After spending their entire Sunday catching up on homework and lessons, Florence, Nicolai and Xander did not feel rested enough to take on the weekdays. With how much homework they were now receiving on the day to day basis, making it out of the school year in one piece looked pretty impossible.

As if Florence did not have enough things on her plate, with Quidditch practices, school work, and now future Defense meetings with Harry, another load of work was dumped into her arms that Monday morning, as she found herself staring at yet another Educational Decree mounted onto the wall.

No Student Organisation, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor. Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organisation, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.

"Seriously?" she scoffed, adjusting the straps of her book bag, "Even Quidditch house teams? That's a load of shit right there."

"Well don't worry about your team now, that'll be quite easy to take care of." Nicolai said.

"Yeah, it would be if I didn't have a thousand other things to do." Florence huffed

"I think Nic is talking about the thing with Harry," Xander whispered, "Isn't it a bit suspicious that she's put this up as soon as classes resumed? Do you suppose she knows about it?"

"It's very unlikely..." she said, "I mean, Umbridge wasn't at Hog's Head... Unless someone tattled on us."

"My money is on that blond Hufflepuff. The one who kept doubting Harry? What's his name...."

"Zacharias Smith?" Xander quipped in, Nicolai nodding, "Yeah. Him. He was kind of suspicious all throughout the meeting."

"Well, if he did tattle and his tattling is the reason for this bloody treacherous decree, he better watch out because I'm coming after his arse." Florence snapped, "This is a massive inconvenience. The time I'm going to use to study is going to have to be spent at her sodding office, or Ravenclaw won't get to play."

"Or practice for that matter..." Nicolai pointed out.

"Right. Even worse...thanks Nic."

"No problem."

"But speaking of problems," the frown vanished from her face, now looking at her with a cheeky look, "Why don't you fill Xander in about the news?"

Nicolai's eyes widened, looking at Florence as though she betrayed her, "Flo!"

"News? What news?" Xander frowned, looking back and forth between his friends, "Why is this being kept from me?"

"Yeah, Nic. You said he was fine with it."

"Oh," he said, catching on to what it was, "This is a Jillian thing, isn't? If it is, Flo's right, I am fine with it. So, just spill, Nic."

"I know you're fine with it," she retorted, "But it still feels weird talking to you about it since you're an ex..."

"Wow, okay," Xander said, "While we're at this topic, don't call me an ex. It's what makes it more awkward to talk about, yeah?"

"Agreed..."

"Well," Florence piped in "The upside is, there's atleast one of us in this friend group who hasn't dated her, so I can act as your middle man...woman..."

"You won't need to be a middle man...woman...for anything, Flo."

"It's not like Nic and I are going to fight about it." said Xander, Nicolai nodding in agreement, "Er, I hope we don't."

"We won't." she clarified, "Best friends before girlfriends."

"That wasn't at all that clever," Florence pointed out, "You can't rhyme friends with itself. It won't sound catchy."

"I'm too tired to think of a clever rhyme," Nicolai said, "Try a little while in the afternoon, though. I might have enough energy then."

"Hang on, aren't you going to tell me about the Jillian thing?"

"Oh, uh, right. Well, she and I talked..." she trailed off, Xander looking as though he was anticipating more of the story, "And...?"

"We just talked."

His expression fell, "That's it?"

"No, it isn't," Florence interjected, "She's saying it so blandly when it really isn't."

"So there is more to the story?"

"No, they did just talk. But it's more interesting than how she's saying it."

"Can we talk about this later too?" Nicolai cut off, "We kinda have to get to class, or have you forgotten that that's still a thing?"

"I was secretly hoping that it wasn't a thing anymore."

"Well, too bad..." tutted Xander, "I just remembered, I have to meet Olivia at the second floor corridor. She has to borrow some of my notes for Ancient Runes." he bade his friends goodbye, "See you!"

"Did you see that?" Nicolai gaped as Alexander started walking out from eyeshot, "He just left us...for a lady..."

