Julie Anne Dursley

Goblet of Fire Part 1

Harry felt pretty good when he stepped back through the barrier of platform nine and three-quarters alongside Ron and Hermione. Sure, it would take two months before he would go back to Hogwarts, but now he had a godfather to write to, his Hogsmeade permission form signed and Ron had said something about the Quidditch World Cup. Harry would also make sure to mention that his godfather was a convicted murderer, and omit the fact that he was actually innocent. That would surely scare the Dursleys. Speaking of the Dursleys, Harry looked around, but they were nowhere to be seen.

"Harry!" Mrs Weasley called after she had greeted her own children, and she hugged him. "How nice to see you again!"

"Hello Mrs Weasley," Harry said with a smile.

"Isn't your family here yet?" Mr Weasley asked.

"No," Harry said, looking around once more.

"Well, I'm sure they'll be here soon," Mr Weasley said.

"Goodbye everyone! See you soon!" Hermione called and she waved. They all waved back at her and watched her walk away with her parents. The platform gradually became less crowdy as students met up with their parents and left, but there was still no sign of the Dursleys.

"Maybe they've forgotten," Ginny said.

"That'd be very irresponsible of them," Mrs Weasley said.

Mr Weasley looked at Harry. "Do you want us to wait with you?"

"Well, if it's not too much trouble," Harry said hesitantly. He did not like the idea of making them all wait, but at the same time he was becoming increasingly worried.

"Of course it's not," Mrs Weasley said, smiling at him. Ten minutes passed, then fifteen, then twenty. While Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny were discussing the upcoming Quidditch World Cup, Harry kept looking around. Then suddenly he got an idea.

"I'll try to call them."

"With a fellytone?" Ron asked. "I know how to use them now!" he said proudly, but nobody responded. Harry rummaged in his trunk for a bit, until he had found some Muggle money.

"Be right back," he said and he made his way to the payphones. He threw in a coin and dialed the Dursley's number. The phone rang one time, two times, three times, four times and just when his heart sank he heard a voice.

"Hello, Dursley residence." Harry had never been so happy to hear his cousin's voice before.

"Julie! Hello! It's Harry. I'm at King's Cross Station. Why didn't your parents come pick me up?"

Julie said nothing for a few seconds. "Oh. Was that today?"

"Yes! Did you forget?"

"Ehm, you see, the thing is, aunt Marge's very ill and my parents are at her place at the moment. I guess that in their worries they indeed forgot about you," Julie said.

"How come you're home then?" Harry asked.

"Well, duh, I mean, aunt Marge can't really give me any presents when she's ill, can she?" Julie said.

Harry sighed. "When do you reckon your parents will be home?"

"No idea," Julie said unhelpfully.

"Well, since I'm basically stuck here, can you come and get me?" Harry hated to ask, but he felt he had no choice.

"Oh. Well, Harry, you know I'd love to, but I'm extremely busy at the moment, you see."

"With what?"

"Well, considering I was going to be alone for a great portion of the evening, I rented a few movies and I just started watching," Julie said. Harry had to contain his anger.

"But if you don't come, I'll be stranded. I don't have enough money to get back myself!"

"Sounds like a personal problem to me, scarface," Julie said.

"Julie, please."

"Oh, I like that. Tell you what. I'll come if you beg me to!" Julie said nastily. Harry said nothing. "Suit yourself, twat, goodbye!"

"Julie, wait! All right. What do you want me to say?"

Julie laughed. "Wise choice! Say, hm, my cousin Julie is the prettiest, awesomest girl on the planet and superior to me in every way imaginable."

"My cousin Julie is the prettiest, awesomest girl on the planet and superior to me in every way imaginable," Harry said grudgingly. He felt his blood boil.

"Sorry, didn't catch that," Julie said. Harry said it again. Two women standing near him looked at him and smiled. "Ahhh, one more time, scarface!" Harry said it again.

"Now will you come get me?"

"No, of course not, are you stupid?"

