Dear Florean,
I have decided that it is time for the two of us to become matchmakers. Pomona informed me of what happened between Mia and Charlus in the corridor - apparently they were going to kiss but you two interrupted them?

That's utterly disgraceful behaviour, I have to say, as you stopped them but I forgive you. I know how much you want them to be together, you want it just as much as I do. Hence why I've decided to make you my partner in crime (P.S: you don't have a choice).

I have no idea what we are supposed to do to get them together but the sexual tension between the two of them is just too much. But I need you to keep an eye on Lyall as I'm getting crush vibes from him and that might spoil the entire operation. So your job, from September onwards, is to look out for Lyall and make sure he doesn't ruin it between Charlus and Mia. I love the guy but we can't afford for distractions at this point.

Love from, Minnie x

Dear Minnie,
                          Thank you for forgiving me - I will make sure to check what I'm interrupting next time before I barge in. I hope you've reprimanded Pomona though as well because she was involved too. It wasn't just me!

Anyway, I think your idea is great but I have an idea about Lyall. If he does like Mia then that would be a great way to make Charlus jealous and then Charlus would be more inclined to ask Mia out - boom, sorted.

Also, on a more serious note, I haven't had any letters from Mia since she was discharged and I know for a fact that she didn't go home to the Potters because Charlus was really bummed about it. So I was wondering whether you have had any letters or whether we need to go barge into that house and steal her away.

On that note, Mia's birthday is in three days! It's the 31st August, remember? Would it be classed as cheating if I got my dad to just make her some ice cream? She hasn't been to Diagon Alley to get her school equipment yet for next year so maybe we could surprise her? Spread the word, partner.

Love from, Florean.

P.S: What are your opinions on the homosexual community?

Florean sighed at his desk as he finished writing the letter to Minerva, leaning back in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose as the noises of Diagon Alley echoed and clattered beneath him. He wasn't sure how to phrase it - after Mia, Minnie was probably the one he trusted the most with his secret which had been why he had asked her the question at the end. She's probably going to think I'm really weird for asking but oh well.

The bell ringing downstairs in the shop distracted him from his thoughts and he quickly jumped up, rolling up the letter before he changed his mind and quickly attaching it to his owl's leg, who he then shoved out of the window.

Florean buried his head in his hands - he had almost written to Minerva that he thought he liked both boys and girls but had realised how messed up it sounded so he had scrunched up the letter and thrown it in the bin with surprisingly good aim.

The pressure of working out exactly who he was was extremely pressurising and it was stressing Florean out day by day and had been for the past weeks of summer. Of course it didn't help that one of his best friends had been hospitalised because of her abusive family because that had just added to his stress levels even more and now Minnie was asking him to matchmake Charlus and Mia? As amusing as it would be and as much as Florean wanted them together, he would've preferred to let them work it out themselves.

"Florean, honey! There's someone here in the shop asking for you!" his mother's voice came through the door and Florean leaped up from his desk chair and flung open his bedroom door, nearly knocking his mum over in the process, who had a stack of laundry in her arms. "Bloody hell, sorry Mum!" he exclaimed and she reprimanded him for his language with a whack to his head with her wand which hurt a little.

"Ouch! D'you mind?" Florean scowled at her and his mum simpered and said back, "No, I babysit," she joked and Florean raised an eyebrow at her, seriously unimpressed with the joke as it wasn't funny at all. "Whatever. Who's there for me?" he asked his mother who was now folding clothes with her wand, an amused smile fixed on her face.

"Oh, a dark haired girl - she was pretty pale and asked to speak to you. Urgently," Mrs Fortescue waggled her eyebrows suggestively at her son who didn't even retort back but thundered down the stairs instead.

Florean skidded to a halt at the bottom of the staircase and flung himself around the corner that led into the shop (if you were to turn the other corner then you would end up in the family's living room but Florean's destination was the shop at this moment in time). He slowed down as he reached the turquoise door and walked through it casually, flinging a striped apron on so that he didn't look out of place.

The ice cream parlour was crammed with Hogwarts students and families and young children - all of them wanting ice cream or eating ice cream already as Florean's father served them alongside a few other waitresses that they had employed.

Florean spotted Mia almost straight away, she was sat at a table by herself, poking half heartedly at the mint choc chip ice cream in front of her. He bounded over the counter which earned him a few admiring looks from some soon to be third year girls in the queue and walked over to her, plopping himself down in the seat opposite her.

"Problem with your ice cream, ma'am?" Florean asked in his best professional and authoritative voice and Euphemia jumped a mile as she had obviously been lost in her own thoughts. "No, no it's perfectly fine," she mumbled without looking up and so Florean leaned forward and switched back to his normal, playful tone, "So why aren't you eating it then?"

"Florean!" Mia cried out and she flung her arms around the boy, pulling him close in a mixture of relief, delight and happiness. Florean was just glad to see her smiling, even if it meant that he was leaning across the table in the most uncomfortable position ever for a hug.

