Nothing is worse than getting your period for the first time and not having much knowledge on the topic, if at all. I was lucky to have Marie there who was ahead of me in that regard. Unlike my mother, Marie's mother was very open on the topic and had explained everything to her when she was six years old.
"Very eye opening but at the same time everyone where I'm from is taught about the body at that age. It just makes sense."
We were on our way to Charms the following day after that horrendous wakeup call when we all started talking about it.
"Well my mother told me nothing about periods so I doubt she will care if I'm on it now.
I jinxed myself with that one sentence because low and behold, Professeur Beaupré happened to be walking into the classroom behind us and eves drop on the conversation long enough to understand the situation. So what did she do?
She wrote to my mother on the news.
Oh yes, you read that right. My charms Professeur had the audacity to announce to my mother that my menstrual cycle had started.
And my mother's response wasn't much better.
Anyone else ever receive a bouquet of red roses in celebration of your first visit from mother nature? Because I did, with a note attached saying that I was flowering or what not and that I should be proud.
This was a letter that I tried to incinerate and would have done so if Marie didn't find it so funny.
What do you know, the next day at breakfast and during the remainder of lunch, said letter was passed around from friend to friend, finishing off with Jacqueline who probably told the rest of the school, because duh.
I even wrote to Sam about it on her birthday letter as a PS, including half of the bouquet of flowers as a joke. She responded with no letter but instead a box filled with witchly pads, and five chocolate frogs.
"So, your friend still refuses to write a single word to you, yet she is willing to shell out that much stuff just because you told her about your period?" Marie questioned as we sat on her bed munching on said frogs. I shrugged.
"D'you think she would send more if you told her I was also struggling?"
"You don't have it yet, though."
"So what! Free chocolate is free chocolate. Wait until I tell the girls about this. They'll have my back on this.
Suffice it to say, this story did not leave me for the rest of spring semester.
I was lucky though, for spring semester turned out far better than I was anticipating. Time started to speed up again when classes get busy. Rosalie became less of an awkward fifth wheel to our group and grew more into herself.
If it was true what they said about her being miserable at Illvermorny, then this semester had given her a 180. Though, I wouldn't say her French magically got better within this time.
She was terrible. So, she was of course the but to all of our jokes, and she learned to roll with it.
"Rosalie, read this," Ana demanded, passing her a piece of parchment with a list of tongue twisters on the page.
Rosalie took one look at the page before scoffing and pushing it away from her.
"Aw you're no fun, Rosie!" She cooed back, only to get Rosalie to take her spin on the phrase and get laughed at.
But then most often than not, we would help her fix her mistake until she managed to speak back to us fluently.
"Watch. One of these days she's going to go back to the states with the biggest glow ups your hometown has ever seen!" Mila predicted, curling her cherry red hair teasingly through her fingers. Rosalie was blushing, but I knew she was thinking the same thing I was.
If she came back "glowed up" everyone would flock to her like they did to me. Question was, Is Rosalie fake enough to drop Beauxbatons for that sort of glory?
When February melted into March, the fountain was cast to unfreeze, and the ice skating stopped and was replaced with late night polar bear plunges.
This caused some great stories to emerge, one of my favorites being Jacqueline racing around the garden, naked, as Madam Benoît chased after her cursing.
The story circulated the school with most people looking at Jacqueline as if she was a hero. All except for a spare few, like Isabeau who, upon catching my eye one day after lunch, stopped short next to the group of us with a frown.
"It wasn't funny, you know. Swimming naked in the fountain is so unsanitary and you could catch pneumonia from running naked in cold temperatures like that."
"Thanks for the input Iz. Unfortunately I could care less," Jacqueline replied back haughty, causing the other girl to turn icy and walk off with her nose in the air.
"So much self-righteousness for such an unpopular girl," Gisele mused as the rest of us watched the girl until she left the hall.
"She's probably jealous," Ana guessed. "No friends and so much bossy energy to work with."
"It's pathetic is what she is," I responded back simply, my back now to the hall door as turned my attention to the clasps of my school bag. I caught Rosalie giving me a knowing look before speaking.
"She reminds me of Elizabeth. Right?"
"Who's Elizabeth?
"No one-" I started.
"A spoiled brat at Illvermorny. She hates Ava," Rosalie replied back, casting me a sweet smile. I took the cigarette from Rosalie and drew a breath while my friends and I started our way to fifth period.
