They were both a bit nervous, which doesn't happen. A month had passed, and it was just under a week ago that Harry and Ginny came back from their honeymoon. At first the young muggle couple were confused as to why the pair were not jet-lagged which led to the slightly younger now married couple telling them that planes were not a mode of transport- well, it was Harry who explained when Ginny asked what a plane was. Once she had her explanation she knew that it was something she had to tell Arthur next time she saw him.
It was three weeks ago that Harry and Ginny got married and they had a two-week honeymoon on a private island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean of all places. Dudley's eyebrows had shot up because he knew that they were extremely expensive even just to rent- this then led to Harry awkwardly scratching the back of his neck at his wealth. Since there were so many people in his family who had done something that made a lot of money (one even inventing the now very common Skele-Gro), the family fortune had been passed down each generation. Harry easily had a minimum of an eight-figure sum in his vault at Gringotts.
But Dudley didn't need to know that.
Yes, the honeymoon was very expensive, but Harry wanted to treat Ginny seen as she had never really gotten to experience the finer things as she was growing up. Having five older brothers left money very tight for the Weasley family. Ginny had indeed, purchased a more muggle traditional dress but she had Molly put a more magical spin on it. The white and baby blue of her dress had left all the wedding guests jaws drop in amazement and awe.
Felicity had seen her in it. The older couple were not invited to the wedding since the invites were all sent out a couple of months before Harry and Dudley got back in touch with each other. It would have been a bit awkward though because despite the cousins now getting along they were still far from friends. They were more accomplices currently which could change in two extremes. One, Dudley didn't want to think about and the other would be a full forgiveness. It was the latter the oldest wanted so desperately to happen.
It had been a little over five weeks now since the huge argument between Petunia and Vernon. Dudley was slowly beginning to get used to the change, but it was still odd to visit his mum in his childhood home and not seeing the beefy man watching television or reading a newspaper on the couch. Not surprisingly it didn't take Felicity long to get used to the change because now she wouldn't be risking being made fun of in front of her fiancé who will be her husband in the middle of March. It was in six weeks that she and Dudley were tying the knot themselves.
The couple had been bickering constantly for different reasons. Dudley was annoyed at Felicity because she still refused to let him see her dress and Felicity because Dudley wouldn't tell her what he had scheduled for during their honeymoon. He had booked the three weeks off from work for the last week of March and the first fortnight of April, he wanted to really treat Felicity. Right now, though, the couple had more on their respective minds than their stupid arguments that were extremely childish but that is what made them work. They both knew when the other was genuinely mad and when it was just harmless banter much like that of siblings or best friends.
Harry and Ginny needed to get some supplies, and they had invited Dudley and Felicity with them. In other words, the two muggles were going to see the other world with their own eyes today. They were going to Diagon Alley.
It both excited and unnerved the husband and wife to be but they felt it was the right time. Felicity was obviously already open to the idea of magic seen as her mum is a squib and her aunt is a witch. Dudley had simply asked her why her aunt's name was the same as her mums when her mum was married. To this statement the blonde girl simply stated that Jones was the most popular names in Wales and her mums surname didn't change as a result seen as her husband shared the same surname. Dudley nodded in understanding and didn't question her any further because it did make sense.
Right now, Felicity was struggling to zip up the back of her peplum top and she was silently cursing herself for picking the one that had to be manually closed. After chuckling for a few seconds at her struggle, Dudley walked over and slid it up for her. It was a pale mint colour and she was wearing black skinny jeans with some brown ankle boots. What caught his attention was the black bandana she was wearing to keep her hair out of her face. The exact bandana she wore the first time the pair had met almost three years prior. She had tied her hair up into a high ponytail; it was just her side fringe which was annoying her greatly now, eventually proceeding to pull on a faux fur jacket to keep herself warm. Dudley had simply gone casual, black jeans and a plain white t-shirt with a brown leather jacket.
Dudley was nervous, he couldn't deny it. For the last three months, he's been waiting for this but now that it's here he is struggling to come to terms with it. He knew that he was ready, but it didn't stop the angel and devil on his shoulders from arguing. After ten more minutes of Felicity fighting with her fringe she finally gave up and she tucked it into her bandana before linking her small hand in Dudley's larger one. They had already eaten an hour before because Felicity had been quick to inform him that restaurants were not common in the wizarding world; the two couples had agreed they would go for a late lunch once they got back from shopping.
