No Repeating History

Chapter 4

The children didn't stay long with the neighbours. Dudley saw Georgie's anxious face and realised that he had felt nervous. Of course, since the fight they had since he had hit Freddy, he realised that something was going on involving him and Freddy.

Livia insisted that they first had their lunch, before they would talk about serious things, so the children wouldn't be distracted by hungry tummies. Still, Freddy is oblivious to the tension and ate with gusto, while Georgie was just pushing the food round on his plate.

"Let's go to the living room," Livia suggested while Dudley was cleaning up the plates. He put them in the washing machine and then joined his family.

Freddy was half lying off the couch, eyeing the biscuits Livia had put in the middle of the coffee table. Dudley smiled and handed him two, grinning when he saw Freddy go over to Georgie to give him one as well.

Georgie gloomily accepted the cookie.

"So boys, you must have noticed that there was something weird going on involving grandma and grandpa?" Livia started and saw her two kids nod hesitantly.

"They didn't love me anymore," Freddy whispered sadly.

Livia and Dudley gave each other a look, but they couldn't deny those words completely.

"It's not that they didn't love you anymore, but they are afraid of something, and that fear makes them make silly decisions," Dudley said, trying to salvage the despair.

"What do they fear then? And why did they tell me it was okay to hurt Freddy?" Georgie asked.

Livia looked him in the eye and then took a deep breath,

"Have you ever been able to do things that you can't explain? Like when you want to have a toy or something, it will just float your way or suddenly appear?" Livia explained.

"What about it?" Freddy asked, but Georgie grew a it paler.

"That means you can do real magic. Grandpa and grandma don't understand it, and that makes them afraid. Freddy, they saw you do magic," Livia said, sounding awed at the end.

"But, it wasn't me," Freddy said, looking at his brother nervously.

"Did I make grandpa and grandma hate Freddy?" Georgie asked, tears in his eyes. He had gotten up from the couch.

"NO!" Dudley said loudly. The children looked at him with wide eyes, Georgie's eyes were still glistering with tears.

"No, they decided to hate him because of it. It is just something that is part of you. It is part of you as much as the colour of your hair and or the fact that you are right or left handed." Dudley said, feeling a bit out of his depth, but he wanted to make sure that his children understood that it wasn't them.

He looked at both of his children, first Georgie, then Freddy.

"I don't care what anyone says, you are both special, and you are both my children. Me and mommy will love you, and if someone wants to hurt you, they'll have to pass through me. I'll give them the old one-two," he said, making Georgie smile through his tears and he saw Livia roll her eyes.

"Thanks da," Georgie said, and Dudley hugged him tightly, quickly grabbing Freddy in the bear hug.

"Let's visit gran and gramps tomorrow," Livia said, referring to her own parents, "do you know that I have relatives that are also able to cast magic?"

"You do mommy? Perhaps they can learn Georgie some new tricks, he always does the same ones," Freddy said, smiling.

"I do have some family that do magic, but I haven't seen them for a long time. Gran and gramps might have held contact with them. Well visit tomorrow." She said.

The family was excited about visited the family again, they put the kids in bed early because they had quite a drive before them. When the knock on the door sounded, they didn't know who it could be.

Dudley went to get the door, not liking it when Livia went to open the doors after dark for strangers.

"Aunt Marge? What are you doing here?" Dudley asked when he saw the formidable woman standing there, together with her new favourite dog

"Dudley, your father called me. What is this nonsense about them not having any contact anymore with the kids?"

Dudley's face hardened when he heard the reason for her visit. His dad must have thought that Marge would be able to intimidate him in changing his mind. But if there was anything that Dudley had learned when he was a kid was how to out stubborn his won parents.

"No, they won't. Not until they stop treating Freddy like they did Harry," he said and saw her eyes narrow.

"Don't mention that boy. That one is of to the deep end. They just want to stop Freddy from going the same way. A bit of the stick never hurt the kid, not when they need some discipline," she said, "you need the boy to man up. You don't want to raise a fussy criminal Nancy boy," she said and Dudley could feel his temper rising.

"Dudley, who's there?" Livia said, coming out from the living room. He looked at her, knowing that she had overheard every word of the conversation. His aunt sniffed when Livia appeared. Marge had never liked Livia. She was too independent for her to control.

"Dudley, just listen to me. Vernon and Petunia just want to keep Freddy on the correct path, even with his bad genes, there is no reason for him to go on the same path as the boy."

"Bad genes?" Dudley asked, a vague expression on his face, not getting what his aunt was talking a bad.

"Just like breeding Dudley," aunt Marge stage whispered, making Livia her eyes narrow, "something wrong with the bitch, something wrong with the pup,"

Dudley heard Livia gasp, her cheeks red with anger and he gaped like a fish, not believing the audacity of those words. Without anyone doing anything the door slammed shut with such a ferocity it nearly slammed out of it's hinges.

Dudley heard the footsteps run up the stair and turned around to see the bare feet of his oldest son running up the stairs.

He could hear aunt Marge shouting at them and pounding at the door,

'I will get the authorities on this. Don't worry, I know a friend and before you know it those children will be placed with some people who can actually raise them decently,"

Dudley and Livia exchanged glances.

"Dudley, how powerful are her friends?" Livia asked fainthearted, afraid.

"Too powerful," Livia nodded, accepting his words.

"Then I suggest I'll extend our stay with my parents. Why don't you go comfort Georgie," she said with a sigh. Dudley nodded. He hoped that it would soon blow over, but he knew his aunt. She meant those words.

Dudley went up the stairs, his feet heavy.

He never realised that he one day would hate his parents this hard.