A/N: Hugo doesn't get enough love from the fandom, in my honest opinion. So I made this. And yes, I had to make them Seamus's kids because I have an unhealthy obsession with the incredibly handsome Irish wizard and his actor Devon Murray.
"Rose," first year Hugo Weasley yelled to his older sister, third year Gryffindor Rose Weasley, as she hurriedly ran off with her friends, only one of them known to him since she was a cousin of his, leaving him to chase after her, being the nervous first grader he was. "Wait for me, why don't you?" He struggled with his trunk, causing him to start panting as he got to his sister's compartment.
In that compartment sat Rose and her four other friends, three Gryffindors and one Ravenclaw.
The one who sat to her right was Dominique Weasley, a fourth year Gryffindor and Hugo's cousin. Boys went wild for her, even if only a small fraction of her was Veela, and the fact that she chews with her mouth open. She had the Delacour trademark blonde hair, much like Victoire, but had the Weasley spirit her older sister lacked. Proving that the Veela gene is definitely the dominant gene, she had all tell-tale signs of being one. the perfect cheek bones, the intimidating yet charming stares, the "she's perfect and she knows it" feel that people with Veela blood often give out. But since she is a Weasley, she played Quidditch (a chaser) for her whole third year, but backed out to focus on becoming an auror, "Rose," first year Hugo Weasley yelled to his older sister, third year Gryffindor Rose Weasley, as she hurriedly ran off with her friends, only one of them known to him since she was a cousin of his, leaving him to chase after her, being the nervous first grader he was. "Wait for me, why don't you?" He struggled with his trunk, causing him to start panting as he got to his sister's compartment.
To Rose's left sat a rather shy looking girl, too shy that someone would often think of her as not a Gryffindor at first impression. She refused to eat any of the chocolate frogs that the others offered to her as she just merely let Dominique or Rose gobble up the frog, collecting the card from the box. She was very pale, and compared to a lot of the Weasleys, she out-paled all most of them. And the dark black hair that fell to right below her chest even made her seem paler. On the top of her head was a beanie that was designed to resemble a bunch of Daily Prophet articles written by their Muggle News correspondent, D.J. Finnigan. Hugo recalled seeing her at Delacour-Weasley, Granger-Weasley, Longbottom, and many other Weasley events hosted parties, but never really got to learn her name.
On the other side sat a girl with blonde hair that could easily pass off as Weasley hair in the right lighting. She was a slim girl, but not afraid to gorge on a couple of sweets unlike "pale and timid." She reminded him of Aunt Luna, and that was when wheels started turning in his head and Hugo realized that she was none other than Alice Longbottom (number two.) She hardly looked like Uncle Neville (or in class, apparently, Professor Longbottom) but had some features not similar to both her parents, like her smile and cheekbones. But she did inherit her mother's love of the queer and odd since she read the latest Quibbler.
The last girl with Rose was a Ravenclaw, and rambled on and on about the classes she had, especially History of Magic, which according to Dominique, Albus, James, Fred the second, Roxanne, and basically anyone who has attended Hogwarts before Hugo, besides the bookworm he calls his sibling, was the most boring class you could ever take. Brown hair in disarray, tied into a bun to try and conceal the messiness of it and a yawn every now and then had implanted into Hugo's brain that she was studying all night. To that, he had no doubts to. She was the first one to realize Hugo stood outside of their compartment, "Rosie sweets, isn't that your brother?"
Rose looked up from her box of chocolate frogs and to Hugo, who was impatiently tapping his foot. "That is him, Beth." She replied after swallowing the chocolate she had in her mouth. "What're you doing here, Huey?"
"Mum said to keep an eye on me at all times!" He said as he ran his right hand through his dark brown hair. According to his Uncle Harry, Rose got the bushiness of Hermione while the redness of Ron when it comes to hair, while Hugo got the other way around, manageability from Ron's and color from Hermione. To him, it also seemed like he inherited his mother's intelligence more than Rose.
