Disclaimer: Some belongs to me. Most does not. I think you can tell the difference
At 16, he was even more muscular than before. They bulged impressively under the tight, but still masculine, shirts he had taken to wearing when he wasn't in his school uniform. He woke up one night, having to pee and at the same time being thirsty. He walked into the Jack and Jill bathroom he shared with Piers Polkiss and flipped on the light. Tabatha shifted slightly in her sleep. He relieved himself with the door still open, watching her at her most vulnerable. A stab of light went across her pretty face, she had a stubborn, heart-shaped mouth and a jutting chin. Her arm was across her nose and her long blonde hair covered her eyes, but he knew them well all the same. Dark, almost black, eyes soft and friendly. They were shaped almost like an Asian person's, with heavy long lashes. Her nose was small. Almost too small for her other impressive features. Small and upturned. But never like a snob's. Never.
He washed his hands and splashed some water on his face, patting it dry with a fluffy towel. He filled a water glass and drained it quickly. He swiped a hand across his face and turned off the light. The door when it shut creaked, so Dudley left it open. Tabatha awoke slightly as he climbed in next to her. He caught her at the waist and pulled her to him so they would spoon, a comforting position. She sighed and grabbed onto the hand splayed across her belly. She was chubby and big boned with a thick waist and thick ankles, but still considered popular and attractive. Dudley thought it was her attitude, friendly but cool, flirting but aloof. You couldn't scorn such confidence. And she was attractive. She had dated Smeltings most popular boy for a year before she had dumped him. Dumped him for Dudley. He always wondered why she didn't dump him to go back to someone like John Creevey. He pulled at her firmly. Sure, John was a bully, but so was he.
She was one of the only people to get him to open up and talk like a real person. He had never told her about Harry Potter, and about his lot, but he suspected it would come up. He had told her he had a cousin, but couldn't feed her the lie about St. Brutus' Institute for Criminally Insane Boys. Piers had never told her because Harry never came up. He didn't let him.
Dudley shivered thinking of his cousin. Those dementors, from that prison, were the worst thing that Dudley had ever felt. It brought him back to all the bad things that had ever happened at Smeltings. He had had a relatively easy time before that, but for the first four years of Smeltings, he had been a nervous wreck. The popular kids had picked him right away as a scapegoat. They pushed him around, beat him up. They found letters Mum had written to him and yelled, "Diddykins, hey, fat Diddykins! Where are you going?", after him everywhere he went. They threw things at him at class and made fun of him for his weight. His friends from Little Whinging had tried to defend him, but found themselves swept up in the bullying. He had told them to back off. Piers had ended up in the hospital wing after he had tussled with John Creevey. Dudley gained twenty pounds that week.
And he had kept on gaining. He put all his anger and frustration into breaking into the kitchens and cleaning out the refrigerator. Sometimes, he would be so full that he wouldn't be able to move, just crawl into a dark corner of the pantry and fall asleep. A kitchen staffman, Smitty, had taken pity on him and woken Dudley up in the early morning to make it back to his room before morning inspection. Creevey had found out about it when Dudley was in 8th term somehow and accused Smitty of molestation of one of the students, and Smitty was fired. His grades dropped and his weight rose and rose. Dudley wallowed in his grief. He stood hours before the mirror, hating himself. He had tried to fight Creevey once and was knocked out for twenty minutes. He was falling fast.
Two years ago, 9th term, Tabatha had come to Smeltings and fallen in with Creevey. Dudley liked her right away and was surprised when instead of joining in with the jeering of her fellow students, defended Dudley. She pushed Creevey hard the first time calling, "What did he ever do to you?", as she stalked away. Creevey had shot him a death look and walked away. That night, instead of heading to the kitchens, he went to the gym Smeltings had but he had never been to. It was state – of – the – art. He wasn't sure exactly what to do, but after almost three hours of beating on a punching bag and lifting the weights that were the lowest weight of them all, he felt more tired than he thought he had ever felt in his life. But, even though it may have been silly to think so, he thought he looked a little better in his reflection. The next night, he threw up his dinner and after finishing all his homework, a first, headed over to the gym. He didn't get in until at least three in the morning, and he was late for his morning classes, but he felt wonderful. He kept at it for a month and lost a hundred pounds. Soon, he didn't need to throw up his food, he enjoyed it but didn't abuse it. He lifted weights and his weight climbed back to 245 lbs. He was close to the top of the class in everything except math, and he and his friends had started to be more accepted into the popular group to the obvious displeasure of John Creevey.
