Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(146) First Day Undersecretary

Florence had gone with Julien to work that morning, the older Price unusually chipper and jittery as he constantly tugged at his brand new uniform, pulling at the cuffs while tiny beads of sweat trickled down his face. It was going to be his first day posting as Gawain Robards' Junior undersecretary, and during the days leading up to that moment, he had expressed deep worry.

"Hey you," Florence chuckled, seeing the tense look on her cousin's face. "Don't be nervous. You're going to be okay, Mr. Undersecretary."

"Don't call me that," he whined, "I'm nervous enough. How the hell am I gonna do this? I can't do this Flo. What if no one listens to me? I'd look like a fool."

"Okay, first of all, I'm gonna be in that crowd, so it's a guarantee that atleast one person is listening to you. Maybe two. My friend Hadley is the nicest person I've ever met, I'm sure she will love you too." Florence reassured as the two stepped in front of the entrance, showing their badges to the guard stationed at the front.

"I hope so, Flo. I hope so."

"Plus... I heard you get to have that swanky office office by the training room." She waggled her eyebrows at him, "Are you atleast excited for that?"

"Oh definitely," He's said sheepishly, "I've been there a couple times over the course of last year. It's not nearly as big as the Head of Auror office, but it's super spacey. You could probably put Buckbeak in there and he'd still have the space to trot around."

"Sounds great. Can we go see it before we head to the training rooms? Pleaaaase?" Florence begged, the way she used to when she was a little girl, which made Julien chuckle, "I don't see why not. I have to set my stuff down anyway too."

Holding her excitement in, Florence wordlessly followed his cousin to his new office. As soon as he swung the door open, a young girl with brown hair immediately pounced on him, wrapping herself tightly around his torso.

"Alanna?!" Julien screamed in surprised, reciprocating the exchange after a few seconds of being startled, "Merlin's sake, I've missed you a lot!"

"I miss you too, Jul!" Alanna smiled, hugging him tighter, before she pulled away and smacked his chest, "You've been writing very little to us. You ought to be ashamed."

"I'm sorry, Lanna, I've been too busy with everything. It completely slipped my mind."

"If it weren't for Florence, we wouldn't have found out about your promotion! Mother and father wanted me to tell you that they are so proud of you."

"Thank you, I cannot begin to express how much that means to me."

"You must come home soon, though," said Alanna, "We all miss you quite terribly. I believe Fleur Delacour has pressing business here as well, with what her seeing someone here, but she still manages to come visit France once in awhile. It should be no issue for you as well."

"Wait," Florence interrupted, "Seeing someone? Like dating someone?"

"Yeah!" She giggled, "Can you believe it? Fleur dating a British man... I never thought that'd be possible, with how many people waiting in line to court her back home." she said, before remembering something, "And speaking of British men, Lee Jordan's invited me to have lunch with him some time this week, while I'm still in the country.... Do you know if you and your boyfriend and his twin would be—oof!"

Alanna was cut off in mid speech as Julien elbowed her at her sides, before clearing his throat, "Anyway, what do you think of the office? Pretty spacey right?"

"Hang on," Alanna said, not letting go of her former thoughts despite the diversion Julien tried to make, turning to Florence with genuine curiosity, "What happened with you and the younger Weasley fellow?"