Disclaimer- Everything you recognise, I do not own. Everything that you do not recognise is mine! (Sorry, forgot disclaimer in chapter one!)

Chapter Two- Dudley's Comeuppance

Harry shook the girl's hand, trying to supress a grin that was forcing itself onto his face because this girl was actually talking to him!

"I'm Harry," he told her.

"I-," the girl began, but then stopped as if she had changed her mind. "Nice name," she said.

Harry let the grin take over. He had never met anyone his own age while he stayed with the Dursleys, well except his cousin Dudley, but since Dudley took to beating him up or saying snide comments -when he wasn't afraid for his life-, Harry was sure that wasn't a good thing.

Harry sighed. The only reason the Dursleys were actually afraid of him was because he had a mass-murderer for a godfather -Harry forgot to mention that Sirius was actually innocent-, so now he was left to the full wrath of the Dursleys without them fearing that Sirius would turn up at their doorstep and turn them into squids or something. Not that he had told them that Sirius was...tears welled up in his eyes and his throat caught...gone... but they would find out sooner or later- they always did.

"Harry!"

"What!" he asked, his hand impulsively reaching into his back pocket for his wand. "Oh. Right."

The beautiful Miranda -who was now swinging extremely high on her swing- had been calling Harry for the past minute or so, but he had been too lost in thoughts to hear her. He hoped she hadn't seen his wand, or that he'd not broken any secrecy issues.

"They seem to know you," said Miranda, pointing to some boys defacing the slide. It was Dudley and his gang aka the local bullies.

Dudley swaggered over to Harry and Miranda.

"I wouldn't talk to him if I were you," said Dudley. "He's not normal.

Miranda eyed him up and down, her swing coming to a halt.

"You're not so normal yourself," she retorted.

"What? Why?"

"You're about as large as a baby what. That, my dear, is most definitely not normal."

Harry spluttered with laughter. Dudley turned on him.

"Wait till Mum and Dad find out you've been talking to people," he said, "and poisoning their minds against me."

"Are you related?" asked an astonished Miranda, clearly amazed at the thought that someone as huge as Dudley could be related to someone as thin and malnourished looking as Harry.

"Cousins," said Harry dully.

"So where're you from anyway?" asked Dudley. "You don't sound like you're from round here."

"Well done genius," snapped Miranda. The dislike for Dudley was rich in her tone, but Dudley didn't hear it.

"Well, where!" asked Dudley, his eyes focused at the top of Miranda's shirt.

Miranda sighed exasperatedly.

"Does he not get the hint?" she muttered to Harry, who bit his lip to keep him from laughing.

The pretty girl turned her head to Dudley. "I'm from Pennsylvania. In America."

"Cool," replied Dudley. "For a holiday? Or did you move here? What street you on?"

Miranda thought for a bit. "We haven't moved yet. This is more of a," she paused, "trial run."

"Oh."

Dudley's mate Piers sensed that Miranda didn't want them around. Even as the smartest in the group, he still wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Big D, let's go," he said. "I'm bored."

"Yeah, in a minute," he replied, waving him off with his hand. Harry couldn't help noticing that Dudley's fat sunburnt arm resembled something rather like a leg of uncooked red meat.

Dudley's friends nervously backed away from their leader for a second before noticing to boys of about twelve that had just entered the park.

"Piers," said one of the gang, a very spotty ginger boy with glasses as thick as those cauldron bottoms Percy Weasley used to always go on about. "Colin Harrison's just came in. Want to go hold him down for Dudley till he's done here?"

"Sure," replied Piers with a wicked grin on his face. The gang members followed him as he went to torment the poor boy.

"That's not very nice," said an outreged Miranda, though Harry could see a sly smile appearing on her face. It rather reminded him of the smirk of Draco Malfoy, a horrible boy in his year. "He's only half your height." She smirked mischieviously before adding, "and about a tenth of your weight."

Dudley scowled. If Miranda had been a boy, oh, she'd (he'd) have been for it. But he didn't want to lose the chance to get off with, or even be seen with such a stunning girl.

"He bad-mouthed me," explained Dudley. "Swore at me. That's what I call 'not very nice'."

"Do you think he maybe swore at you because you beat up other innocent pre-teens for the fun of it?" The smirk had vanished from her face.

"Whatever," muttered Dudley.

Harry stood up making to go home, but Miranda followed. No sooner had she stood up that Dudley slapped a great porky hand onto her bottom.

Miranda screamed and a loud noise filled the air as she slapped him across the face with all her might. For her slim, petite figure, she was surprisingly strong.

Harry couldn't hold it in any longer- he laughed so loudly that Piers' concentration was mucked up and the little boy, Colin Harrison wriggled free. He and his friend ran out of the park as quickly as their legs would take them.

Dudley stumbled backwards, stunned that someone had actually rejected his advatages! Everyone else in the estate knew that Dudley had only had girlfriends in the past because they were afraid of him, yet he didn't seem to realise it.

"I'm outta here," stated Miranda, dragging Harry by the collar with her.

When they reached the street outside, she brushed back his messy fringe with her hand, which revealed Harry's lightening shaped scar.

"Same time tomorrow?" she whispered sexily in his ear, and Harry felt his legs weaken.

Miranda traced the scar with her finger.

"It's cute," she commented.

"Uhm, thanks. I think. I got it from a, er, car crash when I was a baby."

"Yeah," she said monotonously, talking to his scar rather than Harry himself. "Of course. A car crash."