Using the prompt 'complacence'

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"And… here's to what we hope will be a much happier year." Harry held up his glass of champagne to the rest of the family, finishing his toast to… well Hugo wasn't really sure what it was for specifically. He supposed Harry was just toasting their victory at the Ministry.

Everybody clapped, and agreed to everything Harry had just said.

"Here, here!" George agreed, holding up a bottle of Butterbeer. "Let us hope that there will be no more funerals in the next twenty years, hopefully more. Let us hope that everybody in this room – and beyond – live a long, happy life, and our young'uns get to grow up and start families of their own!" He pointed to Hugo, who smiled despite himself.

"Is he drunk?" James had appeared next to Hugo, who nodded.

"I think so," he answered. "He seems to be."

"Aunt Angelina doesn't look too happy, does he?"

The two boys chuckled to themselves as they watched Angelina snatch the bottle away from George, frowning, and then pointing to the two youngest children in the room.

They were two far away to hear what was being said, but Hugo guessed it had something to do with not drinking so much in front of his children.

George looked away shamefully, but took the bottle back from his wife anyway.

"Just one more, Ange!" he said, moving away quickly to join Bill and Percy on the other side of the room. Percy didn't look at all pleased, but Bill clapped his younger brother on the back and the three of them started in a conversation.

Hugo looked around the rest of the room. For the first time in a very long time, every single person had a smile on their faces. Even Rose. She was talking to Lucy and Fleur, and they were laughing about something.

From the moment Kingsley had sentenced Webb to Azkaban, Rose had been an absolute delight to be around. She'd been chatty, and happy, and it warmed Hugo. He'd always hated it when Rose was upset or angry. He remembered his mum once telling him that when they were younger, whenever Rose was crying, or sulking, he'd come to her, and ask if she wanted a hug to make her feel better.

Hugo had no recollection of that – he only remembered wanting to strangle her because of it – but he believed it to be true, because when Rose was upset, she put a downer on everybody's mood.

But, when she was smiling (like she was today) it made everybody cheerful.

"So, what do you think you'll do now that it's all over?" James questioned.

Hugo turned back to his cousin. "Go back to Hogwarts," he said. "Try and get back to normal. Mum and Dad would want that."

"I thought Uncle Ron didn't care about school?" James smirked.

Hugo shrugged. "He said he didn't, but he still wanted us to do well," he said. "He said he was glad we were smart like Mum. But, I think he meant just Rosie. She's really smart."

"Are you kidding, mate?" James said. "You're like twice as smart as Al and I put together. I tried using one of your spells at Hogwarts. It earned by detention for a week… and cost me one Quidditch match."

Hugo couldn't help but laugh. "What spell did you use and what happened?" he wondered.

James blushed. "I'd rather not say," he said. "But, it's safe to say that I honestly did not mean for it to happen, but Professor Longbottom seemed to think I thought it was funny. But I certainly didn't. It was embarrassing."

"He gave you a detention?" Hugo cried. "Professor Longbottom?"

Hugo had never seen James go so red. He nodded. "Yes," he said. "That's how bad it was. Neville never gives out detentions!"

Hugo smirked. "Why won't you tell me what you did?" he then asked.

"Because you'll laugh at me!" James replied. "Anyway, I'm surprised Al hasn't told you. He thought it was hilarious."

Hugo wanted nothing more than to pester James about what had happened, but he was distracted by a wave of red hair brushing past him. He turned around just as he saw the back of Rose leave the kitchen.

"Er, I'll ask Al later," he said hurriedly, making sure to follow his sister. He assumed she was going to her room, but rather than make for the stairs, she made for the front door. Hugo followed.

He caught the door just in time and watched as she made her way down the front steps of Grimmauld Place and out onto the curb. Hugo knew that Grimmauld Place was magically protected from the eyes of Muggles, but he also knew that the pavement wasn't. If anybody had happened to look out their windows in that moment, they probably would have been rather disturbed seeing two red-head children appear from nowhere.

"Rosie?"

Rose jumped, making it clear she hadn't realised anybody had followed her. She spun around, but her expression softened when she saw who it was.

"Oh, it's just you," she said, her shoulders relaxing. "For a moment, I thought –" She shook her head. "Never mind." She smiled at him, patting the ground next to her. "Come sit next to me," she said.

Hugo obliged. "What are you doing out here?" he asked. "You're not… you're not hiding again, are you?"

Rose shook her head, resting a hand on Hugo's knee. "No," she replied. "I'm just… I just came out here hoping you'd follow. Things have been pretty hectic these past months, haven't they?"

