The school year of 1991 was as normal as any other. There was an abundance of pranks, romance, exams, Quidditch. Oh yeah, there was also the kidnapping of three first years and the death of a Professor, followed by the spirit of the most evil Dark Wizard in recent centuries joining with the one to confront said Dark Wizard, resulting in the child being in a coma that lasted many weeks.

This child's name was Harry Potter and he was currently sitting in Wool's Orphanage and having a more miserable time there than he'd ever had. Sure, growing up there had been depressing enough, he had gotten used to that after the years. What was so bad now was knowing about the magical world and being unable to enter it right now.

It was the second week of the summer holiday and Harry was already hoping it was over, though he wasn't the only one.

Eighty miles out of London sat a very broken Dudley, his Aunt's brain damage was irreversible according to the doctors who examined her. They suspected an aneurysm, never mind the fact that there was no evidence of such an event even occurring.

"It is pathetic." He wrote in letters to Harry, Hermione, and Nora . He didn't really know the rest of his friends enough to disclose what had happened to his Aunt, at his hand no less. A fact that his father, Vernon, never failed to remind him of.

Speaking of his father, he hadn't spoken a word to Dudley in a very long time now, he had just tried to talk to him again. While walking away, as miserable as he had ever been, his mother saw him making his way back to his room and followed after him. He saw her following him just as he opened his door, she smiled at him and they went into his room.

She sat down on the bed next to him and looked at him for a minute before she put her arm around his shoulders and began talking to him softly.

"I know you're upset with the silent treatment from your father, but since his parents died, he and your Aunt Marge have been each other's rock. They raised each other, even going hungry every other day so the other could eat. That may be why we've spoiled you so much." She paused for a moment and Dudley was shocked.

"This is the most you've talked about our family outside us and Marge." He interjected before she could carry on.

"That's because your father and I have a lot of trauma in our past that has been easier to ignore until now. I'm going to tell you some things that I maybe should have told you before, please don't interrupt, you can ask questions at the end."

While Dudley and his mother were talking, on the other side of London, Harry was packing his things and leaving Wool's. His rage at having to live in such a place reaching boiling point. He knew Dudley lived in Surrey and he even knew the address, thanks to Dudley giving it to him for post.

Time to find Surrey.

"Your father and I have made decisions in our lives and have always done what we believe to be the best for our family, even lied to you to protect that end. This is something that I wanted to tell you last year, but debated doing. So when those letters arrived, I had all but made my mind up, but your father talked me out of it. I wasn't an only child, that was a Lie. I had a sister, she was a few years younger than me. Her name was Lily and we were incredibly close when we were young, at the time I found her constantly wanting to be around me annoying. This continued until she met a young man named Severus Snape." At this Dudley audibly gasped, but didn't say anything. "I take it you know him. He told Lily all about magic and even demonstrated it to her." She paused at this and her sad smile became a frown.

"I never approved of that boy stealing my baby sister from me. We were never close again after she left for that cursed school, and then she met James Potter and got pregnant. I knew any child born of their union would be just as strange, just as abnormal. Then she got herself killed, along with her husband, by some Dark Lord; this resulted in me and your father being burdened with their son. His name was Harry and he showed up on our doorstep one night with a letter on him." Tears were falling from her eyes as she stared into the middle distance.

"Once I saw him I immediately loved him, he was my nephew after all and the only link to my sister left. However once I read the letter that was attached to him, detailing my sisters murder and telling me that Harry was my responsibility; well, your father didn't like being told he was responsible for someone else's child. I was in shock finding out my sister was murdered because of her son, I didn't want the killer killing any of us and so Vernon and I reached an agreement that we would take him to London and drop him off at an Orphanage. I regret the decision more than any other in my life and now, having lost another family member, all I want to do is tell Vernon 'we are getting Harry from the Orphanage'. I always fail to say anything when I see how defeated he is every day." She stopped now and they heard the sound of Vernon leaving to go see his sister.

"I know Harry Potter… He's my cousin?" was all Dudley could manage as they heard a knock at the door and his mom went downstairs to answer it, promising to be back very soon.

As Harry arrived at Dudley's House, discovering the Knight Bus was definitely an experience he wouldn't forget, he saw a rather obese crying man drive away from the house. Swallowing his nerves, he approached the door and knocked, after a minute a woman opened the door and Harry's jaw hit the floor and, almost like a bizarre mirror, so did the woman's.

"It can't be." They both exclaimed at the same time followed by "Aunt Petunia?" And "Harry?" Also at the same time. Petunia mentally readied herself to have the conversation she had just had with Dudley again, but this time would be much harder.

This reunion was over a decade in the making, though only one of them remembered ever meeting the other. Petunia was shocked that Harry knew her name and so she invited him inside and told him to wait by the stairs. He looked at the tiny cupboard under the stairs and thought that he would rather live in that cupboard than at Wool's Orphanage. When Petunia returned, it was with Dudley in tow. Dudley was shocked at Harry arriving so soon after he was told their familial status. Clearly Fate had a vested interest in Harry and Dudley.

Seeing the life he was denied and the family he would have never known had it not been for him and Dudley being gifted with magic.

"It's time for answers." Harry demanded and for the next few hours they talked as a family for the first time.

Their conversation involved a lot of crying, shouting, and accusations, but more importantly they were able to understand each other a bit for the first time ever. This reunion was ruined when Vernon returned and, in a rage at seeing another wizard in his house, shouted at Petunia about her weakness allowing freakiness into their lives.

"Magic." He spat the word. "Has brought this family nothing but misery. If it wasn't for your family being full of freaks then my sister would still remember who I am." He screamed in her face, getting red in his own, and then grabbed Harry to throw him out the door.

"LET HIM GO." Dudley shouted at his father, who paled instantly, he let go of Harry in shock and Petunia was furious.

"You made me throw him out nearly eleven years ago and now you're trying to do the same thing again. At a moment where we're broken as a family, you're trying to fracture it even more. I have tolerated many things over the years, Vernon, but I can't throw out my sister's only son." She continued in a softer tone. "I know how upset you are about Marge, but you're not the only one to lose a sister. If you weren't so against the idea I would suggest letting magic doctors help her." This was the wrong thing to say to Vernon as he blew up at her immediately.

"So one freak breaks her brain and you want another to try and fix her?" He went to continue, but Petunia in a blind rage screamed at him.

"How dare you talk about our son in such a way. You're supposed to be his father.!"

"Is that even true? Maybe you met a freak and he's Dudley's true father." At that Petunia slapped him and got even angrier.

"In all of our years of marriage I have done everything you've asked of me and have been one hundred percent faithful. If you think I could have cheated on you then you clearly don't trust me. What's a relationship without trust? It's nothing!" In the next moment she was breathing heavily with rage and took her wedding ring off and threw it into the lit fireplace. "I want a divorce." She finished and Vernon"s anger left him and he deflated.

Thanks for reading.