*waves* Hai!

I've been a little reluctant to post this fic on fan fiction dot net, only because it's quite different to what I normally post over here. I normally post nothing higher than a T rating, just because. No specific reason, but it's just what i've always done. Anything with a higher rating than that has either gone on my writing journal over on LiveJournal or on The Quidditch Pitch.

This one I wrote for a Ron love-in over on LiveJournal called the Rontoberfest, in which there were two teams, Team Summer and Team Winter, and we picked two promtps each from a mahoosive list. There were no winners and no losers, just a month full of Ron fic and art. It was wonderful! I was on Team Winter and chose the prompts Hugo Weasley and Order of Suspension (from Hogwarts).

To make the plot properly fit my prompts and plotbunneh I had to make the subject quite a hard one and it may be one some people have difficutly reading. The warnings for this fic are strong language, graphic violence and (implied) rape. That last one is gonna turn people away, and I have no problem with that. I've had good feedback from the fest, and some people said they had to skip bits because they found it too hard to read. I'm not saying that everyone is going to feel this way - and I don't want to come across as overdramatic - I just want to warn you to expect some quite intense writing and subjects that might be hard for some people to read about.

Please tell me what you think, I poured my heart and soul into this fic, even though I did leave it to way to late before the deadline, and I'd love constructive critisism. Flaming me because you don't like the subject matter after I've warned accordingly is not cool. Hit the back button and carry on if you don't think this fic is for you, I will never know and you will remain happy.

Thanks for reading this incredibly long author's note, much appreciated. Enjoy!

Step ;) xxx

A lack of interference

...

He had read the words twice now, and yet he still didn't understand what he was reading. How could his son be expelled from Hogwarts?

Hugo had never set a foot out of line since the day he arrived at the school. With the personalities that bounced off each other in their family, he naturally took his fair share of stick off his cousins. The 'sensible one', as Hugo had been labelled, had often been called a bore or a stick in the mud.

Ron knew this wasn't entirely true, though. Hugo could be a joker if he wanted, and had been on a few occasions, but he had planned his jokes to the smallest of details and had, therefore, never been caught. Where Fred's jokes were always loud, messy and sought to make as big a fool as possible of the recipient, Hugo's jokes were more subtle, more thought out, and were set to make the recipient be purely baffled for hours on end.

Thinking all this through, Ron was still, understandably, confused.

Hugo was a happy, well-mannered, slightly cheeky boy – almost a man – and his education meant everything to him. He had decided years ago that he wanted to be a Healer. This surprised everyone, as the first time he had seen someone fall and badly hurt themselves at his Muggle primary school, he had promptly been sick and passed out. However, in his Third Year of Hogwarts, when he needed to choose his subjects for Fourth Year that were relevant to a chosen career path, he had announced he wanted to be a Healer and nothing would change his mind.

He gained three Os and 2 Es at O.W.L level and was now half way through his N.E.W.T level study. Well, he had been, he was now, apparently, expelled from the school.

Ron thought hard. The only thing that he knew Hugo would lose his temper over was if someone he loved had been hurt. It had happened a couple of times over the years, nothing too serious, a couple of hexes here and there and once Hugo had come off worse. It was hard to chastise Hugo for standing up for his friends and family, as Ron knew he would have done exactly the same. Knowing he had passed that quality on to his son made him feel somewhat proud.

If he had been standing up for himself or someone else, then surely Hugo wouldn't have been the one in trouble?

Ron scanned the parchment again. Phrases jumped out at him -…'regret to inform you…', '…shocking behaviour…', 'refuses to inform us…', '…leaves us no choice…'

'Merlin's beard, Hugo. What the hell happened?'

…

His question was not to be answered quickly, but not for want of trying or through lack of effort on Ron's part.

He had arrived at the school and gone straight to Deputy Headmistress McGonagall's office. He was a little surprised to see her obviously upset about the whole ordeal and asked him to get Hugo to tell them exactly what had happened.

'It's as if he just doesn't want to defend himself! We all know Hugo, and that's why it's so frustrating that he won't tell us everything that happened. Weasley-'

Despite the circumstances, he felt a small smirk creep on his lips. Being called 'Weasley' by his former teacher while in her office, despite being in his forties, was a little strange.

'…you need to get Hugo to tell you the truth. I suspect there's a third party involved, but I may be wrong.'

'You're not, though, are you?' Ron asked, knowing the tone in McGonagall's voice wasn't one of unknowing.

She looked at him with sad eyes.

'No, I don't think so. There's been a few incidents – small things – attitudes between him and Thompson-'

'Who?' Ron asked.

'Thompson, Edgar Thompson. He's a Ravenclaw in his seventh year. I take it you don't know the family.'

'I have no idea who he is. Should I?'

