Disclaimer: JKR gets credit. HP/SS

Green Apple

By WittchWay

Shocked, Harry turned to protest but Dudley Dursley was already pulling on his light summer jacket, the one that kept off the chill of the late hours. Harry smirked as a dark gleam caught in his cousin's eye, he hated to admit it but he could use the muscle to back him up… just this once. After all his cousin was excellent bully, forever fighting, Harry snorted, Dudley was his Crabbe and Goyle rolled into one, muscle and brute strength with out the brains.

He knew house elf's had their own source of magic. Though Kreacher was quite an old house-elf he had no real idea how strong an aging house-elf's power was. After all he was still an underage wizard, not allowed to use magic outside of school, all he had was his own strength and that of the cleaver.

Harry looked to Dudley, his chest puffed out, the longing for a good fight hungered in his eyes.

Harry nodded, "But you have to listen to me Dudley, I'm in charge… no funny business." Harry nearly groaned how often had his uncle said the same thing.

Harry pulled the rucksack onto his back and went out the side door, his cousin on his heels.

"I have to go get something out of the garage first, I'll be right back." Dudley ran off toward the back of the house, Harry pulled his invisibility cloak from his pack and waited.

Dudley returned a moment later carrying a cricket bat with him. "Its not like I have a wand." Dudley remarked at the questioning look his cousin gave him.

Harry shrugged, it was probably best he had his own defense, after all he had his.

Harry shook out the cloak, pulling it over his body leaving his head hanging in mid air, Dudley backed up gasping like a fish out of water, "Still coming" Harry smirked.

"You can't use magic…" Dudley started, raising the cricket bat.

"Invisibility cloaked, it will hide us both… You don't have to if you don't want." Harry started to pull the silvery material over his head.

Dudley reached out a hand, feeling the water like material. "No, I'm coming."

With both boys under the cloak is was a slower walk but they made do, crossing the street and kept walking toward Wisteria Walk and the Play Park just beyond that.

As they neared the play park Harry pulled the cloak off of them and looked around. As far as he knew members of the order were still following him, He couldn't risk being caught by them… not tonight. Folding the cloak into a small square he shoved it into his sack and looked around again. He reckoned that if any member of the order had followed him they would have protested him being out this late by now.

Harry turned jumped the small stone wall that lined the Play Park and crossed to the far side. He stopped just short of the exit and held out his wand arm and stepped back.

A large boom sounded loudly through the neighborhood, rattling windows along the street. Harry took another step back as the Knight bus arrived. Dudley coward behind Harry the cricket bat raised in defense mode. He eyeballed the violently purple bus with gold letters declaring the name of the bus on the windscreen.

"You don't have to go big D," Harry said, still unsure if he should allow his cousin to come with him, "But the bus is the quickest way, its safe and all. We'll be taking it there and back."

Dudley nodded but didn't move.

"Neville," Stan Shunpike shrieked, "good to have you back …two of you are there. You'll have to double up, full ride tonight."

Harry nodded digging through the rucksack for his money pouch, "You coming D."

Dudley Dursley nodded again, lowering the bat somewhat.

Harry boarded the bus taking his a seat on the only available bed, Dudley sat next to him, his back to the side of the bus, his eyes narrowed as he took in the strange surroundings.

"Where to Neville,"

"Kings cross station." Harry handed over the wizarding coins (21122 sickles) for the two of them and leaned back on the bed, resting on his elbows.

"We're taking a train?" Dudley said once the strange pimply face man went away.

"No from the train station it's about a twenty minute walk to where were going."

Harry looked to his cousins darting eyes, it was the same fearful look he had the first time he boarded the bus, unsure of the strangeness of it. Six beds on each floor of the triple-decker bus. Talking shrunken heads hanging in the front window. The bus was noisy tonight due to the full house, caged owls squawking, the wizard in the bed next to theirs held a box that growled and shook, the movements of the bus jerking forward. Harry looked to his cousin who looked a little green around the gills.

