Using the prompt 'countryside'

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The English countryside was quite enjoyable, Hugo decided. He'd spent his whole life growing up in Huddersfield, which, he'd admit, wasn't the busiest of places, but still busier than where they were right now.

Being in the middle of nowhere – away from roads and noisy neighbours – suited him just fine. Maybe Harry and Ginny could look to moving here, he decided after three days of staying there. He enjoyed Grimmauld Place, but that was in London.

That was too busy.

On their fourth night, Hugo suggested this to his aunt and uncle. Only Lily was in the room at the time and they all simply laughed at him.

"Oh, Hugo," Ginny said. "We admire your enthusiasm about being here, and as nice as it is, I think London suits us all a bit better, don't you think?"

"It doesn't suit me," Hugo answered, but left it at that. It had been a high hope to think they'd listen to him, but he had tried.

"Maybe in the future, we can come back for another holiday, eh?" Harry suggested, nudging him slightly in the side.

Hugo smiled at his uncle. "Yeah, I'd like that," he said.

There hadn't been any decision on when they were going to leave yet. They had the whole summer, if they wanted to, but Hugo thought that highly unlikely. Harry and Ginny had said it was to ease their minds before the coming weeks. So, they'd be there for four weeks at the most.

Hugo planned to make every minute of it count.

At first, he hadn't been too keen on sharing a room with James and Albus. They were a lot louder than he was, and also a lot more obnoxious. When they'd prefer to be outside, wrestling one another, Hugo much preferred to sit inside on one of the couches and talk to Lily.

But over the past days, he'd become a lot closer to his two male cousins, which made him happy. He'd admit that he didn't have many male friends. Most of his friends were girls, so it felt good to have James and Albus to talk to. They seemed to understand a lot better. They seemed to get that he didn't have to cry over every little thing. He liked just talking to them.

The morning after their first night in the cottage was probably the best by far, though. They'd all woken up to the smell of bacon and eggs drifting up the stairs. James had been the first to stir, moaning about how hungry he was, and Hugo and Albus had soon followed, meeting his sister and Lily midway.

Rose smiled at him. "You hungry?" she asked.

Hugo nodded. "Definitely," he said.

They went downstairs and sat at the kitchen table while Harry and Ginny watched the five children with amusement.

"You'd think we never feed you," Ginny commented.

"Well, you don't," James pointed out. "We feed ourselves a lot of the time."

Ginny shook her head, but put two large plates in the centre of the table anyway. One contained the wonderful smelling bacon and eggs and the other was a high pile of toast.

"Don't expect this every morning, though," Ginny warned them. "Just this once."

Hugo beamed. It was like being back at Hogwarts, or back at home. It was a tradition in his family that after returning from Hogwarts they'd have a big breakfast the following morning (which, his dad always said, was the best part about them coming back. His mum always told them he was joking).

Most of the days were spent exploring their surroundings. After a day or two, though, it kind of became boring. There was only so much of the wood they could explore before realising they'd passed the same tree three times already.

There were other things around. There were hills and paddocks, and on their third day there, Lily discovered that if she stood on the highest point of the tallest hill, she could see the nearest village. It was still a fair way away, but Hugo had enjoyed looking at it.

Muggles, probably. Well, most were probably Muggles, going about their normal business, not a care in the world. They wouldn't know that only a few months ago, two teenagers had lost their parents. They wouldn't have a clue that in less than a month, the person who had killed their parents was going to be put on trial.

No, these people knew nothing of the sort. They woke up every morning, got dressed, ate breakfast and then left for work. They were probably happy. They probably didn't consider anybody else.

Hugo wished he was one of them, but he wasn't going to dwell on it. He'd come to understand that what had happened had happened. Wishing wasn't going to change that. He had a family to care for him and people who'd be there if he ever needed them. What else could he ask for?

"Nothing."

"What?"

Hugo hadn't even realised he had spoken out loud until Rose had questioned him on it. She was sitting beside him on the couch, a book – as usual – in her lap.

"Oh... nothing," he said. "Sorry."

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, you know." She had a smirk on her face.

"Then I must be mad," Hugo answered, grinning back at her. He liked seeing his sister smile. It was refreshing, though it seemed her good mood was slowly declining over the days.

"I think we're all mad, Hu," Rose replied, her eyes drifting back to her book.