"You okay? My mum said you needed to talk to me urgently," he lowered his voice a little as he saw her alarmed look before she looked down at her untouched ice cream, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Can we go somewhere a little quieter?" Euphemia requested and Florean nodded, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. He then ushered her through the crowd, his hand on the small of her back and helped her duck underneath the counter as he took her into the little flat that he lived in. "Wow, this is pretty nice and homely," Mia noted quietly underneath her breath and Florean heard her and shot her a quick smile.

"Probably smaller than your manor, huh?" he said with a bashful look and Euphemia chuckled before sighing and raising an eyebrow at him, as they stood in the darkness of the corridor behind the door that led to the shop, "Trust me, I'd rather have this kinda home any day," she told him honestly and Florean couldn't help but grin before he grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs.

Mrs Fortescue was still busying herself with the laundry on the landing and so Florean and Mia had to squeeze past her in the crammed space in order to get to Florean's bedroom which was at the end of the hall.

Florean's mother raised her eyebrows at their connected hands and Florean shook his head in annoyance at her suggestive look so she simply carried on as if she had implied nothing.

Florean's room came across as quite nice to Euphemia as she had never been in a boy's bedroom before with the exception of her brother, Marius', and that had been a grandiose master bedroom bigger than even her own because Marius had been the important son and deserved a bigger bedroom. That room had now been stripped bare, as though Marius had never been there, and was used as a guest room for when family and friends stayed over.

Florean's room was painted in a nice shade of blue, a rather turquoise colour actually and gave Mia the impression that she was under the sea because of the deep blue colour on the single bedded duvet and the matching curtains that were open to let in some light and Euphemia noticed that you could see the bustling streets of Diagon Alley from below.

"You must be able to spy on everyone from here!" Mia exclaimed and rushed over to his window, kneeling on the bed so that she could access it as the window was right next to his newly made bed.

Florean laughed and seated himself down in his desk chair which was also a blue - though it was more of a lighter shade than the rest of the room and went with his completely white writing desk which was scattered with quills and ink pots and parchment as well as several textbooks stacked haphazardly in one corner.

His bookshelf beside the desk was also steaming with books that weren't stacked neatly but Florean couldn't care less. The drawers on both his chest and his bedside table were slightly open and you could see some of the contents inside them but other than that, the room was pretty neat.

"So, what is it? What's wrong?" Florean asked and Euphemia turned away from the window, where she had been staring down at the streets with a thoughtful expression on her face that reminded the boy of the vacant expression that had become common on her face when she had lost her memory - those had been some dark days and Florean was relieved that Mia was back to normal now. However, something was definitely bothering her and he was determined to find out what it was.

"It's just....I...." Euphemia started to speak but trailed off as doubt rose in her as well as a tiny bit of fear because she was pretty sure that she should not be confiding in Florean. As trustworthy as he was, Mia knew that he would worry about her and she didn't want him stressing out even further because she could tell that he was already stressed out but she didn't know why.

"My parents aren't very happy with me and they're acting incredibly secretive - in fact, they keep drilling me about the day that I was attacked and I don't know why but....somethings missing from that day. All I remember was that Druella and Orion were attacking me but I can't remember what exactly I did to deserve being pushed down the stairs! I just don't know what they're doing anymore, they keep going on about me misbehaving but I haven't done anything wrong!" Euphemia blabbed all of this out rather tearfully and Florean found himself rising from his desk chair and moving to sit beside her on his bed, placing his arm around her in some sort of comfort.

"Maybe there's something that they said or did which they don't want you to remember? So they're making sure that you don't?" Florean suggested and Mia nodded absentmindedly, her eyes fixed on a loose thread of the carpet in front of her, her gaze unsteady. "Mia?" Florean waved his hand in front of her face and blinked suddenly before jumping to attention with an apologetic look on her face.

"Maybe...they just seem extremely cross with me like I've done something unforgivable. I get that they're not happy with me being friends with you lot but..." Euphemia shrugged, her expression distant and rather disturbed.

"I've always strived to impress them and be who they want me to be...I just want them to be proud of me for once, you know? Even if I don't agree with any of their views..." she gulped and pulled her sleeves of her jumper down further so that Florean couldn't see the bruises on her wrists from where Cassiopeia had gripped her too hard when dragging her into what had now become known as the torture room.

Florean knew that she was not telling him something though but he didn't want to push her to tell him anything if she didn't want to. "Mia..." he started, extremely circumspect in how he was going to phrase it, "Have they been hurting you again?" he asked slowly, almost dreading the answer - especially when Euphemia looked like she was going to burst into tears there and then.

"Maybe," she whispered softly, a single tear sliding down her cheek but she quickly wiped it away as Florean silently pulled her into a hug. "I'm not going to say it's okay because it's not but it is going to be okay one day, we'll help you," he said sincerely as she leaned her head against his chest, as her arms wrapped around him.

The sounds of Diagon Alley outside of the window disappeared as the two best friends got themselves lost in the moment, Mia closing her eyes as she just let Florean squeeze all the crushing melancholy in her body out, relieving her of the stress and trauma that had come with being returned to her family.

