Of Lions and Letters PV Hugh Closed

The boy ran up the stairs like a wild banshee, skipping a step or two as he leaped over with his long legs. He wasn't in a hurry, but Hugh felt more active than usual. Perhaps the prospect of all the stairs he had to take had forced him to get a move on. The west tower's owlery was quite a walk, but mail needed to be delivered. Or received? Hugh had no idea how his father would react to "mail by owl". He imagined his father working at his desk and a light brown barn-owl tapping the window. Dad would scare himself to death. The boy snickered as he kept running up.

Eventually the halls grew colder and a bit draughty. That's how he knew he was at the right place. Having prepared for the windblown tower, he wore his red woolen sweater with a sturdy brown coat on top and just to be safe he brought his gryffindor scarf along as well. His clothes weren't in the best shape anymore, but Hugh was used to spending them way past their expire date.

As he neared the entrance to the owlery he thought he heard a murmuring but familiar voice inside. Slowly, but with a steady hand, he opened the door and took a peek on who seemed to be present. He knew her all to well by now. Rorie and he had grown close ever since they met near the stream. He hadn't been practicing as much as he had promised initially, but he was sure she'd forgive him that... in time. He brought the door to full swing and stepped forward, skipping over some large piles of hay along the way.

"Good news?" The scruffy haired boy asked as he noticed Rorie tuck away a letter. He gave her a warm and friendly smile as he walked closer.

𝕽orie ran her hand through her hair absentmindedly as she opened the next letter and read it. Her sister's young scribble.

Dear Rorie,

I'm still jealous, stop rubbing in the fact you get to go be somewhere cool. When I am old enough to go to Warthogs I will be better than you at everything. You suck and I'm glad you aren't at home.

-Kara


"Oh, hi, Smirk. Good news? Yeah, I'd say so," she said in between bouts of laughter. "Here, read this. It's from my dear beloved little sister. She's what, seven? Yeah, she's seven. You can tell she takes after me, even more immature though, if that's even possible."

She laughed again at the note. Her sister was ungrateful and quite annoying, but she couldn't help loving the little girl.

"Warthogs is such a great place, I love it here," Rorie said, laughing again. Gosh, that little rapscallion was not the sharpest.

"What about you? What are you doing up here? Just sending stuff and receiving other stuff, or are you up to trouble?" she said, replicating Hugh's classic smirk.

She put Kara's absolutely heartwarming letter into her bag and pulled open the next one, from her brother.

Reducio

Rorie,

The new school sounds cool, I can't wait to go and I know care-bear already told you how excited she is. Speaking of that, Kara did write her letter a bit harshly, but she really does miss you, she's just a petty one. I'm taking care of mum best I can, not sure if I do as well at it as you. Soon enough you better come visit, we need you here.

Regards,
Eden

ꃅugh chuckled. "She seems nice... Warthogs has been one of my favourite places to stay of course." He grinned jokingly, reading over the hilarious note a few times before handing it back to Rorie.

"Me? Up to anything? I think I would need your company for that" He gave Ro an exaggerated wink as his familiar smirk appeared from the corner of his mouth. He held up his letter as proof of his innocence. "Writing to my father" He seemed to try holding back his laughter at saying those words. As he snorted a bit he felt like he had to explain. "I'm sorry, it's just that my dad will never expect an owl bringing him letters. I really wish I could see the shock on his face the moment it gets there." The boy shook his head as he was clearly imagining several scenarios with his dad getting scared to bits.

"Not sure I'll receive any though. Dad using owls is just... not happening I think." Hugh's smile died a little as he faced the fact he'd probably receive no mail all year. He saw Rorie opening up another one of her letters. You seem to be quite popular though." He smiled friendly. "Are they all admirers of Enchanted Souls?" He wanted to lean against one of the walls but eventually elected not to due to owl excrement.

As he watched Ro read her letter and her hair slightly waving along with the wind, he realised she was actually very beautiful. He suddenly felt warmer and it caused him to look at her a bit longer than he should be. He never realised his cheeks were turning a dark red. Though he did manage to snap out of his staring before the girl could raise her head towards him. He coughed a bit uneasy in one hand as he tried to casually walk over to one of the school owls and give him his letter.

"Ehem... so... what are your plans for today?"

