Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(172) Can of Worms

Florence visited St. Mungo's frequently throughout the next few weeks. After work, she would stop by to see how Matthew was doing. Sometimes she would catch him when he was awake, and he would talk for hours about her father, and all the adventures they had together at Hogwarts. There were never really people in her life that told her that much about her father. Siris and Remus knew him, but were closer to her mother more. There was Sloan, but he never really liked opening up about his brother. After all these years, it was still painful for him.

Sometimes when she visited, there were still Senior Aurors in the room, interrogating him and gathering as much useful intel that he could remember. So she would wait, until it was done, and then keep him company.

That Saturday evening, she sat outside his room patiently, a container of soup and a spoon sitting on her lap as she waited for Mr. Robards to finish conducting his interrogation. Florence stood up as the hospital room doors opened, giving the Head Auror a small bow.

Mr. Robards smiled slightly, "Price... when they said you were here frequently, I had not anticipated this frequently..." he said, making Florence scratch the crook of his neck, "Just giving him some company, sir. He was a good friend to my father."

"I wouldn't say good..." he trailed off, before dismissing the thought, "I'd still be a little careful, Miss Price. We don't know what angle he's playing here." Mr. Robards warned her, Florence nodding in response, "I appreciate the concern, sir, but I think he's playing at an angle of a person who has so much remorse in his life that he wants to make a genuine change."

With that, Florence picked up her soup container, and entered the room.

Matthew was looking better than when they had found him about a week before. Color had now come back to his skin, and he looked like he had gained a few pounds in weight from all the portioned meals that the hospital was giving him. Florence sat down at the chair closest to his bed, giving him a small smile, "I hope they didn't wear you down too much."

"Not at all," Matthew chuckled, "Though I'd appreciate if Robards cut me a bit of slack," he sighed, "They had me tested for traces of polyjuice potion today... Obviously negative, since this really is me."

"They're just on edge. They don't know who to trust."

"That's always been the flaw of the Auror force..." Matthew said, before eyeing the container cradled in Florence's arms, "What do you have there?"

"Tomato soup." Florence smiled, "Straight from a family cookbook."

"No way," Matthew smiled, "Gabe used to make this for me when we lost Quidditch games... back when we were in Hogwarts." He smiled, "This is just one of the many family recipes that's been passed down in the family."

Florence smiled, "You know about the recipe book?"

"Do I know about it? Of course. I practically grew up with those recipes because of your father and your grandfather. I mean don't even get me started on the eggnog."

"The eggnog is pretty good." She chuckled, opening the container as he sat up on his bed. She handed it to him, along with a spoon, and he dug right in, a wave of nostalgia hitting him at the first spoonful. He closed his eyes momentarily, a small smile on his lips, "This tastes like home."

"You know I grew up in a home with a lot of siblings? We weren't that rich either so my parents could never afford to take care of all of us at once..." Matthew said, "So when I met your father, first year of Hogwarts, and he found out about my home life, well, he shared his family. I was swept under their wing..." he told her. "He became my family."

"That's why you had to protect him..."

Matthew nodded, "Of course now I know my efforts were for nothing. They still killed him. You still grew up without a father. If I had known he was going to die anyway I would've spent the last few years with him. What kept me going, all this time with the Death Eaters, was the hope of seeing your father again...."