A/N: Written for the Insecurity Competition and HedwigBlack's Song Lyric competition. For the former, my prompt was "fire" and for the latter my prompt was "I have dreams of you, she said, I see you hiding your face so I'm going to make you brave, yeah, I'm going to make you brave" from He Said, She Said by Joe Purdy. I don't own the characters and make no money from this.
The sweltering heat of August made Rose Weasley glad that she was never asked to join her cousins at Quidditch. Leaning against the shady side of the Burrow, she wondered whether anyone would notice magical efforts to cool herself. With the adults inside talking, her cousins involved in an intense game of Quidditch, and her brother off reading somewhere, she thought it was unlikely and, not caring that it was sixth-year magic and she was only about to start her third, Rose grabbed her wand, concentrated, and said, "Aguamenti."
Pleased at the small stream of water she'd produced, she went to stick her head under it, trying to cool her sweating skin and calm her bushy red hair. Startled as the water touched her, she jumped out from it and let the flow trickle to a stop. She managed to conjure water, yes, but water as hot as the air around her, and that was no help at all.
"Rosie, you're not supposed to do magic, you know."
"What? Oh, it's you, Hugo. Sorry. It's just so bloody hot!"
"You're not supposed to swear, either. Mum would be upset."
"And Dad would congratulate me on being emphatic." Rose rolled her eyes. "Don't you have better things to do than tell me what I should and should not be doing?"
Rose leaned back against the house and Hugo sat down next to her. "Not really. I just finished re-reading Mum's copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. There aren't any books at the Burrow I haven't read at least twice."
He paused, looked at the game above them, and Rose followed his gaze. It was amazing really, the talent the teens and pre-teens of their family had. Lily was the same age as Hugo, after all, but she seemed to score more goals for her team than anyone else. Grandma Molly, to Dom and Lucy's dismay, wouldn't allow them to play with Beaters, so her ten cousins made two complete teams. Rose didn't mind much; she was no good at anything that didn't involve two feet on the ground. She'd been the tenth player before Lily was allowed on a broomstick, but the moment Ginny gave approval, Rose was left on the sidelines.
Hugo said, "You know, I'm kind of glad I can still say I'm too young to play. They make it look so effortless."
"I know. It's miserable, isn't it, having an ex-professional Quidditch player for an aunt, team captains at Hogwarts for cousins. Everyone seems to think that if you're a Weasley or a Potter then you're bound to be good at Quidditch."
"Oh yeah. I don't know why, but I forget that you're terrible at Quidditch, too."
"Watch it, little bro." She elbowed his ribs, a smile on her face. "It's not like I'm complete rubbish, just not good enough to make any sort of team- including friendlies around here."
"May as well be complete rubbish then, as no one gets to see you play."
"Sometimes I think you're too smart for being eleven."
"I usually think so, too." His voice had undertones of defeat rather than arrogance.
His silence was unnerving. Hugo Weasley was only silent when his nose was in a book. "Whatcha thinking about?"
"I'm starting at Hogwarts in less than two weeks. And then I'll have to stand in front of the whole school and all of my cousins and put that hat on my head while it digs through my brain-"
"Oh, Hugo, that's not true. You'll be sitting on a stool."
"Very funny, Rose. Still- were you nervous about being Sorted?"
"Not really. But I wanted to be in Ravenclaw. The hat told me I had enough Weasley in me to be Gryffindor if I wanted to, but since I didn't, the decision was easy. It only took about 15 seconds."
"There's no way I'm brave enough for Gryffindor. I'll probably be put in Hufflepuff, and we don't have a single cousin in Hufflepuff." He paused. "Maybe being away from our cousins wouldn't be so bad, but I really want to prove to them that I'm brave, that there's more to me than just a little kid who reads during Quidditch games."
"It's not being able to play that makes you brave, you know. There have been some great Quidditch players in the other Houses, too. And think about Mum. She makes me look like some sort of prodigy on a broomstick and she was Gryffindor."
"But Mum helped win a war! She destroyed one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and stood up to that Umbridge woman, and everything!"
"Not when she was 11."
"Maybe not, but still. How do I know I have that kind of potential inside of me?"