Hugo watched her for a moment, before finally deciding to ask her a question he'd been longing to for years now. It was a simple question – one that probably would have gotten his head bitten off six months ago – but he felt comfortable asking it now. Rose was a lot friendlier these days.

"What do you read?"

She looked up at him and frowned, and then flipped the book over so the cover was visible to him. It read Anne of Green Gables. "Mum gave them to me," she said. "She said she read them when she was a kid. She also gave me many others, too. They're all by Muggle authors. Some are terrible, but most are wonderful. Muggles really do have a good imagination, you know. If you read a book about magic, it's really interesting to read their take on it. Some of it's true, of course, but most of it is complete garbage. If you'd like, I can find the ones I've already read for you?"

Hugo contained his snort of laughter at the suggestion. Hugo, reading? "Er... no thanks," he said.

Rose shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said. "But you're missing out."

"I'm sure I'll survive, Rosie," Hugo assured her. "Truly."

Rose laughed after that. "Yeah, I guess you will," she replied. "But it's good, Hu. It's better than Hogwarts textbooks, anyway."

"I never read them either," Hugo answered. He then got up from the couch and wandered into the kitchen. Lily was bent over a bowl of something, her expression intent. She didn't even notice Hugo until he spoke to her.

"What're you cooking, Lil?" he questioned.

Lily jumped at the sound of her name and then looked up. Hugo had to hold back a laugh. Her face was covered in flour and cocoa by the look of things. Lily always made a mess when she cooked, and her food never looked all that great either. No one ever said anything about the taste, but that was probably because no one was game enough to try whatever came out.

"A cake," Lily answered, before returning her eyes to the bowl. Lily had cooked something almost every day since arriving. The other night, she'd cooked them all dinner (with the help of Harry) and it had tasted alright, Hugo supposed. But that was because Harry had helped (not that he was the greatest cook either).

"Do you need any help?" Hugo asked her. He didn't really want to help, but what else was there to do? Even if he'd wanted to, it was too wet to go outside. Rose was too engrossed in her book and he had no idea what James and Albus were doing. Lily was the only one left, lest he be by himself. And being by himself was not something he was up for right now. Not when it was so close to the trial.

The Daily Prophet had been delivered to the cottage that morning, and although he hadn't read it, his parents' faces had been plastered over the front page, along with Begonia Webb's. Seeing all three faces on the same page had upset him. It wasn't right.

He had watched Harry read it with a bleak expression over breakfast and then fold it up and put it aside. He'd muttered something that Hugo didn't hear and the next thing he knew, the paper had vanished.

Lily looked up once more, seemed to think about it for a moment, and then shook her head. "No," she answered. "I can do it."

Hugo sighed. "Alright," he said. "Where're your brothers, then?"

Lily shrugged and that was the only reply Hugo got from her.

He went back up to his bedroom, where he collapsed onto his bed. Being on the bottom bunk, he hadn't realised he wasn't alone until Albus' head poked down from the top, grinning widely at him.

"So, what's up?" he asked cheerfully.

Hugo shrugged. "I hate it when it rains," he answered.

"Me too," Albus replied, "but I went searching through the house and it turns out there have been other people who have stayed here before."

Hugo didn't see that as much of a surprise, but he didn't say anything. He just nodded.

"Well, anyway, I think they were Muggles – which makes sense, of course, seeing as this is a Muggle house and all – and I went searching and I found these." He chucked a book at Hugo. No, it wasn't a book, it was more of a magazine.

"Comics, they're called," Albus said. "They're quite interesting actually... something about a guy named Superman... the only thing is, the pictures don't move." He jumped down from the top bunk and made himself comfortable on Hugo's. "You should have a look," he added. "I think you'll like them."

Hugo looked down at the front page. It was covered in pictures and as he turned to a new page, there was just as many on that one too. It had a little bit of writing, but not enough to bore him senseless. Before he knew it, he and Albus had gotten through the five his cousin had found.

"The only thing we need is moving pictures," Albus pointed out, bundling the five magazines together. "Blasted Muggles!"

Hugo smiled.

"Your grandparents are Muggles," Albus continued. "You've never seen these before?"

Hugo shook his head. It seemed that everyone was always surprised when he or Rose had no idea what a Muggle object was. They, of course, knew how to work a television better than most, and they could use a phone, but they only experienced that whenever they saw their grandparents. Other than that, their life was filled with magic. Everything was done using magic. It wasn't much different to Albus'.

