Using the prompt 'bar'


Chapter Twenty-Eight

It felt like he was going back to Hogwarts, dragging his trunk down the stairs with Rose following him. It felt like any other day at home, where his parents would be waiting for him at the bottom, smiles on their faces and yelling at Rose to stop fussing.

The only thing different was that it was Harry and Ginny waiting for him at the bottom. And no one was yelling at Rose. She'd been the first one ready.

"Al, are you ready yet? Everyone's waiting!" Ginny called from the bottom of the stairs as Hugo passed her. Everyone but Albus had managed to drag their trunks or suitcases or whatever else they were taking down on time. They all waited by the fireplace in the kitchen with Harry while Ginny tried to coax her middle child to join them.

"In a minute, Mum!" came the reply.

Ginny came back into the kitchen, shaking her head. "And he wonders why we almost never make to King's Cross on time," she said.

There was a clunk from somewhere above and soon, the sound of a trunk being dragged down the stairs filled their ears and a dishevelled looking Albus appeared in the doorway.

"A holiday's supposed to be relaxing, mate," Harry said, smirking.

"I... didn't... know... what... to... pack," Albus replied, taking a breath after each word. His cheeks were flushed. It was like it was an exercise, packing.

"Perhaps a brain?" James offered.

Albus glared at him. "Shut up!"

"Well, he's here now," Ginny interrupted, ushering her son over to the fireplace.

"Do we have to Floo, Mum?" James then complained. "I always end up swallowing the stuff."

"We're not Flooing, we'll be Apparating," Harry told him, much to James' apparent relief. "We just gathered here."

"But... only you and Aunt Ginny can Apparate," Rose said.

Harry nodded. "We'll be taking you one or two at a time," he said. He then turned to his children. "Lily, Al, you're with me. James, you're with your mum."

Hugo's three cousins joined their parents a lot more calmly than Rose or Hugo ever did with theirs. Apparating wasn't a pleasant sensation, even when it was Side-Along. Normal Apparition was probably even worse, but Hugo wouldn't know until he was seventeen. His parents had always argued that it was the easiest, most simple form of transportation, not to mention the quickest. Hugo still would have preferred the Floo Network, or even Portkey, though.

But who was he to argue?

"We're taking these three first and I'll be back for you in a few moments," Harry said to Rose and Hugo. They both nodded and within a moment, only two of them remained.

Hugo looked to his sister. "It's not fair! They get to see the place before us!"

"And they'll probably choose the better rooms, too!" Rose added.

There was no time for Hugo to say anything more, because a soft pop announced Harry's return.

"You two ready?" he asked.

Hugo nodded. "But what about our stuff?" he asked, pointing to everybody's trunks. They had been left on the floor.

Harry waved his wand and all seven vanished. "They're there and waiting for you," he said. "Now, one of you either side of me, please."

Hugo swallowed, preparing for the sickening sensation of being sucked into thin air. Rose looked even paler than Hugo felt. She never really had enjoyed Apparating. Nine times out of ten she was sick afterwards. Apparently that was a good enough excuse for their parents to allow Rose to use the Floo network.

"You okay, Rosie?" Harry asked.

Rose nodded weakly.

"I'm sorry. I know it makes you sick, but... the fireplace there isn't connected. It's owned by Muggles."

This got Hugo wondering where they were being taken. Somewhere owned by Muggles? "You're not taking us to our place, are you, Uncle Harry?" he questioned, uncertain. Because he was certain that wasn't going to be a very cheerful holiday for anyone. He almost cried every time he set foot in the place.

Harry chuckled. "No, Hugo. That would be the last place we'd take you."

Hugo let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. "Okay, I'm ready," he said, taking his uncle's arm.

Hugo was just thankful that that form of transport was quick. One moment he was standing in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place and the next, he was in some kind of cottage. It kind of reminded him of Shell Cottage for a moment, but when he looked out the window and saw trees and forest around, he knew they definitely weren't there.