Finally, one day, like two alpha wolves, they fought for the spot at the top. Dudley barely had to try. Chest heaving from adrenaline, he helped Creevey to his feet and walked away, with most of the group trailing behind him. Tabatha put her hand to Creevey's chest and he held her in a way that made Dudley's blood boil, but he noticed that she watched him until they disappeared into the cafeteria. A teacher stopped him. "I saw that."
"Sorry, Mr. Jenkins." Dudley mumbled.
"Hell no, Dursley, about time someone taught that moron a lesson."
"Yes, sir." Dudley said, surprised at his luck. Jenkins was famous for being a hardass about fighting. Jenkins leaned in and Dudley understood, smelling strong liquor on his breath.
"You ever considered boxing, son? I'll hook you up." And so his intensive boxing training began. His first match came quickly. He met Tabatha's eyes once as flexed his mouth in the mouth guard as he circled his opponent, a heavy boy he didn't know. He won. When the match was over, he looked to meet her eyes again, and she was gone.
One night, she climbed into his first story window, illuminated by moonlight. "You're a git." She whispered as Dudley sat up in bed.
"Why am I a git?" He wanted to know, getting up and running a self – conscious hand over his bare chest. Her breath was drawn in sharply and he mistook it for disgust. "Sorry," he whispered as he pulled a shirt over his head. "No one really wants to see that."
"You really think that?" She stayed pressed against the wall next to his window.
"How did you get in here, anyway? You're not supposed to…"
"My parents live here. They don't like me to go away to school, so I move to a different school every time they move. But we'll be here about another ten years, so I'm pretty much guaranteed to stay at Smeltings."
"Unless they find out that you've been climbing into the boys dorms at nights." He told her. She chuckled. "What are you doing in here anyway?" He asked her, shifting from foot to foot.
"I just wanted to know what happened to you. You've changed."
"I've lost a little weight, yeah." He admitted. He felt her, impatient, even in the dark.
"There's something different about you, otherwise." She said testily. "What is it?"
"You had to come to my bedroom in the middle of the night to inquire about this?" Dudley wanted to know. "So I've changed a little, what's it to you, you're the girlfriend of my supposed worst enemy?"
She dated Creevey for two months more.
Dudley was finally able to sleep as he relaxed and put Harry, magic, and dementors out of his mind. He didn't hear Tabatha in the morning when she climbed out of his window and went home.
* * *
He didn't have any of his close friends or Tabatha in his classes that day. He ate a quick dinner and headed off to do his homework. When he had finished he set off to do his daily work-out. The moon had risen high in the sky by the time he had returned to his dorm to shower. Tabatha and Piers were playing a game of war. He could hear them laughing as he took his shower and pulled on a wife-beater and sweatpants to sleep in. He brushed his sopping hair out his eyes and went to join them. They started a game of poker and Dudley looked over his cards at Tabatha.
"Won't your parents worry? You've been over here almost every night this week." Piers wanted to know, laying down cards to trade in.
"My parents don't care. They like Dudley." Tabatha said cheerily.
"They know you're over here?" Piers sounded disbelieving.
"Yeah, they wouldn't let me with John, but as they read my diary, I think they've figured out that Dudders and I don't sleep together. Not by my choice, mind you."
"He's always been weird like that, you can beat the hell out of your cousin, but you can't say an ill word to your mother. You can't sleep with a beautiful girl, but you can pick on ten- year- olds."
"You beat the hell out of your cousin and pick on ten-year-olds?" Tabatha sounded horrified.
"He doesn't beat up his cousin anymore, but he does pick on ten-year-olds. I don't know why we ever gave up Harry Hunting, but he's really reluctant to do it anymore." Piers watched Dudley for a reaction, there was none, he seemed to be concentrating solely on his cards.
"That's good at least."
