This is for round one season five of the QLFC. I am filling as a reserve for the Falcons Chaser Two.

NOTP Given: Dudley/Luna

Prompts: N/A

Notes: This is very AU and I'm making use of Author's Interpretation to make Dudley more mature and less violent. There is no magic here, strictly muggles and their muggle ways! XD Enjoy!


It had been seven months since Dudley's girlfriend died in childbirth. The twenty-three year old man had gotten the news at work and was caught in the tube the entire labor. While he was locked away in the dark tunnel, fiddling with a ring and imagining what his baby girl would look like, Diane had been bleeding out from where the placenta had detached from the uterine wall, ripping her uterus at the same time. The doctors focused so much on saving the child's life, that by the time they realized Diane was bleeding out it was too late.

"Sir?"

Dudley was jolted out of his thoughts by the voice of his waiter.

"Yes?"

"Sir, if you are unable to quiet your child then I'm afraid that I'll have to ask you to leave. A lot of our customers are complaining about the noise level."

Dudley looked up at the waiter, an apologetic smile on his face. He knew it wasn't the other customers. He was the only one in the cafe at eleven at night. Violet, his daughter, had started teething last night, and the tylenol wasn't working on her at all.

"Of course, I apologize." Dudley stood up, grabbing the baby bag before lifting Violet into his arms again. "She's teething."

And then he was walking through the dark streets, a pink bag in one arm and a crying child in the other.

"Are her teeth coming in?"

The voice that spoke was musical, light, and perfect. Ironically enough, Dudley thought, those three words also describe the voice's owner.

A woman with waist-length blonde hair, a soft smile, gorgeous blue eyes, and porcelain skin was standing before him, head cocked to the side. Corkscrews hung on fishing wire around her neck, each one a different color and a random two or three covered in glitter. She wore a jean dress that fell to her ankles, and pins shaped like hearts, stars, butterflies, and cars were placed sporadically across it. To complete the picture, she had what looked like… radishes hanging from her ears.

"Hello?"

Dudley blinked, his brain slowly coming back online.

"Oh, uhm, yeah."

Why was his throat suddenly dry?

"She started last night actually."

The blonde nodded, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear and taking a step forward. Soft eyes kept switching from looking at Dudley, to his daughter, and back to Dudley.

"Have you tried frozen sugar-free honey?" Dudley shook his head, shuffling Violet over to his other arm. "The honey ends up melting while they're teething and soothes their throat, and because it's frozen, it numbs the gums."

"I never thought of that."

"It's what I use on my children."

Dudley winced, his gaze dropping to look at her hand. Confusion swept through him at the lack of a ring. She said kids, and that normally means two or more with a spouse to boot.

" I run a childcare center." The blonde offend a smile, and Dudley felt his face turn red.

"Ah, are you,-" He paused, " Actually, I never got your name, Miss…"

"Lovegood. Luna Lovegood."

Dudley grinned at that, reaching out to shake her hand.

"Dursley. Dudley Dursley."

Luna blinked at that, her mouth twitching. Both adults were able to keep it together, at least, they were until their eyes connected. Dudley was the first to break, a snicker breaking through before a deep laugh filled the air. Luna quickly followed, her airy laugh blending perfectly. Eventually they both calmed down enough to talk once again.

"Well, Miss Lovegood, if you're not too busy then would you agree to show me how to pick the right honey? And then show me how to freeze it?" Dudley was fully prepared for the no and disgust that would follow his questions. Violet was hugged tightly to his chest with both arms.

"I can't today, I'm on my way to get more supplies for the kids, but if you have time tomorrow I could show you."


Dudley was nervous. Luna was supposed to arrive in five minutes, and Violet was still crying and the house was still a mess. He would clean, and then something would happen that caused an entirely new mess to form.

"Hello?"

A knock sounded on the door, and Dudley felt the blood drain from his face. He quickly laid Violet down in her pack and play before rushing to the door, throwing away a diaper as he passed by the rubbish bin.

"Luna! Hi," Dudley opened the door and stepped aside, waving her in. "Sorry about the mess."

"It's actually clean compared to what the childcare center looks like, less glitter." The blonde smiled brightly. "Where can I put the supplies?"

"Here in the kitchen will do!" Dudley answered, clearing a path through the mess. Ten minutes later and they were set up to begin.

"So how does this work?"

"It's actually very simple," said Luna. "You dip the pacifier in the honey and place it in the freezer and just keep repeating until it's a nice full layer."

"Oh." Dudley blinked, stunned that she had brought so many bags when the only thing needed was a jar of honey and some pacifiers. "Well, thank you for buying the honey."

Luna grinned, turning to look at him as she pulled her hair up into a bun. "I didn't buy it."

Dudley felt his eyes grow wide. "So… you…."

"Oh, Salazar, no! I made it."

Dudley blushed, turning his face away. Of course she hadn't stolen the honey. She was too sweet and nice looking to do anything like that!

"Dudley?" The man turned to look at Luna once more. "I know that it's presumptuous of me to ask, but… could I come over every now and again to help out?"

Oh.

Oh.

"O-of course!" Dudley was ashamed to find himself stuttering. At the same time, he couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face.

Maybe he would have a chance with her after all.


The store Luna is heading for is an all night store that sells fruit :3

This teething trick actually works! It's what my grandparents used on my dad.