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A friendly chat between old friends
As a teenager, Dudley Dursley had been a whale of a boy with small stupid piggish eyes. That blubber had been converted into a very solid looking muscle mass, and while his eyes were still piggish there was a look of cunning in them that was totally unexpected. Right now he was trying to figure out who Ron was, while his lawyer protested the Aurors presence as unnecessary and an intimidation tactic. In the end Parker dismissed the two detectives and sat in as the observer himself.
"Long time no see, Dudders," Ron sprawled in his hard chair, smiling lazily at the man opposite him, "You've lost a good bit of weight."
"What's that got to do with anything?" the lawyer barked, and Ron flicked him a mild glance that had the man opening and closing his mouth in shock. If this Muggle was responsible for Harry's near misses then the lawyer would do well to keep his mouth shut or Ron would shut it for him.
"You might not remember me too well. The last time we met I was picking Harry up from your place with my dad and brothers. One of the twins dropped a sweet that made your tongue swell up," Ron watched in satisfaction as Dudley paled and leaned back in his chair as if trying to distance himself further from Ron.
"You're one of his lot! But you got rid of him! He was too much of a freak even for your wacky bunch!" Dudley spluttered and Ron was suddenly sitting up ramrod straight, his finger pointed squarely between Dudley's eyes.
"He is no freak, and you were wrong, Dudders," the nickname sounded very strange when uttered in a deadly soft voice, "You mind your manners."
Dudley nodded and leaned back even further. Ron resumed his lazy sprawl while the lawyer spluttered and expostulated pointlessly. Ron smiled and winked at the very disconcerted Muggle opposite him, and turned his head to look at Parker. The Inspector picked up on his intention and started questioning Dudley about his activities and involvement in the current rash of bombings. Ron merely sat and watched Dudley from the corner of his eyes, and every time the Muggle hemmed and hawed he'd shift in his chair and the confession would resume. The lawyer gave up on trying to shut his client up, and they listened as it was all laid out neatly.
"Very well Mr Dursley," Parker said at the end, "We know how you did it. What you haven't told us is why."
Dudley shot an uneasy look at Ron who raised his eyebrows in an I-am-waiting expression. Dudley heaved a sigh and looked at the tabletop.
"Money," Dudley mumbled, "He's got a fortune he never shared with us when we took him in, and it's time he shared. If he died then we'd be the sole family and be able to take over his assets. If the kid died too, all the better. The problem was I couldn't bomb the house, because I didn't want it damaged."
Ron felt a white-hot surge of rage and shifted in his seat. Dudley looked up and leaned so far back in his chair to get away from the murderous expression on Ron's face that he fell over. There was a lot of shouting and rushing about and when it was over Ron was outside with his hand buried in the wall where he'd punched it rather than punching the Muggle, and Harry was wrapped around him, preventing him from drawing his fist back and punching the wall again. Ron could feel the anger in Harry's body and released his tension with a gusting sigh. It wasn't fair to make Harry control Ron's temper when his own was just as roused.
Hermione was there, her wand discreetly in her hand, healing his and fixing the wall with a quick charm as Ron turned in Harry's arms and held his partner close. Harry was swearing softly and steadily and Hermione joined the hug after a moment, adding her own imprecations to Harry's.
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