"Finalement, Paris!" Becky exclaimed as they made it through the International Floo, "Fashion capital of the world!"
"London is a fashion capital too," Anya answered with an eye roll. Years of being Becky's friend had ensured her continuous growth in knowledge of the fashion world, both muggle and magical, "Plus, personally, I like Milan best."
"Well, how's the Italian going then?" Becky teased with a raised brow.
"It's… better," Anya answered hesitantly. Really, the only reason her French was so good was because she'd learned it from a young age and Loid insisted she perfected it to keep their cover, which had been more than enough motivation. Her Italian was definitely getting better, of course, but she could use the practice. Her Spanish, however, well, even a month long vacation in Mallorca hadn't helped much in that area. It was really ironic that even with knowing Latin, a must to understand and create spells, and having learned several Romance languages, she still struggled with new ones. And her papa wanted to add Portuguese next, much to her ever-growing pain.
"Hah," Becky laughed, "Yet you praise Milan over your hometown!"
"I wasn't even born in France," Anya replied with an eye roll, "And maman was from Foix, not Paris."
"Whatever, that wasn't the point and you know it," Becky rolled her own eyes in response.
"Yes, yes, I know: Paris is always a good idea," Anya replied, quoting Becky's favourite muggle film. After Lily had ranted about movies during her stay in Prince Manor at the tail-end of the summer for Anya's birthday, Becky and Rory, who had also stayed longer than their other friends, had admitted they were curious and wanted to see one. Especially after Damian admitted enjoying the one they saw on their date. Ever since, Becky wished to be just like the fashionable Audrey Hepburn.
"See, now that I can agree with," Becky teased back.
"Girls! Over here!" Yor called out. The girls walked over to their parents.
"Well, aren't you excited, dear?" Dianthe Blackbell née Desmond asked her precious daughter.
"Of course, Mama, I cannot wait! A whole Yule break in France, how innovative," Becky answered with a smile.
"It is certainly unusual," Reginald Blackbell replied.
"Well, I hoped Becky could accompany me to visit the Rosier Estate and a stop in Paris for some shopping seemed to be a priority," Anya added as politely as possible.
"Don't quite understand why I had to be dragged into this instead of being allowed to go with my friends to the Swiss Alps," Reynauld Blackbell said crossing his arms, feeling very annoyed about the whole thing.
"Shut it, Reynie," Becky hissed at her older brother.
"Children," Dianthe berated, even when she knew very well her eldest was a fully grown adult studying Medi-Wizardry. Even though he didn't need the career as Blackbell heir, they had decided it was best to keep him occupied.
"Well, should we get going?" Loid said, trying to deescalate the situation.
"Of course," Dianthe replied politely. Although not a particular fan of the Princes and Briars and their clear lack of care for the proper distinctions between muggles and wizards, she was not about to cost her daughter her closest friend and well, despite it all, the connections were too good to pass. Even her machiavellian brother recognized this.
"When will Desmond and his family arrive?" Reginald asked his wife in a whisper as they moved arm in arm into Place Cachée.
"I believe Don said they would be arriving on Tuesday," Dianthe answered just as quietly.
"Good," Reginald nodded, that meant it would only be a day and a half of only having halfbloods and muggle lovers as companions. If it weren't for his brother-in-law's plan, he would have never agreed to this.
"Yes, and it seems that Demetrius will be spending this Yule with his new in-laws," Dianthe whispered back as they walked through a pretty crowded area.
"Even better," Reginald said and she smiled. There was no lost love for her eldest nephew and his pretentious attitude. The boy had little to recommend himself yet thought he was some sort of prince. At least, Damian was a reasonable boy.
"So, darling, where do you wish to start?" Loid asked, looking at his daughter expectantly.
"Becky was the one who wanted to go shopping for new clothes for the holidays so I think she should choose," Anya said, biting her lip. Although she liked new and pretty clothes as much as the next girl, she wasn't the biggest fan of shopping endlessly for them.
"Splendid idea!" Dianthe interrupted, clapping her hands she turned to her daughter, "Well, my darling, should we go to Bonnetvolant or Capenoir first?"
"Ugh, not this again," Reynauld groaned. He'd just been dragged by his mother the weekend before to shop in London for the occasion.
Ignoring her brother, Becky replied, "Definitely Capenoir first and Bonnetvolant second."
"Could we stop at Abringer too?" Anya asked. She knew that the clothes and accessory shopping would take forever and could only hope for a small break at the cafe.
