harry pov

I laid awake for most of the night. I had so many thoughts in my mind. Why was Florence wearing Malfoy's hoodie? What were they talking about? Why did he kiss her? 

Why do I care so much? Maybe I should just leave her to do what she wants. Yeah. I'll leave it.

No. I can't. I care about her too much. Malfoy's an ass for what he did to her and I'll make sure he doesn't get near her again.

Jeez, I sound like I fancy her or something....

----

I woke up feeling as though I had just fallen asleep. This is what I get for stressing about Florence so much.

She entered the great hall today looking somewhat lost in thought. It made me wonder how she was really feeling about everything.

The four of us sat down and had our daily morning chat. This time about our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor R.J Lupin.

"But just look at him!" Hermione exclaimed. "He looks like a drunk who hasn't slept weeks!"

Florence nudged her arm. "Oh cmon Mione! You don't know what he's been through. Plus, he saved you all from the dementor on the train."

"That's true, but bloody hell I agree with Hermione on this one. Look at him!" Ron said.

We all slowly turned our heads to examine Professor Lupin. He was slouched over, with huge bags under his eyes, slowly cutting his scrambled egg.

"Well as long as he's not like Lockheart or Quirell then we'll be fine." Hermione said.

"With my luck he'll be worse than them combined." I said, not looking up from my eggs and bacon.

Everyone gave me sympathetic looks.

I subtly scanned the room looking for Malfoy, but he wasn't here. Lucky for him.

Seamus burst into the great hall screeching "He's been sighted! He's been sighted!" He slammed down a newspaper onto the table for us all to see.

"Who?" Ron asked.

All the Gryffindors gathered round while the other houses tried to listen in.

"Sirius Black!" Seamus replied.

"In Dufftown? That's not far from here." Hermione gasped as she read the article.

Fred and George looked worriedly at each other.

"What if he comes here?!" Lavender Brown asked, sounding terrified.

"Even so, Hogwarts is the safest place right now, so we'll all be fine I'm sure." Katie assured us, trying to keep calm.

"But Black could be anywhere. It's like trying to catch smoke." Bem said grimly.

Ron, Hermione, and Florence all looked at me with a concerned face. I had to admit, I was starting to feel a bit scared now.

He was coming for me after all.

----

After finishing our breakfast we made our way to the DADA classroom. I noticed all the chairs and tables were piled at the side of the room and a single wardrobe stood alone in the middle of it all.

I looked around to examine the room and noticed Florence had left my side and was away talking to Malfoy.

Laughing. They were laughing. Draco Malfoy was laughing. It annoyed me so much because Malfoy doesn't laugh, and the one time he does, it's with Florence.

Anger boiled up in me as my body was edging me over there to use my wand on him. But getting another detention on my school record would set Vernon on a rampage, so for the first time, I didn't do anything.

I looked away from them and focused on the wardrobe that was shaking and rattling uncontrollably.

"Intriguing isn't it?" Professor Lupin asked as he saw all of our curious faces. "Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what's in there?"

"It's a boggart isn't it?" Dean answered.

"Very good Mr Thomas. Now, would anyone like to tell me what a boggart looks like?" Lupin asked.

Hermione's hand shot up. "No one knows."

"When did she get here?" Ron asked me.

I shrugged.

"Boggarts are shape shifters. They take the shape of whatever a person fears the most." Hermione continued.

"Couldn't have put it better myself, Miss Granger." Lupin smiled and Hermione glowed. "Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart. Repeat after me, Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" The class repeated in unison.

"This class is ridiculous." I heard Malfoy say under his breath. I looked over and saw Florence giggling quietly.

I ignored the jealousy churning in my stomach and turned back to see Lupin whispering something in Neville's ear. Neville gulped and stood in front of the wardrobe. Lupin unlocked it and Professor Snape barged out.

"Riddikulus!" Neville shouted, pointing his wand directly at the boggart.

Snape reappeared in strange old women's clothes and the whole class erupted into laughter.

"Everyone form a line!" Instructed Lupin.

The class shuffled and stumbled into a line, trying to get as close to the front as possible.

Ron goes up next and Professor Snape transforms into a massive, hairy spider. Ron's face fills with fear as he quickly shouts "Riddikulus!"

Roller skates appeared on the spider and it begins sliding around everywhere. Laughter spread throughout the room as it stumbled.

Next Florence goes up. Her boggart turns into a........... weird looking snake tattoo on someone's arm? I watched as her face dropped, and for a moment I almost thought she was going to faint. I watched as Draco's eyes widened and he looked nervously around the room.

What am I missing? It's just a tattoo.

