Redemption (Dudley Dursley)

II. Dudley.

I know you never hated me cousin. I hated the way you were- but I never actually hated you as a person. I know you were brainwashed into believing anything involving magic was unnatural and was odd. I can't blame you for that. I genuinely thought that you didn't like me though but what you said to me that day in the garden as you were all preparing to be moved away for months on end to a tiny village still runs through my mind to this day. I might not have said anything to you afterwards but I did give you a very small smile.

I'm only writing now though because people in my world are finally beginning to no longer talk about the war. It's because of me that the first wizarding war ended, and it's because of me that the second wizarding war ended as well. That kind of thing is unheard of in my world Dudley, much less a seventeen-year-old being in the centre of everything. I've never really had a private life as you may already know from the little conversations you may have overheard. We have only as of last week- rounded up all of Voldemort's followers and they are all now in Azkaban (that's our prison).

I'm not even sure if this letter will get to you and I only got the courage to send this out because I was begged by my best friends because they are adamant that I need closure for everything that has happened. I didn't want to waste time so I wrote to you as quickly as I could in amongst my work schedule. Basically, if you do get this letter and want to meet up again, just attach your response to this letter. I assume Archimedes (the owl) will likely be away sleeping in a tree until night comes. Wait until then and attach your reply to his leg, he will know where to go.

Sincerely,

Harry James Potter.

Dudley placed the parchment down on the table and covered his face with his large hands as he thought on what to do. Of course he wanted to get back in touch with Harry, start beginning to possibly have a normal family relationship which they have never had before. It may have been almost exactly twenty years ago that Harry was left in a basket outside the Dursley's front door but that was a long time. What was Harry doing right now? Did he have a proper job? Did he have a girlfriend? Was he engaged- married even? He might even have kids and Dudley was disgusted in himself for not keeping contact with Harry. Especially when he knew that he might never see him alive ever again three years ago.

Yes, Harry was alive but he never knew his cousin well. They were always arguing, fighting and hitting each other. They never got along and when one of them is brainwashed into believing the other is a freak, everything just escalates from there on out. Dudley might not have said anything to Felicity but she seemed to be able to read his mind at times. He knew that if he did heal his relationship with his abnormal cousin, his own parents would instantly disown him and wouldn't speak to him again. Although, now that he thought of it, only Vernon would do that. Petunia, he wasn't so sure.

Harry was the last remaining thing she had of her sister- Dudley's Aunt Lily whom he had never gotten the chance to meet. He didn't even know what she looked like, only that she shared Harry's blazing emerald eyes. He was always told that Harry looked like a miniature version of his dad- his Uncle James. What were they like? What might have happened if the tables were turned and it was Dudley who was orphaned at a year old and was left on the Potter's doorstep? He knew deep down that it would have been a lot different. He knew that both boys would have been treated completely the same and one never would have been favoured more.

It was only now that Dudley realised that his fiancé was still seated beside him, waiting on his reaction. Eventually, he nodded. He walked out into the hallway, where their printer was and removed a piece of the blinding white paper as well as a pen. He wasn't sure what to write but he eventually wrote something down and folded the paper. He had to wait until night when the owl came back. Did the owl belong to Harry? If it did, what happened to his snowy owl that was called Hedwig? Behind Harry's back, Dudley had snuck into his childhood bedroom often to just look at the beautiful animal. He never did say anything to Vernon and Petunia but he secretly really wanted a pet owl after seeing Harry come home with that giant of a man named Hagrid with the white owl in her cage. Dudley chuckled at the memory of seeing Vernon's furious face at having a wild animal being kept as a pet.