It's A Big Secret

Chapter Three

Crap...I forgot to do this on the other chapters, so I'll update them ASAP, but the Harry Potter series and all of its characters belong to J.K.Rowling. I do not own anything besides the plot line and quite possibly any O/Cs I might add. I am trying to keep it as close to the base story line so i hope you enjoy!

The years passed and soon both Dudley and Harry were about to turn eleven. Dudley's birthday was July 23rd and Dudley told Harry that his was July 31st.

(A/N: I know, I know Dudley's birthday is on June 23rd, but I figured for my plot line to flow better, I'd change it to the next month)
Dudley got his letter with a small booklet on his birthday at lunch, when his mother had stepped out to collect the birthday cake she had ordered for him and his father was taking a nap. Harry was washing the car out front. Dudley had changed from the rotund little boy he was, and grew to be quite tall for his age, and was gaining muscle from the boxing classes he had signed up for.
"Harry! Harry! Look what I got! Its the letter from the magic school!" Dudley shouted gleefully running out of the house.
Harry paused in polishing the bonnet of the car to listen to his cousin, rolling up the sleeves of the old T-shirt he had gotten from Dudley that was three sizes too big. He liked Dudley a lot. He was nice, and he was strong but wasn't mean about it. He only was mean to Harry when Master and Mistress were around.
"You got the letter Duddy! That's great!" He responded honestly and happily.
"Now we just have to wait till your birthday then we can go to Hogwarts!"
Harry laughed gleefully, a very rare sound from him. Only Dudley was able to see him laugh. Dudley paused at the sight, Harry's green eyes practically sparkling with joy, his head slightly thrown back, brown fluffy hair appearing as if floating mid air gently, a wide smile on the small face, two missing teeth on the left side showing and a riding tooth on the bottom. It was imperfect, but it was beautiful, Dudley thought, and he'd do anything to keep it there. Even if it meant that he had to go against his family.

That afternoon, his excitement got the better of him, and Dudley accidentally turned all of his candles into sparklers, and made some of the cupcakes float. Thankfully, it was just himself and his parents, and there were no gossipy neighbors to see. His parents, obviously, blames Harry for it, and he was beaten and confined to the cupboard under the stairs for a week without meals. This was officially the last straw for Dudley.

Dudley was a very intelligent boy for his age. Ever since he had discovered magic, he had developed an incredible control over it in a short period of time, and he was well read too. Of course, his parents thought that he wanted to be a pro boxer, much like his father had dreamed of becoming, but he actually wanted to be a doctor. That way, if anyone hurt Harry, he could fix him up. When his Social Studies teacher had told the class about child abuse, he had realized that was what his mummy and papa had been doing to Harry. And he also learned that they could go to jail for a very long time.

That evening, he carefully read the letter inviting him to Hogwarts and the booklet. It explained how the wizarding world worked, and how the money they used was different from Muggle (non-magical people) money. It could all be exchanged in the bank, Gringotts, also explaining the exchange rates, along with what Gringotts did. Apparently they were in charge of managing the bank vaults, since they did not have paper money, but rather coins, as well as the other assets of their clients, including wills and properties. Since his auntie and uncle were wizards as well, it was possible that they left a will for Harry, which could maybe help them get him to somewhere safe. 

That evening, Dudley hatched a plan. He carefully packed some of his clothing, and some smaller but nice ones he had outgrown for Harry, his savings from his parents, which was a considerable amount, especially since his parents loved spoiling their only son. He was going to take Harry to Diagon Alley using the map that came with his letter, school list and ticket, and they would go to Gringotts to find a will from Harry's mum, exchange some of his money to stay somewhere in the wizarding world and hide out there until it was time to go to school. He would miss his mummy and papa, but they were bad, and they hurt someone who couldn't fight back. Harry didn't have a mummy or papa, and even though he was hurt so much, he still was nice to Dudley, and that made him the good one. Dumb belly door was bad too, and Dudley would protect Harry from him too.

Dudley had dinner with his mummy and papa, knowing it would be the last time, let them tuck him into bed for the last time, received the last kisses he would get from them and pretended to fall asleep. He waited until all the lights were turned off and he could hear his papa's snores from the other room before grabbing his camping bag that contained all of his escaping items and creeping downstairs to Harry's room under the stairs. He quietly unlatched the dead bolt to the small cupboard and opened the door. Harry had a few bruises on his face, but nothing too terrible, compared to other times. Dudley healed him and gently woke him up, putting his hand over Harry's mouth so he wouldn't scream as his bright green eyes flew open in fright. 

"Shh, Harry, don't make any noise," Dudley whispered, "I'm getting us away from mummy and papa so they don't hurt you anymore." Harry relaxed under his hold, and nodded. Dudley took away his hand, and Harry sat up. 

"So we won't live here anymore? Duddy, won't you miss your mother and father?" Harry questioned, pulling on the old tattered pair of sneakers that lay next to his mattress.

"I'll miss them but they keep hurting you and that's wrong so I'll find us a new home, where nobody will be mean to anyone at all," Dudley replied, determined, "So let's go now before mummy wakes up."