Second Chances [The Dudley Story]

T-That's where I was born… in my past life… S-she heard it all!?

Walnut Ridge was a small city in Arkansas. The place of his birth, but not his growth. And he did mumble about how much he disliked his home to the unconscious Lily. It was a stupid thing to do, but he just used her half-dead body to let out everything that was boiling up inside his mind.

Clearly, it wasn't the smartest thing to do.

"Just me?" He asked again.

"She's waiting for you, Dud." Harry reminded him, a look of gratitude emitting from him. "Go, she probably wants to thank you for everything you've done."

Yeah, in your dreams…

With a sigh, Dudley stood up and walked into the room. He glanced towards the bed and found Lily sitting in regular clothes, a flower print ankle-length gown with a warm sweater above. Her hair was tied behind her head in a bun, and her green eyes were much more full of life now.

No regrets about the bodily praise I showered. He thought and approached the side of the bed. Wait, how do I address her? Uh, let's just be Dudley.

"You wanted to talk, Aunt Lily?"

"Thank you."

At her first words, he looked up at her instinctively, finding her eyes locked onto him. What did she say?

"I don't care who you are, or what your intentions were. I couldn't be there for Harry when he needed me the most. You saved him from greater torment, you saved his childhood from being ruined. Not once did he come to see me and not talk about you with so much passion, respect, and adoration. Thank you—for protecting my son."

This was not what Dudley had in mind. So easily? That's it?

"If you're wondering, I did. I heard it all and I still remember it. You… I don't know how you know things that you shouldn't. I don't know how you know the futu—"

"Visions!" Dudley cleared things up quickly. "The night before I forced Mum and Dad to give Harry the room, I saw visions and… I changed."

"Visions?" Lily silently stared at his face, searching for even a hint of a lie.

Dudley shrugged. "They came like a dream and then I woke up like this."

"In that body, you mean?"

Ugh, she knows. Dudley finally got the confirmation. What to do now?

"Don't worry, it doesn't matter to me. Actions speak louder than words. Petunia and Vernon have made it clear they are far from decent creatures. I can't consider them human after they abused my son—a baby." Lily breathed raggedly as if suppressing her rage. "Walnut Ridge or Waddington, you did what was right."

"So…" Dudley slurred, confused about what to even talk about.

"Call Harry in. I'm tired of this hospital scent."

That's it? Dudley stepped away from her bed and left the room. I guess she'll look for me again later.

There were too many things he had spoken that must have piqued her interest. Especially the things about the future. He was more surprised by her nonchalance about it.

But it went better than I expected. Let's be grateful for that.

####

Lily spent the night at the Dursley house. She stayed inside Harry's room the whole time, keeping interaction with Petunia and Vernon to the bare minimum. She didn't look for Dudley, nor did Dudley try to speak with her.

Instead, Dudley locked his room and went to sleep right away, planning to camp at his company for the next coming days instead. To him, being a wizard was a side hobby, but being a muggle-born was his real life, his reality.

Magic was surely very handy, and knowing all the wizards and witches was a joy. But, at the end of the day, he saw money as the real power no matter which side of the world it was. With money, the Ministry of Magic could be manipulated, just as any other government in the world.

As the morning sun dawned, Dudley woke up early, packed a small bag for himself, and walked out of his room. To his surprise, he found Harry's room open too, with bags littered across the floor as all of Harry's items were gone from the room.

"You're moving?" He found Harry packing his stuff while Lily sat on the side, still recovering from her years of coma.

"Morning, Dud. Mum got the house across the street. We're moving things there."

Dudley walked inside the room and started helping Harry. Most of the things were already packed, so he helped them bring the bags and boxes down and then take them across the street. It took them a few rounds, but eventually, all traces of Harry ever living at 4 Privet Drive vanished.

It was a delightful memory for Harry. But for Dudley, it marked the greatest shift in the storyline that he knew so well. Lily being alive was inconsequential until now. But the moment she woke up, all his future knowledge started to seem useless. Other than factual knowledge, he knew he had to tread carefully and keep himself hidden in the shadows.

"Thank you, Dudley. Take a seat, I'll make you boys some tea."

Dudley looked at the green-eyed woman, a little disappointed she was sticking to baggy dresses for now. Looking at her, nobody would say she had an adult son.

Well, she had Harry at just twenty.

"Thanks, Aunt Lily, but I've got to get to London—loads to do there. I'll stop by again soon, though. Take care of yourself, yeah?" Dudley gave a friendly wave before stepping out of the cozy new house, already looking lovely with all its fine furniture. "Oh, and one more thing—I'm planning a little Christmas get-together at mine. You two have to come."

"Sure, Big D." Harry accepted the invitation right away.

At least ask your mum first, buddy. She doesn't look very excited.

"See you later then."

With that, Dudley left the house and got into the taxi he had hired. It wasn't the common London Taxi, but a more premium chauffeur service. The car was expensive too, just as the cost of hiring them. But it was worth it as he had great plans for the week. If done right, he hoped to end this year with a bang—net worth exceeding a hundred million.

The only annoyance was how far Central London was from his residence. He really wanted to learn Apparition and master it as soon as possible. It seemed like the greatest magical ability for his muggle business.

More than an hour later, he finally arrived at his amazing, 7-storey tall office building. Yes, he owned it already. He had to after knowing how high the future prices were going to be. Heck, he had plans to invest in real estate across the world in the coming years.

With a fantastic view of the Thames River, he had bought the building close to where the Millennium Bridge was going to stand. He had only kept the top two floors for himself while the rest were given to other businesses.

"Dud, we got it."

As soon as Dudley entered the headquarters of D&D Capital, he was met by Senior Associate, Edwin Hughes, a surprising existence for Dudley. Dudley had found the man when searching for talents to hire, and to his surprise, he found a man he knew from his past life.

It made things clear that the two worlds only had one difference, and that was magic. Edwin was his senior in his last life, one of the decent men he worked with. Talented, but a little wild on the edges when it came to handling stress.

The man was just 28 years old, and after Dudley offered him a good enough salary, he jumped ship and joined him. Although the talent was good, Dudley hired him because he already knew Edwin's vices, his character, and his dreams. That made him easy to control and satisfy.

Furthermore, he had already begun searching for other notable people he knew from his last life. Even some star investors that were currently little guys. It was better to exploit them to enrich himself before they got rich themselves.

This was his second life, and he had no shame in using his golden finger.

"Then go with the plan and invest eleven million." Dudley blurted and entered his lavish office, surrounded by wooden furniture, polished to the peak. He wasn't one of those tech-bro CEOs who liked minimalistic styles. No, he liked wealth as much as displaying it.

"But it's just a book company," Edwin pointed out. "Allocating eleven million solely to this—"

"You're right. Eleven's not enough. Let's make it twenty million instead. Trust me on this, Edwin—I smell great things from Amazon." Dudley sat down in the most comfortable cushioned chair ever. The scent of wood all around him was just too good, and the light coming from the window behind him, and the view of the river, it made him feel truly accomplished. "And don't worry about your paycheck, Edwin. I know your wife's expecting and you've just bought a new house—wrong time, but I won't judge."

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