Perplexity Part Two (Hugo/James)

[dysonrules]

An hour later, Hugo waited by the fireplace, wondering what was keeping James. Honestly, he was worst than a girl, at times. No matter how ready he seemed, there was always some last minute thing he forgot. This time, they had been almost ready to Apparate when James had stepped back, muttered something unintelligible, and raced back upstairs.

Hugo told himself it was annoying, rather than cute.

Finally, James thundered back down the steps, skipping the last four entirely by leaping to the landing. “Hugo, are you ready?”

“I’ve been ready for quite some time, oh tardy one. Where are we going?”

James only smirked and gathered Hugo into an embrace that was far too close and intimate for Hugo’s facilities to handle. Thankfully, they Disapparated.

Hugo stumbled a bit when they landed; he could never get used to Side-along. It always left him feeling somewhat out of control. James’ grip tightened for a moment and then he released him.

Hugo looked around curiously and then burst out laughing when he took in his surroundings. “Godric, James, really? A fun fair?”

James grinned at him. “I like fun fairs. And how long since we’ve been?”

Truthfully, it had been ages. Hugo remembered Uncle Harry taking them all when they were young. It had been crazy, and magical, and had probably nearly killed Harry once the lot of them had been sugared up on candy floss and adrenaline. No wonder they had only been allowed to go once.

“You’re mad, you know that?” Hugo asked affectionately. “I want a rainbow unicorn horn!” He turned and made his way toward the entrance, where a bored-looking witch sat in a colourful booth.

“You just ate breakfast,” James said.

“This is a fun fair. It’s a requirement that you stuff yourself to the gills with sugary sweets.”

“True.” James insisted on paying for both passes and they made their way to one of the food vendors. Hugo wasn’t very hungry, but the mouth-watering smell of grilled onions, toffee-coated apples, brandy snaps, and fried pumpkin tarts made purchasing something a necessity. James bought him a unicorn horn lolly and butterflies on strings for himself. The translucent sweets fluttered around James’ head, pulling at their strings until he took a bite from one. It floated around awkwardly after that, bumping into the others and looking pathetic.

“I hate eating those,” Hugo commented. “I always feel sorry for them.”

James laughed. “It’s spelled sugar, Hugo. And they taste brilliant. Want to try?”

Hugo looked away, wanting nothing more than to taste it directly from James’ lips, so he only shook his head and took a lick from his unicorn horn. He noticed James watching him intently and pulled the long sweet from his mouth to offer it to him. “Lick?” he asked.

To his surprise, James leaned forward and ran his tongue up the length of the spiralled confection, nearly stopping Hugo’s heart completely Bad idea, he thought. Bad idea, bad idea, very bad idea.

James grinned at him. “Tastes good,” he said.

Hugo forced a smile and prayed for his growing erection to subside, thankful that he had wanked that morning as a preventative measure, although it seemed to be of little use against the power of James Potter.

Hugo quickly wrapped the sweet in its wrapper and shoved it into a pocket. “I’ll save it for later. What shall we do?”

“Games!” James decided and finished crunching his butterflies as they wandered through the colourful stalls. They both shelled out a few Knuts to try their hand at the first booth, which involved shooting a stream of water from their wands into tiny cauldrons that lowered as they filled, until one reached the tabletop and set off a volley of multicoloured sparks. Some burly fellow with an excitable girl won, earning her a rather ugly-looking bangle bracelet that changed colours.

“I don’t like that prize, anyway,” James said as they moved on to the every popular Hook-a-Duck. Magic was banned for the purely Muggle-inspired game, which seemed to level the playing field.

Hugo laughed uproariously as James used a fishing pole device with a loop on a string to chase after the wooden ducks that bobbed in a fast-moving circle.

“I almost got it!” James yelled as his chosen duck spun away from his loop. It hooked over the bill for a moment, rotating the duck, and then fell away. Hugo laughed again at the frustrated look James wore, but the Potter determination was strong. After spending half a Galleon in Knuts, James lifted his duck victoriously.

