"Are you coming, 'Arry?" Fleur asked. Her family was waiting to meet her. Harry nodded and nudged his familiar to follow them. He couldn't wait to see the people here to cheer him on.

He was sure the Wood's would be there, as well as Sirius. He hoped Mrs Figg and the Weasleys' would be there, too. Fleur really needed to meet Bill. There were a lot of people on his list. His cousin, however, was not on it.

"Dudley?!"

"Umm, Hi Harry." He looked different. Much thinner and far bulkier than Harry had seen him last. He looked uncomfortable in Hogwarts.

"What- how?"

"Your, umm, Gran. I asked her to bring me. It's a long story."

"Why?" Harry asked. "Not that it's not good to see you, but… Why?"

"Thanks for the birthday cards." Dudley paled. "You didn't have to, you know."

Harry nodded. He realised what was going on. "Dudley, can you give me a minute?" The older boy nodded.

Harry went to hug all the people he had expected to see. His Gran, Oliver and his parents, Mrs Weasley, Bill, and Sirius. They all greeted him and tried to talk to him.

"Umm guys can we catch up in a bit." Harry asked. "I haven't seen Dudley in three years."

"Of course, Honey." Mrs Weasley said, nodding. "Bill and I will go fine Ron and the twins."

"It's fine, I'll talk to Draco, pup."

"Thanks I'll be back soon." Harry moved back to Dudley. "Come on, I'll show you around."

"Thanks Harry."

It was a good icebreaker, showing him around. Harry took Dudley outside to the courtyard. "So what do you think?"

"I can't believe it's a school!"

"Where do you go now?"

"St Bart's. It's near where Aunt Marge lives. Its good not like this though. I like it anyway. I had to have counselling. Because of… you know."

"Yeah, same here."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't understand how wrong it was. They taught me at Bart's. Showed me; they thought I had gone through the same… anyway. You- my parents are sick. Horrible and Sick!"

"It's okay, Dudley."

"No, it's not! I shouldn't have been a part of it. Harry, how could you send me all those card for my birthdays and Christmas? After all I did!"

"We- we were still kids Dudley. And we're still family."

"I don't think you're a freak Harry. Your- this magic. It's so good, and amazing!" Harry nodded. "I'm keeping myself healthy now. I take boxing, karate, and Rugby. To get my aggression out you know. I'm doing better in classes."

"I'm top of my year here." Harry told him. "It's great. I'm on the Quidditch team."

"That's a sport right?"

"Yeah like basketball and stuff on a broom. It's fun."

There was a small silence. "I have to talk to my mother once a month on the phone. I can't visit; not like I would want to. I used to talk to my father too before, umm…."

"What?"

"You didn't hear…? Umm, yeah. He… He died. You know how prisons are, right? Things with kids, well, everyone hates Child Abusers in prison. They… They broke his neck. That's what aunt Marge said, anyway."

"Oh Dudley, I'm so sorry. It's my fault he was in there."

"No it's not, Harry." Dudley shook his head quite dramatically. "I thought it was for a while but Joe. That's the guy I speak to at Bart's. He explained it was them; my parents, not you. They showed me how bad it was. What could have happed. How bad…. No it was his own fault. That's why I didn't go to the funeral. I didn't want to after all he did."

"I-"

"It's alright now." Dudley told him. "Aunt Marge isn't great to live with. I'm out a lot and she leaves me alone. But it's not bad. My school's great though. I'm alright."

"How did you know to come?"

"Actually I didn't. It was sort of a spur of the moment. Someone. That black haired man. He came to pick up your gran. I was going to ask her if she knew where to deliver this." Dudley pulled a folded up card from his back pocket. "Sorry it's bent."

"You didn't…"

"Neither did you, but you did anyway. Aunt Marge wouldn't be back all day. She leaves me at home alone a lot. I got on a bus all the way to Mrs Figgs house. It was pretty scary actually. But anyway don't open it till your birthday."

"Okay." Harry leaned down. "Zana sweetheart, take this to my room. Okay princess." The cat meowed and took the card in her mouth and trotted away.

"She's very well trained."

"She's my familiar. Gran gave her me."

"You know I can't do this every time but I kind of…. Can we keep in touch? We're..."

"Family."

Dudley nodded. "I feel Guilty. You had to go under so much under my parents. When I think about it you should really have been dead. Then everything I did."

"Dudley." Harry put his hand on his cousin's arm. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault."

"I just want you to know I'm sorry. That's why I came. When that guy offered, I jumped on the chance. I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to really apologies for. But thank you." Harry nodded. "I'm surprised Sirius offered to bring you."

"Well, I heard them talking. They explained after about the tournament. I asked if I could visit. Give this to you in person."

"Hey do you want to go to Lunch? The food here is great."

"Sure." Dudley nodded and let Harry lead him back to the great hall. Mrs Figg was sat with Eleanor, Lee and Mrs Weasley. Bill was talking to the twins, Ron and Oliver. Sirius strangely enough was over by Professor Snape. It looked like they were discussing something; it seemed calm enough.

"Harry." Harry turned to smile at his friends.

"Oh Dudley, this is Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Draco Malfoy. My friend Neville should be around here somewhere."

"Nice to meet you."

"You know my gran. These are my foster parents, Eleanor, Leslie, and their son Oliver. Then Mrs Weasley is Bill, Ron and Fred and Georges' mom. She's like my honorary mother." Mrs Weasley looked fit to burst at the words.

"Harry." Harry turned to see Luna hurrying towards him. He caught her in a hug before kissing her temple. They had only kissed once since the night of the Ball.

"Hello Luna. Hey girls." He smiled at the other girls behind her.

"Ginny, tell him what we saw."

"We saw a glittery bug." Ginny rolled her eyes with a smile.

"It was a luck minnkit." Luna grinned.

"How wonderful. Luna, this is my cousin Dudley. Dudley, this is my girlfriend, Luna Lovegood."

"You don't have to be scared." Luna told him. "He forgave you."

"How do…." Dudley trailed off at the looks and head shakes around him. "Nice to meet you?"

"Nice to meet you too."

Sirius returned to sit at the table. "Hey, Pup. Remus is sorry he couldn't make it."

"It's fine; tell him I don't mind." The full moon was the day before. Remus wasn't going to be moving yet. "You could have stayed with him."

"I wanted to see you for the torment."

"They didn't have to cancel Quidditch for it though." Oliver mumbled.

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