There were many things that brought Dudley Dursley joy. Beating Piers at the arcade, eating his mother's cooking, and getting the newest and most expensive toys. Harry Hunting, on the other hand, only left him with a sense of dread. He used to love chasing after his cousin, but after a certain encounter with a certain someone, he couldn't bring himself to mess with Harry anymore.
So, leave it to Piers to rile up all the boys on the playground for another Harry Hunting session on the very last day of school.
"Hurry up Dudley!" Piers snapped. "Quit daydreaming, he's getting away!"
Dudley sighed as he watched his cousin disappear into the school. "Can we do something else Piers? I don't feel like chasing after him."
Piers gaped at him. "What!? Why not!?"
"You know why!" Dudley growled. "Did you already forget what happened last month?"
"You're still not over that?" Piers muttered. "Granger's not even in town, so we've got nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, and what if Harry tells her what we did? She'll be sure to come after us!"
"Eh, let's just make sure he keeps his mouth shut."
"That's never going to—"
"Ugh, what's happened to you!?" Piers said in disgust. "You used to be so much cooler, but now you're just so…lame."
Piers sneered at him. "Why do you let a girl like Granger push you around so much? I thought that you were a boy."
Dudley growled and jammed a finger into Pier's chest. "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you! You haven't seen what she's capable of!"
Piers tsked at him before he turned his attention to the other boys. "Alright you lot, let's get Potter!"
The other boys cheered as Piers lead them into the school. Dudley sighed as he watched them go. A part of him wanted to join in the hunt, but the more rational part of him pointed out how much of a mistake that would be. Ever since she moved into the neighborhood and became friends with Harry, things had changed for the worse.
Dudley sighed. "Those idiots are going to get themselves into a world of trouble."
"Mmm, you might be right about that Dudley."
Dudley froze. The hairs on the back of his neck stood straight as a sudden chill raced down his spine. He'd felt something like this before when he'd been messing with Harry last month. If he was feeling it now, it could only mean one thing.
She was back.
He whirled around to see Hermione Granger standing behind him with an unreadable expression on her face.
"Gr-er, Hermione! I thought that you were out of town!" Dudley stammered. He took a step back to put a bit of distance between them. "When did you get back?"
"A few hours ago." Hermione said. "Are you alright Dudley? You seem rather pale."
She took a step towards him with a dangerous glint in her eyes and smiled. "I just happened to see Piers and all your friends run into the school. They wouldn't happen to be chasing Harry…. would they?"
"I-I tried to stop them!" Dudley protested, his voice growing increasingly shrill as he stumbled backwards. "They wouldn't listen to me!"
"Oh well, I expected that something like this would happen." Hermione muttered. "This is perfect, they're all gathered in one place…"
"Uh…what?" Dudley dumbly responded.
Hermione giggled. "Now I can deal with them all at once!"
She brushed past him and headed into the school. For a few moments, everything fell silent.
And then…
"Run for it!" Piers bellowed as he stumbled out of the school. The other boys followed suit, screaming, they raced back to the playground.
"What's the matter Piers?" Dudley snickered as his friend ran past him. "Why are you running away from a girl? I thought that you were a boy?"
Piers glared at him with his good eye, his other eye was already starting to swell. "How about instead of rubbing it in, you get me some ice or something!?"
Dudley was more than happy to keep needling his friend, but his words died in his throat when Hermione came out of the school with Harry in tow. They all held their breaths and stiffened as the pair walked past them.
"Are you sure you're fine Harry?" Hermione fretted. "Did they hurt you?"
Harry sighed. "I told you Hermione, I'm fine. They didn't even get a chance to hit me."
"But what about that cut on your arm!?"
"It's nothing, I just banged myself up a bit when I was running away."
"What about that bruise on your nose!?"
"I tripped."
Hermione huffed. "Are you being honest Harry?"
"I am." Harry said. He glanced over at Piers and the others before he did a double take. "Whoa, what happened to all of you!?"
Piers paled as he glanced at Hermione. "W-we fell..."
"Really?" Harry asked. "You all fell and hurt yourselves that badly?"
Hermione tugged on Harry's arm. "Harry, why don't we go back to my house so I can get you bandaged up?"
Harry blinked. "Oh. Sure I—"
He yelped as Hermione dragged him past the others. Dudley breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the two dart around the corner of the school gate and disappear from view.
"Well, I think that's enough excitement for today." Dudley sighed.
Dudley brushed past a shell-shocked Piers and headed for home, the only place where he was safe from Hermione Granger.
"Can this day get any worse?" Dudley grumbled.
.
.
.
As luck would have it, his day would end up getting much, much worse. Honestly, he should have kept his mouth shut, then he would've never ended up jinxing himself. Dudley groaned and slammed his head against the dining table.
"I should've gone over to Piers's house." Dudley grumbled under his breath.
"Sit up straight Dudley!" His mother hissed. "We have a guest!"
Dudley sighed and raised his head to see Harry and Hermione walk into the dining room with plates of food in their hands.
"Why Hermione, you didn't need to help set the table." His mother said. "You should have just let Harry do all the work."
Hermione smiled as she and Harry sat next to each other. "It's no problem Mrs. Dursley, I'm more than happy to help."
As they all ate their dinner, Hermione and his mother made small talk about plans for vacation, school, and other things Dudley couldn't be bothered to pay attention to.
"Oh, that reminds me," His mother said with a smile on her face. "Hermione, what would you think about tutoring Dudley?"
Dudley choked on his drink and began to cough violently.
"Hm…" Hermione tilted her head in thought. "Well, I've already got my hands full with Harry, but..."
She smirked. "I wouldn't mind making some time for Dudley."
"H—hang on!" Dudley protested. "I don't need a tutor!"
His father grunted. "Have you seen your grades boy? You need all the help you can get."
"B-B-But I-!"
"Hermione, what days would work best for you?"
"I'm free on Fridays and Saturdays."
"Wait, I don't want to spend my weekend studying!"
His mother leveled him with a glare. "Hermione is willing to take the time out of her schedule to help you Dudley, don't complain!"
Dudley groaned and slumped in his chair. Hermione had his parents wrapped around her finger, there was no way he could escape his fate.
'God…. what could I have possibly done to deserve this!?' Dudley internally wailed.