The Best G by star54kar
Title: The Best
Author: star54kar
Team: Summer
Prompts: Hugo Weasley, and Wizard Chess
Pairing/Genre: Gen
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,503
Warnings: None
A/N: While there are many different characteristics of a sunny, happy Ron that Team Summer represents, I decided to aim for the "make you cry with the adorable" aspect. Hopefully, I managed to let spirit of that come across in this piece. Also, I need to give huge hugs and thank you's to my betas, queenb23more and iamshadow who really came through for me on very short notice. Thanks guys:)
Hugo Weasley watched in wide-eyed fascination as his dad moved his pieces across the chessboard. He was riveted by the calm, calculating confidence of his father as he controlled the magically animated pieces and by the trail of destruction they left in their wake.
He couldn't understand why Rose would always run up to her room with a book during their father's games with Uncle Harry, or how she could possibly think that watching the game was boring. It was the stuffy old books that his sister read that were boring; Wizard Chess was very exciting and Hugo loved to watch whenever he could.
The fireplace roared to life, and his Mum stepped out of the Floo from her visit with Auntie Ginny. She walked over to stand behind his Dad and bent down to give him a kiss on the cheek as she asked, "How is the game going?"
Hugo jumped off his chair and proclaimed with excitement, "Uncle Harry's getting massacred!"
The three adults burst into laughter, and Uncle Harry was laughing so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair.
"What?" Hugo asked. "What's so funny?"
"It's funny," Uncle Harry answered as he wiped the tears from his eyes, "because your Dad always beats me at Wizard Chess."
Hugo turned to his father in awe and asked, "Really?"
His father smiled and shrugged and said, "Well, yeah, I guess I usually do."
"There's no shame in losing though," Uncle Harry added with a wink, "because your Dad is the best Wizard Chess player in the whole world."
"That's right, little man," his Dad laughed as he scooped Hugo up onto his lap. "My Hogwarts game is world renowned!"
Hugo squealed with delight as he settled on his father's lap. Then Hugo snuggled into his father's chest when he wrapped his arms around him in a hug.
"So what do you say, Hugo?" his Dad asked with a huge grin. "Do you want to help me put your Uncle Harry out of his misery before you go to bed?"
"Yeah!"
His Dad's blue eyes were shining as he guided Hugo's hand to one of the white horse shaped pieces on the board. "Okay," he said, "you're going to move three spaces on the board. The first thing you need to do is move that piece one square to the left."
Hugo did this and his Dad continued, "That's good. Now you need to move it two squares up and tell your Uncle Harry, Checkmate."
The second Hugo took his hand off the piece, all of the white pieces on the board raised their weapons toward the tall black piece and, with a huge smile, Hugo looked up at his Uncle and told him, "Checkmate."
Uncle Harry smiled and said, "Good job, Hugo."
"Okay, little man," said his Mum. "Say goodnight to your Dad and Uncle Harry. It's time for bed."
"Have a good night, Hugo," said his Uncle Harry.
"Goodnight, Uncle Harry," Hugo responded and then he turned toward his Dad. He buried his face into his father's neck, hugged him tightly, and smiled as he felt a kiss pressed to the top of his head. When Hugo looked up again, his Dad's blue eyes were glowing brightly. He kissed his father's cheek and said, "Goodnight, Dad!"
"Goodnight, Hugo," his father said warmly. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Come on, Hugo," his Mum said as she leaned over and picked him up off of his father's lap. "It's bedtime."
Hugo yawned loudly as his mother carried him up the stairs to his room and got him settled into his bed. As she pulled the covers over him to tuck him in and kissed him goodnight, he asked, "Mum, is Dad really the best Wizard Chess player in the world?"
His Mum smiled and sat down at the edge of Hugo's bed. "Your father has always been a phenomenal player," she said. "Your Uncle Harry and I had never heard of Wizard Chess before we came to Hogwarts, and your father was the one who introduced us to the game back in our first year."