"Aww, its okay, Nic. We've had him for awhile now," she rubbed her shoulder affectionately, "It's about time we set him free." Florence consoled, "Actually...not free free. He still has to hang out with us, or he'll be dead to us."

"They're probably just going to snog in a broom closet or something."

Florence chuckled, "After what happened on the weekends? There's an eighty percent chance that they'll end up doing exactly that."

"Exactly..." Nicolai was quiet for a moment, before looking at Florence with hopeful eyes, the taller girl staring back at her dubiously, "What?"

"Could I, maybe, go now, too? I'm supposed to pick up Jillian at her commons in five minutes." she had a sheepish look on her face, Florence simply sighing, "So this is how it's going to be now, huh?"

"Not a regular thing, I promise." Nicolai said, "Just for...awhile...until things go steady."

"It's fine. You don't have to explain that much. I understand, Nic. Go on."

"I love you lots, Flo! I'll see you after school!" she gave her a brief hug, before heading towards the Hufflepuff common rooms, a big smile etched on her face.

"Well," Florence murmured to herself, "Atleast they're happy."

She swiveled around, stalking away to the other direction in pursuit of the redheaded twins, "Fred, darling! George...!"

------

"What do you mean we can't practice today?" said Roger, as he followed Florence around. Even if he wasn't captain anymore, he was pretty adamant with pushing through with their practices for that day, and seemed almost insulted as Florence told him it was off.

"Roge!" she half yelled, stopping in her tracks. Any more nagging from the boy would definitely make her patience snap, and she did not feel like snapping at anyone, "Did you see the Educational Decree that Umbridge put up this morning?"

His brows drew together, puzzled, "What Educational Decree?"

"Exactly. You haven't seen it. I have. And I know what I'm doing. Basically, even if I don't cancel today's practices, we still wouldn't be able to use the pitch until we get the Ravenclaw Quidditch team approved by Umbridge."

"So you're saying that the decree doesn't allow any organizations to function unless approved by her?" he scoffed, "Well that's some bullshit right there."

"Exactly." Florence waved a bunch of papers in his face, "I have to go get these signed so we can start practices as soon as possible again, then I have to go do a couple hundred things after. So do me a favor, and get off my back, will you?"

Roger flashed her an apologetic look, "My bad...Sorry."

"Its fine. Just, go tell the others that practices are off for today."

Umbridge's office was as pink as her daily outfits, hundreds of framed cat photos hung on her walls, the furry animals moving accordingly. The she-devil herself was preparing tea as Florence came in, her objective was to get in and go out as fast as she could, not wanting to waste an extra minute on her.

Umbridge smiled as she strode over to her desk, sitting down on one of the chairs across from it. Florence handed her the papers warily, "Professor Flitwick's already signed, Inquisitor. If possible, my team would like to start practices back up again as soon as tomorrow."

She looked at the papers as though she was thoroughly considering it, taking a quill from her bunch of bright feathered ones, her black detention quill sticking out from the bunch like a sore thumb. The tip of the quill hovered mere centimeters above the parchment, as if she was hesitant in signing them.

"Tell me, Ms. Price," she said, Florence sighing almost angrily as she set the quill down, "What does your organization do to contribute to the growth of the school."

Is she serious?

"Well, it's a Quidditch team." duh, she wanted to add, but suppressed it to the best of her efforts. She looked back at the Professor expectantly, believing her statement to suffice.

"I am aware. But I'm asking you...why should I sign this? What will the school benefit from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team."

"Well, if you don't sign it then only three of the Houses will be competing for the cup."

"What if I don't sign the approval papers of all of the houses?" she said, a sickly sweet smile on her face, "No Quidditch for the rest of the year? I can very well do as I want, seeing as I find it rather... unnecessary..."

Florence clenched her jaw, "Then do what you want, Professor. With all do respect, I don't have the luxury of time to sit around in your office any longer. I have other things to do." she told her, a neutral look on her face, "So please, if you will, either you sign it or not, so I can go now."

