Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(184) Evaluation Day

Florence and Hadley were not sure as to what the evaluation was going to contain. And it was less than a day away.

She had tried to ask Julien about it, but he said that it was confidential, and that Junior and Senior Aurors were not allowed to give trainees even a single tip about how it was going to go down. He had repeated the same thing Robards had told the group when asked what the evaluation would cover, and that it was a test to see if they had internalized everything they were taught during the year.

Which was a lot.

Normally, Florence was good at studying for tests. Being a Ravenclaw gave her the advantage of a good work ethic, as well as always having the sense of staying on top her work. But this was a test she couldn't really study for, and that detail alone stressed her out. She hated when she had no control over a situation, especially something that determined her future in a career she really wanted. She thought of this rather bitterly as she sat in her living room couch, subconsciously frowning as she stared intensely at a wall, engrossed with the motions going through her head.

Fred had gone up to the apartment briefly to get some important documents, walking in to the room and immediately seeing the annoyed and contemplative look on Florence face, making him chuckle, "You have that face on again."

Florence snapped out of her trance, looking to him rather curiously, "What face?"

"That face you make when you realize some things are out of your control."

He knew her too well.

She sighed rather dramatically, "Its the evaluations. I still don't know what they are... I've asked Julien, bugged him even. I used everything I had against him at my disposal, hell I even guilt-tripped him about something. You know I hate guilt tripping people but it had to be done. He still didn't budge, though."

Fred plopped down on the couch, deciding to spare a few minutes to coax her out of her mood, "Aw, but you can't really blame him, can you? He's Junior undersecretary. A very fancy title, with a very big obligation. It will be actual Nepotism if he tells you about evaluations." he said, Florence slouching deeper in to the couch as she saw his reasons to be completely valid, "Did you try Tonks, though?"

"I wrote to her. She said the same thing." she said rather glumly, "I was thinking of going over to the Manor and pestering her myself but Sloan is there and surely he'll tell me off for doing so."

"Yeah, its not the best idea." Fred agreed, "Well... you can't just stay in here and frown at the wall. Its done nothing to deserve such hostility."

Florence sighed, "I don't know what to do, or what to prepare for. I feel so helpless."

"I know, my love. Why don't you go out? Go on a walk to clear your head a little bit." He suggested, getting up from his seat and planting a kiss on her temple, "I got to head back to work, okay? Take care on your walk."

Florence did just that, slipping on one of Fred's letter jumpers and a pair of shoes, before heading out in to the streets of Diagon Alley. It wasn't as busy  in the late afternoon, some of the shops ready to close down their businesses for the day. The air was chilly, Florence bracing herself as she made her way to Florean Fortescue's.

The ice cream shop, as Florence and Nicolai had discovered the other month, also sold very good hot chocolate. Florence thought a cup of it with extra marshmallows would be enough to take her mind off of things.

She sat down at a booth, stirring her hot chocolate with a spoon, watching the hot liquid slowly dissolve the marshmallows floating around.

She was just about to take her first sip when a person slid in to the booth with her, taking the seat opposite from hers. Florence looked up, and froze, instantly recognizing the raven-haired girl and the sinister smile on her face, "Hello, Florence. Fancy seeing you here."