"Is that the Hogwarts game Dad was talking about?" Hugo asked eagerly.
His Mum smiled fondly at the memory. "The game your father was talking about did happen during our first year. The headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, had hidden something very important at Hogwarts that year in order to keep it safe, and your father, Uncle Harry, and I had discovered where it was hidden."
"What was it?" Hugo asked.
"It was a special stone that created something called The Elixir of Life," his Mum explained. "Anyone who continued to drink the elixir would be able to live forever as long as they continued to drink it."
"Wow," Hugo said. "That is a really special stone!"
"Yes, it was," his Mum reaffirmed. "And your Uncle Harry realized that a teacher was trying to steal the stone, but when we told Professor McGonagall, she refused to believe that the stone was in any danger because there were many different magical challenges protecting it."
"So, what happened?" Hugo asked. "Did the teacher manage to steal the stone?"
"Well, when we realized that the teachers at school didn't believe us and that Professor Dumbledore had been called away from the school, your father, Uncle Harry, and I went ourselves to try and save the stone from being stolen."
"You did?" Hugo exclaimed with wide eyes. "Was it dangerous?"
"It was," his Mum said. "It was very dangerous, although we really didn't think about that at the time. One of the challenges that we needed to get past in order to save the stone was a gigantic, life-sized chessboard. In order to get to the other side, we needed to play our way across."
Hugo's eyes went even wider as he heard that and his Mum continued, "Since your father was the only one out of the three of us who was any good at Wizard Chess, your Dad was the one who directed the action. We had to be very careful because in order to get across, we all had to take the place of one of the pieces."
"Really?" Hugo asked. "What pieces were you?"
"I took the place of one of the castles and your Uncle Harry took the place of one of the bishops," said his Mum.
"What piece was Dad?"
"Your father was a knight, one of the horse-shaped pieces."
"You mean the piece I helped Dad beat Uncle Harry with?"
"Yes," his Mum answered. "The knights have always been your father's favorite pieces."
"They're my favorite pieces, too," Hugo told her proudly.
His Mum smiled and continued, "It was a very difficult game, and your father had to save both your Uncle and me from getting hurt by the chess pieces many times. He was amazing, Hugo. Your Dad had to outwit a magical chessboard that was created by a much older and far more experienced witch."
"And he did he do it?" Hugo asked anxiously.
Seriously, his Mum answered, "He did, but it was very scary. Your Dad realized that in order to win the game that he needed to sacrifice himself. Your Uncle Harry and I tried to talk him out of it, but your Dad explained that he needed to be taken so that Harry could checkmate the King."
Hugo gasped, "Did Dad get hurt?"
His Mum nodded, "Yes, he did. It was really scary. I couldn't do anything but watch as the Queen hit your Dad really hard across the head and knock him out."
"And Dad knew that was going to happen and he did it anyway?" Hugo asked in awe.
"Yes, he did," his Mum answered. "He was very brave, and because of him, your Uncle Harry was able to go on and save the stone from being stolen by a very bad wizard. When everything was all over, Professor Dumbledore even gave your father fifty house points for what he called 'the best-played game of chess Hogwarts had seen in many years'."
"Wow!" Hugo said in amazement. "Dad did all that?"
"He did," his Mum answered proudly. "But now it's time for you to go to sleep."
She leaned over, kissed his cheek softly and moved to turn out the light.
"Mum?" Hugo asked as she made her way toward the bedroom door.
"Yes, Hugo."
"Do you think that Dad would teach me how to play?"
She smiled and answered, "I'm sure that he'd love to. Why don't you ask him in the morning?"
"I will," Hugo promised. "Goodnight, Mum."
"Sweet dreams, sweetheart."
Hugo rolled over in his bed and hugged his teddy bear tightly. He had the best Dad in the world he thought happily, and someday Hugo wanted to be just like him. As he drifted off to sleep, he dreamed about an epic battle of giant chess pieces and of his Dad sitting atop a horse of stone as he fearlessly led the charge.
