Redemption (Dudley Dursley)

XXXV. Nightfall.

Just as he was finishing off the crossword, he noticed the train was only a few minutes from his destination. He gulped loudly at this as fear settled in. He has no idea what her reaction is going to be, all he knows it is not going to be good. If there was one thing he always hated, it was seeing his mum in a foul mood. She always had a temper and had a surly personality, but when she was not pleased, it was a whole lot worse than this. He's only ever seen it a couple of times and both times he had left the room the moment it was kicking off, so he didn't even witness the full throttle of screaming.

Upon stepping onto the platform, a weird feeling overcame him. Every time he came back to Little Whinging, it appeared. For seventeen years this town had been his home and he never thought he would leave. But so many memories were made here, not good memories, and more often than that, he felt sick to his stomach every time he walked down these streets. Petunia's house was in an area of town he wasn't well acquainted with, so he called a taxi to take him there. As he got closer, nerves built up even more. The moment the small house was in sight, he let out a shaky breath before hesitantly knocking on the door.

Like it had always been, he counted to three in his head and soon it opened. The moment she took him in, her eyes widened, and she pulled him in for a very tight hug straight away. She hadn't seen him in weeks, and she was very worried. What parent wouldn't be if their child didn't make an appearance for weeks? He followed her into the living room and didn't hesitate when she asked him if he wanted a coffee. Whilst she was momentarily out of sight, he let out a long sigh. How was he going to tell her what has been happening? He should've told her from the very beginning instead of keeping her in the dark thinking everything was ok. When she walked back in and placed the steaming mug on the coffee table in front of him, she looked him straight in the eye. Call it mother's intuition, but she spotted instantly he was going to tell her something.

"Dudley- "

He looked down ashamed at this. Even now, he hated being talked down on, even from his own mother despite it being a common occurrence for most of his life.

"Where's Felicity?"

He took a long gulp, screwing his eyes shut at the initial burn against his tongue.

"She's doing better."

Petunia was now steadily beginning to get angry that he gave such a vague answer. Dudley wanted to hold it off, but he knew if he did it would get harder to tell her. It would be best he just gets everything off his chest.

"Mum, it's a lot. Could you please leave questions until the end?"

She pursed her lips at that, knowing it would be difficult to do. She's always been someone who either wants to know nothing or know everything. Even every fine detail to the colour the neighbour's hat was in the background. But when she looked him in the eye, she saw whatever he was going to tell her troubled him, so she decided to push aside her nosiness until the end like he requested. His hands were beginning to get sweaty, he could feel the ceramic mug slipping in his grip, but he tried his best to hide it. He was probably failing, but it's the best he can do currently. Before he knew it, everything was flowing out.

Petunia was alarmed at the speed he was talking but she could make out what he was saying. Dudley hardly even paused for breath, it was only when his lungs began burning that he took one. Even then, it was just enough for him to launch into another rant of the story. He had no idea if he had been talking for seconds, minutes, or hours. All he did know was that it felt like time had frozen around everything but them. By the time he had finished, his breathing was shallow, but his chest felt a lot lighter. He refused to look at Petunia at first, not wanting to see her reaction. After a few minutes, he frowned in confusion at not feeling an accusatory glare. This is what caused him to finally look up at her.