Before anyone really knew it, Winter had come and gone and in its absence Spring rolled around. There was no more snow on the ground, no more ice whether it be black ice or white ice- both were equally as annoying and dangerous. No frosty winds that would grasp everyone who had the misfortune of having to brave the horrific weather in a fist that was almost impossible to escape. Now, it wasn't exactly warm because it was still rather chilly but mostly it came from the cool winds that swept throughout the country and didn't actually come from the day simply being cold.
It wasn't much of a surprise really that a lot of people prefer Spring over Summer because when the latter does come around it can sometimes get far too hot to even go out unless the person in question wants to risk becoming a human lobster for a few days afterwards. Right now it was sitting comfortably at thirteen degrees Celsius which was definitely not warm but it was hot enough in order for everyone to shift their large winter jackets in favour of lighter ones. Surprisingly, today it wasn't raining which as a whole may be seen as a sign but it was anything but nice.
Well, to some people at least. One man in particular was extremely annoyed over what day it was and what exactly was happening a measly two hours away from the two-bedroom house he owned which was only a ten-minute drive from the south coast of England.
It was a far cry from the large house he used to live in (even though he technically still owns the place but he had signed a pre-nuptial agreement with Petunia that she would get the house if anything ever happened to them). He never expected it to happen but Vernon Dursley was annoyingly a man of his word and he would never change it. The past couple of months he had basically had a permanent sour look on his face and this was for a very simple reason- he hated change and this wasn't something he liked. The man was used to a life of luxury and right now he was living anything but a luxurious life. Yes, he was high up in Grunning's Drilling Manufacturer's but everything else.
For over twenty years he had been coming home to a large five-bedroom house in the more exclusive area of Little Whinging- even though it wasn't that expensive- and to a loving wife and son. He can't even begin to understand where it all went wrong. Petunia had shared the same views as him over everything concerning her nephew (he scoffed at the thought because the boy shouldn't be considered her nephew) but it had seemingly happened instantly that she changed her mind. Dudley though, where did he go wrong? His son had been absolutely perfect- at least in his eyes but he didn't care what anyone else thought. He had shared the same views as soon as he knew everything about that lot because even just thinking of the word that those people were sent his blood into a boil.
It wasn't normal, and it wasn't right.
It had all started when they were forced to leave their large house to move somewhere that they had never even heard of never mind been to before that his son changed. To the majority of people his change was extremely impressive and was something to look up at but to the beefy man who was currently sitting on the couch watching the small television he had whilst people-watching out the large bay window it was like the biggest sin of all time. He had raised Dudley to be the best he could be yet the twenty-one-year-old threw it all back in his face like it was absolutely nothing.
Like father like son.
That was how he had raised Dudley, he wanted him to be a reflection of himself because Vernon genuinely didn't see that his thinking process was really messed up. He shouldn't have even been thinking about getting in touch with them, yet he did and he had kept it all a secret. He shouldn't even be thinking of his cousin yet he had been meeting him in the flesh. It was all because of that girl- it had to be. It was when he met the tiny blonde girl that his thought process suddenly shifted for worse. For so many years he had spent with his son gossiping over the latest TV show and their excessive appetites as well. Once they moved it wasn't like that at all, Dudley changed and in the man's eyes he had changed for the worst when really he had changed for the better.
He had his life planned out for him. It was no secret that Vernon bribed his old school teachers into giving him very good grades even if Petunia didn't know anything about that and it was not a secret that he had used his influence to get him a top place in the company he worked for. This didn't happen and that annoyed the older man. He always wanted things to go his way and no one else's. He was raised in a household with his sister Marge that a person had to fight to get what they want and to never back down. There was no point in even trying to fight Dudley because he had unfortunately inherited Petunia's stubbornness. Once he had changed his mind it wasn't being changed back. Vernon used to admire this about his son but now he was disgusted by it.
Instead of continuing with his old hobbies, Dudley began working out which caused him to snort in horror because there was nothing he hated more than the gym. Nobody even needed to ask him this because it was pretty obvious since he had a very large waist line and he wore a men's XXL in clothes size. Instead of walking into work every day and seeing his son he walked into an empty office. He wasn't too annoyed with Dudley not wanting to work with him because after all, drills were a rather dry subject. He was proud of him though for how well he had done in such a short time. Not many a twenty-one-year olds have a business to their name never mind a successful business.
