such a lovely face

Addie skirted around the edges of the Great Hall, trying to avoid notice from most people. But seeing Flo on a table had been enough to catch her attention and then she realized that Pinky had been talking to her … well, Addie couldn’t stay away after that. Her hopes had been that she’d time it right so she could run into Pinky, but that didn’t work out so the next best thing was to figure out what was going on. “A dance team?”

“Yes!” Flo exclaimed, clasping her hands together. She was so excited that people were showing an interest in her new club. Flo and Addie were in the same year and house, and she was more than happy to help her fellow housemate with some dancing tips. “Are you coming to auditions, Addie? We can practice together!”

When it came to these parties, usually Rodolphus had little to no interest in them, especially considering the usual occupants would be most likely peers that he found rather irritating. But when Emma had insisted, that he attend at least some of the party, he had agreed reluctantly, and now he found himself standing there with a glass of punch in his fingers as his eyes surveyed the room. Yet as they stopped upon a certain brunette, who usually he would find rather irritating with her bubbly nature, something about her drew him in. “Constable, has anyone ever told you that you’re rather pretty, despite your occasional infuriating personality?”

Flo pushed herself off the ground and stood in front of Rodolphus, intoxicated by his presence. He smelled good, Flo realized as she inhaled deeply. She smiled at him. “Yes, lots of people have told me I’m pretty.” Counting on her fingers, she started to list off names. “Pinky Parkinson, Edgar Bones, Amos Diggory... Wait, infuriating?!” Shocked, her lips formed a perfect ‘O’. “I’ll have you know I’m a perfectly perky girl.” Flo started smiling suddenly, leaning in closer to Rodolphus. “Would you like to see how perky I am?”

The moment Flo stepped onto the table Amos eyes widened in immediate fear. Not because he was afraid of what it was that she might say, everyone would know sooner or later, but because he was fearful that she may fall and hurt both herself and their baby. A dance team had been the farthest thing from his mind. Would that really be okay? Was she still going to be able to dance in a few months time when her belly was big? Amos truly had no clue how this baby thing worked. Maybe girls had some kind of instinct or something that let them know what would and would not be okay in this sort of circumstance. Either way he had no intentions of ever squashing Flo’s spirit so as she sat back down he turned to her, “Flo….I can’t dance but do you think you could maybe teach me?’

Flo sat back down next to her beau, and batted her eyes at him before leaning her head on his shoulder. She watched as students got up and started walking towards her, preparing herself for the possible questions coming her way. She hadn’t organized a dance routine yet, but the cogs and wheels in her brain were turning as she decided the logistics of how auditions would work. Amos was speaking, she realized, and she lifted her head, blankly staring at him for a moment. “Oh!” Flo snapped back to reality, grinning widely at Amos. “Of course, Amos, but we’ll have to do it in the nude. It’s the only way I’ll accept your audition.”

Florence sat on the floor of the Room of Requirement, her fellow students bustling around her, most of them swapping saliva with each other. She was playing with the hem of her skirt, tapping her wand on it to shorten it more than it already was. A figure stood over her and Flo looked at the man - from his toes to his nose, as her mouth gaped wide open. “Phwoar.”

Pinky threw her arms around Flo, bringing her in for a tight hug. Flo was one of the easiest folks in Hogwarts to get along with. When the hug was finished, Pinky clapped her hands together delightedly. “Ahh, I should have known you would have thought of something already! Are we dressing house colors, or something different?” She was quickly distracted from that train of thought. “You want me to help lead auditions?” She smiled. This was just the best news. “Oh, I’m so excited, we’ll have to get to planning right away.”

“House colors, of course!” Flo said, delighted that Pinky was just as excited as she was about the dance team. “Dumbledore said it would be a great way to - ” Flo paused as she tried to recall the headmaster’s exact words. “Promote inter-house unity and uplift spirits across the school.” She nodded her head, sighing contently. “That’s what I was thinking - but I also have to share a secret with you.”

