Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its universe. I'm just borrowing it from Rowling-Sensei and playing with it. The only thing I do own are any OC'S.
Warning: This is the official tenth chapter so expect some weird sh*t. YOU WERE WARNED
Pairing ( s ) : Hugo Weasley × OC, Lily. L. Potter
Chapter Ten:
Hugo frowned in confusion as he walked passed the school kitchens spotting Cassiopeia walking with a half crouch with her back against the wall. If Hugo knee better - which he did, he would have assumed that she was hiding from someone.
A chuckle escaped him as he spotted the blonde quickly hide behind the suits of armour with a squeal as Alexander Rehn walked passed. The Slytherin barely paid him no mind before he glanced around as if searching for someone before continuing back the way he came.
Hugo quirked a brow before walking over towards the suit of armour which Cassiopeia was currently using as her hiding spot. He smirked once he spotted the blonde crouched down with her knees pressed against her chest so she resembled a small curled up ball of a witch.
Seemingly not having noticed his presence, Hugo used a finger to tap her on the knee instantly causing the blonde to jerk in surprise, her hair quickly shifting to a dark brown and stuck up on ends like a cats would when they felt threatened.
"You know that the coast's clear?" Hugo teased, his amusement clear with the smirk plastered across his lips.
Cassiopeia gave a small pout before she willed her hair to change back to its usual silvery blonde locks before standing. She glanced round the corner where Alexander had just turned before breathing a sigh of relief.
"Well thank Merlin I wasn't sure I was ever going to shake him"
Hugo snorted in response before walking out from behind the suit of armour, it was rather cramped and he didn't fancy enclosed spaced longer than needed.
"Just why we're you hiding from Alexander?" He asked with curiosity.
Cassiopeia frowned whilst smoothing down her already pristine hair.
"I wasn't hiding, I was avoiding him" She corrected with a slight duh tone as she began smoothing her hair down absently.
Hugo chuckled slightly before shaking his head.
"They're the same thing" He added with a grin.
Cassiopeia blushed slightly in response before quickly averting her gaze.
"Well it was either that or try a different approach in turning him down" She stated absently.
Hugo's grin quickly disappeared - so Alexander asked Cassiopeia out on a date. A part of him scolded himself for not making his own move sooner, and he knew that Cassiopeia couldn't avoid Alexander forever. What if he managed to convince her to accept, then Hugo would have lost any chances with Cassiopeia forever.
"He asked you out on... a date?" Hugo asked slowly, his voice sounding squeaky and pathetic to his own ears.
Cassiopeia nodded before flipping her silvery blonde hair behind her, the blonde blissfully unaware of Hugo's current disappointment.
"He's still waiting for an answer. Apparently Alexander Rehn isn't someone who you just say no to" She said with a slight frown.
Hugo couldn't help but feel somewhat saddened - it seemed that Cassiopeia was willing to give Alexander a chance. Though he thought it selfish to stand in another man's way, he couldn't stand the thought of Cassiopeia with anyone else but him.
He just needed to make sure that Cassiopeia and Alexander weren't in close proximity of each other or even in the same place for too long.
He just needed a place where Alexander, a pure blooded wizard with a wand the size of Denmark up his arse would never go….
"I think I have an idea" Hugo stated before offering his hand out to Cassiopeia.
The blonde stared at it in hesitation almost as if trying to figure out just what Hugo was up to.
"Do you trust me?" Hugo asked as he took a step towards her.
Cassiopeia still apparel hesitant, yet she allowed her steel grey eyes to meet Hugo's own sapphire blue orbs and nodded though albeit slowly and placed her own slender hand in his.
Hugo flashed her a lopsided grin before leading Cassiopeia towards the castle's main entrance and down to the village of Hogsmeade.
XOXO
Hugo had always loves his Uncle George's joke shop, so when his fun loving uncle announced that he was opening up a branch in Hogsmeade - only minutes away from his school he along with the rest of his cousins were thrilled. Though his uncle was still the head of the franchise, his son Fred along with Hugo's elder cousins James and Louis helped run the Hogsmeade branch with Albus and Rose helping with the accounts.
