Under the Stairs

Dudley knew as soon as the alley went completely dark that something unusual was happening. Feeling oddly cold despite that it was mid-summer, he backed away from his cousin, watching as the face he had grown to hate slipped quickly into a mask of shock and fear.

It was then that all the giddy happiness he felt at bantering with Harry, his personal favorite past time, drained in a steady rush. Fear now fully consuming him, Dudley turned on his heel and made his large body move as fast as possible in the opposite direction.

He was stopped mid-stride when a hooded creature blocked his path. The air was absolutely frigid, and all he could think was that this was death looking him eye to eye. He could hear Harry saying something behind him, but he was frozen, staring as the hooded head... if it had a head- drew near his own.

Suddenly, his knees buckled from beneath him and he was laying on the pavement, eyes closed and whimpering.

The creature was directly above him, taking shuddering deep breathes. With each one, the temperature seemed to drop several more degrees.

Then darkness took over.

*_______*

He was sitting in his bedroom, surrounded by many broken toys and disregarded books. He was about nine, and even then his girth was triple that of a normal kid his age. Night had just fallen, and his mother and father had long since retired to bed. After one last snack of course. His mother had read him a book, smoothed down his rumpled blonde wisps of hairs and kissed him goodnight with a horse-like smile.

Feeling hungry once again, he waddled to the stairwell and made his way towards the kitchen, being sure to skip the second stair from the floor, seeing as it squeaked dreadfully.

Quiet sniffling met his ears, and a low moan of pain crept from the cupboard under the stairs.

That freak...

He was going to pass right by, but he couldn't deny the crying disconcerted him. Not wanting to feel concerned despite himself, Dudley allowed himself to open the door to his cousin's cupboard a fraction of an inch.

It was completely dark inside, and the light came in a thin stripe, displaying the fevered forehead of a nine-year-old Harry Potter.

He was barely conscious, sick and fevered, but his quiet cries and mumblings were loud as anything to Dudley Dursley.

"Why me? If there is a Jesus, why did you stick me here with nobody to love me when I'm sick?" A sob escaped the young boy's throat and he flipped his head back on the pillow, tears streaking down his cheeks. "I hate you till I die.... Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and even Dudley. I hate you, I hate you!"

And the sight would never leave the fat boy in the doorway, as he watched his own cousin, his flesh and blood, suffer.

But then he silently closed the door, and turned his back. Then, with as much dignity as he could muster, he walked away.

_____________________________________________________________________

Many years later, when he was an old balding man, Dudley Dursley stood before Godric's Hollow cemetery, while snow fell all around him. It was silent and deserted here, the only other person a hooded figure some rows up.

The grave read:

Harry James Potter

beloved son

treasured friend to many

"Not all who wander are lost"

1980-2002

He gave a life to a war so we could be safe,

and he will be missed.

Later he would swear to his wife, who stood off some ways overlooking as her husband paid respects, that the wind had made his eyes water. And she would claim to believe him, all the while knowing the truth.

Dudley kneeled to the ground with some difficulty, the snow crunching beneath his boots, and placed a plain white card with the name 'Harry' written on top in his careful scrawl, against the headstone.

And for the second time in his life, he turned and walked away from Harry Potter. Only this time, the thoughts in his head were of a hero who had saved his life many years before, instead of an annoying little cousin who took up space in his home.

On the inside, the card simply read, 'Thank you.'

_________________________________________________