Author's note: The disclaimer from chapter one still applies. Stay tuned at the end of the chapter for further commentary and individual responses to reviews.

"Wake up, boy! Now!!"

Harry was jolted from sleep by Vernon Dursley's grating roar and heavy pounding on his door. It sounded like his uncle was kicking the base of the doorframe. Harry staggered out of bed and unlocked the door, then was promptly knocked over as it flew open.

"You!" snarled Vernon, "You wicked, ungrateful…how dare you?!"

Harry scooted backwards in alarm. He could not see well without his glasses, but his uncle's face appeared to be plum-colored with rage, and one fist was clenched. For a brief instant, he thought he was having a nightmare, then the big man grabbed the collar of his pajamas and hauled him to his feet, thrusting his fist at his face…and opening his palm.

"How do you explain *these*?!"

Harry blinked at the blur of color in Vernon's meaty hand, less than three inches from Harry's nose. "I…uhm…hang on…" A bit shakily, he grabbed his glasses and slid them onto his face, trying not to poke himself in the process. As the spots of color in his uncle's hand came into focus, Harry felt his stomach sink. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"They're…just candy…" he protested faintly.

"Don't lie to me, boy! You've poisoned my son!!"

"What?!" Harry felt a surge of temper rise through him, "Did he tell you that??"

"He told me exactly what you two did this evening." Vernon growled, letting go of Harry and shoving him into a sitting position on the bed.

"He asked for them!" Harry protested, torn between fear of his uncle, fury at his cousin, and confusion at being awakened so abruptly.

"You tricked him!" accused Vernon. "You knew ruddy well he's been starving for sweets!"

"I didn't! We traded! He gave me caramels for them!" Harry spat out before it occurred to him not to give away Dudley's snack stash. But then, what did he care if Dudley had his candy taken away? He had obviously betrayed him. Harry grit his teeth. If his cousin had been there right now, he'd have broken his nose.

"What did you do to them?! What's in them?" Vernon demanded, and for the first time, Harry got a good look at his expression. There was more there than the usual anger and loathing. There was fear.

"They're just…sugar and flavorings…" Harry said sullenly.

"Liar!" his uncle snarled, kneeling and reaching for the floorboard under which Harry's snacks lay.

This was too much. Dudley had seen the hiding place when he helped Harry put his candy away. He had accused Harry of poisoning him just so Harry's food would be taken away! Heedless of Vernon's snarl of outrage, Harry leaped past his uncle and ran toward Dudley's room. To think Harry had trusted Dudley! He had almost started to like him!

As he reached his cousin's doorway, the angry words died on his lips. Dudley's own snack stash was spread across the floor, but Dudley himself was sitting up in bed, leaning into the arms of his mother, who was sitting next to him and rocking him with such an earnest look of distress on her face that Harry felt a wave of pity for her. She raised her head to look at him, and her eyes went cold. "The ambulance is coming," was all she said.

"Wh-what…?" Harry stared at Dudley, who was looking at him with wide eyes. There was no smug triumph on the larger boy's face, only fear and confusion.

"I don't understand…" Harry stammered, watching Dudley rub his eyes with a shaky hand.

"Don't bother lying," Petunia snapped.

"I didn't do anything…! Dudley, tell them!"

Dudley whimpered.

"Don't you talk to him!" Petunia said shrilly, "Don't you say a word!"

Before he could reply, Harry was shoved roughly aside by his uncle. Vernon did not even look at him, going up to Petunia with the box of Every-Flavor Beans. "It's got an ingredient list."

"Corn syrup…sucrose…citric acid…artificial flavoring…yellow #5…red # 40…" Petunia's voice broke.

"There's this, too." Vernon studied the empty chocolate frog box. "Looks like just chocolate and milk and sugar…"

Harry stared at them blankly. This was odd behavior…perhaps…could Dudley really be ill? He stared at his cousin. Dudley looked pale and sweaty, rather feverish. His hands seemed to be trembling. "I'm thirsty, Mum…" He complained very softly, without taking his eyes off Harry.

