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Author: Enero Story: Summer Attack Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-DH Status: Completed Reviews: 19 Words: 14,124
Petunia felt a deep dread as she walked down the hall with Dudley. A man and a woman stood outside a door that probably led to Harry’s room. The woman, who looked vaguely familiar, had a very fierce look on her face. Petunia struggled to keep herself from shivering. “Petunia Dursley, I’ve heard so much about you, but I can’t say it has been anything good.” The woman’s greeting was sharp and it made Petunia wince despite her best efforts not to. She couldn’t think of how to respond to that. But she didn’t have much time to consider her options, as the woman did not relent. “My sons picked Harry up from your house four years ago.” She had a slight smile on her face, probably knowing that what she was referring to was not lost on Petunia. “I’m Molly Weasley, my son Ron is friends with Harry.” “Yes, I um, recall that evening.” Petunia said, at a loss for a better response. Deep down she had known what they’d done to Harry was wrong but at the time she didn’t care. She couldn’t look bad to the neighbors since no one knew, but how much did this woman know? Enough, it seemed. She felt guilty because she was guilty, she had done all those things and now this woman seemed to be just warming up for a crucifixion. *** Ginny was reading one of her school books when the door opened and Remus poked his head in. “Uh, Ginny? Would you mind coming out here for a minute?” She nodded in response but turned to Harry after Remus had closed the door again. “It’s okay, Ginny.” Harry said with a resigned shrug, “I’m used to it by now.” Ginny growled softly at the truth of Harry’s statement. At least she saw him smile a bit. “Don’t worry,” she reassured him, “I’ll tell you everything.” *** Harry smiled as he watched Ginny leave. She was protective just like her mum, except when Ginny did it, it always came off as so cute, especially when she made that soft growl. It reminded him of a baby tiger. Of course, he would never tell her that for fear of what she’d do to him. *** Ginny shut the door softly behind her and turned to give Remus a piece of her mind about all this secrecy. Harry had a right to some autonomy for Merlin’s sake. Her mouth had even been partly open as she turned but it quickly snapped shut at the sight that greeted her. The monstrosity of a boy in front of her could only be one person. “You have got to be joking!” Ginny exclaimed loudly. “Now, Ginny,” her dad began, “I know what you must be thinking...” Ginny whirled on her dad. “Are both of you part of this?” She raised her voice even louder as she acknowledged her mum too. “Ginny...” Remus said, raising a hand to try and calm her down. “No,” Ginny said. “You will not ‘Ginny’ me. This is ridiculous. Have you learned nothing yet? Can you really be this thick?” She could barely control her anger at this point. The absolute nerve of these people to show up here, after all they’d done to Harry. “I came to thank Harry,” Dudley said in a barely audible voice. Ginny whirled around to face him, some of her long hair swinging around in front of her shoulder. She stared at Dudley for a long moment, narrowing her eyes, daring him to look away. When he held her gaze, if somewhat fearfully, she let out a short, soft sigh. “I’m going back inside and you will come in only when and if I tell you; is that understood?” She was now staring daggers into Dudley and he nodded timidly. Ginny turned and walked back through the door without another word or glance to anyone. This time she wasn’t so careful when she shut it. *** Harry looked up quickly at the sound of the door, slightly surprised. “What is it?” he asked, even more puzzled when he saw the look on her face. Ginny had sat down in a chair by the bed and was staring at the floor, taking deep breaths. He knew enough to give her a moment before asking again. “Ginny?” “They did it again, Harry. They made a decision without talking to you and they waited until it was too late to tell you about it,” she said. “What are you talking about, Ginny? Just tell me what it is.” Ginny seemed to be gathering her resolve before she took a deep breath. “Your aunt and cousin are outside the door right now. Apparently, Dudley wants to talk to you,” Ginny finally said. *** Harry, who had certainly not been expecting this, took a moment to process what Ginny had just told him. But after a few moments, he couldn’t contain himself and started laughing. Ginny didn’t look like she was joking but she was a decent actress. Though he had to admit, the situation was pretty farfetched to be believable. “You guys didn’t really think I was going to fall for that did you?” he asked, still laughing. “Harry, really, I wish I were joking but I’m not. They’re both really out there,” Ginny said. It was the tone of Ginny’s voice that caught his attention, it was anger and sadness swirled together. He stopped laughing abruptly. “What?” His voice caught in his throat a little and half the word almost didn’t come out. “I’ll tell them to leave, Harry. I didn’t know they were coming either. They probably didn’t tell you because they figured you would say no. But I told no one to come in unless I told them it was alright.” Ginny’s face was getting redder and redder as if just speaking of the situation could make her even