"Cool!" he said.

Ginny met them in what he now realised was the living area. "I'm glad you like it, Hu, but I suggest the two of you hurry upstairs and fight your cousins for a good bed. They're already making deals."

Hugo glanced to Rose, who was looking around the small room in awe. "Let's go, Rosie," he said. "I don't want to share with James!"

The stairs were located just outside the living room and as they walked up them, shouting and yelling grew louder.

"I got it first!" Lily's voice cried. "It's my bed, James!"

"This one's bigger, though, Lil. And I'm bigger," came James' reply.

Hugo and Rose reached the doorway where the disturbance was coming from. No one noticed them.

Hugo looked around the room. There were three beds inside – two were bunks and the other was a single. Naturally, none of them wanted the bunks.

"I'm the girl!" Lily argued. "I'm not sharing a bed with either of you!" She jabbed a finger at James and Albus in turn.

There was only one window inside, which, from what Hugo could see, overlooked the forest outside. It looked nice out there. Once sleeping arrangements were settled, he contemplated taking a walk. It would be relaxing.

"Hu, come and look at this one." Rose nudged him and pointed to another doorway. There were two beds in that one and no one was arguing over them.

"We should just take that," he told her. "Then we won't have to fight with them."

Rose shook her head. "There's only one way to settle this," she said, before marching back to the other bedroom where Lily now had James pinned to the bed. "Oi!" she said.

There was no response, so she spoke a little louder. Hugo grinned as all three of his cousins stopped mid fight to look up at Rose.

"Are you going to keep fighting over the beds?" she asked.

James, Lily and Albus all looked at one another. Lily's eyes narrowed. "This is my bed," she said.

Rose sighed. "I take that as a no. Alright, here's the deal. There are three boys and two girls and there are two rooms; one with three beds and another with two. Lily and I will take the other one and you three –" She gave Hugo a little push, "– will share."

"What?" Hugo looked up at his sister, furious. "That's not fair!" he exclaimed.

But it seemed he was the only one who disagreed. Lily had jumped straight off the bed, which James immediately claimed. "Let's go, Rosie," she said, tugging on Rose's hand. "I don't want to share a room with smelly boys anyway."

The two girls disappeared, closing the door behind them.

"Oh well," James said, clearly satisfied with his victory. "You two have to fight it out over who gets top."

Hugo sighed. "I'll take it, I guess." He didn't want to start another argument.

"Nah, you can have the bottom," Albus said. "Mum and Dad did organise this thing for you, not us."

"I think they did it for all of us," Hugo argued, but he still took the bottom bunk. He'd prefer that over the top any day.

OOO

Once everything was sorted and the shouting for rooms had stopped, Hugo went back into the living room with his sister and three cousins. Harry and Ginny were both adding familial touches to the small cottage. They smiled when they saw everyone.

"So," Ginny began, "what do you think?"

"It's great, Mum!" James said. "But... where exactly are we?"

That was something Hugo'd been wondering for some time now. He'd looked out the window, looked around the house for any hint as to where they might be. But he had nothing. It was in England somewhere, that was all he knew.

"The English countryside," Ginny answered cheerfully.

Everyone shared a look.

"Yeah, we worked that out, thanks, Mum," Albus said. "But where abouts in England?"

"We're on the outskirts of a village called Plumpton," Harry explained. "It's a little cottage, owned by a Muggle. We thought it'd be nice to get away from everything in London and the Ministry and Hogwarts, so we took you here."

"To the middle of nowhere?" James questioned.

Harry and Ginny nodded, watching their eldest son with concern. But they need not worry, because James grinned.

"It's great!" he said.

"So... what can we do, though?" Albus asked.

"Well, there's some trails out there," Ginny said, pointing out the window. "Why don't you all take a walk? See what you can find?"

Hugo was the only one to nod in agreement. The other four looked taken aback.

"What's there to find?" Albus questioned uncertainly.

