Using the prompt 'let the buyer beware'

Chapter Forty-Seven

Hugo was lying on his bed, his Herbology book in his lap when an owl fluttered through the window of his dormitory. He recognised it instantly as Harry and Ginny's owl, and he sat up.

"You have something for me?" he asked, half confused as to why Harry and Ginny would be sending him a letter. Sure, they wrote occasionally, but he'd only received a letter a week ago. They weren't ones to write frequently, like his parents had (well, his mum).

The owl hooted as Hugo removed the letter from his leg. When Hugo took it back to his bed, barely acknowledging the owl, he hooted again, and continued hooting until Hugo paid him attention.

"What?" he asked irritably, halfway through opening the letter.

The snowy white owl gave another hoot, before fluttering over to Hug's bed post.

"You want food, don't you?" he questioned.

The owl fluttered his wings, and Hugo sighed. "Fine," he mumbled, getting off the bed once more to rummage for the owl treats he kept in his trunk. He threw one to Harry's owl, which seemed to satisfy him, because afterwards, he took off back through the window, probably to head home.

Hugo stared after it. "So you're not going to wait for me to reply?" he called, moving to the window. "Stupid owl."

He once again moved back to his bed and lied down to read the letter. It was from Harry – he recognised his uncle's messy scrawl.

Hugo,

We have great news. Just a few minutes ago, we were informed that someone has purchased your house. It is a Muggle family with two children – a girl and a boy. They're willing to pay a pretty decent price for it, however, the realtor believes you could get more. Inform your sister, as it is your choice whether you should sell or not. The realtor highly recommends it.

Reply as soon as you can,

Harry

The moment his eyes read the last word, Hugo was off his bed again, this time making his way across the dormitory, and down the staircase. He had to find Rose. It had been two months since they returned to Hogwarts, and he knew for a fact that Rose had written to Harry numerous times, asking for updates.

This time, however, he had the news they both wanted. Their house was finally going to be sold. He honestly didn't give two Sickles what the price was, as long as they could get rid of it. Their home was at Grimmauld Place now.

He bounded into the common room, hoping to find his sister there, but sadly, she was nowhere to be seen. There were only two people all up; the rest probably enjoying the small bit of snow that had fallen overnight.

Well, Rosie won't be there, Hugo decided, exiting through the portrait hole and making his way along the silent corridor. Rose hated being outdoors at best of times; there was no way she was going to be out when it was snowing. No, if he knew his sister as well as he thought he did, she would be tucked away in the back corner of the library, studying something that was probably irrelevant to what she was supposed to be learning.

Rose was bad at the best of times, but ever since her failed relationship and friendship with Scorpius, she had locked herself away even more. It wasn't until she had stopped being friends with him did Hugo realise that Scorpius was actually Rose's only friend.

She had had Scorpius, and then she had had her family. No one else was particularly fond of Rose – probably because of her stubborn nature and fiery temper. Most were probably scared of her.

Feeling a pang of sadness as this realisation dawned on him, he made a turn towards the library. It wasn't far from the Gryffindor tower, but along the way, he saw no one. He passed a few windows and looked out, seeing fellow students in the courtyard. Some were making snowballs (despite there not being enough for that) while others – like James – were hexing any passers by from underneath Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Obviously, Hugo couldn't see them, but the fact that every time a student walked past a certain point, they'd suddenly trip over their own feet.

Hugo shook his head. It was typical of James.

It was reaching winter soon, and as Hugo came into the library, it was extremely warm and comforting. There were actually more people in there than he expected, but there was no sign of Rose.

She's probably at the back, sulking, he thought as he pushed his way through the tables and chairs as quietly as possible.

Sure enough, the moment he reached the back section of the library, Rose's red hair was the first thing he noticed. She had her back to him and was hunched over, most likely with her nose buried in a book.

Hugo couldn't help but smile. It had been such a long time since Rose had been bothered to read. For a girl who had used it as a method to relax, her time away from Hogwarts had been spent worrying about other things.

Despite his insistence that she should get out more, Hugo couldn't help but feel relieved to see his sister like that. It meant she was back to normal.

Well, almost.

"Hi."

Rose jumped, her book closing shut with a loud snap. A few of the other students nearby looked up, irritated, then returned to whatever it was they were doing.

"Hugo," she said, half bewildered, half annoyed from his sudden appearance. "What are you doing here? I never thought I'd see you dea…d in here." She choked on the last few words as she seemed to realise what it was she was saying. She blushed.

"I got a letter from Uncle Harry!" Hugo explained, waving the parchment in front of her. If he had expected it to cheer her up, he was wrong. Her face fell.

"What about?" she asked worriedly.

Hugo frowned, then realised that she probably thought it was more bad news. He shook his head. "No, no, it's about the house," he exclaimed, pulling up a chair to sit beside her. "He said they've found a buyer."

Rose's eyes widened. "What?" she asked.

Hugo nodded. "Someone wants to buy the house," he explained. "A Muggle family with two kids – a girl and a boy. It's fitting don't you think?"

Rose nodded, perplexed. "Yeah, it is, I guess," she said.

"Harry did say that realtor woman says we could probably get more for it if we wanted to, but she also says we should sell it.

Rose nodded again. "Yeah, let's sell it," she said. "I want to stop worrying."

