Hugo was trying his best to keep a cool head, but he'd inherited a temper that - on the occasions that it was provoked - was very difficult to regain control of.

He'd spent the last hour lying on his bed, trying not to lose his cool and maybe get a bit more sleep, before giving up and storming around his room, picking up random things and tossing them at the wall, only managing to calm down after shattering a picture frame that contained a photo of him and Lily and Lucy on their first day of Hogwarts.

Spilling everything and actually apologizing to her had not been Hugo's plan when he'd woken up to Lily's presence in his room. Waiting her out until she finally admitted how she'd screwed up had been his plan, but part of him knew that he'd ended up owing her an apology almost as much as she owed him one. Apologizing wound up being easier to do than he'd expected, but then she'd gone and ruined it by being her stubborn self. A trait that he normally admired her for.

After taking a few calming breaths and throwing on a shirt and sweatpants, he made his way out of his room and downstairs, knowing that a good breakfast was the only thing that was going to possibly make him feel any better at the moment. If only he'd remembered that his family had plans for breakfast that morning.

All conversation stopped when he entered the kitchen, his parents, Rose, and Scorpius staring at him from the table in the far corner of the room. They normally ate lunch and dinner in the dining room, but his mother insisted that breakfast was always to be served in the kitchen, a tradition that he was very much not a fan of at the present moment, as it didn't allow him to slip by unnoticed. There was no way they hadn't heard the shouting match that he'd had with Lily an hour ago.

"Sorry," he grumbled, moving towards the fridge and pulling out the jug of orange juice. "Forgot you were coming."

His last few words were directed at Scorpius, who gave an understanding nod and continued to eat his breakfast, as did Hugo's father. Rose and his mother, however, were both watching him anxiously.

"Your mum made scones," his dad said through a mouthful of eggs, acting oblivious to the tension in the room even though Hugo knew he was well aware.

"Brilliant," said Hugo after pouring himself a glass of juice. He pulled out one of the empty chairs and sat next to his mother and across from his sister. Most of his plate was filled up by the time he noticed he still had the undivided attention of the two witches at the table.

"I'm not talking about it," he said, his tone trying to convey that he had no intention of arguing the point. He continued to pile food on his plate, knowing there was a silent conversation going on across the table.

"Hugo-"

"Just drop it, all right?" he snapped, cringing after realizing too late that it was his mother who'd spoken up. He'd been expecting it to be Rose. An even more awkward silence filled the room, only broken by his father harshly clearing his throat. Hugo's eyes flew to the end of the table and met his dad's, whose expression clearly said he better not talk to his mother like that, and that an apology wouldn't go amiss either.

"Sorry, Mum," Hugo mumbled, shoving a piece of bacon into his mouth a moment later. He glanced at his mother, who gave him an understanding smile and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked in a soft voice. Hugo immediately felt some of the tension he wasn't even aware he was carrying leave him.

"Not really," he said honestly, meeting her warm brown eyes. She let out a sympathetic sigh, her hand moving from his shoulder to the back of his neck and stroking his hair, the way she'd always done to comfort him.

"Is there anything I can do?" Hermione asked. Hugo shrugged.

"I doubt it. She's stubborn as hell."

"So are you."

Hugo shot a look at his dad, who smirked at him, and he felt himself smiling slightly. "I know, but it might surprise you to know that I actually apologized this morning for being a prat."

His father gave him an impressed look. "And she's still mad at you? What exactly did you do?"

"I'd rather not rehash the whole thing," he said with a sigh, "so let's just say that neither of us handled her new relationship well."

Scorpius snorted into his orange juice, causing him to choke and Rose to pat him a little roughly on the back. Hugo scowled at him.

"Why do I have a feeling that's not the whole story?" said Hermione, drawing her hand away from Hugo to fold her arms across her chest and stare at her son suspiciously.

"If you don't tell her, I will."

Hugo's eyes widened as he stared at his sister in shock.

"What?" she said defensively. "You were all lucky your parents weren't written to."

"All?" their mother asked. Hugo let out a sigh before leaning back in his chair and folding his arms. He begrudgingly told them just about everything, from how Lily and Caleb were behaving to what happened the day of the match and then - at Rose's pointed look - the way he'd acted in the weeks following. Including his little dalliance with Anastasia Bennett.

"You did what?!" his mother asked in shock and disapproval after he said he went so far as to make a move on Lily's archrival.

"She was going on about how I was acting like a prat because I was just jealous that she had relationship experience and I didn't," he explained. "I only snogged her a couple of times."

"Do you mean to tell me," Hermione began, growing more disapproving by the second, "that you snogged some girl after your cousin called you out for being immature about her relationship?"