McGonagall shook her head.

'Not necessarily. Anyway, as I said, there had been an attitude between him and Hugo, pushing in the corridors on their way to lessons, there were words exchanged in the grounds, none of them pleasant, Professor Long- Neville, had to break the two of them up.'

'Were they actually fighting?' Ron asked, the shock obvious in his voice.

'No, but from what Neville said, I don't think they were too far from either hexing each other or throwing punches.'

Ron dropped his head and looked at his boots.

'Talking of punches… what's the damage? I take it that whatever's been going on between them finally came to a head. Is it wand damage? Or did my son not find it necessary to use something as elegant as a wand to inflict pain?'

'Why do you presume it was violence that is the reason for his expulsion?' McGonagall asked.

'As much as my son can, apparently, act very out of character, I know he's not a vindictive person. I don't think he would ever plot to harm or hurt anyone. If it was a magical incident, and something had gone badly wrong in class – which I highly doubt as he inherited his mother's intelligence – that would still be deemed an accident as there would be no malice behind it. That leaves me with violence, if there's any way of justification then he wouldn't have been expelled, if he's refusing to give you a reason then that counts as 'for no reason' which I'd say was a good enough reason for expulsion.'

Ron looked up at his former teacher and was slightly surprised to see what he thought was a look of pride in her face.

'You mentioned his mother's intelligence, but I think you do yourself an injustice, Ron. You are entirely correct. Thompson sustained significant injuries, broken ribs, a broken nose, severe bruising to his abdomen and, well, all over him really. When a teacher arrived, he was unconscious.'

Her tone had started formal, but it became sadder as she listed the injuries.

Ron sighed and rubbed his face with his hand.

'Merlin above… I just… I just don't…'

'Ron, please get Hugo to tell you what happened and why it happened. As you said, if there's the smallest reason that somehow justifies… well, not justifies, I don't know what possible reason could justify that sort of behaviour, but… well, anyway, if there's anything that can help him, I'll do my best to overturn the ruling.'

Ron nodded his head.

'Believe me, I'll try. Hermione would be devastated if he got expelled from school, especially for something like this.'

'How is Hermione taking the news?' McGonagall asked quietly, as if she already knew the answer to the question.

'Ah, well, she's away in Ireland at the minute with work. She doesn't know. I was kind of hoping I could get this sorted before she had to find out, then telling her wouldn't be half as bad. I'm not sure that's going to happen though.'

'Well, I still hold hope that it will. I'm sure you'll be able to get Hugo to tell you what happened. Be sure I'm the first person you come to when he does.'

Knowing that this was the end of their meeting, Ron stood from the chair and thanked the Professor for her time and encouraging words.

The door shut behind him and he set off, knowing where Hugo would be, without needing to be told. As he approached the hospital wing he had no idea what he would say to his son. Hopefully, whatever he did manage to come out with would help, as opposed to hinder.

…

'What in the name of hell made you beat the shit out of him, Hugo?'

He had hoped his anger wouldn't come to the surface immediately, but he had been disappointed. Well, he would be later, after he had finished shouting at his son.

'The odd hex, a one off punch thrown, I can understand, believe me, but taking it to a point where the poor lad's unconscious when help arrives, is taking things a little bit too far, wouldn't you say?'

He still hadn't taken a proper look at his son, and didn't want to, yet, either. He didn't want to feel sympathetic towards him, not yet, anyway.

He didn't have a choice, though. He had run out of initial anger and Hugo wasn't returning his shouts. Ron knew that Hugo shouting at his dad would be out of character, but nothing about Hugo's recent behaviour had been in character, so Ron wouldn't have been surprised if a shouting match had started.

Ron looked up after taking a few steadying breaths. He saw his son, sat up in bed, staring at his folded hands on his lap. He had a cut on his left eyebrow, and his left eye was blackened. Ron thought he saw the remnants of a healing spell lingering around his nose, making him suspect that had been broken, and he had cuts and abrasions on his knuckles and hands that were close to healing, but were still an angry red.

Despite seeing his son badly beaten, Ron knew it was nothing compared to the injuries to the boy in the bay at the end of the hospital wing, which still had a curtain drawn around the bed.

'You refuse to tell people what happened, and, therefore, you've been expelled from school. That's it, Hugo. The end. No more learning, no more qualifications, and you'll never be a fully qualified wizard. Your ambitions to become a Healer, they just disappeared because you won't tell us anything. Why would you throw that away?'

Still Hugo didn't say anything; he just stared at his hands. Ron felt anger surge through him.

'Hugo, I swear to Merlin, if you don't answer me I'll-'

'I don't like him.'

Ron stopped and stared at Hugo.

'You don't like him? That's it? That's the reason why you kicked and punched him to within an inch of his life? I don't like a lot of people, but I don't go round throwing punches at them all, do I?'