It was the girl though that annoyed Vernon. He absolutely despised the petite woman and she obviously hated him just as much. In his eyes she was too much of an opposite to be compatible with his wonderful son and it also didn't help in the fact that he lost an astounding five hundred thousand pounds as well. He was planning on telling Petunia and Dudley about his plan a week after that fateful day but instead they were forced out of their large family home and had no choice but to go into hiding. Vernon scoffed lightly because no matter how much the evidence was there he still couldn't picture his estranged wife's scrawny nephew being the cause of a war.
Vernon had been speaking to another top businessman whose daughter had recently turned nineteen about joining forces. It also wasn't a secret that arranged marriages were still common in the business field and behind his wife and son's back he had arranged it. Obviously it had to be cancelled when they had to leave seen as they genuinely had no idea when they would go back or even if they would go back. This was the first reason in which he hated Felicity. She had unknowingly lost the man a ridiculous amount of money and had shamed him in front of other top businessmen in the process for backing out of the arrangement.
The second reason in which he hated her was because she was related to one of them. Vernon can't even say any of those words without feeling like a firework about to explode. It wasn't normal and he was being forced to put up with something that was utterly preposterous. It sickened him more that his otherwise perfect son was now willingly putting up with it. Vernon knew that Petunia had probably told Dudley about Felicity being a relative to one of the freaks yet he just accepted it. He wouldn't have accepted it beforehand which meant it was because of her. If she wasn't there he wouldn't have been shamed in public, he wouldn't have lost a very large sum of money, he wouldn't have lost a partnership with another well respected business, and he would have been able to forget about his direct connection to people who shouldn't exist.
It was very obvious that the overweight man absolutely hated it when things didn't go the way he had planned them to. Everything was planned out for himself and his family in a way that they would never have to worry about debt and also in a way that people would always look up at them with a huge amount of respect. This did not happen and this really annoyed him. Now he had lost not only a lot of his respect but he had lost his wife and his son in the process. Vernon genuinely didn't seem to realise that his thought process was completely wrong- he was far too big headed for that. Right now he felt even more alienated from everyone since Dudley had removed him from the guest list for his wedding. The younger man knew that Vernon would make even more snide remarks to Felicity's face and he wanted her to have a perfect wedding.
So Vernon was sitting in the small living room continuing with his people watching by pretending to watch the television to avoid being caught out. If Dudley didn't want Vernon in his life anymore then Vernon didn't want him in his life anymore.
---
Elsewhere in the middle of the southern countryside a solid white marquee was being set up. It was only a backup anyway just on the off chance that it might rain and face it, nobody wants rain on a wedding day. It wasn't a hot day but it was warm enough so that people didn't need thick jackets which was much appreciated. The young couple who were getting married had decided to have the actual ceremony outdoors but have their reception in a five-star hotel ten miles away. Guests were all beginning to arrive even though there was very few. They agreed that weddings should just be a family and close friend affair instead of a competition over who could have the fanciest decorations or who had the most guests.
In total there was only forty people on the guest list and the majority came from Felicity's side of the family since she had a lot of cousins that she was very close with.
Right now, people were bustling around in the hotel trying to keep the bride and groom from each other because they wanted it to be as traditional as possible even though it annoyed the young couple. Petunia was in the room with Dudley who had been pacing back and forth for the past ten minutes. It wasn't that he was having second thoughts at all because he didn't have any. He was nervous because this is going to be one of the biggest days of his life and there was a small voice in the back of his mind telling him that something was going to go wrong.
He had finished getting ready around an hour ago and he swears that he is going to go crazy if he is kept in here much longer out of boredom and worry. Surely every soon to be married couple feels like this just before it all happens. Dudley had gone all out on his expensive suit which he had custom made by the designer in question- it was a staggering amount of money but after all- he would only get to marry Felicity once and they both wanted it to be incredible and something they would never forget.