𝕾he snorted a bit at that sarcastic comment. "Yeah, my sister is super sweet to me. Especially with that part about me sucking, she makes me feel so special."

"Ay, my mum only knew how to use an owl because I wrote about how to tie the parcels to its leg. Not exactly the easiest thing to explain to muggles. But you could try to write a bit explaining to your dad how to use the owl post, that might work," Rorie suggested kindly. The extremely empathetic girl could tell that her friend had felt a little sad at the thought of not being able to have his dad communicating with him.

"Oh, me? Popular? Yeah, right," she joked, giving her friend a playful punch. "No, i just had my mum write a letter, she's quite clingy and overprotective, but then again, I like that better than her being distant and careless, so I'm not complaining. Then obviously both of my rambunctious siblings, who write such heartfelt notes to me," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "And I have absolutely no idea what this last one is, maybe some sort of death wish?" She implied while opening the last envelope.

"Yeah, death wish was it," she joked again after seeing who wrote it, her friend Calvin. The two were very close back home, and along with her other friend Stella, a Huffle she grew up with, they were the troublemakers of the ghetto.

Reducio

Rorie,

So I talked to your mum and she said she had a way to reach you, so I passed along this note. I just wanted to tell you that practically everyone, at school and in our area of London, misses our Ghetto Queen. I miss you the most of course, and don't worry, I'm keeping an eye out for your family. You better be having fun or else I'll kill you with my bare hands.

Calvin

"I actually don't have anything planned for the day. absolutely nothing, besides that my dorm-mate wants to use me as her makeup doll or whatever before bed," the girl said, her face showing the natural confusion she felt. The girl didn't know a thing about makeup.

"What about you? Any exciting plans?" She asked teasingly, her light green eyes meeting the dark green of Hugh's.

She looked away quickly, aware of the burning in her cheeks and her sudden loss of words.

"ꎭaybe I could try to explain it to him too" He reached in his pocket and pulled out a pen. he simply wrote on the letter this time, very small and compact in a corner. After a bit, he seemed more hopeful. His father may decide to reach out with some help.

He realised he couldn't exactly tie one envelope to the owl. Though he noticed a small tube attached to his leg. Hugh looked at the envelope and back at the tube. Eventually he shrugged and folded the letter once and rolled it into a tiny scroll. It only just fitted inside the small tube. Content with his work, he gave the owl some food and watched the owl leave straight away.

Reducio

Hey dad,

I'm alright. It took me a while to find the right train after you dropped me off at the station. I had to run through a wall. A wall! It's Huge here. There's a giant castle we sleep in, you'd definitely get lost here. I'm sorted in house Gryffindor by the way. We kind off get sorted in four different groups depending on our character. Gryffindor is about being brave. Can you imagine? Me, brave! I've met several people now, made some friends. But you know I'm not too great with that. I'm dong my best, promise. I hope you are okay on your own. I miss home.

Bearhug
Hugh

He had to laugh at the way Rorie described her siblings. He had no idea what that must be like as he didn't have any himself. "Death wish?" Hugh's eyebrows pulled up in surprise, only for them to create a confused frown afterwards. Though he didn't ask who the letter was from as he felt he shouldn't ask.

And there he had it. As if lightning struck him. He quickly looked away and noticed Rorie doing the same. He seemed to stumble a bit on his words. "I-ehh... well I was. You see..." Now he had to come up with something they could do together. He scolded himself in his thoughts as he tried to find something. For the moment he dodged the question first as his face turned into a comical frown. "Make up doll?" Hugh smirked. "I don't think I've seen you with make up yet?"

His eyes looked up as he remembered something. Yes, that's it! "Hey! I've heard there's an upper platform in this tower that gives a clear view on Hogwarts' grounds. Have you seen it already? We might be able to plan our next "expedition", no?" His smirk was resting calmly on his face but inside he had been very happy to have thought of at least one suggestion. Maybe she'd sit with him at dinner too today, though she probably needed to be with her other friends as well. He didn't ask her.

"𝖞eah, my old muggle friend back home. He said that if I wasn't having fun he would kill me with his bare hands, but I think I'm safe," she explained.

"Yeah, make up doll," Rorie rolled her eyes. "I have never touched any make up in my life. But hey, might as well let Kit have her fun."

