Raspberries
Hugo Weasley had never been one of those people, a person who can easily make up a meaningless conversation about weather and politics, dodge the too personal questions tactfully and enjoy being a part of the crowd. As much as he liked his relatives (well, some of them), he couldn't stand them as large doses, and that is why he was sneaking off from the Burrows and the Weasley meeting, and heading towards the Muggle village nearby.
While he walked he thought the new happenings in the family – James' engagement, Kitty's return from her trip that had lasted two years, Johnny's graduation (Hugo really wanted to see who would be stupid enough to hire Johnny, as there hardly was more sour eighteen-year-old in whole Britain), and most importantly, Molly's upcoming wedding with her dear Wood.
That day was one of the days when Hugo hoped his relatives wouldn't start to date so seriously and so early. He was nineteen himself, and hated how everyone in the family thought he should be dating seriously too, or preferably be engaged to be married by now. Hugo snorted and ran his hand through his hair. As if.
The Muggle village was always a little miracle to him. The people looked so normal, even with their odd clothes and these machines they called cars. Hugo had always been interested in cars. Just cars, not planes or radios and televisions like Grandfather Weasley. Those little things with four wheels were just magnificent, Hugo thought, and allowed himself to stare for a moment at one, which was blue and pretty.
"Nice shirt", someone said behind his back, and Hugo twirled around.
It was Lucy, standing there with that odd smile of hers on her lips. Her tangled brown hair was falling to her eyes, and she didn't seem to feel as uncomfortable in her Muggle clothes as Hugo did. She wore a short summer dress, and Hugo guessed it was a gift from her Uncle Russell and Aunt Maria. The said couple, Auntie Audrey's brother and sister-in-law, had never had children of their own, and spoiled Molly and Lucy shamelessly to make up for that.
Hugo touched his hair nervously. If it had been Molly, he would have felt comfortable, but Lucy was almost a stranger to him, the odd one out of the cousins. He pleaded his brains to come up with something, anything, good, but Lucy Weasley was a girl who had an odd ability to make him freeze, stutter and then forget what he had been thinking a second ago.
A scary girl, that was the only way to describe her.
"Umm – hey", he said and tried to cover up his embarrassment by looking at the car he had been admiring just a moment ago. However, that didn't work very well, as the car was gone and Hugo wanted to curse the whoever owned it.
"Hello", Lucy greeted lightly and looked amused. "Got enough of that hen-house too?"
"Yeah." The hen-house was really a rather fitting word to describe their family meetings. Little children ran around screaming, older children laughed and squealed and also ran around, and the adults ran after their children and somehow managed to chatter (and gossip) together at the same time. It really was quite nightmarish at times.
"Oh well", Lucy said. "Now you are here, and so am I – what do you say, let's have a cup of coffee or something in that cafe."
Hugo didn't have time to answer before she had already taken a firm grip from his arm and started to lead him towards the cafe.
"Hey, Lucy – Lucy, wait – hey! – do you even have any Muggle money? Because I certainly don't –"
She didn't seem to find any problem in that. "We can always Confund the waiter. Come on, now!"
Hugo followed.
When he and Rose had been small, their parents had had the habit of letting them stay in the Burrows overnight after the meetings, along with other cousins. The habit still existed, though nowadays it was a rare thing that all of the cousins would stay. That day Molly left with her parents, blushing and saying something about meeting Aidan. James left shortly after it, followed by his siblings, Freddie and Rose. None of Charlie's children stayed anymore, and Victoire and Dominique were – at least in their opinion – too old for it.
Grandmother Weasley sighed, but cheered up after Juliet, the youngest grandchild, asked if she could have more cookies. While Roxanne, Juliet's older sister, groaned inwardly, Grandmother Weasley rose and rushed to fetch another gigantic jar full of cookies.
After the meal Grandmother called a tiny supper and her grandchildren the second dinner, they scattered around the Burrows. Hugo took few sandwiches more and came outside, where the sun was still shining in the horizon and Lucy was sitting in one of the swings Grandfather had put there years ago. She was balancing a small cup on her knees and looking at the distance with slight smile on her face.
"Hey", Hugo said. "Again, I guess."
Lucy shook her head to banish the thoughts away from her mind. He sat to the another swing.
"It's so pretty here", he said.
"It is", was Lucy's answer.
She swung her bare legs in the fading sunlight, and Hugo fell into the silence.
"A raspberry?"
Lucy extended the cup, and Hugo looked at those plump, red berries, which he knew from experience were Lucy's favourite ones. He hesitated and then said no. Her blue eyes stared at him with curiosity.
"Why not?"
He leaned back and admired the sky, sensing Lucy's eyes still staring at him, wanting an answer. Finally he sighed.
"Fine. I'll tell you, but only if you promise not to tell anyone."
"Sure, sure. Tell already!" Lucy might have managed to avoid every tallness gene her parents had had to offer, but she had welcomed every ounce of their curiosity.
Hugo straightened his back and looked at Lucy. "It happened about six or seven years ago – I was visiting here with my parents and Rosie."
"And?"
"Rosie and I came here to eat some raspberries straight from the bushes."
"And?"
"I picked this really big and good-looking berry." Hugo's ears were starting to adopt a reddish colour. "I was just about to eat it, when I noticed this ugly, disgusting worm was there. In my berry."
"And?"
"Well, that was it. I threw the whole berry away, and haven't felt like eating more after it."
Lucy burst into laughter. "That's it? One little worm and you're afraid to eat raspberries?"
Now not only Hugo's ears, but cheeks too, were reddish.
"I told you, it was huge!"
"And hairy too, I'm sure", Lucy giggled. "Believe me, the worm was more scared of you." She continued her giggling, obviously finding the whole story extremely funny.
Hugo looked at the sky again. It really didn't bother him. And Lucy had nice laugh.
Hugo had always had a habit of fancying wrong girls. He didn't fall for perfect pictures, he fell for broken pieces which he glued together and then watched how those girls, one by one, rose to their feet and said they needed something more.
Lucy Weasley wasn't broken, but she was very much a wrong girl.
She was a Weasley.
"You look beautiful, Lu", Hugo told as he danced with her. Molly's wedding had been a catastrophe in every possible way, but finally she had been pronounced to Mrs Aidan Wood, and Weasley-Wood-Spinnet-Dean family was rejoicing.
"Thank you", Lucy said, slight smile on her face. It was always nice to hear compliments.
The music continued, peaceful and perfect.
Hugo smiled too. He could smell Lucy, autumn sun and raspberries, and it was enough to make him happy.
A/N: I seriously hope Hugo doesn't sound stalkerish in the end. :)