It was Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve once was one of Dudley's favorite days of the year. He loved getting hundreds of presents and being even more spoiled than usual. It didn't mean that much to him anymore. It just was that he had nowhere to go. No one to be with. And Christmas was for families. That's why he always gave his employees the day off. He didn't mind working, he liked being alone with all the animals. Since he was vet he couldn't just abandon the place. Sure, his colleague could work, but she had a husband and kids. He had neither.
At first Sue didn't want to leave him all alone every holiday but he didn't let her work and she soon realized that he couldn't stand being at home alone. He rather worked. That's when it became tradition that he would eat Sunday brunch with her family. If there wasn't any emergency.
Dudley sighed. There wasn't much to do for him today. He had one cat with a week old kittens and a dog who had a hip surgery a few days ago. The cat didn't like people and the dog slept most of the time. Dudley was glad that he hadn't many patients since it did mean that everyone else was healthy. But he wouldn't mind having more to do. Otherwise his mind started to wander. Something he didn't like. On most days he could just pretend that everything was fine. But this was Christmas. He wondered how his parents were doing. He hadn't seen them in years. Not since he told them he was gay. That he wouldn't live the life they wanted him to. Their relationship was already strained since he started studying as a vet. They never liked any sort of animals besides the ones you could buy from the butcher. But aunt Marge always spoke highly of her vet and assured that he didn't earn that bad so they put up with it. What they couldn't put up with was him being gay. It was a disaster when he came out to them. He didn't intend to since he knew how they would react. It just so happened that one of the neighbours saw him on a date with his then boyfriend. It didn't help his case that his ex was black either. His parents didn't care that Tyler made him happy. Or that he was very intelligent and got a scholarship for his semester in England. Or that his parents were rich and successful in America
They only cares that Dudley was seen who wasn't normal in there eyes - that Dudley acted unnormal- and that the neighbours were gossiping. He had an awful fight with his parents and moved out. Since that day he hadn't seen them again. He left Mrs Figg his new address and asked her if she'd call or write him if something was with his parents though. They were his parents after all. Even when they didn't act like it. This was almost ten years ago. He didn't even know if Mrs Figg was still alive. He guessed his parents were, otherwise he'd surely get a notification from some lawyer or something like that.
That's why he was alone at Christmas. Tyler and he broke up a few months after that and all his other relationships didn't last that long. Until a few weeks ago he had his dog though, but she was already old when he got her and he had to say good bye. He still remembered the day he got her. It was his first own house with garden and he was finally allowed to have a pet. So after he settled in his first trip was to the shelter. He wanted a dog to accompany him when he went jogging or hiking - something he started doing when he realized that he did not want to look like a whale- but then he met her. Medusa. Why someone would call such a cute, innocent looking dog Medusa was still a mystery to him. But he fell in love with her the moment he saw her. She was already 9 when he got her, but that didn't matter. They had some wonderful years together. He never loved anyone as much as he loved her. When she died he was heartbroken. He was kind of glad that she died peacefully in her sleep. One day they went to bed and the next she didn't wake up when it was time for their morning walk. But it still hurt. She was his family. And now she was gone. The first few days he was a wreck. He knew it was coming and being a vet he had seen many things, had to put many pets down. It didn't help though. It was getting better every day, but there were still some days when he would sit alone on his sofa and cry. He wasn't ready for a new pet, a new family. Although he wished he was.

It was already late afternoon and nothing had happened so far. But then the doorbell rang. It was a guy around his age with a dog.
"Hello, I'm sorry to disturb but he won't use his paw. He has something but I don't know what. Please help him." "Of course I will. I'm Dudley Evans and you're?" Since his estrangement with his parents, Dudley got by his mother's maiden name. "I'm Greg Goyle and this is Tarzan." "Well, nice to meet you Tarzan. What happened?" "We we're walking outside and he got down to the river, he was chasing a goose. And when he finally got back he only walked on three legs. He didn't want to use his forth and tried to bite me when I wanted to take a look. He normally never bites." Greg told him, his concern plainly in his voice. Greg looked hot, Dudley noticed. Broad, strong, muscular. He smiled. "Well, let's take a closer look. I'm sure Tarzan is perfectly fine soon." With that he opened the door to his ambulance room and let Greg and his perfectly hot butt in. Not that Dudley would've looked. Well, not on purpose.
Tarzan's injury was quickly discovered. He had a very small piece of wood stuck between his toes. With Greg as his assistant, Dudley had nursed Tarzan back to health in no time.
"You were very brave Tarzan. I know now why you were called like that." Greg laughed. Everyone teased him about having a Chihuahua called Tarzan. "Well, my daughters named him. They also choose him I wanted a golden retriever or something like that. But they insisted on Tarzan and now I don't know how I could ever want another dog." Dudley was downcast. He tried to cover it with a smile. "So then off you go. I'm sure your daughters are happy with having a healthy Tarzan back."
"I'm sure they are. But they're celebrating this Christmas with their mother and her family."
Greg wasn't sure if Dudley really was sad about his possible marriage but he didn't imagine his relief. He was relieved himself. He really liked Dudley and he hadn't been sure if he'd swing this way.
"So, ummm, Tarzan and I don't really have somewhere to be. Would you mind if we'd stay a bit?" Dudley beamed. "Of course you can stay. I'd love to. I just live directly next to here and if you'd like I can get us some biscuits and I've also got some for Tarzan."  "Sounds perfect."

"Good morning love" Greg purred and kissed Dudley softly. Dudley's heart flutters. There was nothing he loved more than waking up in the arms of his husband. It had been now exactly 5 years since Greg came into his life and Dudley couldn't have been more lucky. Greg made him happy, made him complete. They were a complete family now, Greg's daughters were living with them.
It had been a bit of a nasty shock when he found out that Greg was a wizard just like his cousin. But Dudley wasn't that ignorant scared boy anymore so he got used to it very quickly. He even made up with Harry. They were friends now and Harry and his husband Draco were coming with their children Teddy, Scorpius, James and Lily. Tomorrow they would join the Weasley family. Dudley smiled to himself. He clearly remembered the first time he met the Weasleys. The were quite a bit and at first he felt uncomfortable, but Arthur had been nice and polite, asking him about all the muggle stuff.
All in all his life couldn't be any better and he loved every minute of it.

Merry Christmas everyone ❤❤❤❤