“You really ought to part it this way.” Pinky murmured, carefully rearranging the hair on Powell’s head. He was being forgiving about the entire thing, letting his sister change his hair without a word of complaint. She smiled, using one of her hands to pat him on the cheek. He was such a good boy, her brother. She was just finishing up, brushing his bangs just the right way out of his face, when the loud voice of… was that Flo? … rang through the Great Hall. “Excuse me.” She murmured to the others sitting around her, rising gracefully from her seat. She swept across the hall, hair fanning out over her shoulders. She brushed a strand from her eyes when she finally made her way to the front. “I would like to audition. Will be given outfits?”

“Pinky!” Flo exclaimed, bringing the girl into a hug as she approached her. She had wanted to speak to Pinky beforehand, but had a hard time finding the girl, as she got distracted by butterflies every time she went looking for her. “Of course we’ll be given outfits, I’ve commissioned the Knitting Club to create some fits for us.” She stepped closer to Pinky. “I was actually going to ask you to help me lead auditions. You know you’ve already got a spot on the team.”

There was grease on the corners of his lip, courtesy of a leg of turkey held tightly beneath his curled fist. It was another lunchtime at Hogwarts, and seeing as how he’d skipped his previous class to run off with another of his mates to smoke, he was quite hungry. He was interrupted from his munching by the sight of Flo at the Hufflepuff table, climbing onto the surface.

As he listened, a single eyebrow raised. He was interested. He dropped his leg of turkey onto his plate, used the sleeve of his robes to wipe the grease from his face, and then stood up. There was a trickle of other students approaching her, but Ludovic pushed past them all until he was standing in front of her. 

“Hey, Flo.” He greeted, smiling. “How much do you think this would interfere with Quidditch practice?”

She was happy to see Ludovic hurry past everyone else and come to her directly. Flo always found it entertaining to talk to him, and she never felt like he was secretly making fun of her, like she assumed everyone else did. The corners of her lips turned up as she smiled at him. “Ludo,” She began, taking his question into serious consideration by pausing for a second. “Not at all. We would just be dancing on the field before the game, but we can practice anywhere!”

Flo placed a hand on her back, and another on her stomach. The recent news had shocked her, though she should have seen it coming, what with the lack of protection she and Amos had used. She assumed that her belly would start growing soon - but Flo had plans for this year, and it would be difficult to follow through with a baby developing inside her. She figured, she had to get started right away. Flo clambered up onto the long table, those sitting beside her staring up at her, aghast. “Sonorus,” she tapped the side of her mouth with her wand. “HOGWARTS - I HAVE DECIDED TO CREATE A QUIDDITCH DANCE TEAM TO UPLIFT OUR SPIRITS! PLEASE COME FIND ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO AUDITION.” She patted the sides of her skirt and stepped off the table, sitting back down. 

“Is this because of the dung bomb I accidentally set of in the common room? I said I was sorry’!”

“You did not apologize,” Flo sniffed. “At least, I didn’t hear an apology. Oh, forget that – how do I get the stench out of my hair?” Flo widened her eyes, tugging on a few strands of hair. “Look – smell this!” She flipped her hair towards Bennet’s face. 

“Me? Why would you be looking for me?”

“What –” Flo huffed, impatiently. “What do you mean, ‘why would I be looking for you’? You stepped on my flower!”

As soon as they reached the kitchens a wave of nervousness washed over Amos. In spite of his early mornings and how beneficial it would have been for him to get breakfast almost immediately after his runs he had never actually been inside the kitchens. Seeing her crouch to get through the entrance Amos feared that his much larger frame might actually get stuck. When he finally did make it he hoped that his relief wasn’t too terribly obvious. He couldn’t imagine how terribly embarrassing that would have been. 

His eyes widened as she grabbed a cupcake. Amos didn’t eat sweets. He never really had and when he did now he usually got sick because his body wasn’t used to it. Before he could say anything though she had pulled him into a broom closet. “Uh….sure. What is it?” he asked, curious at the reason for the sudden closed quarters - though he definitely didn’t mind it. 

