Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Sorry, I completely forgot to post this last Sunday :(

Also if you guys have the time and like PJO then please check out my new fix 'The Twelfth Legion'

Hope you enjoy:

The summer was a long one. Luke Reynolds had stayed true to his word and Harry was grounded the entire time, forbidden from seeing his friends, even as Terry's birthday rolled round - he was forced to simply send a present via owl.

He hadn't seen his friends since the final day of school, on the platform where they'd all said their farewells before Harry's summer of (deserved) isolation. Luke, whilst punishing Harry for his brazen, Gryffindor-esq stupidity, could have been more harsh if Harry was being honest.

He still had free range to go outside and walk around the neighbourhood, go to the shops, even go to the park and play at a local football club - Luke was careful to make sure that whilst Harry understood he was being punished he could still have a happy summer. Luke would never force him into a room like the Dursleys did. He was fixated on constantly reassuring Harry that the abuse he endured at their hands would never be repeated under his roof.

He, for this reason, was still in almost daily correspondence with most of his friends. He talked with Terry, Neville and Anthony most days and Michael (ever reluctant to show any sort of emotion or compassion) weekly - even the odd later to and from Lisa. He also maintained a somewhat regular correspondence with Ginny.

The youngest Weasley was a fiery girl, despite the trauma she'd endured in her first year, she was stubborn and confident, with a maturity that Ron would probably never possess, whilst obtaining some of the twins' mischievous nature. It was odd to consider how something good - his friendship with Ginny - had come out of such a horrible year.

The girl had become a safe-haven, the one person who truly understood the trauma he'd been through in the Chamber of Secrets, the trauma they'd been through. It was one of those strange, life-changing experiences which form a friendship which could last a lifetime. He trusted her, and she trusted him. They would keep each others secrets no matter what; and she helped him to learn about his new metamorphmagus ability.

The teachers were also a mainstay in Harry's summer. They were desperate to make sure the summer wasn't boring, and so set shedloads of homework, for little to no reason given that the school year wasn't overly interrupted, the Chamber of Secrets original incident loomed over the school, but the actually fiasco only really lasted a week. Fiasco. It seemed like an odd choice of vocabulary. Fiasco, trauma, crisis, life-threatening affair... Take your choice.

The few petrified students apparently got sent extra as well, which in Harry's opinion just seemed like punishment on top of extra punishment (unless you were Hermione Granger who probably loved it) - this was because despite the actual threat of the basilisk having been gone in March the cure to the petrification was only finished by late June (though Harry still had no idea why they weren't able to purchase some sort of antidote from a potions' shop).

The last few months at Hogwarts had been interesting to say the least, tales of Harry and Ginny's time in the chamber had been concocted out of thin air, the Hogwarts' rumour mills spinning a new variation on the adventure everyday, as though it hadn't been a deeply traumatic, anxiety-inducing situation. Luckily the rumours eventually died of spinning tales, Ginny and Harry refused to say a word on the matter and so all they had to go on was the public announcement.

The public announcement hadn't been that specific either. All that had been revealed was how Ginny was taken into the chamber and Harry, using his parselmouth abilities, had followed her and rescued her from the basilisk, killing it in the process. They didn't mention how Ginny had been possessed by the heir, and only said that the heir had been an outsider who'd died at the hands (fangs) of the basilisk.

Of course that wasn't the exact truth; the basilisk after all wasn't dead. Harry however, had not told that to Dumbledore. It was one of the secrets kept between Ginny and Harry - and later Terry (confiding in him was vital in breaking the trust issues which had formed).

It had been an emotional few weeks following Harry waking up.

Terry, whilst incredibly happy to see Harry alive and breathing, had also been extremely angry at him the first week back, almost refusing to talk to him for how much stress and guilt he'd put on him, but he had later forgiven him, after they'd had a little trust exercise and Harry had shown him the Chamber, and the basilisk. Terry had then forgiven Harry, understanding the intentions of Harry's motives (whilst still remaining angry at them) and believing he'd been through enough (which was definitely true).

The basilisk had become a, friend was certainly the wrong word, but he struggled to find an equal one to replace it - pet just seemed to insignificant, an owl or a cat was a pet, a 60 foot long basilisk... Well that was something else. The basilisk had forced Harry to pay up on his debt to it, getting a good deal of food as it plumped up for hibernation, which it had promised Harry it would be going into over the summer.

It was hard to feed the basilisk enough food to get it to hibernate for a decade - or hopefully a lot longer - but Harry realised that the difficulties were worth the rewards... besides he feared the consequences that would arise if the basilisk was not appeased. It did, after all, have a reputation for disloyalty. Not that Harry wasn't thankful for that little life-saving character trait.

