Second Chances [The Dudley Story]

Dudley stood there frozen, his breath stuck in his throat. He remembered every single word he had muttered in her unconscious presence over the past few years. All the compliments he had given about her face, about her hair… her.

"Mum!"

Just as Lily locked her gaze with him, she focused back on her son the next moment.

Harry's grip tightened around her hand and Dudley saw him lean in, his voice catching as he whispered, "Mum".

That made her eyes widen.

Dudley didn't dare to interrupt the moment between the mother and son. Rather, he hoped she wouldn't look back at him.

Then, as if that little moment sucked all her strength, her eyes drifted shut again. She was still a long way from being fully healed.

Dudley felt the weight of it all in his own chest. For a moment, he wasn't sure what to say, but instinct took over, and he reached out, laying a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I'll give you some space, Harry," he said in a low voice.

He stepped back, giving Harry a final nod before he left.

As he walked out of the hospital room, he felt uneasy. If Lily had been conscious even though she was unconscious, she probably heard all his babbling… a bit too much, perhaps.

I'm fucked.

####

Dudley didn't go to the hospital in the coming weeks as he feared Lily would say something. She was still recovering ever so slowly, waking up for short moments every day. She still couldn't move, however.

In the meantime, he used the funds he got from Harry to start his business. He registered a muggle company, a private equity firm named D&D Capital. Harry wanted nothing to do with it, but Dudley still gave him 5% of the company so in the future there wouldn't be any major conflict between them.

He had grand plans, after all. With so much knowledge of the future, he'd rather kill himself if he couldn't become the wealthiest man in the world. Even more so with the backing of filthy rich friends like Harry Potter.

The entire summer, Dudley focused on setting things up. He had to get an office space in London and hire at least two people to register the company. On top of that, there were multiple tax applications and more.

Of course, he hired Hermione and Harry while he made himself the Chairman. That way, the money remained in the company. Then, he hired a legal consulting company to take care of things he couldn't.

Quickly after setting up the company, he spent day and night at the new office space to plot out his plan to make the first billion dollars. Thankfully, he realized he didn't need to wait for long.

The Asian financial crisis had arrived and soon the Russian financial crisis would too. On top of that, he had eyes on a certain hedge fund that lost $4.6 billion in less than four months as far as he could remember.

He planned to short the vultures themselves and make bank.

By the time September neared, Dudley had multiplied Harry's one million and returned the loan amount as well. It was a great boon to know the future, and even a greater boon to have rich friends.

He finally understood why the super billionaires of the future succeeded initially. Most had families that invested money in their ideas; or came from a background where they had contacts.

For a common man to replicate their level of success was a fool's errand.

But he was confident. In this life, it was time to make history.

If he wasn't the main character of Magical Britain, he very much wanted to be the main character of the muggle world.

####

"Take care, son!"

Vernon Dursley waved his hand, standing beside his wife as he watched Harry and Dudley enter the station.

Who says money can't buy happiness? It certainly did for Vernon Dursley. The man had an instant change of heart as soon as he found out that Dudley had opened a muggle company, and already made his first few million. It wasn't that Vernon was greedy for his son's money, he was just excited to earn peak bragging rights about his son.

Well, the new, top-of-the-line, Bentley Continental made things smoother. On top of bragging rights, he had the proof to show that his son was rich. With that, Vernon's hatred for Dudley's magic came to an abrupt end.

"That was easy," Harry muttered, walking side by side with his cousin.

Dudley shrugged, glancing around to see if he could spot Susan and Hannah. He wanted to see the two girls during the summer but he'd been too busy. Thankfully looking around was easy as he was much taller than his peers or most people on the station.

Already standing six feet tall with the possibility of gaining a few more inches, he felt lucky that he got rid of the fat. Not shredded in muscles, he at least had a pretty muscular chest, broad shoulders, and sizable biceps. Harry mocked him often as 'muscle dad bod' but Dudley knew he was better since he didn't have much belly, he was just bulky under his shirt. It was his natural body size that was like a bear.

"How's Aunt Lily?" Dudley asked, trying to keep tabs on her in case she spilled anything to Harry.

"She's doing loads better. Yesterday, she stayed awake for six hours! She even asked for you. You should come with me next time; maybe she'll be out of the hospital by then." Harry's face lit up. "Mum said she'll stay with me for a bit before moving out with me."

"You're moving out?" Dudley looked at his cousin, who he had come to like by now. Although he didn't mind it, not being able to see Harry in the house during long holidays made him unknowingly dejected.

Harry noticed it and gave a reassuring pat on Dudley's shoulder. "Don't worry, Big D. Mum said she's going to get a house on the same street. There isn't enough room for all of us in the current one."

That's much better. Dudley nodded.

He didn't want Petunia to act vengefully with Lily, nor did he want to be very close to Lily in case she heard all the unholy things he blurted. Aside from her being actually pretty, he blamed all the smut he read in his past life. Well, at least he had the sanity to not touch that… that would have been just wrong.

"Let's hurry up now."

The two pushed their trollies, walked straight through the wall, and arrived at Platform 9¾. They had a few bad memories from the last year, well Harry did since Dudley was smart enough to avoid being locked out by Dobby.

Woosh!

In an instant, the steaming engine of the Hogwarts Express appeared before them. They continued to push their trolleys and arrived at the train carriage of their choice.

They soon boarded with their luggage and walked through the corridor, glancing inside each cabin.

Soon enough, the two found Hermione and Ron sitting in one. There was also a third figure seated beside the window, sleeping with his face covered.

"Hey, Ron." Dudley waved and then looked at the bushy-haired girl. "Did you read the book I gave you, Hermione?"

Her thin brows creased together. She took out the book from her bag and gave it back to Dudley. "I did try, Dudley. But it's really complex mathematics. I made an effort to understand, but I only got through about half of it."

He gave a reassuring smile and pushed the book back to her. "I'll help you out then. Find me in the library when you have time."

"You will? I'd love to learn fro—"

"Ugh, look at these two," Ron chimed in for no reason. "Already chattering about studying."

Dudley chuckled at Ron's comment and retreated to the sliding door. "That's the price you pay to get rich, Ron."

"Blimey, that's a pretty hefty price, if you ask me. Smashing your face in books all day, every day."

Dudley honestly wanted to help the Weasleys, but Ron wasn't the one he should start with, he reckoned. Dudley sighed and left, not wanting the sleeping professor to wake up.

He had no plan of sitting with Harry on that train and getting assaulted by Dementors. "I'll go find my housemates."

"See you in the Great Hall." Harry waved back.

Dudley walked past many cabins.

"Hey, Dudley!"

"Morning, Dudley!"

He wasn't the most popular guy in the school but he wasn't obscure either. Even the few passing Slytherin girls greeted him.

"Thanks for the Rooster Whistle, Dudley." Cedric patted his shoulder as he walked past him.

During the Chamber of Secrets insanity, Dudley's invention had helped and saved many students. Even if they were never in danger, for example, the purebloods of Slytherin, his whistle still gave them a sense of safety. For that, most were grateful.

"There you are!" Dudley loudly slid the door open and stepped inside the cabin occupied by two girls—Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot.

______________________

Check out Dudley X Susan & Hannah Abbot Lakeside NSFW ART, and advance chapters at [email protected]/MrPlotThickens Or Subscribestar.adult/mrplotthickens

Old Free Art on Discord: https://discord.gg/W5FdB6WXaP