The Mood Ring
Chapter One: Dark Blue
Harry sighed as another loud bang reverberated through the walls. Why he had agreed to have Rose and Hugo over for the day, he had no idea. Of course, he also hadn't realised what devils kids could be when you put too many of them together. Hermione would pay for doing this to him.
Ginny had said she would take care of the kids while he did some paperwork at his desk. He didn't like working at the ministry when he could do it at home. Though he was seriously reconsidering that opinion now. The paperwork would just have to wait. Roughly shoving the stack of parchment aside, Harry made to stand up when a soft knock sounded from the door.
"Come in," he said, eyebrows slightly raised in wonder.
Neither Ginny nor his kids would have knocked, something which aggravated him to no end. Of course, Ginny knew to keep quiet, but James had made it a game to enter his office and make as much noise as possible, without getting in too much trouble.
When the door opened slowly, Harry could see a head with short red hair peeking around the corner. So it was Hugo.
"You can come in, Hugo," Harry repeated.
"I- I'm not bothering you, am I?" Hugo asked worriedly.
"No, I just finished anyway."
"Oh, that's good," he said quietly, before crossing the room.
"Now, what was it you came in here for?" Harry prompted, when Hugo stood in front of him, silent.
"Um, well, it- it's the Christmas party next week, and… I heard mum and dad talking… So, uh, I was wondering," Hugo stuttered, fidgeting.
Now getting very curious, Harry tried to think of something to say that would calm him down a bit. Trying to imagine what Hermione would do in such a case.
"Just calm down Hugo, and tell me what it is about this party that you want," he said in what he hoped was a comforting voice. Hugo gulped visibly before replying.
"I- I wanted to take a girl with me. As a… date," he finally managed.
"All right, sure, I don't really see a problem with that," Harry said after getting over his initial surprise.
"Thanks, but… don't you think my dad will be angry?"
"Why would you think that?" Harry asked surprised, that certainly wasn't what he was expecting.
"Well, I overheard dad complaining to mum a few times that if Rose ever brought home a boy… Though mum always did react angry when he did that," Hugo explained, trailing of thoughtfully at the end.
At this Harry had to cover his snort by a cough. He could just imagine that discussion. Ron going on about how no boy would ever touch his little girl, and Hermione getting worked up and threatening to tell Ginny. Which would definitely shut him up. The thought also struck him that Hugo certainly seemed to overhear a lot. He would have to rub that in Ron's face the next time he started to boast that his kids weren't as troublesome as James.
"I don't think you need to worry about that, Hugo," Harry reassured the boy. "I'll make you a deal. If your dad gets angry, I'll put him in his place. Ok?"
"Thanks uncle Harry," Hugo said happily, nodding his head.
"Say, Hugo, do you mind me asking who you want to go with?"
"Er," he said, glancing around nervously.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine with whoever it is."
"I wanted to go with Lily," he confessed, looking nervously at Harry, who just laughed, having his suspicions confirmed.
"Why don't you go ask her then?
"Really?" Hugo asked, sounding hopeful.
"Sure, I think she's in the kitchen helping her mother bake cookies," Harry told him, pretty sure Lily was still there. She rarely ran away before the cookies were ready and it had only been twenty minutes.
"Ok, thanks!" Hugo shouted, suddenly very excited as he ran out the door towards the kitchen. Harry stayed behind, still seated at his desk, an amused smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Hugo had reached the kitchen and was currently standing rather hesitant in the doorway. Inside, Ginny was helping Lily batter the dough, which meant that Ginny was doing all the work while Lily watched, and occasionally put a piece of stray dough in her mouth when she thought her mother couldn't see. So far, she hadn't been very successful. Just as Ginny opened her mouth to berate Lily again, she saw Hugo standing in the doorway.
"Oh, hello Hugo. Are you here to help us?" Ginny asked kindly, leaving Lily to do the heavy work on her own.
No, I just wanted to ask L- Lily something," he said, his previous excitement making way for more nervousness. Now both Ginny and Lily had their attention on him, looking at him curiously.
"Go on, ask away then. I'll just get some things from the cupboard," Ginny said, moving to the other side of the kitchen and pretending to rummage through a cupboard, while listening carefully.
"What is it, Hugo?" Lily asked him innocently.
"Um, do you want to go to the Christmas party next week with me?" Hugo rushed out, though Lily seemed to have understood him.
"What? Like a date? Really?" Lily asked excitedly.
"Er, yeah," he said, embarrassed.
"Of course! Sure, I'd love to! It'll be fun!" Lily shouted, getting worked up. Then she suddenly stopped as a thought struck her.
"Can we also get married?" she asked, a huge, expectant smile on her face.
"I guess so," Hugo said, slightly overwhelmed.
"Yippee! C'mon, we got to go tell the others," Lily said, dragging Hugo with her as they went to find their siblings.
Ginny smiled fondly at the two seven year-olds, before sighing when she saw the half-battered cookie dough sitting innocently on the counter.
"Need some help?" asked a voice from the doorway. Ginny turned around and smiled at her husband.
"That'd be nice," she said, smiling gently.