Hugo looked up and glared at him.

'Glare at me all you want, Hugo. It won't shut me up and it won't make me go away.'

Hugo crossed his legs underneath the blanket and leant further back into his pillows.

Knowing shouting wasn't the way to take this further, Ron sat in the solitary chair next to Hugo's bed.

'Hugh, look, this isn't you. You don't do things like this. I would never expect your sister to do something like this, but if I had to put a name to this, I'd put hers down before yours. You can tell me it was for an insignificant reason 'til you're blue in the face, but I will never believe you. Never. Just tell me what happened. Please.'

Hugo shuffled uncomfortably.

'Can't.'

Ron looked up at him and frowned.

'What do you mean, you can't?'

'Just can't.'

Ignoring the anger and frustrating building inside of him, Ron leant forward in his seat.

'Has someone threatened you and told you not to tell anyone what happened? Or is someone forcing you to take the blame for them?'

A small smirk crossed Hugo's lips.

'No, Dad, no-one's forcing me to take the blame for them. I do like how you're trying to make yourself believe that I couldn't beat someone up, though. Thanks for that!'

Ron wasn't sure if he was more shocked at the fact Hugo had completed a full sentence or that he was accusing him of not believing in his physical strength.

'Would you want to believe that your son who has been a model student all through school and has his whole career and life ahead of him had just thrown everything away in one fight?'

Hugo's smirk disappeared.

They sat in silence for a minute.

'I can't tell you, Dad, I just can't. She-'

Ron's eyes widened.

'She? Oh, Hugo, if this is all over a girl I-'

'She's not just 'a girl'! She's…she's…'

'Worth all this? Expulsion and everything that means?'

Hugo looked at him but looked away quickly.

'Well, when you've decided if she is or not, you let me know.'

He stood up and walked through the wing to the double doors. He took one last look at his son, the curtained bay at the end and shook his head. He had no idea how he was going to fix this, but he knew he had to find a way.

...

'Nev, please tell me this isn't happening.'

Neville looked at Ron and sighed.

'Whiskey?'

'Please.'

Neville shut the door behind Ron and gestured for him to sit in the chair in front of his desk. Ron watched as Neville pulled his chair in front of the tall bookcase and reached right to the top and the back. He pulled out a bottle of deep amber liquid and stepped down from the chair. He dragged it round next to Ron and sat down heavily.

'Scared the kids'll find and steal your Whiskey, Nev?'

Neville smiled.

'Nah, they know about the one in my desk drawer, give the odd shot to the students who get attacked by the plants in the greenhouses, but no-one knows about this one. This one's, er, home made.'

'Did Hannah make it?'

'Yep, but we don't tell too many people about it. Ah, actually, could you not tell Hermione about this?'

'Has anyone died from drinking it?'

'No!'

'Then I won't, and please pour me some.'

Neville poured them both a drink. Ron knocked back the shot and despite trying very hard not to cough, he succumbed to his lungs' wish.

'Holy…wow, Nev! What the hell is in that?'

'Trust me when I say you don't want to know, but in about ten seconds, you'll have a very clear head and be a little more relaxed.'

'Seriously?'

'Seriously. Again, if you could not tell Hermione about this, it would be much appreciated.'

Ron waved away the request and held out his glass, waiting for Neville to fill it.

'So, Professor Longbottom, I believe you had to break up what would have turned into a fight had you not stepped in, between my son and this Thompson boy, the other week.'

Neville sipped at his Whiskey and nodded his head.

'Yeah, Hugo and Edgar were squaring off; they looked like they might draw their wands if I didn't stop them.'

'Do you have any idea what this is all about?'

Neville sighed.

'I don't know anything, but I have my suspicions.'

'That's more than I have.'

'Well, there's a girl in Hugo's class, Hazel Etheridge, I don't know if he's mentioned her at all…?'

'Hazel? Yeah, he's mentioned her. They're good friend's aren't they?'

'I'd say more than that, but I think the both of them may deny there were any other feelings there. Hence the reason why she is seeing Edgar Thompson.'

Ron's head dropped.

'If all this is because he's jealous, I don't know what I'll do.'

'I think you do him an injustice, Ron. Hazel and Edgar have been together for a while now, but it's only recently that there's been tension between them.'

'So what are you telling me, Neville? Did Hugo beat the crap out of him because he's secretly in love with Hazel or is that me jumping to obvious conclusions?'

Neville sighed.

'To be honest Ron, I don't think so, I suppose it's a possibility, but Hugo's a sensible boy, he wouldn't throw his education away for that. There's something else that's happened that's just between the three of them and no one else knows what it is.'

'Do you think I'm likely to find out what it is?'

