Dudley Dursley - The Silver Lining

Handling a business and handling customers are not easy things. Dudley learnt it hard. Be it in the shop or in public, he couldn't control people's reactions to his presence. There were arrogant people looking down their ugly noses at him. There were rude people snapping at him and bossing around like he was their father's slave. There were racist jerks who would scrunch their noses at him and treat him like an untouchable. There were ex-Death Eaters who saw him as nothing less than a dirty animal. There were times when he kicked like he was a rag doll, spat at, and abused. There were children and teenagers that would laugh at him like he was some illiterate who could not read one letter for the life of him. Some customers had the audacity to abuse him and proceed to complain to George Weasley about how he had hired a useless, arrogant, illiterate, and dirty buffoon who did not know manners!

Three or four times Dudley too lost his temper and fired back at some of them. But for that, he was tortured with the Cruciate Curse twice, slapped to the point of his nose bleeding once, and thrashed by a gang once. Oh, and the complaints to his employer always followed after that.

There were customers who would refuse to admit a mistake. Some of them would ask for the impossible. There was one man who was looking for a herb in the joke shop and wouldn't listen when Dudley explained it to him. He left grumbling about what a jerk Dudley was.

There was one lady who seemed convinced that she could buy owls and cats at the joke shop because she saw Pygmy Puffs being sold at the shop! She complained to George later that afternoon, accusing Dudley of misbehaving with her. George had been furious with him that day.

"Is this how you treat people?" He bellowed at Dudley, showing the famous Weasley temper. "This is how you talk to a customer?!"

Dudley had witnessed Molly, Ginny, Ron, and even Arthur showing the Weasley temper over the last few weeks for different things. This was the first time he had seen George exhibit the same temper. George looked so different from the fun-loving prankster. His face was red, and the look of disappointment and hot-headed fury in his eyes drilled a hole into Dudley as he stood facing the volcano of fury.

Dudley's Dursley temper was no less, but he had learnt to keep his fury in some line of control. After shouting into his face and threatening to fire him if this repeated, George stomped away, leaving an exhausted Dudley alone in the shop.

He was tired. He wanted to cry. He had had enough. Customers were too difficult to handle.

"Why didn't I just go with Mum and Dad to Aunt Marge's farmhouse? I could've lived a carefree life, watching my favorite shows, eating my favorite junk food, and hanging out with my old gang. Instead, I chose to come here and suffer. Nobody likes me here!" He muttered into the darkness, his voice heavy with emotion. "Why are people so cruel?"

He wasn't dependent on anyone. He always purchased his own food and clothes, and even paid rent to George from his salary. On Molly's repeated insistence, he had agreed to have Saturday lunches at the Burrow. He would explore Diagon Alley and The Three Broomsticks in his free time, have a drink at the pub, maybe enjoy an ice cream at Flourish and Blotts, buy some clothes at Madame Malkins, and generally walk around. Most of the people, come to think of it, actually just left him alone. Only some people went out of their way to hurt or humiliate him. He realized wizards were just like muggles.

"Are you alright?" A voice startled him. His head came up, and he jumped.

It was mid-July. Summer had begun a few days ago. Dudley had forgotten that Hogwarts aged customers would also be visiting.

"Y-Yes, ma'am? Welcome to Wizard Weasel Breezes. I mean, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes! How may I help you this evening?"

She was about five feet tall, had crispy-brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Her hair landed gracefully on her back. Her eyes were filled with sympathy, something Dudley wanted to avoid. He had always seen himself as a macho man and did not think his ego could handle someone so young and beautiful pitying him.

"Are you all right?" She repeated.

"Yes, ma'am. Just a little fatigue." Dudley found he couldn't lie to her for some reason. Something was moving inside his belly and he wondered if the fish he ate that afternoon wasn't enough for his appetite. But this did not look like hunger. Infact just two hours ago, he had consumed hot chocolate that he was sure would keep him full for another two hours or so.

"I am not here to buy anything." The girl said. She gave Dudley a simple card which read, "I know it's hard. It'll get better. We're all healing slowly."

Dudley was moved. His voice choked as his real emotions threatened to overflow.

"it's okay. Real healing happens when you embrace your feelings and emotions. Boys also cry, and there's no shame in admitting that." She said with a calm that soothed him.

"I... Thanks you very lot..." Dudley blabbered, unmindful of the grammatical errors he was making.

Her grin sounded like merry music to his ears. She walked and talked with such grace. And her voice was so soothing!

Just like that, she had left. Dudley stood staring at the door, tears running down his cheeks. He closed the shop, clutching the card to his chest, and went to his room where he cried himself to sleep.

Dudley did not see the girl for several days after that. He wanted to thank her, but did not know how to contact her.

"Do you have cameras that record people and incidents?" He asked Harry.

"No, Big D. The wizarding world is really backward when it comes to muggle technology." Harry said.

Nearly everybody he described the strange girl to looked at him cluelessly. He tried to forget her, but she began haunting his dreams at night and at dull moments during the day. When parents and children thronged the shops for school shopping in August, Dudley desperately kept his eyes and ears open for any sign of her, but could not find her at all.

But her visit was almost like a blessing. The day after she had given Dudley the card, Dudley began encountering more and more friendly, decent, kind, polite, and cheerful people than the ones he had been encountering over the last few weeks. This was like magic. Like this girl was a fairy who had performed a magic spell.

In his mind's eye, Dudley saw her with tiny silver wings flying as she charmed people with her beautiful voice. Thoughts of her were often accompanied by a fluttering inside his stomach.

Whenever he saw Harry and Ginny together, he would feel a dull pain and longing. His heart would beat rapidly and images of that girl would flood his mind. To George and the others, it looked like Dudley had learnt to keep his vanity and arrogance aside and treat customers with respect and dignity. To Dudley, it was as if that fairy had filtered out all the bad people and kept them out of his way.

By the end of August, Dudley received a letter from his parents that they wished him to complete his final year of schooling as it had already been postponed by a year. So, in the first week of September, Dudley left to join a muggle school near Marge's farm. Funds were low and Vernon could only afford a lesser known school. He and Petunia wanted to see their son through school at any cost. He thanked Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, warmly hugged his cousin, and politely said goodbye to everyone before boarding a train from London. Little did he know that Elm St. Edmund wasn't just a place of hiding for a year.