The joke shop was a popular spot with the third years and of course the girls loved to get a peek at his cousin Louis, who still managed to retain popularity with them despite graduating a year prior.
Hugo knew that someone as 'proper' as Alexander would never even think of setting foot into a joke shop so it why he had currently taken Cassiopeia there, the both of them glancing around the vast amount of produce with awe.
With the first of the Hogsmeade visits not being until the following week, the shop was relatively empty save for the elder sixth and seventh years who were free to visit the village as they pleased - long as they abided to the curfews set in place.
Cassiopeia was currently watching as a bouncing ball started changing different colours in front of her with each bounce whilst emitting screams of pain. It was a rather odd little thing yet it seemed to amuse the blonde.
Hugo noted that the oddly screaming ball would've been something that Lily would've enjoyed and made a mental note to purchase it for her next birthday.
The blonde quickly caught the ball in her hands and thus silenced its impending cry of pain before placing it back on the shelf. Though it was only a toy Hugo himself wondered if it really could register pain.
Cassiopeia poked gently at the ball, causing the odd thing to let out a yelp at her touch.
"What an odd little invention" She muttered in awe before deciding to leave the bouncing ball at peace – after all its screams were rather distracting.
Hugo chuckled before noticing the appearance of his cousins. Both James and Fred had their usual grins plastered across their face as they happily conversed with the customers around the shop - the two fun loving pranksters always sporting jovial expressions. Only to Hugo's confusion both men had pairs of very real looking cat ears atop of their heads.
The group of students currently surrounding them were gushing over the new appendages with awe and whereas Fred's were russet coloured to match his hair, James' were a chestnut brown to match his.
He instantly walked over with Cassiopeia at his arm, the blonde eying his cousins with curiosity.
"Fred, James!" Hugo called out with a grin.
Both men instantly turned at the mention of their names, and identical grins were plastered across their faces at the sight of their youngest cousin. However the grins quickly faded to expressions of curiosity at the sight of a girl? Never before had Hugo ever introduced them to any of his female friends so they were instantly intrigued.
"Hugo" Fred called out the same time James loudly declared "Hugh-man" the nickname only he and the rest of their cousins used for him.
The made their way over to Hugo and Cassiopeia, both Fred and James loudly clapping their younger cousin on the back before allowing their curiosity to take over.
"Who's this lovely lady?" James asked with a grin as he gently took Cassiopeia's hands into his own and brought them to his lips.
Hugo rolled his eyes at the display though he was expecting it from James who was notorious for being just as - if not more flirtatious than Louis was.
"Cassiopeia Malfoy" She answered with a charming smile which would have anyone hooked.
Though at the mention of her last name Hugo's cousins turned to each other with expressions of curiosity.
"As in Scorpius?" Fred asked, remembering his cousin Albus' friend from school.
Cassiopeia nodded "He's my brother"
Being the gentlemen that they were both men instantly greeted Cassiopeia, showering the women with compliments and any products they could thrust into her arms. Hugo smiled at the grin on the blonde face before suddenly finding himself next to Fred, the older man with a grin on his face as they watched James covering with Cassiopeia.
"So what pray tell has you with the littlest Malfoy, hmm?" Fred asked with curiosity. Hugo was his baby cousin after all and Fred took it as his unofficial, self-proclaimed and unpaid job to know exactly just what went on his youngest cousin's life.
Hugo blushed slightly, he wasn't with Cassiopeia per say, he was just with her.
"We're just friends" He justified though once the words left his lips he regretted staying them - he certainly didn't want to be 'just friends'
Fred hummed in thought before clapping Hugo on the back, the action causing him to jerk forward slightly.
"Good luck with that one then" Free declared before walking off to re-join James beside Cassiopeia.
"Wherever have you been hiding this one, Hugo?" James asked with grin. His strange looking cat ears were wiggling atop his head and Hugo oddly found himself drawn to them.
"Why do you have cat ears?" Cassiopeia asked with curiosity.
James turned the Fred, both men giving an identical shrug before draping their arms over each of her shoulders and effectively sandwiching her between them.
