Redemption (Dudley Dursley)

XXXIV. Choices.

A part of him hopes it would all just disappear to nothing but a memory once she was back. But he found out the difficult way that he was sadly mistaken. Any time he went near his wife, she flinched in fright. She always apologised for it immediately, but she had been tortured. That's not something that can easily be forgotten. It didn't stop during the day either. At night he would try and cuddle her to him, but it wouldn't last for long before she was screaming in terror. Nightmares. A constant reminder of what had happened.

Dudley wanted desperately to put everything behind him, but it was now all ending. They knew what Kyra wanted, and they now knew where she was hiding out. It's not much to go on but compared to nothing like it had been for months previously, it was a massive breakthrough. However, the woman was still one step ahead of them as always. He hadn't spoken to his dad since that one fateful argument on Christmas Eve where he admitted he had willingly gotten back in contact with Harry. He's a prideful man, and Vernon is a lot worse than he is. He just simply assumed that neither would talk their issues through and that would be the last they would hear of one another.

The question of how Vernon had even gotten into their possession in the first place bugged him massively. Eventually, he asked Rita once she had been permitted by Hermione to come out of her beetle form. She couldn't have had better an animal to transfigure in to, as she really did look like an overgrown tropical insect. But he held this thought at bay, he needed to know. Since she had been sent out to scout for information weeks ago, he had a hunch she would know more about the situation than she was letting on.

He was furious when he heard what had happened. Kyra had gone to his dad's house in Brighton posing as a new neighbour to let him know that he and Felicity had broken up and that Dudley had wanted to get back in contact with him. Vernon was not a stupid man, he must've been put under an enchantment of some kind to fall for such a ludicrous story. But it had worked, and that was how they trapped him. For weeks they had been doing the same to him as they had Felicity until he finally let slip her favourite places to go. This sickened Dudley as one of her favourite places was the park she had been snatched from.

Despite this, he couldn't blame Vernon. He didn't know for certain if he had intentionally told her or if he had been under the influence of something. Worry seemed to be Kyra's most effective tactic. Not many people act or think rationally when they are scared. He groaned in annoyance at this, knowing they were still playing into this woman's hands. There was one thing he couldn't deny, she was a genius. She did think everything through thoroughly. He was sick of being worried, fed up of being played, and just wanted to put an end to all this madness. He eyed the small crystal ball he still had in a box. Hastily, he picked it up. He watched as the mist inside filled it before that familiar haunting voice broke the silence;

Only those who do not possess magic who are related through blood to past victims of the third unforgiveable curse can put an end to everything. Until then, peace will not last for long.

At the time he had laughed it off as nothing too serious. Yet now he knew how terrifyingly accurate it was. At least he now knew it was directed at him and Felicity, not Petunia like initially thought. He had made sure to call her every two days at least but he was glossing over everything to spare her all the hassle. He didn't want her to stress out more than needed. After all, it's still extremely recent for her to be accepting of the wizarding world, he did not want her to go back to her hateful ways towards something so huge in the family.

"That's it, we need to put an end to this."

The words left his lips so suddenly that Felicity jumped. She eyed him oddly before spitting a response back. She wanted to ignore everything and focus only on the future. But it is simply impossible to do so with all of this. He walked into the hallway to grab the phone, dialling Harry's number. The younger had put an enchantment on it so that if he was at work, he would know someone was calling him. He didn't expect an answer straight away, but he did leave a voicemail. Now it was a waiting game. He grabbed a notepad and wrote down as much as he could. He had to ask Felicity a few questions, but he tried his best not to, terrified in case she began crying spontaneously in remembrance.