Blooming in the Dark (Flora Weasley and Elwin Malfoy romance)

1. The Peace of the Morning

The soft twittering of birds, the gentle rays of the sun peeking through the window, and the distant sounds of the kitchen being worked each provided the same background Flora had spent her mornings in her entire life. As she sat on the floor in front of the floor-length mirror and curled her hair around her wand, letting it fall in perfect ringlets that reached her mid-back, she glanced at the one addition to the room. 

Across from her half of the room, which was covered in white and yellow flowers, a tall bookshelf, and a small footstool on which she kept her things for the morning, was her twin brother's half. They hadn't really shared a room since Hogwarts, but as he had returned for the Quidditch World Cup, they were reunited once again. In a bed of his own lay Bill, his long, red hair tied at the back of his head carelessly. He was perfectly asleep, perfectly peaceful, just as everything in the morning should be. At least, that's what Flora could not help but feel.

After finishing the last strand of her hair, Flora first washed her face, put on moisturizer, and finally, added a thin layer of sunscreen. A clear, glossy lipstick and a light layer of mascara finished her look for the day. Rising to her feet, she flipped her curls a few times and gave herself a final glance in the mirror. With a small sigh, she trailed her finger over a cut at her jaw. It was small by most records...only four centimetres at most, but even still, it was the one part of herself she could never quite help but notice. Lowering her pale hand, she quietly moved over to the closet in the centre of the wall facing the two beds. 

After flipping through the clothes a moment, she drew out a casual white summer top and loose sweatpants. After she had changed, she took two wide bangles from her table. Slipping them on, she felt her thumb briefly brush over the raised scar covering both wrists in single, conjoined circles. Having finished getting ready for the day, she lay back in bed, picking up a notebook, a rather thick manuscript, a quill, and an inkpot. The faint scratching of the quill seemed to stir Bill as, with a small groan, he rubbed his eyes, let out a wide yawn, and rolled over. 

"Morning, sleepyhead," Flora said, glancing over at him with a vaguely teasing, yet undeniably bright smile. 

"Hi," he replied, his voice low and tired-sounding. Forcing himself to sit up, he asked, "What is that?" 

"Publishers want the final draft of Neuance in Potion-Making tomorrow," Flora explained. "I'm only halfway through my revisions." 

"I'm sure it'll be amazing, no matter what," Bill said with a proud smile. Although he was only two minutes older, he had always been more protective of his sister than anyone else. The fact that she was now publishing her third, Ministry-approved textbook at only twenty-four was a fact he proudly regarded as one of the most impressive of her many achievements. 

Aside from a pleased smile and an affectionate glance, however, Flora gave no acknowledgement of his praise. She was shy in her own way, especially when it came to praise of herself. Bill rose to begin getting ready himself when a sudden knock on the door caused the twins to look up. Without waiting for an invitation, the door opened and the older set of twins found themselves facing the younger set. 

Quickly shutting the door behind them, Fred said, "Good, you're both up. We need your help." 

"What've you done now?" Bill asked, his eyebrow raised as Flora pursed her lips to hide an amused smile and set aside her work things to sit up.

"Mum's on a war path!" George exclaimed. 

"But it's only eight-thirty," Flora said, glancing at the clock and giving her brothers a teasing look. 

"Please," Fred said, ignoring his sister's sarcastic comment. "We just need to hide some stuff in your room." 

Bill sighed. Getting up, Flora crouched down on the wooden floor between their beds and quickly brought up the loose flooring under which all four twins had been hiding things since childhood. There was something about the twin life which united them in ways the other Weasley children could not understand. 

"Thank you, thank you!" Fred exclaimed, rushing forward with George to quickly empty their pockets of several bright boxes and candies. 

"You're our favourite siblings," George said, quickly helping Flora slide the loose boards back before disappearing with Fred. 

Once the door had closed behind them, Bill and Flora glanced at each other with barely contained mirth. Breaking into laughter, they avoided each other's eyes as Bill finished getting ready and Flora edited a few more pages of her book, bright smiles adorning the faces of each.

☽ ❂ ☾

When the two came down to breakfast a few minutes later, they were cheerily greeted by each member of the family. Ron seemed to have only just woken up as his hair stuck up on one side and he was still in his sleeping clothes, but otherwise, everyone was wide awake. Although no one quite knew how it happened, the family had settled into a kind of seating plan. Arthur always sat at the head of the table, Molly at his right side, while Percy sat at his left. Next to Percy sat Ginny and beyond her, Flora. Bill sat on the other side of Flora while Ron, the twins, and Charlie sat next to Molly. 

"Sleep well, everyone?" Arthur asked, cutting into a piece of sausage as cheerily as though nothing in the world could have given him greater pleasure. 

"All right," Charlie said, although a yawn a moment later caused Bill to raise his eyebrow at him. Charlie avoided his gaze, instead focusing on his breakfast. 

Soft chatter swept throughout the table for a few more minutes before Arthur cleared his throat, setting aside his utensils and intertwining his fingers, tapping his thumb against his other hand absentmindedly. Everyone quieted, curious as to what their father had to say. 

"So," he said, "After work today, I'm going to need a few people to come with me to pick up Harry for the World Cup tomorrow. Ron, I assumed you'd like to go?" 

"Course," he said instantly, not bothering to wait until he had fully swallowed his food. 

"And I'll need someone to help get his things through the flu network," Arthur said, nodding approvingly at Ron. 

"We'll go," Fred said quickly. 

"Why?" Molly asked, narrowing her eyes at them suspiciously. 

"Oh, come now Molly, if they want to go, there's no reason not to," Arthur said good-naturedly. Molly shifted her still-narrowed eyes to him, but said nothing else, shifting her attention instead to her breakfast.