Author's Note: I don't own Hogwarts, the houses, or anything else that sounds familiar. I'm not J.K. Rowling, but I wish I was. Please review.
Florence's Silence - Chapter One
The whistle blew. The engines began to sound. It was exactly eleven o'clock on the crisp, sweet, September first. This was Florence's favorite day. This was when all of her senses began to come alive. The sleek, shiny red paint of the train was imprinted on the inside of her cloudy blue-grey eyes. The smell of cauldron cakes and sugary pumpkin juice filled the almost empty cabin on the Hogwarts Express. Florence's scratchy, yet comforting robes that lay deep within her bag brushed her skin.
Perhaps this would be a good year, Florence thought. Three years. Florence was required to take the core subjects, of course, but as electives went, she chose Divination, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes. Her eleven classes may be a bit excessive, but without the distractions of friends or relationships, Florence thought the workload would be fairly easy to accomplish.
Florence looked around at the cabin. She enjoyed this, the silence. It put her at peace. The noise of Quidditch games and common room parties was distracting and, frankly, annoying to Florence. While others may enjoy the social aspect of school, Florence didn't. To her, school was strictly about getting an education, in order to receive a sturdy job with a steady income. There would be times to make friends in the future, Florence told herself, wouldn't there?
"Anything off the cart?" A voice interrupted Florence's peace. She fumbled around in her near-empty pockets for a few bronze knuts. She took a nice pumpkin pasty from the cart without speaking a word. The kind woman took the dingy old coins from Florence's slender hand, smiled softly, and pedaled off. The small treat should suffice for the rest of the trip. Once Florence had nibbled the last bite of the pasty, she scurried off to change into her silver and blue robes. These robes made Florence feel normal. Safe. Average. Those robes made Florence feel like she was part of something larger; a greater cause. Florence smiled mutely to herself.
While walking back to her cabin, Florence noticed something. There was now someone sitting in her cabin. A fellow Ravenclaw, she guessed by the robes. He looked oddly familiar. Perhaps she had seen him in the common room? Maybe he was in her classes? Florence just couldn't remember. She could typically remember everything- everything in books that is. Perhaps faces just weren't her strong suit? Florence had never really tried to remember people. Still thinking, she plopped herself down outside the cabin door, which was rhythmically tapping against the door jam from the wind. Florence plopped down outside the door, bags and all, and began to delve deeper into the depths of Ancient Runes: A Beginner's Guide. The rapping of the door against its' frame gave her a good, steady beat to read to.
Just a few pages later, as Florence was arriving at Chapter Nine: Runes in South Africa, the tapping stopped. Florence lost her reading flow. She glanced up. A boy was leaning against the doorframe, watching her read. His vibrant green eyes pierced through her boring, gloomy ones. And he wasn't smiling, but he didn't look angry or sad either. Just observing her, Florence. Nobody ever noticed Florence, and nobody ever interrupted her either. He kept her gaze; it felt like a competition of sorts. Who would speak first, if anyone? It certainly wouldn't be Florence.
"You can come in, you know. I mean, you don't have to, but if you want to, the offer's open." the boy said. Florence looked around, straight-faced. The boy left the slider open. He seemed quiet, yet friendly and curious; in the compartment he took out a sketchbook and began drawing the window and surrounding wall. Hesitant, Florence picked up her bags, sat down on the seat opposite the boy, and opened her book yet again. The silence was not awkward, just comfortable. This was never the kind of silence that was around Florence. Florence's silence was always due to her lack of social skills, and also that her face was always buried in a book, even if she was not always reading it. Florence's silence was people staring at her. This wasn't Florence's silence, and she liked that. The boy snapped Florence out of her daydream by turning toward her, closing his sketchbook, and flipping the muggle pencil behind his ear, all in one swift motion.
"Ancient Runes? Challenging. I'm taking that class, too." Florence stared at him, wide eyed. "So, who are you?" the boy said. She had not expected this; she was enjoying the silence. Florence opened her mouth, as the words were trying to escape but it came out as more of a choking sound.
"I guess I'll start. I'm Lucas. Evans. I'm a Ravenclaw, third year. And you?"
"Um, F-Florence." She said in almost a whisper. Lucas almost didn't catch it.
"It's a nice name." And the silence ensued again, this time until the train stopped. Along the way, they shared a glance at one another every so often, but mostly, Lucas drew, and Florence read. The engines let out steam and slowed.
"Would you like to sit with me? At the feast? I mean, you're in Ravenclaw, I can tell by your robes." Lucas said in a rush. Florence nodded, with a small smile. She followed his dark hair with difficulty in the darkness. They sat in a carriage with a rather loud group of fifth-year Hufflepuff; this irked them both.