One of Harry's favourite outcomes from the Chamber of Secrets debacle was Rita Skeeter. The witch - and Harry meant that in the muggle British way, not the magical British way - had been forced to issue a public apology (which, despite attracting unnecessary attention to Harry, was amusing). Though, she hadn't got fired, unfortunately.

Overall, despite the eventful year, the summer hadn't been at all eventful... that however, was about to change.

"Harry?" A voice called out. "Harry Potter?" Harry immediately tensed up, fearing that someone had finally figured out his secret; that he was the presumed dead boy-who-lived. Harry slowly turned around, fearful of who he was about to see, only to see a boy, around his age. Tall and slender, brown hair and a hauntingly familiar face.

He'd been walking to the shops to pick up some milk, he definitely wasn't prepared for an encounter like this, with him.

Harry's brow furrowed in confusion before his eyes lit up in realisation as the boy started to walk towards him. "Dudley?" The boy nodded, now only a couple of feet away. "What are you doing here?" Harry asked, subconsciously taking a step back, all those years of having to run away from Dudley and his friend still clear in his instincts.

"I got moved to a new foster home, it's a couple of streets from here." Dudley explained, he paused awkwardly, noticing how Harry had moved backwards keeping his distance and Dudley, surprisingly enough, respecting that. "How are you? How- how have you been doing?" He asked in a tone softer than any Harry had ever heard coming from a Dursley's mouth, Dudley seemed nervous as his hand played at his t-shirt, winding it up tightly before straightening it out again, and then repeating, whilst shuffling his feet as he kept his distance.

"I've been fine." Harry replied shortly, still distrusting of his cousin.

Dudley nodded, seeming accepting of Harry's apathy. "I was happy to hear you woke up. I always hoped I'd see you again." He admitted.

"You did?" Harry asked, confused by this conversation - still shocked he was actually having this conversation.

"Yeah." The boy replied, "I always," He hesitated, "I've always wanted to tell you how sorry I am." Dudley gulped, his eyes now purposefully avoiding Harry's, glued to his ratty trainers. "For my actions, how I was to you, that I didn't tell anyone what Vernon was doing to you, for what Vernon did to you. I'm so sorry. I always will be." Dudley rambled on - Harry decided to ignore the fact that Dudley clearly refused to call Vernon his father.

"It wasn't your fault." Harry said softly causing Dudley's head to whip up from his trainers, finally making eye contact. "Well, I mean some of it kind of was." He added, not wanting Dudley to think he'd gotten of that lightly, "I mean you did help make my life hell for pretty much eight years." Dudley looked down guiltily and Harry felt an odd sense of satisfaction. "But," He paused, waiting as Dudley made eye contact again, his cousin slowly lifting his eyes off of his trainers and back to Harry. "I understand that it wasn't totally your fault. That you had a crappy home-life too, that Vernon and Petunia were terrible parents."

Dudley nodded slightly, a reflective expression on his face. "Yeah, they were."

"I'm sorry about your mum." Harry somewhat reluctantly said - reluctantly because Petunia was supposed to be his aunt, his mom's sister, and she let Vernon kick him around to the point that she was in a coma, that she allowed Dudley to become dangerously overweight by the time he was eight whilst letting Harry starve, that she emotionally and verbally abused him and locked him in a cupboard under the stairs whilst the Dursley's had a empty guest bedroom upstairs. But he said it anyway, because she was his mum, and he didn't deserve that.

"I'm not." Dudley said bitterly and Harry raised his eyebrow in belief. "I hate her. I hate her for doing what she did to you - to me, to us. I hate her for abandoning me when it was difficult. For leaving me with no warning - for not trying to get me back. Not that I wanted to go back," Dudley hurriedly added, "But it would have been nice to know she cared enough, you know? That she loved me." He scoffed slightly, "Then I feel guilty for feeling that way - because she was my mum, and I should love her unconditionally." He said bitterly, but the grief was obvious in his tone. The effect Petunia's suicide had on Dudley was obvious even years later.

"Oh." Harry replied softly, completely taken aback by the sudden outpour of emotions form Dudley - who seemed equally shocked.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to go off like that."

"It's okay." Harry assured him, before that sense of confusion returned to him. "How- how did you recognise me?" He asked curiously - the blonde hair should have cause Dudley to not think it was him and though he wasn't wearing contacts today (he'd accidentally dropped his last one down the drain) from a distance he shouldn't have seemed that familiar, especially after almost five years.

"I wasn't sure to be honest - that it was you." Dudley explained, "I think I wanted it to be, and I saw the glasses and you - other than the hair - still look pretty similar. And..." Dudley trailed off, seeming to be reluctantly forcing himself to say whatever he was about to say. "I saw you the other day. You weren't wearing glasses but your face is the same, and I saw the scar." Dudley gently tapped his own forehead, in the place where the lightning bolt rested on Harry's own head. "I know that sounds stalker-ish or whatever, and I was going to talk to you, I just chickened out I guess." Dudley looked nervous again.

