Redemption (Dudley Dursley)

VI. Family.

Everyone knew that it was coming. However, no one could deny that they didn't want it to come. Throughout the night the late autumn winds had completely disappeared but in its wake a thick blanket of white fluffy snow had littered the ground. It was difficult to tell just how thick the snow was because it was easy to tell that underneath the soft blanket was dangerous black ice. A lot of people hated this about London or just the UK in general. It was always impossible to tell which clothing would be best suited for the day, it was difficult to judge whether it would be too cold to wear a regular jacket or if you had no choice but to wear an extremely thick one.

On this occasion, it was the second.

At times Dudley and Felicity annoyingly admitted that they would rather live in a warmer country because winter was their most disliked month. The only day they didn't mind was Christmas which was why neither of the pair were grumbling right now as that was the next day. They were still annoyed though but for a completely different reason. Annually, Petunia and Vernon held a Christmas Eve dinner which even though the food was delicious, there was always too much. Dudley was scared. It had been two months since he and Harry had gotten back in touch with one another. He had still not told his parents they were back in touch.

He didn't know how to bring it up and it was scaring him because he didn't want to be under Vernon's scrutinising accusatory glare. He had asked Felicity for help on the matter but she didn't have an idea either. From what she had heard from Dudley, she knew that it would not end well no matter what. She had simply said to bring it up casually. What the pair did know was that Petunia was going to dig deep to get as much information on their wedding as possible. Dudley didn't like having his mum helping to plan his own wedding but he couldn't deny that she was good at organising things. It must have come in her genetics in a sense because Dudley was definitely not an organised person. He was more the kind to leave it to the last minute and then rush.

The couple were staying in Dudley's old family home for three days. They were leaving in roughly an hour via train since they knew that it would be incredibly stupid to drive on such treacherous terrain. They were going to stay the next day since a lot of the family were coming over although Dudley and Felicity had not told them that they were leaving to spend a couple of hours with Harry and Ginny at their home. The first time that Felicity had met Harry and the first time that Ginny had met the new Dudley had been extremely awkward to put it lightly.

//

There has only ever been one time in Dudley's life when he has been genuinely scared. In fact, that word just didn't compare to what he felt. It was as if an cold icy stare had caught his, hands were wrapping tightly around his neck to the point he was struggling to breathe. It was like being momentarily paralysed, not knowing what to do. It had been a couple of weeks after he had turned fifteen and he hated thinking about it. He couldn't even remember it that well because at the time he was trying to convince himself it was just a fabricated dream.

He had been walking through the local park with his friends who were all gloating about beating up another ten-year-old boy. It disgusted Dudley to think about it now. He stopped in his tracks at seeing someone sitting on a swing on their own and Dudley recognised him- his cousin Harry. He would never openly admit it, but he was scared of his cousin. They may have never really spoken to one another but he knew that Harry had a vicious temper and he knew it was probably a very bad idea to get on his bad side considering Harry was a wizard.

None of his friends knew of Dudley's fear so he worked up the courage and began annoying Harry along with his friends. Harry was sarcastically asking them questions which annoyed and scared him more because he could see the tip of Harry's wand sticking out the side of his jeans. To people who had no idea what it was, it looked like a regular stick. Dudley began tormenting Harry about a boy called Cedric. He knew it wasn't nice because he had heard Harry's nightmares- everyone in the household had. Nobody ever cared enough though to wake him up, they all just left him and then scolded him the next day because he had unwillingly kept them awake through the night.