Hugo Mendoza

Annabelle nodded sympathetically, “It’s a shame that they don’t care for their creatures enough to care properly for them without being convinced. That should be a clear sign that they shouldn’t be housing them.” Poor creatures. It was sweet that the boy was trying to help them. “Your boss? Are they in law, or the ministry? Maybe take a survey yourself, out here. It’d draw attention to the matter and put pressure on the business to change.” She’d seen something similar done with a business down the street from her father’s bookstore when she was home for the summer. Taking the clipboard, the brunette was about say something when he said her sister’s name. “You know Gabrielle?” She piqued at the knowledge. “I’m her sister, Annabelle.” It was still such a foreign thing to say. And from what she could gather, no one knew about her anyway. “Are you a friend of hers? I’m actually looking for her. Do you know where she frequents?”

“That’s what I keep saying! They are using the animals to make money. They shouldn’t even be doing that in the first place. But they won’t even keep the animals in a decent housing? It’s not much to ask!” Hugo rarely got angry but this was not something he could easily let go. “Oh no, I work at an animal shelter, my boss has offered to help with this. Get lawyers and all that when I need.” he smiled. “You are not Gaby?” he said blankly at the other’s words. “Then who are you? Sister? What? She doesn’t have a sister.”

Gabrielle looked up at her friend from Hogwarts and smiled. It’d been a while since she’d properly seen the boy, but she’d figured that he was busy with work and such. “It was my fault,” She reassured him, “I was reading The Thorn Birds.” The witch confesses softly, Hugo had always been one of the few that she could share the titles of her muggle books with. “It’s so very intense and I’m not even half way through it.” But as she was a about to move to embrace the boy, she noticed his demeanor and she hesitated, confusion in her knitted eyebrows. “What’s-what’s wrong, Hugo?” She tenderly reached out to cup his chin so that he’d look at her. “Are you alright?” Her voice lowered quietly, “Is someone bothering you?” Her green eyes looked around to find whomever was bothering him. 

For a moment Hugo assumed it was a kind of magical bird that she was talking about before realizing that it was the title of a book. “Oh.” he said and smiled. “Um, okay, let me know when it’s done, how it was.” Wrong thing to say, seeing as her family wanted nothing for him to do with her. Maybe she’ll forget to let him know later on. He stiffened when she touched him, pulling back a little. “It’s nothing, I am fine.” he insisted. “I was just -- I probably shouldn’t be talking to you.” he said nervously.

Having fallen victim to petitioning pickpockets for a large part of his life, one would think Doc would’ve learned to be somewhat conservative with who he let pull him aside, but discernment had never been a strength of his. He wouldn’t be getting any better at it today, since he’d already half signed this particular petition before even looking to see who was asking to do so. 

“D’you think they’d notice if I put down a few other names, just to bulk up the cause? I’ll make the handwriting different and everything - “ he said, finally looking up. “Merlin, Hugo! It’s been - mate, I don’t even know how long. Come here, then!” He pulled Hugo in for a hug, which was, in his haste, more bone-crushing than he’d intended. 

Hugo smiled brightly on seeing Doc, and his smile widened when he signed without questions like most people asked. “Yeah, it’s been too long.” he nodded, hugging the other back. He was a hugger just as much as the other, but his smile had faded a little at the other’s suggestion. Of course, he knew he could count on Doc. he’d always been a wonderfully supportive person. But perhaps this time, he was being a tad bit too supportive. “I don’t think it’s right to add fakes names.” he said doubtfully. It that’s how he wanted to get things done, he wouldn’t be out here begging people to sign. “I mean, I don’t know -- is it?”

Annabelle was making her way through the unfamiliar alley, hoping to find an apothecary to pick up a few potions that she liked to keep on hand. The wizard at the Inn had given her directions to one, but nearly twenty minutes later she was still not there. Maybe the man’s annoyance should have hinted in the fact that he’d give her nonsense instead of help. That’s when the brown haired wizard asked her to sign a petition. The girl looked up at him in confusion, then to the shop. “A petition will only go so far, though, I’d be happy to sign.” She observed, reaching into her purse for a pen to sign with. “They’d be more receptive if you gave them cost effective ideas for how to save money while treating the animals better. Possibly studies to show witches and wizards would be willing to pay more for animals that come from a healthier environment and are therefore healthier and less likely to have costly aliments.”

Hugo almost jumped on seeing Gabrielle. he looked around nervously, to see if her brother or cousin was around, a little bit relieved to find they weren’t but he wasn’t entirely sure how to get away from her without seeming utterly rude. Perhaps it wouldn’t kill him, quite literally, to wait a few seconds for her to sign and move on. “Um -- I did give them a few cost effective ideas, drew up a whole new plan for their shop with the help of an Extension charm -- they just don’t seem to want to do the work. My boss is going to help me make a case against them if things don’t change soon, but I just want to change things without creating trouble, you know? I’ll try researching more, I did look at some studies, but those were all muggle participants, I didn’t know if that’ll be of any value.” He smiled and and handed her his clipboard. “Thanks, Gaby.”

Narcissa had just left the kitchen and was making her way back to the Slytherin common room, minding her own business, when she heard a voice calling out of for help. She prefered to ignore it, hoping she could get away before it became to noticeable that she was in fact avoiding them. She had been so close to getting away too had it not been for the small and colorful pieces of candy that began to roll around her feet. Halting to a stop, she turned around and rolled her eyes. “Really? Who could ever eat so much candy?” She asked before taking out her wand. “You should try doing the same, you know? Magic is there to clean up a mess.” 

“I mean, I could.” Hugo grinned at the younger blonde. “But I bought these for my sister, I was going to send it to her but I suppose I should pack it up properly first, don’t you think?” he rambled on as he continued collecting all the fallen candy. “Thank you -- I mean, I just really am not used to using my wand for everything, you know?”

With a small smile, River closed over her book, taking her wand out to quickly mutter a spell. “Wingardium leviosa.” One by one the sweets began to float, removing themselves from the floor with the help of magic. “There you go, Hugo. They should be easy to catch now - maybe you should ask for two bags next time instead of one.”

“Oh, Thank you.” Hugo grinned when the other helped him by levitating all the candy and he began to grab it all. “Yeah, I should, I am stupid, I just let them stuff everything into one bag and it was super heavy too.” he chuckled. “Hey, you want some?” he asked offering one of the candy bars to her.

A smile fell on her face as well when she caught sight of Hugo. He was cute, the very least, and kind. “Of course you can come sit with me.” She cleared her things out of the way so he could set his own things down. “Feel free.” Motioning to the chair across from her, she smiled once more. “What dreadful class are you studying for, then?”

Hugo had become embarrassed to the point where he was ready to leave. But then Persephone spoke up and said that he could sit with her, and forgetting all embarrassment, he smiled widely at the girl and sat down beside her. He placed his books on the table and turned to her. “Thanks.” he grinned. “Oh, nothing horrible -- it’s care of Magical Creatures. We started studying about Dragons. How was your summer, Seph?”