angrier. Harry, on the other hand, was still trying to believe it. His brain was stuck between being furious at people for thinking they could make this decision for him and absolutely shocked that Aunt Petunia and Dudley were right outside the door...in a wizard hospital. He needed to push away his feeling of anger. He pictured shutting it all in a box and locking it up with chains, locks and charms. He would open it later and unleash it on a meeting with anyone who had ever done this to him. Once he had done that, Harry was slightly shocked to realize how much pain he was left with. His anger at it had always masked the pain he felt when people simply refused to respect his right to make decisions for himself. But now here it was, raw and burning in his lungs. Was he about to cry? He hoped not, being angry was so much easier. He looked back at Ginny and saw only understanding in her eyes. Of course, her brothers, her family, always treated her like this, too. She was forever the baby sister to them, never capable of understanding what was best for her, always being too young. And then there was Dudley. Harry couldn’t forget Dudley was supposedly standing outside the door, waiting for admittance. Had the attack penetrated the bubble of ignorance and blind hate he lived in? Harry’s immediate reaction was not to care. He never wanted to see the Dursleys again in his life and would just as soon forget their very existence. But he couldn’t ignore the quiet voice in the back of his mind, curious and demanding, telling Harry to find out what they wanted. Part of him hated that voice. It had always been there growing up, telling him that he just had to try harder for his aunt and uncle to accept him, love him. It was always there, telling him that he did care what they thought when he tried to convince himself otherwise. It was an unrelenting reminder of rejection and pain. “He seemed sincere,” Ginny offered, as if sensing Harry’s inner struggle. Harry focused his attention back on Ginny, wishing he didn’t have to make this decision. He closed his eyes and with a sigh told her, “Let him in.” *** Ginny watched Harry for a moment longer before turning back to the door. Dudley better be sincere, contrite and a whole bunch of other things, or so help her, she would not be responsible for what she did to him. *** Dudley felt like he was waiting hours for that girl to come back to let him inside. He was nervous and he didn’t like it. Ever since that attack, he couldn’t stop replaying it in his mind over again and again. When he wasn’t doing that, his mind kept throwing random memories of his childhood with Harry back at him. The more it happened, the more sick it was making him. He had been so unfair; his parents had been so unfair. He’d felt confused and unfocused for the last few days. His whole life he’d used hate and anger to express all feelings and now he was faced with unfamiliar feelings of guilt, pain and confusion. Was all this his fault? The door to Harry’s room opened and the girl stepped out. “I don’t know how, but Harry has found it in his heart to allow you to speak with him. I hope you understand that no matter what Harry feels, you most certainly do not deserve this opportunity and if you came her with anything in mind other than to ask for his forgiveness – not that I think you deserve it – it will be you that needs a room here and I’ll be certain to make sure it’s a long stay. If nothing else is certain in your life, this is.” Her voice was not loud as she spoke, staring directly at Dudley, but it was cold and hard, commanding more respect than his dad’s loudest of yells. This was a level of intimidation that, with all his size and punches, he’d never experienced. It was undeniably effective. “I understand,” was all Dudley managed to say, reflexively placing his hand on his backside. *** Ginny stepped aside to let him through, muttering “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” as he passed. She looked up as Lupin and Petunia moved to follow behind him. “No,” Ginny said, moving in front of her. “This isn’t some kind of show. This is Harry’s life and I think there has been enough…influence from you.” *** Harry was standing at the window, staring out at the street below when Dudley entered. He waited a moment after he heard the door close before turning around. When he did, Dudley was looking around nervously, his gaze lingering on the hospital bed. “Not what you expected?” Harry ventured. Dudley looked at him and shrugged. “I guess I expected you to be…” Dudley trailed off, looking back at the bed. “Yeah, well, I’m a pro at getting myself out of the hospital. It’s just getting myself in that’s the problem,” Harry said before he laughed a little at this. Not because it was funny, because it wasn’t, but because it was just so exasperating that he couldn’t help it. Dudley laughed awkwardly in response but stopped after moment. “I guess that’s not really that funny,” he said. “No, no it’s not,” Harry answered. He knew he should help more with the conversation but he didn’t really care. Dudley had come to him; if he wanted to say something he should go ahead and say it. *** Dudley had no idea what to do next. The conversation, if he could even call it that, had completely stalled. His eyes were searching the room, looking for something, anything to get it started again. Thankfully, a magazine on a nearby chair caught his