"Ah, just go to the boys," Pale and timid, as Hugo called her because of his inability to remember her name, rolled her eyes at this statement. "Here's some money for the trolley. Now, shoo!" A small amount of galleons were tossed one by one by Rose to Hugo, but Hugo
"C'mon Rosie, he can't be that bad." Pale and Timid defended Hugo's right to be here. "He's actually a bit cute." Now she was just flat out flirting with him. A sound of disgust came from Rose and Pale and Timid justified, "I mean like a sibling-ish cute. There's puppy cute, sibling cute and there's-" she paused for a moment, a bright red blush clearly visible on her pale cheek.
"There's Liam Finch-Fletchey cute, Lara." Dominique stated, in a matter-of-factly tone. Hugo contorted his face in disgust to the older girls talking about boys like that. Lara, he presumed was Pale and timid's real name, blushed even more than before as Alice and Dominique smiled as well at the mention of "Liam Finch-Fletchey."
"Where're the boys?" Hugo asked, causing Rose to smirk at him. Rose gave one more galleon to him and pointed to Hugo's left, towards the back of the train. "Thanks Ro, see you at Hogwarts." He smiled as he lugged his trunk to that direction.
The train lurched forward as he walked to his male cousins, causing him to fall over, and other students to stare as the first year struggled to get up. A hand reached out for him, a gesture that meant someone wanted to help Hugo. He grabbed it, rather too enthusiastically and with the hand's help pulled himself up.
"Thanks, er-" Hugo went speechless as he saw the helping hand's face. She was around his age and about the same height, maybe a centimeter or few shorter than him. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name." He looked at the green eyes, that Hugo thought put Al's to shame, of his helper, gleaming with kindness and loyalty. And a blonde, at that. Perfect Hufflepuff material.
"I never gave it." She laughed a laugh that Hugo thought was the sound of true, unadulterated enjoyment. "But I'm Rachel, Rachel Finnigan. I feel like I've seen you before though."
Before Hugo replied, he was yanked away by someone and thrown onto the seat of a nearly packed compartment. He soon found himself looking into the eyes of James Potter, who looked as if he was ready to slap the boy senseless. "Oi! No fraternizing with the enemy's sister!"
Dumbfounded and confused, Hugo looked to the other boys to explain. Scorpius merely shrugged, Fred snickered while Albus stared at him with utter hatred. "Rachel Finnigan," said Albus spitefully as he eyed the younger boy carefully, "is Lara Finnigan's sister." Lara… pale and timid?
"Rose's pale and timid friend, that's Lara right?" Hugo questioned his memory aloud to the four other boys. It was right then and there when James slapped him on the back of his head. "I take that as a yes, and OW! What did Lara do to the lot of you, anyway?"
"You call her pale and timid right?" Fred answered on behalf of the Weasley part of the group, excluding Hugo. Scorpius was okay with Lara. Sure her parents and his father never saw eye to eye, but was it really their fault? He has been told by several people, even his dad's old housemates, that Draco Malfoy was really a selfish, arrogant, thinks- he-knows-it-all prat who whined a lot. "Well, we call her rude, weird, a chocolate hater… and pale." Albus and James nodded in agreement, to which Hugo let out a laugh to.
"Seriously," first year Hugo, now sounding like the most mature Weasley in the compartment, said with a serious tone, "you hate Rose's friend for hating chocolate? You do realize the double negative in that sentence, right? You hate someone for the hatred of something. Even Scorpius Malfoy is okay with Lara." That resulted with an offended "hey!" coming from Malfoy. "Sorry, Scorp, but you get my point."
"It's a long story, Huey," spoke James who was now buying treats from the trolley from the money Hugo dropped when he was yanked away from the very pretty Rachel Finnigan, "all you need to know is that the three of us –four now including you Hugo, that's right, you're being dragged into this because you fraternized with the enemy's sister– are at war with Lara Finnigan. You have no say in the matter, since you are a first year."
