Chapter 5: Muggle Mail

The first thing he saw when he turned up at the manor´s front gates was a man wandering around and looking confused. He hadn´t noticed Draco yet and thank merlin for that if the muggle had seen Draco just turn up from practically nowhere that would have been bad especially since he currently was not allowed to obliviate anyone.

It was seriously hard to be around muggles he thought to himself as he took in the man's appearance. It was rather particular even for a muggle.

He had a blue hat with a crest on the front on the top of his head, small dull gray/green eyes and an awful red brownish mustache that did not flatter his face shape what so ever. Draco couldn't help but sneer and that made the muggle look his way.

His attire was in the same style as the hat and he had a big satchel hanging over his shoulder with what looked like a lot of letters.

The man had stumbled up to the gate and was now searching through his bag, he didn´t stop before he had a small cream colored envelope in his hand.

"Sorry sir, I didn´t know how to contact you and I couldn´t find a mail box." He looked apologetic, mail box Draco thought amused like he would have strange muggle inventions when there were owls.

He didn´t give the man more of an answer than lifting his eyebrow. So this man was the muggle equivalent for owls then, he guessed it kind of fit but talk about to be humiliating to do work that was supposed to belong to a bird. This just strengthen his believes that muggles really where more stupid then wizards, there was proof of this all around.

The owl man fidgeted and said more uncertain "you are uh" he looked down at the letter in his hand "Harry Potter, right?" at this Draco´s other eyebrow joined the first before the man looked at the envelope again "and this is Malfoy Manor, Bradford on Avon Wiltshire, South West England, United Kingdom?"

Draco rolled his eyes, go figure this buffoon didn´t even know for sure where in the country he was. He had to think fast though, this man had something of Harry´s and he was about to give that to him.

This could be the start of the great scheming he was after to get closer to Potter, sometimes things fall into place without me needing to do anything he thought a smirk forming on his lips. "Yes of course, I´m Harry and this is my home Malfoy Manor" he said giving the man a small nod.

"Well then let me in so I can give you your letter" the owl man looked like he wanted to be on his way as fast as humanly possible.

Draco on the other hand had other plans, he hadn´t had some fun in months and it wasn´t below him to play a little prank on muggles.

He opened the big iron gates and the man was about to take a step inside but suddenly looked thoroughly disoriented. Draco had forgotten that the wards around the manor didn´t let muggles trespass and if they tried it the wards left them confused and they forgot they had wanted to pass and why in the first place.

Sighing Draco himself walked out of the gates and up to the man "my letter then… I don´t think I ever catched your name?"

The owl man flushed like he was not used to having people inquire about such things "Herbert sir" he said and smiled at Draco. Closing his eyes he tied not to laugh at the muggle man, his name was even extremely fitting for an owl.

"Pleasure, would you like to have a treat before you continue? I assume you had to travel quite far outside your normal route to get to my fine home." He silently cast and Accio owl treats and saw the man nod "that´s so kind of you sir, thank you."

Draco presented him with the bag of treats and the man eagerly took a few "what are these? I have never eaten anything quite like them before" the owl man Herbert said munching happily and continuing eating a few more.

Biting his own lip he stared at the muggle in front of him, he was actually enjoying the pet food. If the man had been a wizard his animagus form would have been an owl without a doubt. His intellect was far from owls though, but then again he also was a muggle so the low intellect level was to be expected after all.

Of course Draco had giving him the best owl treats there was to buy, imported from the south of France, if he remembered correctly it was ham pate surrounded by dried rat meat. He shuddered he wouldn´t eat that even if it was the only thing on the table but he wasn´t an owl either.

He was torn between laughing at how ridiculous the man was and frown at the disgusting sight "it´s a meat snack, a delicacy from my relatives in France I believe, if you want it it´s yours."

The man looked at him his eyes widening comically, he looked more and more like an owl by the minute. "Thank you, thank you, thank you" the man said and after looking at his watch he paled "have to rush, much more letters to deliver." He put the owl treats inside his already over stuffed satchel threw his leg over a strange looking metal object with 2 wheels that started to spin when he moved his legs, looking over his shoulder he said "was nice meeting you sir, hope to see you again someday" and then he was gone.

Draco stood there for a few minutes before shaking his head that had been one strange meeting he hoped he would not need to endure again. He decided that one muggle encounter every 10-15 years or so was quite enough.

Every encounter had its perks though he thought with satisfactory, hearing the muggle call him sir was something he could get used to. He could just imagine roleplaying with Potter in the future and hearing him purr it in his ear. His musings made him shiver pleasantly and he was now even more detriment to get Potter and he griped the letter a little tighter hoping it really was something useful in his quest to get to the saviour.