"Yeah. The hair's one of many side effects from the coma." Harry replied bitterly, slightly irritated at himself for not just wearing his contacts today, but also oddly happy that he did. "You wanted to see me so much just to apologise for your father's mistakes?"

"For my mistakes." Dudley corrected. "And Vernon's." He added, still stubbornly refusing to say 'dad' which caused Harry to grin slightly. "I can't believe he's out of jail. He should still be there." He said with conviction that made Harry sure he'd had this conversation with someone - or maybe just himself - before.

"Probably." Harry nodded. "You've thought about this a lot haven't you? Meeting me, that is, and your father - Vernon," Harry quickly corrected at the grimace on Dudley's face, "His actions, how he raised us, and Petunia too."

Dudley sighed slightly, and for a moment Harry regretted asking him that, but then Dudley replied. "At my last foster home, the school I was at got me to see the councillor who then referred me to a therapist."

Harry nodded, "Makes sense. You went through a trauma too." Harry continued and this time Dudley was the one to nod.

"That's what my therapist told me." Dudley replied and the two fell into silence for a bit. "Harry," Dudley started before stopping himself clearly at war with whatever he was about to say.

"It's okay. Whatever you want to say or ask you can." Harry interrupted his inner quandary.

"You're the only family I've got left." Well, that was not what Harry was expecting. The words had spilled out and Dudley seemed surprised he actually said them, he paused for a second before he realised he had to continue. "Well, the only family who isn't an awful human being. Look." Dudley almost seemed to begging Harry now, "I don't want you to be a stranger."

Harry swallowed, a lump forming in his throat as he felt oddly emotional. "Okay." He eventually replied, surprised at himself for even saying it - but not as surprised as Dudley.

"Okay? You agree?" Dudley asked with an dumbfounded expression on his face that Harry would've been laughing at, at any other time.

"Dudley, you're not the only family I have. I have a parent, who loves me, and I have friends who are basically my family too. But I can see you don't, it's pretty obvious you aren't okay." Harry was rambling slightly now, trying and failing to get to his point. "I- I don't need you." He swallowed again. It was true. He didn't need Dudley - he was completely okay with his family. Luke Reynolds was his father and he didn't need anyone to tie him back to his old life. "I don't need you but you need me." Harry sighed and Dudley looked up, the sadness in his eyes lessened as hope began to seep in. "I don't need you," Harry repeated, "But," He paused, "Maybe it would be nice to have a cousin."

Dudley's face broke into a large, disbelieving but large, smile and Harry found himself surprised (not for the first time that day) that his face mirrored that.

"You said you're living in foster homes?" Harry asked and Dudley instantly seemed to be grounded back to reality.

"Yeah." He said simply. "I had one home for nearly three years, but then when I heard Petunia died I kind of - I messed up." He admitted, "I got angry, and sad, and I screwed it up. Since then it's been a new foster home nearly every other month." Dudley continued guiltily, seeming to be scared to admit the words - scared that Harry would reject him with this new information?

"That wasn't your fault." Harry quickly replied. "Your mother died. You were allowed to be angry - whatever you did, it didn't make you a bad person. All it meant is that you were someone who had dealt with a lot of shit despite being really young." Harry founded himself oddly angry as he defended his cousin's actions (a cousin whom prior to today he hadn't given a thought to in at least a year), "Your foster family shouldn't have abandoned you." He said vehemently and Dudley's eyes widened in shock as Harry stood up for him. "That was them messing up. Not you."

Dudley looked up at him in wonder - as though he wasn't used to people standing up for him (he probably wasn't, Harry later reflected, but not anymore, he absentmindedly thought before he even considered the weight of that statement - promise). "Look Dudley, I have to go." He told him bluntly. "But, I'll give you my address and my phone number and we can keep in contact. That does require you to try and stay in your current foster home though, or, it'll make it easier at least."

Dudley nodded fervently, seemingly in awe that Harry had actually accepted him, allowed him to communicate with him and stay in touch - to perhaps even be family again (though they never really were in the past so perhaps 'again' isn't an appropriate word choice) at some point in the future.

"Thank you." Dudley said softly, his tone full of gratitude at the kindness Harry had shown him. "And I'll try, I promise." Dudley told him, trying to infuse each word in such a way that Harry would believe him.

"Okay." Harry nodded. "Okay." He repeated himself softly, still in disbelief at the odds of this ever happening.

"Hey." Harry smiled at the boy as he slid into the compartment - late as he often was.