The day before Dudley had spent with Harry to ask the now married cousin how he felt just before doing the same thing with Ginny. Harry had simply replied that he felt almost exactly the same as Dudley which calmed the month older man considerably before snorting in amusement when Harry said he was more scared of Ginny's temper than he was on their own wedding day. Harry and Ginny were not invited to the actual ceremony but that was fine, after all they weren't exactly friends yet- at the moment they were simply just getting along with one another.
However, they were coming to the reception which will either go very well or very bad. It meant that Harry and Petunia were going to be face to face which terrified him slightly. Yes, Petunia felt guilty about everything that happened but it was sixteen years of damage- that would take a very long time to forget. Although, Dudley couldn't deny that he was more scared over Ginny's reaction because he had only ever seen her temper once and when he did it wasn't in full swing- he was terrified of the redhead then so he didn't want to even consider what she was like when she was really angry.
Two floors down and a petite blonde woman was being wrestled to stay still by her bridesmaids who were all her closest friends in order for them to finish on her hair and makeup. Natasha (one of the three) just so happened to be a hairdresser which came in very handy because Felicity didn't need to pay a lot of money to get her hair all done up. She was still sitting in a lavender coloured dressing gown whilst staring at her dress which was hanging on the back of the wardrobe door to let the weight of the silk take out any possible creases.
Felicity had decided to go rather natural with her hair and makeup because she didn't want to feel the annoying prickling of pins in the back of her head the whole day. Instead her hair had been half-pulled back into a messy fishtail braid and was tied in the back with the more traditional wedding style. She had a thin purple ribbon interwoven into the ash coloured strands which had been freshly highlighted a few days prior. The other half of her hair was loosely curled to give her a more worn-in look as opposed to a perfectly structured style.
Grudgingly, she stopped fidgeting in her spot as Tegan- another one of her bridesmaids- swiped on a bold berry shade onto her lips simply for effect. She was wearing soft beige tones on her eyes and had a thin layer of charcoal eyeliner in a tiny flick at the sides. The dark red really brought the whole look together as it contrasted strongly against her pale skin. Neither of her bridesmaids were letting her see what she looked like and had even gone to the extent of getting a room that had no reflective surfaces in it because they didn't trust her in not peeking.
After a few more minutes of uncomfortable tugging on her hair and feeling numerous brush strokes on her face, her three friends all stepped back to admire their work. Felicity checked the time and almost fell out of her seat when she saw that the wedding was in just forty minutes. Her friends seemed to realise now just how little time they had and they helped get the petite woman into her dress whilst making sure her hair was not disturbed. Luckily the zip on the dress slid up without getting caught on anything and she stepped into her diamonté encrusted white Jimmy Choo heels. At least she didn't pick a pair that had a ridiculous heel on them- they were only three inches which meant she wasn't going to be in a lot of pain by the end of the day.
A small knock on the door captured the four girls' attention and it was Natasha who answered it to reveal Felicity's parents. The three girls looked at each other and left the room to give the family space. Her mum was already crying and the blonde girl had simply stated that she had better stop before she did as she didn't want to ruin her makeup before the wedding had even begun. She already knew that her mascara was going to smudge at some point but she would rather it happen later instead of now.
Her mum now decided to take the poor girl out of her misery and walked her over to her own room which had a large mirror on the wardrobe door. Felicity closed her eyes for a few moments before slowly opening them to see what she looked like. She was stunned, completely and utterly stunned. Her friends had done an incredible job on her look wise and had indeed taken her own personal tastes into consideration instead of going all out. Very little eye makeup, dewy skin and a dark red pout. The purple ribbon in her hair tied in a tiny bow right at the nape of her neck which brought attention to the loose curls. It wasn't this that caught her attention though, what did was her tattoo that was sitting on her right collarbone.
It meant a lot to her. She had gotten it done as a tribute to her late grandmother whom she was extremely close with. It was two years ago that eternal sleep claimed her and two days later, Felicity was sitting on a leather chair whilst numerous needles stabbed into her collarbone. It looked good with her dress and she smiled a little at noticing the ribbon in her hair matched the colour of the flowers. Hyacinth's, it was her grandmother's favourite flower and purple was her favourite colour. The left side of her dress looked just as incredible as it did when she had her fitting. The large crystals placed in such a way that it looked like a giant wing was sprouting out of a flower. It was now that she turned to her dad since her mum had left to help Petunia with last minute preparations a couple of minutes before as he held his arm out for her to take and handing her a bouquet of flowers;
"Let's go and get you married sweetheart."
