Hello everyone! I am so sorry for this horrendous wait. I really have no excuse this time; I just lost motivation to continue this story. But I have now created a plan for where I want this story to go, and I can promise some action coming up soon. At the moment this story is a bit bland, but I promise it will pick up!
Dudley opened his eyes slowly as he slowly woke. Yawning, he sat up and stretched. He leaned forward in his hammock and checked the time. It was 5:30 in the morning, which was insanely early for him. Wow, Dudley thought to himself, must have been that nap yesterday. He lay down again, in hope that he would get thirty more minutes of much needed sleep. After tossing and turning for a few minutes, he realised that he was already wide awake, and would have next to no hope of getting back to sleep.
Dudley decided that he would go for a walk to the centre and wait for Neville there. If he was lucky, the couches would still be there from last night. As he got nearer to the centre, he began to hear a faint muttering. It was hard to understand what the person was saying, but he managed to make out a few sentences;
"He seems alright" a girl said.
"And I heard he has a thing for Cho Chang," another girl replied.
"Ugh, that girl? She is so dramatic. I bet she's had so many boyfriends before and after Harry and Cedric."
Harry was Cho's ex boyfriend? Dudley thought as he stood there in shock. Was it ok that he liked her? Dudley shook those thoughts and continued walking towards the centre. When he got there, he sat down on one of the couches, making the two girls go silent for a moment.
"Hi Dudley," one of the girls said, sitting up taller. She had very fair skin and blonde curly hair.
"Hello," Dudley replied. He began to regret coming to sit down.
"What are you doing here so early in the morning?" The other girl questioned, also sitting up taller. She had darker skin and very long black hair that was tied back in a plat that hung all the way down to her waist.
Dudley was about to answer when he was interrupted by the first girl again.
"Oh, silly us, we haven't introduced ourselves! I'm Lavender, and this is Parvati."
The girl with the black hair gave Dudley a small wave.
"Anyway," Lavender continued. "What are you doing here so early?"
"Couldn't get back to sleep, so I just thought I'd wander over here." Dudley lied as he shrugged, trying to seem as casual as possible.
"Well, you've got a while to wait until breakfast." Lavender said. "I guess we'll get first pick of the seats."
"Yeah," Dudley nodded. He wanted nothing more than to leave, and he was just about to when-
"So Dudley how's Cho?" Lavender asked.
"Oh, um she's fine I think." Dudley shifted uncomfortably.
"You don't need to pretend you two aren't close," Parvati giggled.
"Do either of you know what the time is?" Dudley asked, trying to change the subject.
"Around five thirty I think," Parvati replied. "But don't change the subject."
"Yes," Lavender agreed. "We don't gossip."
Dudley found that very hard to believe. They seemed like the biggest gossips there were.
"Dudley," another familiar voice sounded from Dudley's left. Dudley turned to find Neville standing there, already dressed.
"Hi Neville," Lavender giggled.
"Lavender, Parvati." Neville replied. "You'd better get dressed Neville, the house elves shouldn't be long."
"Good idea," Dudley said, leaving without another word.
Thank goodness that was over, Dudley thought. He made a mental note to avoid Lavender and Parvati as much as possible that year. He quickly grabbed his clothes from his suitcase and headed for the bathrooms.
It was five to six and Dudley was heading back to the center. As the couches came into view, he noticed that thankfully, Parvati and Lavender were gone. Instead, there was a creature that was standing and talking to Neville and Cho. Dudley guessed this was a house elf.
"Ah, is this Dudley, sir?" The elf asked, turning to Dudley.
"That's me," Dudley replied. He looked over at Cho, who was smiling at him.
"Hold my hands, sirs." Dudley and Neville did as they were told and braced themselves. Dudley had no idea what to expect. He hoped that it was nothing like floo powder. Next thing he knew there was a moment of darkness and a large cracking noise. Once the darkness cleared, he found himself in a rather massive room. Along the walls were beds with curtains around them. Dudley guessed that there were at least fifty of those along each wall. Up the front of the room was a large, steel cabinet with little glass windows. Dudley could see what looked like potions all neatly arranged.
"This is the hospital wing," Neville explained to Dudley. "And this is Madam Pomfrey," Neville pointed to a woman who was making her way over to him, Neville and Dudley. Dudley noticed that the house elf was wandering around the front of the room, cleaning everything speck of dirt he could spot.
"Hello dears," Madam Pomfrey began. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, Dudley can start." Cho said, looking expectantly at Dudley.
"Yesterday a spell hit my arm and it made it go all floppy." Dudley had no idea how to explain that so it didn't sound childish.
"Who did this to you?" Madam Pomfrey asked, as she led Dudley over to the closest bed.
"Amycus Carrow," Dudley replied, sitting down on the comfy mattress.
"Death Eaters have a cruel way of disciplining children and adults alike," She replied. "Now, Harry Potter had an accident in second year like this, and even for him the healing process was very painful. Would you like the fast way, or the less painful, slower option?"
