Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(179) House Games

It seemed as though Fred and George's birthday celebration marked the end of relaxing days and the start of what seemed like a very very busy month. April faded out in to May, and it seemed like everyone had a whole lot of things to do.

Florence found herself doubling the hours she usually spent in the Ministry, as their training got longer and more tedious. She would come home in the middle of the night most days, stumbling to the bedroom and plopping beside Fred while still in her Auror uniform, with the redhead in mention fast asleep beside her also because a long and busy day. With the release of the Fizzing Whizzbees 2.0, more and more people flocked to the store. The business was flourishing, but was rather overwhelming for a company of 3 people. Fred and George had also spent quite a but of time stressing about whether or not it was time to hire another employee.

Nicolai and Xander were also busy with their respective careers, that their planned out lunch dates had been neglected for weeks. So when the three of them saw an opening to hang out, they jumped on it and decided on a simple lunch at the Ministry of Magic's cafeteria. It was no Madame Puddifoot's, but it worked. Despite the dreary looking gray walls, the trio still looked forward to seeing each other.

"I wonder how its like in Hogwarts without us there..." Nicolai said out loud, before shoving a forkful of pasta in to her mouth, Xander looking at her rather weirdly, "I'd assume things are still going the way they used to. Nothing really changes when a batch of students leave... I mean, based on our experiences at least."

"I know, I know. But like, at the same time, wasn't our batch something special? I mean, come on, Fred and George alone are iconic. Who's left to wreak havoc and destroy school property now that they're out of school? Where's the excitement?" Nicolai elaborated, before slumping back in her plastic chair, "I think its been a tad bit boring ever since our batch left."

"Well isn't that kid Harry Potter still around?" Hadley brought up, "I mean, with the Chosen one still in school I doubt it'll be anything close to a bore."

"Yeah, our batch wasn't anything special, Nic. Get over it." Xander chuckled, "If anything we were very ordinary..."

"Yeah? I beg to differ. I'd like to see em pull off Quidditch games like ours. Nearly all the good players from all houses were from our batch. Florence, Davies and Stretton for Ravenclaw... Fred, George, Angelina, Alicia Spinnet for Gryffindor, Olivia from Hufflepuff and well...er... Cedric... but that's a different story..."

"Nic..." Xander buried his face in his hand

"What? I had to include him, he was an excellent Quidditch player..."

"Talking about Quidditch, are we?" Florence said suddenly as she appeared seemingly out of nowhere, giving everyone else at the table a scare. She slid in to a seat, plopping her brown lunch bag on the table, as well as an opened letter.

"Merlin, since when have you been that light on your feet? We didn't even hear you coming." Nicolai said, still clutching her chest, making Florence chuckle, "Well Tonks said Phase two of Auror training is disguise and concealment... so I've been practicing ahead." She said, reaching in to her paper bag and pulling out a sandwich, and sighing, "Don't get me wrong, I love Fred to pieces but a girl can only take so much jelly sandwiches."

"Tell him to make something else," Hadley suggested.

"Its the only one he knows how to make," Florence said in a voice of defeat, unwrapping her sandwich. "Sorry I was a bit late, Jules called me up to his office cuz he needed some help looking for files. His office is a big mess, someone needs to take care of it fast..." she said, before taking her first bite.