Harry Potter Characters X Reader

Dudley Dursley x reader

When Dudley set out to visit his cousin, he didn't know quite what to expect. He and Harry were closer now than they had been during their childhoods, but this was to be Dudley's first real brush with the Wizarding World. No matter what information Harry shared via his owl-carried letters, Dudley knew he wouldn't be able to properly prepare. The bus ride he took to the station nearest Harry's home was spent in unusual anxiety as a result.

"Hey, Big D!"

As soon as he stepped off the bus, he spotted Harry in the crowd. Dudley's considerable bulk made cutting a path to him easy. What wasn't easy was facing him, as Dudley was painfully aware that he had mistreated Harry in the past. Perhaps the invitation had only been offered so Harry and his friends could turn him into a pig for real that time. That was what his mother had suggested when Dudley told her where he was going for the next week.

Harry, however, only smiled and held out a hand.

"It's been awhile," he said.

Dudley looked at the hand, then surprised Harry by hugging him and clapping him on the back. "Not so long that I've forgotten what a dweeb you look like."

The strength of his clap knocked Harry's glasses askew. They both laughed as he adjusted them.

"You ready to go?" Harry asked.

"Er..." Dudley knew, of course, that he couldn't ask Harry to forgo magic for the duration of his stay. It was as natural to him as eating was to Dudley. All the same... "How, exactly, are we getting there again?"

"Don't worry. I thought we'd walk. Unless you'd rather get there sooner?"

"No," Dudley said, too quickly. He felt his chubby cheeks warm, and awkwardly ran his thick fingers through his blond hair. "No, that's okay. Gives us a chance to catch up, eh?"

"If you change your mind, just let me know. At least let me levitate your things. It's not a short walk."

A few minutes later, they were on their way, with Dudley pulling a feather-light trunk behind him. The people leaving alongside the pair looked normal enough—but then, they probably hadn't made it to the weird part of town yet. He kept his eyes peeled for anyone wearing a cloak or a pointed hat but no one did.

"So what did Aunt Petunia say when you told her you were going to come see me?" Harry asked a few minutes later.

"Uh..." Dudley had to shake his head to get it back on track. "She was surprised, I think. But she knows you and I have been corresponding, so she understands. Probably. She's been better about you since...well, you know."

"And Uncle Vernon?"

Here Dudley had to grin. "Dunno. I'm sure Mum told him, but I've been avoiding his calls ever since I broke the news to her."

From there the conversation flowed freely. Harry asked about Dudley's job—his father had gotten him a job at Grunnings shortly before retiring—and Dudley asked Harry about fatherhood—which was the most exhausting thing he'd ever done. The subject of Dudley's boxing career (he was trying to go professional so he could quit the job at Grunnings) came up, too, as did that of Harry's wife swapping jobs to work for a newspaper in lieu of whatever magic sport she'd been playing until recently.

Though Harry claimed the walk would be long, soon they arrived at a shockingly normal-looking house in the middle of nowhere. Nothing about it looked magical to Dudley. It seemed to support itself on its own foundation, and there were no frightening smells or sounds to be found. The only strange things there were a group of what looked to him to be swearing potatoes strolling about the garden. His companion didn't bat an eye at them at all.