and more!

With this in mind she took her husband's hand not realising just how close his thoughts were to her: Harry deserved a decent life and it would be nothing short of selfish to deny that for the sake of a small fraction of safety!

As they walked down the road she glanced up at the windows of the line of identical houses either side of her.

Finally they stood in the road, between number 4 and number 7.

A glance up at the windows had Molly making two observations:

1. Her sons were visible standing in an upstairs room of number 4- clearly talking to someone (presumably Harry)

And 2. There was some kind of damage around said room's window- as if something had been ripped out of the walls.

With a shared glance Arther knocked on the door. They could hear someone shuffling about, as if whoever was standing behind the door couldn't decide if they should open it.

In the end the door opened to reveal Harry's uncle.

The man had an odd look on his face: the sickening grin of someone with a hidden ace up their sleeve, an ace soaked in poison that he could use to kill you without you even realising.

On one side of the man his wife could be seen peering out of the living room, on the other she saw the shadow of Harry's cousin going up the stairs.

Wanting to keep things civil Molly held out a hand to greet the man. He eyed the offered hand but made no move to shake it, or even acknowledge the greeting. Instead he started to eye her husband

"Well, I must say this is a better entry than your last; all my furniture is intact" the man said with an odd tone. The comment was strange but she had heard that there had been an issue with the fireplace before, and given how nervous Arther looked (though only she would know from just looking at him) she guessed she'd heard a somewhat watered down version. It wasn't just the comment and the smile that had her nervous: his voice sounded like it was able to sear your very soul while simultaneously freezing the blood in your veins. He reminded Molly of the Greek Minotaur: half man, half bull, and probably bad news.

Unfortunately just at that moment she heard the sound of apperating and knew her sons had just left the house, leaving them stuck dealing with Harry's relatives.

With a nervous cough Arther decided to play along

"Yes, sorry again about that: quite unintentional I hope you realise"

"What do you want?" came the sharp response from Petunia, Molly had never really interacted with the woman directly but couldn't help but notice she always looked like she thought she was surrounded by filth. Filth that risked to contaminating her (was that why Harry had so many chores? Did she have some kind of phobia of dirt or germs? Somehow Molly couldn't help but doubt it was so simple).

"We were wondering if our sons were here" Molly answered politely, knowing full well they weren't but doubted the muggles knew about operation.

"They were" the man replied "they forced their way in without being invited and ran up the stairs, but the since ran back out. Thiers been nothing but strange cracking coming from up their ever since"

Immediately the two Weasley's realised that for whatever reason the twins must have been, left for something and then started to apparate back and forth. Before either of them could reply Petunia piped up once more, stepping into the hall but still safely behind her husband (not that she could have squeezed past him with his girth)

"I guess manners isn't a common teaching amongst your kind" putting an emphasis on the 'your' as if they were a different species. A lower form of life like how an egle would view a slug! Molly suddenly saw red

"Actually I think you'll find it is, along with basic respect and courtesy, I trust you know what those are?" She asked in a sweet tone that promised blood if the other woman didn't check her attitude quickly.

And suddenly it was on.

Arther took a subtle step back from his wife- wise enough to know when it was best to simply shut up and let his wife take the lead; as much as he wanted to give the Dursley family a piece of his mind he also knew no-one could put people in their place better than the mother of his children who somehow managed to maintain control over seven children (children who took down ancient curses, wrangled dragons, brought a school to its knees, defeated giant chess pieces, survived being possessed by the Dark Lord himself… and Percy).

"At least my son never attacked an innocent boy with no provocation! My Dudley barely recovered!"

"My sons may have pulled a prank that went too far, but at least they were NEVER bullies! You want an innocent victim why not look at your sisters son!"

"She was no sister of mine! Flaunting her freakish behaviour like that- she was dangerous and her son is no better!" it was strange how the woman could speak in a deadly low tone that was so quiet it was almost certainly heard by anyone outside the four of them yet still her voice sounded like a screech.