Once at the castle, Lucas and Florence took seats across from each other at the end of the table closest to Headmaster Dumbledore. The Sorting Hat's song soon finished, and the sorting began. Florence listened intently to each new students' title, trying to memorize the names and faces of all the new Ravenclaw. While Lucas cheered loudly at each new student who entered the house, Florence stared at him, and the rest of the table, in confusion.
And after the freckled "Yesterley, Ezra" was pronounced a Hufflepuff, the feast began. Lucas dug right in, scarfing down a rather large helping of mashed potatoes and chicken drumsticks. Florence reached for the bowl of roasted asparagus, which remained untouched by the other students. She scooped four or five onto her plate, and began slowly cutting it up, knife in her left hand, and placing the small bits of stalk and tip into her mouth. Florence noticed Lucas staring at her again, the same watchful expression on his pale, but healthy face.
"Is that all you're going to have?" he said wonderingly, after Florence's plate was clear and she had placed the unscathed napkin that was once sitting in her lap back onto the wooden table. Florence nodded, confused. Five stalks of asparagus were plenty for her small appetite. The desserts appeared on the table, the scent astounding.
"But look at this dessert! It's magnificent! This only comes about once a year, and the closest we get to this is Christmas. Shouldn't you enjoy it while you can?"
"I…I had a pasty, earlier…" said Florence, in her timid yet dreamy voice. For Florence to put together a sentence that was not a fact was unbelievable. Most of her own words were either, "Yes," "No," or the answer to a professor's question, and even those were hardly ever audible over the chatter of other students.
Lucas looked at her in astonishment, for when he got on the train and away from his family, sugar was one of the first things on his mind. He shrugged and shook his head violently, as if to get some excess water out of his ear.
"To each his own, I guess…" And he scooped a fairly large amount of vanilla pudding on to his plate, which was already taken up by four different flavors of cake. Florence watched Lucas scoop the pudding into his mouth furiously, getting most of the creamy treat on his nose. Florence gave a silent giggle, but the corners of her mouth gave a flicker of a grin, and Lucas noticed.
"What?" he asked, truly not knowing what he had done that was so worthy of her chuckle. Florence gave a gesture to her own nose, and Lucas got the hint. He grabbed his unused napkin and wiped his nose of the pudding. He gave a chuckle, also, and blushed a bit. The fast was soon over, and Professor Dumbledore gave the school a last word of encouragement. The prefects led the students to their dormitories, and the rather pompous prefect that the Ravenclaw house had the pleasure to receive advised them all to get to bed, though it was just seven o'clock.
Nobody complied. This first night was always full of parties, toasts, and general merriment. Seizing the moment, Florence began to unpack. She laid out her clothes for the next morning, and set her new wizarding alarm. Unlike muggle clocks, when this alarm went off, only Florence would be able to hear it. This was beneficial considering that she awoke at five o'clock every morning just to avoid seeing her roommates. Once the meticulous unpacking was complete, Florence grabbed her Ancient Runes book, which she only had 16 pages left of, and walked down the stairs to the common room, where there was still a lot of noise. Florence placed some muggle earplugs in her ears to avoid distraction. While all of the chatter wasn't completely blocked out, it brought the level down by a few decibels.
Once Florence had finished, she began to walk up the stairs back to the dormitory to review the other textbooks she read, which was all of them. Halfway up the staircase, she felt a pull on the back of her robes, nearly dragging her back down the spiral staircase. It was Lucas. She hadn't seen him since two hours ago at the feast. She concluded he must have gone to the common room party. He looked at Florence with his soft and sincere smile.
"Hey." Lucas said, his eyes again peering directly into hers.
"Hello." Florence's voice was inaudible over the crowd, but Lucas was skilled at lip-reading.
"Did you go to the party?" asked Lucas. Florence shook her head, and indicated toward her book. He nodded, "I didn't stay long. It was mostly just a lot of snogging and dancing. The music was horrible." Florence bobbed her head in agreement, not that she had been able to hear it once her earplugs were in, but from what she could deduce, it was fairly horrific. There was a silence; this time, an awkward one. Neither of them really had anything else to say to one another. Then again, neither one wanted to leave this newfound company.
"Well…" Lucas began. He ran a hand through his almost black hair. "So, what classes are you taking? I've got all the basics, Ancient Runes, and Divination."
"Um, the same. Uh, plus A-arithmancy." Florence said in a rush, not looking him in the eyes anymore.