"Me too," Hugo agreed. "So… I should reply to Uncle Harry?"

"Yeah, let's do it." A small smile appeared on her face. "I hope the little girl gets my room."

Hugo returned her smile. "Yeah, she might." He looked at her for another moment, frowning. "Why are you in here, Rosie?" he asked.

Rose didn't say anything for a long while. Her eyes drifted towards the book she had been reading. "Because he's out there," she mumbled.

Hugo sighed. He had known (he had just hoped for a different reason). "Rosie…" he began.

She shook her head. "Don't," she said. "I know, okay. You don't have to tell me again. I was an idiot. I deserve what happened, and he didn't. He's been nothing but a good friend, and I hurt him. I know, okay." She picked up her book once more and began reading. Hugo could have sworn he saw a tear trickle down her face.

"Rosie," he tried again. "You can't keep hiding forever."

She looked up over her book at him. "You're a relationship expert, are you? How many girlfriends have you had, Hu?"

Hugo blushed as more faces turned towards them. Rose knew the answer and he'd prefer not to say it.

"That doesn't matter," he continued after a while. "You're clearly upset over what's happened. Just talk to him, tell him your sorry, and he'll forgive you."

"If only it were that simple," she mumbled, once again putting her book down. "Do you think I tried, Hu? I've tried multiple times, but he's too hurt. I knew it was a bad idea; I should have said so and not listened to you and Al."

"We only said it because we thought you liked him," Hugo said.

"I did… I do."

Hugo was confused, but he didn't bother asking her to explain. She obviously had her reasons for abandoning Scorpius like she had, but they were reasons she didn't care to share with anyone. The moment word had gotten out that Scorpius and Rose weren't speaking to one another, many of the girls suddenly became single again.

But it seemed Scorpius wasn't interested. He wasn't interested in anyone. Rumour had it, he spoke to no one.

"Well, let's go and find the others," Hugo suggested. "We'll tell them about the house. They'll be thrilled."

"They don't care, Hu," Rose argued.

"They do. They'll want to know." He got to his feet and offered his hand to his sister. "Come on, I saw James hexing students from under the Cloak. I know where he is. We can trick him."

Rose gave a weak smile, and Hugo knew what she was thinking.

"He's not there," he assured her.

She smiled again.

"Come on, it'll be fun. You'll see. Imagine what Dad would say if he knew you were in here."

"Good girl, keep away from that good for nothing Malfoy?" Rose suggested, accepting Hugo's offer anyway.

"No, probably more along the lines of: get of your lazy arse and do something fun."

They both laughed at that.

"Yeah, maybe he'd say both," Rose said. "Okay, we'll tell the others, but, Hu… are you sure he's not there?"

Hugo shook his head. "I never saw him," he assured her. "But, even if he is… maybe it's a good time to settle your differences. He cares about you, Rosie. It's why he's so mad."

"Yeah… well… it's too late now, isn't it? Any chance I had is over. I blew it."

Hugo disagreed. Maybe not now, but he had a feeling that in the future, everything would be okay. Rose and Scorpius were too close for anything major to come between them.

"So… where is James?"

"In the courtyard," Hugo explained as they began making their way through the library. "We'll sneak up on him."

OOO

As Hugo had expected, everyone was delighted in the prospect of the house being sold. Along with James, Albus and Lily (as well as Lucy and Louis) were all outside. They all thought it was great that someone else was getting that house.

"Though, I do hope there's no magical objects left there," James mused after he had given up on the Cloak and they were all lounging under the tree they had used so many months ago. "Or those Muggles are in for a surprise."

"The house is clean," Rose assured them all.

"Yeah, we cleaned it out remember, and then Uncle Harry went back later," Hugo added.

"But, seriously, who knows what you find in a house after it has been unoccupied for so long," Albus interjected. "We're still finding things of Sirius' and it's been like… almost thirty years or something."

"The Quidditch pitch…" Hugo then thought. He hadn't seen anyone take the Quidditch pitch down, and all the enchantments around it, either.

"Dad did it, I think," James said. "I heard him telling Mum something along those lines anyway a few days before we left. Don't worry, I'm sure it's all gone." He gave Hugo a smile, which Hugo returned.

"I hope so."

"Well, it'll be Dad and Mum who have to deal with the consequences if anything happens," Albus continued. "I mean, they're really the ones taking care of the houses. But, I'm pretty sure it's all sorted now."

"Here's hoping," Hugo said. He turned to Rose. She had been awfully quiet these past minutes, and he now understood why. She was no longer even paying attention to what they were discussing. Her eyes were solely on something else, and as Hugo followed her gaze, he realised that something was actually someone.

"Rose…" he warned.

But she wasn't listening. From her spot under the tree, she got to her feet, and began making her way across the grounds to where Scorpius sat with his fellow Slytherins.

"Does that girl not know when to back off?" James scowled, getting to his feet along with Hugo and the others.

"She misses him," Hugo said as they began to make their way – quickly – across the courtyard to where Rose was just approaching Scorpius.

"Rosie!" Hugo called, but she wasn't listening.

Scorpius was also now on his feet. He had grown quite a bit since last school year, and he now towered over Rose.

"Rosie!" Hugo tried pulling his sister away, but she shook him off. No, she was not going to leave until she sorted something out, it seemed. She had already drawn her wand.