Umbridge's lips curled, "I want you to convince me, Ms. Price. Why is this sport a necessity here in Hogwarts?"

"Entertainment purposes. Students need a sense of enjoyment at school, to momentarily distract them from the burdens of lectures and homework. I personally think it is necessary also because it is an outlet to show house pride and to practice sportsmanship among the houses."

"That's all I need to hear." said Umbridge, etching her signature down on to the parchment, "Thank you, Ms. Price."

She nodded her head, getting up from her seat before exiting her office, extremely glad to be leaving it.

"Flo!" Xander exclaimed, as soon as she had wandered back into the Ravenclaw common room, "Where have you been?"

"Umbridge's office," she said, before flopping down onto the couch beside Nicolai, "What's up?"

"Well, we were just waiting for you to get back... Guess who's at the Visitor's Lounge at the moment?"

Florence frowned, "Who?"

"Adrianna. She arrived this morning, a bit unannounced, but Dumbledore was kind enough to accommodate her needs, such as sleeping quarters..." said Xander.

"Really? Did she say why?"

"Yeah. She has something she needs to discuss with you. That's why we were waiting for you so that we could go there together. She'll be leaving first thing tomorrow, though, which is why she told me to get you there as soon as possible."

"Er...okay. Hang on, let me just take my bag upstairs and I'll be right down."

Adrianna was happy to see the three of them, giving each one big hugs and a bunch of sweets she had bought from Switzerland, as she had been there for training for a few weeks.

"Why the sudden visit, Dri?" her little brother asked as he plopped down onto her bed, completely destroying the crisply made sheets, "Not that we aren't happy to see you..."

"We're more than happy," Nicolai agreed, happily stuffing another half of a brownie into her mouth.

"Well, as I said," she started, handing Nicolai a glass of water as soon as she started choking on her food, "I had something I wanted to discuss with Florence, since, I've heard about your captaincy from Xander..." she turned to Florence, "Congratulations for that, by the way,"

"Thanks, Dri. So it's Quidditch related...?"

"Exactly." she had a wide grin on her face as she reached over to open a drawer, pulling a couple papers from it, "A certain Gwenog Jones is starting to look up on prospect replacements for two of our Chasers, since they're planning on retiring right as soon as the League finishes."

Adrianna passed over the papers to Florence, her eyes widening at the content.

"Wait!" she gasped, "So you're saying...?"

"Yes...I may or may have not referred you to Gwenog as soon as the news came to me." Adrianna chuckled, "And because you have contacts from inside the team who's put in a good word for you..." she gestured swiftly to herserlf, "And given your position and talent, she's decided to recruit you for training to be a member of the Harpies."

"No way!" Florence exclaimed, jumping up from her seat happily, "No way!"

"Yes way... Double congratulations, Florence! Well, if you want to accept it—"

"Are you kidding? Ofcourse I'd accept it!" she pulled her in for a bone crushing hug, "This is an incredible opportunity, Dri. Thank you so much!"

"Just read the contract, sign, and owl it back to me not later than February first...oh, and not too early, okay? The team and I are traveling to Netherlands for two months, so there won't be anyone to receive it. And you might want to discuss it with your mum over break."

"Yes. Good point..." Florence straightened out the creases on the paper, "Infact, I'll write to her about it now!" she said giddily, "Thanks again, Dri! I love you!" with that, she had bolted out of the Visitors lounge, leaving Adrianna with her brother and Nicolai.

"Oi, Dri," Xander called, "Is Asher going to eat his share of treats?" he said, eyeing his younger brother's bag hungrily, "Because if so, I'd gladly take it with me."

"Don't be a pig, Xander," Adrianna retorted, "Learn to share." she looked across to see Nicolai, her box of brownies now empty. She fished out an extra box from her luggage, "Here's some more, Nic."

Alexander gawked at the two, "That isn't fair!"

/////
a.n: hey guys! I just started school again & boy is Junior year a bloody bitch since I'm taking APs and Pre-APs y i k e s... so updates won't be as frequent anymore :(((

-Denise