He decided to walk back to the manor, he needed the fresh air and he also needed a sharp head when dealing with the letter.

Making himself a cup of tea he made his way to his study before inspecting the letter. Indeed it said Harry Potter and his address he turned the letter around and frowned when he noticed the lack of an address from the sender, maybe it was someone sending information of top priority.

Not wasting any more time he opened the seal and started reading the scrawl that actually wasn´t too far off from what he had seen of Harry´s handwriting in school.

Dear Harry

Um hi… Ugh you will probably wonder why I´m writing well it´s complicated and I just hope you will read and not dismiss me before hearing me out… Please!

By the way it´s Dudley Dursley, I guess not Dursley anymore… Eh you see I was disowned.

And well I do not have anyone else to ask for help. Yea I need your help and I know I have been well an arsehole to you in the past and despite having my reasons it was not right and I am sorry you know… Well now you know at least.

You will probably not believe me at first when I said I was disowned, I wouldn´t believe me either if I didn´t know what I am. So I guess I have to tell you huh…

I´m… I am an um fairy, fruit, shirt lifter, batting for the other team, not into girls, I AM A HOMOSEXUAL! Well there you have it you have a gay cousin.

As you can imagine these news was NOT taken well by my father uh Vernon, he kicked me out after threatening me and I don´t know why I´m telling you this because what I deserve is you laughing at me and saying "karma".

I understand now more than ever though how it is to feel different and you know not normal, a freak. I have joined your club not to mean I think you are a freak anymore or that I ever really did I just meant in the club of people Vernon sees as freaks. Well I have never been good with writing and I´m botching this up I know it so I will get to the point before you burn this letter without even finish reading it.

I need a place to stay, I´m kind of homeless and I have no one else. I know you have this instinct to help people and well here is your chance to help well me, I would owe you big time. You don´t have to see me even if you don´t want to I just need somewhere to sleep.

So will you take me in? PLEASE… You have to know how desperate I am to write to you in the first place and now I´m kind of begging, but you are the only relative that I have that I know is opened minded and won´t judge me for who I am now when everyone knows.

I would actually hope that you would want to get to know me. I have not allowed myself to be me and stand up for what I want and believe in before in fear for rejection and not being loved but I couldn´t do it anymore and I hope you will want to know me and see that I am not as twisted as my father. I am NOT my father, I mean Vernon. I´m going to stop know I have already told you too much…

Your cousin Dudley

P.S. To send me a message ugh you can maybe send that spell you used to fend of the dementors, the silver coloured mist animal thing? Please no owls they scare me. Oh so you know I´m still wary of magic and will avoid it if I can but I have never despised it. Just thought you should know…

Draco put the parchment down on the desk in front of him after reading it through a second time. Not quite what he had imagined but quite interesting all the same.

As everyone else he had heard things about Potter´s childhood, stories of living in a cupboard under the stairs and being treated like a house elf. He had also heard things about this Dudley bloke being a bully and making his life a living hell before Hogwarts.

He was not so eloquent and stumbled on his words but Draco did think this bloke also was a misunderstood person. Like himself and his potions in the book he wrote, they were not bad or evil just had been influenced to do bad things to get through life without breaking. He knew all about making bad choices.

Strangely enough he felt that he and Harry Potter´s cousin had something in common. But surely this was once again something coming from him being alone in the manor for far too long. He having something in common with a muggle just the thought was making him feel ill.

Anyhow Dudley would be perfect to use to get to Harry as well as get his reputation up a bit. People would think he took in a muggle only out of his good heart, which sounded so Hufflepuff, he shuddered. Even if helping Harry´s cousin wasn´t a priority he would be helping him, he would let a muggle live in the manor. He was clearly going insane.

After thinking it through one last time he got to the conclusion that the pros were far larger than the cons. Really how much damaged could 1 single muggle do, and maybe he could have some fun scaring him using magic.

The last few months of his probation was at least not going to be boring.

He was so glad now that he had practiced and mastered the spell under the first months he had been on house arrest. He closed his eyes while he thought on his happiest memory and cast an Expecto Patronum then gave it a message to give to Dudley before sending it on its way.

He was quite exasperated though at the fact that a muggle, a bloody muggle had thought of this way of communication. He had been able to contact anyone in the wizarding world if he had just been cleaver enough to think of it.

Trying not to dwell on that he sat down behind his desk again, he had more important things to plan. Now he just had to wait a little longer and then the fun would begin.