Harry Potter was not dreading Sunday lunch at the Burrow. He was merely feeling the slightest bit peaky, just a tad off color, a smidge under the weather. What he was feeling had nothing to do with nerves or anxiety or anything of the sort (he was a war hero, for Merlin's sake! He didn't have a nervous bone in his body!), the fact of the matter was that he was ill.

This was what he tried to convince his wife of anyway.

Ginny Potter would have none of it though. "Don't be a baby, Harry. You didn't make it this far in life by only telling people what they wanted to hear." She smoothed out the shoulders of his brown tweed robes primly before reaching up a hand to ruffle his hair mischievously.

"Course I did, Gin. That's how you get anywhere in life. By being a kiss ass. And I happen to be one of the best."

Ginny simply rolled her eyes. "Well you've got to learn how to deliver bad news sooner or later. Might as well start today. It's not even bad news, really."

"No. But I bet your family won't see it that way."

Both Potters grimaced briefly before setting out to coral their children.

(((RAMONAinBLUE)))

Later that day in the back yard of a cheerfully off-kilter house known as the Burrow, after the fervor of rich food had mellowed into many different scattered conversations, Ginny Potter delivered a swift, sharp kick to her husband's shin. At least she thought it was her husband's shin.

"Ow! Merlin's saggy left—" Ron cut himself off, knowing that there were many youngsters with their ears perked up, hoping to hear a naughty word. "Whatja do that for, Gin?" he scowled, clutching his injured leg.

"Sorry Ron. That was meant for Harry." Ginny said, rather unapologetically.

Ron turned to Harry, giving him an appraising look, "What on earth did you do to deserve that?"

"He's being a baby," Ginny answered for her husband.

"Oi! Am not!" Harry protested.

"Are too!" Ginny shot back. "Cowdy cowdy custard, that's what you are."

"Am not! I am simply—"

"Waiting for the end of the world so that you don't have to tell them?"

"Well no, but—"

"Hey, HEY!" Hermione shouted over the bickering couple, immediately drawing the attention of every person at the table. "What is it you've got to tell us, Harry?" The family all fell silent in anticipation of his answer.

Harry swallowed loudly, hoping to dispel the furious dry mouth that he was currently experiencing. Something told him that he should stand up for the announcement. No, he decided as soon as he was standing, this felt weird. Really he should sit down. Or maybe stand. People stood when delivering important information, didn't they? He reaffirmed his decision to stand.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Harry." Ginny muttered, smiling a bit at her husband's frog like antics.

"Shhh" Hermione shushed her sister-in-law.

Harry cleared his throat again. "Well, everyone," he croaked, "I have some news."

"Spit it out then," George called out. Someone elbowed him to keep him from any further catcalls.

Harry began again. "I've recently been in contact with my cousin Dudley—"

"That walrus?"

"Yeah. Well no, he's not quite so large anymore, but that's not the point." Harry's face was getting a bit flushed. "The point is that Dudley wrote me about a month ago because his eldest son is a Wizard, and about to turn eleven. Lately it's been especially hard for them to explain away all the accidental magic to teachers and friends and so he wrote for advice and then we started talking about what schools to look at and logistics of keeping the International Statute of Secrecy and—"

"Hold on Harry," Hermione held her hand in the air, as though they were all back in a Hogwarts classroom and a professor had failed to properly explain a concept. "Just to reiterate, your news is that Dudley's son is a Wizard," Harry nodded, "And he's asking for your help to…?"

"Well it sounds like he just wants to keep Arthur out of trouble until he can start school next fall." Harry clarified. "He was also asking about what schools they should expect letters from, or if anyone official would be coming round to explain everything to them."

Hermione's eyes narrowed, her mind obviously whirring with possibilities, "Well, seeing as your cousin's son is American—"

"How'd you know that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Gravy's been carrying letters with American addresses for the past month and you know very few wizards from the colonies. As I was saying, since… Arthur, did you say? is American, there are only really two or three schools that he could attend. Academie de Lafayette is somewhere in the southern region of the country, I believe, and then there's New York Conservatory for Applied and Theoretic Magics up north. There might be a school in the west… it's something like Greener Minds Cooperative, but I wouldn't think that that would be a wise educational decision—"

"What, no Hogwarts?" Ron cut off his wife's rambling.

"Hogwarts only takes students from the British Isles, Ronnie," Someone further down the table said. "And this kid doesn't qualify."

"Well actually, all of the Dursley children are British citizens, and once more, Dudley still owns his parent's old house on Private Drive." Harry corrected. "So technically, Arthur could start Hogwarts with Albus and Rose in the fall, if they chose to send him here." He wondered if any of the family could see where he was headed with this announcement.

Hermione looked like she was beginning to understand what was going on. Her lips were pursed and there was a slight crease between her brows that always denoted a puzzle being solved. "So when are we to expect them?" she asked.

From around the table came choruses of "What?" and "Huh?"

"Well it's obvious, isn't it? Harry's invited the Dursley family to come stay with him, to see how Arthur fairs. It'll be a good chance for him to get to know the family, and all of the children currently at Hogwarts. Meanwhile, we can assure Mr. and Mrs. Dursley that their son will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts—"

"Yeah right." Ron snorted, "And why should Harry have invited these people over to stay anyway? They've got their own house, he just said so, and they can stay there as long as they bloody well please. Harry doesn't owe that flobberworm anything," From around the table came similar mutterings of disbelief and dislike.