Harry backed out of the room quietly and pressed his back against the hallway wall. He could hear Petunia asking Dudley if his tummy hurt, and Vernon muttering, "I'm going to kill that boy…"

"There's nothing in there that could poison him," Petunia said shakily.

"Mm…you say the frog thing moved, Dudley?" Vernon asked.

"Y-yeah…it had stopped before I took a bite."

"Boy!" Vernon shouted harshly. Harry peered into the room hesitantly.

"What made the frog thing move?"

"An enchantment…" Harry replied quietly, afraid of the response. "It's never made anyone ill before. I've eaten loads of them."

"That's *you*," Petunia snapped, "Your digestive system's probably just as abnormal as the rest of you."

Harry felt both stung and worried. Could something that was perfectly okay for wizards to eat hurt Muggles? "I…could try and contact Mr. Weasley…maybe he would know--" he cut himself off as Vernon gave him a murderous glare. A siren began to wail in the distance, approaching rapidly.

Mr. Dursley crossed the room to grab Harry by the upper arm, shoving him toward his bedroom. "You're staying right here until this is sorted out, boy. If Dudley wasn't convinced this was an accident, I'd have broken your little neck already." He pushed Harry roughly into the room and slammed the door behind him. The external lock clicked shut.

Harry sat on his bed, shaken, listening to the paramedics rush up the stairs to help Dudley. A few days ago, wondering how many of them it would take to carry him might have amused Harry. Now he felt low and mean for thinking of it. Vernon and Petunia hurried down the stairs after their son. The doors opened and slammed shut. Then the house was quiet, except for Hedwig rustling in her cage. Harry wasn't sure what to think. Dudley seemed to be genuinely sick. If something Harry had given him had really made him ill…quite apart from being in for the worst treatment of his life from his aunt and uncle, Harry would feel terribly guilty. He had never before considered being friendly with his cousin, but for just a few short hours it had seemed like a possibility. Harry was quite sure there was no chance of Dudley and himself becoming as close as he and Ron, but the idea of having someone at 4 Privet Drive who did not hate him had undeniable appeal. But a chocolate frog and a handful of Every Flavor Beans might have ended any chance of that happening for good.

Harry's thoughts returned to Arthur Weasley. He worked at the Ministry. If any wizard would know about how enchanted objects affected Muggles, he would. Harry dug out a piece of parchment and a quill and began to write rapidly.

Dear Mr. Weasley,

I'm sorry to bother you, but my cousin has just had to go to the Muggle hospital. My aunt and uncle think it's because of a Chocolate Frog and some Every Flavor Beans I gave him earlier. Is it possible for wizard candy to make Muggles sick? Other than the obvious, I mean, like the Ton-tongue Toffees.

Sincerely,

Harry Potter

He studied the letter for a moment, then as an afterthought added a postscript.

PS: If you write back and I don't answer, it's because I'm in a lot of trouble and unable to receive owl post. If this happens, please notify Headmaster Dumbledore for me, and take care of Hedwig if she comes back to you..

Thanks,

Harry

He folded up the note and tied it neatly to Hedwig's leg, then opened the window. "Take care, girl…say hi to Ron for me." She nipped his finger gently and took off.

Harry watched her vanish into the starry sky, then sighed and returned to his bed. He lay on his back, not bothering to take off his glasses. He was worried. He tried to convince himself it was only Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's reactions he was concerned about, whether they'd ever feed him again, let alone let him out of the room. But he had to admit that seeing his cousin so obviously ill and frightened was jarring. Dudley had never had many serious injuries, as he had never participated in much physical activity. He had worn a wrist brace once because he had an inflammation from playing too many computer games. And he had gotten minor colds every couple years, but that always made Harry more annoyed than concerned, because he ended up waiting on Dudley hand and foot when he was sick. Often Harry suspected Dudley had faked his illness just to watch him scurry.