Author: star54kar
Team: Summer
Prompts: Hugo Weasley, and Wizard Chess
Pairing/Genre: Gen
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,503
Warnings: None
A/N: While there are many different characteristics of a sunny, happy Ron that Team Summer represents, I decided to aim for the "make you cry with the adorable" aspect. Hopefully, I managed to let spirit of that come across in this piece. Also, I need to give huge hugs and thank you's to my betas, queenb23more and iamshadow who really came through for me on very short notice. Thanks guys:)
Hugo Weasley watched in wide-eyed fascination as his dad moved his pieces across the chessboard. He was riveted by the calm, calculating confidence of his father as he controlled the magically animated pieces and by the trail of destruction they left in their wake.
He couldn't understand why Rose would always run up to her room with a book during their father's games with Uncle Harry, or how she could possibly think that watching the game was boring. It was the stuffy old books that his sister read that were boring; Wizard Chess was very exciting and Hugo loved to watch whenever he could.
The fireplace roared to life, and his Mum stepped out of the Floo from her visit with Auntie Ginny. She walked over to stand behind his Dad and bent down to give him a kiss on the cheek as she asked, "How is the game going?"
Hugo jumped off his chair and proclaimed with excitement, "Uncle Harry's getting massacred!"
The three adults burst into laughter, and Uncle Harry was laughing so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair.
"What?" Hugo asked. "What's so funny?"
"It's funny," Uncle Harry answered as he wiped the tears from his eyes, "because your Dad always beats me at Wizard Chess."
Hugo turned to his father in awe and asked, "Really?"
His father smiled and shrugged and said, "Well, yeah, I guess I usually do."
"There's no shame in losing though," Uncle Harry added with a wink, "because your Dad is the best Wizard Chess player in the whole world."
"That's right, little man," his Dad laughed as he scooped Hugo up onto his lap. "My Hogwarts game is world renowned!"
Hugo squealed with delight as he settled on his father's lap. Then Hugo snuggled into his father's chest when he wrapped his arms around him in a hug.
"So what do you say, Hugo?" his Dad asked with a huge grin. "Do you want to help me put your Uncle Harry out of his misery before you go to bed?"
"Yeah!"
His Dad's blue eyes were shining as he guided Hugo's hand to one of the white horse shaped pieces on the board. "Okay," he said, "you're going to move three spaces on the board. The first thing you need to do is move that piece one square to the left."
Hugo did this and his Dad continued, "That's good. Now you need to move it two squares up and tell your Uncle Harry, Checkmate."
The second Hugo took his hand off the piece, all of the white pieces on the board raised their weapons toward the tall black piece and, with a huge smile, Hugo looked up at his Uncle and told him, "Checkmate."
Uncle Harry smiled and said, "Good job, Hugo."
"Okay, little man," said his Mum. "Say goodnight to your Dad and Uncle Harry. It's time for bed."
"Have a good night, Hugo," said his Uncle Harry.
"Goodnight, Uncle Harry," Hugo responded and then he turned toward his Dad. He buried his face into his father's neck, hugged him tightly, and smiled as he felt a kiss pressed to the top of his head. When Hugo looked up again, his Dad's blue eyes were glowing brightly. He kissed his father's cheek and said, "Goodnight, Dad!"
"Goodnight, Hugo," his father said warmly. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Come on, Hugo," his Mum said as she leaned over and picked him up off of his father's lap. "It's bedtime."
Hugo yawned loudly as his mother carried him up the stairs to his room and got him settled into his bed. As she pulled the covers over him to tuck him in and kissed him goodnight, he asked, "Mum, is Dad really the best Wizard Chess player in the world?"
His Mum smiled and sat down at the edge of Hugo's bed. "Your father has always been a phenomenal player," she said. "Your Uncle Harry and I had never heard of Wizard Chess before we came to Hogwarts, and your father was the one who introduced us to the game back in our first year."