Hugo gulped nervously before nodding, expecting to get a telling off. But, much to his surprise, her disapproval started to fall away, and it looked like she was doing everything she could not to burst out in laughter. He watched as she turned to look at his father, finally letting a chuckle escape her at the thoroughly embarrassed look on her husband's face.

"You can't say he doesn't take after you," Hermione said through her chuckles. Ron gave her a pointed look, though he still seemed slightly embarrassed.

"I thought we agreed to never talk about this," he said to his wife through gritted teeth.

"About what?" asked Hugo perking up a bit now that he didn't seem to be in trouble anymore. Rose sniggered, obviously in on whatever subjects their father was trying to avoid. "How come Rose knows and I don't?"

"It came up last summer," Hermione said with a shrug. "Let's just say that your father might have done something very similar back when he was in school after having a fight with his sister. One that sounds like it was a lot like the one you had with Lily."

"Hermione-"

"What, Ron?" she asked with an amused roll of her eyes. "Maybe if he'd known the story beforehand, he wouldn't have made the same mistake you did."

Ron rolled his eyes as well. "Yeah, well, he doesn't appear to be in quite as deep shit as I was. You're not actually going out with her, yeah?" he asked his son. Hugo shook his head. "See?" Ron continued, looking at his wife with a slightly smug expression. "It's not the same as me and Lavender."

Hugo had been in the middle of taking a bite of his scone, but immediately started choking at his father's words. This time, it was his mother thumping him on the back.

"What?" he eventually choked out. "Lavender? As in Lavender Finnigan? Mum to one of my best friends?"

Another awkward silence fell, and Ron gave his son a guilty look. Hugo groaned in disgust, grabbing another scone and his glass of juice before standing. "I'll be spending the rest of my day trying not to think about...that."

He left the kitchen, ignoring the sound of his mother and sister laughing and heading out to the front porch. He sat on the swing and began swaying back and forth, taking in the slightly dewy morning as he finished off his scone.

While he knew telling his parents everything was probably a good decision, he felt apprehensive. There was no telling what they might do now or how they might try to meddle. His mother in particular. At this point, though, he didn't see how things could get much worse.

Hugo was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of the front door opening, followed by his father's presence on the porch.

"I really don't want to talk about your dating history," Hugo groaned, amused and relieved to see his dad begin to turn red as he shook his head.

"No worries. I don't either."

"Did Mum send you out here, then?" Hugo asked before chugging the rest of his juice. Ron shook his head and chuckled as he walked to stand in front of his son, resting back against the porch railing and crossing his arms.

"More like I prevented her from coming out here herself," he said. "Didn't think that was the best choice under the current circumstances."

Hugo sighed, setting his empty glass on the windowsill behind him before crossing his arms and kicking against the porch, causing the swing to sway a bit more forcefully.

"I can't exactly say I know what you're going through," his dad continued, "but I've had more than one falling out with my siblings and your mum and even your uncle over the years. I might not have admitted it at the time, but it hurts."

Hugo looked at him skeptically. "Is this supposed to make me feel better?"

"No," he answered honestly. "I just want you to know that it's okay to be upset. It's okay to feel hurt. I learned the hard way that ignoring your feelings only causes problems in the long run."

"You saying you want me to cry my eyes out and moan about how betrayed and gutted I am?" Hugo asked sarcastically.

"Again, no," said Ron with a long suffering sigh. "But based on how things have gone so far, you haven't exactly handled them well."

Hugo's father was looking at him sternly, a sight that had become rarer over the years and only happened occasionally when he was younger. It was moments like these that he remembered his dad had once been a rather formidable Auror, and he understood why his uncle still made comments about how useful it would be for Ron to help out with particularly difficult suspects. He was very intimidating.

"Look, I know I screwed up," said Hugo, "but Lily didn't handle things well either."

"So that gives you an excuse to behave any way you want?"

Hugo shrunk a little under his father's harsh gaze. "No, but it does mean that it's not all my fault."

"I know that," said Ron, "but you are responsible for the part you played in making things worse than they needed to be."

Hugo sighed and leaned his head back, his eyes closed as he swung back and forth. He heard his father moving and felt him stop the swing. Hugo opened his eyes as Ron sat next to him.

"I tried talking to her," said Hugo. "I don't fancy trying again anytime soon."

"And I won't force you to," said Ron, "but you and Lily aren't the only ones affected by this mess."

Hugo's brow rose in surprise as his father looked at him pointedly. His surprise quickly turned to guilt as he thought of Caleb.

"You're friends with Wood, right?" his dad asked. Hugo nodded. "How do you think he's doing?"