---
The young couple were both a bundle of nerves on the way to the venue, Dudley leaving twenty minutes before Felicity to risk them bumping into each other- their parents were adamant on them not seeing each other until they were at the altar. In the back room at the venue Petunia was gushing over how handsome Dudley looked which caused him to blush out of embarrassment. He expected it though, four years ago if he was asked if he thought he would be married so young he would have laughed.
By now Dudley had finally managed to stop his nervous back and forth pacing which Petunia was glad about because she was gradually getting extremely annoyed with him for doing so. Then again, she also had the exact same habit when she was nervous so she didn't really have the audacity to call him out on it. It would be hypocritical if she did. Petunia herself never thought this day would be here especially with her son's past but they were both slowly learning how to become better people- well, Dudley already had- it was just her.
It was a brave move of Petunia a fortnight before to sell the family house. Her decision was partially because she didn't want a constant reminder of what once was and partially because she felt like it was the right thing to do. Despite wanting to live closer to her beloved son she knew she wouldn't be able to leave Little Whinging. For a few days she had even considered relocating back to Cokeworth but she couldn't even begin to fathom the idea of visiting the small town again knowing the last time she was there Lily was still alive.
It wasn't long until Petunia was walking with Dudley towards the altar outside where all the guests were already seated. They had opted for minimal decoration because after all a wedding isn't to show off how much money a person has- a wedding is an official union of two people. Dudley fiddled a little with the bottom of his suit as he watched albeit awkwardly as Petunia took her seat. It was strange to not see Vernon there. It had caused a few raised eyebrows when the other guests were told of what happened between them all but no one questioned it.
A divorce was imminent with Vernon and Petunia; it was just the timing was a bit awkward.
He shook his head a little so as not to think about the whole argument. It wasn't that he didn't want to forget it because it was then that he saw his dad as the person he really was- a control freak and nothing less. He just didn't want to think about it and be upset considering this was supposed to be one of the happiest days of his life. His breath hitched though when the limousine pulled up that Felicity was in with her dad, this was it.
It may have been cliché but his jaw promptly fell to the ground in amazement when she stepped out with her arm looped around her father's elbow with a small bouquet of flowers clasped in her free hand. Dudley's eyes immediately transfixed on her tattoo, in a way it was as if someone she was very close to was still here to witness this special day. Her dress was absolutely beautiful and the guests all had looks of shock at seeing it. Soon she was only a metre from him and she gave him a large nervous smile showing off her teeth slightly which he returned. It was natural for them to be nervous right now; they were getting married.
The actual ceremony lasted a mere twenty minutes and both were glad that no tears had fallen yet despite both of them feeling more ecstatic than they ever had in their life. Felicity was no longer a Jones, she was a Dursley. Felicity Marie Dursley. It had a nice ring to it. Dry eyes couldn't be said for everyone else though because Petunia and Felicity's mum were both bawling their eyes out and a few of the guests also had tears shining in their eyes. In true wedding style, they both jumped into an open topped vintage car with a banner on the side saying 'Just Married' on the way back to the hotel in which they were having the reception.
Dudley waited outside for a few minutes whilst the guests were inside seen as he was waiting on another married couple to appear. It wasn't long until he heard the now familiar crackling sound that came with apparating which told him Harry and Ginny had arrived.
They soon rounded the corner since they obviously had to make sure that when apparating around people who weren't magic that they ended up somewhere that people wouldn't see them. Harry reached over and patted Dudley's back a little bit as an act of congratulations and Ginny gave him a small smile as well. She was rather nervous about this, she had never been to a muggle gathering before so this was a whole new experience for her. Ginny had opted for a black dress that fell to her knees and strappy gold heels that Dudley noticed she was finding rather awkward. Then again, Ginny was used to different clothing but at least her balance was good.
