The day after the next was Florence's first day in training. The news of her and Fred's split spread like wildfire among friends and family. No one had really questioned her about it, not wanting her to feel even worse than she already did at the moment. Even Nicolai, who'd been slightly angry at how irrational of a move that was, had to hold her temper in, per Alexander's suggestion.

Florence was particularly looking forward to her first day, catching wind that Scrimgeour was retiring from his position, and passing his title over to his Senior Undersecretary, Gawain Robards. From what Sloan had said over breakfast, Mr. Robards was more empathetic compared to Scrimgeour, and was, in his opinion, a better pick to run the Auror program.

Sloan did not have time to stay long, though. As much as he wanted to accompany Florence to see her off for her first day, the Order of the Phoenix was in great shambles, following the Death Eater attack that killed two of their most valuable members. They had also been busy figuring out the base of operations for the Death Eaters, planning to disband the small group responsible for muggle attacks to prevent any more from happening.

Florence was surprised at how open Sloan was to talking to her about Order Operations when last summer everyone did everything they could to prevent her and the others from hearing it.

"Well, Florence, it's because you're an adult now," Sloan explained briefly, swiping a napkin across his mouth before standing up, "And you're well out of school and will be joining the Auror force. At this rate, I'll be surprised if you'd want to be inducted into the Order soon."

As soon as Sloan left for work, Florence went upstairs to prepare.

Pinning her father's clip onto her new training uniform, Florence took one short glance at the mirror before heading downstairs, Julien waiting for her by the threshold.

"Look at you," he smiled, "I hope you're ready for this, cousin."

She nodded her head, a glint of determination evident in her eyes, "Ofcourse I am."

He chuckled, "Not trying to put your confidence down or anything, but I was just like this the first day. Excited. Let me just tell you it's everything but exciting. Well, probably because it was Scrimgeour who was still incharge. I don't know what Robards is going to do."

"Why did Scrimgeour quit?" Florence asked, "I would have thought he liked being the big bad wolf in his job."

"He does like being the big bad wolf," Julien mused at her analogy, "He quit to take a job to be an even bigger and badder wolf. He's going to be the Minister of Magic now."

"What? Did Fudge die or something?" Florence asked, confused. There was no way Fudge would step down from a position of power that he valued too much.

"No, he just chickened out when the threat of the Death Eaters became too real for him to handle." said Julien, before grabbing her hand, the two of them apparating out of the road and in to a secluded alley leading up to the Ministry of Magic.

Florence had only ever used the visitor's entrance before, and it was an odd feeling to walk into the main doors, especially in the uniforms of someone who is part of a much bigger and very important cause. It was just something she had to get used to.

"This way," Julien beckoned, the two turning into a hallway before getting on to an elevator.

There were many twists and turns leading to the Auror wing of the building. Julien had lead her to the first training room upon their arrival, before bidding her good bye, as the people in their last years of training were put in a separate place. "Make sure to kick ass, Flo. I'll see you later."

She gave him a hug, before she was left alone to enter herself.

The training room was bigger than she had anticipated, the floors covered with slip resistant rugs. Equipment was lined along the walls neatly, as well as mats and cushions that were probably used to help break the fall during duels. Florence was so engrossed in taking in her surroundings that she almost didn't notice the man who came towards her.

"Florence Price, what a pleasure to finally meet you." A tall, gray haired man who presumably smiled, sticking his hand out, "Gawain Robards. Can I just say how you look uncannily like your parents. A perfect mix of Jane and Gabriel, if I might say."

Florence forced out a smile as she shook his hand, the mention of her mother stinging more than she thought it would, "Were you closely acquainted with them, Mr. Robards?"

"Only your father, due to the fact that I too was the one who trained him all those years ago. Your mother, I saw from time to time. She was such a resilient character, and I am very sorry for your loss."

"Thank you... no use dwelling on it, I guess. There more pressing matters to attend to. And life goes on."

"Very right you are," he smiled, "Come along, I will introduce you to the people who you will be spending the next three years with."

There was a fairly small group of people huddled at the other side of the training room. Most of them she had not seen in her entire life, except for the one girl with jet black hair and blue eyes. She had seen her numerous times throughout her years at Hogwarts, though she had never spoke to her.

"Reagan Fawley, isn't it?" She said suddenly, startling the girl, "I know you. You're in Slytherin aren't you? I don't know if you've noticed me around, but I'm—"

"Florence Price," she said, a tone of disgust in her voice, "Ofcourse I know who you are."