Molly hadn't realised it was possible but suddenly she was even angrier than before! Having met Lily she knew what a wonderful person she was! How DARE this woman suggest either she or her son were anything but the kind people they were? Molly felt she would have hexed her then-and-their if she hadn't been surprised by what came next.

Suddenly Arther spoke up, his tone calm and level, as if making an enquiry at work

"Did Lily ever attack you? With magic or otherwise?"

Petunia looked taken aback at the simple question, and for a moment her mask of 'righteous' anger seemed to crack slightly, before slipping back into place with ease

"Of course she did! She stole my parents love form me! She was always the special one while nothing I did was ever enough! She had no qualms about trying to hurt me every chance she got, she was a petty, jealous, FREAK!"

"So petty as to mistreat a child for a perceived slight from childhood? So jealous that she needed to tread on anyone different just to give herself a sense of self-worth? Because I'll tell you something: I have seven children. I love them all, each and every one of them, with the same protective fierceness that reassures me I wouldn't hesitate to walk to the end of the earth for them. And yet they are all different. They all have their own needs and therefore I have no choice but to treat them different. As a result I have little doubt they must all think I have a favourite, and none of them think it's themself. Maybe the boys think it's my daughter: being the only girl she is more likely to get the newer outfit where the boys might have a hand-me-down. Maybe she thinks it's my eldest- who because of his age gets the most freedom. Maybe he thinks it's the younger children who I say he has to look out for. The reality is they are all wrong; I have no favourite. Maybe your sister had a gift you did not, but who saw more of your parents? Did you spend months away at a time to learn how to control the gift she possessed? Unable to make friends back home for she couldn't tell anyone her secret: a secret she never asked for that would forever isolate her from the world she grew up in? I know if I could only see one of my child for a few weeks and the others the rest of the time I would try to get all I could out of that precious time with the child who was being taken into a new world where she would have undoubtedly felt very alone and scared at first. A world she and your parents would have known nothing about. Your parents wouldn't have been able to help her adapt, for what did they know of our world? I may have never met your parent, but I did meet your sister, she was kind and she loved you, and I am certain your parents loved you just as much as they did her.

So ask yourself this: who's truly petty? The second your nephew was left in your care you had a chance. A chance to try and balance that love. You could have been a part of the world you never had a chance to be a part of before. And more than that you could have learnt enough to help him and your son form the bond you never had with your sister. Instead you not only isolated Harry from our world, but yours."

Molly was speechless. Arthur's tone had been level, calm, like a father explaining a particularly tricky homework question to his child, not just giving an answer but simply trying to get them to think through the logic and work it out themselves.

Petunia looked like she didn't even know what to say let alone feel, she just stood there staring. An odd sensation came over the room, like all the anger had drained out, like it couldn't fit in the same hallway with the calming presence of the red-haired father.

Until Vernon shoved them out the door slamming it behind them. They heard Petunia call her son downstairs to watch some kind of show.

Well- it had been worth a shot.

OK- that's it for now, I don't know if I'm quite happy with this chapter (I had planned on Molly tearing the Dursley's to pieces, but I could just see Arther knowing his wifes temper trying to be diplomatic, preferring instead to use reason to plant seeds of doubt and let them bloom on their own before letting his wife murder anyone- that could just be me but I always imagined him playing chess with Ron and that being where Ron got the sense of strategy from- let me know if you agree).

Don't worry though- there will be more Molly vs Petunia

Sorry if anyone's OOC

Next Chapter should bring back out favourite Headmaster and have some more Dudley/Twin interaction (who knows- maybe Dudley won't run from them this time). Now all the dramas out the way for now things should get a lot more fun J

In case you were wondering:

Blue= Bubbles (after Droobles Gum)

Red= Beenie for Bertie Botts beans

Yellow= Canary (for Canary Creams)

Green= Pepper (for both Pepper imps and Peppermint toads)

Fun fact: the fact about cotton candy being known as fairy floss in some places like Australia is apparently true (never knew that until I started looking up sweets for the names)