Ginny stood at the door with an older woman with red hair and a woman with bushy brown hair. "Please come in! Mum, Dad, Caitrin Dear! Are you all done?" Dudley said. He politely greeted the three women, and so did Petunia and Caitrin. But Vernon rudely stared at the three of them, and Ginny glared at him as the first question he asked was, "Do you know driving?"
"Shouldn't you be greeting them, Vernon?" Petunia asked sternly. Before Vernon could answer, however, Hermione showed her muggle divers license. "I will be driving us all to the Burrow, Mr. Dursley."
Ginny couldn't believe she was sitting between Caitrin and Petunia while Dudley sat at the front with Molly Weasley. Vernon, on the other hand, had an entire row of seats to himself at the back. Dudley had politely declined the offer to let him sit in the back, and he had shown willingness to adjust. When Molly suggested that Dudley sit between her and Hermione, he refused that too and instead sat in the uncomfortable corner seat. Molly, Ginny, and Hermione were wondering if this is the same Dudley Harry had spoken about so many times in the past. The three-hour drive was about as uncomfortable as it gets in a traffic jam on a swelteringly hot day.
Ginny was glad to see the Burrow approaching, and the sight of Harry being ahead of some other redheads lifted her spirits. As soon as she got down, she happily ran into Harry's arms. Harry was blushing as he thanked Hermione and Molly and welcomed the four Dursleys. Ron was the next to reach them, and he put an arm around Hermione.
Dudley spoke with all the Weasleys. He thanked Ron and Hermione, much to their surprise, for being with Harry. Petunia smiled as she shook hands with Arthur Weasley and spoke happily with Arthur and Molly. Caitrin stared hungrily at the Burrow, excitement creeping within her.
Vernon wasn't bothered. He went up to the entrance and stood there in an arrogant fashion. As Dudley chatted animatedly with Ron and Hermione, Petunia cheerfully spoke with Molly and Arthur. Caitrin followed them back inside with amazed looks, and Harry and Ginny were kissing again. Vernon was losing both patience and temper.
"Ingenious, these muggles! They have washing machines, Mollywobbles! Can you believe that?" Arthur was telling his wife excitedly. Molly smiled, and Petunia explained the different brands in the market.
"Quidditch! I'd love to watch a match or two!" Dudley was telling. Ron laughed as he said, "Sure, Dudley. Ginny, Harry, myself, Bill, Charlie, and George all play Quidditch! We'll show you sometime!" Caitrin leaned into the conversation, and Hermione explained the seven players in a Quidditch match to her.
Harry was walking arm in arm with Ginny, being the last of the group to start walking from the car back inside. That's when he heard a voice that made him jump. It was Vernon, shouting at George. "George or whatever it is, I don't care who you are! Did I ask your name or your twins' name? Turns out one of you died! Ha! Like I care to remember who the devil continued walking around this earth! Just show me the blasted room!" Vernon continued to curse just as Petunia reached first and smacked him around the head. She had tears in her eyes as she apologized to the Weasleys, who clearly were shocked. Ginny felt sad and, at the same time, sorry for Harry. She just buried herself in his chest, and he tightened his grip around her. Ron was red in the face, but a nudge from Hermione made him look at Dudley. He calmed down, looking at the shamefaced Dudley. Caitrin was already glaring at Vernon.
George, however, took it in his stride and showed the way. Petunia and Vernon would sleep in the room extension on the left, while Dudley and Caitrin would sleep in the room extension to the right. Some modifications were made in the Burrow for this purpose, accommodating the wedding guests. Vernon stormed into the room while Petunia still apologized.
Dudley wouldn't trust George completely. After all Fred and George had pulled off that Ton Tongue Toffee joke on Dudley once, causing his tongue to grow long and choke him. He walked cautiously behind George and held Caitrin close to him when George turned and said, "Here you go!"
"Sorry, George. My father was being exceptionally rude to you, and this is saying something since he has been rude to all the Weasleys he has met so far." Dudley said, looking down.
To his surprise, George shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, too. On behalf of me and Fred for pulling off that cruel prank on you all those years ago. We just thought we were extracting revenge for the way you all treated Harry. But on introspection, we have realized long ago that we had indeed crossed the line."
Dudley said, "You have a point when you say we mistreated Harry. In fact, we treated Harry worse. But you should know that I have apologized to Harry, and so has my… M-Mum."
"Not your dad," George pointed out, "My sister and Harry told us anyway about how your mother and yourself have regretted your past actions. Don't blame yourself. We have both done wrong and apologized. Guess we are even now." He extended a hand, and Dudley gratefully shook it. George left the room a while later.
Caitrin did not want to rest. She came out of the room to see Ginny show her mother the necklace Petunia had given her, and Petunia was happily nodding. Arthur was trying to ask Petunia more about washing powder now.
A red-headed man with spectacles was discussing something seriously with Hermione on the couch, "We need cauldron regulations, Hermione! Of late, I've seen more accidents happening at Hogwarts thanks to some of those defective cauldrons!" Hermione replied, "Then, why don't you prepare a list of what appropriate measures we need to take? I can take it forward then."