"The question is, Miss Cassiopeia why don't you have cat ears" James countered which instantly left Cassiopeia speechless.
She opened her mouth to speak and instantly Fred took this as opportunity to throw a fluorescent orange coloured sweet into her opened mouth. The blonde swallowed before coughing and spluttering in surprise before turning to glare at his cousin.
As Hugo started to chuckle at Cassiopeia's confused and angered state, James took this opportunity to stuff the same orange sweet into Hugo's mouth.
"Just what did you just give me?" She hissed though the answer quickly came as a pair of fluffy white cat ears sprouted from the top of her head.
Hugo quickly placed his hands atop his own head and was surprised when two furred nubs had started to form and continued to grow to a pointed shape. He turned to the glass cabinet beside him and gave an experimental poke to the auburn cat ears now atop his head.
To his surprise the ears twitched slightly with his touch and Hugo found himself somewhat fascinated by them. Though they appeared alien to him it was strange how they were no part of him and looked very real.
Cassiopeia seemed less than thrilled with her new ears, the blonde hair her hands pressed atop her head with a frown as if trying to pull them off.
"How long do they last for?"
Fred shrugged before scratching one of his own ears, they twitched slightly in place for a second before rendering motionless once more.
"They only last for a couple of hours but they tend to vary from time to time"
Cassiopeia nodded but as she removed her hands from her head her ears had dropped flat against her in short she looked adorable.
"My morphing isn't working" She declared with worry "What's in this?"
"You know the usual top secret ingredients- we can't just share them you know" James stated matter of factly.
Cassiopeia pouted, her ears flat against her head and her tail now stiff with defeat. Hugo sighed before draping an arm over her shoulders causing her to turn to him with a sad smile.
"Don't worry Cass, you look fine" He said softly.
Cassiopeia smiled, her white ears instantly perking up right and her tail swinging back and forth.
"You think so?" She asked with curiosity.
He nodded, his hands moving to cup her chin and force her to look up at him.
"I know so" He stated his hands moving to run gently through her silvery blonde hair.
Cassiopeia blushed slightly at the action though the sound of someone clearing their throat caused them to abruptly break apart guiltily.
Hugo turned to see his cousins staring back at him with identical knowing grins plastered across their faces. He shook his head with disbelief before turning whilst ushering Cassiopeia out of the shop.
XOXO
Cassiopeia gave another small huff as she examined her own reflection in her compact mirror. With her morphing abilities now suppressed it meant that she just couldn't will the cat ears and tail away.
Though she had to admit that the ears were somewhat cute but her bloody tail seemed to have a mind of its own and would insistently flick from side to side whacking anyone unfortunate enough to get too close.
They'd only just made it back at the school building and already the new appendages had attracted a bit of attention from the other students. Though Cassiopeia was used to people staring at her from the distance she wasn't used to them attempting to touch her ears and it didn't help that they were rather sensitive too.
Which was why the pair had decided to take up refuge in the library- that and the fact that Cassiopeia wanted to go somewhere she was certain Alexander wouldn't willingly go. If she knew one thing about the Slytherin it was that she was certain that he'd never willingly picked up a book in his life.
Glancing over towards her companion a smile formed when she noticed his own auburn coloured ears twitching slightly and as if sensing her gaze upon him, he turned to face her with his usual lopsided grin.
"You okay, Cass?"
She stiffened slightly at the use of the nickname. Usually friends would shorten her name only to 'Cassie' and even then that was only reserved for close friends and family. But it seemed that Cassiopeia rather liked this new nickname - or at least when it came from Hugo.
She dumbly nodded before following after Hugo towards the potions books. However with Cassiopeia not noticing his tail dragging against the floor she stepped on it which instantly caused the redhead to hiss in pain before falling to the ground.
"Oh merlin, Hugo I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed before quickly kneeling down by his side.
Hugo had his tail placed in his hands and his features had contorted to furrowed brows and lips curled into a slight grin despite his obvious pain.
"No harm done" He answered though this only caused Cassiopeia to frown slightly.
She sighed before shifting so that she was now sitting on the library floor.