"Who could hate on Ava?" Jacqueline gushed sarcastically as she draped an arm around my shoulders, giving me a squeeze that drew a smile on my face.
"Oh shut up and take it," I replied, handing her the cigarette.
It was also during March that I decided to send Malfoy another letter. This time, I didn't have racing hormones to compensate for anything.
Malfoy,
You can't honestly expect me to write back to you begging for an answer about my father. Whatever you think you saw is just part of your imagination.
As for Black, he would be a bigot to try and find shelter in France; everyone knows that. I only wrote to you about the news because my parents seemed to forget to mention anything on the topic and I was curious.
That and I knew you would answer my letter unlike my brother.
-Ava
I didn't expect an answer from him, but to my surprise, I received one not even two days later.
Fountaine,
Using me to get information? I'd say I'm hurt but I couldn't expect anything less from a Fountaine.
Have you heard the recent news on our Quidditch streak from Spencer yet? Probably not since she cost us the game against Ravenclaw and now we must beat Gryffindor in order to win the cup. Though, I'm not worried. McGonagall took Potter's Firebolt over break so now he's stuck on a CleanSweep if you can believe it.
My father thinks Gryffindor won't stand a chance now that Potter is under close watch. Did you know Black's after him? Of course he is. Come to finish the job I expect.
Too bad you're not here to watch it happen. You're missing out.
-Malfoy
"How to Merlin am I supposed to answer this letter?" I later asked, showing it to Marie and Rosalie before dance class. We were changing into our leo's in the dressing room while the letter was swapped from one pair of hands to the other until everyone had read it.
"He want's your attention," Marie stated simply. I scoffed at the idea but Rosalie was nodding along to what Marie said.
"Write him back. Do what you always do in your letters."
"Which is what?" I asked, finishing the last ribbons to my soft shoe.
Rosalie turned from the mirror, mid pinning her hair back.
"Belittle him." Marie clapped her hands in agreement and pointed to the open letter on the bench next to me.
"He'll hate that. You do that, he'll stop talking to you or he'll try to belittle you back. It would be hilarious!"
So, I wrote back, though I waited a week as Gisele instructed at dinner that night.
"You don't want to look needy. My mother tells me that's a big no no when talking to boys."
"It's not like that with Malfoy. I don't like him like that at all," I responded back through a mouth full of potatoes.
"Mademoiselle Fountaine! Did I just see you talk with your mouth open?" Madam Benoît called out from two tables over.
Cue the eye roll.
At the end of March, the gardens began to look like literal gardens. Buds were starting to appear from the dirt, the green in the trees reappeared and the ice slowly melted.
Care For Magical Creatures was held outside now, though we were required to wear our dragon hid gloves to class to avoid getting burned from cooking meals for the winged horses.
I wrote to Malfoy the day before departing for Spring break.
Dear Malfoy,
I hope you lose the Quidditch final.
With Love,
Ava
"You sure you want to sign it off like that?" Marie questioned, peering over my shoulder. Oliver was also watching from his perch on my bed, his tail waving back and forth lazily. I nodded, proud of my work.
"Absolutely. He'll hate how short this is."
I was right of course. His owl found me all the way back at my Grand'mère's house, snacking on croissants with her as my company. We had been talking about my semester at Beauxbatons and how my dancing has improved when his owl appeared by the window.
"For you? Can't you friends give you a week's peace without contacting you?" Grand'mère argued as I smiled knowingly at her.
"Some of them can't help it, Grand'mère. They miss me."
Fountaine,
Did you just call it a Quidditch Final?
I'll make sure to send you a picture of us winning the cup the moment it happens. Maybe if you ask nicely I'll even get the whole team to sign it.
But don't expect anything else until then. My father has me helping him with the trial for that monster that slashed my arm in the fall. It starts a week from now so I won't have time wasting it on letters like this to you.
But if you're lucky, I'll remember to keep you updated on what happens at the trial.
-Draco
Suffice it to say, I was expecting something better than that. But I was right at least in getting him annoyed enough to stop writing to me, at least for now.
Calling it a win, I folded the letter away before Grand'mère could summon more coffee.
"What was that about?" She asked simply as the coffee kettle floated toward my cup.
"Just Marie writing about her parents again." I don't know what it was in my grand'mère face that gave it away, but I knew she knew I was lying. Thankfully, she didn't ask any more questions on the topic, but rather turned her attention to her newspaper.
