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Hugo was sitting alone in the Gryffindor common room. He was well aware of the sunshine outside but he was being crushed by the weight of his impending Potions test. It was his worst subject, and of course Lily and Sarah had flaked out of helping him at the very last minute. He'd tried to shrug it off but the fact that they continuously used 'girl issues' as an excuse to get him out of the Hufflepuff part of the castle bugged him. They were meant to be his friends, weren't they? But it just seemed that the older they got the more they all seemed to drift apart.
He had other friends, so it wasn't as if he were totally alone. It also helped that he was part of one of the biggest families at Hogwarts. His mind flickered to his second closest cousin now, and tried to ignore the voice in his head that sounded a lot like Lucy that said 'closest in proximity'. She amused him regardless though and he enjoyed spending time with her and Aileen, even if again it didn't seem that was reciprocated.
Part of him said that the issue was that he reminded everyone of Frank, or at least the person that Frank once was. They'd both befriended the girls at around the same time and Hugo reckoned that was often what threw people off.
But Hugo knew that he was nothing like Frank. They might have had similar obsessive personalities but Hugo's obsessions were with crystals and cats. He certainly didn't stoop as low as stalking girls and then outing them when they didn't share his feelings anyway.
After a while of staring at the words, he let himself yawn and stretch. They may as well have been dancing across the page for all that he managed to read them so it felt pointless. When he opened his eyes again he pretty much jumped out of his skin.
"Shit, Lucky. You scared me." He exclaimed with a breathy laugh as he closed the book.
Lucy just blinked at him and said in her usual monotone voice "Well, I am naturally terrifying."
Hugo flashed her a cheesy grin at that. She more often than not tried to give out the impression that she was unapproachable but he was one of the rare people who knew the truth, that underneath her hard exterior, Lucy Weasley was in fact a softie. That had been more than proved whenever anyone brought up her nephew, or if anyone dared try to talk trash about Aileen.
"What're you doing here anyway?" Lucy asked as she picked up the potions book and flicked through the pages.
"Well, I was studying." Hugo pointed out as if that weren't obvious. "Where's Ace?" He asked as he looked around. They were very rarely apart, especially nowadays so it was more than a little surprising when Lucy gave a shrug.
"I dunno."
Hugo did his best not to read too much into this but he almost felt like it was his job, not just as a friend, but as her cousin to at least check that everything was okay. "You alright, Luce?" He ended up asking after a few moments in a way that he hoped wasn't too intrusive. Lucy didn't really like to share, and he knew that probably had a lot to do with the fact that no-one felt safe sharing with her anymore.
"Yeah, fine." Lucy told him and Hugo knew that he was unlikely to get anything further out of her now, at least not right away. Lucy's thing was to shut everyone out and honestly he felt pretty privileged that she let him in at all sometimes.
"Fancy getting some ice cream or something?" He asked instead of pushing her any further. He was so very done with studying anyway and without that to focus on, he was fully aware that opened the door to him being able to fixate on the fact that he was more than likely going to fail the test.
It wasn't so much the failing that bothered him in the first place; he was used to failing. No, it was the complete look of disappointment on his mother's face when he told her. It broke his heart to know that he wasn't the child that she had dreamed of, but it wasn't because he didn't try. Hugo studied hard but it didn't seem to get him anywhere. Often a small voice in the back of his mind would tell him that it was a sign that he should just give up, but he knew that he could drown that out with cuddles with his cat Snoozy.
"Is this an excuse just to get closer to Sarah again?" Lucy asked as she stood up, her way of saying 'let's go' while simultaneously fishing for information.
"Uh, no." Everyone seemed to be obsessed with Hugo having a crush on Sarah Bright, but it just wasn't true. She was a friend, LiLu's best friend, and while he liked spending time with her, she wasn't actually his type. It was besides the point that if you had asked him what his type was, he wouldn't have been able to tell you, he just knew that Sarah was not it.
Lucy just nodded as they headed out of the common room and Hugo knew that she didn't actually believe him. It occurred to him, not for the first time, that this rumour was probably the one that made Sarah and Lily push him away.
"Hey. What are you doing still up?" A soft voice came from behind Hugo.