Dudley had around £200 in his wallet because he wasn't sure how the wizarding currency worked, and he knew he was going to buy something to remind him that this was happening, and it wasn't a figment of his imagination or a dream. They both left their rather expensive house and began their walk to the closest tube station. They were getting on at Parsons Green, switching at South Kensington before going to Leicester Square which was closest to Charing Cross Road which is where they were meeting Harry and Ginny.
There was a light frost on the ground and both stumbled to keep their balance on the slippery black ice. Felicity did almost fall but Dudley caught her...only to then fall over himself causing the blonde to snort in laughter. It was only a ten-minute walk to the station from their house and soon they were standing on the busy platform waiting for their train to arrive. The journey took them about thirty minutes in total and soon they were standing outside the newsagents waiting on the older couple to appear.
By now, Dudley was visibly nervous, and Felicity was whispering soothing words to him under her breath to try and calm him down, along with squeezing his interlocked hand gently in an act of reassurance. It worked though when Dudley felt the cold platinum and gold ring between his fingers. In six weeks, he would be wearing a ring too and that was one thing he had never been surer of in his life.
A now familiar cracking sound was heard, and it was only a few seconds until Harry and Ginny were rounding the corner. Ginny let out a squeak of delight before attacking Felicity into a tight hug- the pair had become great friends over the little time they had known each other. Once the redhead pulled away she tried to hide a small grimace at seeing Dudley. It wasn't that she hated him, because she didn't. At least not anymore. Still, he had bullied her husband for fifteen years of his life and she wouldn't forget that. Dudley caught the look, but he wasn't offended by it, if the roles were switched he would also give a weird look to whoever it was.
Harry gave Dudley a short smile telling him he sensed just how nervous the oldest of the four was and he did know why. This was something Dudley had never seen before. Of course, he had seen a lot of spells in his life, but he had never seen an actual street that was filled with wizarding shops. Speaking of which, how could an entire street be so easily hidden in the capital city? How has someone not accidentally stumbled upon it when they weren't supposed to?
He shook his head to rid the questions forming because he knew they would be answered soon. Once the group had finished in their greetings, Felicity and Dudley followed the newlyweds into what looked like an abandoned shop. There was a small sign swinging in the wind that Dudley wouldn't have noticed were he not looking for it.
The Leaky Cauldron.
At this, Dudley was confused again. Were they not going to some street called Diagon Alley? Why was his cousin leading him into a pub that has clearly seen much better days? Instead he bit his cheeks because he knew Harry knew where he was going as did Ginny. He sighed a little in relief when he spotted Felicity giving him a similar confused look out of his peripheral vision telling him she had no clue either. Much like the outside, the inside was also rather bleak. There was a faint scent of mould and something rotten and he forced himself to hold his breath, so he wouldn't have to breathe in the stench.
Harry led them out of the back door into a small courtyard that was surrounded by a very high wall made of old bricks that looked as though they would disintegrate at the tiniest touch of fingertips. The younger cousin stepped to the side and gave the engaged couple a slight smirk. Now, Felicity was just as confused as Dudley, possibly more. Harry gave Ginny a small look and the fiery redhead quickly slid her wand out of her back pocket before walking up to the wall. From Dudley's view, it looked like she was counting something, but he wasn't sure what. Soon, Ginny tapped on a few of the bricks in some order before stepping back and sliding her wand back into her pocket and pulling her pink hoodie down to cover it.
At first, nothing happened. The two non-magic people in the small courtyard were giving the witch and wizard equally pointed looks but Harry and Ginny both remained calm and collected. It was then he heard it, Dudley's head snapped around trying to pinpoint where the noise was coming from. It was like someone was purposely dragging their nails across a chalkboard. Felicity gasped from beside him as she pointed to the wall in front of them. Dudley's eyes followed her arm to see what exactly she was pointing at and he got his answer for the weird noise. The bricks were moving. He was simply hearing them slide on top of each other. It only took a few seconds and soon there was an archway that hadn't been there a couple of minutes' prior which revealed a very busy street. Dudley's and Felicity's jaws dropped open in amazement just as Harry and Ginny stated in perfect sync;
"Welcome to Diagon Alley."
