Chapter Three

Hugo had a problem. He wanted tomorrow to come today. Like his mother Hugo always found logical solutions to his problems and, like his father he carried them out without thinking things through. After considerable thought, and pestering of certain family members, it was decided that tomorrow would come tomorrow and Hugo would have to wait till he woke up.

Hugo hurried out of the sitting room an up to his bedroom. He hastily dressed in his pajamas, pulled the blinds down tightly and curled up under the covers. Squeezing his eyes shut he waited for sleep to come.

The thin stream of light coming from the crack between his window and the blinds seemed to be aimed straight for his eyes. He rolled over, pulling the pillow over his head

His stomach growled hungrily, a loud echoing sound he could feel right to his toes. Uncharacteristically he ignored it, curling up tighter.

He wanted to say he'd started to doze off, to be mad at his mother for interrupting just as he drifted off but the fact was he'd been watching the second hand on his Chudly Canons Ultimate Alarm tick by when she'd stuck her head round the door and demanded to know what he was doing going to bed in the afternoon and unless he was sick to get downstairs and set the table. He half-heartedly tried to convince her it was Rose's turn but got up anyway. He could still go to bed early later.

As it turned out he was dragged to bed at 9, after stuffing himself with pot pie and potatoes and carefully avoiding anything green he'd shared a thrilling game of chess with his dad and had managed not to lose for almost two hours. Exhausted, he fell into his bed and within minutes was snoring peacefully.

Hermione drove them to the Potter house. Hugo fidgeting in the back seat the whole time.

Lily was sitting in the kitchen finishing her breakfast when they arrived. She wearing a cheerful yellow sundress, and moved over to make room for her cousin. He dragged his chair up next to her and tried to wait patiently for her to finish.

"I wanted to wear my purple dress," She confided in Hugo, as she dipped her last toast solider into the egg yolk, "but it's in the laundry. So I had to make do." She gestured to her hair.

Her long, but not yet long enough, hair was nearly always braided into two plaits that framed a sweet face where a genuine smile was the prominent and almost constant feature. Today each plait had a purple ribbon threaded through it.

"You ready?" He asked, watching her slowly scrape a teaspoon along the inside of a nearly empty eggshell and pop it in her mouth.

"Yep." She looked expectantly at her mother, "Can I go now Mummy?"

"mmhm." Ginny absently accepted the goodbye kiss and contunied her conversation.

Lily placed her plate and eggcup in the sink and hurried to the door with Hugo. He was so excited he could barely keep still, "Come on! Come on!" he urged as Ginny and Hermione chatted. Hermione smiled at him, a motherly smile that said Wait till I'm finished.

"I still can't believe he had the audacity to say that to me. Honestly, I'm a grown woman! I'm married! I have three kids and he's still an over protective git."

"- well you know Ron."

"Some times I wish I didn't. No I don't mean that but he's just so…you know."

"Of course. Did you hear about what happened at the -"

Lily and Hugo exchanged looks. Lily sat down next to the coat stand, resigning herself to the long wait. Hugo paced in front of the door. He jumped up and down several times. He paced some more then sat down next to Lily and fidgeted. Eventually, Hermione decided they'd better leave and herded them off to her car.

"Seatbelts on?" She asked, looking over her shoulder as she pulled into the street.

"Yes." They chorused, in the car Hugo's excitement grew. It was his first real protest. Something he was doing on his very own, with Lily of course, no grown-up's helping. The car ride dragged on and on, every red light was torture. Parking seemed to take forever and he didn't even want to put the money in the parking meter like he normally did. When The Leaky Cauldron finally appeared he let out the breath he'd been holding since they'd turned into the street. Lily patted his hand, "Almost there."


Okay, the next chapter might take me a bit longer to get up. Not sure about how to write the actual protest, though I think I know how I want it to end up. Any suggestions are more than welcome.