Dudley stood in Diagon Alley feeling a bit like a sore thumb, dressed in dark jeans and a button up while everyone around him was dressed in cloaks. He felt a bit like he'd stepped into Lord of the Ring or something similar. Especially since the building he was standing in front had colorful sparks, bangs, and moving things all around it.
He was a bit intimidated, to be honest, was this really the place Hestia had told him to go? She'd suggested he needed to get used to Diagon Alley, it was the magical hub of Britain after all and he was magic. At the moment though, his wand felt more like a fancy drumstick, it was even the same length as his actual drumsticks.
"Fuckin hell" he muttered then opened the door, momentarily blinded almost like he'd never seen color before now. A dodged small children every which way, trying to figure out where on earth auror grade smoke powder would be?
He walked through the tall shelves and found the signs might as well have been in another language. They 'Whizzbangs, Tontongue Toffee…' Dodging a group of children for what might have been the umpteenth time, Dudley bumped into a shelf and knocked something off which rolled conveniently underfoot.
He didn't hit the floor miraculously and instead fell into someone arms, deliciously well-built biceps actually. The face of said person was also not bad at all "don't come here too often do you?" the shaggy red head asked.
Dudley stared at the moving dragon tattoo that curled on the man's neck "if this is a dream, it's a damn good one, don't wake me up" he muttered and the guy grinned.
"Your a sight, as well," he said, putting Dudley upright "I'm Charlie" he greeted.
"Dudley," he said, flushing slightly "I don't suppose you know where to get auror grade smoke powder?" he asked mildly.
"Sure, you're on the wrong floor for that" Charlie said "you an Auror?" he asked.
"Nope, my friend, Hestia is" Dudley explained "she forced me into running errands because apparently, I need to get acquainted with Diagon Alley," she said.
"You don't sound foreign" Charlie said leading him up the stairs "and I know Hestia, she's a riot."
"I'm not, I thought I was a muggle till recently," Dudley said.
"How's that work?" Charlie asked, "even muggle borns get their letters to Hogwarts and most of them haven't a clue they were wizards."
"Um well, Hestia dragged me to St. Mungos and they said it had something to do with how I was raised. Sort of a fight or flight situation, in my cousin's case, it was fight, so his magic went haywire protecting him. Mine was flight or more shut down, we had a charged household where I wasn't really allowed to be a kid" Dudley explained.
"Hang on," Charlie paused as they got to the first floor "are you Harry's cousin?"
"Seems like everyone I meet knows Harry" Dudley said after he nodded.
"Well, of course, he's kind of hero in our world. Percy told me you got a wand from the shop the other week. Not wait, we were talking about your magic" Charlie shook his head "um, I'm a Weasley by the way if it wasn't obvious."
"I guessed after you mentioned Harry," Dudley said "and yeah, my magic's a lot better when my family was in hiding I kind of had a meltdown of sorts and managed to break pretty much everything in the kitchen. It tipped Hestia and Daedalus off but they didn't make a big deal out of it."
"I'd imagine they had the perspective not to, from what I heard your family raised you to be terrified of magic. It's like the equivalent of my brother getting turned into the spider when he gets a bloody panic attack over them," Charlie nodded sagely.
"Thank you," Dudley said, flushing "I didn't expect everyone to be so...understanding" he said.
Charlie was silent for a pause "I think parents can raise their kids to do horrible things and to go against them is difficult. It makes me feel even luckier that even if I didn't grow up having much wealth wise I was loved and my opinions were respected" he said.
"Yeah, I'm glad Harry had your family too if he didn't then I'm not sure… there's only so much a person can take being miserable" Dudley said.
Charlie nodded then cleared his throat "um, so uh if I remember right the powder should be in the corner here" he said leading to a set of shelving labeled "Auror grade."
"Thanks for helping me out," Dudley said.
"Course," Charlie said.
"Well I've got some other stuff to find so I'll see around, I guess," Dudley said then turned to walked down the stairs.
"You aren't going to actually let him leave?" George asked over Charlie's shoulder, he jumped.
"George" he hissed "you scared the hell out of me," he said.
"Yeah, whatever" he waved his hand "anyway, well? You should ask him out or something, he's wandering around Diagon Alley, alone," he said.
"I… shit," Charlie said then ran door the stairs forcing a few children to dive to side, "uh Dudley, you mind if I join you?" he called out.
Dudley looked at him as he placed his purchase on the counter to pay for it and smiled. "Not at all," he said.
Xxx
"Do you have a preference for a color scheme?" Molly asked Olly and Percy at the kitchen table. It was just them over for lunch, Olly dressed in his after practice clothes of shirt and jeans. Percy was in his work clothes still.
"Hm…" Olly considered "not really, Percy?" he asked.
"Um…" Percy flushed "I think I always liked that scheme that muggles have, the something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. It's kind of pretty" he said.
"I love that idea, Percy" Molly beamed "then blue roses? Or should we do some bright blue delphiniums? Oh, that would be beautiful" Molly said.
