Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(137) Fight or Flight

"I want you to think about what you're saying, just for one second..." Florence said calmly, seeing as Harry was perplexed and annoyed that Hermione had gone to fetch her, adding another person in to the situation who thought his plan was pure lunacy, "I'm just as worried about Sirius as you are, Harry, but please, let's be rational about this."

Florence eyed Hermione nervously, who nodded her head in encouragement. They were in an empty classroom, along with Ron and Ginny Weasley, and a small Ravenclaw girl named Luna Lovegood.

"There is no time to be rational, Florence!" Harry yelled, his voice booming, "McGonagall is gone and frankly there's no one else from the Order that we can tell this to. If we don't move now, Sirius is as good as dead!"

"Don't say that, Harry. Please," Florence implored, "Just think about it. Hermione's right. What connection does Sirius and Voldemort have? Why is he the one being tortured in your dream?"

"Vision! It's a vision!" he said, now aggravated, "Like Mr. Weasley and the snake! It's happening and we need to stop him!"

"Hasn't the thought occurred to you that maybe Voldemort is just planting images in your head about hurting Sirius to lure you out? For what, I can't say, but judging from events in the past, hurting Sirius doesn't give him any benefit at all apart from just getting under your skin." Florence told him, her arms now folded infront of her chest, a clear indication that this was very serious business.

"And what? You're just going to burst in to the Department of Mysteries and do what exactly?"

"I'LL FIGURE THAT OUT LATER!" he shouted angrily, "THE TIME YOU'RE WASTING TALKING TO ME RIGHT NOW IS PUTTING SIRIUS IN MORE DANGER! IF YOU CARE FOR HIM AS MUCH AS YOU SAY YOU DO—"

"DON'T YOU DARE USE THAT ON ME!" Florence yelled back, her patience finally snapping, a few seconds passing as she glared at Harry, who was stunned in to silence by Florence's outburst.

"Don't you dare use that. Sirius means just as much to me as he does to you. You're not the only one that he's a father figure to, Harry! I'm just trying to stop you from doing something stupid!"

"Harry," Hermione cut in, breaking up the tension a bit, "Please let's just check that Sirius isn't at home before we go charging off to London — if we find out he's not there then I swear I won't try and stop you, I'll come, I'll d-do whatever it takes to try and save him —"

"Sirius is being tortured NOW!" he insisted, "We haven't got time to waste."

"Listen to her," Florence said, "She's just trying to take precaution. You ought to check if Sirius is in Grimmauld Place or not."

"How? How do we check?"

"We'll have to use Umbridge's fire and see if we can contact him," said Hermione, who looked positively terrified at the thought. "We'll draw Umbridge away again, but we'll need lookouts, and that's where we can use Ginny and Luna."

Luna Lovegood looked absolutely confused by the whole situation, but agreed to help, nonetheless.

Harry agreed to the plan, as long as they were going to be able to do it as swift as possible, or he would take matters in to his own hands and find a way to get to the Ministry by himself.

Florence volunteered her help by coming up with something to distract Umbridge and keep her from her office. Ron agreed to help her with it too, the two heading out and devising a plan.

"Alright," she began, "If you're anything like your brothers, distracting someone would be your specialty."

"But I'm not...well...not really. Fred and George are their own element."