Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(185) Counseling

Fred, with the help of Verity, had baked two cakes for Florence, one that said Congratulations! if she came home with good news about proceeding to her next year of training, and another cake which didn't have writing on it,. Instead it was just a triple chocolate cake, to be consumed for comfort if ever she were to come home sad because she didn't make it. Fred dreaded having to whip out the triple chocolate cake, so when Florence came home with the good news, he let out a huge sigh of relief.

She looked happy about it, but not as enthusiastic. She looked drained if anything. They sat together on the couch, Fred resting his head on Florence's lap as she told him about the evaluation, as well as seeing Raegan the previous day. It all sounded very troubling, and Fred was slightly bothered that he couldn't find the right words to say to comfort her. He figured that her near death experience was something that she couldn't really shake off easily, no matter how strong and resilient Florence was, but he didn't realize the intensity of the trauma that particular event had given her. So instead of celebrating with her friends like Fred had planned to do for her, they stayed in their room, Fred holding her as she tried to sleep her exhaustion away.

Hadley came over the next day, the two discussing the events of their Evaluation. She too, was successful, but was just as shaken up as Florence was. For her evaluation, they had used her fear of open water to get to her, as her most traumatic experience was when she almost drowned to death when she was younger. They came to a conclusion that they had used their greatest trauma as an obstacle; and that didn't really sit well with them.

Florence tried to distract herself from it, but it had been very hard.

She, Fred and George had gotten their formal invitation cards to Bill and Fleur's wedding in the mail that sunny Monday morning. Florence quite liked the black lace designs on the invitation cards as well as the smooth flowy calligraphy, while Fred and George dreaded the thought of having to follow an imposed dress code. Florence laughed at this, before saying something about how a man can wear a single formal outfit to several events.

On Tuesday, Florence went over to the Manor, where Sloan and Julien cooked up a celebratory lunch for Florence for making it through her first evaluation. They wanted to talk about the specifics, but Florence expressed that she would rather not talk about it, wanting to bury that memory in the very back of her head.

She then visited Nicolai, who was alone in her house for a few weeks, as her parents and Penelope decided to take a holiday off in Spain, leaving Nicolai to her own devices because she had work and couldn't take time off of it. They small talked about things until Nicolai came to the question of how Florence's evaluation went, and Florence hesitated to tell her. She didn't want to, because it was hard for her.

Nicolai noticed the bothered expression on her face and asked her about it once more. This made Florence burst out crying, burying her face in her hands as she retold all the horrible memories and feelings that the evaluation had stirred back up. How she felt as though she was reliving the day that she nearly died, how she felt as though she couldn't breath when she saw that knife. Nicolai pursed her lips, knowing full well what was happening. Grabbing her coat, she and Florence went out the door and apparated to St. Mungo's.

Nicolai took her to a wing in the building that Florence had not recognized before. It seemed rather secluded, and far away from the other departments. The walls were a pastel blue color, and it was eerily quiet. Florence looked around, rather confused.

"Nic.... where are we?"

Nicolai asked her to settle down on one of the plastic chairs, before sitting down beside her, "When Jill died... I fell. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep without crying my eyes out. All I could feel was pain, and all the negative emotions in the world. Every time I thought about it, about her, it was like I was back and reliving that day over and over again." She said to her, taking Florence's hand and squeezing it.