Dear Harry,

I hope this letter finds you and your family well. We all enjoyed the photo that came with your last Christmas card, and hope you'll forgive us for not sending a photo of our own. It's quite difficult to round everybody up for a photo these days what with Ramona being off at school and Art and Wes having so much energy. Combine this with Helena's new favorite activity, hide and seek, and I don't think we've taken a proper family portrait in at least two years.

I'd better get down to business though. I write bearing odd (not bad, but odd) news. The world is a very curious place, and my wife and I find ourselves seeking your advice and assistance. Our oldest son, Arthur, looks like he's going to be a smashing wizard.

Art's a good boy, quick as a whip and very energetic, but lately his abilities have been causing him trouble at school. Most recently he accidentally set his teacher's wig on fire. This is only the most recent in a long line of interesting occurrences (other such occurrences include dying the family dog green and gluing his younger brother to the wall). I don't want to stir up trouble, but Arthur's a good boy and I hate to see him getting so upset over something he really has no control over.

I write hoping you have a solution, or at least some insightful tips as to how we can help Art stay out of trouble until he's old enough to start school.

I realize that this all must be completely out of the blue and that I have no right to expect help from you, but I would be most grateful for whatever you have to say.

Yours,

Dudley Dursley

P.S. Enclosed is a picture that Helena drew to stand in for the missing family portrait. If you squint and cock your head to the side it looks a bit more like us and less like a flock of rabid green flamingos.

(((RAMONAinBLUE)))

Dear Dudley,

Your letter found us quite well, as did the portrait of your lovely (green) family. We, of course, understand the trials of taking family portraits (my wife Ginny is one of seven children, all of whom have procreated with abandon) and appreciate the lovely picture that Helena drew. It is now tacked on the mantel along with all the other portraits of various relations.

To say that your letter was a surprise would be an understatement. I was under the impression that all of your children were very… regular, if not a bit wild. Please don't take this as an insult, I only meant that I truly was not expecting to hear from you in this manner. With that said may I offer my sincere congratulations on the magical tendencies of your offspring. You are now in for the bumpiest roller coaster of your life!

Before I get ahead of myself though, let's talk details. How old is Arthur? Do you have a preference in where he goes to school? Have you received any contact from the American United Magical government yet?

I am happy to help you and Sarah navigate the coming months and years. I am also happy to hear that you seem to have accepted your son's nature rather than condemning it. And, Dudley, don't worry about what happened in the past. I trust that we both have moved on from the ways of our childhood and can now face each other as equals.

Yours,

Harry Potter

P.S. None of my children felt like drawing you a picture, so you'll have to settle for this macaroni necklace that Lily brought home the other day.

(((RAMONAinBLUE)))

Dear Harry,

I guess I shouldn't be too offended that you thought I'd toss my own son out onto the street for being magical. Of course I have done quite a bit of growing up since we last saw each other. My wife Sarah says that when she first met me I was just a meat head jock, whatever that means.

To answer your questions, Art is ten years old; he'll turn eleven in April. As to the second question, we're not sure. While Sarah and I would like to keep him near, we understand that Hogwarts has quite the positive reputation. Really, we want to send Art to where ever he will get the best education. I'm not sure about these Americans. I've lived among them for the past eighteen years and still have trouble making heads or tails out of what they're saying. (Sarah says that that's just me being a snob.)

We haven't heard anything from the magical government here. Frankly I'm a bit surprised! That time you levitated a cake onto one of dad's clients your ministry responded so fast my head was spinning!

By the way, Sarah wants to know if there's ever a time we can get together to talk and introduce the kids. Spring break is coming up soon and this year we're lucky enough to have all the kids out of school at once.

Yours,

Dudley

P.S. Tell Lily thanks very much for the necklace. Enclosed is a story Wes wrote about our family for his second grade English class. He's quite proud of it, especially since it got him sent to the councilor's office to talk about why it's not nice to write stories about people trapped in basements.

(((RAMONAinBLUE)))

Dear Dudley,

The entire family greatly enjoyed Wes's story. Ginny recons he'll be a great novel writer if he doesn't turn into a serial killer first.

As it turns out, Art will be in the same year as my second son, Albus. That may or may not sway your decision on where to send young Arthur for magic school, but at least know that if he comes to Hogwarts he'll have a large number of family members there looking out for him.

I can see that you weren't paying attention when I told you that it was not I that dropped that pudding on your father's client's head, but a rouge house elf. Never the less, you are right, it is odd that the American ministry hasn't shown up yet to at least explain the situation to you. Then again, I've never been able to understand the inner workings of any type of American Government. My sister-in-law Hermione claims that they have a very unique and wholly wonderful way of running things, but I just think they're odd.

Ginny agrees that it would be wonderful to have a sort of family reunion. James should be home from school on Easter holiday around the same time your kids are out of school. It might be better for you all to come visit us in England though, just so Art can get a feel for the whole family and the weather. Let me know when you want to start working out details.

Yours,

Harry

P.S. James wants to know if Art likes to fly, and Lily wants to know if Hilly is old enough to go adventuring. Fair warning, the entire Weasley family (my wife's family of redheads, in case you've forgotten) is mental.

(((RAMONAinBLUE)))

Harry Potter sighed and attached the latest letter to the leg of his owl, Gravy (named by a three year old Teddy so long ago).

Recently Gravy had been getting plenty of exercise. Flying between his residence in Godric's Hollow and the Dursley house in North Carolina, Gravy deserved every treat Harry could scrounge up for him, plus whatever morsel Lily had been sneaking him.

Harry watched the large grey owl take flight, and he felt that old and familiar twinge of his heart. That twinge that came about whenever he thought of his childhood before Hogwarts. Life with the Dursleys in number four, Private Drive had been rather unpleasant, and he didn't often reminisce about growing up in the terrifying shadow of his cousin Dudley.

With the letters passing back and forth though, Harry thought he could recognize a lot of the change that had taken place in his large cousin's life since the end of the wizarding war. The first big change had come a couple years after the end of the war, when Harry received a Christmas card from Dudley. It had been a simple muggle photo that showed his not-so-large-anymore cousin standing next to a beautiful blonde woman with a wide eyed baby girl sitting on his shoulders. The inscription read "Happy Holidays from Dudley Dursley, Sarah Kelly and Ramona June" on the back of the photo was a hastily scribbled message. Happy Christmas Harry, hope it's okay that we sent the card – Dudley.

Since that first Christmas card, Harry had kept in touch with Dudley in the barest sense of the word. They exchanged Christmas cards with impersonal and vague messages that almost always included a family portrait. On occasion Dudley would remember that it was one of the kid's birthdays and send a small gift. Harry had watched the wide eyed baby girl grow into a chaotic looking child though the progression of portraits, and had reacted with mild interest when the greeting on the cards had gone from listing the family names separately to saying From the Dursley Family.

That was as far as the relationship had gone though. Impersonal greetings had become more and more hastily written and family portraits became more and more rare. Until now.

Now Harry found himself writing long letters to his once-despised cousin, letters full of humor and mutual jest. Tacked on his mantel was a picture drawn by Dudley's youngest daughter, and in the kitchen on the counter was a story written by his son. Likewise he had sent along one of Lily's many art projects and was now planning a get together of sorts over Easter Holidays.

Harry Potter did not know what to make of the recent turn of events. He could only hope that things went well when Dudley saw just how chaotic life could be when raising magical children.