A few weeks later they were back in England. They carefully kept under the radar of the Wizarding World, mindful of the fact that right now, right there the Dark Asshole was at the height of his campaign. Millie found a nice cottage outside of Willingham near Cambridge. Why exactly she was so keen on that specific place, she wouldn't tell him.

"It's a surprise", she said. "You'll see in a while." And then she wouldn't say anything more with that sweet little smile.

Dudley cleared out the shed. Things potentially for sale in one corner, trash in the other. They just stored everything, both thought it was to risky to do magic right now.

"I wish we could do something about Harry's parents." Dudley said as they were sitting on their patchy sofa after dinner.

"If we could, we would, love" said Millie, pulling him close. "But–"

"I know. I know. We don't even know where they are, the secret thing is already done. And nobody would believe us anyway. It's just. It's September and it's all coming closer and I'm not sure we'll actually do any good and–"

"Shh" said Millie and put her finger on his lips. "We will do great."

"You know", she continued, "it's strange. I know about all of the heartbreak and I'm still looking forward to having little Harry here. Never thought I'd be the maternal type, but somehow it feels right."

Dudley turned to her and softly kissed her. "You'll be great mum. And I'll do my best not to be my Dad."

They had spent Halloween quietly at home. Neither Dudley nor Millie were very talkative, they were both thinking about what was happening at that moment in Godric's Hollow.

The morning after they went over the nursery again, checking the bed that would be soon occupied by their child/cousin.

When noon came around, they packed up and got into the VW Campervan that Dudley had bought cheaply from a neighbour. The drive to Surrey was going to be around two hours. They knew it was night when Dumbledore dropped off Harry but they didn't know the exact time, so they planned on being early and to keep an eye out.

The first time they passed Privet Drive 4 in their van, Millie recognized the cat that sits particularly still on a wall and tried hard not to floor the gas and get the hell out of there. Dudley kept a hand on her arm and she started to breathe again

"What was that?" he asked.

"That cat. The cat was Professor McGonagall. She's already watching, so we can't stay here."

"Don't worry", said Dudley, "there should be a pub just two roads over where we can wait out the evening. We'll walk by later at night. I know Dad didn't find him until the morning."

For all the fretting they did, it actually went off without a hitch. They spent a nice afternoon around the town, Dudley showing her the sights, not that there were a lot of them, but he pointed out the school, the playground, and a lot of the things that only made sense in a nostalgic way. In the evening they had dinner at the pub and Millie took out the old notebook and went over the protection charms again.

When the lights in the street went out, they both held their breath. Dudley felt as if he had only started to breathe again after they had finally left the pub.

They tried to keep their walk casual in case anybody was watching, but Privet Drive seemed deserted. Millie let out a slight gasp when she saw the basket on the front steps of number four. She nodded to Dudley and they made their way over, still casual, maybe a bit nosy, passers-by.

Millie took out her wand and with a deep breath started the charm. At her nod, Dudley pricked his fingertip and left a little speck of blood on the doorjamb. When Millie finished a warm feeling settled over both of them and nodding to each other, Dudley picked up the basket and they made their way to the van.

Somewhere near Watford Harry woke up. He looked around and started to cry. Millie took Harry from the basket between them. "Shhh, little darling, don't cry. Your mum and dad had to leave, but you have us now."

When Dudley had finally found a place to stop for a while, Millie peeled up her sweater and her t-shirt and put Harry to her breast where he started drinking after a moment's confusion.

Millie smiled at Dudley's look. "Wizarding children are nursed until they are two. The mother's magic protects the child. And it's a simple charm to start the milk."

Dudley leaned over and kissed her neck. "You are brilliant, you know that, right?" He looked down at Harry. "Right now I'm jealous of you, Harry."

"Prat"

"Sorry, Millie. You have a great new mum, Harry, don't worry. It'll all turn out right."