"I'm sorry, Hugo. Is it that bad?" She asked softly, suddenly feeling very guilty for causing Hugo to be in such pain.
From his position on the ground Hugo still had his tail held in his hands, though he gave a slight shrug.
"Like getting your tail stamped on by a pretty girl?" He offered with a grin.
Cassiopeia blushed slightly at the comment before quickly averting her gaze. Of course guys had been nice to her before but never had their comments affected her like they were now.
"You're such a tease, Weasley" She quipped whilst absently rubbing at his ears though to both their surprise this caused a deep rumbling sound to resound from Hugo's chest.
"Hugo did you just...purr?" Cassiopeia asked with disbelief.
Hugo quickly reddened before shaking his head.
"No"
Cassiopeia giggled - he was just adorable.
"Oh really?" She asked before placing her fingers on his ears once more and stroking at the soft fur and once again causing Hugo to indeed purr deeply.
Hugo quickly covered his mouth in shock as if he couldn't believe the sound had come from him. Whilst Cassiopeia, enjoying Hugo's current predicament allowed another giggle to escape her, her own tail flicking back and forth with mirth.
"That was definitely a purr" She said with a grin before attempting to stroke his ears once more. However Hugo anticipated the action and quickly had Cassiopeia's wrist in a gentle grip.
He pulled her gently towards him and though his grip on her wasn't strong enough to hurt her in any way she still made no attempt to move. She was left speechless at the way his bright blue eyes followed her every movement and she herself was left staring intently back at him wondering what move he was going to make.
Instead his thumb ran gentle circles on the inside of her wrist, his touch almost burning against the sensitive skin and sending a shudder down Cassiopeia's spine.
His free hand - the one not grasping her own, was stroking gently at the ears atop her head and Cassiopeia suddenly felt heat rush through her as an unfamiliar purring sound left her lips.
The blonde blushed at this in embarrassment though Hugo only seemed to grin at her predicament before gently releasing her, his eyes regarding her with a curious expression.
"You know you're adorable when you purr" He whispered with a slight teasing tone.
She felt heat rush to her cheeks at the softness his voice, his warmth breath tickling her already sensitive ears. She couldn't understand how Hugo- her supposed friend had her melting in such a way and being the curious person she was, Cassiopeia wanted to find out why.
With curiosity the blonde sat upon her knees examining the man in front of her, he quirked a brow at the sudden movement yet made no move to shift his position.
Cassiopeia wanted- no needed to know if this friendship wasn't as simple as she thought it was. At first she had just ushered her feelings as a result of never being so close with someone, never having a real friend who wasn't just using her to be able to name drop.
Yet not with any other of her friends did she find herself acting like a giddy teenage school girl.
Her mind was made up and with quick movement Cassiopeia had placed her hands on either side of Hugo's face. His features had contorted to a curious frown, with Cassiopeia allowing herself to ingrain each of his facial features into her brain.
She allowed her gaze to linger over his expressive blue eyes, every freckle dusted over the bridge of his nose and then to the slight curve of his lips. Before either of them could question her actions she'd brought his lips to her own.
Never before had she enjoyed kissing someone so much so, and though it was clumsy and Hugo's lips chapped against her own she found herself somewhat savouring his unique taste and moving her own lips against his.
It was as the pair broke apart, Cassiopeia giggling slightly at Hugo's dazed expression.
"Whoa...that was um…something" He muttered as he stared back at Cassiopeia with a goofy grin.
Cassiopeia blushed slightly before quickly averting her eyes. At first she'd kissed him to determine whether or not she merely thought of Hugo as just a friend now it was confirmed that she thought of him as something more she was unsure of how to act.
Before she could comprehend it any further she heard the disappointed cry of:
"Oh merlin!"
The familiar voice instantly causing Cassiopeia to jump in shock at the sight of her brother Altair looking very pale indeed as if what he just witnessed made him want to be sick to his stomach.
Both Cassiopeia and Hugo quickly stood, the blonde quickly running towards her brother to keep him away from Hugo and prevent another fight from breaking out.
"Altair!" She exclaimed with her hands pressed against his chest in an attempt to get him away from Hugo, however with her brother's size and strength he was easily able to push her behind him.