Dudley led them through the winding corridors to near the back where everyone else was gathered. A few people turned to face them and a few people looked at the two people with a strange look as they obviously didn't recognise them. Felicity let out a small squeak of delight at seeing her newest friend and ran over as fast as she could in her shoes to pull Ginny into a hug. Just like that the fiery woman was dragged away by the newly wedded woman to be introduced to everyone and Dudley chuckled a little at seeing her panicked expression at the blonde's excitement. Now it was just the two cousins who were left.
They hadn't spoken about what was going to happen and both couldn't deny that they were scared about people's reaction. They weren't having the toast or the vows until after their meal so they had plenty of time to figure out how this would work. Eventually Dudley began introducing Harry to the guests but being careful to leave Petunia until last because that should really be a private talk. Since neither of them wanted to think about what happened in the past because it was done and this was the present- there wasn't a point in dwelling on what it was once like between them. So when people asked Dudley why they had never heard of Harry before they both replied that they lost contact a few years before and had only recently gotten back in touch.
It wasn't a lie though; it just wasn't the whole truth.
Eventually Dudley took his seat with his new wife on his right and Petunia on his left. Harry and Ginny were both seated near the back and he chuckled a little at spotting Ginny screw her face up when she drank something out of her cup. It didn't surprise him, after all she had never even heard of the types of alcohol that were available at the bar and Harry had to explain them all to her. Harry laughed at his wife's expense which caused the redhead to shoot him a furious look which silenced him instantly. At this, Dudley smiled more.
Soon their meals were out and everyone ate the delicious food and Dudley tried to hide his annoyance when Felicity tried to flick some of the cream from her profiteroles on his cheek but then again he couldn't ever be truly annoyed at her. After they had finished and the toasts were made, embarrassing stories were shared by the wonderful bridesmaids and groomsmen (they were both close friends of Dudley's from work) which caused the newlyweds to turn red whilst everyone else chuckled. Their vows were spoken which caused a few people to tear up again at witnessing the union between the successful couple.
Obviously they had the traditional cake cutting and had their first dance before the more upbeat music kicked in. Now everyone could just relax the rest of the day and just enjoy the general atmosphere. Harry and Ginny soon came up to congratulate the pair and Dudley bit his lip at seeing Petunia walk over cautiously. Ginny tried to hide a small scowl but she was unsuccessful and she followed Felicity onto the dance floor. This talk had to be between the three of them only. Knowing it was stupid to have the very long overdue explanation they left the room and walked to the hotel room Dudley had gotten ready in earlier.
Unsurprisingly an extremely awkward silence was in the room once the door had been closed. It was like the first time that Harry and Dudley had met up all over again except this time the older man was the common ground. It wasn't exactly a hidden fact that Harry and Petunia had never exactly saw eye to eye. However, Harry knew the basics of her treatment of him and to an extent he sympathised with her. Everyone takes a loved one's death hard and Petunia took Lily's death really hard especially since she never had the chance to tell her sister just how much she loved her. The last time the two sisters had spoken had been a blazing row.
"I'd better explain from the beginning then Harry, I suppose."
The youngest nodded slightly although he couldn't ignore the lump in the back of his throat. On impulse his fingertips were grazing over his wand that he had stored in his sleeve with an enlargement charm to keep it completely hidden from sight. He didn't exactly fancy the idea of explaining the entire picture because it was very much messed up. Soon Petunia was spilling every single little thing and Harry was shocked to put it lightly. He had heard some of it from Dudley but it was difficult for him to get his head around Petunia saying it. Now that he was hearing it from the horse's mouth he genuinely did feel as though he understood for the first time in a very long time.
Of course it was going to take a very long time but hopefully it wouldn't last forever. Not yet wanting to go into detail on his adventures during his school years or the horrible war, Harry didn't speak about them but he did answer both Petunia's and Dudley's questions. The youngest wanted to tell Dudley all of that another time because this day was about him and Felicity, no one else. Eventually the trio integrated back into the small crowd of guests and after congratulating the couple once more on their nuptials, Harry and Ginny disappeared with a loud crack.
Today had gone a lot better than expected, not only was Dudley now a married man but Harry had willingly spoken to Petunia and she had willingly spoken to him. This would not have happened a few months before and it really did strike him that neither of their lives were going to be the same again.