Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(142) The Separation

Fred had grown optimistic the following days, as Florence no longer cooped herself in her room, and was slowly interacting with everyone. She sat down with them for meals, made short conversations. He knew it was because she was going to be starting her Auror training soon, and was trying to fit back in to being comfortable with interacting with people.

He was wondering if it meant that Florence would finally move into the apartment with him and George. It was their initial plan, for her to live there while she did her Auror program, seeing as it was closer to the Ministry, but with the whole situation, he wasn't sure if the plans were still the same as they had been.

Fred didn't really want to ask her about it yet, though, as he still wanted to give her some space.

He was able to go home to the apartment and be in the shop more now that he was confident that Florence was feeling better, George quite thankful for the help, as it had only been him and on occasion, Nicolai, who was managing the store. Since Nicolai was still in training, she didn't need to be at St. Mungo's for the whole day. So when she had the time and she wasn't tired, she would come down and help.

"It's great that Florence is okay now," said Nicolai, "I'll probably swing by after all this." she lifted a heavy box and stacked it on top of another, "By the way, these are all the Extendable Ears you have left. They sure sell out fast."

"Great," said George, grabbing his clipboard and scribbling it down, "Nic, I probably would have died if you weren't here helping us out. Thank you so much for your help."

"Not a problem. Also, I took the time to go find you lot a permanent helper. I think she'll be dropping in today to meet you."

George raised an eyebrow at her, "Helper?"

"Like an assistant, to help you around with restocking and inventory and supply runs." said Nicolai, "Because let's face it, once I finish training I won't be able to come by and help. Plus, Lisa is going to be away for the entirety of next month for that thing she has with her parents in Bulgaria."

"That's very nice of you, Nic." said Fred, "But what if we won't like her? I mean, it's only been a friends and family kind of thing. I don't think bringing a stranger in would be wise."

"Trust me, you'll like her. Her name is Verity, and she's a very sweet girl. Just, be nice to her when you're doing the interview, yeah? Don't scare her off."

"Scare her off?" George scoffed, "We're not scary."

"Being scary isn't the only way you could drive someone away. Being excessively weird will do the trick too. So don't." she patted Fred and George on the shoulder, "Now if you will excuse me, I have to go and see how my best friend is doing." Nicolai said, before sauntering out of the door.

"Hey, not so fast! Where's the pile of Skiving Snackboxes that I asked you to organize?" George called out.

"I dunno, where's my paycheck?" Nicolai shot back jokingly, not bothering  to look back as she sauntered out of the door.

Apparation had become a whole lot easier to Nicolai now that she was doing it everyday. She had splinched herself a couple to time during the initial process, usually around the fingernails, but other than that, she was okay.

Julien had opened the door for her when she knocked, Nicolai greeting him, "Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good, please, come in," he said, a yawn escaping his lips as Nicolai went through the threshold, "I'm a little tired though, I just got home from training. Things are quite chaotic. Have you heard of the attacks in the muggle world in the papers?"

"Yeah, I read about that bridge the other day. It does seem bad..."

"It is. Anyway, are you here for Florence?"