Catching Harry's eye, Dudley nodded, swallowing deeply, "I did magic once." Dudley pulled the cricket bat closer to his body.

Harry sat up, "Really?" not sure if he believed his cousin or not.

"In Mrs. Lennon's class, remember she use to yell at me a lot for being out of my seat…"

Harry nodded, it had been a long time ago in primary school.

"She said if I got out of my seat again she would give me detention, I was in a lot of trouble then and right after that I dropped my pencil and it rolled under her desk when she was at the chalkboard. I wanted to cry and I kept thinking to the pencil come back to me, come back and the next thing I know its flying through the air right into my hands." Dudley bit his bottom lip eyeing the growling box.

"Did you tell your mum." Harry shuddered, he couldn't imagine his aunt being too happy at her own son having magic.

"No… she was always mad at you for doing strange stuff. I tried all the time after that to move stuff but it never happened again."

"You probably don't have enough magic in you to do it regularly. Only when there's a strong emotion. That's most likely why you didn't get a letter to my school." Harry slumped back down on the bed, resting on his elbows, shutting his eyes.

The rest of the trip was relatively quiet. Dudley watched every wizard and witch that ascended and descended the rattling old bus. He wasn't quite sure why he had insisted on following his cousin, it wasn't that they were close, or had ever maintained a friendship besides the cigarettes out the window. All he knew was that this year Harry Potter was different, something had changed, sadness had settled over his cousin but along with it had come a darkness that had never been there before. Harry was restless and not like last summer restless, this summer he was caged animal restless. Pacing and clawing, growling and stomping his feet.

Dudley was sure something had changed, something within his respected school year. He didn't know what but he sure as hell was going to find out, he just hoped it had nothing to do with those creatures they had encountered last summer, the ones that made his mind scream, the ones he still had nightmares about. He was just about to ask Harry when the bus gave a most terrifying bang and came to a screeching halt. All the beds lurched forward, one hitting the other, giving both boys such a jerk that it sent Dudley's cricket bat flying, bouncing off the windscreen and bouncing right back into Dudley's hand.

"Sorry sir." Harry pulled Dudley behind him as he exited the bus, thankful the window had not broke.

"Bye Neville." Stan stood on the bottom step of the purple bus waving.

Harry turned and smiled in a lopsided sort of way as the bus gave another rattle and darted off.

Harry's expression fell, looking down at his watch, it was a quarter past midnight and surprisingly he was only fifteen minutes behind schedule.

"Should I even ask why that chap keeps calling you Neville?"

Harry chuckled, "No… just don't tell him any different."

"Lets get moving." Harry dropped the sleeve of Dudley's jacket he had still been holding on to and started out.

There was more silence as the two young men made there way through the streets of a sleeping London.

Thankfully it was the middle of a workweek and the traffic was light to non-existent.

The two cousins moved through a large neighborhood of old homes, some larger then the other, all with grime on the windows and trashbins on the curve. A stereo was booming from a nearby open window as Harry wound his way through the side streets, across a deserted park and empty carpark. Cutting across a well-lit square of grass and came to a halt.

12 Grimmauld place stood before him, dark and dirty, the windows covered in grime. The paint peeling on the door. His godfathers home,

"Keep quiet," Harry whispered, pulling the bag from his back, he rummaged around for a moment finally pulling a folded parchment from within. "Take the edge of the parchment, read it, memorize it and then think about what you've read." Harry offered half of the paper to his cousin, unsure if this would even work for his muggle cousin.

Dudley read the words with little fanfare and looked up to the houses they stood before, for the first time Dudley noticed one said number eleven and the house to the right said thirteen, "But where is twelve?" the words barely out of his mouth when a battered old door appeared before him quickly followed by a wide house seemingly inflating in front of him.

"Oh," Dudley hissed, he didn't like this at all.

TBC…

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