Duncan blinked at the trio that appeared in the middle of his living room. He had never seen two boys who were such opposites. One was grossly overweight and stood about 5'10, the other was skinnier than Ritchie had been when Duncan had taken him off the streets, and stood three inches shorter than the fat boy.
"So, out of curiosity Adam, why are there two of them?" Duncan decided to ask, since the boys seemed to need a minute to adjust to their change in location. To be honest, Duncan himself felt like he would need a few DAYS to adjust to the fact that they had just appeared in the room from ENGLAND.
"Dudley, er, we have to think up a nickname for the poor kid. Dudley is just not a name the kids here in America are going to leave alone. Between his weight and his name they are going to tease him endlessly," Adam switched back to the original question, "Dudley is a pre-Immortal as well, and since he is legally Harry's cousin that makes him my responsibility too. He's going to need training… both in sword fighting and in weight management."
Duncan gave a nod as walked over to the boys and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Duncan McLeod."
"Harry Potter, sir." Harry reached out and shook the man's hand.
"Dudley Dursley." Dudley said when the man turned to him. Then Dudley turned to Adam "I've always hated my name anyway, sir. I'd be happy to have a nickname."
"Well, we will get to that later. Let's get you guys settled in your room. You're going to have to share, since there are only two bedrooms here. Speaking of which…" Duncan turned to his lover. "There's only one bed; you're going to have to do something about that."
"It'll cost ya." Adam answered his fellow Immortal with a wicked glint in his eyes.
"Oh yeah? And why should I pay? I'm not going to have to sleep in it." Duncan shot back. "Besides, I agreed to train one kid, now there are two… That's going to cost you!" He said with a smile.
Adam gave the dark-haired man a swat on the ass as he walked past, towards what would be the boy's bedroom. Both Harry and Dudley chuckled at the obvious teasing that was going on between the men.
With the bed situation settled by the Immortal using his magic to split the queen-sized bed in half, the boys were left to settle in and put their stuff away while Duncan and Adam had a discussion about what to do. The situation was now more complicated than their original plan of just teaching sword fighting and martial arts. They were going to have to set up weight management for the two boys; one needed to gain weight and one needed to lose weight, fast.
"I'll be honest, Adam; he couldn't possibly lose enough weight to start real training before the end of the summer. I think we'll be able to get some basics in but other than that, I think his real training will have to wait until next summer." Duncan said, thinking about the obese boy. That was going to be the real problem; Harry would put on weight naturally if they fed him well and got some muscle on him with the exercise part of his training, but at his weight, Dudley wasn't going to be able to participate in the training sessions for long. He just wouldn't have the stamina to keep up.
"I believe there may be a potion we can use to help speed up the process. I will look into it, but if there isn't, then I agree. But we need to keep him here and work on his weight with him. His mother thinks -- and this is a direct quote, mind you -- that, 'he's already lost more then enough weight. Too much if you ask me. Need to put some meat on those bones!'" Adam said in a high-pitched voice.
Duncan looked at his lover, appalled that a parent would be so oblivious to the health risks her child faced at that weight.
"Right, we'll keep him here. He'll lose the weight and get the basics this summer. More, if there is a potion to help out. Next summer, he can get more advanced training. Now, Harry is going to need some clothes. I know baggy is in, but for crying out loud, that's just ridiculous."
Adam proceeded to tell Duncan about Harry's situation and exactly what kind of guardians the Dursleys had been. Duncan was in complete agreement that Harry would not be returning to their 'loving' care.
While the two Immortals were having their discussion, Harry and Dudley had a talk of their own.
"I'm really sorry, Harry." Dudley said awkwardly as he stood next to his bed. "I've been trying to talk to you the last couple weeks, but every time I did, one of my parents interrupted me. I really am sorry I was such a bastard. I made some new friends at school, you know. They can do loads of things I can't, like speak other languages and play the piano and sing. I figure magic is just like that, yeah? Just something you can do that I can't. I was wrong. My parents are wrong. And, well, I'd really like to try and be cousins and maybe friends?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that. Apology accepted, Dudley, thanks."
Dudley gave a grin and stuck out his hand. "Dudley Dursley."
Harry returned the grin and shook his cousin's hand. "Harry Potter."