Saturday, 22nd August, 1992

Dudley slipped into the shed silently. He was really getting much better at sneaking around and moving quietly since he'd started secretly feeding the owl. In fact a few things had changed since then.

Soon after hiding the owl, Dudley had visited the library for the first time in his life to find out about it. He'd then discovered that owls ate a variety of small animals and insects. That had then led to the second new thing Dudley had done: buying food for someone other than himself. He was now frequently spending his pocket money at the pet shop buying food for the owl.

"Hello," he greeted softly.

The owl hooted in response and shifted a little closer to him. Dudley smiled. It was nice having something that seemed to actually like him, and wasn't just scared of him. He dropped a couple of mice in front of the bird.

Watching his new pet eat the mice, Dudley thought about how the summer was going. It wasn't just him who was different. His dad was tense and snappish. His mother was spending much less time watching the neighbors, and much more time pacing in the kitchen. Then the freak... Well Dudley didn't see him often, obviously, but on the days that he woke up early enough to see him escorted to and from the bathroom, he'd noticed that he seemed rather pathetic.

Previously Harry had always been defiant, no matter the position he was in. Now, that light in his eyes was gone, leaving him dull and defeated. Dudley found that he wasn't sure how to feel about that. Something about it made him feel uncomfortable.

The owl looked up at him. It's eyes appeared to search Dudley's. Judging him. It had given him this look a few times. Every time Dudley was deep in thought.

"Do you understand me?" Dudley decided to ask outright.

He felt a little stupid for seriously asking a bird that question. But it really did look like it could follow what he said, and even what he didn't say.

The owl hooted. Dudley felt sure that the hoot had had an affirmative tone to it. Still, he should make sure.

"Okay, what about using one hoot for yes and two for no," he suggested, trying not to feel foolish.

Again, the owl hooted once. Dudley sighed. That hadn't really proved anything at all.

"Okay, so the sky is blue, right?"

The owl hooted again, while giving Dudley a look. He would have sworn that its expression looked exasperated.

"Right, and you're a pigeon?"

Two angry hoots and a glare were his response. The owl clicked its beak threateningly. Dudley put his hands in the air and took a step back.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You're much cooler than a pigeon."

Emphatic hoot.

"I guess my cousin has someone to talk to at least," Dudley thought aloud, "he has an owl two. I'm not sure what its eating though. He's only given bread and soup."

The owl hooted sadly and looked between the floor and Dudley pointedly. Dudley frowned. Was it trying to tell him something?

He looked at the floor. The owl pecked at it pointedly. Realization dawned.

"You think I should give him some mice for his owl?"

Hoot.

Dudley thought about this. He supposed his cousin's owl should really have some proper food. It wasn't her fault that she belonged to the freak after all. Yes, he decided. He would give some mice to the freak.

Feeling strangely content all of a sudden, Dudley smiled at his feathery companion and left the shed. This summer might not be so bad after all.

A/N

Truthweaver: Sorry for the short chapter. We had planned to upload chapter 4, but due to real life getting in the way this week, we haven't had a chance to edit it. Instead of uploading something we're not fully happy with, we decided to hold off and publish chapter 4 in the next few days. But we didn't want to leave you with nothing today, so I quickly through this interlude together. I hope you enjoyed getting a look at what Dudley's up to with the owl. We'll try to get chapter 4 up by Saturday, so you can finally see what happens when Harry doesn't turn up at Hogwarts.