"Must be because he started going to that school." Piers said quietly.
"Dudley going to Smeltings?" Tabatha asked, confused.
"No, when he started going to-"
"Okay mates, lay down your cards." Dudley finally joined the conversation. The others seemed confused until they looked at their hand as if seeing it for the first time. Tabatha put down a pair, Piers blushed and put down nothing, Dudley set down a Royal Flush. Piers headed for bed. Dudley flipped off the light and they climbed in bed to sleep.
"We were just talking about your cousin." Tabatha informed him between kisses. She pushed him away slightly. "How come you never talk about him if he lives with you?"
"I don't want to talk about Harry." He went for her neck. She groaned, whether from his efforts or frustration at being cut off he wasn't sure, probably both. Soon, Harry was out of her mind as he pushed her hands away from the band of his sweatpants.
"Please, Dudley, please." He indulged in kissing her, but held Tabatha's wrists and pulled them away from his body.
"You know I want to but-"
"Prove it," She challenged, going for him again.
"But, how would we feel if we knew that we had done it so soon, so young-"
"It's been a few months." She moaned.
"That we did it so young and that we had to do it in the dorm and not when we could take our time and make it romantic."
"John and I, we…" She managed to get her hands where he was determined to keep them away from. "We slept together after only a week or so being together." Dudley groaned and was, for a moment, lost in sensation. He wanted her so bad. He shook and came to his senses.
"I don't want to be anything like John Creevey," He said with effort, pushing her away. "I respect you." She angrily got up to stalk around the room.
"Respect, I don't need. I've got blue balls, Dudley! Please, I want it, for me. I'll keep writing in my diary that we haven't done it so I can come back. I respect you, and I respect your body and I respect…" She was climbing cat-like back into bed and over him.
"Then respect my wishes!" He pushed her away reluctantly.
"Fine!" She gathered her stuff, pulled on her shoes and left quickly through the window, stealing away quietly across the rolling grounds. He cursed and ran after her. He pulled her to his chest, and she couldn't yell out for fear of being caught.
"Let's go back and see how things develop." He whispered into her ear. " I can't promise anything, but if they happen, they happen, but I want you to know that I think we're rushing into this." She turned on her heel and practically skipped back. When they were back inside and the window safely closed and all the doors locked, Dudley watched Tabatha undress. She wasn't like magazines he had seen that had been passed around during the summers. She was better. More human than those plastic models. She strode towards him slowly and he felt her breath by his ear.
"Come on Dudley. You're such a Neanderthal about sex."
* * *
He was a Neanderthal. They didn't sleep together that night, or for the next month. He rubbed his eyes sleepily in Study Hall. Tabatha ran a socked foot around his ankle from where she sat beside him. John Creevey was on his other side, he had arrived late and chosen the only remaining seat. Piers had occupied it before, but moved when he saw where Alexis Wimbledon had sat. Dudley was finished with his homework, but couldn't leave for another half hour. Tabatha was working on math, and wouldn't be able to write notes. Her grades were even lower in math than his. He sighed, he should have brought a book. He glanced at what John Creevey was writing and then did a subtle double-take. John Creevey was writing what looked like a rather interesting letter to his parents.
Dear Mum and Dad-
How are you? I'm doing fine, my grades are up in arithmetic like you were bugging me about. How's the milk fetching business? Mum, did you get that job in the preschool that you were hoping? Oh yeah, and give Zephyr a great big cuddle for me. I can't believe she's starting school, either. It seemed just yesterday she was born. I got your letter, obviously, and I don't know about coming home for Christmas. Are Colin and Dennis going to be able to make it home from Hogwarts? Is Angie coming either? I really want to see them and you, but I do have a lot of school work to do. I should probably be spending this Study Hall doing that than writing you back, but I'm such a family man. Don't worry, that was sarcasm. Janis is still in my room, I'll send her back with this. Thank Merlin, Colin and Dennis bought us that owl. Have they written you recently? Colin said something about Voldiewhasit and his letter sounded kind of urgent. If he does come home for Christmas, could you tell him to borrow a broom from that Weasley girl again, or her brother or whatever? I'd like to have a go on it, again. I think I'm getting quite good. Do you think Zephyr will be a witch? I'd be thrilled for her to go to Hogwarts. Wouldn't you? I wish I could go. I swear I hate Smeltings. I wish you had never sent me here. I wasn't lucky enough to have the ability to blow up things my youth and give my twin a scar under his eye. Oh well, doesn't do to dwell on it all. Give my love to everyone, and-
John had caught him looking. He stared at Dudley a moment, dumbfounded. Dudley scribbled for a moment on his paper, handing John a small scrap of paper that read, Meet me after class by the West Wing. He feigned a stomach ache to the marm and headed for the gym.