"I like the delphiniums" Percy nodded "I was also hoping to do something on my robes to go with the theme" he added.
"I have this beautiful clip that your father gave me before we got married. It might be just the thing. Do you like the idea of putting it in your hair or would you want it on your robe?" she asked.
Percy paused then beamed "I could grow out my hair and we could put it in" he said excitedly and Oliver was left behind as they worked out plans for the cake, decorations, and things.
Xxx
Charlie had heard descriptions of Harry's cousin and none of them were flattering. Things like enormous, pig-like, rude, stupid, but not one of them was akin to what he saw now. Dudley had a lean frame that was clearly earned and if his quips were anything to judge by her certainly wasn't an idiot.
"I don't think I pictured you right in my mind" Charlie commented as they walked down Diagon Ally.
"If Harry told you what I was like then there's a chance that it's exactly right" Dudley commented looking at his list "so where can I get potions ingredients?" he asked.
"That'd be Slug and Jigger's Apothecary" Charlie responded.
"Lovely name, it's even got slugs in it, mother will be so pleased" Dudley commented a little snidely but somehow Charlie liked it.
"Yeah, wizards tend to be a little over-creative sometimes. And your clearly not what Harry described" Charlie explained.
"Yes I was," Dudley shook his head "I mean obviously I lost a good amount of weight and wised up a bit but that is how I was" he said.
"Well then I don't care what you were like," Charlie said, admittedly without thinking, and Dudley's brows shot up then he smiled.
"Good, so where's this Slug place?" he asked and Charlie led him to the place.
After getting the potion ingredients, they left "What's next on our list?" Charlie asked.
"Um…" Dudley looked down "pet shop?" he tilted his head "stop being stubborn and get an owl already, you stubborn sod… Love Hestia" Dudley rolled his eyes.
"Um well there's an owl emporium and then there's the Menagerie for the more… let's say exotic pets" Charlie said.
"Well, Menagerie is the closest," Dudley said "come on," he said. The Magical Menagerie was just as cramped, smelly, and noisy as Charlie remembered it. A witch with heavy black-rimmed glasses as they walked in and continued petting a purple cat.
Charlie hated cramped spaces like this but kept quiet as Dudley looked at things with an interesting look then paused to glance at Charlie "you look anxious, you don't have to wait with me" Dudley said.
"I'm fine, I just... "
"I know what claustrophobia looks like," Dudley said "I get it," he said.
"With a family like mine, it's a constant and it's not that bad," Charlie said.
"Yeah but this place is more cramped than the other places," Dudley said then paused at the "bird" section of the shop. There were a few cages of some owls. "Oh, hello," he said to a little crow settled on top of a cage.
The crow tilted it's head and then down, Dudley held out his arm and the crow landed gracefully. "Good choice, smart one he is" the witch said.
"Can he carry letters?" Dudley asked, grinning at the sudden friend he'd made by simply saying hello.
"Of course," she agreed.
"I'll take him then, he'll blend in better than an owl in London anyway," Dudley said, reaching up petting the little crow which he enjoyed immensely. He paid for his new companion and left with Charlie who relaxed as they left.
"You gotta name for him?" Charlie asked.
"Hm… not really. What about Edgar? Oh, wait, no, that's a raven. Then Alfred Hitchcock, yeah that's a good name" Dudley said with a grin.
"Is that supposed to be a reference?" Charlie asked.
"How are you wizards and witches not absolutely bored to death?" Dudley responded "it's honestly appalling that you haven't picked up on television," he said.
"Um my dad likes muggle stuff but he could never get the tele- that thing to work," Charlie said.
"Well of course not, you need to plug it in," Dudley said "electricity," he said. Charlie tilted his head at that. "Maybe I'll show it to you, Hestia was absolutely transfixed when I first bought a tv to our apartment. We're just roommates. Anyway, it's amazing she went back to work the next day" he said.
"If it's really that entertaining, I might see this telefish."
"Television, or tele. So in the interest that I've seen where your brothers work, where do you work?" Dudley asked checking his list once again.
"Dragon reserve in Romania but I've actually requested to get transferred to the Scottish reserves for a while" Charlie explained.
"Wow, so how are real dragons?" Dudley asked.
Charlie grinned and explained avidly as they finished Dudley's shopping list and decided to take a break at the Leaky Cauldron.
"I think my favorite is the Blue-Backed Whiptail" Charlie finished his long rant which Dudley listened with rapt interest.
"That's not suprising," Dudley said.
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.
"Well blue is your color isn't it," Dudley said.
Charlie looked, he didn't have any blue on and his eyes hazel, not the bright blue that Ron's were. "My color? I mean blue is a pretty color but I don't get what you're trying to say" he said, thinking maybe it's a muggle thing.
"You can't be serious, your signature is blue, aura, trail or whatever it is," Dudley said.
Charlie raised his eyebrows "I haven't a clue what you mean."
"You mean wizards can't see it?" Dudley asked, his eyes wide with revelation.
"Um, no, could you describe it?" Charlie asked.