“Huzzah!” the duck-keeper yelled. “Here is your prize, young man!” He presented James with a gaudy pair of green spectacles.

James stepped out of the magic-dampening field and put them on, causing Hugo to burst out laughing again.

“Feature-altering specs,” Hugo said, knowing his Uncle George was responsible for that particular fun fair prize. When James wore the glasses, they became invisible, but his face turned pudgier and his nose grew bulbous. A unibrow appeared over his eyes.

“You try them,” James said and took them off. He placed them on Hugo’s face, tucking the tines carefully over his ears. He stepped back and laughed.

“Merlin!” he cried. “You have rabbit teeth! And bug eyes! They certainly don’t alter features in a pleasant way, do they?”

Hugo shook his head and grinned. “No, Uncle George said the more hideous, the better.”

James reached up and took them off before smiling at him. “Much better. It’s a shame to cover your pretty face, Hugo.”

Hugo blushed and gave him a pinch, but the compliment warmed him, even if it was said in jest. “Oh look! Unicorn races!”

They hurried over and took their places at the counter, giving each other “determined to win” glances before lifting their wands. The game was similar to filling the cauldrons with water, except that this one involved Levitating heavy weights in order to move pulley-driven ropes that towed wooden unicorns along an oval track.

“Go Esmeralda, go!” James yelled as his weight rose slightly faster than Hugo’s.

“Who is Esmeralda?” Hugo gritted, fingers taut with concentration as he willed his unicorn faster.

“My unicorn, of course!” James replied.

“Why Esmeralda?” Hugo asked and felt a flare of satisfaction when James’ weight slipped slightly, slowing his unicorn and allowing Hugo to catch up. Two other boys were having no luck keeping up, but a school-aged girl seemed to be a bit ahead of everyone.

“It’s my girlfriend’s name,” James replied.

Hugo’s weight crashed to the table, dragging his unicorn backward along the track at a lightning pace. “What?”

James laughed, so much that he seemed unable the concentrate. His unicorn faltered and the girl’s wooden steed defeated his roundly.

“What did you say?” Hugo demanded, trying to sound indignant and not ragingly jealous. And crushed.

James reached out and snared him around the waist with an arm and then dragged his knuckles over Hugo’s scalp. “I’m only joking, Huggie. You know I’d never keep anything like that from you. I was just trying to distract you.”

Hugo wrenched free and glared at him, torn between unutterable relief and irritation that James would pull such a cruel prank, even if he was oblivious to how Hugo would receive it. “That wasn’t funny!” he snapped.

James’ smile faltered. “Oh come on, Hugo. You didn’t want to win that badly, did you? I’ll buy you a…” James glanced at the prizes that decorated the top of the unicorn racing booth. “…a pinwheel. Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry,” Hugo replied, although he crossed his arms and felt his lower lip jut out in an agitated pout. Oh shit, he thought, I’ve turned into my mother. He made a conscious effort to relax.

“You’re angry,” James said. “I promise you, if I ever do get a girlfriend, you’ll be the first to know.” He stepped closer and cupped Hugo’s chin with one hand before batting his lashes like a broken porcelain doll. “All right?”

Hugo groaned, knowing he was doomed. Merlin, he had just set himself up to be privy to James’ every secret, should he ever get a girlfriend. Hugo thought he might rather puncture his own eardrums than hear that word from James’ lips ever again.

“Never mind,” Hugo said roughly and tried to smile, which was difficult with James holding his face. The thought that he might do the same thing one day to a girl, and then lean down and kiss her, made Hugo pull away sharply. “I overreacted. Let’s just go and… um… ride the carousel!”