Ginny shook her head. "I don't know. Nothing terrifying, I assume... You can do that, or I'm sure there are some Muggle board games we could find..."

"We'll see what's out there!" James said quickly. "See you soon, guys!" And he marched right out the door.

Everyone else followed, shuffling onto an old verandah with one broken chair in the middle.

"A Muggle board game would have been fun," Lily said, watching the unknown forest with suspicion.

"Are you scared, Lil?" James teased.

"No!"

"Come on! You've been into the Forbidden Forest before. What harm can this place do? There's nothing in there."

"But Mum said..."

"Mum said she didn't know."

"You're all a bunch of cowards!" Rose said, pushing past James and leading the trek into the forest. Hugo was quick to follow. He wasn't going to let Rose go off on her own. Who knew what she'd do.

His three cousins followed a little less enthusiastically, but soon they were following a path that was nowhere near as dark, or as frightening, as the one in the Forbidden Forest.

It was actually quite peaceful, Hugo decided. There were tall trees either side of him. There was a constant chirping of birds of all species and every now and then, he thought he saw movement of a larger animal.

It didn't scare him, though. The only one who seemed frightened was Lily. She stayed fairly close to James until he made fun of her for being afraid, where she then joined Hugo.

Hugo lost track of how long they all walked for. They all just followed Rose, but it seemed she had no idea where she was leading them. He could just see the sun above them when they reached a clearing. It was a rather small clearing, but there were no trees around and the sun was warming on their skin

There were logs lined up in a circle with a fire pit in the centre. It looked like some kind of camping ground. Probably one Muggles used.

"Should we light the fire and tell ghost stories?" James questioned.

It was obvious that he was joking, but Lily let out a frightened squeak, shaking her head.

"Come on, Lil. You live with ghosts, remember? They roam the corridors at Hogwarts."

Lily glared up at her brother. "No ghost stories!" she said forcefully.

James plonked down on one of the old logs and Hugo sat beside him. Eventually, they were all seated – Rose and Lily sharing one and Albus by himself.

It was James who spoke first. "Okay, well, how about we tell happy stories then?" he suggested. He looked to Hugo and then to Rose. "About your mum and dad. I'm sure we all have good memories of them."

Hugo had plenty of good memories of them, but most of them he wanted to keep to himself.

"That sounds like a good idea." Rose's voice was quiet – Hugo could barely hear her. But he was surprised by this response. She was actually willingly agreeing to the idea that they discuss their parents? Rose?

Hugo gave her a questioning look.

"What?" she responded defensively. "I'm allowed to talk about them."

James took out his wand and pointed it to the fire, but he didn't have time to mutter a single sound before Lily's voice filled the clearing.

"What are you doing?" she cried. "You're not seventeen yet!"

James rolled his eyes. "I almost am. Besides, what harm can lighting a fire do? It's not like the Ministry are going to send me to Azkaban over it. Or snap my wand in half."

"They might if this wood catches alight," Rose told him.

James huffed. "Fine! Spoil-sports." He put his wand back in his pocket and looked eagerly around. "So, who's first?"

No one said anything for a long moment. Perhaps everyone was too scared to be the first. Emotions were still raw for some of them. Maybe they didn't want to offend.

But, it was Lily – the one who had wanted to turn back – who raised her hand first. "I remember something," she said.

Everyone turned to her, watching; waiting.

She seemed nervous with everyone watching her, but the Gryffindor in her seemed to make her continue. "Um... well... I remember a time just after my first year. I was at your place –" She looked at Rose and then at Hugo, "– and something happened." Her face went bright red and Hugo thought he knew what she was talking about. He wasn't going to say it out loud, though. Not if Lily didn't.

"What happened, Lil?" Albus questioned.

Lily's face turned a deeper shade of red. "... girl stuff," she mumbled, before continuing quickly to avoid any more questions. "And I was really scared and I was crying and Aunt Hermione found me in her bedroom, hiding under the covers. She was really nice about it, too. And she talked to me. We talked for like an hour or something and then she hugged me and said everything was okay and I had nothing to worry about. And I thanked her and she said if I ever needed to talk to her about anything again, she'd always be there..." She stopped abruptly, seeming to realise what she had just said.