"Look, if you don't want to talk to me, I get it. But you looked pretty lonely on the train, so I was just trying to help. To be a friend. It didn't look like you had any. Sorry to disturb you." He whipped around and began to walk away. This time, Florence was the one to grab robes. Lucas turned around again. He gave her a stony look.
"Sorry. I-I didn't mean to. T-to come off…that way. Uh, sorry. S-sorry." The sincerity in her eyes told Lucas that she meant it. She was truly apologizing, and her timidity was just her personality.
"Alright." Lucas said with a slight edge to his voice. "But if we're going to be real friends, I need to know more than just your first name. Come on." Fighting the smile that was appearing on his face, he outstretched a hand. Florence was hesitant. Slowly but surely, she took it. Lucas dragged her to a small "studying room" off of the common room.
"Let's play twenty questions. I'll ask you twenty things about yourself, and you have to answer them, no matter what." said Lucas with a smirk.
"That's…that's unfair. I get th-three questions that I c-can say no to." Florence spoke shakily. She still wasn't used to this whole talking to other people thing.
"Deal. Number one: Full name?"
"Florence Charlotte Eloise Violet McKinnon."
"Three middle names?" Florence nodded.
"Number two-"
"No. Three. "
"What?"
"T-the middle names t-thing. That was a question." Lucas began to argue, but she was right. To his dismay, that was a question.
"Fine, number three. Any brothers or sisters?"
"No."
"What are your parents like?
"P-pass." Odd, Lucas thought. He expected her to save it for one of the juicier questions. He thought it would be better not to push it; Florence was beginning to look a bit uncomfortable since Lucas uttered the word "parents."
"Alright. Four: any pets?"
"No."
"Not even an owl?" Florence shook her head.
"Five-"
"Six." Lucas sighed. Was she always this observant, this detailed?
"Okay. Six. Favorite color?"
"I…don't think I have one. I-I never really thought about it." Again, Lucas thought, odd. Who doesn't have a favorite color? If you couldn't decide, that was one thing. But for a kid to not think about it? This girl was a mystery.
"Seven: Favorite food?"
"Asparagus." This was expected. Since it was the only thing she ate at the feat, it must have been her favorite. Lucas smiled at her.
"Eight," he began with a chuckle, "Greatest fear?"
"Failure, I think. B-being a disappointment." Deep. Lucas' biggest fear was rats. Her answer felt so much mature compared to his.
"Nine: What's one thing that you know you're great at?"
"School." Expected.
"Ten- we're halfway done- ever had a best friend?"
"No."
"…Ever had a friend?" he uttered, almost silently, though he was fairly sure that he already knew the answer.
"Pass." Lucas could tell that his instinct was correct. The answer was no. Lucas was her first ever friend. He felt special, yet worried. What if her first friend turned out to be a letdown? He tried not to let the thought enter his mind. He would be her friend, no matter what.
"Ele- Uh, twelve," Lucas caught himself. "Any nicknames?"
"No."
"Do you want one?"
"N-not entirely. Sorry."
"Fourteen: Happiest memory?"
"My first day at Hogwarts. Maybe." That was her happiest memory? I guess that was as good a memory as any, but starting school? Whatever, to each his own, Lucas always said.
"Ever been to a wedding?"
"I think, once. When I was l-little."
"A funeral?"
"…Yes." No explanation. Again, Lucas wasn't going to push it. She obviously did not want to elaborate. Florence twiddled her thumbs nervously in her lap. A small silence filled the room.
"Okay. Well… Wait, what question are we on?"
"Sixteen. Seventeen, now."
"You're tricky!" The edges of Florence's mouth twitched upward. Lucas laughed, "What's your wand made of?"
"Dogwood and oak, and a phoenix feather core. Eight inches." The length made sense- she was fairly petite. No more than 5'2".
"Nice. Mine's yew and vinewood. Dragon Heartstring. Flexible. Thirteen inches. Eighteen: Dream job?"
"Auror. Or a professor. M-maybe I'll work for the ministry? I'm not sure. S-something that makes a d-difference."
"Nineteen. We're almost done. Favorite holiday?"
"Halloween." Interesting. She didn't seem the type. He would have guessed Christmas. Or Easter. Halloween? Lucas wondered why, but didn't want to waste his last question.
"Final question: What's your home like?"
"Pass."
She was an interesting one. Lucas was perplexed. Intrigued. Not in the romantic sense, no, but he wish he had another twenty questions to ask her; Perhaps another day. Lucas lay in his bed, wondering all of these things. He had a new friend, and he was Florence's first real friend. He would make this friendship count.