James looked dubious. “You want to ride the carousel?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.” Hugo marched toward the colourful calliope. The animals were beautiful, he discovered as he approached. Unlike Muggle carousels, those in the wizarding world were suspended without benefit of poles. They rotated around a central pillar, and they were spelled to bob in time to the music, but they moved and shifted like real animals. Hugo saw one young boy struggling to retain his grip on a sinewy leopard.

“I want the hippogriff,” Hugo decided and pointed toward the beaked animal. It flapped its wings and squawked at him realistically.

“Then I’ll have the…” James surveyed the creatures and selected his mount. “The giraffe.”

“You’re going to ride a giraffe?” Hugo asked with amusement, secretly pleased that James had chosen the animal next to his.

“Well, someone has to rescue you when you fall off the hippogriff.”

“Hah! I think it more likely you’ll slide off the arse-end of the giraffe and I’ll have to rescue you.” Hugo laughed and James pulled his hair and everything was back to normal between them.

Neither of them fell, but the slow speed of the gentle ride gave them a taste for more.

“There!” James said. “The teacups!”

Hugo stared where James pointed and tried not to look nervous. Oversized teacups large enough to hold three people spun crazily at what Hugo thought was an insane height. As they spun, they also rotated in and out of each other’s paths in what seemed an utterly random pattern. The ride was called the Mad Hatter and Hugo could quite see why.

“Are you certain?” he asked, not being a huge fan of spinning at the best of times.

“You aren’t afraid of a few little teacups, are you, Huggie?” James asked, earning a punch this time for using the nickname. When they had been small, Lily had always called him Huggie, at least, she did once she got out of the phase of calling him “You-go.” They all reverted to the nickname on occasion, despite Hugo’s vocal hatred of it.

“Certainly not,” Hugo said and hoped he meant it. How hard could it be? He could see perfectly happy little children spinning on the ride. Perfectly happy and… screaming.

“I’ll protect you. Come on,” James said and draped his arm over Hugo’s shoulders again. Hugo wanted to shake him off, if only because it was expected, but he couldn’t bear to do it.

“Gryffindor,” he muttered.

“Protests the fellow lion!” James said and chuckled. “Now, come on, let’s see some courage.”

With that, he prodded Hugo to his spinning doom.


It was worse than Hugo had imagined. James gleefully set the thing spinning with a spell, forcing Hugo to hold on for dear life. He refrained from screaming only by being too terrified to do more than hyperventilate. Magical straps held them against the seat, but Hugo didn’t trust them. He knew they would go flying out of the teacup and through the air, only to smash on the ground, unable to retrieve their wands from their pockets in time to halt their doomed fall.

The rotating only made it worse. Hugo lurched from side to side. He shut his eyes, but that induced immediate vertigo, so instead he fixed his gaze on James’ beaming face.

“Isn’t this great?” James yelled.

“Make it stop!” Hugo replied in a near-shriek.

James laughed. A sudden lurch sent Hugo jerking against his bonds and slamming into the side of the cup. A moment later he was nearly crushed by James, who threw an arm over his shoulder and drew him even closer.

“We’re gonna die, Hugo!” he yelled.

“Not funny!” Hugo shouted back, but he couldn’t stop himself from sliding his arm around James’ waist and burying his face in James’ shoulder. Not surprisingly, it calmed his panic quite a lot. The heady scent of whatever soap James had used in the shower filled his senses and he breathed it in gratefully, hardly noticing when the ride dropped several feet, lifting them off the seat for a moment.

James held him tightly as the ride gradually slowed. James’ lips moved against the top of Hugo’s head. The wind lessened enough to allow normal speaking, so Hugo heard him say, “I’ve got you, Hugo, silly boy. I don’t think we’ll die. Look, almost stopped.”

“No more spinning,” Hugo mumbled. He did feel dizzy, although he didn’t think it was from the ride.

“No more spinning,” James agreed, patting his back and carding one hand through the curls at the back of Hugo’s neck. His fingertips sent tingles of pleasure through Hugo and he suddenly wished the ride would go on forever. As if to mock him, the teacup jolted to a stop.