Hugo heaved a heavy sigh and slouched further down into the swing. "Not well, probably. I know he really fancied her, so I'm not even sure why he ditched her, but Lily seemed to think that fixing things with me would help her fix things with him, so I'm guessing he did it because, unlike Lily, he actually sees the role they've played in this mess and is trying to fix it. Not that it did much good."

His dad nodded his head thoughtfully. "You think he felt bad about coming between you and Lily?"

"Maybe," Hugo said with a shrug. "Or maybe he just didn't want to deal with the drama."

"Either way, he's still hurting, and it would probably help if he knew he hasn't lost you as a friend."

Hugo let out an annoyed huff. "You're annoyingly insightful."

Ron grinned at him. "Failure is a great teacher."

His words struck Hugo, who looked up at him questioningly, and he noted the regret behind his smile. His dad had made comments like this before - like he'd made choices he still wished he hadn't - and while Hugo knew the source of some of that, his dad had never fully explained. And now didn't seem like the best time to dive into that.

"At this point, how much more harm could I do?" Hugo said in resignation. Ron clapped him rather forcefully on the shoulder.

"That's the spirit."

And so, a few hours later, Hugo found himself flooing into the Woods' sitting room, greeted by a welcoming Katie who informed him her son was out back. Hugo thanked her before making his way towards the back door, stopping when he reached it to look out the window. Caleb had charmed about a dozen Quaffles to take turns flying at him as he hovered in front of the goal posts.

Maybe he shouldn't be doing this, Hugo thought. Maybe it would only make things worse for him to talk to Caleb. It was highly likely his presence wouldn't go over well.

Before he could decide one way or the other, Caleb caught sight of him through the back door, though it was obvious he couldn't tell who he was. With a bracing deep breath, Hugo pushed open the door as Caleb waved his wand and the Quaffles fell to the ground. The Keeper's curious expression turned to one of surprise when he caught sight of Hugo. He was sinking towards the ground a moment later, expertly dismounting his broom and walking to meet Hugo halfway. It was then that Hugo noticed the concerned expression he wore.

"Everything okay?" Caleb asked as they grew closer. "Is…"

He cut himself off, biting his lip in frustration as Hugo reached him and they stopped.

"Well," Hugo began uncertainly, "depends on what you mean by everything. Far as I know, everyone's healthy and all that."

Caleb sighed and leaned on his broom, rubbing his eyes in obvious frustration. "Why are you here, then?"

Hugo shrugged. "Still not quite sure. I was somehow convinced that you could use a friend right now.

Caleb looked at him questioningly before it seemed to hit him. "You talked to Lily?"

"It was my dad that convinced me, actually," said Hugo. "But, yeah, she came and saw me this morning."

Caleb nodded. "How…"

Hugo arched a brow at him. "How is she?" he finished the question. "She's the same stubborn prat she's been the past few months."

Despite the circumstances, a grin threatened to flicker across Caleb's face, but it was gone in an instant. "I'm guessing she told you what happened?"

Hugo gave a nod, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the situation already and now even more so.

"Look, don't worry about it," Caleb said in resignation. "We'll be fine. You don't have to try and help fix things."

Hugo clenched his jaw and crossed his arms. "You know, that right there is one of the problems," he said a bit harshly, causing Caleb to meet his gaze. "Both of you thinking all of this is entirely about you."

Rather than fight back, Caleb sighed once again, letting his broom drop to the ground as he pulled off his Keeper gloves. "I know," he said apologetically. "I'm sorry. I really am. I've just been going mad since last night. I don't think I slept at all."

Hugo didn't say anything, merely continuing to watch his cousin's ex-boyfriend and noting how exhausted he truly looked.

"This whole thing just turned into such a fucking mess," said Caleb. "I'm sorry you got dragged into it."

"I didn't, though," Hugo pointed out. "I had no fucking control over whether or not it affected me and neither did you. It was bound to. And it was pretty bloody obvious neither of you realized that you actually play a role in the lives of people other than each other."

"I know, damn it!" Caleb snapped. "I know we fucked up and I know we hurt people! Can't you see I'm trying to fix that?"

Hugo softened at the distress that was pouring off of Caleb. "Yeah, I can."

The fight seemed to go out of Caleb, and he ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "I just felt like there was no other option," he said helplessly.

"At this point, you didn't exactly have many good ones," said Hugo. "Especially with her continuing to be this blind to everything."

Caleb gave a noncommittal shrug before stooping to pick up his broom and leading the way back to the house.

"I know you did what you thought you had to," Hugo continued. "And I know it wasn't easy and definitely not the selfish option."