But he was pretty sure he wasn't faking now.

Harry rolled over on his side, feeling slightly queasy as another thought struck him. What if the hospital couldn't do anything for Dudley? If Dudley was sick because of some enchantment on the candy he'd eaten, what good could an ordinary doctor do, particularly if he didn't even believe in magic? And if nothing could be done, would Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia have Harry try to call someone who'd help, or would they just keep bullying the Muggle doctors while Dudley got worse and worse…Harry shivered. Dudley just had to get better. He couldn't die, not because of Harry.

Too many people had already died because of Harry.

Dudley felt as if his head had been stuffed with cotton wool. It was hard to think, and his mouth was very dry. His hands shook and his knees felt weak. He really wanted to go to sleep, right there in the ambulance, but his mother was crouched next to him, looking frightened, and she kept talking to him, "How do you feel, Duddykins? Sweetums? Does your tummy hurt? Or your head? Mummy's right here, popkin…"

Dudley had never heard so many pet names used at once. "Mum? Is dad following in the car?"

"That's right, poppet…"

"What about Harry?"
Her lips tightened into a line, and her voice grew harder. "Don't you worry about him. Daddy will deal with him later." Her voice and expression softened again, "You just concentrate on getting better."

"Didn't he want to come?" For some reason Dudley was hurt by this. Not that he felt himself to be great friends with Harry, but his cousin might at least have been concerned, considering Dudley was dying.

Well, alright, he didn't know for certain he was dying, but he'd never felt this bad before, so he assumed that was what was happening.

"Don't worry about him now, sweetums…"

"Ma'am, please move aside." A technician nudged his mother away gently and leaned over Dudley, checking his eyes. "You said you think it might be food poisoning?"

"Yes…" sniffled Mrs. Dursley.

"Mm…any vomiting? Diarrhea?"

Dudley shook his head. The technician pinched the back of the boy's hand gently. "You're terribly dehydrated, young man. When was the last time you had a glass of water?"

"Ummm…dunno…" Dudley slurred slightly, feeling drowsy and confused. "I usually drink juice, or diet cola. Mostly juice."

"When did you last have juice, then?"

"This evening…before bed. With the salad Mum brought."

Petunia choked slightly.

"What kind of salad?"

"Spinach," answered Dudley, making a face.

"Caesar dressing?"

"No, fat free Italian."

"So much for the salmonella theory, then…"

Dudley didn't quite understand this, and from her expression, neither did Petunia. "He had a bit of candy, too…" she offered.

"Jellybeans," Dudley clarified. "And chocolate. And some cupcakes and M&Ms and sourballs…"

The technician eyed him thoughtfully, pursing her lips. "Salad and sugar, then…is that what you normally eat?"

"Um…yeah…" Dudley blushed. "I'm on a diet, but I have snacks hidden in my room. Am I going to die?" He bit his lip.

Petunia sobbed.

"Of course not," The technician ruffled his hair lightly. The ambulance pulled up to a stop at the hospital, and Dudley was helped out of the vehicle and into a waiting wheelchair (extra large). He could stand, but his walking seemed to be very unsteady. The technician who had been talking to them wheeled him in.

Dudley did not like hospitals. Aunt Marge had been in one for gallstones once, and Mum and Dad had brought him with them to see her. Dudley had hated the antiseptic smell, the sterile whiteness of the hallways, the nurses and doctors in their scrubs shuffling past, many of them looking either exhausted or anxious. He had fidgeted while his parents talked with Marge, eventually breaking a vase of flowers that was on the nightstand by her bed. His parents had been amused by this, and Aunt Marge hadn't seemed to mind, being thoroughly drugged, but the orderly that had been called to pick up the mess had given Dudley a rather nasty look. Dudley didn't like nurses or orderlies, either.

But the emergency technician behind him seemed all right, so he asked her a question, "Do you think eating magic things can make people sick?"