"Oh yes, a good suggestion, their macaroons are delightful," Dianthe replied, looking at the young strawberry blonde with newfound appreciation. Clearly, the girl had good taste.
"Well, then, should we get going?" Yor interrupted, trying to maintain the peace and nicer atmosphere going.
"You lovely ladies should go ahead and do that. Meanwhile we will go to Magillard or maybe Gaston's instead," Loid suggested, noticing the displeasure in Reynauld's face.
"Yes, yes, good idea. We could all meet up in Abringer in, say, three hours?" Reginald added, not wishing to go clothes shopping anymore than his son. He knew how terrible his wife and daughter could be about it. He was willing to pay even more if it meant he could escape the whole ordeal.
"Yes, that sounds lovely," Yor said, and the Blackbell ladies agreed. Anya, however, mouthed at her father a soft "help me" looking dejected at her fate as Becky dragged her away. Barely keeping himself from chuckling at his daughter's antics, Loid waved her off as they went their separate ways.
"Bonsoir, mon frère, what a pleasure to see you again," Loid said as they stepped through the hearth and into the foyer of the Chateau. Philippe Rosier, Head of the Rosier House, was not only Celeste's and Pascal's (the previous Rosier Head) younger brother but a member of WISE. Like his sister Celeste, he had, for a long time now, an estranged relationship with the British Rosiers and even at times his older brother. It was because of this and being a WISE agent that he had been very willing to assist in WISE's venture to get more students away from the hands of Voldemort and Dumbledore.
"Lord Blackbell, Lady Blackbell, Heir Blackbell and Lady Rebecca, please meet my brother-in-law, Lord Philippe Rosier, Head of the Rosier House and our most gracious host," Loid introduced them.
"Bonsoir. It is a pleasure making your acquaintance. I apologise that my wife, Margeux, cannot join us at the moment but she is busy putting our youngest two to bed," Philippe said as he gave a short bow.
"The pleasure is ours," Reginald said as he returned the gesture.
"Aww, are Jean-Pascal and Jean-Philippe in bed already?" Anya interrupted with a whine.
"Oui, it's remarkably late for them but you may see them tomorrow and Geneviève will be joining us for supper," Philippe chuckled.
"Please allow Madame Allard to guide you to your rooms so you may refresh yourselves before our meal," he added motioning for his housekeeper to come. As was the custom with the French, they had other witches or wizards in their employment, sometimes even squibs or family members of muggleborns instead of slave elf labour.
"How French," Dianthe mumbled, studying the housekeeper as they followed her down the hall.
"Damian! Come meet my cousins," Anya exclaimed, as soon as the official introductions were done. She still thought the idea of an official family meeting was a bit ridiculous, given her parents had at least briefly met the Desmonds a few years ago at the Black Yule Ball and had seen them again at Narcissa's wedding but now that Damian and her were an official couple, they had to follow the pureblood customs. Anya pulled him towards her by the hand. She was wearing a velvet maroon dress that brought out the red tones in her hair. It was perfect for the season, according to Becky's insistence, and a good way of not just sticking to her preferred navys, emeralds, and browns for the season. She was just grateful her best friend didn't force her into a shiny silver or gold dress, although she had a terrible feeling the fashionista may just be saving those for the parties.
"This is Lady Geneviève Rosier, Heiress Rosier, and the twins, Masters Jean-Pascal and Jean-Philippe," Anya said excitedly. Geneviève was somehow more petite than her cousin but looked, to Damian's surprise, remarkably like her. Except that Anya's eyes had her father's shape and hints of blue and Geneviève's hair was a soft brown. The tween girl tried her best at a a proper curtsy and her little brothers, barely five or six by Damian's calculations, attempted poor imitations at bows. He bowed back with a genuine smile on his face. It appeared Anya was more of a Rosier than he'd ever realised.
"Pleasure meeting you my Lady, dear Sirs," Damian said with an amused smile. Geneviève gaped at him for a moment and the twins simply giggled.
"You're Anya's petit ami, non?" the younger girl asked and he nodded in reply with a blush.
"You're très beau," she added, then blushed herself, causing Becky and Severus -who had been watching from the side- and the twins to chuckle.
"Oh, ah, merci beaucoup," Damian replied with a flush and Anya just laughed merrily at the sight. Oh, little Génie was a mischievous thing indeed.
"Well, what do you think?" Donovan whispered to his wife, who had been merrily entertained speaking with Yor, Eileen, and Dianthe, as they recalled their own Hogwarts days and discussed more current gossip. Margeux had excused herself to check on the meal.
"Hmm, about what, dear?" Melinda replied, distractedly.