He'd been sat in a corner of the kitchen, next to the fire and letting himself enjoy a mug of hot chocolate while curled up with his potions book. The plan was to get a couple of hours more of studying in before he turned in for the night but like other times that he had attempted this, it had failed miserably.
"Hey Sarah." He said in reply to the girl as she moved to sit beside him, bumping her shoulder against his. He opened his mouth to ask her to at least try to give him some space but then decided against it. It did bother him that she was a lot more friendly when they were alone than when she was with Lily but he knew that he wasn't exactly in a place to be all that picky about friendships. "Just trying to make sure I at least get a passing grade, y'know?"
Sarah was silent for a moment, reaching out to turn the page for him before she spoke again. "Why did you take potions?"
Hugo paused, blinking rapidly as he tried to think. He didn't know exactly. He supposed that his initial decision at the beginning of sixth year could have had something to do with the fact that both his parents had taken the class. When seventh year had rolled around though, it had become his own personal mission to at least scrape a passing grade.
"I want to better myself." He answered in the end. Even though he wasn't particularly good at potions, he knew that the energies in the ingredients that they used were similar to the crystals that he had an interest in. He was somewhat shy about this though.
A lot of the magical world, including his mother, didn't quite buy into crystals and energies and things like that so he preferred to keep it to himself. He knew that Sarah was someone who shared this interest but he didn't know how to explain that he felt like his future depended on how well he did in a subject everyone expected him to fail. His dream was to be an alchemist, not that he had ever told anyone.
"Better yourself?" Sarah questioned, frowning slightly as she turned slightly to look at him. "You're already great, Hu."
"It's an expression, I guess. I don't mean that I want to be a better person, though I do always at least try to be the best version of myself." Hugo tried to explain as he shifted his position so that he was facing her. "I mean that I'm doing what they've been telling us for the last two years to do and I've been trying to prepare for my future."
Sarah was silent for a few moments but she did nod eventually before she said "I was actually hoping that you'd… never mind. It's stupid."
"Hey. Sarah. Nothing you can say is stupid." He said softly, his hand reaching out to touch her arm gently.
"I was going to invite you to Bali." She said quietly after staring at his hand for an uncomfortably long time in which Hugo considered moving his hand but didn't. "There's a totally off grid yoga retreat that I want to go on. Full disclosure, I did think about asking Lily first but yoga isn't really her thing and while I think she'd definitely benefit from going off grid, I know she won't come with me."
Hugo frowned slightly as he wondered why Sarah thought his cousin would benefit from going off grid before realising that he had just been asked something serious. "Sarah.." He began but he trailed off as he decided that he couldn't answer her there and then. He didn't actually know what he wanted to do anyway. Sarah was his friend, and a trip to Bali sounded amazing, but he just didn't know if that was what his future held. "Let me think about it, okay?"
It felt good to at least have a backup in case he failed the potions exam, almost as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders and finally he could breathe. For the first time since he'd found out about the alchemy programme, his future wasn't dependent on something that seemed almost impossible.
"Of course." Sarah said with a smile as she took Hugo's hand off of her arm and gave it a squeeze before setting it down on top of his book. "Take your time." She hummed as she turned to lean against him again.
Part of Hugo wanted to tell her about the programme but he hadn't even told his parents because he didn't want the added pressure of letting someone else down if they didn't let him in. As much as he wanted to be fully honest with her, he couldn't. It didn't help that he knew for a fact that she and Lily pushed him out, that there were things that they were keeping from him. It was hard to be open with someone when it wasn't reciprocated, and while he tried his best to ignore how it felt, it did hurt that he wasn't part of their best friendship.
Hugo couldn't eat breakfast the next morning, which was unusual for him. He had inherited his father's hunger and had always managed to find comfort in food up until today, but he supposed that his life had never hung in the balance like this until today. He was glad that he had the yoga retreat to fall back on, but the alchemy programme was something that he had been working towards and he really didn't want for the last two years of work to be for nothing.
He hadn't decided if he was going to definitely join the programme now he had the option to go do something else or if he might just defer for a year. The more he thought about a yoga retreat, the more it made sense to go on one before he started the next phase of his life. It would break up the school work from more study anyway and it wasn't as if yoga was in a completely different direction to alchemy in the first place.
He let out a groan as he dropped his bagel, finally giving in to the fact that he wasn't going to manage to eat anything.
