Harry Potter One Shots

Of Course, Hugo

The rope was old and frayed, hanging morosely from the willow tree, swinging back and forth ever so slightly in the breeze. Where the material clung to a branch, moss had blanketed its strands, so it was hard to tell whether the knot had worn out completely. The rope trailed in the water below it, teasing the few fish that inhabited the shallow river and creating ripples that stretched from bank to bank.

"Lily, don't do it!" Hugo cried, clinging to the trunk of the willow. His short arms barely came halfway around the tree and his round face was tight with worry for his cousin.

Lily Luna turned around from where she had been looking over the river and smiled widely at him. Her long red hair was flying in the wind and she shook it back from her face impatiently, taking another step closer to the rope.

"Come on, Lily, this is stupid, let's go inside and play hide and seek instead," Hugo whined.

Lily ignored him, as usual, and leant far out over the water, balancing on tiptoes, to catch the rope. Hugo drew in a sharp breath and pulled away from the tree as Lily teetered, her feet slipping on the mud of the grassy bank.

"Got it!" she said triumphantly, jumping backwards onto safe ground, the rope clutched in one small hand. Hugo scowled and prodded a mushroom that had grown on the trunk of the willow tree, avoiding her eye.

"Okay, I'm gonna jump!"

"You're gonna die," Hugo muttered, a dire statement for a nine year old.

Before he could say anything else, Lily had tightened her grip on the rope, run to the water's edge and leapt, legs flailing, out over the river with a shriek. Hugo made a noise halfway between a groan and a scream and let go of the tree to race to the bank.

"Lily, stop it! Come back here."

But Lily only shrieked louder and clung to the rope as she swung back and forth, just out of Hugo's reach.

Anxiety was building in Hugo, making him bite his lip and clench and unclench his fists, his fingers prickling as though tiny needles were dancing over his skin. He rocked back and forth for a few seconds, his eyes following Lily as she swung, before he shuffled away from the river and back to the tree, placing a hand on its rough trunk. Its bark beneath his palm was comforting, cool with early morning dew and sprinkled here and there with patches of soft moss. Hugo closed his eyes, trying to will the image of his cousin swinging dangerously out over the river from his mind, but all he could see was her hair whipped about by the breeze and her hands, knuckles white from holding the rope so tightly, slipping loose, and her small body falling, falling.

"I mean it, Lily," he said fiercely, digging his nails into the tree bark. "Come back."

"You sound like your mother," Lily said, but her eyes had widened at Hugo's unusually angry tone and when the rope swung her back to his side of the river, she let go, landing a few feet from him with a thump.

"Let's go." Hugo grabbed her arm and yanked her away from the tree and back towards the house in the distance. It was Lily's house, and though her parents were away, her older brother, Teddy, who was supposed to be watching them, was there. He would keep Lily safe, stop her from doing stupid things like swinging on worn ropes over shallow rivers.

"It's okay, Hugh, I'm fine." Lily's voice softened when she noticed Hugo was shaking, and she took his hand in her own as she led her back to the house. He shook her off and she frowned but said nothing.

"Teddy, Teddy!" Hugo called once they had entered the house.

"Teddy's having a shower, Hugo, what's up?" It was James, Lily's second oldest brother. He was sat on the couch in front of the TV, though the screen was black and there was a book open on his lap.