Hugo stared at his feet. He did remember that time, but not because he was there. He had overheard his mum telling his dad about it later that evening.

"Alright, I'll go!" Albus cut in before anyone had the chance to cry over Lily's story. "It's about Uncle Ron. No one knows about this – and don't tell Mum and Dad – but when I was ten and Uncle Ron was responsible for me... well, he kind of got irresponsible for me."

Everyone was silent as Albus paused. Hugo was wondering what his cousin was talking about. Sure, his dad had never been strict about many things (other than they were not to make friends with any Slytherins – which was hard seeing as their cousin was one), but he was never irresponsible. Not with his kids, anyway.

"Okay, what happened?" James demanded when Albus didn't continue for a minute or so.

"Well, I think Aunt Hermione was with Rose and Hugo or something and I dunno where you two were," Albus said to his brother and sister, "but Uncle Ron took me to his work and I got bored – being an Auror's not as exciting as it sounds – and I ran off. I think it was when Mum and Dad went away for their anniversary or something. Then I got lost in the Ministry and ended up finding my way out of it and into Muggle London, where I went into some Muggle bar.

"The Muggle pub owner guy asked what my phone number was so he could call my parents and I asked him what a phone number was. He thought I was mocking him and he got quite mad and kept me there."

"What happened after that?" Lily questioned. "You obviously came home."

Albus nodded, seeming rather pleased that everyone was interested in what he had to say. Hugo had to force back a laugh. He could almost see his dad's expression when he realised he had lost Albus.

"Well, Uncle Ron found me eventually. It was really late when he did. The pub owner wouldn't let me leave and I tried telling him I wanted to call my uncle, but he said he'd do it, but I couldn't tell him the number. I dunno why Uncle Ron knew to come in there. He must have searched everywhere else first."

"Was he angry?" Rose questioned.

Albus shrugged. "A little, I guess," he said. "But I think he was mainly relieved he didn't have to tell Mum and Dad he lost me. He made me swear not to tell anyone about it... ever. Not Mum, or Dad, or even you guys. When he got back to Rose and Hugo's place, he told Aunt Hermione that he had to do some last minute things at work. She was all sympathetic because I had to stay there so long.

"I never did tell anyone, you know. After all these years..."

"Except for now," James commented.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Albus shrugged again.

"I think I remember that," Hugo interrupted. "Well, I remember you and him coming home really late, anyway."

"Yeah," Lily added. "I think I must have been with Aunt Hermione too."

"Well, where was I?" James wanted to know.

"Probably at school?" Rose said.

"Oh, right."

"Can I go next?"

Everyone turned to Rose. She was looking solemn, but okay. They waited.

"Well... this is a story about Dad. When I was six, all I wanted to be able to do was magic. I had shown some signs of it, of course, but I really wanted to be able to do magic. Like, with a wand.

"Mum, of course, kept telling me in five years' time, I'd be able to. She wouldn't budge, like Mum wouldn't. So, I turned to Dad. He was pretty strict about it too, but you know, I talked him round in the end. He let me use his wand – 'just this once, Rosie,' he said – and I waved it and... that's what those weird plants in our backyard were.

"Mum was mad to begin with, of course, but she came round too. I was so proud of myself and I think Dad was too. It kind of became our thing after that – caring for the plants."

Hugo knew that story and he had thought his cousins did too – everyone knew that story, but Lily seemed rather surprised by the news.

"That's so cool!" she said.

Rose smiled. "Yeah... I guess," she said.

"Hugo?" James questioned. "Do you have anything?"

Hugo shook his head. None that he wanted to share. Once they were out in the open, then everyone would know. He needed to keep at least something between himself and his parents. Something private.

"Alright," James said. "I'll go."