Florean was just upset that Euphemia had to be treated like this - she didn't deserve it one bit and he knew that it hurt her much more than she was letting on. But all they could do now was look out for her, until she could summon the courage to leave her abusive and dangerous family behind her.

~~~

Eileen Prince stood with her face pressed against the cold, condensed window of the Hogwarts train as it rattled and shook in place, steam billowing out of the top of the scarlet engine as the train was preparing to leave the station on that September morning, as soon as the clock struck eleven.

Students jostled and pushed past her in order to get to the compartments that they wanted or to meet up with friends, leaving her practically pressed against the wall of the corridor at times. Eileen caught snippets of conversations  and heard exchanges between mates as they greeted one another after a long summer apart.

A bitter smile twisted her features as the realisation set in that she didn't have any friends to share her summer with, nor did she have anyone to sit in a compartment with. Forever alone, as always.

No tears came to her eyes as they might've once upon a time, when she was much weaker, but Eileen had learnt to fight back the tears now and she was pretty sure that she was incapable of crying anyway. Incapable of feeling any emotion whatsoever - all she did was muck up, even the things that she did have, she lost because of her own stupid words. Like Mia....

Euphemia. Eileen couldn't help but think of her previous friend, the only girl that had spoke to her out of her entire dormitory, the girl who had managed to still spend time with her whilst hanging out with her other friends at different intervals.

Mia had made her mistakes, she had made Eileen feel unwanted at times and had used her to her own benefit but she had still been a good friend to Eileen, she had still been a friend. And seeing as Eileen didn't have any friends, it had been enough....

As if her thoughts had somehow contacted the girl in question, Euphemia appeared at the end of the corridor, deep in conversation with Alastor, who was explaining something to her as she listened in amusement.

Eileen felt her heart stop and she flattened herself against the wall of the now moving train, allowing them to get past, just as she had done with everyone else who walked down the very same corridor.

"Thanks," Alastor said to her offhandedly without even glancing at her before he carried on with his story to Mia, who had looked up in surprise when she saw the boy acknowledge Eileen. It was obvious that she hadn't planned on seeing the girl until they got to school and the two ex friends stared at each other rather uncomfortably for a minute.

"Mia? Do you know her or something?" Alastor asked slowly, looking at Euphemia's pensive expression with curiosity twinkling in his blue eyes, the very eyes that made many girls fall at his feet.

"Yes, that's Eileen...." Mia muttered to him, trailing off suggestively with a knowing look in her eye and Alastor's mouth fell into an O of understanding before his eyes narrowed and he stared at Eileen in smouldering anger because he knew just how much the girl had harmed Euphemia, how much she had betrayed Mia and exposed her secret to the Blacks.

"Euphemia, may I speak to you for a moment?" Eileen stammered all of a sudden and Alastor hissed with rage as Mia's eyebrows rose so high they were nearly lost under her hairline.

Eileen smiled a little nervously and weakly at the blonde guy in front of her and was surprised when Euphemia laid her hand on Alastor's shoulder and whispered something in his ear which made him nod in understanding and walk away. "What are you doing?" Eileen asked nervously as Alastor strode away from them and Mia stepped closer to her previous friend.

"Listening to what you want to say," Euphemia said calmly and serenely even though her heart was pulsing anxiety throughout her body as bad memories stirred - this girl in front of her had been the very one who had betrayed her most valuable secret to the exact people whom she had not wanted to know.

Eileen had caused all the pain inflicted upon her by her mother but a part of Mia also knew that it was Cassiopeia's own choice to cast the Crucio curse on her own daughter and she hadn't helped the situation either - Euphemia knew deep down that she hadn't been the best friend to Eileen.

"I....I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For everything I caused. I just wanted you to listen! You never listened to anything I wanted to say, it was always about your other friends and I was sick of it - of always feeling like second best, like I wasn't wanted. But I know I said some harsh things and caused many things that has caused you pain and for that, I am truly and deeply sorry." Eileen looked desperately at Mia as the girl stood there with pursed lips and crossed arms as she stared at the nervous Slytherin in front of her.

Eileen was truly sorry and Euphemia could see that, she just wasn't sure whether she could forgive the girl for the all the destruction that she caused by simply not being able to keep a secret.

After a minute or so of tense silence, Mia sighed and shrugged, "I was unfair on you. I'm sorry. I'll be a better friend next time," she promised Eileen and she meant it with all of her heart.

"Next time?!" Eileen's eyes lit up at the prospect of a second chance with Euphemia and the girl in question nodded with a wan smile as Eileen jumped forward with a squeal and embraced Mia happily.

Euphemia patted Eileen a little awkwardly on the back and was about to say something more when one of the compartment doors near to them opened and Charlus popped his head out.

"Mia? You coming in?" Charlus asked and Euphemia swore she saw Eileen smirking a little as Mia herself felt butterflies swirl around in her stomach at alarming rates. "Yes!" she said a little too quickly before sending an apologetic look at Eileen, who simply shrugged and gave her look that clearly said 'just go with him, girl.'

"I'll see you at the Slytherin table," Mia said to Eileen who grinned in response before returning to her place by the window, staring out at the passing fields of the English countryside.

All was well....for now.

Have a wonderful day / night!