"Sickle for your thoughts?" Lucy asked as she dropped onto the bench across from him.
Hugo looked up at her and lifted an eyebrow as he studied her for a moment. Something told him that she already knew what was going on. She always seemed to know, even if he didn't quite understand how he knew. Lucy knew everything, often before the person themselves knew. He'd often tried to work out how she did it, but he'd never succeeded.
"Uh. Potions is today." He said matter-of-factly, as if that could possibly describe everything that was going through his mind today. He didn't feel like going into detail though.
Fortunately Lucy seemed to understand that as she let him finish pretending to eat before the two of them headed down to the dungeons. Neither of them said anything the whole time until they reached the classroom and they both muttered a "good luck" before they headed inside.
Hugo felt a lot better once the exam was over. Sure, it didn't completely solve all of his worries, but it did at least alleviate them, so he found that he was actually able to relax in the Room of Requirement. It had become the Wotter den during James' time at school, and that certainly hadn't changed. He more than enjoyed his evenings here with the rest of his family and their friends, though of course now the numbers of Wotters left at Hogwarts had dropped significantly and in a few months time it would drop again.
"Hey there." Hugo looked up from the fire he'd been watching dance to see that Sarah was standing next to him. She sat down on the arm of his chair, her long legs draping over his lazily. "How'd you get on?"
"My mind didn't go completely blank so I'm quietly optimistic." He said honestly, managing a small smile though he couldn't help but wonder what she was up to. If she was here then Lily was sure to be nearby so it didn't quite make sense, not to mention the fact that her being this close to him did not help to quash the rumour that he had a crush on her.
"I'm glad." She said softly, though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
Hugo had to wonder if her reaction was related to the fact that he had yet to give her an answer about the trip to Bali. He knew that he couldn't wait until he got the results of his exams back, to keep her hanging on like that was cruel when she probably had another friend that she wanted to ask lined up, but he wasn't ready to make a decision like that today.
He gave her knee a gentle squeeze and returned her smile but he was quiet for a few moments. He didn't really know what he was meant to say. He wanted to ask if she was playing a trick on him or if she really did want him to go with her but the words just wouldn't form. Before he could figure out what to say though, he heard Lily calling her name.
"Sarah! Can you hurry up?"
"Sorry, Hu. That's my cue." Sarah said in an almost sing-song voice before she pressed a kiss to his temple and pretty much skipped off in Lily's direction.
Hugo blinked rapidly once she was gone as he tried to figure out what exactly had just happened but he had barely managed to process it before someone dropped into the armchair beside him. It didn't fully register that he wasn't alone until they spoke.
"She's into you, you know." It was Lucy. Of course it was Lucy. Who knew how much of his latest encounter with Sarah she had seen. Being invisible without the need for a cloak was her superpower and it was honestly a little unsettling at times.
"She is not." He scoffed, rolling his eyes and for a split second he wondered if she was confusing the rumours.
"Am I ever wrong?" Lucy asked, her eyebrow lifting slightly as Hugo turned to look at her and study her face.
"Well, no. I guess not." He said slowly before he frowned slightly. "How do you know she's into me?"
"I can't tell you that." Lucy told him. She even managed to crack a smile which Hugo was not used to. "It doesn't matter how I know anyway. I just know, and as your older cousin you should listen to me."
"As if age has anything to do with it." Hugo gave a soft laugh before he turned a little more serious. "What do I do if she likes me?"
Lucy laughed. It wasn't her usual dry sort that she saved for when she didn't find anything even remotely funny. It was the sort of laughter that came with genuine amusement. "Really, Huey? Do you really want me to coach you through this?" She asked as she fingered the pages of the notebook that she had on her lap, that she was never without.
"Merlin, no!" He held up his hands, his eyes wide. "I'm just… I don't know if I like her? I've been so busy this year with schoolwork and trying to convince everyone that I don't have a crush on her that I've not really had time to like anyone."
"Spend some time with her." Lucy said softly. "You'd be surprised what you discover about her and what you discover about yourself."
"That...That doesn't sound like a bad idea actually." Hugo gave a soft hum before he nodded. "Have I ever told you that you scare me sometimes, Lucky?"
"I told you, I'm naturally terrifying." Hugo could have sworn that he saw a grin flash across his cousin's lips but he decided that it must have been a trick of the light.