John Creevey, related to wizards, what sounded like two wizards that went to Hogwarts? I wonder if Harry knows them? Dudley thought, lifting the heaviest weights and wincing with the effort. He would hurt himself if he wasn't careful. He didn't care. He had a link with John Creevey that he had never known, yet it seemed that where he was frightened of wizards, John was fascinated. He's never had a pig's tail surgically removed that was placed there by a great brute of a wizard. Hold on, that's wrong. He wrote something about a scar under his eye. But I have been attacked by Dementors. Dudley pumped, confused until he managed to check his watch between lifts and saw that he would have to hurry to meet Creevey if he was truly going to show. He made it and heard people filing out of classrooms to go to dinner. A few kids, only in their 1st or 2nd term at Smeltings, hit each other with their Smeltings sticks. None of the upperclassmen carried them. He waited awhile and was ready to leave when John Creevey, looking small and scared, approached with a shoebox clutched in his arms. "Creevey, I was afraid you wouldn't show." Dudley said loftily.
"I just had to grab something." Creevey whispered. "So, you read my letter and probably think I'm a complete nutter. What are you going to do about it?" His voice got louder and he broke into what seemed a challenge. His hands shook around the box he held, he wiped one on his uniform, he was nervous.
"Tell you something that no one at Smeltings knows." Dudley heaved a sigh and began. "My cousin is a wizard. He goes to that school, and he uh, he's in his 6th term there. He lives with us during his summer holidays. I've always been terrified of him. Maybe my cousin knows your brothers?" He finished lamely. He was starting to breath hard. John Creevey looked at him in disbelief.
"Maybe they do, what's his name?" John Creevey seemed to be taking it all in.
"Harry. Harry Potter." Dudley watched, amazed as John almost dropped his box, losing all composure. He fumbled and set it down on a spare table.
"No way, man! You're related to Harry Potter?" Dudley nodded. "He's like the most famous wizard in the whole world. Especially now that you-know-who is back."
"Yeah, Harry mentioned something about that summer before last."
"Oh yeah, but people didn't believe him before. My brothers always did though." John said, with a note of pride in his voice. "Hey, you ever been to Diagon Alley?" Dudley shook his head.
"You have to go! It's amazing. Maybe I'll see you there next summer. I've seen Harry Potter there before, but he was always with the Weasleys." Dudley wrinkled his nose.
"I don't want to go anywhere magical, I've never had anything good to do with the wizarding world." John's face fell. "Harry's first year, This big wizard, Hagrid, gave me a pig tail that had to be surgically removed."
"I know about Hagrid!" John said triumphantly.
"Harry's second year, an elf or something came to my house and threw a pudding my mom made on the ground. At least Harry said it was an elf, it was probably him. Then in his third, he blew up my aunt." Dudley sighed, he hadn't minded too much, but honestly.
"He blew up your aunt. Like exploded her?" John looked horrorstruck.
"No, just like a balloon. She was insulting his family. The summer of his fourth year, the Weasleys came to my house and they gave me this candy that made my tongue swell like four feet long and really thick. And their dad like blew up my living room. He fixed everything in the end, but I still don't eat toffees. And then the next summer, I was attacked by dementors." Even John shivered. He had apparently heard about these, too. "It was awful. I heard, I heard you. Making fun of me and calling me fat. About the day that you got Smitty fired." Dudley looked at John who stared at his feet. "This summer, he spent the entire time in his room. We let him down and everything, but he didn't want to come down. Something, something happened last year to him. Something went away. His godfather died. Sirius Black." John finally nodded and looked up at him.