"Is that the Hogwarts game Dad was talking about?" Hugo asked eagerly.
His Mum smiled fondly at the memory. "The game your father was talking about did happen during our first year. The headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, had hidden something very important at Hogwarts that year in order to keep it safe, and your father, Uncle Harry, and I had discovered where it was hidden."
"What was it?" Hugo asked.
"It was a special stone that created something called The Elixir of Life," his Mum explained. "Anyone who continued to drink the elixir would be able to live forever as long as they continued to drink it."
"Wow," Hugo said. "That is a really special stone!"
"Yes, it was," his Mum reaffirmed. "And your Uncle Harry realized that a teacher was trying to steal the stone, but when we told Professor McGonagall, she refused to believe that the stone was in any danger because there were many different magical challenges protecting it."
"So, what happened?" Hugo asked. "Did the teacher manage to steal the stone?"
"Well, when we realized that the teachers at school didn't believe us and that Professor Dumbledore had been called away from the school, your father, Uncle Harry, and I went ourselves to try and save the stone from being stolen."
"You did?" Hugo exclaimed with wide eyes. "Was it dangerous?"
"It was," his Mum said. "It was very dangerous, although we really didn't think about that at the time. One of the challenges that we needed to get past in order to save the stone was a gigantic, life-sized chessboard. In order to get to the other side, we needed to play our way across."
Hugo's eyes went even wider as he heard that and his Mum continued, "Since your father was the only one out of the three of us who was any good at Wizard Chess, your Dad was the one who directed the action. We had to be very careful because in order to get across, we all had to take the place of one of the pieces."
"Really?" Hugo asked. "What pieces were you?"
"I took the place of one of the castles and your Uncle Harry took the place of one of the bishops," said his Mum.
"What piece was Dad?"
"Your father was a knight, one of the horse-shaped pieces."
"You mean the piece I helped Dad beat Uncle Harry with?"
"Yes," his Mum answered. "The knights have always been your father's favorite pieces."
"They're my favorite pieces, too," Hugo told her proudly.
His Mum smiled and continued, "It was a very difficult game, and your father had to save both your Uncle and me from getting hurt by the chess pieces many times. He was amazing, Hugo. Your Dad had to outwit a magical chessboard that was created by a much older and far more experienced witch."
"And he did he do it?" Hugo asked anxiously.
Seriously, his Mum answered, "He did, but it was very scary. Your Dad realized that in order to win the game that he needed to sacrifice himself. Your Uncle Harry and I tried to talk him out of it, but your Dad explained that he needed to be taken so that Harry could checkmate the King."
Hugo gasped, "Did Dad get hurt?"
His Mum nodded, "Yes, he did. It was really scary. I couldn't do anything but watch as the Queen hit your Dad really hard across the head and knock him out."
"And Dad knew that was going to happen and he did it anyway?" Hugo asked in awe.
"Yes, he did," his Mum answered. "He was very brave, and because of him, your Uncle Harry was able to go on and save the stone from being stolen by a very bad wizard. When everything was all over, Professor Dumbledore even gave your father fifty house points for what he called 'the best-played game of chess Hogwarts had seen in many years'."
"Wow!" Hugo said in amazement. "Dad did all that?"
"He did," his Mum answered proudly. "But now it's time for you to go to sleep."
She leaned over, kissed his cheek softly and moved to turn out the light.
"Mum?" Hugo asked as she made her way toward the bedroom door.
"Yes, Hugo."
"Do you think that Dad would teach me how to play?"
She smiled and answered, "I'm sure that he'd love to. Why don't you ask him in the morning?"
"I will," Hugo promised. "Goodnight, Mum."
"Sweet dreams, sweetheart."
Hugo rolled over in his bed and hugged his teddy bear tightly. He had the best Dad in the world he thought happily, and someday Hugo wanted to be just like him. As he drifted off to sleep, he dreamed about an epic battle of giant chess pieces and of his Dad sitting atop a horse of stone as he fearlessly led the charge.