Redemption (Dudley Dursley)

XXXI. Forgiveness.

He remembered how awful he felt when he concluded he couldn't hide behind that anymore and he had to see things from an obvious perspective. Does any kid whose grown up with parents who had been together as long as Vernon and Petunia had want to admit things aren't as they seem? If people like that did exist, Dudley could say with confidence he was not one of those people. He'd been brought up that change wasn't always best, betrayal made a person stronger, knock backs drove a person forward, and defeat was not an option.

Now he knew that this was nonsense.

If he hadn't changed when he had, he wouldn't be where he was. He had a business that had yet to make a catastrophic loss, he had a lovely house just outside of London's city centre, he had a fancy car, and he had an amazing wife. Knock backs had made things worse for him and he had no choice but to pack it all in. Defeat now running through his veins and making him wonder if he would ever recover from this mess. The only one he had yet to experience fully was betrayal. It was the one thing he had been taught that he knew might have some substance to it, and it was the one that he feared the most.

It had only been a day since he had admitted to losing the game. When he could no longer deny that he wasn't in control. This morning was no different. When he woke up, the air felt as though it was crushing him from above. Despite this, he forced himself to breathe. It was almost an automatic reaction for him to roll over and place his arm around his sleeping wife's waist, and when his arm met cotton sheets, it suddenly became more real. The only thing that did bring him back to reality was a high pitched squeak when he did so which caused him to quirk an eyebrow up in confusion.

What had made that noise? He opened his eyes wider and looked around to locate the source. It didn't take long to pinpoint him, the little pink fluff ball that was Bon Bon. He'd grown quite a bit since they'd gotten him, but he was still just bigger than a fist. Dudley would know as he had done so to get an accurate description. Hastily, he reached a finger out towards him and he hobbled over quizzically. He rarely saw him, he was usually following Felicity around and slept in her pocket.

Hastily, he hopped over on his tiny feet until he reached his finger, and sniffed it a little bit. He cowered in fright just slightly but Dudley stepped in by gently stroking the tiny animals fur. At first, a tiny yelp left his mouth but he soon realised he meant no harm to him and hopped directly into the palm of his hand. It was such a tiny gesture, but it showed something to Dudley. Bon Bon trusted him to take care of him; this tiny, delicate, loveable creature. Something Felicity was too, and he was doing nothing moping around in the house and in work.

So he got out of bed, being careful not to accidentally suffocate his pet with the covers and placed him on his shoulder. He wasted no time in tucking himself tightly into his neck as Dudley ran downstairs. He grabbed the phone and called Harry, not knowing if he was home or not. But Hermione had made sure to place a charm that alerted Harry whenever Dudley was trying to get in contact by phone. When he didn't answer, he didn't mope around and instead grabbed the nearest notepad he could find and began dotting everything down.

Within the next hour, everything he could remember about this mess had been recorded. Perhaps if he analyses enough he might spot a fault in the system, something Kyra may have overlooked. It wasn't likely, because the woman had proven repeatedly that she had never known defeat, not really. But failure and defeat were two completely different things. A loud noise broke him from his thoughts and soon he spotted his slightly younger cousin standing there. Harry's hair was dishevelled like it usually was, his skin now a pale cream colour as he had lost his summer tan. He didn't get to say anything before Dudley did;

"What can we do, Harry?"

As the words left Dudley, Harry just hung his head low. He wasn't going to give up in the search for Felicity but as each day passed, Kyra seemed to be one step ahead of them as usual. Every time they had some kind of lead, it turned out to be a dead end. However, each time something was left to show that they had been close. To the pair of them and the few people who knew about their situation, it was obvious that it was more of a taunt. Not a single clue got left at all, it was always there to show that this seriously deranged woman was enjoying every single second of this game of cat and mouse.