"Rose! Rose!" Hugo ran towards his big sister, almost tripping over his too long robes in the mad dash effort to reach her. Rose grimaced at him.
"Look. After you're sorted, you're supposed to go and sit with your house. It's tradition." Hugo ignored her, stumbling into the spot next to her. Quite a few of the people around began to titter at the sight, and Rose began to edge away from him.
"But, Rose! The hat said I was the most loyalest brain he'd ever read." He followed her, his feet swinging with each little inch.
Rose winced at the blatant butchering of english, noticing her brother's smug look. "You did that on purpose. You know nothing aggravates me more."
Hugo shrugged, stopping to pull his robes from the snag in the previously smooth and flat great hall floor. "Maybe. Hey. Rose, aren't you going to congratulate me. I knew you were joking when you said it would hurt."
It was her turn to look smug. "Older sister's duty. How else can I keep you in check." She was glad the titters had subsided slightly, all though the second year across from them was eyeing Hugo in a way Rose didn't quite like.
"You could have just asked me to shove it. Like you normally do." Hugo sounded cheerful enough, but his face had drooped slightly.
Rose sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Her younger brother could be such a baby. "Like I am now. Off to the Hufflepuff table, where you belong."
Now it wasn't just his face that had fallen; his voice held the unmistakable sound of somebody who is just about to start whining.
"But I barely got to see you all summer! And you told mum and dad you'd look after me. Can't I stay?" He had caught up with her, and was looking up at her beseechingly. "Please, Rosie?"
Rose bit back the harsh words she wanted to say, and nodded. "All right. Just this once, you understand me? And you'll have to bed down in the burrows, with the rest of the badgers. Don't expect me to let you trail along with me all of the time." She tried to sound stern, but it didn't quite work with Hugo.
"Yes! Thanks!" He had grabbed her before she could protest, pulling her into a tight hug. Rose once again resisted the urge to sting him with sharp words.
The other's had begun to titter again.