'Do you think you're likely to find out what it is?'

Ron sighed heavily.

'I'd love to say, yes, of course I would. I like to think my son can tell me anything, I don't expect him to, but I hope he knows he can. He's told me things before, big things to him, but this time…I just don't know.'

'Well, you can go and try again, or you can have another drink with me. Up to you, but the latter won't help the situation. Too much of this will send you to sleep!'

Ron sniggered.

'At the minute that sounds like the most desirable option, but I suppose I should go and try to get my son to save his education and his ambitions.'

'I know you're upset and possibly angry with Hugo, but there'll be a damn good reason for all this. He's like his dad; he stands up for the people he loves.'

'Can't I blame that on his Uncle Neville?'

Neville laughed.

'With your family and friends, I think we can all take a little of the blame. But you're not worming out of the blame that easily.'

Ron shrugged.

'Sounds about right.'

…

'Dad!'

Ron went from looking at only the ground in front of him as he made his way back to the hospital wing, to staring at his daughter's face.

'Rose? What are you doing here?'

'I came to see Hugo! Why else would I be here?'

'Why aren't you at work?'

'Because my brother's kicked the shit out of someone and has been expelled from school! That's why!'

'Don't swear, Rose, you know how much it winds your mother up!'

'And when my mother's in the room, I won't. Has Hugo told you what's going on? I can't get a word out of him.'

'He won't tell you what's going on? Bugger, you were my next plan.'

'So, he hasn't told you yet, either?'

Ron shook his head.

'Dad, did you shout at him or talk to him calmly?'

Ron twisted his face.

'Kind of a mixture, I didn't shout exactly, but I wasn't the calmest person either.'

'Arse. Me neither. Where's Mum?'

'Ireland, you know that.'

'She's not here?'

'Um, no, I haven't told her yet.'

'What? Dad, she is gonna kill you!'

'Yes, thank you, Rose, no need to remind me of that. I just hoped I could get this sorted before I had to tell her, her son had been expelled from Hogwarts.'

'Fair point.'

'Anyway, you get back to work, I don't need both my children stressing me out today.'

Rose stepped forward and kissed her dad on the cheek and gave him a swift hug.

'It'll be okay, Dad. Hugo'll see all this isn't worth expulsion.'

'Is this the equivalent of you rebelling and going out with Scorpius Malfoy, just to piss me off?'

Rose laughed.

'Are you saying me going out with Scorpius for all of three weeks is the same as Hugo beating up a seventh year prefect?'

'He was a prefect as well? Shit.'

'That doesn't make it worse, Dad. All the students are human beings… mostly,' Rose added with a grin.

Ron smiled.

'I'll see you at home, and please don't tell your mother about this, just yet. I'll tell her tonight when she phones. I can't deal with her at the minute as well as Hugo.'

'Okay, I won't. If you think I can be of help, let me know and I'll be here as soon as I can.'

'Thanks, Rosie. See you at home.

'See you, Dad.'

Ron watched as his daughter walked out of sight. He turned and carried on towards the hospital wing, not having a clue how to coax the much-needed information out of his son.

…

'It's on the bedside table.'

'Huh? What is?' Ron asked, instantly confused.

'The memory of what happened.'

'What? Really? Of what happened…'

'Of what happened when I beat the shit out of a seventh year prefect, as Rose put it, yeah.'

'But Hugo-'

'But Hugo, nothing. I don't know what to do and the only thing I can think of is to show you that and ask you what you would do. You're probably disappointed that I haven't had the balls to make a decision and live with the consequences, but…' he shrugged, 'I just don't know what's the right thing to do.'

Ron sat down on the chair and for the first time all day, smiled.

'Hugh, I'd never think any less of you for asking for advice. Why do you think I would?'

Again, Hugo shrugged.

'Dunno, I've just heard you say that you respected people who made a decision and stuck to it.'

'And in what context have I said that?'

Hugo looked up at his Dad.

'When you've been talking about work and stuff.'

Ron nodded.

'When I've been talking about seasoned Aurors who are my age and older and who don't have the balls, as you put it, to do the right thing. They don't ask people for advice, jump into a decision and then change their minds when the chips are down, telling everyone they agreed with what was actually correct all along, and don't admit they're wrong.

'There's nothing at all wrong with getting it wrong. Everyone makes mistakes. Just be a man and admit it. You have no idea how proud of you I am for asking for help on this, although why it's taken you,' he checked his watch, 'nearly five hours to ask me, I don't know!'

Hugo just about managed a smile.

'Mum's always told me to think things through before I act, so I did.'

'Yeah, but thinking a little faster would have helped my sanity, you know!' Ron replied with a smile.

Hugo sat up higher in bed and turned towards Ron.

'Dad, promise me something before you look at that.'

