Friday, July 4th, 2014. 2:05 PM.

  River Street, Borough of Islington, London, UK

  Harry snagged the carry-all with his work robes off the post at the bottom of the bannister. He walked back out to the stoop and Turned into the unpleasant pressure of Between. He emerged at one of his favorite Apparition points in London, a pocket park off River Street in Whitehall. Harry had always considered himself fortunate that the sound accompanying his appearance was only a faint pop. Ron made a sound like a bullwhip cracking. Given his general carelessness, he was continually explaining his sudden appearance to startled Muggles, with increasingly far-fetched stories. About half the time, he ended up having to use a Memory Charm, or Confunding them. Sadly, those were not among his best-performed spells.

  Coming out from a large clump of shrubbery, Harry crossed to the sidewalk, and turned toward the Ministry. He preferred not to Apparate directly into the Ministry’s lobby, enjoying the lively streets and people he passed. It also kept him in touch with the changing clothes sense and events of the Muggle world, something that his more insular fellow Aurors did not see as necessary.

  Across the street from where he was currently walking was a long storefront, the entire bottom floor of a five story building. Through the windows, he could tell business was booming. He smiled at the words running the length of the first floor canopy.

  D&W TOOLS & APPLIANCES - “Home of SAF-T-DRILL!!”

  There was a success story, all right. And Harry had been there right at the beginning...

  (Five Years Ago...)

  Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009. 8:45 AM.

  River Street, Borough of Islington, London, UK

  “Harry! Harry Potter, wait up!”

  Harry’s hand went to the wand inside his jacket before he recognized the voice. Dumbfounded, he glanced over his shoulder, then turned. It was! Dudley Dursley, massive as ever, breasting the crowded sidewalk like a ship throwing up a bow wave. And smiling!

  Harry shook off his befuddlement and automatically took the offered hand. The crushing handshake he half expected did not come. Dudley seemed genuinely glad to see him.

  “Harry, how are you? I’ve been meaning to catch up with you for ages, but you’re not an easy man to track down. How have you been?”

  “I’m fine, Dud. Married now, three children. James just turned six, Al is five, and we’ve got a girl, Lily, she’s three.”

  “MY girl just turned six! We called her Iris. It’s all we can do to keep Mum and Dad from spoiling her rotten.” Seeing Harry’s raised eyebrows, Dudley grinned sheepishly.

  “Yeah, yeah, I hear you. It’s all down to my wife, Emily, though. She’s a quiet one, but firm. She made it clear before we married..., well, you know?”

  Harry decided on the spot that he had to meet this woman. Anybody who could carry her will unchanged through the Dursley family had to be a bit of all right.

  “How are your folks, Dudley?” Not that he cared, but Dudley was being more than polite, and it was the least Harry could do in return.

  “Oh, Mum’s fine, same as always. As long as she has something to clean and a bit of gossip, she’ll go on forever. Dad.., well, I worry some about him. He won’t watch his weight, or work out, or take it a bit easy. They’ve offered him retirement any number of times.., (I’ll bet they have! thought Harry), but he keeps on turning them down, and then yelling about it all night. He’ll pop a vessel someday.” Dudley looked downcast. “And it doesn’t help that I won’t move from the warehouse up to the front office. It’s not like I love the warehouse, but I get along okay. I know I would hate doing what Dad does.”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  “You’re looking well, Dud.” And he was, too. Still big, but fit along with it. “You still boxing?”

  “Nah, Emily doesn’t like it. She’s got us all doing this funny karate-judo stuff, tricky, it is. Lots of forms and katas and such. Little women half my size can chuck me across the room. It’s a right laugh sometimes.”

  Harry did laugh. “Dudley, I would pay to see that! And I would like to meet your family sometime.” He surprised even himself by how sincerely he meant that.

  “Harry, I’d like that too. I’ve told Emily about you, I mean..,” He glanced around nervously. “..ALL about you, and she’s just fascinated. Maybe we could take the kids out for their birthdays?”

  “We’re planning to take James out this weekend. We were going to go to Diagon Alley, but we could do that some other time...”

  Dudley’s eyes widened. “That’s the... place, where you buy your... things, right?” He hesitated, then rushed on. “Harry, I know it’s a lot to ask, but.., could we do that with you? Would it be alright with your, you know, your people?”

  Harry was taken aback. “Really, Dudley? I can see that you mean it, but are you sure you’re ready for that?”

  ‘Harry, I can’t tell you how much! It would just be a capper for Iris’ birthday, if we could do it.”

  Harry held up his hands, relenting. “Okay, all right. But it’s only fair to warn you, Dud. One of the shops we’ll be visiting is Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, and you’ve met one of the owners.”

  Dudley looked puzzled. Harry continued. “Briefly. In passing. Over a piece of toffee.”

  Saturday, September 5th, 2009. 1:35 PM.

  Charing Cross Road, City of Westminster, London, UK

  It had been a good day so far, Harry decided on Saturday afternoon, apparently to Ginny’s surprise as well as his own. She had always nursed a grudge against the Dursleys, even though she had never actually met any of them. The current reality was a little disconcerting, especially for someone who had heard all of Harry’s horror stories.

  Little Iris was quiet, like her mother, but of course James had never met a stranger in his life. He teased her out of her shell almost instantly, and they were excitedly comparing their strange, (to each other), lives and experiences, Al occasionally getting a word in edgewise. Lily had warmed up to Emily, and was chattering like a magpie. They had met at a Muggle fast-food restaurant, a new experience for Harry’s three. Apparently children loving junk food was some sort of universal constant. And when Iris showed them how to work the wind-up toys that came with their meals, well, you would have thought it was Christmas morning.

  Going through the Leaky Cauldron, Dudley got quiet and a little pale. And when the wall opened onto Diagon Alley, Harry saw his knuckles grow white where he was holding Emily’s hand, until she smacked his arm lightly.

  Once inside, though, he seemed to regain composure. Harry heard him whisper to his wife, “I dunno. Are they staring at us?”

  And her reply, “No, you big goof! They’re staring at HARRY, of course!”

  The three older children ran on ahead. Harry yelled after them, “Not one step down Knockturn Alley! And you’d better be at Uncle George’s when we get there!” He smiled over at Dudley, who was looking worried again. “They’ll be fine, Dud. Safe as houses in here.” Lily fussed a little at being held back, until Emily picked the child up to settle on her hip, making silly faces. Lily was once again all smiles.

  They took their time going up the street, stepping into shops here and there to pick up household necessities. Harry and Ginny exchanged words with shopkeepers and customers they knew. On the street, Harry pointed out things in the shop windows to Dudley, while Ginny and Emily conversed in low voices behind them. They spent a good while in Flourish & Blotts.

  Coming out the door, Dudley shook his head.

  “Something wrong, Dud?” Harry asked.

  He shrugged. “It’s like..., I always knew you were in another place when you went off, but this.., this is a whole world you’ve got here. And nobody knows.”

  Harry was a little taken aback. Dudley thinking? Caring about somebody else? Harry’s old Dementor/New Personality theory was beginning to seem less ridiculous.

  “Dudley, lots of people know. There’s people like you, who have magic-using relatives in an otherwise Mu.., um, normal family. There’s people in the government we have to deal with, however infrequently, and lots of others. I think the only real difference is in whether they know and don’t care; know and are interested; or, like your parents, they know, but they don’t want to know.”

  Dudley gave his sheepish grin. “I hear that! I keep expecting Mum to pop out of nowhere and drag me off by the ear!”