The smell of good 'ol American burgers and fries hit my nose the moment the doors swung open, and I felt my mouth water immediately. Mr. Dursley must have seen my face because he chuckled and said,

"Yes, I thought we ought to get some American food for our American friend."

I thought about pointing out that I was a UK citizen, and the only thing American about me was my accent, and that I truly didn't even remember the states, but I decided not to. He had brought us here as a gesture of good will, I wasn't about to anger him. Instead, I just smiled and said,

"Wow, it smells so good! I can't remember the last time I had proper American food!"

And proper American food this was indeed. We were led to a table by a hostess with an American accent, and she told us this restaurant had been founded by an American who had moved to the UK and had been proper appalled at the way they made burgers here. As she handed us our menu, she promised that we were about to have the greasiest, most delicious, authentic American meal offered in the UK. Mrs. Dursley looked a bit put-off by the idea of a greasy, fatty, meal, but Mr. Dursley, Dudley and Piers all looked as thrilled as I did.

The rest of the day honestly passed in a bit of a blur. I think I might have been in a bit of a burger-induced haze. Or maybe I was just overwhelmed at the domestic-ness and friendliness of everything. Malcolm, Gordon, and the rest of the gang all had really freaked me out over the meeting with the Dursleys. And sure, I had caught Mrs. Dursley giving my hair the stink eye a few too many times to be entirely comfortable, but overall it seemed like they were trying their best to make me feel welcome. I vaguely wondered what Dudley had said to them to get their attitude to change, but it wasn't my business so I didn't linger on it.

I had assumed that after the meal, the Dursley's would take off and I'd get a taxi or something to head back to the orphanage. Part of me wondered if they'd offer to drive me, or if I could convince them to give me a lift. I figured that that idea was probably bust. I recalled Piers saying that he and Dudley both lived close enough to walk, and while the drive back to the orphanage wasn't too long, but it would bring them into London, and therefore be significantly out of their way. What I hadn't been prepared for, was for Dudley to turn to his parents as the waitress handed the bill back over, and to say,

"Mum, Dad, can Percy come to our house tonight?"

Their heads both snapped over to look at me with expressions that indicated they likely just experienced that same stomach-drop that I did. I made a bit of a choked noise that had Piers giggling. Mrs. Dursley's gaze slowly drifted back to her son, almost as if she was trying to keep me in her direct line of sight while also looking at Dudley.

"Poppykins, you know you're friends are always welcome. But," her gaze drifted back to me for a split second, and I gave her a small pursed-lip smile. I had to fight the urge to give a thumbs up as well. The smile itself was enough to have Piers fighting tears from falling down his face. Well, I'm glad that someone at this table finds my suffering amusing. Mrs. Dursley continued, "but Dudley, darling, surely you don't mean he spends the night?"

Dudley pouted a bit and nodded,

"Why not? Piers sleeps over all the time."

Mr. Dursley, whos eyes were still glued to me, narrowed his gaze, and Mrs. Dursley blinked slowly as she turned back to me. I sighed. I could tell that the Dursley's had a hard time saying no to Dudley (especially when he pouted, which I was definitely going to tease him about later), so I decided to answer Dudley myself.

"Big D, man, I would love to spend the night at your place at some point, but I don't think tonight would work. First of all, I have responsibilities in the orphanage that I can't just ditch without giving Madame Wool a heads up, and secondly, I didn't bring a toothbrush or anything I'd need to spend the night." While I was talking, I avoided looking at Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. I'm sure that they resented the reminder that I was a poor little orphan who had chores and expectations, and didn't want to see their disgust. Looking at Dudley, however, didn't prove to be much better, because his face crumpled as I spoke, and his lip started wobbling. From my left, I felt Piers lean closer to me and whisper,

"Watch and learn, P-dog, this is how Dudley always gets what he wants..." I managed to keep my eyebrows from quirking, but couldn't fight my incredulous, but silent, echo of, "P-dog??" Piers snickered and pat my shoulder as we watched Dudley conjure up crocodile tears. I could visibly see both of his parents softening, and sure enough after only a few seconds, Mrs. Dursley wrapped her son in a big hug,

"Oh my darling Dudders, I'm sure we can find things for Percy to borrow if he wants to spend the night tonight. And surely he can borrow the telephone to call his--"

"My matron."

"Yes, he can call his matron and get excused from his chores this weekend."

I wasn't sure it would be that easy, but it was honestly worth a shot, and maybe Olivia would be able to convince Madame Wool to let me sleep over if I was unable to. I was also pleased to see Vernon nodding, his gaze finally pulled away from me to land on his wife and son. Piers pumped his fist in victory, and I couldn't help but smile.

So thats how I ended up at the Dursleys house!