"How long would each option take?" Dudley asked, uncertain as to which option to choose.
"The quick way uses a very traditional medicine called Skel-Gro. It grows bones overnight, but the experience will not be pleasant. The longer way is to give you a more modern medicine that will speed up the growth of you bones, and it only requires a very small dose. However, it will take up to a week for your bones to grow. Then I will need to keep you in hospital for another few days to make sure there are no complications."
"Complications?" Dudley asked, getting quite nervous now.
"Common side-effects include pains in the growing area, however if the pains do occur they will not be as great as the ones from Skel-Gro. Another common side-effect is growing an extra finger, but that can be easily removed."
Dudley's eyes widened at how casually she had said that.
"And lastly, the rarer side-effects of the medication are headaches, which is nothing we can't fix... and constipation."
"Oh," Dudley replied, already contemplating which one he wanted to take.
"Either way you will be staying the night here." Madam Pomfrey added. "Now," she said, turning to Cho and Neville. "What else do you need?"
"We're running low on medical supplies in our hideout-" Cho began to explain, but was interrupted by Madam Pomfrey.
"Say no more," she said. "I've been expecting you to come back soon." Madam Pomfrey hurried away and returned with a small box. "That should be all you need for the time being."
"Thank you," Cho smiled.
"Anytime, my dear," Madam Pomfrey replied, turning to Dudley. "Have you chosen which method you would like to use?"
"The fast way, please," Dudley answered.
"Alright. Now, I really should warn you that pain relief potions and Skel-Gro do not mix well, so expect to be in for a rough day. I can give you a sleeping potion if you would prefer to be unconscious for the first part, but once it gets painful I'm afraid there's not much I can do."
Dudley gulped, but nodded to let her know he was ready and would like that sleeping potion. He turned to Neville and Cho, who were both looking sympathetically at Dudley.
"You can go back to our hide-out if you want. I'll be ok-"
"No," Cho interrupted. "We're staying."
"Besides," Neville added, "you know the rule, you never go alone."
"Won't you be incredibly bored?" Dudley asked, watching as Madam Pomfrey prepared his bed.
"Nope," Cho replied brightly, "we have potions to make for our medical room."
Neville groaned, but nodded. Dudley was about to argue back with his two friends when Madam Pomfrey approached him and lead him to his bed.
Dudley was handed a goblet, full to the top with a disgusting green substance. It smelt vile.
"Well go on, drink it up." Madam Pomfrey urged, giving Dudley a reassuring smile.
Dudley quickly downed the potion and immediately launched into a coughing fit. He had never had a potion before, and was not used to drinking something like it. It burned his throat and lungs as is entered his system. Once he finished coughing, Madam Pomfrey took away his goblet and gave him another potion. This one looked much more appealing. It was a light shade of pink and smelt like a florist. Dudley downed the potion also in one go, but this time did not cough or splutter, instead he felt the urge to curl up in his bed and close his eyes...
Dudley gasped as he awoke. He was sweating all over and had a shooting pain in his limp limbs. He could almost feel the bones slowly make their way down his leg. It was both disgusting and terrifying. He tried to slow his breathing but was not successful. Cho, Neville and Madam Pomfrey rushed to his side. He was handed an icepack by Madam Pomfrey, which he gratefully accepted.
"Is there anything we can do, Dudley?" Cho asked, looking concerned.
"Pain relief," Dudley choked out as he clutched his arm.
"I do have muggle pain relief in my stores, but there is common side effect..." Madam Pomfrey's voice trailed off as she rushed to get the pain relief.
"So how is your potion making going?" Dudley asked, attempting a smile, which turned into more of a grimace.
"Great, actually," Cho replied. "We have all of them done now."
"We did decide to get some lunch though," Neville continued, "the house elf was going crazy with the cleaning."
Dudley looked up to see the house elf once again cleaning he windows.
"He needed a break," Neville finished.
"What's the time?" Dudley asked, stretching his working limbs.
"Four in the afternoon," Cho replied. "Madam Pomfrey said you'll be done in an hour."
"Thank goodness," Dudley sighed. He wanted nothing more than to end the pain he was going through.
Madam Pomfrey rushed back over to Dudley and gave him a muggle pain relief pill.
"Now, this is not guaranteed to help, as the medicine causing your pain is magical, but it has worked in the past on a few of my patients." Madam Pomfrey explained. "And as usual, I must tell you the side effects."
Dudley groaned in his head. There were always side effects...
"They are the usual, like the ones that may accompany the Skel-Gro." Madam Pomfrey continued. My patients have had headaches, bowel movement issues such as constipation... it really does depend on the individual."
"I'd like to take my chances," Dudley said, reaching for his glass of water. Madam Pomfrey nodded.
"If you feel anything coming on, please get your friends to call for me." And with that, Madam Pomfrey left.