eyes. Actually, it wasn’t really the magazine so much as the moving picture on the front! He took a step hesitantly forward, leaning his body forward while still trying to maintain some sense of distance from the foreign object. *** Harry watched Dudley examine the Quidditch magazine, half with indifference and the other half with triumph. They were two very strange feelings to have at once but he guessed that part of him was not going to let him believe that something could be gained from their relationship. Not yet anyway. “What’s that?” Dudley finally asked, pointing at the magazine but not putting his finger any closer than the rest of his body. Harry thought it almost looked like Dudley thought Victor Krum was going to fly out and bite him. “That’s a Quidditch magazine,” was all Harry said. There had been a time when Harry would have loved for Dudley to take an interest in something that was part of Harry’s world, or life for that matter, but that time had long past and now Harry could only find apathy. *** Dudley knew this wouldn’t be easy, but he hadn’t realised just how difficult it would be until he got here. Harry wasn’t helping him a bit. If he was going to do this, he would have to work at it. “What’s Quidditch?” Dudley plunged on, hoping to get Harry to loosen up. “It’s sort of like football but it’s played on broomsticks,” Harry answered. *** Harry stared at Dudley for a long moment. He knew, somehow, that he was at a turning point, not just in this conversation but in their relationship. If he left his answer at that and kept silent, he might as well tell Dudley to leave now. If he explained more, he was telling Dudley that he was willing to work at building – something – probably not friendship, but a relationship of some sorts. He almost wanted to laugh out loud at this, his relationship with Dudley coming down to the rules of Quidditch, the only thing in the Wizarding world that gave him credit for something he deserved. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them he looked straight at Dudley and began to explain the basics of Quidditch to him and the setup of school teams. It took a long time and involved a lot of hand motions. Dudley sat and listened, spellbound. “Do you play?” Dudley asked when it was all over. “Yeah, Seeker,” he answered. “How fast can you go on a broom?” Dudley continued, looking eager to learn more about the sport. Harry, surprised by Dudley’s interest, walked over and sat down at the small table holding the magazine. “The broom I have now is an International Racing broom, it can go up to 150 miles per hour in ten seconds. Being in the air, feeling that free, it’s brilliant, there’s nothing like it.” Harry got lost in his own daydream of being back on his broom towards the end there but he couldn’t help it. He loved flying. “Bloody hell,” Dudley said, amazed. He quietly continued after a moment. “It must have been a nice change after living in that cupboard all those years.” Though it might have been said quietly, it smashed through Harry’s daydream like a sledge hammer. Harry quickly looked at Dudley with sharp and suspicious eyes. “Yeah,” Harry replied slowly, “it was.” *** Dudley took a moment to collect his nerve before continuing, biting his lip. “I’ve done a lot of thinking, Harry. Thinking about how we grew up, about how you grew up. It wasn’t right. I see that now. I see how I acted was…horrible. I don’t expect you to forgive me but I wanted you to know, even if we never see each other again, that I’m sorry for my part in it. And I’m sorry for my parents’ part in it.” When Dudley finished, he waited nervously for Harry’s response, afraid of any answer he might get, rejection or acceptance. *** Harry spent what seemed like several minutes considering what Dudley had said. He knew he was on the spot to respond now but he realized that, by letting Dudley come in the room, by opening up a little to him, he’d already made up his mind. Everything was far from being solved for him and that wasn’t even counting Voldemort. He still had Ginny on his mind constantly, then there was Remus and everyone else who kept making decisions for him, not to mention the fact that he was currently in the hospital after almost getting himself killed. No, things were far from solved. But Dudley coming to build bridges with him after so many years, could this be a sign of things to come? Thinking of Trelawney, he wondered if it was an omen. But still, if this could happen, something he would have bet his life to be impossible, then maybe, just maybe, things could work out. He could have a life beyond Voldemort – maybe even have a future. “Dudley, given our past, I don’t think we’re going to ever be great friends, but let’s start with Quidditch and work our way from there, what do you say?” A/N: *Phew* I survived my first story! I want to say thanks to everyone who has read (and reviewed!) and for hanging in there with me through my long updates. I know how I feel when I enjoy someone’s writing and it’s great to know that others are enjoying yours. Thank you. I must especially thank Kokopelli for all his work with me through numerous revisions and questions. Also to Chris, who didn’t help with this chapter but lets me take over his computer to write since mine has become unreliable. And Sherry, for reading through this chapter and helping me get it posted.
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