Dudley woke early and lay there, starring at the rain drizzling against the window. He stretched and yawned, not surprised to see Kreacher standing over him with a tray.

"Would Master Dudley like some coffee?" the house elf croaked.

"Yes, thank you Kreacher," Dudley said, taking the hot, steaming drink.

Two weeks had passed since the Dursleys had left Privet drive. They were now staying in the house Harry and his fiance lived in. People came and went often, whispering quietly amongst themselves: A family of redheads; an older woman with a toddler, whose hair changed color every time he laughed; Ron and Hermione; a tall, black man who was obviously very important; an older woman who had a severe face; a dreamy looking blonde girl with a round faced boy; and several more.

Dudley dressed and went downstairs. The ginger family was at the table, chattering contently with the blonde girl and her round faced companion. Dudley remembered the names: Molly, Arthur, George, Bill, Percy. Sometimes there was another – Charlie. Bill's wife Fleur was helping cook breakfast, her pregnant belly sticking out. The blonde girl was Luna and the boy was Neville.

"Morning," Ginny, Harry's fiancé, said brightly. She was very friendly towards Dudley. "I assume your parents are getting ready. Help yourself to breakfast."

Dudley looked hopefully at Harry. "Has Parvati –?"

"She hasn't been in touch yet, mate," Harry said grimly. "Give her some time to cool down."

Dudley nodded, saddened. Parvati had refused to talk to him after learning that he was Harry's cruel cousin. However, in the past couple of weeks, Dudleys changed personality was growing on everyone in the house, especially Harry. Harry had never known what it felt like to have a family member – a true blood relative – care about him. Even if Petunia and Vernon were still bitter and didn't come downstairs unless it was totally necessary, Dudley was curious and friendly. Everyone enjoyed being around him, especially Arthur.

"And you say that these, um, what were they called again, Dudley?"

"Computers," Dudley said patiently.

"Yes, those, you say they can find virtually anyone?"

"Pretty much," Dudley said. "There are virtual communities, like Facebook or Twitter, which are basically like electronic letters and newspapers. Videos are similar to your moving pictures."

"Fascinating!" Mr. Weasly roared. "Are you hearing this, Molly? We simply must get a clompmotor!"

"Computer," Dudley corrected.

"Indeed, so!"

Harry hid a grin as he helped Ginny with the dishes.

"Fancy some toffee, mate?" George offered Dudley.

"Not from you, I don't," Dudley said, but he had a grin on his face.

The doorbell rang, and Kreacher went to answer it. A moment later, the house elf lead Parvati into the kitchen.

Dudley stood up so fast that Crookshanks, who had been snoozing contently on his lap, screeched in surprise and went flying at Kingsly.

Parvati flushed a brilliant red when she saw Dudley. "Can we talk?" She asked quietly.

Dudley nodded and followed her into the sitting room, everyone's eyes following them. They got to the sitting room and Dudley took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry –"

"I wanted to say –"

They both started at the same time. Parvati nodded. "Go ahead."

"I'm sorry," he began again. "I should have told you I was related to Harry. I was afraid, though, because I know how famous he is and I was afraid you'd be more fascinated with that, and I was embarrassed because I treated him quite horribly when we were younger. I'm not going to make excuses, I was a bully. I was big and mean and nasty and now Harry has done so much for us, and I wish I could take it all back . . . he's saved my life, you know, I should have been more grateful . . . mum and dad will never understand but I do now, and I really like you Parvati so please forgive me."

He took another long breath and waited for her reaction.

She fiddled with a string on her robes. "I – I was too quick in judging you. I shouldn't have. I've known you for a bit now, and you've always been kind, and caring towards me . . . I let your past affect the way I saw you, and I shouldn't have. I really like you Dudley, and I believe you really have changed – Harry told me so himself."

They were quiet. "So, do you forgive me?" Dudley asked hopefully.

"No," Parvati said. "Because I have nothing to forgive."

Dudley smiled and leaned forward. Parvati stood on her toes to kiss him, and everything in Dudley's life was right again.

But then . . .

"Parvati," Dudley said, pulling away a bit. "I have some questions . . . why did the Death Eaters attack my house?"

"Because you're Harry's family," Parvati said simply. "And that's good enough for them."

"But they've left us alone for years now."

Parvati hesitated. She walked towards the door, and shut it.

"Right," she said. "Strictly speaking I'm not supposed to tell you any of this – we prefer to keep muggles out of all this – but I feel you need to know. This house is not only Harry's home, it is the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix."

"The what?"

"It's a secret society devoted to the downfall of Voldemort and the Death Eaters, basically. This is the third time the Orders ever been organized."

"But why?" Dudley asked. "They say that this Voldemort man is dead."

"He is," Parvati said. "At least, we hope so." She hesitated, and lowered her voice. "There are rumors. Rumors about the reason the Death Eaters have been attacking . . . there may very well be someone else."

"Someone else?" Dudley asked, feeling confused.

"We – The Order – have reason to believe there is another Dark Lord rising."

Dudley blinked and sat down. "Is it him?" Dudley asked. "Surely not twice . . ."

"We're not sure," Parvati explained, sitting down with him. "It could be. Or it could be someone else. But whoever it is, the Death Eaters have decided that they're with them."

"So that's what all of these people are doing here?" Dudley asked. "They're all members of this Order?"

Parvati nodded. "We lost a lot of good people last time," she said sadly. "Dumbledore, Tonks, Lupin, Sirius, Fred, Snape, Moody . . ." Her eyes watered. "L-Lavender . . ."

She suddenly dissolved into tears, and buried her head against Dudley's chest. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Shh," he soothed her. "Everything will be okay."

"I'm afraid, Dudley," she sobbed quietly. "So many deaths and so much pain . . . we've already lost another auror, poor dear, Marietta . . . I don't know what we're going to do."

"We're going to fight," Dudley said simply. "And we're going to win."