When one door closes... - Part 8

"I always wondered why you red-haired lot put up with him and had him come to stay at your house for summers. I can see now that he's your target practice. I always used him for that, too. He always gives a good chase, but you can get him if you use your mates," Dudley said with a self-satisfied smirk.

"We don't all gang up on Harry," Ron said indignantly. He reached down and pulled Harry to his feet, as if trying to prove there were no hard feelings. "He's our friend."

"Friend," Dudley said, scoffing. "Who'd want to be friends with him?"

"I do," Ron said vehemently. "Just like my brothers, my sister, and anyone else who knows him. He's the best friend anyone could ask for, and we'd all do anything for him. Could you say the same for your mates, Dudley?"

Dudley appeared taken aback by Ron's fierce loyalty. He stared back and forth between Ron and Harry several times, as if unable to wrap his small mind around the fact that someone would actually like Harry.

"He…he knows how to do stuff with his stick-thing…but without that, he's nothing but a pathetic little runt who messes up everything. He doesn't have any real mates. My mates stick with me, because they know I'm the strongest."

"Dudley," Hermione said gently, "Ron and Harry were just playing around. Certainly at some point while you were growing up you and Harry must have got on…once in a while."

"I'd never do anything with that freak," Dudley said.

"Freak," Ron said in disgust. "You don't even know him, do you?"

"He is a lot like Malfoy, isn't he? I've never noticed it before now, but Ron's right. He never did much on his own, either – always had to have his little gang behind him. You should have come to Hogwarts when I went, Duds. Maybe you could have been one of Malfoy's goons, too. I'm certain they would have placed you in Slytherin," Harry said, unable to resist taunting his cousin back any longer.

"I'm telling Mum you said the name of that school of yours," Dudley said, backing towards the door, apparently very confused over the loyalty among the trio.

"What? Hogwarts? But Dudley, you should have gone there, too. You're a wizard, after all," Harry said.

"Harry," Hermione said, grabbing his arm, but Harry ignored her.

"I never should have gone there. I'm not a freak like you lot," Dudley said, taking a step towards them.

"He'd have never been able to handle it, anyway, Harry," Ron said. "He'd be just another Crabbe or Goyle, fumbling his way through."

"I'm not a wizard," Dudley shouted, growing ever more enraged. His piggy eyes were flashing as he clenched and unclenched his massive fists.

"I'm surprised you haven't taken full advantage of it, though," Ron mused casually, leaning back against a tree and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I mean…being able to use magic and all. From what Harry tells me, your favorite past time is picking on little kids. I'm certain you could have really scared some little Muggle kids by using magic…or frighten your mates into doing whatever you wanted. That's the way you work, right?"

"What do you mean?" Dudley asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Ron! Ignore him, Dudley. He knows you can't use magic on Muggles without getting into trouble, and besides, you wouldn't want to intimidate any of your friends. That's not what magic is all about," Hermione said, glaring at Ron.

Dudley's eyes gleamed, as if a light switch had just been turned. "I could make them do anything I wanted, couldn't I?"