Dudley blinked his eyes furiously, once again trying to decide if he was dreaming or not. It appears Felicity was reacting the same and Ginny took the chance to gently smack them both under the jaw to take them out of their starstruck state. Dudley shook his head to think clearly again before following Harry and Ginny into the extremely busy street. At first, he was confused as to why no one was looking at Harry and Ginny but then he remembered the pair of them admitting that Hermione cast a spell over them so that wizards wouldn't see them as who they are just before they had left to meet the older couple. The pair were trying to take in everything they were seeing; trying to remember the shops names they were seeing.
However, it was a lost cause. At the far end of the street, he took in a large marble-white building. To his right was what appeared to be a book shop, to his left was clearly a sports shop. Another that a lot of kids were surrounding and whispering excitedly to themselves over the current fastest broom on display. There was an ice-cream parlour. And he wrinkled his nose at something he assumed to be a shop catered to potion-making if the disgusting smell and odd things in jars were anything to go by. They walked past them all though, and he was even more blown away at just how ordinary it looked. Yes, there was the obvious difference in this place being for the magical community, but other than that there were very few changes.
There was simply too many to commit to memory but every single one of them looked interesting to the older couple. They weaved through the busy street until they were nearing the end as the crowd lessened. Soon they were standing outside of the large white building that appeared to be completely made of marble. Ginny quickly said that they should have their money switched if they wanted to purchase anything today. Dudley tried to hide his gaping eyes when he spotted who was working in there- or rather what was working in there. Harry muttered the word goblins and it made sense to Dudley, but he still couldn't hide his wide eyes as he took in a creature that he always thought to be myth in children's books.
It was over quite quickly though, and Dudley had forty gold galleons whereas Felicity had fifty. It turned out that £5 was the equivalent of a single galleon. Soon, they began their descent back into the busy crowd. The first place they stopped at was an ice cream parlour. Dudley didn't look at the sign and now he wished he had because he was struggling to remember it despite reading it only ten minutes before. They had flavours that seemed quite ordinary, but he knew there was probably some kind of surprise in the cold treat. Despite it being cold outside, they all agreed that it was never a bad time for ice-cream. Harry got plain chocolate, Ginny got some flavour called butterbeer although Dudley had no idea what that was. Felicity got a mixture of strawberry and blueberry (her two favourite fruits) and Dudley got fudge.
Surprisingly, there wasn't anything strange about the sweet. Although he couldn't deny that it was probably the best ice-cream he had ever tasted and that was saying something considering when he was still extremely overweight it was his favourite thing to snack on. Harry and Ginny both walked into the sports shop he had eyed before that the kids were surrounding, but Dudley had no idea what this sport was. Broomsticks were all on display in glass cases and there were balls of three different sizes also in cages. His eyebrows furrowed at seeing that what appeared to be the middle-sized balls were all literally strapped to the walls in chains. He didn't even need to ask why that was because just as he reached out to touch it, it violently moved in the chains causing him to instantly retract his hand. Harry and Ginny ended up buying a few of the balls and they had separated now. The women on one side of the shop and the men on the other.
"What sport is this?"
Dudley didn't need to be told that all this equipment was for one single game. Harry's eyes widened in realisation at the fact Dudley had no idea what Quidditch was. His cousin told him the name of the game and that it was like a cross between football and basketball- except it was played numerous feet in the air on broomsticks. Dudley's stomach flipped uncomfortably at the thought- he was never good with heights. By the time the girls had walked back over, Ginny was clutching two parcels and he knew what one of them was- a broomstick. Harry told him that Ginny played the sport professionally, so he understood the need for a decent broom. His eyes widened when he took in the price tag of one of them- 120 galleons. In muggle money that would be £600. This game was expensive.
Their next stop was Flourish and Blotts which Felicity jumped in delight at seeing it was a book shop. Reading was one of her favourite hobbies so for her this was probably literal heaven. With that, the ashy blonde ran off in search for new books because she knew there would most definitely be none in here that she had read before. Dudley shook his head in amusement at his fiancé's amusement. He himself thought it would be a good idea to read up a little on the wizarding world's history. Perhaps he would get his answers as to what the two wars were about because he knew Harry was not going to tell him anytime soon. His fingers ran along the spines of the books in the shelves, looking for one that might catch his eye. From the sign above, he knew he was in the history section. There was three which caught his eye and their total was only 6 galleons- roughly £10 each.
