Summary:

A year after the Epilogue takes place, Harry comes home from work to find the phone ringing in the hallway. He answers it, as one is apt to do, only to find it's his cousin Dudley, whom he hasn't seen for 10 years. It turns out Dudley needs help with his 6-year-old-daughter, Rose, who is magical.

Sequel to 'In Six Summers' Time'. I would recommend reading that first, as some details might become confusing otherwise.

Notes:

Hello all!

Here is the Prologue to Dudley's Rose - sequel to "In Six Summers' Time"

Honestly I just hope you enjoy it. I'll try to get the next chapter out whenever I can. I had a lot of fun writing this one.

Prologue

Harry sighed as he stepped through the floo onto the hallway carpet. It had been a long day, with the students at Hogwarts seemingly even more rowdy than usual. He supposed it didn't help that it was the second last day of school before the Christmas break.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sound of the telephone ringing in the study. He frowned, unsure as to who would be calling at that time. It wasn't particularly late, but Hermione hadn't yet returned from work, and all their friends and family knew that they were normally only making their way home by then, which was why they left Lily and Ruby with Molly while the boys were at school during the day.

Curiosity now awakened, Harry shrugged off his coat, hung it up on the peg beside the door and made his way to the study, placing his briefcase neatly beside the desk as he picked up the receiver.

"Hello, you've reached the Potter Household. How may I help you?"

"Harry?"

The voice that responded was male, and seemed slightly familiar to Harry, although it took him a moment to recognise it. Once he did, he toppled backwards into his seat in shock.

"Dudley?" he asked, stunned.

"Yeah," his cousin chuckled, awkwardly. Harry reflected, subconsciously, that his voice was a lot deeper than when he'd last heard it, when they'd been 15 and hated the other's very existence. Harry wondered what he was calling about. Actually…

"How did you get my number?" he asked, still trying to process that, after 10 years of literally no contact whatsoever, Dudley had contacted him.

"You're in the phone book," was the reply, "I needed to contact you, so I took a chance and tried looking you up. Do you know how many Potters there are in England? I must have stacked up quite a phone bill this month. Anyway…" Dudley paused, seeming unsure as to how to continue. Harry waited patiently, in silence, his mind cycling through the last memory he had of his cousin…

…::-::...

It had been a scorching summer.

As Harry worked the yard, doing his best to prune Aunt Petunia's precious roses without cutting off the buds, he felt a shadow fall over him - a very much welcomed relief from the heat. However, it became far less welcome when he turned around to find that Dudley was his source of shade. Harry's mood immediately worsened - not that it was very good to begin with.

Dudley, however, was behaving oddly. He'd been acting strangely towards Harry the whole summer, twitching in his presence and giving him strange glances whenever he saw him. He'd even refrained from taunting him, and he and his gang had avoided coming into contact with Harry at all.

At that moment, however, his odd behaviour was even more noticeable. Dudley was fiddling anxiously with his hands, shifting uncomfortably and glanced around as if checking to see that no one was watching them.

Harry got to his feet, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't know what his cousin wanted, but he hoped he would be quick about voicing it.

"Look, Harry," Dudley began, glancing awkwardly down at his shoes, "I know we haven't gotten along in the past, and I know that's mostly my fault. I've been awful to you, and Mum and Dad haven't been kind to you either."

Harry simply stared at him, confused, and wondering where he was going with this. What was he trying to say?

"I went to a counsellor at school this year," Dudley continued, "I was told I had to, if I wanted to stay, you know? Anyway, he was asking me all these questions about my home life and things. I kept trying to avoid them, but eventually I caved and just blurted out my whole life story, basically. I told him all about you - not about the magic part, obviously - but about everything else. He looked shocked, honestly, at the way Mum, Dad and I acted towards you, and-and he made me see…"

He trailed off again, uncertain. Harry stared at him in surprise. Surely he couldn't be… sorry… for what he'd done to him? Not after all this time? Could he?

"See what?" Harry asked, speaking up for the first time.

Dudley looked up from his shoes, right into Harry's eyes. He didn't look uncertain anymore, just very ashamed and… guilty.

"We've really made your life a nightmare, haven't we? Mum, Dad and I?"

Harry shrugged noncommittally, unsure of what the correct response to that would be.

His cousin sighed, "Well, I just-just wanted to apologise. I know I can never make you forget what I did to you, and I know you'll probably never forgive me for it either, but I just wanted to tell you, for the record…"

He trailed off, and gave Harry a weak smile, before walking away, leaving Harry standing there in stunned silence.

Harry disappeared three days later, and hadn't seen Dudley since.

…::-::...

"Anyway," Dudley continued, drawing Harry out of his reverie, "I just phoned 'cause - 'cause I need your help."

"What with?" Harry asked, leaning back in his seat.

"I'd prefer to discuss it in person," his cousin explained, "Is there somewhere we can meet up? When would it suit you?"

"I get off work early tomorrow afternoon. I live in Islington. Where do you live?"

"Near Primrose Hill," Dudley responded, "It's not too far, so anywhere near you suits me alright."

