Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(149) Confrontations

Instead of spending her day off of training by resting, Florence had spent the morning heaving boxes of Sirius's personal belongings in to the manor. He had been begging and constantly pestering Dumbledore about moving out of Grimmauld Place to come and live with the Prices, so eventually the man caved in, and allowed him to move some of his stuff for now, and he would follow as soon as the summer was over.

"I don't understand what he needs me there for." Sirius grumbled before taking another bite out of his cookie, as Florence had whipped up a batch after they successfully got all his belongings up to the guest room, "He's not letting Harry spend the summer there, Remus is here most of the time, and I'm always alone with Moody and Dora."

"The summer will pass, Sirius. Don't worry. You'll be here before you know it."

"I hope so," he sighed, before plopping down on to the couch. The sullen expression on his face was quickly replaced by a mischievous one, sitting upright before leaning forward, "Do you want to hear gossip about Moony though?"

Florence raised her brows, "Gossip? What is this, Witch Weekly?"

Sirius disregarded her sarcastic remark, delving in to the news immediately, "I think Dora may have a ridiculous crush on him."

"Tonks?" Florence repeated, a bit startled, due to the fact that there was a significant age gap between the two of them, "Why do you say that?"

"Just a hunch, really. But my hunches are mostly right. The heart eyes she gives him aren't even subtle in the slightest form, Florence. I don't think Remus knows yet, though. He can be very daft when it comes to those things."

"Well, if it's true, I hope you won't intervene. Let them figure things out by themselves."

This made Sirius pout, "Oh, the lot of you...always taking away any sort of fun I try to come up with..."

"Playing matchmaker can lead to very serious repercussions. Ask my friend Nicolai, she should know very well about that."

"How can I ask your friend when you've barely talked to them at all since the summer started?" Sirius muttered under his breath, however it was still loud enough for Florence to hear.

"Anything you wanna say?"

"You know what it is. I'm sure I'm not the first to notice." He replied, before taking another cookie and munching on it nonchalantly. Florence gave him a look, sighing before sitting down across from him, "No. No you're not."

"And?"

"And I'm not pushing them away," Florence said, "I just don't want to see them right now. I-I... I just... I need time."

"Okay," he replied simply, "If you say so, Florence. Just know, you may be able to do that with your friends, but you most certainly can't do that with me. I'm as stubborn as a rock."

"Yes, that much I've gathered." she let out a small smile, just in time for Alanna to come fluttering down the stairs, a box in hand, "Florence! Do you think you could help me with something?"

"Sure. What is it?" Florence said, getting up from the couch to avoid even more behavioral confrontations from Sirius.

"I have a box of things that Jules had in his room back in France. I was wondering if you could help me set them up at his office as a surprise? I was told by Sloan that he will be out with Mr. Robards today, so we have a few hours to spare."

Florence smiled, before nodding her head, "Sure, let's do it."

Alanna staying for the summer was a great addition to the house, as they couldn't help but get infected by her absolutely bubbly and sunny personality. Even though the situation was a little bit awkward with both Sloan and her living under the same roof, Sloan didn't seem to mind in the slightest that she was around.