Molly and Lucy were the ones who knew more.

"That's a shame," Albus sighed, flopping back onto Hugo's bed. "It'd be cool if you had some more."

"You wouldn't be caught dead reading at Hogwarts," Hugo commented.

"Yeah, well, there's not much to do here, is there?"

"There's always Quidditch."

"Mum said no, remember? She said it was too close to the Muggles and we'd be seen."

"We haven't seen a single Muggle around since we've been here," Hugo argued.

Albus sat back up, throwing his hands in the air. "Hey, you're preaching to the converted," he said. "I'm just repeating Mum's stupid rules." He paused then, glancing towards the door. "Something smells like it's burning..."

"Lily was cooking..." Hugo answered.

In that instance, both boys jumped to their feet and dashed downstairs. There was smoke billowing in the kitchen as they found Lily spluttering as she closed the door behind her. Rose and James were standing there with her and moments later, Harry returned from the smoke-filled room, looking more dishevelled than he usually did these days.

"That should be coming from your own money," he said, looking at his daughter pointedly.

Lily shied away. "I didn't mean to," she said.

"Well, the kitchen is half destroyed now."

Tears trickled down Lily's face. It seemed she was the only one who didn't realise Harry wasn't actually angry with her. "I'm sorry!" she sobbed.

Harry waved his wand and the smoke disappeared from the room. Hugo caught the full damage. There was a burnt tin resting on the stove, which had a burnt cake inside. The table they'd shared meals over was blackened and Hugo barely recognised the bench top it was that melted.

Upon seeing it, Lily cried harder.

Harry waved his wand again and before their eyes, the kitchen returned to its normal state – perhaps, even, looking a little cleaner than it had before.

"See, no harm done," he said, smiling. "But, Lily, please remember to be more careful next time."

Lily nodded, wiping away her tears. "Thanks, Daddy," she said quietly.

"And here I was looking forward to cake," James sighed.

Lily turned around and glared up at her brother. "Shut up!" she said.

"Hey!" Harry interrupted. "Lily, don't talk to your brother like that!"

Lily continued to glare at James for a long time and only stopped, because Ginny joined them. She looked at the six of them, confused.

"Is this some club that I'm not part of?" she questioned with a hint of a smile.

"No, your daughter just almost destroyed the kitchen," Harry replied mildly.

Ginny turned to Lily. "Again?" she asked.

Lily frowned and folded her arms.

"You really have not inherited your grandmother's talent," she said. "But, I'm glad you keep trying."

Lily opened her mouth to respond to her mother's statement, when a white ball floated through the window. Hugo stepped back, recognising what it was straight away. It was a Patronus. And he knew that Patronus. He'd seen it in his own house many times over the years.

A white lynx formed before them – the very Patronus of the Minister himself. He only contacted Aurors like that when it was very urgent.

Hugo swallowed. They couldn't even escape it on their holiday.

Everyone watched the lynx with worried anticipation. Eventually, it spoke.

"Harry, please come to the Ministry quickly. This is urgent. Please hurry!" It vanished after that.

"You don't really have to go, do you?" Rose questioned. Everyone turned to Harry expectantly.

Harry looked torn. He knew he had to go, but it was obvious he didn't want to. Eventually, he said, "Sorry, Rosie, but I think I have to."

"So much for our holiday," Rose sighed.

Harry shook his head. "I was called in, Rosie, not you. You all stay here."

"But it has to be with Mum and Dad's case," Hugo said. It just had to be. Harry had taken time off work. They weren't supposed to call him in.

Harry shook his head again. "Not necessarily," he replied. "They may need me for a number of reasons. The life of an Auror..." He watched them all. "For now, you shouldn't worry, okay? I'll go in and see what's happening and I will return, telling you what it is. More than likely, it will have nothing to do with the case. Stay here."

And he was gone before anyone else could so much as blink. They all stood in the kitchen, watching, anticipating. What the hell was going on?

Even though Harry had said not to worry, Hugo couldn't help it. Everything worried him now. What if they'd let her go? What if she'd escaped? Maybe she was on her way here as they spoke?

All those thoughts terrified him. He didn't want his parents' murderer getting away. she deserved more than that. She deserved to be locked away in Azkaban for life.

All evil people deserved that.

The chapter following this and the ones after are the beginning of trials and sad parts :(

I hope you enjoyed this one though! Please don't forget to review. I'd love to hear your thoughts :)