Harry thought for a minute, and came up with the perfect meeting spot, "You know King's Cross, where you used to drop me off for school? There's a coffee shop nearby. We could meet there. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure," Dudley agreed, "Shall we say 15:00 tomorrow?"

"Alright," Harry agreed, "I'll see you there."

"Thanks, Harry," Dudley replied, "Bye."

He put down the phone, effectively ending the call.

Harry slowly placed back his own receiver, feeling confused and stunned. To be honest, he couldn't understand why Dudley had called him out of the blue like that. What could he possibly need help with? Harry had already admitted to himself that he had already forgiven Dudley for the actions of his childhood. He'd forgiven him back then, when he'd apologised, and, he supposed, it was why he had decided to respond to his cousin's request for help. He only wondered what it was with.

Harry was still sitting behind his desk contemplating the issue when Hermione arrived home with the kids. Their arrival was announced by his two sons, James and Daniel, coming rushing into his study and launching themselves at him, simultaneously wrapping their arms around his waist and knocking the breath out of his lungs.

"Hi, Dad!" James, the more boisterous of his boys, greeted, "We're home!"

"I noticed," Harry replied, amused and slightly out of breath. A moment later, both he and the twins were crushed beneath the weight of yet another body as Lily ran in and jumped on top of all three of them.

"We have cookies!" she cried, happily, in greeting, unaware of the discomfort she was causing for those beneath her.

There was a laugh from the doorway as Hermione appeared, carrying their youngest, Ruby.

"You can tell Daddy about your cookies once you get off him and the boys, Lily-Love. It makes it rather difficult for them to move, doesn't it?"

"Okay," Lily chirped, quickly removing herself from atop her brothers and skipping towards the kitchen. The boys followed after her, but Harry remained in his seat for a moment longer while his lungs started working again. Hermione giggled at him. He scowled at her playfully before smiling, and rose from his seat, stepping forwards until he was less than an inch away from her. But, instead of focusing his attention on his wife, he turned to his daughter, lifting her from her mother's arms so that her eyes were level with his own.

"Hello, Ruby," he smiled, "And how was your day?"

The two-month-old squealed in response, and grabbed a few locks of his ebony hair in her fists.

Harry laughed, "It was good then, I take it?"

"Molly made cookies with them," Hermione answered, still smiling.

"I gathered," Harry responded, as he managed to loosen his daughter's grip on his hair, "And the boys' day at school? How was it?"

"Alright," Hermione replied, "Nothing noteworthy. But, then again, no news is good news when it comes to those two, isn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Harry chuckled, as he tucked Ruby into his side and followed the rest of his children into the kitchen, with Hermione behind him.

As soon as he entered, Lily came forwards and grabbed his free hand before dragging him over to one side of the room, where a plate of messily-decorated cookies sat on the counter.

"What do you think, Daddy?" she asked, eyes bright.

"They look wonderful darling," Harry smiled, "Are we going to have some after dinner?"

Lily and the twins immediately looked to Hermione, who laughed at their like-mindedness, "Okay, but only one each. We can save the rest for later."

"Yay!" Lily cried, removing her hand from her father's and taking her customary seat at the table, between Daniel and James. Harry simply shook his head fondly, and passed Ruby on to Hermione, who put her in her highchair while Harry began preparing dinner.

…::-::...

Later that night, once the children were all asleep, Harry and Hermione lay in bed, side-by-side. It was peaceful, lying there in the darkness and taking comfort in one another's presence. Harry hated to disturb it, but he knew he needed to tell Hermione about his call with Dudley.

"The phone was ringing when I got home," he began.

"Oh? Who was it?" Hermione asked. Harry could picture her frowning in the dark.

"It was Dudley," he replied.

"Dudley? As in, your cousin, Dudley? The one who used to bully you as kids?"

"Yeah, that Dudley," Harry nodded.

"Well, what did he want? I assume he found our number in the book."

"He needs my help with something. He didn't want to discuss it over the phone, so I've arranged to meet with him tomorrow afternoon at that cafe near King's Cross."

"Why did you agree to that?" Hermione asked, surprised, "He was beastly to you. Why would you help him?"

Harry sighed, "A few days before I, well, you know, he sought me out and apologised for his behaviour over the years. I forgave him."

"Really? That's surprising."

"What? That he apologised? Or that I forgave him?"

"That he apologised, obviously. It's very much like you to forgive people, Harry."

She shifted position until her head rested on his chest.

They lay in companionable silence for a few moments, until Hermione spoke up again.

"Will you be okay, going by yourself?"

"You're talking to the Man-Who-Conquered, darling. Of course I'll be alright."

Hermione slapped him, laughing, "You're a prat, you know that? I express genuine concern for your mental health and wellbeing, and you respond with sarcasm. Honestly!"

Harry chuckled, "I know, I know, I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist the opportunity."

Hermione hummed noncommittally, but he could tell she was smiling.

He wrapped his arm around her waist, and closed his eyes, suddenly feeling very tired.

"Night, 'Mione," he yawned.

"Night, Harry," she responded, snuggling further beneath the covers, "Sweet dreams."

They lapsed into silence and, a few moments later, their breathing even out as they fell asleep, safe in one another's arms.

Notes:

Hope you have a good week!