Chapter 14 Dudley
Chapter 14 Dudley
Dudley woke the next morning filled with regret and pain. His head felt like it might explode at any moment. The after effects of the cruciatus curse had been the worst pain he had ever known, it was deep, he could feel it in his blood thrumming around his body but his head hurt the worst, constantly assaulted by a sharp and relentless stabbing. The only relief came when Draco used his spell. Dudley tried not to ask for it. The idea of requesting someone perform magic on him was so alien it made him laugh. Draco seemed to have a sixth sense for knowing when the pain was becoming too much for Dudley. Draco always asked Dudley if he would like him to perform the spell, he never cast it without consent, Dudley would forever be grateful for that. For some reason he found spells easier to bear when they came from Draco, they didn’t have the same harsh sting that he had come to associate with magic.
Dudley chastised himself, why had he got so angry at Draco? Everything was so visceral, it all felt so big. He didn’t feel in control of his emotions, things were pouring out of him unbidden. He needed to apologise to Draco but he was gone. Draco had been sleeping next to the far wall the last couple of nights and his presence had smothered some of the intense panic that now constantly bubbled in Dudley’s stomach.
Yes, Draco had clearly been raised as some kind of magic nazi but no one was perfect. Draco had been trying to tell him that he didn’t believe the same things as his family, Dudley had been too quick to judge, shut him down before he could even explain himself. That wasn’t even the worst of it, Dudley was a Hypocrite, didn’t he hate magic? That was surely just as intolerant.
Dudley laid wrapped in Draco’s duvet. It smelled like Draco, where Lucius had smelled so strongly of peppermint Draco smelled like the outside, earthy and fresh. With his eyes closed Dudley could almost fool himself in to thinking that he was laying in a field somewhere.
Dudley felt his absence sharply, they had spent the last few days in each others company almost constantly. He allowed a single tear drip down the side of his face before wiping it away and attempting to sit up.
His head rang with fresh pain. He still felt bloody awful but perhaps marginally less so than the previous few days. Dudley stared at Draco’s wall, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was still on the floor, the bookmark peeking out the top, Dudley had given Draco the receipt from the shop to keep their place. Dudley smiled.
Crack
Draco appeared with look of consternation on his face. Dudley felt some of the knots in his stomach begin to unite themselves.
‘Draco listen, about yesterday. I don’t know why I got so angry…’
Draco lifted a hand to stop him.
‘You need to know that I don’t think I’m better than you.’
That stopped Dudley in his tracks
‘Good, I don’t think I’m better than you either’
‘I’ve grown up, my whole life thinking I was more important than everyone else, better than everyone else because of my name and my family. Honestly, I liked it Dudley! I liked being superior, I’m not proud of that but it felt good I can’t deny it.’ Draco’s voice was cracking, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
‘I wore this ‘Malfoy’ badge as a mask, and somewhere along the way it stopped being a mask and it just was me and those opinions became mine’
‘The pureblood stuff?’
‘Blood supremacy and hating muggles, everything Voldemort stands for but since meeting you. I don’t know it’s like all these things that I already knew deep down, you’ve pulled them out so I can’t ignore them anymore. When there’s a muggle in front of you being so brave and so kind in the face of just absolute shit? How am I supposed to believe muggles are stupid when there’s evidence right in front of me that proves thats a lie? I couldn’t hate you. A lifetime of being told to hate muggles and I just can’t. I can’t hate you Dudley’ Draco was crying now.
‘I don’t hate you either. I mean I did for a while, that first day. But I know you’re not that person, you’re not even a good actor, I think if anyone properly looked at you they’d see straight though you’
Draco laughed at that.
‘People look at me a lot, but I don’t think they see me’
‘So we don’t hate each other?’ Dudley asked
‘No. We don’t hate each other, we probably should. A muggle and a pureblood, definitely not natural friends.’
‘Also you tortured me twice’ Dudley added with a twinkle in his eye.
Friends they were friends. Draco had said it and it stoked a fire in Dudley.
‘I’m still sorry about that.’
‘You know what would help?’
‘What?’
‘If you’ve got that wand handy a little pain relief magic would be very much appreciated’
‘Oh my god! Of course’
‘sana salutem’
Dudley felt a cool breeze drift over him. The stabbing stopped and was replaced with a tranquil silence.
‘Thankyou’ Dudley said with a sigh.
‘It’s crazy that you can just do things like that, do they teach that spell at school? Did you go to the same school as Harry?’
‘Hogwarts, yeah.’
‘How come you aren’t you there now?’
Draco let out a breath as he sat down opposite Dudley.
‘My parents won’t let me back, I’m supposed to be ‘taking my place at the dark lord’s side’
‘Oh.’ It was easy to forget that there was a war on while you were shut away in a dungeon Dudley decided to ignore Voldemort and focus on Hogwarts.
‘What’s it like, Hogwarts? I never spoke to Harry about school’
‘No?’
‘Like I said, we weren’t close’
Draco lit up at the mention of Hogwarts.
‘Well Hogwarts is amazing, the castle is huge, filled with magic paintings and moving staircases. The lessons are hard but interesting, potions is my favourite. Quidditch is brilliant, I’m .. I was the Slytherin seeker’
‘Woah… that’s a lot of gibberish you’re throwing at me. What’s quidditch and what’s a seeker?’
Draco laughed, like it was impossible to him that there were people who didn’t know what quidditch was.
‘Hey! It’s not my fault, I bet there’s tonne's of muggle things that you have no idea about.’
‘Sorry, sorry, quidditch is a game, played on broomsticks.’
‘Broomsticks, Like flying ones?’
‘Exactly. You chase balls through the air and fire them through hoops. The seekers job is to chase one ball in particular, that’s my job, and Harry’s too except he plays for Gryffindor.’
‘Harry plays?’
‘Yeah, he is irritatingly good.’
‘He’s good?’
‘He was the star player, captain of the team. Saint potter.’
‘So was Harry like, popular at Hogwarts?’
‘Most people think the sun shines out of his arse. He is ‘the chosen one’ apparently’
‘Oh’
‘Why?’
‘I just. I can’t imagine him with friends is all, he had none in Surrey.’
‘You truly never got on with him?’
‘No. I was pretty unkind to him our entire childhood.’
‘That makes two of us then.’
‘You did not like him either?’
‘No.’ Draco looked up at Dudley With a pinched expression. ‘I was pretty unkind to him our entire childhood.’ Draco finished.
‘I regret it.’ Dudley said simply, removing his eyes from Draco and looking down at his hands.
‘I think I do too.’ Draco replied.
A quiet settled between them.
‘This war…’ Dudley began
‘Yes’ Draco encouraged
‘Who is going to win?’
Draco said nothing for a long time.
‘I think he’s going to win’ Draco said finally.
Dudley didn’t have to ask who he was, the glistening in Draco’s grey eyes left him with no doubt.