Ron was with Harry, and the two of them were degnoming the garden (although Caitrin didn't know it was called degnoming). George had joined two red-headed men in the kitchen counter as they animatedly discussed the latest Quidditch game between twoteams.
"I'm telling you! Even the goblins were impressed with the Wronski Feint!" A man with scars was saying.
"I'm ready to bet my dragons they won't let that Seeker retire for a long time!" Another man said.
"So you are Mrs. Dursley?" came a voice from behind her somewhere to her right as she went into the living room. Three women stood there, the speaker being closest to her. She looked like a Veela. Caitrin had heard of Veelas. The other two ladies looked at Caitrin as though they had stopped in the middle of a conversation.
"Yes. Caitrin Dursley! My husband is Dudley Dursley, Harry Potter's cousin! My cousin was magical. Hence I know about the Wizarding World. Nice to meet you!"
"Fleur Weasley!"
"Angelina Weasley!"
"Audrey Weasley!"
"Cool! I've already met Hermione Weasley this morning! I'm so glad to meet all of you!" Caitrin smiled. She was happy to befriend witches and wizards, something she had been longing to do for a long time. She turned to see her husband now being introduced by George to the two red-headed men from earlier. The four men were talking animatedly. It was beautiful to see this. She already liked the Weasleys.
Petunia was now cooking a muggle dish while Molly fussed around cooking a wizarding dish. They seemed to be in a friendly contest between the muggle and wizarding dishes. Arthur had joined his sons in the Quidditch discussion, as Ron was wondering aloud to Ginny if they should go to the next match. On the other hand, Percy was asking his sister and his brothers if they had ever tried a Wronski Feint before.
Harry was now sitting with Dudley, and the two were discussing boxing. Caitrin was chatting with Fleur, Audrey, Angelina, and Hermione excitedly about Hogwarts.
During dinner, the friendly chatter continued. The only exception was Vernon Dursley, a dark scowl on his face as he thrust large amounts of food into his mouth without even bothering to chew correctly.
"Petunia, the muggle dish is so good!" Molly was saying. Blushing pink, Petunia said, "The wizarding dish is the first of its kind I've ever had, Molly! They're delicious!" It was Molly's turn to go pink.
Caitrin saw her husband and Petunia get along really well with every single Weasley the following day too. She herself was no exception, but Vernon was. She and Dudley were amazed, while Petunia was impressed to hear about Arthur's work in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office and Molly's dueling abilities, especially as seen in the Battle of Hogwarts, Bill's curse-breaking, Fleur as a Triwizard champion, Charlie's work as a dragonologist, Percy's work in the Ministry as well as Audrey's, George being an entrepreneur (along with Fred), Ron's, Hermione's and Harry's work at the Ministry, and Ginny playing for the HolyHead Harpies. All of them, including Audrey, had fought in the Battle of Hogwarts and were recognized heroes.
Petunia, and for once Vernon, happily announced that their son, Dudley was also a boxing champion with lots of strength. Caitrin beamed at this. Immediately, all the Weasleys were interested to know about and even learn some boxing, so Dudley made an agreement. If they showed him Quidditch, he would teach them a bit of boxing. Harry was grinning at this, as did Dudley.
The following morning, a high-pitched scream followed by laughter arose as Dudley found himself sitting behind Harry on his Firebolt. Ginny was on a broom, too, as did Ron, George, Charlie, and Bill. Angelina was the referee. Fleur and Audrey sat with Hermione, and the three gestured to Caitrin to join them. Petunia looked like she might faint but began cheering happily when Molly assured her that everything would be fine. Vernon was not impressed, but hardly anyone cared. Arthur and Percy were cheering for the players.
The players threw apples at each other, and Angelina decided the points based on how good or bad the apples were thrown, how fair the game was, and how quickly Harry caught the Golden Snitch. Once on the ground, Dudley looked a tad bit sick, but he assured everybody that he loved the game.
The day became a happier occasion when Mr. and Mrs. Granger arrived. Hermione's parents were dentists, and Caitrin believed with all her heart that Dudley would be their first patient in the entire house. She grinned to herself as Hermione, Angelina, Audrey, and Fluer stared at her. A moment later, they were also grinning as Caitrin told them that Dudley had a rather large sweet tooth.
That evening, the birds from the trees flew away in fear as a series of "Ouch!", "Watch it!", "Hey!" "Seriously?" and "Come on!" were hurled. Dudley was demonstrating boxing, and the participants ended up punching each other and grinning apologetically. Charlie was the first to learn some boxing. He punched Dudley promptly in the face before realizing what he had done. "Merlin's Beard! You okay?" But Dudley merely got up from the ground and yelled, "Well done, Charlie! I see progress there!" Vernon was glaring daggers at everybody else who was laughing hard. Even Dudley, Caitrin, and Petunia were roaring with laughter.
After dinner, Arthur was telling Bill, "Tomorrow, we start the preparations for the wedding." That had Caitrin thinking. It had been two fun days at the Burrow. Harry and Ginny had helped her and Dudley with their wedding arrangements. She decided she would start helping first thing the following morning. Dudley looked at her, which told her he had been thinking the same thing.