He gestured towards the memory on the table.

'What?' Ron replied.

'When…when you've seen what's in the memory I know you'll want to go straight to McGonagall and tell her what you've seen, but I don't want you to do that. That's not the reason why I'm showing you it. It's my decision if I show her the memory or tell her anything, or if I don't. I don't want you to make my decision for me; I just need your opinion on what you would do.'

Ron looked at his son, and realised, despite what he had done, he was still, and would always be proud of him. Whatever the outcome of the next few hours, wasn't up to Ron, it was up to Hugo, and Ron knew that Hugo knew what was at stake. As much as he may want to do what was right for his son, that wasn't his decision to make.

Ron stood up and moved towards the bed. He carefully put his hand on his son's head.

'I promise. It may kill me to not interfere, but, you're right, this is your decision, whatever decision that is. I won't make it for you.'

'Thanks, Dad.'

…

Ron had managed, with little persuasion, to borrow the Dumbledore's old Pensieve off the headmaster and Neville had told Ron he could borrow his office so he wouldn't be disturbed.

The swirling thoughts were already in the Pensieve, waiting for him to touch them and be taken into them.

He took a deep breath, wary that he wasn't going to like what he was about to see. He cleared his throat and leaned towards the bowl.

'Remember, not your decision, Ron, not your decision.'

He lurched forwards into the Pensieve. When his feet hit solid ground he looked around him and didn't instantly recognise which part of the castle he was in.

'See, it's a problem when every corridor in the damn school looks the same and I have no light to see by,' Ron mumbled.

Luckily, one by one the torches along the walls lit as Hugo came around the corner. Ron looked at his son and saw that he was obviously worried about something, the concern evident in his face. He was jogging through the corridor, the lights going out behind him as he moved through the school. Hugo ran past Ron, so Ron started running after him.

'I'd've transfigured my shoes if I'd known I had to run!' Ron said to himself as he started to catch up with Hugo, who had slowed down to a fast walk.

Ron looked around him and realised he was in the corridor leading towards Ravenclaw Tower. If they kept going they would get to the Ravenclaw Common Room, or if they turned left down another corridor they would end up back at the great hall.

Hugo carried on towards the Common Room, but stopped dead in front of a classroom door. Ron stood next to Hugo and realised why he had stopped. There were voices coming from inside the room. Before Ron could try and listen to what the voices were saying, Hugo opened the door and stepped into the room. Ron quickly followed.

'Fuck off, Weasley! Leave me and my girlfriend alone.'

Ron's head turned to where the sound had come from and saw a tall boy, man, standing to the left hand side of the room. Ron was slightly confused, he couldn't see anyone else in the room yet Thompson had said he was with his girlfriend, presumably, Hazel.

'Hazel, are you okay?' Hugo asked the room.

Thompson turned around and stepped away from the wall, only then did Ron see Hazel. She was tiny in comparison to Thompson, and Ron understood why he hadn't seen her before.

'I told you to fuck off, Weasley! Whatever we're doing here is none of your business.'

'When my best friend is upset and plainly doesn't want to be here, by the look on her face, and… Hazel, are you crying? What have you done to upset her, you bastard?'

Thompson laughed.

'Big words from the big man, Weasley! Come over here and accuse me of upsetting my girlfriend and we'll see what happens, shall we?'

Immediately, Hugo set off across the room but walked past Thompson and stood in front of Hazel. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

'What's wrong? Has he said something or done something to hurt you?'

Ron watched as Hazel shook her head fiercely, but didn't meet Hugo's eye. It was obvious she was hiding something.

'Get your fucking hands off her!' Thompson growled.

Hugo ignored him.

'You can tell me anything, you know you can.'

Still Hazel glared at the floor.

Thompson walked to Hugo and Hazel and forcibly pushed them apart. Hugo banged into a desk and Hazel hit her head on the solid wall behind her.

'Now look what you made me do, Weasley.'

Hugo earned another shove, this time, he fell to the floor. Thompson walked over to Hazel, took her wrist and pulled her towards him. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed the back of her head.

'Sorry, darling, I didn't mean to hurt you. Weasley will pay for what happened.'

Ron moved so he could look at Hazel's face. He saw her glance at Hugo on the floor and then shut her eyes. Tears escaped them and Ron noticed she wasn't reciprocating the hug Thompson was giving her.

Hugo stood and moved closer to the couple.

'Let her go,' Hugo said, in a controlled voice.

Thompson ignored him and carried on stroking Hazel's head.

'Let. Her. GO!' Hugo repeated, his anger obvious to everyone.

Thompson sighed, dropped his arms from around Hazel's body and turned towards Weasley.

It was as much as a surprise to Ron as it was to Hugo when Thompson's fist hit Hugo in the face. Ron winced when Hugo fell to the floor swearing loudly.

