Florence had not seen the twins all day after their encounter with Draco Malfoy, the way Fred had walked out from the pitch suggested that he needed a bit of space for him to cool off. She understood his frustration towards the situation, because if she was in his shoes, she, too, would have wanted to take a swing at that snobby blond Slytherin git.

She had caught word of their suspension—mainly Harry and George, but somehow Fred had been dragged in to despite the fact that he didn't even touch Malfoy— from Nicolai, who's direct source was Lee Jordan.

"I'm surprised that you didn't know about it yet, Fred would have told you almost immediately" said Nicolai, as she was seated at the library with Xander and Florence, catching up on homework.

"Yeah, well, I haven't really seen them since yesterday," she confessed, scribbling down a few words onto a piece of parchment, making Nicolai frown, "Are you two arguing or something?"

"No, not at all. He's still...angry...about the Malfoy thing. Hopefully not at me as well, since, you know, I held him back from all the action. I'll just give him time to brood over it, he might not appreciate me coddling him too much."

"It's a bit unfair, though," said Xander, "Fred barely touched Malfoy. Yet Umbridge punished him as well."

"It's a well known fact that she's a bloody bitch with a vendetta against Harry, and she's willing to sabotage him any way that she can." Florence huffed, "Now the Gryffindor team's lost three of their players..."

"Angelina's going to be frantic I bet. I mean, it will be pretty hard to find replacements who would fill the twins' and Harry's shoes. They're pretty good."

"And," said Nicolai, "I heard Umbridge has Harry's firebolt locked away in her office. It would have helped if he still had it with him, so he could lend it to the seeker who'll take his place."

"That's just wrong," Florence frowned, "It's their personal property. She should give it back."

"From the way things are going, I don't think she's going to do that any time soon.

Florence grumbled something under her breath, calling Umbridge a bitch yet again, before setting down her quill onto a scratch parchment, "Can we talk about something else? Bringing her up makes me so incredibly angry."

"I see it very clearly, Flo," said Xander, peering at her essay, "I'm pretty sure you meant to write hagfish oil, and not Umbridge the hag."

"Ah shit..." she muttered, "There goes my work. I'll have to rewrite it...Snape may not be a fan of the Inquisitor, but I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate me cursing at someone."

It was a painstakingly slow day for the three of them, as Sundays usually were, more so with the fact that they were holed up in their common room from the moment that they had walked up from breakfast. Around this time, usually, Florence would have been off helping out the twins in the snack box sale, but given the circumstance, she didn't even think they were open for business.

Eventually Alexander had to take a break from their study session, claiming that he had prefect duties to attend to. But Xander being Xander, was a terrible liar, and the two assumed that it was another Olivia thing, as it usually was, during the past few days.

There were significant changes in his mood, ever since he had started dating. He was no longer stuck to his books all the time, and now had something else to do apart from his studies and being a prefect. He hangs by the Quidditch pitch more frequently, when either Olivia or Florence held practices, and laughs a little bit more genuinely than he did before.

Nicolai was pretty much the same, although she and Jillian would usually hang around Florence as well, since they seemed to get along well. Florence was thrilled to see both of her best friends getting the love that they deserved.

As soon as Alexander had left, the girls took their books back up to their rooms, getting tired of sitting down their butts on the hard common room couch cushions, and were now memorizing ingredients for potions while they rolled around in their individual beds. Gabriella and Katelyn were out somewhere in the castle, leaving Thea behind, who was napping away the weekend.

"Don't you have practices today, Flo?" Nicolai wondered, as her best mate almost always had practices in the afternoons. Florence shook her head, "Montague beat me to the booking. No worries, though, I booked four consecutive afternoons for Ravenclaw. So it should be good."

"Which house are you playing against first? I heard Hufflepuff's playing Slytherin before break."

"We're playing against Slytherin too," Florence huffed, "I'm kind of worried for Ivy when we play against them. I don't want her to be knocked out by a bludger on her first game. And Montague's a dick. Like Flint."

"But he's kinda cuter than Flint, don't you think?" Nicolai waggled her brows, Florence throwing one of her pillows at her, making her laugh, "That's the grossest thing you've said all day."

"But it's true! Flint was just an overall appalling sight to see. He's pretty decent."

"Still...Nic...Even if you worded it differently, it's still very gross to think about."

"I'm pretty sure you said something similar when I brought up the prospects of the Weasley twins being attractive a few years back. And look where you are now, head over heels for one of them."

She chuckled, rolling over to lie on her stomach, "If you're trying to make implications about me falling in love with Montague? Fred will surely come after your head if he hears about it."

"And George too." she chimed in, "I'm pretty sure they detest the Slytherins even more after what happened."

"It's likely." Florence agreed.

"And speaking of which," Nicolai started, "Are you sure you don't want to go and check up on them?"

"Well I do want to see them, but I don't think it's the right time for now. I just want to give them space."

"Don't give them too much space," advised Nicolai, "Or they might think that something else is up."

-------

"Something's up." said Fred, who was lazily sitting up on his bed, George doing his essay for History of Magic on the floor. The gash on his lower lip was healing up, the bruise on his cheek now a lighter shade of purple. They too, had been cooped up for most of the afternoon, avoiding any sort of contact from other people, as Angelina seemed to be lurking around everywhere, and constantly reminded George of his contributions to the downfall of the team.

"What do you mean by something's up?" he questioned, looking up from his book, "And stop looking like that?"

"Looking like what?"

"That. That anxious look on your face. It's making me worry too. Now what's up?"

"It's Florence..." he said worriedly, "I haven't seen her since yesterday."