"D'you want to see pictures? From the wizarding world?" He offered, seeming at a loss for words.
"Sure." Dudley nodded. John went for the box quickly. It had a feather in it, but otherwise was filled with pictures. There were about ten piled on top, John and Tabatha, John and his friends, John and a little girl, his family, The little girl was in almost all of them. John saw him looking.
"Zephyr, my niece. My sister had her real young, so we take care of her." He cleared the pictures off the top and picked up handfuls of pictures, handing them to Dudley. Dudley put them back in the box and picked up the first one. He dropped it as if it were on fire.
"It moves!" He whispered. John laughed at his face, which had lost all visible color.
"You live with a wizard and you didn't know about their pictures?" Dudley shook his head, scooping up the picture for a better look. "You must really not get along with your cousin."
"I don't, he's in this picture here though." It was what looked like some sort of pitch, but there were three huge rings at the end of it that he could see. Harry was hurtling straight towards the camera with another boy. Both the boys hands were outstretched but they would occasionally pull back to hit one another. They wooshed past. John stood beside him
"Ah yes. That's the main wizarding sport. Called Quidditch. There's more pictures of Quidditch in here." Dudley picked through a stack of those as John explained the rules. "I got to go to the world championships with my brothers and Zephyr. We took this portkey, thingy and went on to this giant pitch. That was two years ago. They had real leprechauns and they threw gold at us and we bought all these enchanted things. Oh! And they had these creatures called Veelas, they were the most beautiful women you ever saw. So amazing. Colin said he got to meet one at Hogwarts that year. He got a picture of her. She thought he was sweet and cute. John dug through the pile and handed one to Dudley who smiled appreciatively. She had long blonde hair and a beautiful face and body. She laughed to the camera and smile haughtily, before breaking into giggles again. "Fluer Delacour." John told him. Dudley reluctantly put down that picture and picked up another from the box. This one was of another girl, beautiful in her own way, with a mousy haired boy.
"Who's she?" Dudley asked, almost breathless. John laughed.
"That's Ginny Weasley. Her and my brother are pretty good friends. That was taken just this year. That's my twin, Colin." Dudley looked incredulously at the picture. "My fraternal twin, Colin. We're a year apart because I was born on December 31st at 11:59 and he was born at 12:15, January 1st. He was the little, titchy one and I was the great hulk. He didn't get to go to Smeltings. We thought he would go the year after, but he got his letter and got to go to Hogwarts instead." Dudley couldn't take his eyes off of this Ginny Weasley. He would have to ask Harry about her. John handed him another and he took it. It was another one of Ginny Weasley. She was in a bathing suit, splashing around in the shallows of a big lake. It was partially blocked by some huge shape.
"What's that?" Dudley pointed.
"The giant squid. People are really scared of him, but apparently it's a really nice squid." Dudley snorted. "I wish I could go to Hogwarts." John sighed.
"Hey, could I keep this?" Dudley asked, waving around the picture of Ginny.
"Want to get a closer look at the squid?" John joked. "Sure, but Tabatha will kill you."
"Yeah, she gets really jealous." Dudley acknowledged and then looked at John as if apologizing.
"She chose you." John shrugged. "Probably my fault more than anything." Dudley tucked the picture in his knapsack. There was another one of one of the Weasleys that Dudley recognized coughing up slugs. A couple more of John's brothers and of Zephyr and John at that Quidditch World Match or whatever. It had one of Zephyr atop the shoulders of a huge duck footed brute. She was holding the ball John identified as the Snitch. "Viktor Krum, he signed it for her, let her have the winning ball and all. Said he really liked her." John told him, then another one of her with seven people wearing matching green robes. One, who looked a little dazed, was letting her climb on his broom. John had his arm wrapped around a woman who was smiling up at him. He pointed to her.