His mother flinched and looked nervous, "Now, Duddy, don't distract the nice lady with silly questions."

He blinked at her. Hadn't she been positive before they left the house that his illness was due to the magical sweets he'd gotten from Harry? She avoided his eyes.

Oblivious, the technician chuckled gently, "Well, that all depends what kind of magic things you're talking about. If you mean magic toadstools, like in Alice in Wonderland…well, I don't know about sick, but you could certainly end up extremely tall. And you should never eat a magic frog, you know, because it might be an enchanted prince."

"Even if it's chocolate?" Dudley suspected the technician was joking with him, but wanted to be sure.

"Well…maybe it would be okay if it were chocolate. Particularly German white chocolate with almonds."

Dudley grinned slightly. He was sure now that the technician was joking, but it made him feel a bit better. His grin disappeared abruptly as his mother leaned down and whispered to him, softly but vehemently, "Don't use the 'M' word!"

Oh. So that was the problem. Mum and Dad didn't want anyone to suspect there was anything odd about Dudley's illness. Well, how were the doctors supposed to figure out if he'd been magically poisoned if he didn't tell them he'd eaten wizard candy? He frowned at his mother, but said nothing more.

The technician wheeled Dudley into the emergency room and parked the wheelchair, then jogged lightly up to the front desk, leaning across to speak to the nurse there. Dudley caught the words, 'dehydrated', 'sugar', and 'blood test'.

Uncle Vernon caught up with them, red-faced from running from the parking lot into the hospital. He and Petunia exchanged a few words out of Dudley's hearing range, then Vernon came over and patted his shoulder in a way that was meant to be comforting, but instead was slightly painful due to the force of the pat. The technician came back over and crouched in front of Dudley's wheelchair, giving him a warm smile, "I've spoken to the nurses, and they're going to draw a little blood and run a few tests, and probably give you an I.V. drip to get some fluid back into your system."

Dudley nodded slowly.

"I'm going back to the ambulance now, but you'll be okay. Just hang in there and don't panic." She stood and ruffled his hair again, then told his mum, "Your son has a charming imagination." When Petunia didn't answer, the technician merely shrugged, then turned and loped back into the parking lot.

Vernon huffed into his moustache, looking displeased, but said nothing.

The wait to be admitted into the hospital was long and tedious, but Dudley was so tired he didn't mind much. He leaned back in the wheelchair and closed his eyes while his parents filled out paperwork and grew increasingly restless and worried, exchanging glances and whispered words. Finally, Vernon went up to the desk to bully the nurse on duty into speeding up the process.

A little over forty-five minutes after they entered the emergency room, Dudley was admitted and placed in a little curtained cubicle, where a white-haired doctor pricked his index finger and took a blood sample. A nurse came in and took his blood pressure and checked his pulse, then stuck a needle in his arm and hooked it up to a bag of clear liquid. Dudley couldn't bear to watch the needles entering his skin, so he let his mother hold him, burying his face in her arms. His father seemed angry more so than anything else, and was so short with the nurses that Petunia finally had to release Dudley to try and soothe her husband. Dudley sighed and sank back onto the cot, trying to ignore the sound of his parents' restrained arguing.

His thoughts strayed back to his cousin. As soon as Dudley had revealed that he'd eaten magical sweets from Harry, he'd told his father he was sure his cousin hadn't meant to harm him, only because he knew how much trouble Harry would get in if he said otherwise. His father had threatened to knock the skinny boy's block off numerous times. If he thought Harry had hurt Dudley on purpose, he'd probably make good on the threat this time, and Dudley didn't want to be responsible for that, not after all the times he and his friends had smacked Harry around in grade school. Dudley wasn't really certain Harry was so innocent, though. It had, after all, been Harry's suggestion that they trade snacks. And he, Dudley, had threatened to get Harry into trouble only a few minutes prior to the offer. Still…Harry had never tried to hurt him physically before, and he hadn't seemed hostile at the time. And his expression when he had run into Dudley's room earlier had not been one of triumph, but of shock and concern. Dudley just wasn't sure. He'd have felt better if Harry had been around to ask, but either Vernon had not allowed him to come, or Harry didn't want to. Dudley wondered, if it had been the latter, whether Harry didn't want to come because he felt guilty, or because he didn't care. Dudley's lower lip curled outward and quivered as he attempted not to cry. How come everyone hated him so much?