"Maybe," said Caleb as he pulled open the back door, "but there's also a part of me that did it because I couldn't stand to be the reason everyone else was so miserable."

"Sounds like a good kind of selfish to me," said Hugo with an attempt at a reassuring voice. Caleb gave him an appreciative look as he propped his broom against the wall by the back door, which Hugo shut behind him. They made their way into the kitchen and Caleb grabbed them each a glass of water.

"Did it work, then?" asked Caleb after greedily drinking his full glass of water. "You two manage to fix things?"

Hugo snorted into his glass. "Did you miss the part where I said she was as blind as ever? She still doesn't see how any of this is her fault. She claimed she wanted to fix things at first, but it turned out that was just because she thought it would help her fix things with you. Didn't really care about sorting out any of our shit. She just wanted to shove it aside and act like nothing was wrong."

Caleb shook his head as he leaned against the kitchen counter, but Hugo could just make out the affection mixed with pain at the thought of Lily.

"Look," said Hugo, sitting at the kitchen table and setting down his glass. "I'm not in the mood to do Lily any favors, but I really didn't mean for you two to split up. At this point, I don't see her coming around either way, so don't stay away from her on my account."

Surprisingly, Caleb smirked at him. "Now who thinks it's all about them?"

Hugo rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You know I'm at least partly right."

"You are," Caleb allowed, "but there was more to my decision than just you, mate."

They fell silent, Hugo unsure of what else there was to say. He supposed he could apologize, and he probably should, but he was distracted by another thought.

"Are you worried at all about how this will affect the team?"

Caleb sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "I've been trying not to think about it too much. Don't even know who'll be captain with Miranda gone."

"Probably you, right?"

Caleb shrugged. "Or Lou. That wouldn't be too bad."

"Well, at least Seekers and Keepers never have much to do with each other," Hugo pointed out.

Caleb let out a groan and rubbed his hands over his face. "What a miserable mess," he moaned.

Hugo gave a humorless chuckle. "I've never been more grateful that you're a better Keeper than I am."

Caleb shot him an annoyed look before refilling his glass with water and moving to take the chair across from Hugo.

"You seen much of Lou?" Hugo asked. Caleb shook his head.

"We just got back in town yesterday. Haven't had the chance."

"Wow," said Hugo in surprise. "And you broke up with Lily last night? You didn't waste your time."

Caleb sighed and took another drink of water before launching into his explanation. "I'd been thinking about what to do a lot over the end of term, but it wasn't until I had the distance that I was able to set my emotions aside and decided what was the best thing to do. I hadn't really planned on doing it right away, but as soon as I saw her…"

He trailed off, the memory obviously a little too fresh to talk about.

"Anyway," Caleb continued with a sigh. "Still not sure it was the best call, but I suppose only time will tell."

"Right," said Hugo, nodding and doing his best to be reassuring no matter how uncomfortable this conversation was making him. "Just give it time, and before you know it, you'll both have moved on and you'll be seeing other people and it'll be like it never happened."

As soon as he'd finished, Hugo realized that hadn't been the best thing to say. Caleb quickly switched from looking horrified to downright angry at Hugo. "Look," he said, leaning forward on the table and pointing at Hugo threateningly, "just because you didn't approve of our relationship, doesn't mean it wasn't real. Because it was very fucking real. The way I felt about her and the way I still feel about her is extremely fucking real. So don't act like you've known this is what was best all along or that it was some silly drama that's over and done with and we can now move on with our lives. That's not what this is. So don't expect either of us to just be done and move on. It's not that bloody simple, and you'd know that if you took your head out of your own arse and paid attention to other people's feelings every once in a while."

He stood roughly from the table, downing the rest of his water before moving to set the class in the kitchen sink. Hugo sat there stunned, feeling more ashamed than he'd expected to.

"I'm sorry," he finally managed to say, elaborating when Caleb looked at him doubtfully. "I know I've got no right judging you two for how you behaved when I was a right prat myself. I know you care about each other, and I meant it when I said I didn't mean for you to break up. So I'm sorry for the part I played in all that. If I could fix it, I would."

Thankfully, Caleb seemed to accept this apology.

"Thanks," he said with a jerky nod that Hugo returned. They stayed there in slightly awkward silence before Caleb checked his watch.

"Want to go to Lou's?" he asked. "I told him I'd come by today."

Feeling grateful that they both seemed to want to just put things behind them and move on, Hugo nodded.

"Sure. With any luck, Dom will have made some chocolate eclairs."

A/N: Next update will be in Leap of Faith! I had fun writing Hugo's pov for the first time. hope you enjoyed reading it!