"Adora Troy. She was really young, only a year or two older than me. Even though I was seeing Tabatha, I saw her for a month or two after this. Oh man, dating a witch. It was amazing. She didn't even care that I was a Muggle. I broke it off for Tabatha, and then maybe two weeks after that, she dumped me. I was too much of a coward to come crawling back to Adora. Adora quit school early to pursue Quidditch. She went to Hogwarts." He considered the picture thoughtfully and then pointed laughing to Zephyr. "Aidan Lynch, the seeker of the Irish team, let Zephyr on his broom. It's weird how everyone's drawn to Zephyr. Anyway, he took her for a little ride on it and she just zoomed around the stadium. They came down and everyone told her she was a natural. Aidan let her go on her own after that and she was amazing. They let me go ,too. That's the nicest broom there is, a Firebolt. It was amazing. Your cousin has one. Dennis was telling me." Maybe Harry would let me go for a ride. Dudley was amazed at these thoughts. He picked up the last picture, that was facedown, from the bottom of the shoebox. It was another of Harry and Ron Weasley and a girl he didn't recognize. He was strangely captivated with her. Her bushy hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she had her feet in Ron Weasley's lap, who was playing a game of chess with Harry. Harry and Ron were laughing, hard. Dudley had never seen his cousin so happy. The girl was peeking over Hogwarts, A History obviously amused.
"Who's-" John didn't even let him finish.
"Hermione Granger. Weird, huh?" Dudley swelled up. "No, I mean how she's not all that pretty, but she's still really attractive. That was taken this year, too. Colin knows how much I like these pictures so he sends me copies of almost every picture he takes.
"Can I?" Dudley gestured helplessly at the picture, Hermione had just thrown a book at Ron. John nodded.
"I've got the other two somewhere else."
"Bathroom cabinet? Right next to the lotion?" Dudley joked. John shook his head, amused. He dug around in his bookbag, pulling out the book she was reading in the other picture. Hogwarts, A History. He cracked it open and two photographs slid into his hand. He handed them to Dudley. She had her hair straightened, in a bun. She was in beautiful… robes. He squinted. Her and Ron Weasley, in moldy maroon robes, were shouting at each other. His cousin, watched bemused from a round hole in the wall. It lay open to reveal a long, stone corridor. The second was of her and Viktor Krum in a huge library. There were people performing magic in the background. The couple hadn't spotted the camera and they were conversing eagerly. She was blushing. Dudley gulped. John took the pictures back. He handed Dudley Hogwarts, A History.
"You. You, uh, can keep it."
Tabatha walked from dinner around a corner to find John Creevey and Dudley Dursley hugging like brothers.
* * *
Dudley and John sat working their way through a box of chocolate frogs. He was staying with the Creevey's for Christmas this year, the first he hadn't gone home. Colin came into the room. "Aren't you two finished with your damn chemistry? I finished potions hours ago and that was my hardest essay. It's my OWL year," He announced proudly. "I've never had so much homework." Dudley laughed.
"I think your brother's crazy, John. Completely off the wall." John agreed and Colin happily did the same. "When's dinner? I'm absolutely starved." Dudley announced.
"Me too, after that brilliant snowball fight and all. And sledding. It's not fair for you and Dennis to use your wands to throw though." John reprimanded as Colin came to sit next to him. Colin's face shone radiantly with a smile. They could use their brooms and magic on the Creevey's large country estate.
"John! Someone at the door for you!" The warm voice of Jenny Creevey drifted up the stairs. John, Colin and Dudley pounded downstairs. Jenny lovingly pinched Dudley's cheek on the way by and he blushed. He loved John's mother. In the front entrance hall, brushing snow from her robes, stood Adora Troy. Her whole face lit up when she saw him ,but she shook Colin's hand and was introduced to Dudley before the two even acknowledged each other.
"Happy Christmas, John." She whispered breathlessly. She had a sweet, lulling voice. "Would you like to go for a stroll?" He nodded and pulled on a coat and boots. Jenny appeared in the hallway.
"Dinner's in half an hour. I'll just set another place, shall I?" She winked at Adora as they pulled the door shut behind them. Zephyr bounced into the hall, with Angie behind. Dudley thought he would've liked to marry Angie if it wasn't for the age difference. And for Tabatha.
"I'm going out front with Zephyr, so she can play in the snow." Angie informed her mother, kissing her on the cheek as she passed her on her way back to the kitchen.
"But it's dark!" Dudley protested.