'Hugo!' Hazel shouted. She knelt on the floor next to him and rolled him over onto his back. Hugo was covering his face with his hands.

'Ah! Shit! SHIT! You fucking bastard!' Hugo shouted.

'Edgar, what the hell was that for?'

'What do you mean? He was harassing us and wouldn't leave us alone.'

'That's no reason to break his nose! You're such a thug sometimes!'

'I'm a what?' Thomson shouted.

'I-…nothing… …nothing.'

Hazel helped Hugo sit up.

'Get away from him,' Thompson snarled.

Before waiting for a reply, he leant down and grabbed hold of Hazel's upper arm and pulled her up. He pushed her towards the wall and then looked back to Hugo.

Hugo looked up at him and a look of hatred filled his face. He got up without taking his eyes off Thompson and stepped up to him.

'You're gonna pay for that, Thompson.'

'I doubt it!'

He pushed Hugo backwards. Hugo stumbled, but before he had chance to find his footing, he was pushed again. He hit the wall with a thud, his head hitting it first.

'Ah, look, matching injuries between Weasley, and his best friend. Have you been pestering my girlfriend, Weasley. I know you're jealous of what we have, but that doesn't mean you can try and muscle your way in.' He smirked. 'As if she'd want you, anyway.'

Hugo tried to push past him, unable to go to either side, as his way was blocked with desks, he tried to push Thompson out the way, but failed.

'I don't think so,' Thompson growled into Hugo's face, gripping his robes tightly. 'I'm not finished with you yet. You can sit here until I've finished my business in here.'

He pushed Hugo away again, drew his wand and hexed Hugo.

Ron found his voice. He had been stunned into silence by seeing his son being battered and shoved around. Even though he knew his warning shouts would make no difference, he tried to warn Hugo a hex was coming. He watched as the red glow hit Hugo and spread over his body.

Expecting something worse than the freezing charm, Ron was, momentarily, relieved. He watched in slight disbelief as Thompson levitated Hugo's body through the classroom towards the door, and leant him against the wall.

'Right, where were we, Hazel.'

'Edgar, please, I want t-to go back to m…my room.'

Thompson walked back to where Hazel was standing and put his hands heavily on her shoulders.

'But babe, we were having fun before he arrived. We don't have to let him spoil our fun.'

Ron took a sharp breath; he had a nasty feeling he knew what was about to happen.

He watched as the Ravenclaw prefect didn't give Hazel a chance to respond to his question, and kissed her. She tried to push him away but he was too strong for her, her efforts barely registered.

He picked her up and carried her to the wall where Hugo – and Ron – had first seen them. She was struggling harder now, trying to turn her head away from him and trying to push his shoulders away from her.

'Let…me…go!' Hazel said, struggling with the effort of keeping Thompson away from her.

'But I'm not finished yet, darling! You said you'd come and see me!'

He kissed her again. Ron watched as he forced his hand under her robes. Hazel cried out.

'No! Please, don't!'

Ron couldn't watch any more. He made himself walk over to where Hugo was leant and looked into his son's eyes. They were frantic, looking everywhere for a possible way out of his hex so he could stop what was happening. Ron heard Hugo's breaths get faster as he breathed through his nose. Ron tried to concentrate on the sound so it drowned out Hazel's cries and protests.

'I'm sorry, Hugo, I understand completely why you did it. But why won't you tell anyone? He's an evil bastard who needs… something… Why are you not reporting this?'

Ron didn't want to know how long he and Hugo had to stand there and listen to the cries, and Ron knew that Hugo was tearing himself apart inside, not being able to help his friend. Ron had to keep reminding himself that this had already happened and there was nothing he could do to help.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from his son's which were now permanently looking to his left, watching what was going on. Ron knew he was doing it so he could report what happened accurately, because he knew how much watching this would be hurting Hugo.

Finally, Ron was distracted by movement at the door. It opened and a prefect on duty peered around the door.

'Oh! Crap! Sorry, Ed! I'll leave you al-'

Ron's heart had sunk when he thought the prefect was going to carry on and let his friend and his girlfriend carry on, but it soared when he looked puzzled at the sight of Hugo frozen and leant against the wall like a discarded mannequin.

'Ed? What the hell's going on? Why is Weasley here and frozen?'

Ron looked at the badge on the prefect's robes. The badge was the Gryffindor one, Ron was relieved.

The prefect drew his wand and waved it over Hugo. He slumped against the wall but for only a second. He drew his wand and pointed it at the leg of the nearest desk to him. It instantly severed and fell to the floor. Before the desk had hit the ground, Hugo had retrieved the table leg and had set off running towards Thompson.

