I'm so sorry I haven't updated. I was in a musical and this past week was crunch time, I seriously had no time to write. I hope you enjoy! Comments are always appreciated. I'll probably update again…next week? Maybe another time this week cause I feel bad. It's been a really long time. Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just this story.
I was sitting at my drum set in my room when Rose walked in. Did she knock? No. Rose is above knocking on someone else's door. Well, more like just above knocking on my door.
"When did you start playing drums?" she asked me as she sat down on my bed. "I didn't know my brother was a rocker!"
I rolled my eyes and cringed at the word 'rocker'. "I just started."
"So, you got the set for your birthday, I'm assuming?"
I nodded my head. Like Mum and Dad would buy me a drum set for no apparent reason. We weren't poor, but we definitely were not rich. Dad tried to give us the best but not spoil us in the process.
"Is there a reason you're bugging me?" I questioned as I placed my drum sticks on my thighs. My drum set was amazing, I'll admit. I felt so free when I just jammed out on it.
"Well, I wanted to tell you that I have decided to take Arithmancy this upcoming year at Hogwarts," she informed me.
"…And I care, why?" I cared about school but I could care less about Rose's academics.
Rose shrugged. "I just felt like telling someone. You appreciate academics like I do, but I forgot that you are a horrible, horrible person."
To defend myself, I was only horrible to her. To most people I was a very nice and considerate guy….sometimes. Hey, nobody's perfect!
Deciding to ignore her, I started playing again. My lesson book was on a stand in front of me. I was teaching myself how to play and so far I was doing okay. Not great, but okay for a beginner.
Not only was I into drumming, I liked working with wood. I had gotten into that hobby during the summer. Dad helped me build a stool and it was in the corner of my room.
"Are you excited to start Hogwarts this year?" Rose asked me.
To tell the truth, I was and I wasn't. I really wanted to finally go to school, learn a lot, and make something of myself. But I would miss Mum a lot. Mum was my favorite parent, though Dad was great. I just clicked with Mum better for some reason. She got me more. Rose favored Dad and I favored Mum. That's how our family ran. We loved both parents, but we had favorites.
"Yes," I said simply. I didn't want Rose to tease me and call me a baby for possibly missing Mum in the future.
"I was really excited but nervous," she admitted. At least she felt the same as me. "It's terrifying your first day. Don't worry though. I'm sure Albus will help you out."
"Thanks for your support, sis. I'm glad you are so willing to help your little brother."
Rose nodded her head. "But you'll have Lily and Todd with you too, so it won't be so bad. Freddie and Albus calmed me down a lot the first day. Actually, they still calm me down." She sighed. "You're growing up really fast. I kind of miss the good old days, when we used to actually hang out."
"We only hung out because we had no one else to play with," I stated. Though I was putting a damper on her mood, I missed being younger too. Rose and I used to fight a good amount, we still do, but there were a lot of times when we got along splendidly. And they were fun times. Mum said when we were babies we never left each other's sight. That's probably hard to believe now but it's true. We love each other way deep down.
"That's not true. We always had our cousins. I mean when we were really young and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. We were so innocent back then." She bit her lip and looked me in the eyes. "This sucks, Hugo. We'll never be truly innocent again after this war is done and over with. Mum said that's the thing she misses most about her past. Her naivety and inexperience. Did you ever think you'd hear Mum say she missed being ignorant of something?"
It was weird to see my big, brave, Gryffindor sister afraid of something. It was really weird. She usually was brave for me, not the other way around.
"What if we don't survive? What if one of us dies? I don't want to lose a sibling like Dad did, Rosie." I closed my eyes tightly, trying to block images of my sister dying from my mind. "I couldn't stand losing any other family members. Losing Aunt Fleur was enough hurt to last me a life time." I wasn't even that close to Aunt Fleur, but I missed her like crazy.
Rose looked up at the ceiling, tears swelling up in her eyes. "It's Mum that I am really worried about. Considering she's Muggle-born and everything."
"I don't want to lose Mum. I couldn't handle it," I responded so softly Rose barely heard me. "Not only is she a Muggle-born, she's a Muggle-born who helped Harry Potter."
"Of course we should be worried about Mum!" she exclaimed. "I'd be worried if you weren't!"
Her face was as red as her hair. Rose was easily upset. I remember when she was younger she would throw a tantrum if Mum wouldn't let her have a cookie before dinner. This outburst was different from wanting a cookie though. She had a solid reason for being upset. And if I felt as emotional as Rose did at that moment, I would have yelled like her too.
"Are you okay?" I asked her. I got up from my drum set and sat down next to her on the bed.