Harry sighed, feeling incredibly frustrated and worried. But then Julie sighed as well and spoke again. "All right. I told you I would, and I always keep my word. I'll be there in an hour, I guess."

Harry felt incredibly relieved. "Okay, thank you, Julie."

"Don't flatter yourself. If something happens to you, I'll be out of a job."

He walked back to the Weasleys. "I just spoke to my cousin Julie. Apparently my uncle's sister is ill and my uncle and aunt went to take care of her. Julie stayed home and I managed to convince her to come pick me up."

"Is the sick aunt the one you blew up last year?" Ginny asked, but Mrs Weasley hissed at her to be quiet.

"She should be here in an hour," Harry concluded.

"All right," Mrs Weasley said, "shall we wait with you until she's here?"

"That's very kind, Mrs Weasley, but I'll be fine now," Harry said with a smile.

"Are you sure? What if she won't show up? There's no telling when your uncle and aunt will be able to come, and I hope you don't mind me saying, but your cousin doesn't really seem like a very reliable person," Mrs Weasley said carefully.

"Let's stay, we don't mind at all," Fred and George said. Harry knew they would love to meet Julie; he had told them a lot about her.

"It's really no problem, dear. We'll be worried about you if we don't see you off."

"Yes, mate. Don't even worry about it," Ron said.

"All right, thank you," Harry said. He really appreciated it.

About an hour later Harry spotted his cousin trying to make her way through the crowd. He put up his hand and she nodded at him. However, when she saw his company, she stopped abruptly and motioned for him to come.

"She doesn't seem too keen on meeting us," Fred said.

"That's because she's terrified of anything related to magic," Harry said.

"That's so weird," George said.

"Well, actually, not really," Harry said with a smirk.

"Well, it seems you'll be in, er, good hands now," Mr Weasley said, looking at Julie annoyingly standing in the middle of the platform so that people had to wrestle themselves past her.

"Sort of. Thank you for waiting, that was really kind," Harry said.

"Don't worry dear, just look out for our letter," Mrs Weasley said with a smile. Harry nodded once more and then walked up to his cousin.

"You didn't say a whole entourage was included!" she said immediately, casting a final glance at the Weasleys.

"Hello to you too," Harry said.

"Let's just get out of here. I'll take your bird." She took Hedwig's cage, but as soon as she did the owl started screeching. "Or not," Julie said, handing him back the cage immediately, "ungrateful flying rat." She walked away and Harry clumsily followed. While they got into the subway, Julie kept looking around. "Everyone's staring at us, I just hope we won't run into anyone I know." It was true; like always Hedwig drew a lot of attention. There was one empty seat left and Julie quickly claimed it. Next to her sat a young couple a few years older than them, who were mumbling and giggling together. Julie made eye contact with Harry, looked at the couple quickly and carefully and then rolled her eyes.

"This movie got very good reviews," the boy suddenly told his girlfriend.

"What movie are you going to see?" Julie intruded. The girl told her the name of the movie. "Ah yeah, I've seen that one. I mostly liked the part when..." She revealed the entire plot and the couple groaned in annoyance. "It's a good movie though, you're in for a treat!" Julie said with a sweet smile and then she got up, because their stop was next.

Darkness had fallen by the time they set foot on Privet Drive, and Harry was feeling tired. He could not wait to get to his room. When Julie opened the door, they were immediately greeted by her parents. "Oh Jewel, we're so sorry you had to go pick him up! We'll make this up to you, don't worry." Petunia hugged her daughter, who cowered a little. "We're so proud of you."

"It wasn't that big of a deal, mum," Julie mumbled, feeling embarrassed by the praise.

"Yeah, boy, I'm sure you'll understand that you were off our minds for a bit. Aunt Marge's ill," Vernon said. The hall was way too small for all four of them and Harry felt rather uncomfortable.

"I know, Julie told me."

While Julie was taken to the kitchen for a cold drink, Harry took his stuff to his room and fell asleep almost instantly.