BEATER 1: Write about a budding friendship on a spring day(s) OR losing a friend on an autumn night(s).
(dialogue) "You can't start a new chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one." and (word) asleep
Spring had reached Straker's Hollow. Flowers covered the shrubbery but Hugo was in no position to appreciate them. Rather, he was rappelling high speed into a historic landmark, hanging onto a flimsy transfigured belt.
Damn. He was late. And the window. Scorpius was going to be pissed.
Hugo braced for impact, clinging to the rune-reinforced rope as he swung toward the unmistakable stained glass of the Greengrass's second castle. It was world renown - as Draco Malfoy never failed to remind him. Merlin, Hugo did not want to be in the room when Scorpius' dad found out.
The comm link in Hugo's ear buzzed to life, sending the tell-tail warm spiral of magic into his ear canal. "Hey Turtle, what exactly are you doing right now because the scanner is saying something crazy." Scorpius sounded resigned but anxious in Hugo's ear.
Hugo's mind raged in panic.
"Come in, Turtle!" Scorpius, cleverly code-named: the scorpion, demanded.
All Hugo could do was groan in response.
The media and novels constantly go on about the physical prowess of Unspeakable agents, even more so than the abilities of the Aurors. However, going through the unspeakable training, Hugo had never excelled at the physical component and never needed to. As long as he could run a mile in under nine minutes, Hugo passed the physical.
Only the top Unspeakables had to undergo the same rigorous training as the Auror program with theoretical spellwork on the side. Unlike the select Unspeakable few, Hugo had flunked out of Auror training due to his soft abdomen and lack of physical willpower.
Really, it should be Scopus clinging to a rope and heading straight for mortal peril right now not Hugo. From what Hugo heard from Albus and what Scorpius says, the other man was quite the quidditch player in his prime.
During their hogwarts days Hugo was too concerning with his potion's grades to care about little else.
However, sadly, Hugo was riding to die while Scopius sat behind a comfy screen monitoring the movements of Hugo and the package. Mary Li, a prominent policy writer for the Unspeakables in the 1860s, theorized that Unspeakable recruitment should be separated into three spheres: research, field containment, and magical theory. Her theory dictated that in order for agents to be truly excellent that they all had to specialize. Hugo was field research (which was usually less arduous) and Scorpius was a branch of the field containment that stayed in Headquarters to manage and guide their agents. Mary Li was quite adamant that each agent say specifically in their assigned roles. Mary also wrote more texts expanding on the muggle musings of Ludwig Feuerbach but Hugo and the Wizarding World was more interested in her later work.
In fact, the Wizarding World was so interested in her later work that the Unspeakable Department build their entire program around her theories and have since then refused to budge from their nineteenth century legislation. It's quite a problem. It made Hugo wonder what the Special Wizmount Committee on the Unspeakables did beyond sleep and tax wizarding citizens. Most of their incomprehensible edicts put Hugo and the majority of his team asleep.
Hugo smashes through the glass. It shatters around him and if he ignores the slipperiness of his fingers, the cost of window repair, and the centuries of history he just obliviated - he almost might feel cool.
Rolling into a standing position, Hugo fished out his wand from his pocket, quickly replacing his clothes and replacing them with formal wear but not before vanishing the glass embedded in them.
Breathing hard, Hugo shook the remaining glass from his hair. "All good, Scorpion, package secured and on way to transit."
Checking quickly behind him, Hugo prayed that none of his pursuers had followed him. In order to escape the three privately hired hit men that sought his parcel of sensitive documents, Hugo had followed Scorpius' advice and apperated into a tree and then had improvised, finding a shortcut into the manor by reapplying through a window across the apparition barriers.
Luckily, the three men had passed on, likely circling around the beginning of the house to prevent Hugo in the ballroom. Well, too bad, thought Hugo. The information he held in the breast of his jacket was both time sensitive and liable to change the entire makeup of the British Wizarding Government. In short, for a history buff like hugo, the document in his possession was pretty 'effing cool.
"Glad your safe"
"ditto"
Since his encounter in America with MACUSA Auror equivalents, Hugo has been wary to trust anyone. But if he couldn't trust his own mother and partner then really he was truly all alone.
Scorpius was an unknown to Hugo. Sure he had been friends with Rose and Albus but Rose and Albus were friends with all weird sports throughout the years so their friendship didn't say much. As of right now, Scorpius Malfoy seemed alright.
As for Hugo's Mother… well. Mum would ensure the sensitive document would make it into the right hands.
Sweeping into the ballroom after flying down the staircase and brushing his hair back as well as he could - praying that he had wiped all the blood off the face - Hugo entered. The gala for the Better Education and Integration of Muggle-Borns had mostly come to a close and people lingered by tables socializing and networking.
He found his mother easily. Perhaps the men who had tailed him were far more preoccupied with the jump ship making their way around the room on gilded platters than centuries old documents.
Either way, Hugo was far too tired to complain.
He found her thankfully alone. When she saw his face, she rounded on him quickly, tossing her plate of cheeses into the trash and wiping off her hands.
"Oh Hugo, I've been meaning to speak to you!" she cried.
"Great Mum, me too, I have some -" Hermione Granger cut her son off, gesturing to the time.
"Hugo, two hours is far too late to be arriving to an important Gala like this. I thought your father and I had instilled a better sense of promptness!" Hermione hushed her son who was looking to get a word in and continued. "I know, darling, I know. You're busy with that new paperboy job of yours but really Hugo, you could do better. I know you're cut up about the Auror program but there are better things out there. You can't start a new chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the old one."
Hugo sighed and counted to ten mentally in his head. It was a technique Rose had showed him long ago when he was still in Hogwarts.
"Yeah Mum, I'm working on that. But I have a matter concerning national security…"
Hermione Granger's eyebrow's pinched together and she gave her son a curious look. "Go on," she encouraged.