Flo blinked. She hadn’t really ever asked for permission before kissing someone, and she wasn’t quite sure how to go about asking Amos if he was alright with it. “If you don’t mind, could I give you a kiss?” She paused, tip-toeing to reach his face as they faced one another. The cupcake shook in her hands – how strange, Flo had never felt nervous before. She had always been a confident girl but Amos made her knees go wobbly. 

Amos looked on in surprise as she slipped beneath the table. Things like this was another reason that he admired her so much. She saw the world so differently and approached situation in a way he might not even have thought to. As she rose he beamed back at her taking her outstretched hand in his. Usually he was weary of the touch of others. There was always exceptions though and with her it was nice that it wasn’t even something that he had to think about it. He felt secure with her. “Craving anything in particular?” Amos asked, stepping away from the table. 

Flo lightly tugged on Amos’ hand as they exited the Great Hall. “Anything sweet, as usual.” She shrugged, not having a specific food in mind. What she had really wanted was to get away with Amos for a bit. She had a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach every time they were near each other, and Flo wanted to explore that feeling. It was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. So she tickled the pear on the painting and crouched down into the kitchen entrance, her tall frame barely fitting inside. Inside the kitchen, she waved to the house elves - who seemed alarmed by her presence, but Flo paid them no mind. She spotted a tray of cupcakes and handed one to Amos, “We’ll split it!” Flo beamed. 

Initially, Flo had every intention of bringing Amos back to the common room, but now... She quickly pulled him into a broom closet. “I have to ask you something.” 

Beau blinked. “Color-ado? Do you mean Colorado? But that’s a state.” He was confused. Why was she bringing up states? McGonagall hadn’t said anything about states, right? He looked around at the students around them. Nobody seemed to be saying anything about Colorado, to his relief. Looking back to Flo, Beau shook his head. “I’m not sure that’s the right thing to say.” One of the reasons that Beau liked to spend time with Flo was that he always walked away from their interactions feeling a little better about his own intelligence. 

“Not that I know that the right spell is.” He grumbled, looking around again. All of the students around them seemed to be under various degrees of confusion, but they all at least looked like they sort of knew what they were doing. He sighed, slumping forward against the desk. “This is terrible. I hate Transfiguration.”

“No, Beau.” Flo rolled her eyes. Sometimes she felt as if she was the only person in the whole school with a semblance of intelligence. “Color-ado, like, color me happy – ‘ah do!” Flo shook her head, laughing lightly. It was so simple, but she supposed it may come across confusing to others. She patted Beau’s arm and finally returned to twiddling her wand between her fingers. 

“I love Transfiguration,” Flo said, absentmindedly. “I mean, I love watching others transfigurate.” She turned to face Beau. “Let’s gossip. How is your beau, Beau?”

There had been many days during his time at Hogwarts where his world had been completely darkened by the chaos of the world around him, especially on days where he was utterly downtrodden by the newest bout of verbal lashing from his father or sunken into a depressive state as yet another letter when unanswered by his mother. Part of him wondered if Professor Sprout had seen that and had paired him and Flo together on purpose. Being around her was like basking in a ray of sunshine, brightening even the darkest corners of his mind without her even intending to do so. Of course he had developed feeling for her along the way and he was absolutely terrified to explore them but for her he really wanted to give it a chance. 

Gently he squeezed her hand, smiling lightly at the way she wrinkled her nose, “I can do that”. Around them the Great Hall really had began clearing out, and not just of those in Hufflepuff house. “Do you want to walk back to the common room together?”

Flo enjoyed the company of most – even Amycus, who had once eaten a handpicked flower in front of her, couldn’t escape Flo’s genuine attraction towards everyone. Those who were nice to her caught her eye even more, and she went out of her way to show affection to them. But with Amos, it felt different – much more different than it had ever felt with Pinky, or with anyone else she had kissed. She wanted to kiss him over and over again. She squealed internally as he squeezed her hand, but attempted to keep her calm. Brightly, Florence let go of Amos’ hand and ducked under the table. 

She popped her head out the other side and slid her body out onto the bench, then stood up on her feet, quickly putting her hair back in place. Flo stretched her hand out, beaming at Amos. “Come on, we can stop by the kitchens on the way.”