Dudley took the pill and waited impatiently for it to take effect. After a long, painful half hour, he noticed that the pain had vanished. Cho and Neville also seemed to notice his mood gradually brighten over the last five minutes. Dudley felt around at his limp limbs and found that he only had a little more bone to grow before he was fully healed.
"I wish I could get up and walk around," Dudley complained. "My muscles are really stiff."
"Well, you should only have thirty more minutes left," Cho reasoned. "And then we can go and get dinner."
"That would be nice," Dudley agreed, feeling his own stomach rumble.
Cho and Neville seemed to have heard it and Neville spoke up.
"We can ask Madam Pomfrey for some food if you're hungry now," he suggested.
"No thanks," Dudley declined, "I'd rather wait than take my chances with those side effects."
The next thirty minutes was equally as dull as the last, but Dudley was finally able to leave. They all thanked Madam Pomfrey and had to practically tear the house elf away from its cleaning. Once they were back at the room of requirement, Dudley breathed a sigh of relief. He was happy that he could finally walk properly again, despite the fact his muscles were killing him.
After helping Cho and Neville unpack the medical supplies and potions, the three headed towards the centre to wait for dinner to arrive.
"So what did you think of the hospital wing, Dudley?" Neville asked.
"Well, like any other hospital, really," Dudley replied, "though it is quite different to the muggle hospitals."
"In what way?" Cho questioned.
"Well, aside from looking like something from the early nineteen-hundreds..."
"I suppose the wizarding world is a bit 'behind' on the modern day muggle technologies," Cho agreed. "But then again, I would consider us more advanced in the way of technologies. After all, we are witches and wizards."
"Fair enough," Dudley replied, nodding his head.
When they reach the centre, they found that all the couches were full. Dudley was about to say something when a new couch materialised out of thin air, directly in front of them. Cho and Neville sat down as if nothing had even happened, but Dudley just stood there shaking his head.
"This is going to take me a while to get used to," he muttered, before joining Neville and Cho.
Dudley noticed Lavender and Parvati sitting across from them, looking at him and giggling. He pretended not to hear them and turned to his two friends.
"I really hope Luna does arrive soon," Cho was saying, "as well as all of the other students. It would be very hard to go into hiding."
"I agree," Neville replied. "We've only got a few days now before the death eaters will start hunting their families down. At least now that they know I'm here my Gran will be left alone."
"Do you think they'll find out about my parents?" Dudley asked. This had been a concern for him ever since he first arrived in the wizarding world. He couldn't bear to think of something happening to them...
Neville looked uneasy for a moment, as if he was deciding how to form his response. "I think it would be safer for them to leave the wizarding world and go into hiding," he began slowly. "It is unlikely the death eaters will find them soon, but their safety is not guaranteed. If they see them, they may or may not question their presence. If they do, then that will mean trouble, but if they don't, they will be ok."
"They won't want to leave," Dudley said, staring at his feet. "I don't want them to leave either."
Cho looked sympathetically at Dudley while Neville attempted to reason with him.
"They will probably be safe at the moment, with the main focus of the death eaters being to find Harry Potter and round up all of the Hogwarts students," he said.
Dudley just nodded and gave Neville a small smile. "I know I can't be near them forever if I want to help the light side in this war," he replied.
The three sat in silence for a while, watching the flames dance in the fireplace. Then suddenly, a loud pop sounded from the front of the fireplace. A house elf appeared and began ushering students away from the centre.
"That's our cue," Dudley said, as he and Cho got up off the couch. Dudley followed and stood back with them. He watched as more house elves appeared, lining the outside of the centre. All of a sudden, the familiar long table appeared, delicious food covering the top of it.
Dudley followed Cho and Neville and sat down on the benches. He couldn't wait to dig into his dinner. He loaded his plate with one of everything in his vicinity and immediately made a start on it.
He noticed Neville and Cho pouring an orange drink into their goblets.
"Is that orange juice?" Dudley asked. He never notice any drink at the table other than water.
Cho and Neville burst into laughter. Dudley furrowed his brows, wondering what on earth was funny about his question.
"It's pumpkin juice," Cho said, still grinning.
"A very common drink in the wizard world," Neville said, also still smiling.
"Orange juice does exist in the wizarding world, but we don't normally drink it," Cho continued, sipping at her pumpkin juice.
"Try it, I guarantee you'll like it," Neville said, handing Dudley the jug.
Dudley poured some into a new goblet and sniffed it. "It smells just like pumpkin soup," he observed, lifting the goblet to his mouth and taking a sip.
"Tastes just like pumpkin soup, too," Dudley said, nodding his head in approval. "It's alright, but I don't think I could drink this all the time."
"Fair enough," Neville replied, "it does take some getting used to if you didn't grow up with it."
The rest of dinner was uneventful and Dudley decided to go straight to bed afterwards. Despite the fact he slept nearly all day, he was feeling exhausted. Must have been the bone growth, he thought as he drifted off into a deep sleep.
As always... Thanks for reading!
Feel free to review if you want to :)