Parents

Hugo scowled as he kicked away another rock, messing up the beautiful driveway to the Pottery even more. The small lane leading up to the Potter's front door led through a well kept lawn lined with white stones... many of which were now on the lawn itself. Hugo paid it no mind, picking out another rock to kick. It wasn't as if he had anything better to do, after all.

Just as he was debating heading elsewhere, a light 'pop' accompanied someone apparating a few steps away from him: none other than his uncle Harry, carrying bags of groceries.
"Hugo! What a surprise seeing you here," Harry greeted him genially before taking in Hugo's sour expression. Harry's gaze drifted to the slightly ruined path and his own smile disappeared.
"Rough day, son? Come, I have some cold butterbeers in here."

Hugo nodded as Harry caused his wand to appear in his sleeve with a slight move of his wrist and made the grocery bags levitate behind him as he placed his hand on the doorknob, causing the otherwise impenetrable door to open up for him. Hugo followed his uncle inside and took a seat at the kitchen table.

"It's just us two, Ginny is with the Harpies in Bulgaria, and Lils is still spending her last school summer holiday with the Scamanders in some place I can't pronounce," Harry told him as he was putting away the groceries with some magic. "Merlin knows where the boys are... I haven't heard from James and Petra in a while and you know Albus, he's probably stuck in some cauldron somewhere..."

Hugo tuned out his uncle, just staring outside through the kitchen window until he suddenly felt, more than saw, Harry sit down across from him at the table and toss a butterbeer bottle at him. Quick reflexes befitting the Chaser he was at school allowed him to catch it and he opened it, taking a good sip before letting out a sigh.

"What's eating you, Hugo? Is everything okay?" Harry asked after a moment of silence.

Hugo stared at the bottle in his hands before speaking up. "Uncle Harry? Can I... can I stay with you and Aunt Ginny until school starts again?"

Harry took a moment to respond. "You're always welcome here, Hugo, and you could take James' room, it's not like he's using it now... why, though? Is everything all right at home?"

"It's nothing," Hugo deflected. "I... I just need to get out of there, and cousin Fred's family is too busy with the joke shop and all, and..."
"Look... it's my parents. Heh. 'Parents'. That's rich," he scoffed, taking another sip. "Hey, Uncle Harry... you and Mum still speak sometimes, right?"

Harry frowned a bit. "Not as much as I'd like... we sort of grew apart. She was my best friend during school though, and that never goes away. Why?"

"Has she told you about dad sleeping around, again?"

Harry winced. "Crap. How... how does she know?"

Hugo let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, she found Dad in their own bed, with that Brown slag. Of course. But... it's like she doesn't even care any longer! I... I hate them, Uncle, both of them."

Harry got up from his seat and sat down next to Hugo instead, then put his arm around the younger man's shoulder. "Come on, you don't mean that."

"Don't tell me what I feel!" Hugo shook off Harry's arm, getting to his feet and walking towards the hallway, gesturing wildly.
"You know what Mum did, Uncle? She just packed her bags and left! Left for Australia, of all places. I came back from Fred's to find a note on the living room table, otherwise I still wouldn't know. Crap, I bet no-one even told Rose! She's gonna throw a fit when she finds out... might just hex Dad into St. Mungo's! You know that temper she has..."

Harry had stood up as well, but he remained in the kitchen, leaning slightly against the frame as he silently watched his nephew.

"Would serve him right though. Bastard... Not that 'mum' is any better. How can she just leave like that? I wonder if she's going to stay there, now? Gramps and Grandmum have asked her to come live 'Down Under' with them multiple times..." Hugo trailed off, balling his fists.

"I'm so sorry, kiddo," Harry said after a pause. "How... how did Ron react to the note?"

Hugo scoffed. "As you'd expect... the loser got drunk, and has been drinking since. I... I just couldn't stand it any longer. I left there just now when I heard him call Lav-Lav through the floo." Hugo fell silent for a moment, then turned to face Harry.
"You know what, Uncle? I don't need them, either of them. I'll be a seventh year at Hogwarts next year, I'm a damned fine Prefect, and they say I'm the best Chaser since Katie Bell."

Proud, he stood up straighter. "I'll graduate with top N.E.W.T.s and go to Oxford Magical University, without them. I'll get a great job; I'll marry a beautiful and smart woman and treat her like she deserves. I'll have three or four kids just like you and Aunt Ginny, and I'll raise them right."

He looked through Harry almost, as if he was challenging the two absent parents directly. "I don't need a mother who is disappointed in her own life for that, and I definitely do not need a father who can't even hold a steady job for over a year! There is nothing, absolutely nothing either can tell me about how to live my damn life, or how to raise and love kids!"

His eyes were almost flaring, and he had to take a deep breath. Suddenly his resolve seemed to break. "It's just... why... why don't they love me, Uncle?"

Harry moved in and hugged his nephew, holding the sixteen year old close against him as he cried.

A/N: With apologies to Will Smith.

Thanks to Liza and FF for checking this over for me.

Written for the QLFC Round 8. I had to write about a Next-Gen Weasley.