Hidden Riddle

Chapter 92: Nine years later

Harry had, of course, heard about his uncle's death a couple of years prior. It had been a passing call made by Dudley and, Harry had not received an invitation to the funeral. He had not grieved the man that had made his childhood a living hell,  and he had not been blamed for it.

Rarely did the muggle phone ever ring. It was something Harry had insisted been in stalled when he and Ron renovated Grimaud Place after the war. Ron hadn't really seen the point of it, but Harry argued that since he had made up with Dudley , it would be rude to expect the man to find an owl somewhere if he had ever had a reason to keep in contact.

One day Delphini and Draco and the kids, Hermione and Ron and their kids and Harry, Ginny and their kids were all staying at Grimaud Place together. They were all downstairs eating breakfast, when suddenly the phone rang. 

Teddy leapt a foot in the air and swore quietly when the syrup for the pancakes spilled over the table. "Clean that up," Delphini said, peering at the seventeen year old over a cup of tea. She added, "Without magic"

Teddy gave her an incredulous look, "I'm of age" He protested. Delphini shrugged.

"Not as long as you live under my roof, you're not" She told him, grinning when he scoffed off to get paper towels from the closet down the halls. Hermione then spoke up from looking at her book. "It's still ringing."

Harry shrugged and picked up the phone.

"Harry?" A voice asked quietly down the line. He hummed in response, looking at Delphini, Hermione and Ginny. "Harry It's Dudley..." That derailed his train of thought. His gaze moved to the floor as they continued their conversation. "Hey Big D, what's up?" He greeted, already sensing something was wrong , a sinking feeling in his gut. 

Delphini looked up from the dishes, eyes wide. Now everyone's focus was on Harry. She narrowed her eyes but still returned to washing the dishes from that morning. "Well two things, really," Dudley said his voice flat. "The first thing is that my daughter turned eleven and got one of those letters.." 

Knowing that this wasn't necessarily a good thing, he returned with, "Do you want me to go through all you need to know with you and your wife?" Dudley said, "Yes yes - that will be great. I only know so much after you left, you know?" Harry hummed in response. "We could meet at someone's house, Delphini is offering hers" Harry said looking at his friend after she said that's alright. "Thanks Harry, that will be lovely, you'll send me the address, right?" Harry replied with "of course"

 "The second thing," Dudley continued, "is that mum passed away last week and we read the will yesterday."

"Yeah?" Harry asked following with, "I'm sorry to hear about that." He could practically see Dudley shrug through the phone. "She's been so sick lately, we've been preparing for it." Dudley said sadly. "Anyway the funeral is in two days, at the church we used to go to as children, do you remember?"

"Yes," Harry agreed, "is this my invitation?" 

"Um, yeah," Dudley agreed, sounding awkward about it, "it's at ten in the morning" "Okay" Harry replied. "See you then, by for now" Dudley said before hanging up.

Harry returned the phone back to the carrier attached on the wall. Ginny turned to Harry as she rested her hands on her hips, staring at him. "What was that?" She asked. Harry shook his head. "Dudley. His daughter got a Hogwarts letter and Aunt Petunia made sure to invite me to her funeral."  

"Goodness," Delphini said, looking briefly at the dishes before she waved her wand to make them wash themselves. Harry watched them move regretfully  for a second before Ginny slid up to him, her hands winding themselves around his neck. His hands automatically dropped to her waist and looked down to meet her eyes.  

"That sounds stressful," She muttered, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him.

They pulled apart and she rested her hands on his chest, while he responded to her comment, "I've had worse." Ginny frowned and looked up to see his eyes. "You've always had worse," she muttered, sounding like she regretted it. He shrugged then pressed a lingering kiss on her lips.