Hogwarts: A History. A History of the Wizarding World. An Account of the Two Wizarding Wars.
The last one he knew is where he would get his answers from concerning the wars which Harry had somehow gotten himself in the centre of. Well actually, he ended both wars which still shocked Dudley considering Harry was still very lanky. He had filled out a lot since his teenage years, but he was considerably smaller than Dudley in the muscle department. They went to four other shops before it began to get dark, but Dudley wanted to go to one shop in particular- one which Felicity also wanted to go into. The numerous animal calls which greeted them when they stepped inside was a bit strange, but it didn't annoy anyone.
Harry and Ginny sat down on two of the seats whilst the other couple walked around. They had been discussing getting a pet for a couple of months now for some extra company in their house. Dudley jumped though when Felicity let out another squeal of delight before running over to the corner. He walked over to see what she was gawking at and the first thing he saw was pink. To be honest, they looked like Pom Poms. Dudley read the sign and realised that they were called Pygmy Puffs. Felicity gently rested her hand against the cage just as one opened its eyes and hopped over to her. She didn't need to say it out loud- she just gave Dudley her signature doe eyes which sealed the deal that she would be walking out of this shop with one of the fluffy creatures.
He couldn't deny it though; they were very adorable. Dudley walked over to the back of the shop which he soon realised was where the owls and other birds were kept. His eyes widened at the numerous breeds. The couple had decided their pet of choice would be an owl because then contact would be easier with Harry and Ginny. It wasn't fair on them constantly using poor Archimedes to do everything. Light footsteps from behind caught his attention and he soon realised it was Harry. He caught his cousin staring at a pure white snowy owl a few cages down and Dudley saw the resemblance the owl bore to Harry's late owl.
"What happened to Hedwig?"
The words came tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them. Harry tensed a little and gently stroked the white owl inside its cage. From the tag on the side of the cage he knew it was a male. Dudley bit his lip lightly once he realised that Hedwig was dead and wasn't just an elderly owl that Harry didn't use to deliver his mail anymore. Harry looked him dead in the eye for a second before facing the owl again which was now nipping playfully at his fingers.
"When I left Privet Drive, it was supposed to be a secret. Somehow though it got out and we were ambushed by death eaters. We all split up- I was with Hagrid, I'm sure you can remember him- and Hedwig was flying beside us. I didn't see it at first, the green light aimed for me, but I did see white and then black. When I looked down, Hedwig was falling to the ground. A green light from a wand comes from the killing curse Dudley. Hedwig flew in front of it just before it hit me."
Dudley soon felt tears prick in the corner of his eyes. To some extent, Hedwig had been his pet too because the cousins lived in the same house as each other. She must have been an extremely loyal bird. He caught Harry letting out a shaky breath and he understood why because he was very much attached to his snowy white owl. Not wanting to dampen the mood of the whole day he whistled Felicity over once he managed to take her attention away from the Pygmy Puffs. They both decided on a barn owl after a few minutes and then proceeded to buy everything they would need. Not wanting to seem weird walking around London with large paper parcels in their hands as well as a bird in a cage and a bright pink fluffy creature, Harry and Ginny both apparated the pair to their house.
It wasn't long until they had unwrapped their new purchases and Dudley let the owl fly around the house a little to get used to its surroundings. He then proceeded to place the cage in the kitchen which was at the back of their house, so no one could see from outside. After all, it was a bit strange for a muggle to have a pet owl. It wasn't long until Dudley spotted the bright pink ball of fluff sitting on Felicity's shoulder and she was tickling it with her fingers. Dudley smiled at the sight and he asked her what she named him to which the blonde replied;
"Bon Bon."
Dudley screwed his face up in a mixture of confusion and amusement. Why had she named him after a sweet? He didn't ask her though because it was Felicity and she did weird things. Although he had a rough idea she had named their new pet that because he looked like a strawberry Bon Bon, just covered in fluffy pink hair. Their owl they had decided to name Arnold. No one knew where the name came from, they were arguing over what to call him until one of them said that name and that was the end of the argument. It had been a good day today and Dudley was very happy that Harry was letting him see from his own eyes what his world was like.