"Cassie…" Altair drawled in warning. He had instantly seen red at the sight of his sister with Hugo and though he'd promised Cassiopeia that he wouldn't interfere with her own life, he couldn't help but feel somewhat angered at the sight.
Cassiopeia was his sister- his twin and the two had always been close. Though it seemed that since she had joined the school all her time was being spent with Hugo and Altair felt as if he was losing her.
"Altair this was all me, leave Hugo out of this" Cassiopeia pleaded. She couldn't bare for the two people she cared about to fight once again.
"Please Tai…" She whispered softly, using the nickname only she had used since they were children.
The blond sighed before running a hand through his hair with frustration. Cassiopeia just had this effect on him and though he initially wanted to punch Hugo in the face and a few curses for good measure he didn't want to upset his sister any further.
The image of her bleeding out on the ground was still fresh in his mind and he didn't want to hurt his sister again, not when he was meant to be protecting her.
"Cassie we'll talk about this later" Altair scowled before turning to Hugo with a frown.
"I better not catch you to doing that-"
"What kissing?" Cassiopeia quipped innocently, a smile forming on her lips despite the situation at Altair's grimace.
Her brother didn't seem to amused and quickly shook his head with a frown, the blond desperate to get the image of his sister kissing anyone out of his head.
"Yes that- don't do it again in front of me!" He exclaimed before abruptly turning his attention to the pointed ears atop his sister's head. He hadn't noticed those before and glancing over towards Hugo, Altair noted how the Gryffindor sported a pair of very feline looking ears atop his head.
The Slytherin frowned in confusion, wondering if he missed out on some sort of odd cat convention by opting out of visiting Hogsmeade.
"Why do you have...cat ears?" He asked with confusion, he gave one of his sister's ears an experimental poke before she abruptly slapped his hands away with a scowl.
"Oi, you can't just touch other people's ears. It's rude" She scolded before quickly remembering that she had done the same thing to Hugo- hypocritical or what?
Altair frowned in confusion before letting his arms fall by his side in defeat, he had no idea what was going on with everyone today. First his best friend was running around like a mad man, then his sister and her whatever the sister stealing Gryffindor was to her both joined some absurd cat club and then he had just walked in on his sister and the sister stealing Gryffindor bloody kissing in a public place!
"You know what, I don't even care" He stated before abruptly turning away whilst muttering about 'annoying sister's and irritating Weasley's'
Cassiopeia released a sigh of relief, though she had prevented a possible fight there was still the issue of what to do about Hugo. It was clear that her feelings for him went beyond friendship but what if he didn't feel the same?
"Hugo I'm sorry" She said with sincerity.
To her surprise the redhead sported a look of confusion before placing his hands to cup her chin.
"There's nothing to be sorry for" He told her.
She shook her head with disbelief, how could he still be so nice to her after what she'd done?
"But I kissed you...and now...now my brother hates you-" She said with worry.
Hugo shook his head with a slight chuckle, the woman in front of him worried way too much and with a grin he gently moved his hand to rest against her cheek.
"Your brother already hated me" He stated which caused her to scoff "Besides I'm a big strong guy and can take care of myself"
Cassiopeia smiled up at him before pressing her cheek further into his hold, though she was still worried about what her brother, what everyone was going to do or say Hugo was able to easily cast her worries away with a simple goofy grin and gentle words.
"And as for the kiss I rather enjoyed it" Hugo stated and thus causing her to blush.
He chuckled at her current state before running a hand through her silvery blonde hair with a fond smile and all too slowly he leaned in to press a soft kiss against her lips.
A/N TIME:
WHOOP tenth chapter is done!
And the power of adorable cat ears just proves that anything is possible when you look like a neko.
First up thanks to charlottedean98 for joining the follow and favourite train. Yay!
And a massive thankyou to all who have stuck with Lilac this far.
Stay tuned for the next chapter where Hugo and Cassiopeia decide to take things slow, Cassiopeia has a talk with her brother and things get awkward for everyone's new favourite couple.
Don't forget to review!
Heavensfairy signing off x