My mother sent me a letter before I returned back to school warning me not to set up any plans for the summer break. Of course, she wouldn't go into any detail as to why I shouldn't do this, leaving me to fume and smoke about it to my grand'mère on the way back to the platform to Beauxbatons.
Oliver was on my lap, watching the movement of the green ribbon I had taken out of my hair and dangled in front of him innocently.
My grand'mère was sitting opposite me, tapping her fingers anxiously as the car moved slowly in the traffic.
"You know your parents first priority is to provide for the family, Ava. That's why your parents sent you here for Easter rather than home."
"We have plenty of money, Grand'mère. There is no need to lie about that. The honest reason why I'm not over there right now is because my parents are too busy socializing with their new social circles and-"
"Your mother is providing for you by keeping her attention on social circles ma belle. How else are you to meet people when you're older?"
"Meet People? Older?" I questioned. "What does that mean? I meet plenty of people at Beauxbatons. You can't tell me Mamen is worrying about my social skills now". But my grand'mère only shook her head at my misunderstanding, an almost pitiful look appearing on her face at my confusion.
"You meet plenty of young girls like yourself at Beauxbatons but no boys, especially those from families that resonate with our family's values, ma belle," she said in clarification.
"Boys? Family values? Grand'mère you're not making sense. Our family is not the type to sell me off over family values. That's unbelievably old fashioned and mamen would never-"
"You're being overdramatic. No one is selling you off, and even if they were, you would always have a say in who you end up with," grand'mère clarified again in a snapping fashion.
"Then what?" I demanded. "My parents are really wasting their time playing matchmaker with me? What about my brothers? None of them seem to have matches made."
"Oh they do," Grand'mère cut. "And they know who is to be with who. Generally speaking that is. Theo's match is having trouble now that he is being so difficult in school."
"Generally speaking?" I squeaked. I felt nocuous. How was it possible that something this cliché could be happening right under my nose?
My Grand'mère was not here for the drama I was spewing out and promptly told me to compose myself.
"You can't expect your parents to let you marry lower than where you are now. This method helps both sides of the family. It keeps you living a comfortable life and maintains your blood purity."
"Blood purity! I didn't realize you cared about blood purity," I snapped back horrified at what I was hearing. I never thought my family to be biased by blood and even now I kept up this hope.
"You like Madam Maxime even with her half-giantess blood status."
"And?" she responded back simply. "I respect her for what she is, but that does not mean I want you to intermingle our family name with that type of blood. You have been gifted with two countries worth of pure wizarding blood and it's your responsibility to keep it that way."
I was at a loss for words. Everything coming out of my Grand'mère's mouth was against everything I had believed from my days at Hogwarts and even at home. I had been raised by a half-blood squib for a nanny for part of my childhood for merlin's sake! She must have been fine with blood status.
Unless of course she viewed it the same way Grand'mère viewed Madam Maxime; as a tool to be used for my benefit but with no actual value for one's true self.
"I know this is a shock, ma belle. Your mother asked me not to tell you yet but I thought it best you learn about it before you make any other lingering connections while at school." She was eyeing my cloak pocket where Malfoy's letter still lay.
Oliver took that moment to jump for the ribbon, tugging it out of my grasp and running underneath the seat with it in glee. I clasped my hands together tightly and turned to the window, watching the slow crawl of traffic, even for wizarding standards.
"I could be fine on my own without a comfortable lifestyle," I said slowly, trying to keep my voice stable. It was hard with my outrage bubbling in my stomach, the nocuous feeling only growing with each jolting stop in the traffic.
"Your mother said that when she was younger too, though look at her now. Just as wealthy as when she was born."
"What do you mean?" I asked turning back to face her. "Did you pair Mamen with my father? They didn't meet by chance?" Grand'mère waved her hand away at the idea.
"Who cares how your parents met. They match in social standing, though the amount of interest I had to give your father to handle your mother is more than enough of a reason why I believe you would suffer if you married lower than your class."
It took only one more stop in the traffic to make me hurl up all of my lunch on the car floor, my head pounding.
By the time I found my friends in one of the booths on the carriage, the throbbing in my head had escalated to a full blown migraine. I slumped on the table in-between the girls the moment I sat down and pressed my head against the cold wood.
"Ava?" Gisele asked concerned. I felt a hand press on my shoulder in comfort but rather than help me, I burst into tears.
This led to another horrible flight back to school.
-
In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to speed things along a bit because I have a habit in hanging out in certain scenes for too long. Summer starts next chapter though, which will be entertaining, not to worry!
Hope you like!
-WG-