Night Changes

two

Florence had her head in Lily's lap on the couch. She was carding her fingers through her hair and humming. "Boys are nasty buggers, why do you think I married a woman?" Lily joked. Florence tried to laugh, to even smile but she couldn't. She felt much worse today than she had all week. It was like everything was finally hitting her.

She couldn't write Blaise and tell him when every little thing happened. He wouldn't show up
at her house anymore, wouldn't be there to talk to anymore. He wasn't hers anymore and now she had to live with that.

"He's probably not even hurt. He's probably just fine," Florence cried out. More tears started to trail down her cheeks as Regulus walked into the room. He frowned. "Mon amour," He whispered, walking over to the table and setting the tea cup down. Regulus bent down in front of them and reached over, brushing Florence's tears away. "Shhh, it's alright, sweetheart," He whispered.

The door was thrown open and they all turned to see Remus standing with the door open. "Come on, get in here!" Remus snapped. Florence sat up, tears still running down her face as she watched Ron and Harry walk into the house with their heads down. Florence's eyes fell on Ron's bruised knuckles. Oh boy. Florence looked back up at their faces, both of them still staring at their feet.

Regulus stood up the same time Lily jumped up from the couch. "What happened?" Regulus asked, sounding surprisingly calm. It scared both of the Potter children. They both knew that when their dad was calm and not yelling, they were screwed.

Harry looked over at Regulus. "We got in a fight," Harry whispered. Regulus' eyes widened. "And who exactly did you get into a fight with? Harry, what were you thinking?" Regulus fired. Harry glanced over at Ron and nudged his shoulder. Ron looked up at Regulus sighing. "I'm sorry, I started the fight and Harry, idiotically, joined in," Ron shot, looking at Harry. That's when everyone in the room saw what Ron had been hiding by keeping his head down. The kid was housing an impressive purple and black shiner.

Regulus gasped. "Ron," Regulus hurried over and grabbed Ron's chin, making him look up. Ron had a split lip and a bruise forming on his cheek bone as well as a black eye. Lily's eyes widened and she went to move across the room but Regulus reached over and grabbed Harry's chin with his other hand, stopping her. Regulus made Harry look up and he slowly squeezed his eyes shut, wincing.

Harry had a cut on his eyebrow and cheek and a bruise forming on his chin. Regulus looked between the two boys. "Who?" He asked. Ron and Harry shared a look. "Blaise and his friends," Ron muttered, looking over at Florence.

Florence didn't know if she wanted to kill or brutally maim the two boys. She knew she'd probably be able to decide sometime within the next few minutes. One of them just needed to say either the wrong or right thing.

"Five!" Remus shouted. "These two idiots took on five Slytherins. Remind you of anyone?" Remus asked Regulus. Regulus looked between Ron and Harry, seeing a young James and Sirius for the millionth time in thirteen years. Sometimes the two scared him with how similar they were to James and Sirius.

Regulus' eyes fell closed as Lily stepped forward. Merlin save him. "Harry, Florence can fight her battles herself, you don't need to jump in for her," Lily scolded. Florence held a finger up. "I can also speak for myself," She pointed out.

Harry looked between the adults in the room. "I didn't start anything! This idiot thought he could take on five Slytherins himself, I simply was helping out a friend and my sister at the same time," Harry said, right as the door opened. James stopped dead in his tracks.

"Why does this feel so familiar? What happen—Is that a black-eye?" James asked. Harry nodded and James looked like he had an aha moment. "This is familiar. Blaise? You started it?" He asked, turning to Ron. Ron nodded and James sighed, looking up at Florence. James gently shut the door behind him.