He hadn't had any actual friends since he entered Smeltings. He and Piers had grown apart, and no one else in the school had been impressed by his bully routine. Anyone he tried to browbeat just called in one of the older, bigger students to put Dudley in his place, so he had given up on it by the end of second year. And then there was Maria Hennessey, the girl he had begged Harry to turn into a toad. She was probably less than half his size, but she had dozens of friends and a razor-edged tongue, which she used against Dudley mercilessly. He sniffled softly.

His self-pitying musings were interrupted by a round-faced nurse, who pushed back the cubicle curtain unceremoniously, clucking her tongue. "Well, we've found the problem, and it isn't food poisoning, per se."

Dudley rubbed his eyes hastily and sat up to listen. "Well? What is it?" Vernon asked roughly, as Petunia wrung her hands.

"We got his HBA1C results back, and they're extremely high. His blood glucose is about 480 mg/dl, which--"

"What does that mean?" Petunia whimpered. "Is that bad??"

"Speak English," snapped Vernon.

"…which explains the dehydration and dry skin." She continued as if neither of them had spoken. "A normal blood glucose reading should be less than 150 mg/dl," she added patiently.

"I still don't understand," Petunia murmured, but Vernon had a look of dawning comprehension on his face.

"Your son has diabetes, Mrs. Dursley."

Author's note: The thot plickens. Or something. I'm not quite as happy with this chapter as the previous two, but that may just be because I had to write it in pieces by stealing time at work whenever I could. I can't quite put my finger on what's bugging me about it.

Here's a couple questions for anyone who wants to post a review:

Anyone like the emergency medical tech? I could bring her back in subsequent chapters, but I'm afraid then the focus would shift from Harry and Dudley interacting to Dudley dealing with his diagnosis. I don't want this to become an 'Oh, poor Dudley' fic, in fact, I swear to you it won't, whatever I have to do to prevent that. And I promise Harry and Dudley will actually be in the same scenes in the next chapter. Yeah…so there's a question in there somewhere…

I'm going to be treading a fine line next chapter, between putting in enough explanations so people who have no experience with diabetes will understand what I'm talking about, and sounding like a medical reference. Does anyone have any suggestions?

And should I drag the Weasleys into the mix?

Finally, if anyone can think of a better chapter title, let me know. I really struggled with it.

Again, thanks to all who reviewed, and double thanks to those who reviewed for the second time!

Katzztar: Actually, the real trick is to make Dudley likable without totally changing his character, and I'm working hard at it. I'm glad you feel I'm succeeding! ^_~

Anonymous person: I'm considering that, but there's no way Harry would do magic on the girl just because she's picking on Dudley. He'd get expelled. And Fudge would have a field day! That would just be proof to him that Harry'd gone off the deep end and was obviously delusional about Voldemort's return. Which would actually make for kind of an interesting story, except I think it would be OOC for Harry to risk expulsion for Dudley. Maybe for Ron or Hermione or Sirius, but not Dudley, not even now.

However, a harmless little prank involving a dungbomb…

Also, readers should note that there may be a very good reason this girl is picking on Dudley. ;-)

^-^: Oooh, it's a genki reviewer! Kawaii! *cough * Sorry. Umm…yeah. I've actually been struggling to keep Harry from being too forgiving. I'm kind of a doormat myself…if someone apologizes to me and gives me a couple hours to cool down, I'll forgive pretty easily. On the other hand, I think Harry bottles up his emotions a bit, particularly where the Dursleys are concerned. So he may be able to behave in a friendly way around Dudley while still being privately resentful.