Something flared up in Harry's chest at his best friend's words, entirely dispelling his earlier qualms about going before the family. It was his natural protective instincts, that old "moral fiber" that Fred and George had teased him so frequently about during his fourth year. Dudley had been a real prat growing up, and the elder Dursleys had been nothing short of neglectful and abusive, but Harry was ready to put that aside in order to help out young Arthur Dursley, a boy who was completely blameless in this situation.

"I invited the Dursley family to stay with my family in Godric's Hollow during Easter break, and they've accepted. They'll be arriving in three weeks and staying for thirteen days. I want Arthur to get to know the kids, and get to know the culture, and I would like for Dudley and Sarah to become comfortable with the magical world, comfortable enough at least to send their son to magic school." Harry made a point to look each and every family member in the eye as he spoke. He needed for the Weasleys to understand that this was very important to him. "I would really appreciate it if you all would be welcoming, and understanding and all that. It would be great if you were to be friendly, make them feel comfortable and not," he paused for a moment to stare especially hard at George and Ron, "ostracized or threatened in anyway. It would be a shame for a young boy like Arthur to miss out on a magical education because of something we said."

The table was quiet, internalizing Harry's requests; a few were steeling themselves for a rather unpleasant Easter break. Finally, Mrs. Weasley spoke up "Well it will be nice to have some new youngsters around the house. You'll let them know that they are always welcome, of course." She smiled at her only son-in-law in a very motherly way, and Harry returned it gratefully. He was reminded again of Mrs. Weasley's loving and adopting nature, and he was eternally thankful that she would be his ally in getting the rest of the family to treat the Dursleys civilly. "Now, how many children are there then?"

Harry sat down as an ecstatic Lily launched immediately into a description of her newly discovered cousins.

(((RAMONAinBLUE)))

Later in the kitchen, Harry found his two best friends.

"Hey guys," He joined Hermione in washing dishes, which she was doing the muggle way.

"Hey Harry," She smiled and nudged him with her hip. "Nice of you to assist me, unlike my dear husband." Hermione Weasley threw a playful scowl over her shoulder at Ron who was lounging at the kitchen table, reading the Sunday Prophet.

"If you're going to insist on doing the dishes like we're magic-less cavemen, I'm going to insist on sitting right here and catching up on the Cannon's scores." He replied, eyes never leaving the paper.

For a minute the three existed in an easy silence, the type that they had become especially good at since the end of the war, but eventually Harry felt the need to confide in his friends and ask for their advice.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing? By inviting them here?"

For a moment the question hung in the warm kitchen air. Then, "Yeah, of course you are." Ron said gruffly.

Harry looked up from his dishes; almost feeling guilty for being surprised that that was Ron's answer. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Ron put down the Prophet. "You're doing what you always do. You're being the bigger person. And that's a good thing, for the kid stuck in the middle of this at least."

Hermione looked more hesitant. "I'm just worried about you," she said, answering Harry's unasked question, "Living with your cousin again, even if it is extremely temporary, could be very difficult. Even if he's changed, even if you've both grown up and become completely different people, it's still going to be rough. But—" she looked up at him with shining eyes, "As a muggleborn little girl, I would have given anything to discover that I had magical relatives willing to help me. And you are going to help Arthur Dursley so much, even if it is just to tell him stories about Hogwarts and introduce him to magical children his own age."

"Right then." Harry returned to washing plates, feeling much more confident.

(((RAMONAinBLUE)))

"Hey Teddy, can I get a minute?" Harry caught his godson just as he was leaving the Burrow that night.

"Hey Uncle Harry. Sure," Teddy grinned, "what's kicking?"

Harry smiled in spite of how his day had gone. "Not much, just hoping that I can ask a favor of you,"

Teddy's ears visibly perked up and his turquoise hair brightened several shades. "How big of a favor?"

Harry smiled, knowing that the young man's mind was probably already working over what kind of reward he would get for agreeing to a big enough favor. "Well, you know that my cousin Dudley is coming to town, right?"

Teddy rolled his eyes. "I did happen to be there for that portion of dinner, yes."

"Well he's got a daughter that's not arriving with the rest of the family, and I was hoping that it could be your job to pick her up from the airport and bring her back to Godric's Hollow."

Teddy made a face. He'd heard plenty about these muggle relations, and he wanted as little to do with them as possible, thank you very much. "Why me?" he griped.

"Because," Harry reasoned, "You're the only member of the family that lives in London. And you're the only person besides Hermione that can reliably drive a car. And she's close to you in age, so maybe you could answer any questions she might have—"

"Great Aggripa!" the nineteen-year-old exclaimed, "All that? I'm going to need serious gold to let this girl into my car, let alone assuage her fears about her freakish little brother!"

Harry scowled, "Oi, you don't know that it's going to be that bad. And besides, this is important to the family, yeah? Just pick her up and bring her back to the house. Do that for me, and I promise you won't ever have to spend any time with her again." Teddy looked unimpressed, "And," Harry added, "I'll pay for that new microphone you've been eyeing."

Teddy pretended to think for a minute and then nodded. "For you," he said, "I'll do it. I'll pick up the horrid muggle relation and deposit her on your doorstep. But only for you. And that new mic."

Harry nodded, and then thought of a few more things. "Good man. Now, when you pick this girl up, and when you meat the Dursleys, I want your hair to be a regular color. Natural, you know? And I also want that thing out of your ear," He pointed to the slate colored dragon that was somehow skewered through his godson's ear lobe, "These are very regular people, and I don't want their first impression of you to be that you're a no-good punk."

Teddy rolled his eyes and scowled. "Merlin save us." He grumbled. "Regular people."