Number four, Privet Drive, looked almost exactly like every other house on the street, except the lawn and garden was by far the best looking. When I said so as we drove up, Mr and Mrs. Dursley both preened at the complement, but Piers and Dudley shared a look that made me feel as though I had said something wrong. I shrugged it off though, and let Dudley lead me into the house.

Having never slept over at a friends house before, (or even really been invited over at all), I had no basis for comparison. Nevertheless, I could tell that the Dursley's had a nice house. A big kitchen, nice natural light, cohesive interior design choices, overall good flow. It did feel a little sterile, which was surprising considering that Dudley lived there, but truly a nice home overall. Again, I said so, and this time all three of the Dursleys looked pleased. Even Piers, who I guess had an automatic invitation to spend the night, looked happy at my appreciation.

The very first thing I did upon entering their home was beeline to the telephone to call Madame Wool. She was surprisingly amenable to letting me spend the night, so the phone call was short. After that, the Dursleys offered a quick tour of their home. It was a bit comical to have a group of 5 people clambering around, but I appreciated the tour all the same.

After the tour concluded, Mr. Dursley ruffled Dudley's hair and gave Piers and I a friendly pat on the shoulder with instructions to have fun, before settling down in front of the telly and clicking it on to something boring. Mrs. Dursley gave the three of us a peck on the cheek, and repeated her husbands directive, with the additional request to 'stay safe,' before heading into the kitchen to prepare some tea. Dudley and Piers both took the warm send-off for granted, but my heart was, yet again, reeling from the familial nature of the interactions I had had with the Dursley's today.

The three of us donned light jackets and went back outside. Dudley and Piers wanted to show me a nearby park that they spent most of their time at. As we walked, we talked.

"So, Dudley, what did you say to your parents to convince them to be nicer to Percy?" Piers asked. Dudley snorted in response,

"Oh. Well, I'm sure you know why they were freaked out." Piers nodded wisely. I originally assumed they were freaked out because of my sassiness, paired with my American-ness, tripled with my non-whiteness, quadrupled with my orphan-ness, and probably quintupled with something else as well, but Dudley's tone hinted at yet another reason. I went to ask, but upon seeing Piers nod, Dudley continued,

"Yeah. Crazy right? I didn't even realize the similarities... but anyways. I just reminded them that causing a scene over whatever hold-ups they had about Percy would be more gossip-worthy than just being nice. It seemed to work. Also, I told them that he was my friend, and surely they trust me to make good friends, because if they thought my friends were bad, then that means they think I'm dumb and can't make good decisions. Blah blah blah, you get the point."

I really had to admire Dudley's manipulation skills. Kind of scary, but also really impressive. Piers laughed at Dudley's little monologue,

"Oh, your parents love you so much Big D." Dudley just shrugged, but I could see his face turn slightly red as well.

"Wait, Piers," Dudley and Piers both turned to look at me. Upon hearing the nickname everyone used for Dudley, I was abruptly reminded of Piers calling me 'P-dog' earlier.

"Why did you call me P-Dog earlier?" Dudley howled with laughter as Piers spluttered,

"What, so you're allowed to come up with a nickname for Dudley, but I can't come up with a nickname for you??" I just cackled, both at Piers' indignation, and also at Dudley's choked wheezes of 'P-dog' in the background.

"No, no, by all means call me P-dog! Just don't be surprised if I also call you P-dog," I said with mirth, dramatically poking Piers' shoulder. This sent Piers into a laughing fit as well, and Dudley's laughter grew even more intense. I joined in, and the three of us had to stop walking in order to avoid stumbling with laughter.

It took the three of us a while to compose ourselves, especially because every time our laugher started dying off, we would meet each others eyes and break into giggles yet again. Eventually thought, we were calm enough to continue to the park. We chatted a bit more about classes, about the meet today, about dinner, and about various nonsense topics. It was comfortable and easy. Part of me pained to admit it, but it felt the same as talking with Alexander and Henry, or maybe it felt even more natural.

Like brotherhood, almost.

I didn't let my brain spiral too far down that course, but it lingered in my mind nonetheless.

The park was a nice classic park. Nicer than anything I had been to before, but not overly fancy. We messed around on the roundabout for a while, chased each other around the swings, and chatted a bit more. At one point, I even impressed Dudley and Piers by climbing up to the top of the play structure and balancing on one foot. I'm not gonna lie, I impressed myself with that move a bit too.

Once the sun was down and the street lamps flickered on, we started to make our way back to number 4. Dudley took us the long way this time, and we were all pretty tired. Dudley and I had had a long day of wrestling, and were almost dead on our feet, and Piers matched out energy levels. Our stomachs were all rumbling, ready for a delicious home-cooked dinner. 

Hihihi! Word count for this chapter is 2000!

I'm so hype for the next chapter y'all...I'm trying to get things to move a little bit faster, so hold onto your hats! Things are about to pick up!