"Sure, that sounds cool. I do love the views of the Warthogs grounds from towers," She laughed, bringing back up that unfortunately hilarious mistake. As she walked over to an owl, tying her small parcel containing her replies, she gave the bird an affectionate pat and some bits of food. It flew off, contented with its reward.

But of course, feeding and petting one owl meant that the owls who witnessed it would come swooping in for their share.

"Oh, not this again. I love you creatures, but you have to let me leave eventually, I can't pet you all day, you know," she said, giggling and stroking the crowd of animals.

"So, what is it like back home for you? If you don't mind me asking," She inquired, adding on the bit at the end so that he wouldn't feel he had to share anything he didn't want to.

“And are you having fun?” Hugh asked, curious to what her answer would be.

He had to grin a bit at the way she talked about Kit and makeup. Hugh had only seen Kit at the Gryffindor sleepover back in the common room. But she seemed to be nice.

The boy had to laugh as Rorie mentioned “Warthogs” again. Her little sister was a genius by accident. As Ro fed her owl and sent it off to deliver her replies, dozens of others came flying down to her. Hugh had trouble finding Ro in all the chaos. As he finally saw her giggling among the little creatures, explaining she couldn’t stay forever. He smiled, broadly.

Then she hit him with a question. Hugh needed a second to collect his thoughts again. “Uhm... well you know about my dad” He started to recall. “I hope he’s okay really. He’s usually not that great on his own. Did I tell you he always wanted to be a writer? Though his job in the fishing industry is what has kept us going. So he won’t quit. It’s tricky.” He nodded towards the stairs that led upwards to the top platform. Telling his friend they needed to go that way.

As they walked up the stairs, he continued. “He plays the piano like you by the way. But he refuses to teach me anything. He believes I should never become anything remotely close to him.” Hugh fell silent after that sentence. It made him sad to realise his father had little to no faith in himself.

As they reached the top, they both witnessed something... magical. The horizon stretched far over the surrounding mountains. The furthest view could be seen as you looked into the valley and followed the lake’s end that led into a nearby fjord. He could vaguely see the stream where he met Rorie and the trees where the blue bird’s nest had to be somewhere.

“What about you?” He spoke. “How is life for your family?” He knew that probably was a heavy subject for her. He felt like aplogising before he had asked the question.

"𝕴 am having fun, or at least I think so," Rorie said with a cocky wink.

"Well, back at home in London, my mum works at an animal shelter with a bunch of rescued dogs and cats and stuff, so. I bossed my little siblings to make sure they take care of her, she gets stressed easily what with having to support a family by herself," Rorie said. She was surprised at how open she spoke, how she felt comfortable talking about her past. It was a nice change, usually she tried to hide that part of her as much as she could.

"The piano is fun. Imagine going back home in summer and showing him all you have learned!" She said happily. The lessons were going quite well, Hugh was doing great at picking up the information quickly.

"I wonder how that blue bird is doing. We should go visit it sometime, bring it some food. I don't like breaking promises, especially with animals," Rorie said, looking over in the general direction of where she had met Hugh and walked through the grounds with him.

"What do you think you want to do after Hogwarts? I ask myself that a lot, I always used to think I would be a vet until I learned about the magical world. Now I'm not sure, maybe a magizoologist or dragon tamer or something, I dunno."

The scruffy haired boy needed a moment in the wind to think about his answer. "I wanted to be a doctor. I guess that would be... healer in the magical world?"

"Dragon tamer huh? Aren't you exciting?" He couldn't help but wink at that last comment. He had grown very relaxed around Rorie. His dad would have loved that no doubt. "I think you'd be great as a magizoologist by the way. Just look at how all those owls or the blue bird got along with you. You seem to have a knack for it." He suddenly remembered a bit of information that made him grimace a little. "I hear the teacher is a bit... hard though. Think you can prove him you'd fit the job?"

Hugh had faith in Rorie, no matter what her answer would be. "No. You have to do it. You're perfect for it." He smiled openly towards her. As the wind grew vaster he decided to put on his scarf, meanwhile checking if Rorie wasn't cold. "If you want we can go somewhere else. You can have my coat?" He started taking of hisbrown, worn jacket that would probably be a bit oversized for her.

"Would there be magical creatures at Hogwarts we could visit?" he wondered if that could be. He imagined if there were stables there should be horses at least, no?