"She doesn't care." Angie said affectionately, ruffling Zephyr's flyaway hair. "She made a snowball explode before it hit her in the face today, did you see?" Dudley nodded.
"I bet you'll make it to Hogwarts." She grabbed onto his hand he swung her around ,laughing. "And they'll give you your voice." He whispered. At this Angie sniffled.
"It's all I'll ever want. She's the last person who should have been mute. She has a million things to tell the world."
"A million and one." Dudley corrected. Angie went to her tiptoes to kiss him on the forehead.
"Do you want to join me for a cigarette, while we watch her?" Angie offered, watching Zephyr pull on her cold weather things.
"I don't smoke." Dudley said.
"Good, neither do I." Angie ushered Zephyr outside. Dudley followed and shivered at the light purple sky, watching John and Adora's backs disappear around a corner of the lane. It was snowing again.
* * *
Harry Potter watched, amazed as his cousin approached him looking nervous. He carried a grimy, old cigar box in his hands. His aunt and uncle were out for the day. He went back to his book, maybe Dudley would go away if he ignored him. Dudley cleared his throat. Harry threw his book aside and sighed. "What do you want?" He scoffed.
"Well, see, I've got a friend." Dudley began.
"Brilliant. Congratulations." Harry said dryly. Dudley curled his fists around the box. Why did Harry have to be such a prat? He was just trying to talk to him about his school.
"And this friend had two brothers, who…"
" Gee whiz, two? Look, does this conversation have any point? Why don't you just kick my ass and get it over with? I don't have my wand on me, I don't need any justification for being beaten into a bloody pulp."
"Listen, I haven't beaten you into a bloody pulp for years. It's not fair to say-"
"I'll say whatever I damn well want to!" Harry made for the door.
"Do you know Colin and Dennis Creevey?" Dudley was pleased when Harry stopped, not turning around. "Because I know them and their brother and they've taken pictures of you, so I know you do." Harry turned his head. "And John. John Creevey, that is, has told me all about your world. But ,"
"But what?" Harry whispered. He stood stock-still like that, still not turning anything but his head. Dudley studied his profile.
"But you never told us that you're famous." Dudley said lamely, he didn't know how to say what he really wanted to. Harry slowly turned and looked at his cousin.
"You never asked." They sat down, side by side, on the couch. Dudley opened the cigar box and started to clear the still photographs off the top of the secret stuff. "Whose that?" Harry pointed at Tabatha, a picture taken of her, sprawled across his bed in his pajamas. Most of the pictures were of her or his family. He had an album full of moving pictures of Christmas with the Creevey's. Dudley cleared his throat and blushed. She looked rather scandalous, even though he knew that she had been snoring at the time the picture was taken.
"That's my girlfriend. Tabatha." He smiled slightly. She had promised to come down to Little Whinging that summer.
"You have a girlfriend?"
"Don't sound so surprised." Dudley mumbled. "Maybe you'll get to meet her this summer."
"Sure. You guys sure seem, uh, close." Harry and Dudley simultaneously blushed. Dudley cleared the pictures on top away. Harry gasped at the copy of Hogwarts, A History. Dudley lifted it out. He had read it so many times, the covers were peeling and the pages were soft and dog-eared. He cracked it open and let the two pictures fall into his hands. He handed them to Harry, who looked down at them. "How did you?"
"I want you to get me more books. I'll give you the money. I want you to take me to Diagon Alley and I want you to introduce me to all your friends. To Hermione and to…" He blushed. "Ginny."
"She's my girlfriend." Harry whispered.
"Oh, I want to meet her." Dudley said, unfazed. "I want to watch a game of Quidditch and stock up on fizzing whizzbees. Harry, tell me about Hogwarts and about you- know- who and the wizarding world." Dudley said breathlessly.
"Why do you want to know about Voldemort?" Harry asked. Dudley winced. Harry looked disbelieving. "Well? You probably know more about Hogwarts than me by now." He tapped the cover of Hogwarts, A History. Dudley lovingly caressed it.
"I just, I needed some adventure, and I found it in boxing and bullying. And I love boxing but, it's nothing to soaring around on a broom and-"
"You've been on a broom?"
"Harry, tell me everything."