Florence took a deep breath and shouted "Riddikulus!" as the tattoo peeled off like a sticker and flew around the room. Amongst the laughs Lupin looked curiously at her. Something was going on. Something strange.

Ron left my side and pulled Florence into a hug. She looked as though she needed it after that. He then walked back over to me.

"And to think, my boggart was a bloody spider." He whispered sympathetically.

"What was that?" I asked him.

"What?"

"Florence's boggart."

Ron turned to me with a strange look. "You don't know?"

"No?"

He checked to hear if anyone was listening. "It's his mark, Harry."

"Who's?"

"Voldemort's."

I froze.

"His followers, the deatheaters have them."

What did this mean? Why was Florence's biggest fear a deatheater tattoo? Was this another thing she's kept secret?

One by one more students moved to the front of the line to face the boggart.

Padma Pavil's turned into a snake.

Dean Thomas's turned into a severed hand.

Seamus Finnigan's turned into a banshee.

Finally it was my turn to face the boggart. I stepped forward and waited.

My boggart turned into a dementor. The whole class screamed and ran to the back of the class. I froze. It came straight at me until Professor Lupin jumped in front of me. His boggart turned into the moon.

"Riddikulus!" He shouted and the moon turned into a balloon that began deflating and shooting across the classroom. Lupin held the wardrobe door open and the balloon flew right back in.

"Class dismissed!" Lupin said, and everyone walked out chatting.

Ron, Hermione and I were last to leave and we walked down the hallway. I was behind them as they were arguing in front of me, like usual.

Suddenly I felt a hand grab mine and pull me into a darkened room. The person put their fingers to my lips to stop me from shouting for help. As my eyes focused on the dark, I saw Florence.

Phew.

"Bit dramatic, no?" I laughed.

"Okay, yes, maybe. But what's life without a bit of excitement?"

"I thought I was getting kidnapped but if you call that excitement then......."

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Are you okay after your boggart? Not that I care of course."

I grinned. "No of course you don't care. Why are you asking?"

"I just realised it must've been bad when Lupin jumped in front of you." She said, trying to hide the worried look across her face.

"I'm okay, Florence. Just a bit embarrassed Malfoy now knows my biggest fear that I didn't even know was my biggest fear."

She laughed as we went back out into the light of the hallway. "I'll make sure he doesn't do anything, don't worry."

"Yeah about that, are you two like......friends now?" I asked, I could feel the anger resurface as I thought of him.

"I guess you could say that." She smiled, looking at the ground.

Why did she look happy about it? Did she......like him? In a more-than-friends type way?

"And so it was him you were seeing last night?" I questioned.

She paused, pursing her lips. "Yes, it was him, okay? Don't get all mad at me I don't have to explain why I lied, I just thought-"

"Hey," I put my hand on her shoulder. "Shush."

She narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"You don't need to explain yourself. You can do whatever you want."

She looked up at me with an almost shocked look. "Thanks, Harry. You know, I am sorry for lying. I just thought it would be easier to say it wasn't him."

"I get it. But just know this Florence, he can be a right git. I've heard things from my quidditch teammates, and none of it's good."

"I know Harry, I don't need-"

I shook my head. "No. You don't know Florence."

"Harry listen." She said strictly. "Like I said before, I don't need protecting. I don't need you around as my bodyguard!"

"Well maybe you do Florence!" I defended. "Maybe you do!"

Her face was filled with disgust. "What the hell makes you say that?!"

"I saw him!" I blurted out. "I saw him forcing you to kiss him on the Astronomy tower! He-he had his hands all over you like you were his. He can't do that!"

Oh great. Great job Harry.

She  looked at me with betrayal in her eyes. "You followed me?"

"I-I'm so sorry. I had a feeling it was him you were seeing and I just wanted to keep you safe. I only wanted to protect you, I swear. When I saw him do that to you, I wanted to-to...." My voice trailed off.

I felt awful. I know I shouldn't have followed her. I've just never felt this protective over anyone before.

She looked at the ground. "He was just confused Harry, that's all. It's not a big deal."

"That's no excuse Florence and you know it. Stop trying to defend him. I won't have it."

"He's my friend. He has been since like forever." She replied quietly, twirling her finger through her hair.

Friends? They were friends? They have a history?

"Friends don't do what he did."

"Don't do anything, please. Promise me you won't do anything." She begged.

I looked in her innocent tear filled eyes. "Fine. But only because you asked."

She stared at the ground for a moment before looking up with a look of fear across her face that she was trying to hide. "How much did you hear last night?"

"Only a little. Why?" I asked, panic slowly rising in me.

She looked up at me and I saw a tear roll down her face. "I don't know if I can tell you. You'll hate me forever."

