Dumbledore's mouth opened to say something but he was interrupted by the sound of the door flinging open and then slamming shut. Before Florence could turn around the visitor had regained his composure and started to walk, his black robes billowing...
It was now July and she'd been back to Hogwarts for a week starting up her private lessons with Snape and McGonagall again. Because the professors had no other classes to teach she had her lessons back to back in late morning, meaning she didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn and she could go to bed earlier. Her lessons with Snape were getting stranger. He had been slightly kind...? Florence didn't know why he had been saying things like "good day" and telling her she's correct when she makes certain potions. If Florence didn't know better she would say that she grew on him. They may have never had a normal civilized conversation but she had begun to trust him. Florence knew that he wouldn't try to walk around a situation and if something wasn't right in his opinion he would tell her. Almost every morning now Florence threw up or at the very least got nauseous. The young witch was nervous of what it meant. Because she worked in a medical field, how could she not believe it to be pregnancy? She felt more comfortable using the muggle pregnancy test.
"Will that be all today ma'am?"
"Yeah, thanks oh and where is the restroom?"
The register worker pointed behind some shelves and Florence thanked her and rushed there. As the witch put more thought into it she realized if she was going to take the test 3 times she'd rather do it in the comfort of her own quarters. From the bathroom she apparated for the 2nd time on her own. After heading into the her room she took a deep breath and worked on the tests. She waited and waited AND WAITED... She looked down at all three tests laying on the counter. They were positive. ••• Florence had been sitting in her room deciding whether she should tell the older professor. If I tell her I won't feel bad. She tried to reason with herself. If I tell her she may support me...she WILL. If I don't tell her I won't feel embarrassed. If I don't tell her maybe I can just forget. Aaaahhhhh
Just as she was sitting on her bed debating the older witch knocked and Florence opened her door.
"Everything all right?"
Silence.
"Professor I'm pregnant..."
Silence number two.
"Oh um Florence that's great news! Wait how do we feel about it..?"
"Not thrilled because um there's only one person who could be responsible for this..."
Florence subconsciously put her hand on her belly. Professor McGonagall realized who she was referring to. The man who broke into the castle. She sat down on the bed and put her arm around the now crying witch. They sat there for a while and the girl's mind was racing about 80 miles an hour. ••• Florence put the tests into her bag and hoped potions class would keep her mind off her womb.
"Morning professor," Florence said sitting at a desk in the front.
"Ms. Helens," he acknowledged civilly.
They worked on amortentia, the love potion. It wasn't too difficult to grasp. Then student and teacher moved on to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Do you know of the 3 unforgivable curses?"
She shook her head. He explained imperio and the killing curse.
"The last one is the most used out of the 3. It is the Cruciartis Curce. One will say "crucio" and,"
"your insides feel like they're being twisted and burned!"
Florence clenched her fists. She couldn't stop herself from interrupting him. She had felt the curse when the man who apparently was now the father of her child.......Florence STOP, you're only making it harder on yourself by getting angry! she repeated in her head.
"If I'm not mistaken it sounds like you've experienced it..."
Snape rose an eyebrow and then furrowed his brows. It looked like he understood what it was like. Florence now felt really sick to her stomach especially after talking about the curse. She pushed her chair back forcefully and ran out of the classroom only to puke outside the door. She muttered a spell and pointed her wand at the mess, thankful she learned the spell. Snape jerked the door open and the witch composed herself ASAP. Snape suspiciously looked at her.
"Nothing Professor you were talking about the Cruciartis C..." she turned her head, barely, in time to puke again. Florence turned red and swiftly muttered the cleaning spell. Snape was rendered speechless. Completely and utterly speechless. Florence wished with all her strength that he would just say something, anything. He conjured a pale and gave it the the sick witch and led her back into his classroom. Florence was weak and she just went with it. She sat on the floor and hunched over to the bucket. He left her alone. ••• There was a knock at the classroom door but Snape was nowhere to be found and she was too weak to care about getting up. Then she heard someone whisper and the door was pushed open. It was Professor McGonagall and she looked around the empty room. She seemed confused and then she looked again to see the figure on the floor.
"Oh, Florence dear I was worried about you," she said walking over.
Florence puked again. McGonagall knelt down, concern and empathy flooding her face. She grabbed the young witch's hair and pulled it to the side. And magically emptied the bucket.
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"It's alright let it out."
Florence sighed The professor rubbed her upper back lightly, as she puked her guts out. It was nice she didn't have to be embarrassed or get worried about the professor being grossed out. In that very moment there was no one else that Florence wished to be there except Minerva McGonagall.