James' story sounded slightly exaggerated, but no one said anything. Hugo couldn't imagine his mum or dad telling James the story of the Second Wizarding War when he was three years old. They'd only told Rose and Hugo on the occasions they started at Hogwarts. Well, the full story anyway.

After James had finished, he glanced up. Clouds had rolled in and it seemed darker than half an hour ago. "We should head back," he said. "Unless you want Mum and Dad outside searching for us in this blasted weather."

They all stood up from their log seats and began the trek back to the cottage. Everyone was silent this time, lost in thought about the memories they'd just shared with one another.

Lily's made him slightly sad, remembering what his mother was like. Albus' story made him laugh – that sounded very much like his father. He knew Rose's and he'd always been slightly jealous of that bond they'd shared. And James' story was too far-fetched to be true, but made him smile all the more.

When they reached the cottage, the smell of roasted chicken and vegetables greeted them.

"You five were gone for a while," Harry commented when they stepped through the front door, soaked from the sudden downpour.

"It's nice out there," Hugo said softly.

Harry nodded. "Fair enough. Well, dinner will be ready in a short while, so if you all want to get dried up..." He waved a wand over each of them and soon Hugo felt warmer than he had all day.

They all went back up to their respective rooms. Hugo changed into something drier and then returned half an hour later for dinner.

It was a fun night for all of them. It reminded Hugo of the times they'd all be together for Christmas lunches. There was laughing and joking and storytelling. It hardly felt different except that in the back of everyone's mind, the looming trial was there.

Hugo didn't go to bed until late that night. Lily was the first to disappear. She was falling asleep against her mother's shoulder as the others engaged in a rather competitive game of Exploding Snap. Rose was winning – as she always did at that game – and Albus – as usual – was losing. The cards had exploded multiple times on him, causing laughter from everyone.

It was only when Harry and Ginny decided they were going to go to bed that the others did too. They all traipsed silently up the stairs and into their rooms. Rose closed the door and there was no sound made from the girls' room.

Hugo and his two cousins got changed quickly and climbed into their beds. He'd just started to drift off to sleep when James' voice filled the silence. Who knew what time it was? It was late – too late for James to be talking.

"What do you think is going to happen at the trial?" His voice was soft, as if he were afraid of the response.

"They'll find her guilty of killing my parents and send her to Azkaban," Hugo answered confidently. That was all that could happen. What other option was there? She'd sent death threats to Hugo and Rose and also death threats to her parents. Harry said they had proof of that now.

"I hope so," James replied, "because I know that Uncle Ron killed her son, but he didn't do it on purpose and no one else deserved to die for that."

"You know, she was after Mum and not Dad," Hugo told him. He wasn't sure how much his cousins knew of the situation, but he was sure it was less than he did.

"What?"

"Begonia Webb, she was after Mum. She wanted to make Dad suffer for what he did, so he was going to kill Mum. But then Dad tried to stop her and he got in the way, so she killed him too."

James didn't say anything and Hugo wasn't sure if Albus was even awake.

"I didn't know that..." James said after a while.

Hugo shrugged, even though they were in darkness. "Well, it's not proven, but that's what your dad thinks happened. She would have gone for me and Rosie, but she couldn't because we were at Hogwarts, so she went after the next best thing."

"What a bitch!"

"They'll send her to Azkaban," Hugo assured James. "And she can suffer there. It sucks that they don't have Dementors there anymore, though. She'd deserve that." He was surprised at the calmness of his voice and how much he really wanted his parents' murderer to suffer. He'd never wished as much ill on anyone before.

"Hugo?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"Thanks," Hugo said. "So am I."

"I hope for your and Rosie's sake, she gets the worst punishment possible."

"Me too." And Hugo had never meant anything more in his life.


'Bar' as in 'pub' in case anyone was wondering.

I hope you liked this chapter, and your thoughts would be much appreciated. I want to thank especially JuliaE.k5 and CatInTheHat57 for reviewing all chapters :) Your dedication to this fic means a lot!