"Rachel couldn't be like that. She helped me up when you four were just watching me struggle to get back on my feet, so I doubt it." Hugo frowned upon his older cousins prejudice against the Finnigans.
"Again, Hugo, you must prepare yourself for war."
The first years were lead away from the older students and were greeted by a giant named Rubeus Hagrid. He was a jolly fellow, seemed a bit jumpy at times, but most everyone who survived the war did. "Four to a boat!" He cried, gesturing to the ten boats in lying in the lake. "No more, no less!"
Hugo immediately got into the first empty boat he saw and cursed how Lily had gotten friends so easily amongst the other first year girls. He waited there, silently, for another first year to plop down beside him or in the boat. Soon enough, someone did sit next to him in the boat.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name." A familiar voice said to him. Hugo turned around to see Rachel Finnigan, smiling and bubbly as two more girls joined in his boat.
Hugo smiled back, a bit nervous for the most part. "Hugo," he introduced himself, "I'm Hugo Weasley."
Rachel, in turn, seemed to have gears turning in her head, until finally, she reached a conclusion. "Now I remember where I have seen you, at those parties where mum always takes me, Weasley and Longbottom parties. I'm friends with your cousin, Lily. I'm the one who put those explosive ice cubes in the punch during Victoire's birthday every year. Everyone blames it on your cousin, and it's hilarious."
Hugo laughed at the memory. Victoire was very upset, but she was more so furious with Albus than upset that her dress had been ruined by the grape punch. Albus claimed not guilty, as would most people prosecuted, but she didn't believe him.
Then it dawned upon Hugo that Rachel had been the guilty party in that party, not Albus. He wanted to confront her with the matter, but she had begun to speak to the other two girls present in the boat. They were rather dull girls to Hugo, with the constant squealing and giggling, in contrast to Rachel, who was adoring the small kitten one of the girls held without squealing or giggling. She just smiled at the feline and held it a couple of times.
"Oh, my name is Primrose," said kitten girl to Hugo. She apparently only now realized that he was there, probably only rode the boat since it was the only one with less than four left. "You can call me Prim, if you like. And this is Dorothy Savage." She gestured to the girl beside her, who waved meekly and continued to giggle at the small animal with the others.
Primrose was a giddy girl. She had blonde hair, which according to Albus and Rose, would usually mean that you are qualified to become a Hufflepuff, since, for a while now, no brunette has actually gotten into Hufflepuff, except for Liam Finch-Fletchey, who was a brunette, like his dad. She seemed very interested in apparel and appearance rather than education.
Dorothy seemed to give off a Ravenclaw-ish feel. She was quiet, but was not afraid to giggle and squeal when the kitten was passed to her, and reminded Hugo of Rose's Ravenclaw friend, with brown hair tied into a messy bun and tiredness clear on her face.
Every time Hugo would try to speak, Primrose always cut him off to say something incredible about Hufflepuff. This became a recurring aspect of their trip to Hogwarts until they reached their destination and she dragged Rachel away from him.
Dorothy didn't bother to follow Primrose and Rachel, so instead, she stayed with Hugo. "So Dorothy," Hugo started, but she stopped him mid-sentence.
"Just call me Dottie," she said as she let loose her hair from its bun, letting the brown locks flow down. "We should probably listen to the Professor." Awkwardly, she pointed to Neville, who stood in front of them to greet them.
"Hello, students, and welcome to your first year at Hogwarts. I am Professor Longbottom, the Herbology professor and Head of Gryffindor. This year you will be taking the core classes of Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Astronomy, History of Magic and Flying. As the years go by, you have the option to choose your classes in accordance to your career choice.
"Behind these doors, grand feast awaits you forty students. But before the festivities begin, we must first sort you into your houses. The four houses of Hogwarts are as followed, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. You will stay with these houses for your whole time at Hogwarts, for they will be your second family for those seven years, and Hogwarts, your second home.
"I expect you to behave accordingly and represent our school with dignity."