"Well in all fairness," George began, dipping his quill into his bottle of ink, "We haven't really been anywhere in the castle apart from the Great Hall and here. And maybe she's busy?"

"I think she's mad at me."

His eyes snapped up to stare at his twin, setting his quill down as if preparing to deal with a serious issue, "What did you do?"

"I am mildly offended that you automatically assumed that it was me who did something first." Fred scowled.

George shrugged, "We're men. Which means it's very likely for us to do something stupid. So what is it?"

He sighed, "Back in the pitch...when Madame Hooch sent you over to McGonagall. I was just so angry, and she was there, trying to comfort me. And...I kind of told her to piss off in body language?"

"That was mean," George said almost immediately, Fred scoffing yet again, "Why do I have a feeling that you like her more than you like me?!"

"I do. Florence is nice. And you were mean to her. She was trying to play the part of a good and supportive girlfriend and you shrugged her off."

"I didn't shrug her off!"

He shot him a look, making Fred cave in.

"Fine! I did!" he huffed, "You think she's mad at me, Georgie?"

"It's likely." he said.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! I mean if you did that while I was trying to coax you to calm down, I'd be more than just mad at you. Worst case scenario? I'd end our relationship."

Fred looked terribly horrified.

"I'm kidding about the relationship part," he chuckled, "Just messing with you, brother. But I was serious about the being mad part. She definitely is. Otherwise, she would have gone up to check on us."

He immediately swung his legs off of the bed, slipping on a pair of slippers and throwing a jumper over his home shirt, "I'm going to go and apologize to her. Right now."

Luckily, the entrance to the Ravenclaw tower was in the same floor as them, and Fred didn't have to come across anyone else. The brass eagle doorknob shifted as it felt his presence, it's melodic voice following seconds after.

What runs, but never walks, often murmurs, never talks. Has a bed, but never sleeps. Has a mouth, but never eats?

"Er..." Fred scratched the back of his neck, "Look, mate, I'm in no thinking mood right now. I just really need to see someone. Florence, Florence Price. I bet you know her, how can you not? She answers your riddles fairly quickly."

"That is not the answer, I'm afraid," the brass eagle replied, "You may try again as you please, and then you shall enter... What runs—"

"A river." Someone said from behind him, making Fred flinch in surprise. "A river runs? Has a river bed, a mouth. Honestly, that was the easiest one so far." Jeremy was standing there with an unimpressed look in his face, "Trying to break in again, Weasley?"

"I just need to see Florence," he replied sheepishly, the two watching as the entrance opened up, "Thanks, by the way." he said, before slipping inside.

There were quite a lot of people by the common room, which made his walk towards the girl's dormitory all the more awkward, feeling everyone's eyes on him. He climbed up the stairs, knocking on one of the doors in uncertainty. He had never been inside her room, but trusted his instincts.

The door flew open, a raven haired girl behind it. "Fred Weasley?" Cho questioned, "What are you doing here?"

"Do you know where Florence's room is?"

"I—" she frowned, pointing upstairs, "You're one floor short. First door on the left."

"Okay, thank you." he said, before rushing up another flight of stairs.

He was mildly panting as he knocked on the door, Nicolai answering it, "Well speak of the devil," she chuckled, leaning against the door frame, "We were just talking about you, Weasley."

Fred grimaced, "All good things, I hope?"

Nicolai shrugged, before gesturing for him to come inside, "Flo! Look who's here?"

She jumped off of her bed at the sight of him, brows drawn together in a frown, "What are you doing here?"

He strode over to her, wrapping his arms around her smaller frame, burying his head on the crook of her neck, "I'm so sorry, Flo. I understand that you're mad at me, but I was just too carried away with everything. I'm sorry."

"Okay," coughed Nicolai, heading to the door, "Looks like I'll gave to give you two a moment." she said, "But no funny business."

Fred pulled away from her as soon as the door shut, a confused look on Florence's face, "I'm...mad at you?"

"I know you are, and I'm sorry, love."

She chuckled, "No, I mean...why should I be mad at you?"

He blinked rapidly, "You aren't?"

"I'm not." she clarified, "I understand that you were perplexed with everything, which was why you walked away. I'd feel the same too if I was in your shoes." Florence held his hand, "So I'm fine. And most definitely not mad at you."

He felt as if a weight had been heaved off of his chest, caressing her cheek with his free hand, "I thought for sure you were. You didn't come to see me or George yesterday..."

"I was giving you some space," she said, "To let your rage boil over or something... to punch a wall...anything. I was going to give you until Monday."

"Oh," he said, dumbstruck, "I was overthinking."

"You bet you were," she laughed, "But I find it extremely cute that you worried about me."

"I'll always worry about you," he pointed out, "I'd never want you to be mad at me ever again. I've had my fair share of that in the past," he crinkled his nose, "And it wasn't pretty."

"It definitely wasn't.... But I'm kind of mad that you barged in here...again. You know how I feel about either one of us being in the other's commons."

"You didn't seem to have a problem with it when you stayed the night in my dorm room over a month ago." he teased, making her shove him playfully."

"Fine. Then we're even now."

"...you know I'm still going to come over, don't you?"

"I do," she mused, "Nothing ever stops you."

/////
a.n: hello! Terribly sorry for the super late update. For those of you who's also reading Protégée and Leather, I'll be updating those in a little while. I've been busy all school week studying for honor's Algebra 2 bc I am horrible at math. I'm probably going to drop it, though, and go for regular Alg2 instead. But I'm still not sure. Anyway, sorry again!

-Denise