No Repeating History

Chapter 17

It was silent for a small while after Edith was gone, Livia brewing everyone a cup of tea while the children were upstairs playing, loudly yelling while loud noises of them running up and down the corridor sounded.

"Can we take the battle to her?" Livia asked, looking at Roger Davis, who smiled at the words. The lawyer put his cup down, and stapled his fingers, but before he spoke, Dudley was.

"Liv, what can we do? We're just ordinary folk. I mean, we don't have any pull or influence and I don't know if you have noticed it, but I'm not exactly the brightest one," Dudley said, feeling ear of starting a battle he knew he couldn't win.

"No, you're not the brightest, but you are charming," Harry said, making everyone in the room look at him weirdly.

"What?" Dudley asked, frowning at his cousin, who flushed.

"It's true, isn't it," Harry said, "everyone in our neighbourhood thought you were the nicest kid in the street, even when you were beating up ten year olds. Don't know how you pulled it off,"

"Yeah, that's right," Dudley said, both feeling proud and bad about himself during those days, "you can't believe how many times I got double dinners because of that,"

"Dud," Livia said, affection for her husband.

"Do you still remember who exactly those people where?" Roger asked, the lawyer looking intently at Dudley, whose eyes widened.

"Yeah, I do. Most of them still live in the same place. But what has that got to do with any of this?" Dudley asked, frowning at the lawyer, who smiled reassuringly.

"It would be great if we ever need to convince anyone that you are a good person. A sort of character study," the lawyer said, thinking, "it would look good if we got some victims of her as well. With such a personality, I can hardly believe that she wouldn't have any outburst when she thought she could get away with it,"

"But how will we find those?" Harry asked, frowning and quite sure that the woman must have been horrible to a lot of people.

"You were one," Dudley said, and Harry's eyes widened, suddenly looking uncomfortable when Livia and Roger looked at him.

It was true that she always tried to let her dog bite him, and she had hit him a few times, but it was especially her verbal assaults that had left Harry reeling each and every time;

To be honest, it was something he had put behind him and how much he wanted to help his cousin, he didn't actually want to think back about that period of his life.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea if you could step forward," Roger said, breaking the silence that had been forming.

"Can't we just search other victims?" Harry asked, and Roger shrugged.

"We can, but if Harry Potter was on our side, it could be more meaningful," Roger said, and Harry snorted.

"I might be known in our world, but here in the muggle world I'm a nobody," Harry said, making the lawyer smile.

"Of course not. You saw that psychiatrist, he knew who you were,"

"Yeah, but that was because his son was at school with me," Harry said, but the lawyer didn't let him deny the truth, "I don't have any influence in the muggle world,"

"Yes you do. Don't forget, the prime minister was kept informed about every development in the war. He knows who you are, and knows we take offence when someone hurts one of our war heroes. And don't forget about the rising number of muggle borns, who learn about you in school," the lawyer explains, and Harry nodded, but was secretly still doubtful that this would have any impact.

"You know, I think it might work," Livia said, smiling and feeling eager to go after the woman who tried to destroy her family. Just waiting made her anxious, but going in the attack fit her personality better.

"It might. I'll start looking into what I can find about her publicly, and start a sue for slander," the lawyer glancing at Dudley, "you should realise that you parents will not come out of his looking good,"

"My parents?" Dudley asked, looking surprised at the mention of them.

"Yes. If we go after your aunt, their treatment of Harry and of your kids will certainly be brought up. Especially if Harry is willing to speak for you guys," the lawyer explained.

"Oh," Dudley said, feeling at lost for words.

To be honest, he loved his parents, who doted on him and spoiled him rotten. Even now, he still wanted to go home and let his mum take care of it all, like she did when he was a child.

But they had hurt his children and they had hurt Harry when he was a child and no matter how much he still loved them after all of this, his children would come first and foremost in his heart.

It didn't matter that he was a mama's boy, his sons deserved better then having him letting his parents hurt them.

"I guess we'll not be sending them a Christmas card this year," Dudley said, his face grim.

The next few days, their lives settled in their usual pattern. Harry had given them a way to contact him, and suggested that they might want to buy an owl.

Dudley countered and said he would buy his cousin a cell phone, which was instant and much more practical than keeping an animal.

Freddy had protested, saying that he wanted an owl, and even Georgie came up with arguments about having an owl until Dudley said that he would think about it.

Going to work again was also met with some ruckus. The little movie of him getting arrested and Edith yelling about police brutality had reached the dockworkers he had has colleagues.

"Nice holiday, D. Got yourself arrested," they laughed and Dudley nodded with a sour face.

"Yeah, my posh aunt said I was abusing my kids," Dudley said grim-faced, making them stop laughing. They all knew how important Dudley's kids were to him.

"Oh, why would she do that now?" the man asked, and Dudley decided to put his old acting skills to good use.

Making himself even more a victim than he was, he started to explain too his mates about how his aunt was disappointed in him being only a dockworker, earning himself huffs from the men.

"She said that I needed to let the children life with her, otherwise they might just be 'ordinary labourers,'" Dudley exclaimed.

"Did she say that. What a bitchy woman," one of his colleagues said, "bet she's against unions too,"

"Yeah she is. She always said unions make workers lazy," Dudley said, not knowing if his aunt would say that, but quite sure that she at least would think that way.

The rest of the workday, Dudley felt a lot better when he was treated by a whole slew of insults about his aunt, glad that his mates had taken his side int his and not blindly believed that he would ever hurt his children.

The day had been going as normal, that was until he got a phone call from Edith, who had agreed to pick up the children today, seeing that his and Livia's hours were longer than the school hours.

Normally it were his parents that would keep the kids a couple of hours, but seeing that he had cut contact with them ever since he learned how they treated his youngest, that wasn't an option anymore.

"Hey Edith? Is one of the kids giving you trouble?" Dudley asked.

"Oh Dudley. Your parents are here, at the school gate," Edith said, and Dudley felt himself grow pale, before his cheeks got red in anger.

How dare they get within ten feet of his children.