Redemption (Dudley Dursley)

XIV. Storytime.

Today was the day. He had been waiting for this to come for so long and finally he was getting the answers. A month had passed since the wedding and now both Dudley and Felicity were sporting a golden bronze tint to their skin as a reminder. It had been a very blissful fortnight in the middle of nowhere really but now they were both being tied down with work to catch up on the lost time. Last night Dudley had decided to put his work before sleep because he knew now that Harry was finally ready to tell him everything- the wars, his school years. However, one question Dudley really wanted to know was what those creatures were that he couldn't see that had attacked them when they were fifteen.

He can very vaguely remember Petunia whispering the word 'dementors' but he isn't sure if that is what they were called when Harry managed to drag him back to the family home. It may seem like he didn't know what was going on- because he did. The entire journey back to their house which couldn't have been longer than ten minutes he was just in absolute shock. Complete paralysing shock. The entire time his memories were flashing and he wasn't pale because of what happened, he was pale because that was when he finally saw himself as the bully he was.

He could also remember the information that Harry was whispering to Mrs Figg- a woman who was rather batty who lived two streets away who was obsessed with cats and always stunk of boiled cabbage. He could remember her saying that she was a squib and even now that shocked Dudley, just how many people might he have personally known who knew what magic was? It was no wonder now that Harry was just as shocked because there was no way that Vernon would have forced him to stay with her had he known of her heritage.

The only time he wasn't forced to be there was because she had managed to trip over her cat and break her leg and they didn't know anyone else who could look after Harry. They had no choice but to take him with them and that had led to glass disappearing on a snake enclosure causing Dudley to fall in. He finds the situation funny now because he can literally say that he was a laughing stock but at the time he was extremely panicky but then again, who wouldn't? He can't even remember what type of snake it was, only that it was big and had clearly been bred in captivity.

But Harry had been speaking to the snake. When he was eleven years old and Harry was ten he had simply put it down to his overactive childhood imagination. Was that something all people who were magic could do? He doubted it but then again he has learned to not assume simply from speculation anymore.

By Dudley giving up a lot of sleep he had managed to finish his work for today so he could have the day off. Harry should be arriving anytime soon to take him over to his house as it was a lot more private due to the location- also because Harry said he had to show him somewhere. To an extent he was really nervous about how the day would go but he knew it was finally time to hear the entire story and he was very privileged in the fact that he was hearing it come from Harry and not hearing it from spectators.

After all, spectators do tend to over-exaggerate information or tell something completely different to what actually happened.

At least Ginny wouldn't be there because he knew that Harry might get really in depth of what happened during the summers he stayed at Privet Drive and they didn't want her to get angry. Instead she was being kept at work to practise since her team were qualified to compete in the World Cup for Quidditch as part of the England team. Of course a few games had to be won for her to be a part of the final line-up but Dudley knew that she was already extremely talented in the sport so he knew that she would probably be in the final round. He had still never seen the game being played, only heard the rules and he didn't understand them all too well.

He was never much of a sporty person anyway, the only sport he ever really excelled in was boxing and if he's being honest he thinks this is partially due to what he weighed at the time. It was very obvious that a lot of people were extremely intimidated by his size and because of his well-known dad. He jumped however when he heard a loud cracking noise that he should probably start getting used to by now. Unfortunately, he didn't calm down quick enough and now Harry was laughing at his shocked look. How have wizards and witches not been admitted to hospital with miniature heart attacks with this mode of travel?!