She was prepared to face almost every emotion in Mr. Fudge's body as he confronted her, but worry was not among them. His expression significantly softened, leaving Flora feeling very uneasy in his presence. He'd gone from pouty to accusatory to concerned in less than a minute's time - which, she realized, wasn't all that out of character for the temperamental Gryffindor, and probably helped explain why he'd been placed in that house to begin with.
(Still, it didn't making handling his ever-changing emotions any easier, so her frown remained.)
"Mr. Bulstrode does not smell funny," she responded, taken aback by his sudden condemnation of his dorm-mate. "And nobody has upset me." Nobody apart from him, but she held her tongue.
Flora had an image she wanted to protect as she formed an identity at Hogwarts, and it involved remaining calm, cool, collected, and perfectly respectable. Fights and bickering in the corridors (with a student of the opposite sex, no less!) was unacceptable in her opinion, and would not help her become a prefect like Mama. She was no longer a girl; she was a young lady, and being a young lady meant putting aside what remained of her childish attitudes. Her emotions were best kept close to heart and not on her sleeve - a piece of wisdom her governess had impressed upon her, but one that she'd disregarded in her limited, infuriating interactions with Mr. Fudge.
"I have thought it best that we remain..." What was a good word? Separated? Distant? Should she abandon the sentence entirety? "...in our own spheres," she finally decided, though it was a sentiment that did not come across as tactfully as she'd intended. She had her own friends, and she presumed he had his own (unless his parents had kept him locked up in the resort for most of his young life, which seemed unrealistic and almost cruel). And besides, it was not as if they had known each other for years; their friendship - if it could even be called that - was unimportant in the grand scheme of things, and she did not believe it meant much to him.
"Homework has kept me busy, anyways," she continued, feeling that stopping at her previous statement might evoke emotions from her she did not wish to see. "They say forming a solid foundation of magical knowledge in one's first year is essential to success in the later ones."
(Still, it didn't making handling his ever-changing emotions any easier, so her frown remained.)
"Mr. Bulstrode does not smell funny," she responded, taken aback by his sudden condemnation of his dorm-mate. "And nobody has upset me." Nobody apart from him, but she held her tongue.
Flora had an image she wanted to protect as she formed an identity at Hogwarts, and it involved remaining calm, cool, collected, and perfectly respectable. Fights and bickering in the corridors (with a student of the opposite sex, no less!) was unacceptable in her opinion, and would not help her become a prefect like Mama. She was no longer a girl; she was a young lady, and being a young lady meant putting aside what remained of her childish attitudes. Her emotions were best kept close to heart and not on her sleeve - a piece of wisdom her governess had impressed upon her, but one that she'd disregarded in her limited, infuriating interactions with Mr. Fudge.
"I have thought it best that we remain..." What was a good word? Separated? Distant? Should she abandon the sentence entirety? "...in our own spheres," she finally decided, though it was a sentiment that did not come across as tactfully as she'd intended. She had her own friends, and she presumed he had his own (unless his parents had kept him locked up in the resort for most of his young life, which seemed unrealistic and almost cruel). And besides, it was not as if they had known each other for years; their friendship - if it could even be called that - was unimportant in the grand scheme of things, and she did not believe it meant much to him.
"Homework has kept me busy, anyways," she continued, feeling that stopping at her previous statement might evoke emotions from her she did not wish to see. "They say forming a solid foundation of magical knowledge in one's first year is essential to success in the later ones."