You can say that again, Hugo thought. Hectic was putting it nicely. On top of the whole case and fear of one day being killed himself, he'd also worried for his sister, and the rest of his family. How were they coping? Were they going to lose it at any moment? Although Harry never would have admitted it, it seemed that the deaths had really hit him hard. Hugo often wondered what happened when they weren't around. Was he different around Ginny, or did he try to convince her he was okay too?

"At least it's all over now," he said eventually. "Mum and Dad, wherever they are, can rest easy now. There's nobody here that can hurt us anymore, and nobody who wants to. We have the best family in the whole world, and they did heaps for us."

"And they'll keep doing things for us," Rose added. "Because that's what they're like. Nosy, interfering, and really, really caring."

Hugo laughed.

"It feels good to laugh again, doesn't it?" Rose continued. "It just feels like everything I was worried about this morning has gone now. It disappeared when that bitch was taken away, and I got back here. Everybody was in a great mood, which put me in a great mood."

"It almost feels like old times, doesn't it?" Hugo said.

Rose nodded. "Do you remember how much time we spent here with Mum and Dad? And how many times we'd run out here with Victoire, and Dom, and James, and Al, and Lily, and have all the Muggles stare at us because they thought we were strange?"

"I do," Hugo said. "I also remember this was the place you and Molly got into that massive fight over Scorpius, too. James and Al made bets on who would win… James won that bet, of course."

Rose turned to face him. "What?" she said. "They were betting on me?"

Hugo nodded. "Yeah, they still do. Didn't you know that? James doesn't think you'll ever find the guts to ask Scorpius out, but Al thinks you'll do it before Scorpius caves and does it himself."

Rose blushed. "Hugo, I –"

"Please don't lie to me, Rosie," Hugo interrupted. "I'm your brother, and I'm not going to say anything. We know you like him, and he likes you too. Very much."

Rose went even redder. She didn't say anything for a long moment, instead staring at her hands. Finally, though, a sigh escaped her lips. "Nothing can happen," she said. "It'd be wrong."

"Wrong? How?" Hugo didn't see anything wrong in the situation. After all, they were best friends, and for crying out loud! he was sick of the two of them sneaking glances at one another when they thought the other wasn't looking. In their third year, Scorpius had finally found the courage to ask Rose to the Christmas Ball, but had made no other moves since then.

That was except, of course, falling over his feet every time Rose came near him to please her.

Rose shrugged. "Dad hated him," she said. "I couldn't do that to Dad… as much as… as important… as important as Scorp is to me."

"You didn't care about Dad's opinion before!" Hugo argued.

Rose nodded. "I know," she said. "But that was when I thought he and Mum would be around forever and that I could be nicer to them later. But things are different now. Dad's gone, and so is Mum. They wouldn't want me dating a Malfoy."

"They'd want you to be happy, Rosie," Hugo said. "I mean, come on, I know you don't like the fact that James is with Jasmine, but… have you heard the way he talks about her?"

Rose shook her head. "No, I haven't," she said. "How does he talk about her?"

"Not like most of the boys do, anyway. Most of the boys say some pretty insensitive things about her, some of them are even rude, but James really likes her. You can tell. It's kind of the same when you talk about Scorpius. James doesn't care what you think, so why should you care what Mum and Dad would think? You want James to be happy, don't you?"

"Yeah, but not with Jasmine!"

"And Mum and Dad would probably have preferred someone other than Scorpius, but my point is, Scorpius makes you happy, and Jasmine makes James happy. The only difference is, James did something about it."

Rose sighed again. "When did you become so smart, Hu?" she asked. "You're almost three years younger than me, and you're so much smarter."

"That's not true," Hugo answered. "I just don't have a temper like yours, that's all. I can think clearer."

Rose wrapped her arms around Hugo's neck, and kissed his cheek noisily. "I could never have wished for a better brother!" she said. "The best decision Mum and Dad ever made was having you. I'm glad I got you as a brother and not James, or Albus." She kissed him again.

After allowing her to have her moment, Hugo finally pulled away, resisting the urge to wipe away where her lips had been. She may have been his sister, but they were in a public place and he had to draw the line.

"You two had your moment?"

The two of them spun to see James standing behind them, his arms folded and a smirk on his face.

"Yes," the both mumbled.

"Excellent!" James said. "Well, Uncle George is going to set off some fireworks in the backyard if you guys want to come and watch. He says he hasn't tried these ones before. It'll be great if you want to see Grandma have a heart attack."