Hugo reluctantly pushed himself away from James as the bonds released, and tried to think of something to say. He knew he was blushing, which seemed to be a common failing whenever he was near James—and right now he was too near James for comfort.

“You okay?” James asked as Hugo fumbled with the tiny door that was supposed to give an illusion of security. James brushed his hands away and lifted the latch with ease.

“Yeah, sure, fine, even though we nearly died,” Hugo said vehemently.

James chuckled as they walked across the matted grass. “We were at no time in any real danger, Hugo.”

“Says you, Mr Chief of Security. You probably deal with dangerous situations all the time.”

“That is sort of the point of security,” James replied. “Although most of my dangerous situations involve things brought into the bank to protect it, rather than outside forces coming in.”

Hugo nodded. He loved when James brought home stories of oddities at Gringotts. Strange creatures and complex traps, diabolical spells and goblin mysticism… it was fascinating, even though he worried each time James set foot in the place, since he had also brought home unpleasant tales of his co-workers being lost or killed by something as simple as a botched spell or a misstep. Most of the time, Hugo preferred not to think about James’ dangerous job.

James said, “You still look a bit green. You rest while I win you a prize.” With that, James patted him on the head and stepped up to another gaming booth. Hugo thought this one was also Muggle in origin. A line of cheaply carved wooden ducks waddled across a badly painted backdrop that was supposed to resemble a cattail-infested pond.

The man behind the counter barked out a steady line of loud chatter to passersby as he grabbed up James’ cash and then listed a number of rules without changing the tone of his bellow. James lifted his wand and aimed carefully before casting a simple Push Charm. The first two missed and Hugo realized the game was deceptive—the ducks had to be hit precisely in a small white circle on the centre of their bellies.

James’ third attempt knocked a duck into the fake pond with a realistic splash and Hugo cheered.

“Excellent shot, boy! Just five more and you get yourself a prize! Step right up, folks, and watch the sharpshooter bloke!” the carny yelled.

Hugo snorted a laugh, thinking one dead duck did not a sharpshooter make. He thought it more likely that the words were an attempt to distract James from his task.

James, however, refused to be distracted. Five more ducks fell, some silently, some with a loud squawk, and some with a puff of feathers. James grinned at the man, who nodded grudgingly. “Good shootin’, son! We have a winner here, folks! Step up and show him what you can do! You there, mature fellow! Don’t let this youngster make a mockery of your generation! Here, boy, choose your prize.” He reached under the counter and dropped a basket on the table. It was filled with a random assortment of what seemed to be scavenged junk. A pygmy puff bounced over a pack of exploding snap cards. A fold-away chess board with a bent corner sat next to a scary-looking doll in a hideous pink dress. It raised its arms and said, “Mama” when it spotted James peering into the box.

“I don’t think so,” James muttered as Hugo snickered.

“Hurry up, boy!” the man said. “Customers are awaitin’.”

James grabbed up an item and held it up for the carny’s perusal. He nodded and James turned away from the booth to grab Hugo’s arm and drag him toward an empty bench beneath a shading oak tree.

“Your prize, my lord,” James said as he pulled Hugo onto the bench and then pushed his sleeve back in order to fasten something around Hugo’s wrist. James smirked at him and Hugo examined the item. It was a bracelet.

In truth, it should have been ugly. It was certainly no expensive gift, but Hugo suddenly felt touched, all the same. The bracelet was fashioned of four strands of multicoloured leather—brown, tan, blue, and grey. A tiny silver heart dangled from the clasp, making it seem a bit too girly and probably causing James’ smile to widen.

Hugo pressed his wrist to his chest and wrapped his other hand around the bracelet. “I shall never take it off,” he whispered in a reverent tone.

James punched him on the shoulder with a laugh. “Liar,” he said.

Hugo pouted and rubbed the sore spot as James looked around for their next amusement.


PART THREE

(Aren't they CUTE?) :D