"About Anastasia, of course," he replied, exasperated.
"Oh, she's lovely, perfect for our Damian," she replied with a dismissive hand wave. She'd known from the time in Damian's second year when he had sent an urgent owl to ask for her milk recipe to comfort Anya that the boy was a goner. Since then, she'd done her own digging, using Nola's skills and Becky's fountain of information through the Hogwarts rumour mill and her own first-hand accounts to know everything about the girl. She was a harmless, if silly girl, really. Although, her clever niece had correctly pointed to a recent power shift within the halls of Hogwarts, one that placed the strawberry blonde at the top. It would be wise to have their son established with her.
"Oh, why do I even bother with you," Donovan grumbled, about to turn to converse with his brother-in-law. Rolling her eyes, Melinda pulled at his arm softly, turning him towards her.
"The girl has power, dear, it is quite obvious," she began, motioning towards where all of the younger bunch, Reynauld included, sat around her seemingly fascinated with some story or another, "We shouldn't waste the opportunity. In fact, we should move fast."
Donovan watched for a bit longer, taking note which made Reginald, who was sitting beside Donovan and had been speaking with Eamonn, Philippe, Loid, and Yuri -who had joined the party shortly after the Desmonds arrived- watch the girl too.
"She's right, brother," Reginald whispered. Donovan simply nodded in reply and rejoined the conversation as his wife did the same. Loid watched them wearily but made sure to not show a clue of his awareness on the matter.
"Chéri, I think our petite Génie may have just developed a crush," Margeux whispered in her husband's ear as she rejoined them. They saw their daughter stare in awe as Reynauld Blackbell recounted his adventures in the Swiss Alps, clearly in competition with his cousin Damian to see who could impress their audience more. The twins seemed similarly enraptured but the starry eyed look in her daughter's face reminded her of when she was a school girl and how she and her friends would sometimes admire their teachers.
Philippe frowned as he watched the sight and huffed out, "Non. He's way too old for her."
"Clairement mais, it is like the crush you have on a teacher, ouias? Or like the way you would admire a celebrity you think is très beau and fascinating…" Margeux explained, trying to ease her husband. She was in no way suggesting their eleven-year-old should date or go out with the twenty-year-old.
"Bon, I'm certain he's engaged to some pureblood débutante or another, de toute façon," Phillipe argued back, as if to reassure himself.
"Oui, probablement," She reassured him before calling the children over.
"Come, come, enfants. It is time for dinner. You must be well behaved if you wish to open a present tonight," Margeux urged them. Jean-Philippe and Jean-Pascal rushed forward while Geneviève seemed reluctant to move. Especially when she realised that her cousin was distracted mitigating a fight between Severus and her best friend that her boyfriend had just joined in. And that, with her brothers gone, she would have Reynauld's attention all to herself.
"Allez, allez, Génie," Philippe urged, now a little annoyed. Geneviève flushed, seemingly embarrassed at the nickname and interrupted whatever fight her cousin was trying to appease to get help.
"Anya, papa is calling for supper," she said, and pulled on her cousin's hand so they could walk out of the room as soon as possible. With her face flushed and looking down, she rushed out, hauling Anya behind.
"Génie, Génie, what is it?" Anya asked, worried.
"Please don't call me that," Geneviève whispered.
"Why?" Anya asked, confused.
"Parce que c'est un terrible nickname and papa used it in front of Reynauld," Geneviève whined before running off in embarrassment. She'd said more than she'd meant to.
"What was that?" Becky asked, confused as she joined her best friend. Severus and Damian followed behind, a tentative truce had been created in their concern and confusion.
"Is she alright?" Severus asked, concerned about the mischievous younger girl he'd grown to consider a cousin of his own. Like it wasn’t bad enough that he had to deal with the Desmonds and Blackbells and not get to see either Rory or Lily during the break because they had their own family holidays now they had Geneviève to be worried about.
"Yeah, I think so," Anya said, dazed. Then she turned to Becky, "But I think she has a crush on your brother."
"What?!" both Becky and Damian exclaimed in surprise. They both fondly considered Reynauld a nuisance at best. Then again, he at least had some brains to him and wasn't just a complete fool like Demetrius.
"She can definitely do better than that," Severus hissed out with arms crossed. For the first time in the evening, Becky and Damian agreed with him. In moments, the three were already making plans to fix the situation, much to Anya’s surprise. Chancing a glance at her papa and mama who were making their way to the dining hall with Eileen and Eamonn. The shared look betrayed their surprise as well. This was going to be an interesting holiday season indeed.