Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(95) The Dinner Table

The first few minutes of the meal was shared in utter silence, the only sound emitted was the clinking of the cutlery against the ceramic plates, and the occasional scraping of the chairs. Florence was seated beside her mother, feeling the tension wafting in the air, Harry seated to her right and Fred directly across from her. He had started a small game of footsie with her under the table, glancing at each other every so often. At one point, Fred had accidentally poked at Jane's foot, immediately averting his attention away as if to act innocent.

Then Mrs. Weasley turned to Sirius and said, "I've been meaning to tell you, there's something trapped in that writing desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking. Of course, it could just be a boggart, but I thought we ought to ask Alastor to have a look at it before we let it out."

"Whatever you like," said Sirius indifferently.

"The curtains in there are full of doxies too," Mrs. Weasley went on. "I thought we might try and tackle them tomorrow."

"I look forward to it," said Sirius, sarcasm laced in his reply, before he shoved a spoonful of stew into his mouth.

Tonks was entertaining both Ginny and Hermione from across the table, morphing her appearances to fit the animals that the girls had requested her to do. It was a regular mealtime entertainment, as everyone had their favorite nose. Personally, Florence found it very much entertaining when Tonks did her duck bill.

Florence averted her atention away from the three as her mother called her attention, "Happy Birthday, darling," she said, loud enough for the both of them to hear, "I know I've been busy, but I have your present up in your room, already. Also Sirius and Remus'. They were quite occupied today to find time to give it in person."

"Thanks, mum, but you really didn't need to."

"But I did need to." she retorted, "Honestly, who doesn't get anything from their parents on their seventeenth birthday? It's their rite of passage to the adult life. Sloan gave you the Price family necklace, I tried topping it, but I really doubt that it's half as good."

"Well," said Florence, "Unless it's a McKinnon heirloom, then I'm pretty sure it would tie with the necklace."

"Heirlooms? Please, we were never one to bother with passing down antiques. Too dramatic, if I do say so myself." she chuckled, "My nan told me the McKinnons used to have a family coat of arms and a motto, but trashed it because no one really cared to use or acknowledge it."

"Did you ever get to see what it looked like?"

"Oh yes, but I hardly remember it. It didn't look too inportant, unlike that pretty little thing," she pointed at the necklace.

Molly had passed out dessert as soon as everyone was finished with the main meal, sliding Florence a significantly bigger portion of rhubarb crumble, whispering a brief birthday greeting with a smile, before sitting back down and watching the others swarm around the dessert.

As soon as every last crumb of it had disappeared, everyone looked relaxed and satisfied, the twins rubbing at their bellies in an indication that they were absolutely stuffed. Florence made a mental note to ask Mrs. Weasley about the recipe when the older witch let out a rather loud yawn.

"Nearly time for bed, I think?" she said to the others. At her words, Sirius sat up from his chair.

"Not just yet, Molly," he said, pushing away his empty plate and turning to look at Harry. "You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort."

It seemed as if everyone jolted awake from their half asleep state at the mention of Voldemort's name. Florence met the twins' gaze from across the table, a tense look on their face. Jane glanced at Sirius warily, as if telepathically begging him not to start up with that sort of conversation with the kids around the dinner table.