Silence overcame them as James' words sunk in. He seemed to realise what he had just said. "Not that I want her to or anything!" he added quickly. "We don't want anyone else… dying…." He looked ashamed. "Well, only if you want to," he said, and he went back inside.

Rose was the first to get to her feet, and she pulled Hugo with her. "We haven't seen Uncle George's fireworks in a long time," she said. "It'll be fun."

Hugo smiled at her. "Yeah, it will," he said. "But only if you promise me one thing…."

"I've already promised to try and stop losing my temper all the time," Rose replied teasingly. "There's only so much I can do at once!"

Hugo shook his head. "You have to do something about Scorpius," he told her. "Otherwise, he might just get sick of waiting around. Would you want him to end up with Molly?"

"Anyone but her!" Rose said.

"Then do something about it, okay? Promise me."

Rose nodded. "Alright," she said. "I will, but Hu, no more promises okay? Not yet."

Hugo shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said. "You coming?" He opened the front door again, allowing his sister in first. They walked down the narrow hall, past the kitchen, and out another door where the family was gathered.

George was bent over something (which Hugo assumed to be the fireworks) and Angelina was struggling to hold back her two children as they eagerly awaited their dad's experiment.

While Hugo joined Ginny, who put an arm across his shoulder, Rose went and rescued Angelina.

Hugo watched with a smile as she scooped up Roxanne in one arm and sat the child on her hip.

Angelina said something to her, which Hugo assumed was thank you.

"Are you sure this is okay, George?" Molly asked nervously. "You said you've never tried them before…."

George looked up from what he was doing, glaring irritably at his mother. "Mum, how many years have I been doing this for and how many times has something gone wrong? Fireworks are one of the simplest things I can do. Just…." He turned to where his wife and children stood. "Just take a few steps back."

Everyone obeyed immediately as George got to his feet, his wand in hand.

"Maybe another step backwards, guys," he said.

Everybody shuffled backwards.

George pointed his wand at the contraption he had set up, muttered a few words. A flame ejected from his wand, and before anyone had time to brace themselves, there was a very loud explosion.

Hugo almost jumped out of his skin at the shock, but he was soon laughing with the rest of his family as he watched the fireworks take shape of people.

George beamed at them all.

"Ones I've made just for us!" he exclaimed, and Hugo gasped, because the fireworks weren't just of anybody, but they were of his family. He saw his grandparents, Harry, Ginny, James, himself, Rose, Lily, Albus… his parents."

Hugo smiled.

"Oh, George, these are wonderful!" Molly cried. "How on Earth did you many such a thing, though?"

George shrugged. "It's quite easy," he answered. "But it took me a good year to get right."

In Rose's arms, Roxanne pointed upwards.

"Do you see yourself, Roxie?" Rose asked. "Look, there you are!"

The firework-Roxanne leapt into the arms of the firework-Rose, just like what had happened on the ground. It seemed that no one else had realised the mimicry yet, and he didn't say anything. They'd work it out sooner or later."

"I'm still working on how to enchant it so they take the shape of whoever purchases them, so for now, they're all us, and we're the only ones seeing them."

Hugo liked it that way. He wanted to tell George never to sell them, but he knew his uncle wouldn't listen. George loved selling his products, and if he found a way to do what he wanted with the fireworks, then he'd sell them.

And they'd be a hit.

"They're good, aren't they?"

Hugo looked up to where Ginny stood beside him and nodded. "You know what, Aunt Ginny?" he said.

"What is it, Hugo?"

"I want to be an inventor, just like Uncle George once I leave Hogwarts."

Ginny smiled. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Hu."

"But, just with spells. No jokes, just spells."

Ginny nodded. "You can do whatever you want," she said. "I know you could, and I know your parents would be pleased to hear that too."

"Though, I might need to work on them a little. James said he tried one a while ago and got a detention because of it. He won't tell me what, though." He looked pleadingly up at his aunt, but she just laughed.

"Trust me, Hu, you don't even want to know what happened on that one."

"Can you at least tell me what spell it was?"

"I don't know what spell it was, Hugo. You'd have to ask James on that one, but whatever it was, it didn't do its job."

Hugo sighed. He realised there was no point in stressing over what James had done now. Maybe he'd tell him one day, but for now, Hugo just wanted to enjoy the fireworks.

They were the most wonderful thing he'd seen in a very long time; perhaps ever.

We are getting to the end slowly. I want to thank everyone who has been following this story from the beginning, or part way through, or whenever. I love your reviews and your comments. Thank you all so much :)

A big thanks to Sunny Lighter for beta-ing for me :)