"Harry!" Anthony collapsed on the seat next to him, nestling his head onto Harry's midriff before throwing his arms around him as Harry laughed.

"Long time no see."

"Far too long." Anthony agreed before greeting an affronted Terry and Michael - upset at the lack of attention they were receiving. "How was your summer?" He asked, as if Harry hadn't listed every boring detail in their letters.

"You know, same old same old. You?" Harry replied, even though he knew the answer - he knew everything about each of the boys' summer. Anthony had gone to a West Ham game with Dean (who was corrupting him into liking the wrong team), and in return Anthony had taken Dean to his first quidditch match. Anthony's parents had also taken him to Italy, Harry vicariously exploring Rome through his detailed depictions of ice-creams, the colosseum, and the secret magical village in Rome - the Italian equivalent to Diagon Alley, Quadrato di Dimens.

Terry had gone abroad to America with his mum - they had family there. He'd also gotten a new owl (who was apparently a bit aggressive and wouldn't stop nipping at him). Michael had also gone abroad with his family (it was surprisingly easy for wizards to travel around, there were floo portals between the ministries which you could travel through with relative ease and minimal price).

Even Ginny had managed to get further than the edge of her neighbourhood (excluding the trip to visit Luke's parents in Cornwall), actually, Ginny had managed to go a lot further. Her family had won a small jackpot at the ministry, earning them a thousand galleons in prize money - which they immediately spent (quite rashly in Harry's opinion... then again they were Gryffindors) to go visit the eldest Weasley son, Bill, in Egypt. Bill was a curse breaker, working in the tombs near the capitol - which enabled them even better access to the tombs and pyramids in Egypt.

"Same old same old." Anthony replied, with a small smile - probably thinking about all of the ice-creams he'd gotten in Italy (Harry was particularly jealous of the Bertie Botts flavoured scoop, in which every lick was a new and unexpected flavour).

"Anything from the trolley." A voice called after what felt like five minutes of travel (though was realistically closer to an hour) and Anthony leapt to his feet, an impish smile on his face as he explaining himself.

"Stocking up for the year." He shrugged and the trolley-lady laughed.

"You can't be stocking up for the year Ant, we have Hogsmeade now." Terry replied and Harry and Michael cheered, as Anthony just blushed, his pockets now substantially lighter and his arms substantially fuller.

Harry grabbed himself a box of Bertie Botts, and a pumpkin pasty before sitting back down, making space to let Terry and Michael get their own snacks.

"There you are." A ginger head poked in once the trolley-lady moved.

"What? Were you looking for me?" Harry teased.

"No. Michael, of course." Ginny rolled her eyes as Michael pretended to be offended. Harry leapt up to hug her, flipping off Michael as he quirked his eyebrow and winked at a grinning Terry.

"How you doing?" Harry asked, trying to act nonchalent.

"Better than last year." Ginny smiled, her eyes glittering as she knocked off the severity of the implications.

Harry nodded. "Good. It's nice to see you in person again."

"Aw. You admitting you actually like me?"

"Tolerate your presence at the most." Harry quipped back.

"How was Egypt?" Terry asked. "I saw in the Daily Prophet..." He added after seeing Ginny's confused expression - unclear as to how Terry knew her family went to Egypt.

"Amazing." She replied. "It was nice to see Bill - my older brother - and the sights were nice, but honestly, the best part was when Fred and George tricked Percy, getting him to ramble on about some syllabus change and trapping him in a tomb at the bottom of the pyramid. It took mum and dad two hours to realise that he was missing, and by that time we were above ground again, so it took an extra half an hour to then get him out - though, oddly, Percy was happy... He said he enjoyed exploring without the chaos which is the twins." The cabin laughed, as Harry smiled softly, having already heard this story in one of Ginny's letters.

Ginny stayed for a while, before returning to her friends - which, luckily, she had now. At the start of her first year, due to being possessed by Voldemort, any formations of friendships had been hard to come by for the youngest Weasley, but luckily towards the end of last year she had begun making friends with some of the girls in her dormitory - and Harry had even seen her talking to Luna Lovegood at various points over the summer term. Ginny had apparently been able to break through the quirky Ravenclaw's walls of aloofness and become friends with her.

After that the train ride continued without a hitch... until there was a literal hitch of course. They'd been ruminating about the upcoming quidditch season, trying to figure out who would be captain now that Chester had graduated, whilst wondering who had been made head boy and girl - and if Cameron had half a chance against Percy Weasley (probably not considering Dumbledore's obvious Gryffindor, and Weasley, bias).

Then all of a sudden the train had screeched to a stop, still hours away from their destination. The windows iced over as the temperature dropped, everyone looking out of their compartments, trying to see what the fuss was about.

Seconds later Harry heard a scream. Then darkness.