Ron didn't know what to feel as he watched Hugo strike Thompson with the piece of wood. A part of him wished he had just run out of the room and reported everything to McGonagall or another teacher. But another part of him knew he'd have done the exact same thing. As thuggish and wrong as it was, he couldn't chastise Hugo for doing what he did. Some things you just couldn't, and didn't, walk away from.

'Hugo! No!'

The prefect ran towards Hugo as he raised the piece of wood again. Thompson was on the floor, blood pouring from his nose and a dazed look on his face. Hugo turned to the prefect.

'Go and get a teacher,' he said through gritted teeth.

The prefect looked hesitant.

'NOW!' Hugo bellowed.

The prefect looked once more at Hugo and then turned and ran out the room.

Ron kept watching as the fight continued. It didn't last as long as he thought it would, but a couple of Hugo's blows did more damage than Hugo realised. Thompson stopped struggling soon after Hugo had made the first blow and Hugo realised there was no longer a fight going on. It was just him beating up someone who was already down.

He dropped the table leg and the reality of what had happened hit him. Ron could see the shock on his face.

Hazel's sobs seemed to get through to Hugo. He turned to the corner of the room and looked down on the huddled form of his friend. She looked up at him with frightened eyes.

'What've…what've you done?' she whispered.

'I was helping you,' Hugo whispered in reply.

'If you want to h-help me…then don't tell anyone…w-what he did…to me.'

Hugo's eyes widened.

'But-'

'No, Hugo.' Her voice became stronger. 'I don't w-want anyone to know. Please.'

Ron sighed and his head dropped. Know he knew why Hugo hadn't said anything, Hazel had asked him not to.

The memory faded around him, and Ron was, once again, back in Neville's office.

Without really thinking about what he was doing, he put the memory back in the glass tube and left the office, locking it behind him.

He walked back to the hospital wing, knowing that the next few minutes were going to be hard for him and his son.

…

They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of them knowing what to say. Finally, Hugo cleared his throat.

'You think I should tell them, don't you?'

Ron shuffled in his seat.

'I know she's your best friend, Hugo, and I know she pleaded with you not to tell anyone, but… I just don't know what would be worse than that piece of shit down there,' Ron pointed to the other end of the hospital wing, 'walking away from this scot-free.'

Hugo sat higher up in his bed.

'I'm not…' he reddened slightly, 'I'm not in love with her or anything like that. Fuckwit was wrong. I don't wish I was with her. At one point, I thought we would end up together, but we tried it. We decided we'd go out with each other because we thought we should. We didn't tell anyone, in case everyone else made a drama out of it. But after a while it was obvious that we worked better as friends.

'Neither of us was bothered. I think we were both relieved, to be honest. Now we'd worked it out, we didn't have that 'what if?' question hanging over us. I love her, but only as my best friend who I've known since the first day I arrived here. I was happy for her when she started seeing him, because she was. I'd never had an issue with him, but these last couple of months, she's changed. She's not happy any more, she's lost her confidence. She does everything he tells her to; things that I know for a fact she doesn't like doing and would have told anyone else to piss off had they asked the same.

'She's not Hazel any more, and it's been annoying me no end. I've tried to talk to her but she won't listen to me. I started to let Fuckwit know what I think of him because I couldn't let this carry on, hence the almost-fights around school.'

Ron took a deep breath.

'So it wasn't just what…what you saw that was the reason you hit him. It was all this too.'

Hugo nodded his head.

'I hate seeing her like this.'

'So why don't you want to tell anyone what happened? Surely this can only help her, and stop her being bullied by him…along with whatever else has happened.'

'Because she asked me not to.'

'I know she did, Hugo, but-'

'I don't know what she'll do if I tell people. I don't know what I'd do if she didn't want to be my friend after all this. She's brilliant when she's herself. She's funny, she works hard, she makes me laugh when I'm too bloody tense to get anything useful done. She's like the opposite of me, but so similar as well, it's…it's weird. As I said, I love her to bits, and it'd feel very wrong to do something against her wishes.'

Ron hadn't taken his eyes off Hugo since he started talking. He saw hurt in his eyes when he talked about the person his best friend had become whilst she had been with Thompson, but saw the happiness he felt when he talked about what she had been like before all this had happened.

'Hugo, you know what I want you to do, but I promised I wouldn't make this decision for you and I won't. I just think you should think about what Hazel's asking you to do. She must know what this will mean for you if you're expelled, and I think it's wrong that any friend asks that of someone they love, regardless of the relationship.'

Hugo looked a little confused.

'You sacrificed a lot to go with Uncle Harry to end the war and defeat Voldemort.'

'And Harry never once asked us to go with him. He intended for us to stay at home and carry on. He was never that quick at catching onto things like that.'

Hugo smiled, but it soon faded.