"You don't, I guess. Not until you are faced with the choice to be brave or back down."
"I wonder if I can find out before going to school." With that Hugo got up, their mother's book in his arms, and turned to go inside.
Rose stayed where she was, muttering to herself beneath the sounds of enjoyment from above her. "I'll make you brave, Hugo. If that's really what you're looking for." The afternoon sun beat down relentlessly, and she yawned, lay down in the grass, and slept.
Rose watched the Quidditch game, her cousins laughing as the Quaffle made its way back and forth between them, James lunging to protect the hoops. Albus wandered higher, eyes peeled for the Snitch, unaware of the back-and-forth below him. She noticed a glimmer just beyond a tree past the far hoops and jumped up to start shouting and pointing. "Albus! I see it! I see the Snitch! Look there, just beyond your brother! Hurry!"
As she shouted, the sky grew dark with clouds and, bracing herself for rain, she shouted again. "Guys! Look up! It's going to rain- you need to get down and inside the Burrow where it's safe!" They listened, looked up, and one by one, ten pairs of feet hit the ground, running inside to protect themselves without a backwards glance to their cousin.
The rain never came. Wind ripped through the trees and the sky lit up with lightning. One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand. Thunder. The storm was close by and Hugo- Merlin's beard, where was her brother?
"Hugo! Hugo!" She ran up the hill toward Mr. Lovegood's house, shouting the whole way. "Hugo, where are you?" Lightning struck in front of her and the dry grass lit up in flames. "Hugo!" The fire raced toward her and she turned back to the Burrow. The ground was crooked; her ankle caught and she fell, fire licking her toes and she could feel the beginning of blisters. She couldn't speak, couldn't scream, though she opened her mouth to yell, and smoke surrounded her so she could barely see.
An arm tugged on her, tried to drag her to her feet, but it hurt to stand. The arm wasn't strong enough to lift her, and through the haze she picked out the small frame of her brother. "Hugo, what are you doing here? You should be back at the Burrow where it's safe!"
"You weren't safe, Rosie. You were looking for me; so I had to find you. Let's get you back."
She nodded, limped along beside him, barely keeping ahead of the spreading fire. Rose thought she had run so far looking for him, but it took no time at all to get back. She was soon on the couch, tended by her grandmother who took it in turns to dress her wounds and scold her for running toward a storm. And even as she fell to sleep on the couch, Hugo sat beside her, holding her hand, apologizing for being so far off when the storm hit.
Rose opened her eyes, and she wasn't on the couch inside the Burrow, but still sprawled out on the lawn, grass marks thatched across her arms and legs. The sun was lower in the sky than she expected, and all was quiet. As she sat up, she heard footsteps and turned to see Hugo jogging out toward her.
"You're still out here, Rosie! No one was sure where you were."
"I fell asleep, and dreamed about you, actually. And you know what? I'll bet you two chocolate frogs that you make it into Gryffindor."
"Just two? Make it seven and you have yourself a deal."
"All right, seven chocolate frogs for me if you're wearing red and gold a month from now, and seven chocolate frogs for you if you are Sorted anywhere else."
"Sounds fair. Shake on it?"
They did, and she joined her family inside.
On the evening of the first of September, Rose sat at the Ravenclaw table, looking with anticipation to the front of the room where the first-years all stood. Lily was one of few standing with confidence, and there was no surprise as the hat touched her head and yelled out "Gryffindor!"
Hugo was among the last, and Rose watched her brother shift from one foot to the other, refusing to meet anyone's eye. Professor McGonagall called out, "Weasley, Hugo!" and he shuffled forward, hoisting himself onto the stool, his legs dangling just off the floor. His eyes were closed, and the hat stayed silent for an agonizing few minutes. When the Sorting Hat finally spoke, it sounded just as sure as it had with Lily. "Gryffindor!"
As Hugo went off to join the majority of his cousins, he turned and caught his sister's eye. She smiled at him, mouthed, "I told you so." Being brave didn't mean being good at Quidditch, or outspoken, or the first to take up a sword. Hugo, whether he knew it or not, was by far the bravest; he would do the right thing, even if it meant running straight into a wildfire to save her. Of that, she was certain.