Large doors flew open to reveal a large hall, filled with merriment and laughter. Four tables, each colored differently with blue, red, green, and yellow, ran vertically from the entrance, and a table that sat horizontally was up front. Professor Longbottom lead all the first years to the front of the hall, where every other student could see them.
That is when he brought out an old hat, battered and stained red. It sang a short song explaining each Hogwarts house, explaining why the first years need not fear it. "Sorting shall now commence. When I call your name, please come up to the sorting hat." Professor Longbottom looked at the list and yelled, "Burbage, Charlotte!"
Charlotte Burbage was Professor Charity Burbage's niece. As fascinated as she was with Muggles, she wasn't a fan of the subject, reminding her of the aunt she could have had.
Lucas Edgecombe's sorting was interesting. He was one of the very few Muggle-born students who ended up in Slytherin.
Then came the dreaded hat stalls and all that jazz. There were short ones and long ones. The Finch-Fletchey twins, Susanna and Robert, ended up in Hufflepuff, the only brunettes, besides their older brother, to be sorted into Hufflepuff. Hugo watched eagerly as Rachel's name was called. The petite blonde walked confidently up to the stool and sat down as the hat was placed on her head. After a good three minutes, the sorting hat made its decision and cried, "Hufflepuff!"
Hugo was a tad bit disappointed that she was not a Gryffindor. Most Weasleys, with the exception of Victoire, who strangely enough was a Hufflepuff, went into Gryffindor, so there was no doubt in his mind that he and Rachel were not going to be housemates.
He watched on as more and more people got sorted into their respective houses. Perry Goyle, the nasty daughter of Pansy Parkinson and Gregory Goyle, had earned herself a spot in the Slytherin house. The hat almost didn't touch her head when it shouted "Slytherin!"
Lily made it into Gryffindor, as expected by the whole of the Weasley clan. So there was no surprise there.
Dorothy had a similar situation to that of Rachel, a bit of pandering and wondering and soon enough, she had been sorted into Gryffindor. Hugo, however, thought that she was sure-fire Ravenclaw-ish type of girl. But, he has been wrong in the past.
Then it came down to only two students, Hugo and Primrose. "Weasley, Hugo" Professor Longbottom called him to the stool. Nervously, he walked up to the hat, which was placed on his head.
The hat muttered to itself, not bothering to let Hugo know his opinions. He heard the words "Ravenclaw" and "intelligence" come from the hat until finally the hat announced the house he was going to be in, "GRYFFINDOR!"
He joined his cousins and sister at the Gryffindor table. In front of him lay an array of foods from mash potatoes, to turkey. But before he ate, he listened to the last sorting of the night, which would undoubtedly be Hufflepuff considering how much the girl talked about the house. "Yates, Primrose."
The giddy girl skipped to the stool as the hat sat upon her head for only five seconds. "Hufflepuff!"
He sat in between Rose and Albus, who were once again fighting. The two loved each other like cousins should however, their arguments tended to be about the pettiest of things, such as eating the last chocolate frog that was meant for Ron. The only arguments that they have gotten into that were worth getting into were about Lara.
This one was about Lara's sister getting sorted into Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor. "For Merlin's sake, Al, the girl's upset about it, but her mother won't kill her over it." Lara's mother was Delaney Finnigan, a former Gryffindor in their parents' year. She was known as a hothead and had quite a temper, which she has now controlled since the birth of Lara.
"Her mother probably hates her, anyway, so why wouldn't she?" Albus answered back. Hugo looked at Lara, who quietly sat and ate mashed potatoes and nothing else. He sympathized her, being brought into a cousin's quarrel and all. But she was quite an oddity to begin with. "Giving her the name, Lara Adeline. What kind of a name is that?"
"What kind of name is Albus Severus?" Quiet Lara spoke at last, surprising all who were listening to the Rose/Albus fight. Albus fell quiet and the argument was not brought up again for the remainder of the feast.
Hugo thought back to Rachel and then to Lara. The Finnigan sisters were special, and he liked that.