This made Florence frown, not knowing what she had done to receive such a hostile response. Before she could even ask, a girl with bright blonde hair strode up to her, an ecstatic grin on her face, "Hello! I am Hadley Kalkowski. I'm so excited to be here."

"Hello, I'm Florence. I'm pretty excited too."

"I've been trying to make friends for the past few minutes here. No one else looks too friendly." said Hadley, "I don't know what for, though."

Florence looked around, most of the people looking far too serious for her liking. Hadley was the only one who looked positively enthusiastic, so she decided to just stick with her.

Mr. Robards called for their attention after a few more people arrived, his cheery demeanor changing to a serious one, as he addressed the crowd, "You lot have the privilege of being selected to be a part of the most elite branch of our Ministry. A rigorous process was put in to your selection, and we expect you to uphold the beliefs and moral codes of this organization. Otherwise, if we deem that you are unfit for this program, you will be asked to leave."

Hadley looked startled, before leaning closer to Florence, "It would suck to be that person." she whispered, before averting her attention back to Mr. Robards.

They were given the chance to get to know other people after his speech, Florence finding out that other people were from different parts of the world. Hadley was a Beauxbatons student, who lived all the way in Poland. She had been ecstatic from the moment she received a letter from the Ministry of Magic.

"Your country is absolutely marvelous," she said, "I arrived last week and all I've been doing is sightseeing."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," Florence smiled, "If you'd like, I could introduce you to some of my friends? So atleast you'd know a couple people."

Hadley smiled, "I would love that. Thank you! It would be nice to have more friends!"

Mr. Robards had not held them for a day, telling them that their real training began tomorrow. Florence decided to take Hadley to Diagon Alley for some ice cream from Florean Fortescue's. However, when they had gotten there, the door was all boarded up.

"Huh," Hadley said, "They don't open on Mondays?"

"No, they do. They're open everyday." Florence said, looking confused. She peered inside the windows, seeing the whole place trashed. Broken glass was littered on the floors, the furniture overturned.

"I don't know what happened. They're supposed to be open today."

"No one's seen Fortescue in weeks." A voice said behind them, making Florence jump, "Some said they saw people take him."

She swiveled around, her heart nearly lodging in her throat at the sight of the redhead man. Florence became a little less tense upon realizing that it was George.

"Take him? Take him where?"

He shrugged, "Who knows?" he noticed Hadley staring at him, "Oh, hello. Who might you be?"

"Hi! I'm Hadley!" She smiled, offering him her hand to shake, "I just met Florence today at work."

"George Weasley, nice to meet you." he shook her hand.

Hadley turned to Florence, "Is he one of your friends?"

"Um—"

"Actually," said George, "She used to date my twin brother and dumped him a few days ago for no apparent reason. And yeah, we're kinda friends too."

"George!" Florence scolded, as Hadley looked at them awkwardly, inferably noticing the shift in the atmosphere.

"What? It's true."

She looked to Hadley, apologetic, "I'm so sorry about that."

"It's fine," she smiled, "You two clearly need to have a talk. I'll be alright going home on my own."

"No, it's okay! We can still go to Puddifoot's, if you'd like?"

"Maybe tomorrow." she smiled, "I'll see you at work."

With that, she had apparated, leaving Florence alone with George.

"Great," she said, turning to George with an annoyed look, "You scared off my new friend."

He crossed his arms over his chest, "Yeah? And you broke my brother's heart. In to a million pieces, Florence! Poor bloke's been moping for days."

She refused to meet his eyes, standing timidly in her place, "I know what I did. George. I had to do it."

"No you didn't," he said, "Yeah, your mum died. You're hurting. But you don't have to push away the people that you love. Especially when they're just trying to help you through your grief. It's not fair."

"I'm not pushing anyone away."

"Yeah? Could have fooled me."

"I'm not."

"Tell me, when was the last time you talked to Sirius, or went out with Nic and Xander? Or me? I mean, this is the first time we've talked in awhile. You haven't been yourself since. And that's okay, because we don't expect you to be okay after what happened. But you don't have to reject everyone who tries to care for you."

"George..."

"You don't need to explain to me," he said, backing away from her, "You owe one to my brother, though."

With that, he walked away, leaving Florence to herself.

//////
a.n:

You know what's funny? Days after I made Florence and Fred break up, I experienced a break up myself :/ hence why it's taken me awhile to update.

Love you all ❤️

-Denise