It broke my heart to here her say that. Even though we were in the middle of an argument, every bone in my body was urging me to pull her into my arms and hold her. But I didn't.

"You can tell me anything Florence, and I could never ever hate you." I said softly.

"But it's bad Harry, really bad." She said this almost as a whisper.

Her tears were still falling as we sat on the stone bench in the dimly lit hallway of the castle. Her hands were shaking and I could tell she was nervous.

"I promise I'll understand." I said, placing my hand on hers.

She took a deep breath and turned to face me. "There are things about me that I just can't tell you. So I'm only going to tell you what I can for now. You need to understand that first, and when I'm ready, I'll tell you the rest."

I nodded. It couldn't be that bad.

"I've been so weird with you since I met you. I've never truly let myself like you for one reason- my family."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Sirius Black. The mass murdering lunatic that's after you,....................I'm related to him." She closed her eyes as if I was going to shout at her.

I didn't say anything for a minute. I had to process what she had just told me. She was related to Sirius Black, the man who was trying to kill me.

"We're...........distantly related." She said, blinking awfully fast. "Can I explain something else?"

I nodded hesitantly.

"That night, what you saw up in the Astronomy tower, it was nothing. My parents are................ deatheaters you could say." She paused before continuing. "They left me at a very young age and I was forced to live with the Malfoy's. I grew up with them, meaning I spent everyday with Draco. So we became friends, best friends. And everyday Lucius would try to force me to become a deatheater like him and my parents. One day I told him how I really felt, that I would never be a deatheater. He sent me away to Beaxbatons and away from Draco. He forbid me to speak to Draco and Draco never knew all this time, he thought I just left him. Then, uh- something happened at my last school and I was moved here. And-and-"

Her parents are deatheaters.

She is childhood best friends with Malfoy.

This girl is much more interesting than I thought. It just makes me sad that she thinks this would change anything.

"I'm not mad at you, and I definitely don't hate you. How could I?" I interrupted her. "You aren't your parents, or the Malfoy's. I know you, and I know you're good."

She smiled lightly before frowning again. "I'm just scared that if Sirius comes here, he'll try to kill you or try to make me a deatheater........or both."

This must be why her boggart was that tattoo. It was the deatheater mark. It all makes sense now. She hates them and everything they stand for. But she was brought up around them. I can't help but wonder who her parents are.

"If Sirius does come here, we can do this together. I won't let him touch you." I said, holding back to urge to touch her hand.

She smiled. "Thank you Harry. And about Draco, he's been through a lot. He acts without thinking sometimes. That's the main thing I remember about him."

I know she's trying to make this seem okay, but nothing that Malfoy did that night was okay. She's just too sweet to say so. Florence is the type of girl who sees the good in everyone, even when there is none to see.

I can't help but think Malfoy has a plan. He obviously has a thing for her, and knowing him, he'll stop at nothing till he gets what he wants. In this case, it's Florence.

"I get it." I lied, to convince her I was fine with it. "I'm so sorry Florence. I'm so sorry I yelled at you. So sorry I followed you. So sorry for everything. You don't deserve that."

Her face was beginning to take it's usual happy glow. "It's okay. You were only looking out for me. It's nice to have someone who cares. I've never really had that before."

"I'll always care. And I just want you to know all of this changes nothing, okay?"

She smiled at me with the type of smile that could cause flowers to bloom or birds to sing. "Okay."

I was relieved that she felt like she could tell me something as big as that. I now realised that we had the same problem, Sirius Black.

----

florence pov

I felt a weight lift off my shoulders as I told Harry about Sirius and my past with Draco. I wish I could tell him about everything.

We talked some more and agreed that I would tell Hermione and Ron everything soon. I planned to tell them about Draco and Sirius at Christmas time, this way I could properly prepare myself.

After Harry and I's conversation, we decided to skip dinner and go straight to the common room instead.

We were sat by the warmth of the fire with a blanket over us.

Harry ran back from his dorm with some sweets from him and Ron's secret stash. We talked and laughed for hours and I never wanted to leave that moment.

As much as I knew it was wrong, I could help but love being around him.

I watched him as he told me about his tactics for the next quidditch game. I loved the sparkle in his eyes and excitement on his face as he talks about something he loves. I haven't seen him this type of happy before.

Wow, I sound like I fancy him or something....

Don't be stupid Flo. I know he only likes me as a friend. There's no way the chosen one would fancy someone like me.

And even if he did like me back, nothing can happened anyway. It would be doomed to fail.

I'm a walking bomb that's bound to explode and destroy everything.

And he's yet to find out why.