CherryStain: I ran a search for Dudley fics a couple nights ago. There's a lot where he turns out to be a wizard, a couple where he has a magical child he wants Harry to take care of, and a few where he 'befriends' Harry in a far more intimate manner than I'm interested in writing about. (Slash is fine, but incest is just icky.) For anyone reading this to note: There is a cute short fic where Harry offers to help Dudley lose weight, which I thought was nice and which was eerily similar in some ways to my own. It was written before I ever thought of my fic idea, and now I'm a little afraid someone will think I copied from it. I swear, I never read it until the evening of September 15 2002! The story's called 'Family', the author is 'webmeister'. If you like to see Dudley being humanized, this is well worth reading.

And I agree with you about Dudley. Not to blame his entire personality on Vernon and Petunia, but being spoiled as a small child will have an effect on the way you view the world around you. I should know, my parents spoiled me quite efficiently. ;-)

Faith McKay: I'm slowing down a little as far as writing is concerned, largely because I've reached the stage where I have so overwhelmingly many ideas that I can't decide which to work on. I have over a dozen Harry Potter fanfic ideas now, three started, one plotted, and none finished. I'm trying to work and update at breakneck speed because I go through phases and if I lose interest in this the ideas I have will probably never get written. Then again, I may lose interest in some and then regain my focus after reading the fifth book or something. There was a point in there somewhere…Oh, yes. I will try to update as frequently as possible. That's all I really meant to say. ^_^

Kaylin: Yay! You came back! Glad you're enjoying it.

Fetch: Thank you. I try very hard to keep characters in my fan fiction in character. Alternate Universes aside, I think there's not much point in a fanfic if you lose the feel of the original characters. Some people are better at keeping the tone than others. I'm glad you think I do alright. ^_^

Um…Dudley/Fleur? There's one I'd never thought of. I've seen Dudley/Hermione, but…

How would they even meet? I guess Dudley could go to France on exchange, but then he'd still have to be around French wizards…I'm putting too much thought into this. I have enough fanfic ideas as it is! Stop making me speculate on things! ;-)

Katriana: You're welcome, although I must admit I was very intimidated by your email address. ;-) I'll email you again once this is posted. I don't mind sending out a few notifications when I get reviews out of it. ^_^

Anakah: Thanks for the compliment, but I'm curious what you meant by it. You've never read fics like this in what sense? The style or the subject matter? I guess it doesn't really matter as long as you liked it. ;-)

MysticJedi: I like a good angst fic myself, I just can't write 'em (Well, not without a little humor to leaven it, anyway), because I get too involved, and then I get depressed. Reading them works, though.

As much as I hate to depict Dudley as no more than a walking stomach, I figured if anything could bridge the gap between the Muggle world and the wizarding world for him, it would be food. Hence the candy exchange. In any case, now the door is more open for him to be curious without being terrified of being enchanted.

ToonedIn: Thanks for the email! I appreciate your continued interest. Harry strikes me as a sort of everyman, so it's easy to turn from his character as presented in the books and mold him so gradually into what you think he should be that you don't notice until it's too late that he's completely OOC. I hope I can keep him in character.

Camel Socks: Thank you! I'm not sure how well they'll end up getting along by the end of it, actually. I'm not going to try and turn them into best pals, but I can see them reaching an understanding of sorts. I'm glad you like my writing style. ^_^

Vireco: Your review keeps vanishing and reappearing. It's very strange. I think it just got posted now as I'm looking at it and my browser is struggling to keep up. Anyway, I'll email you as soon as I put this up. I'm glad someone's reading my comments, too. I'm never sure if putting them up is interesting or just superfluous, but it's just too tempting to babble when I've got an audience. *^_^*

I feel like I'm forgetting to add something, but if I did, I guess I can edit later.