The family of four moved quickly as they guided their way through the over-crowded platforms of Kings Cross Station. Hugo was navigating his family, swerving around oncoming muggles, while his sister Rose stayed behind with her parents. If he focused his hearing, Hugo could just make out the sounds of his mother grumbling about how she was disappointed her daughter had invested in something other than learning. It was much to Hermione Weasley's dismay that her one and only daughter achieved the roll of Quidditch captain for the Gryffindor team. Ron on the other hand was overly joyous; the wide smile spread across his face was a perfect giveaway. Hugo rolled his eyes, he never would reach the level that his sister had set, and he just knew that his mother was going to start piling pressure on him to be the perfect academic child that Rose had failed to provide her with. This wasn't something he was sure that he wanted to do.
As they neared the wall between platforms nine and ten, Hugo remember his first trip to Hogwarts, it had been to drop his older sister off, and much to Hugo's dismay the dilemma about what house they would be sorted into had begun. Ever since then, he had been worrying about whether he would be a disappointment to his family. Everyone in his family – close and extended - were in Gryffindor, and so had their parents, it would be just like him to be the one to ruin the lineage of Gryffindors that ran in his family – however he was pleased when he had been able to choose Gryffindor over Hufflepuff, which the sorting hat said would be a better suit for him. Picking up his pace, the red-headed Weasley headed straight for the wall, ignoring the part of him that said to slow down, he knew he wouldn't be harmed. Only a brief period of time passed before he found himself facing hundreds of people piling onto the train, and first years clinging to their parents.
Hugo spun around to see a cluster of red, black and blonde hair alike. The oxygen caught in the back of his throat, cutting off his air supply, for right in the middle of the mix was a pair of silvery-blue eyes, although Hugo had grown quite used to them, they never ceased to amaze him, just the sheer mixture of them with the dark blonde hair was enough to drive almost anyone crazy. Alice Longbottom was named after one of her grandparents, but took after the other. Everyone that came across her admitted she was a sight to see.
The red-headed schoolboy trotted over to his extended family, quickly surveying them all with his coffee coloured eyes. He offered a small smile, hoping it would cover the fact that he kept Alice in the corner of his eyes. He looked up at his mother whose eyes were glued to him like grease, causing him to fidget uncomfortably, she obviously knew something. In a feeble attempt to change his thoughts he turned to Albus, his fifth year cousin, and started a conversation.
"Hey Al, what are you going to do about the OWLS?" Albus rolled his eyes and looked over at Albus, who was just a nose shorter than him. "Hugo, you don't need to worry about me, I'm all over these tests." An exchange of laughter was heard between the two boys who seemed to be closer than anyone else in the Potter-Weasley clan.
The clock above read 10:55am when Hermione was the first to notice. With a shriek she grabbed Rose by the shoulders and pulled her into a hasty hug before straightening up her muggle clothing. In Hugo's opinion, robes were much breezier and made it easier to move around, why muggles preferred tight jeans and suffocating tee-shirts was beyond him. Feeling his mothers arm around him pulled him out of his oblivious state. All the parents were rushing around, giving last minute advice and hugs, Harry and Ginny Potter were currently warning their eldest son James to not over abuse the powers that being head boy gave him, and they got a cheeky smile and a weak "ok" in reply.
Hugo chuckled to himself and picked up his bags, heading over to the train so he could start loading them onto the train. His cousins and sibling followed him, heading off in their different directions. Hugo located a lone compartment and sat himself in there, he wriggled over to the window and waved goodbye at everyone with a smile, he no longer felt sad to leave, he knew would return to his family in the holidays and besides, living with a family of Gryffindors was rather fun. Who wouldn't like waving their wand around with people who had similar personality traits to them?
A gentle rapping on the door forced Hugo to tear his eyes away from the scenery outside his window. The fragile frame of Alice was standing before him, a welcoming smile planted firmly on her plump lips. Hugo's face immediately lightened up and he pat the seat next to him, only to be turned down with a polite shake of the schoolgirls head. "Sorry Hugo, I can't stay." Was her excuse, and he understood completely. Instead of going for the 'let's talk for ages' he opted for some small talk. "What can I help you with?" He inquired, expecting an interesting question of some sort, but sadly he was disappointed when she spoke next. "Do you know where James is?" Slightly disheartened, Hugo angled himself away from the gorgeous witch and scratched his arm. "Oh, I think he was going to brief the new prefects." He muttered, not enjoying the conversation at all. He continued to vow to silence until he heard the sliding door, symbolising the fact that Alice had got the hint and left him alone.
In took only minutes before the door slid open and he was joined by a few of his friends; Simon, Josh and Fred. Sometimes it hurt Hugo to think of Fred, his uncle Fred Weasley had died in the infamous Battle of Hogwarts, and even though they hadn't met, Hugo thought of him as a hero, and whenever someone mentioned him, his father and his other uncle George, who was Fred's twin, immediately went silent, which was abnormal compared to their usual actions. Hugo greeted his friends with a nod, gesturing them to sit down and then it began, the train rolled away, leaving the calls and waves goodbye as the students of Hogwarts set out for another year of unexpected events.