A few days after Hugo and Bilius' antics in the Great Hall, Hugo was strolling down from the Common Room to the Great Hall for dinner. The thought of the vast quantity of food being served in particular the juicy pork sausages and the creamy mashed potatoes made Hugo's mouth water. Finally Hugo made it to the ground floor and could smell the succulent food wafting in his nostrils when a Hufflepuff girl with medium-length straw coloured hair stopped him before he could enter.
"Hi Hugo" Fiona spoke softly, not daring to catch his eye.
It had been a week since Selwyn upset her in front of him and she hadn't talked to him since then out of embarrassment.
"Hi Fiona" he replied trying to coax the girl into her more relaxed state "How are you feeling?"
"Alright" she answered quickly, her cheeks flashing a bright pink
"Do you want to take a walk with me" she resumed quickly now locking her green eyes onto his blue ones.
Hugo squirmed and looked longingly at the Great Hall, he was starving and he wanted nothing more than to engorge himself in the Great Hall but Fiona was his friend and he didn't want to upset her further.
"Okay" he smiled with just a sprinkle of annoyance "Lead the way".
Most of the walk was spent in silence, the only sound between them being Hugo's stomach as he regretted more and more skipping dinner, they were now walking along the edge of the Black Lake taking in the inky surface of the water and skipping stones along the surface.
"I'm sorry I avoided you" Fiona said suddenly, startling Hugo and nearly making him fall over "It's just that..."
"Go on" Hugo encouraged her, wanting to find out why she hadn't been talking to them but all that happened next was her face scrunched up and she began to sob.
"Selwyn won't leave me alone" she sobbed, her hair slowly turning from straw to blue; reflecting her emotions.
Hugo felt anger flush inside him when he heard this but remained silent, hoping she's continue.
"He...he's been making fun of me for weeks when I'm alone and now..." she continued before a fresh wave of sobs drowned out her voice.
"Don't listen to him" Hugo offered soothingly "If he tries to do this again I'll make him pay...again".
Hugo moved to put his hand on her back but before he could she sprung up and gripped him in a big hug,
"Thanks Hugo" she sniffed, wiping away her tears "I'm sorry I didn't talk much..."
"It's alright" Hugo cut her off and before he could continue she hugged him again and bounded off towards the castle.
"Honestly she is half-mad" Hugo mused to himself as he watched her retreat out of sight.
That night Hugo lay in bed listening to Bilius snore loudly in the bunk beside, the sound filled the room and Hugo was the only one that seemed to notice as the occupants of the other bunks lay asleep as well. The only sound that resonated louder than Bilius' snores was Hugo's stomach as it cried in hunger. Finally it became too much for him and he rose up out of bed and put on his slippers and blue woolen dressing gown. Silently he crept down the stairs from the dormitory into the Common Room,
"Lucky Fred told me how to get into the kitchens" he mused to himself.
The Common Room was dark save for the dying embers of the fire and the moon glowing through the windows, Hugo was almost to the door when a voice called out behind him
"Little late for a stroll Weasley"
Hugo turned swiftly around but his heart-rate returned to normal when he saw that the perpetrator was Martin; sitting in one of the armchairs with a copy of Quiddich Through the Ages on his lap.
"What are you doing up" Hugo whispered
"Why do you think-I'm surprised he hasn't woken half of Scotland the volume he snores at" there was a moment of silence before Martin asked "You?".
Hugo smiled wickedly in the dark;
"Fancy a Midnight raid on the kitchens?"
The two boys tip-toed down the Grand Staircase slowly, careful not to wake the sleeping portraits or much worse fall through one of the trick steps. It took about twenty minutes before they had reached the bottom and even then they still had to sneak about to avoid the Professor-or worse still; the ancient caretaker .
"We're almost there" Hugo whispered "Hurry up"
Martin hurried forward gulping " I like adventure as much as the next boy but not at the cost of being punished by Filch; he scares me".
"Shh" Hugo motioned "we're here".
The two boys stood facing a painting of a bowl of fruit hanging from one of the walls
"Where?" Martin asked looking around trying to spot the tell-tale door.
Hugo ignored the comment and found what he was looking for-the pear in the painting; and began to tickle the board that it was painted over. Suddenly as if out of nowhere a door appeared where the portrait hung and with a hefty shove Hugo pushed it open revealing the Hogwarts kitchen,
"There" he finally answered triumphantly.
The kitchen was a large room with a high stone ceiling and five wooden tables lay in the centre of the room.
"Look Hugo look" Martin bellowed excitedly pointing a pudgy finger to a bunch of disheveled looking creatures in the corner "House Elves".
Hugo approached one of the elves that was closest to him and politely asked the House Elf for some food.
"Excuse me" he began "But would it be too much trouble to ask for some cakes".
The House Elf had a long hooked nose and wing-like ears; and wore a dirty old tea-cloth as a robe. Upon hearing Hugo's request he bowed so low his nose almost touched the floor and spoke in a gravelly voice "Certainly young sir" and hobbled away.
Martin looked around the room in amazement and seemed awestruck by it's inhabitants "I've never seen a House Elf before".
"Just be nice to them or else my mother will find out and come down on you like an April shower" Hugo joked but countless hours of watching his mother knitting and the dozens of S.P.E.W. badges that he still found around the house made him not want to extend the joke.
It didn't take long for the House Elf to return with about a half-dozen Pumpkin Pasties and two large Cauldron Cakes and he bowed low once more and spoke
"Will that be all young sir?"
"Yes thank you" Hugo responded politely and the Elf bowed once more and retreated to some dark corner of the room.
The two boys exited the kitchens quickly and proceeded back to their dormitories when they saw a lantern light up the floor beneath them, Martin stifled a whimper and ducked out of sight but Hugo was frozen solid as he saw the skeletal Mr. Filch emerge from the 2nd Floor corridor onto the staircase.
Luckily for them he headed down to the 1st Floor purring "Come on my sweet" to a mangy old cat that followed him around the place.
The twp boys stumbled back into the Common Room under the withering look of the Fat Lady who did not take well to being woken up at one'o clock in the morning. In the end though the midnight raid was worth it as Hugo bit into the sweet centre of a cauldron cake and nearly died of happiness.
Martin laughed in delight at not being caught by Filch and swallowed about three of the Pumpkin Pasties in one before moving on to the remaining cauldron cake.
"Y'know we still hab to deel wiv Bill-e-s's snowing" Martin pointed out; his face stuffed with cake.
Suddenly the delight Hugo felt with eating the cakes was taken down a notch as he heard Bilius' snores echo into the Common Room from the dormitory.
"