"No!" she yelled. "I don't want this! WE DON'T DESERVE THIS!" Her arms thrashed about and I had to hold her down. Rose was…dramatic to say the very least.
"Calm down." I tried to soothe her, but I wasn't doing the greatest job. "Flipping out will get us no where, okay? Just calm down and relax. Everything will be okay. I promise you, everything will be okay." It felt weird to be comforting my older sister, but I had to. Someone had to!
"Usually you're flipping out just as much, if not more, than I am. YOU SHOULD BE UPSET TOO!"
Rose wanted some company in flipping out. The key to handling Rose was you had to remain calm or nothing would get solved. Hopefully Rose's future husband was a calm and cool guy, but if he wasn't…Rose would have an interesting life.
To get a bit off topic, Rose needed a guy who was sensible. I know since I was her brother I should have hated all guys, but I wanted the perfect one for her. So he had to be sensible, mature, and calm. Maybe a bit cocky so when Rose lowered his self esteem it wouldn't be so damaging for him. Rose knew how to put a cocky male in his place.
Someone knocked on the door loudly.
"Come on in," I called.
The door opened and revealed Grandmum Jean. My mother's and sister's middle names were Jean which was named after her.
I loved Grandmum Jean. After all, I was her favorite grandchild. It was fair that she liked me more because her husband favored Rose over me. I'm telling you, my family had obvious favorites. Grandmum is a Muggle, but she always accepted the wizarding world surprisingly well. Hell, she even liked the wizarding world!
"What's the yelling for?" she asked.
Grandmum Jean was a tall woman with goofy glasses and goofy clothes. She had a naturally deep voice. But she could raise it to a very high pitch if she wanted to.
"Nothing, Grandmum," Rose answered. "Just forget it."
Grandmum approached us and gave us both hugs. You'll never get a better hug from anyone than your grandmum. They have a lot of experience and know how to make you feel better by such a simple act of affection. My grandmum's hugs were comforting, to say the least. She could make you feel loved beyond measure. But she did smell kind of…musty. But don't all grandmothers smell musty?
"How are you doing?" I asked her.
Unlike most kids my age, I actually liked talking to my grandparents. Usually they had something interesting to say.
She smiled brightly at me. "Better than Rose, apparently." She patted Rose on the head and laughed lightly.
Oh, did I mention my grandmum was funny? So was my granddad. You'd never think it though considering Mum was the most uptight kid imaginable. Mum's relaxed a lot though. She can have fun now!
"Rose, your mum made some sandwiches. I'm surprised you haven't eaten them all yet." Grandmum liked to make fun of Rose because she ate a lot. And I mean Rose ate A LOT.
"Your grandfather is downstairs with her. And later your grandparents, Arthur and Molly, are coming over. We're all having dinner together. Why don't you two join us downstairs?" She pointed towards the door and nudged her head towards it. "I promise you can have my sandwich if you want, Rose. Just don't eat your brother's again."
"Sounds good," I said. The sandwiches were for lunch and I was starving.
"I ate his sandwich one time! Let it go! I thought it was just an extra," Rose defended herself.
The three of us walked out of the room and down the steps. At the kitchen table was sitting Mum and Granddad.
I looked at the sandwiches sitting in front of Mum. Turkey, score! Turkey sandwiches are the best type of sandwiches, hands down. Anyone who says anything else is stupid. Ham? Salami? Roast beef? They have nothing on turkey.
Rose ran to Granddad immediately and hugged him. She LOVES Granddad with a passion.
"Hey, grandbaby. How have you been?" She pulled away from him and kissed him on the cheek. How cute. Wow…that was a really gay comment. Scratch that from the record, please.
I took a seat next to Mum. Mum looked…smaller? Not smaller, just less intimidating than usual. I mean, most of the time Mum gave off a presence about her that showed she meant business. Her bossy sounding voice, which Rose inherited, really helped that image. Today she looked weaker. Mum didn't always look intimidating. Like I said before, she could have fun. But that day wasn't fun or intimidating. And that was weird for me. She looked emotionless.
Across the hall, I looked at Mum's library. Instead of having a living room like any normal family, we had a full fledged library. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, because I did, but sometimes I wished our family was a bit more normal. And the more insane part of our library was that Mum had read every single book in it. There must have been at least a thousand books in there and she's read all of them.
"Jean, did I poop my pants?" Granddad asked my grandmum.
Grandmum just shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I don't smell anything, dear."
"Are you positive?" Granddad was a bit…out there. He could forget things sometimes, like going to the loo.