Ron waited to see what Hugo would say next. He didn't think adding anything else would help Hugo, so he just sat and watched his son.

'Thanks, Dad. For everything, for shouting at me, for listening to me, for trying everything you could to help me, and for letting me make this decision on my own. It means a lot.'

Ron nodded.

'Just promise me one thing, Hugo. Take your mum's advice once more. Please think long and hard about this before you make a decision. And there's just one more thing, people like him,' once again he pointed down the ward, 'keep doing what they do until they get caught. Keep that in mind, okay?'

Hugo nodded.

Ron managed to smile before turning and leaving the hospital wing, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

…

He read the letter once more, just to make sure he hadn't read what he wanted to read as opposed to what was actually there. However, as he read the words again, the same phrases jumped out at him; '…the memory he provided…', '…will now, not be expelled…', '…wish he had been more forthcoming with the evidence…'.

Hugo hadn't got off lightly, though. Any and all privileges had been stripped off him, his Quidditch team place, his Hogsmeade visits, anything other then studying, eating and sleeping, he was now banned from. Not that Ron was surprised about this; his actions were still extreme and not what he should have done, but at least now, there was a reason for them.

'Dad! What's the news? Is he still expelled?'

Ron nearly dropped his mug of tea as his daughter ran into the lounge. He hadn't heard her Apparate into the house.

'No, he's not. He's lost every privilege possible but he's still allowed to stay at school.'

Rose collapsed into a chair, obviously relieved.

'Oh, thank God! I honestly thought he wasn't going to tell anyone what happened. I take it he told you and you told McGonagall?'

Ron shook his head.

'Nope, I didn't.'

Ron told Rose exactly what had happened, what he had seen in the memory and the gist of the conversation he and Hugo had had afterwards. Rose was both shocked and appalled, but proud of her brother for standing up for his friend.

'Dad, no offence, but you don't seem overly happy about the outcome of this. I know he's had to leave the Quidditch team, but there's always next year.'

Ron smiled.

'It's not the Quidditch, Rose. I don't know if Hugo knows, but, because I'm an Auror, and, therefore, attached to the Department of Magical Law - even though the Auror department is a separate entity in the Ministry - as an employee of the Department of Magical Law, I am obliged, to report any crime I see committed. If Hugo had decided not to tell the school what had happened, I would've had to. I don't know if Hugo would have forgiven me for that.'

Rose looked at the floor.

'Oh.'

'Yeah, that kind of sums things up.'

'Dad, I wouldn't worry about that, you didn't have to so Hugo doesn't have to know about the obligation. If he does know then… actually, that doesn't make sense, he wouldn't have made such a big deal about it being his decision if he had known at the end of the day you would have had to make it for him anyway. Luckily, it didn't come to that and he still made the right choice.'

Ron nodded.

'Yeah. He did.'

Rose smiled and went upstairs.

Ron looked over the parchment one more time and then folded it and put it in his pocket.

He thought of Hermione and wondered how she would have dealt with today. He didn't think he had done too bad a job. He must have said or done something right, as experience told him the right decision had been made.

He was a little disappointed, but rather proud of his son as well. It had been a very hard day, and it wasn't about to get better as Hermione was due to call him and he had to tell her all that had happened since the owl post that morning.

He looked at the bag of shopping he had picked up from Diagon Alley on his way home. He knew inside there was a bottle of Firewhiskey in there he had bought, knowing he would need a drink that night, regardless of what happened that afternoon.

The phone rang and he took a deep breath. For once he wasn't looking forward to talking to his wife. He heard thundering steps as Rose ran down the stairs and she ran through the lounge and snatched the phone out of his hand, just as he had picked it up.

'Hi Mum! … Yeah not bad, had a lot of boring paperwork to sort through … yeah, I know, still doesn't make it interesting … Dad? No, well, I mean yes, but he's asleep, he's had a really tiring day at work and just passed out on the sofa…'

Ron raised his eyebrows at Rose. She waved a hand at him, ignoring any comment or interruption he was about to make.

A minute later she had hung up the phone and turned around to look at him.

'Is there a reason you just lied to your mother?' Ron asked, his eyebrows still raised.

'Yes! I thought you needed a drink and some food before you told her what had happened. Can even have a nap if you want, that way I won't have lied to her…technically…'

Ron smiled.

'Thanks, Rosie.'

Rose beamed at her Dad.

'No problem. Mine's a Firewhiskey on the rocks with a wedge of lime!'

Ron laughed out loud but nodded at her request. Rose disappeared back upstairs.

As Ron prepared the drinks he thought about how many character traits he had passed on to his son, and smiled. He then looked at the two identical drinks in front of him, and did the same with his daughter.

He allowed himself another minute of pride.

Apparently he could be quite a good dad at times.