Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Beauxbaton
Hadrian smiled as he came to a stop in front of the vast and empty looking lawn that rolled across the expansive French countryside, an illusion behind a magical sort of… curtain. Flipping his wand into his hand, Hadrian tapped the space in front of him. He felt his wand brush the barrier, and then it parted like water in front of him. Hadrian stepped through, feeling the magic slide over him to tap his core, making him shiver.
Barrier behind him, Hadrian could suddenly see the stone plaza he so fondly remembered, filled with students and their parents. Hadrian remained separate, simply watching as he approached and smiled at the scene. A tap on his shoulder made him turn in surprise, and then beam.
"Fleur, how have you been?" Hadrian asked in French immediately. He'd missed her over the summer, even if they weren't really friends before the Tournament, they sure as hell were after.
"Good. Gabrielle wouldn't stop recounting the Second Task for Mama." She rolled her eyes as the previously mentioned little sister seemingly materialized from behind her.
"Hey!" Gabrielle exclaimed playfully. "It's not every day you get held hostage by mermaids!" Hadrian laughed, grinning.
"It was definitely more exciting for you than it was for us Champions. Fleur was ready to murder Dumbledore for it." He smirked at the older girl, and Fleur went a little pink as she crossed her arms. Gabrielle's smile dimmed a little, but she shrugged.
"Whatever. Oh hey, are you excited for the Sorting?" Gabrielle bounced in place. "I can't wait to watch it!"
"You're excited about everything." Fleur teased. "It's not like it's new to us, Hadrian and I have seen it over and over."
"I'd be less excited, but I have a reason to be this year." Hadrian grinned, "I'm a Prefect, so I'll need to escort the Ombrelune students to our dormitories."
"Seriously?" Fleur grinned, "Congrats, I've never been Prefect." Hadrian laughed easily.
"I bet you'd have been a good one. I wonder why they picked me." Fleur raised a skeptical eyebrow the same time Gabrielle started laughing.
"It's because you're ahead in literally all your classes." Gabrielle snickered, "They probably think you'll graduate by the end of this year and want to make sure they snag you while they can."
"Eh, the earliest possible time I'd graduate would be January of next school year." Hadrian denied, "Well, according to what I'm guessing about the classes this year." The girls both sighed fondly, and he grinned at them, reaching out to ruffle Gabrielle's neat and tidy blonde hair. She squeaked with playful anger, making him laugh.
"We should head to the carriages." Fleur huffed, watching her little sister try fruitlessly to fix her now messy hair. "They've arrived."
Hadrian turned around to see there were in fact three light blue carriages in the empty space close to the main group of students. The carriages had the golden crests for Beauxbaton on them just as he remembered, two crossed wands with six stars arched above them. Students were climbing into them, careful to avoid the elephant sized golden winged horses with everwatchful red eyes.
"Still don't know why they went with the ones that only drink whisky." Hadrian muttered, picking up his trunk.
"Single malt whiskey." Gabrielle corrected smugly. Hadrian gave her a look, and she giggled.
"Last year you had two trunks, didn't you?" Fleur said, raising an eyebrow at his single trunk in hand. He nodded absently.
"Yeah, but I decided to shrink my library trunk and just put it in my main one. More compact, you know?" Gabrielle threw up her hands with a cry of disgust.
"Is nothing sacred?" She exclaimed, "This is a journey to school, carrying the heavy luggage around is part of the experience."
"So I shouldn't mention both trunks have featherlight charms on them?" Hadrian grinned innocently. Gabrielle stuck her tongue out at him in response.
Hadrian made his way up the golden steps of the carriage, and immediately relaxed in the familiar surroundings. The same baby blue walls, golden benches, and dark blue carpets. He chose a seat, and wasn't surprised when Gabrielle and Fleur sat elsewhere. He was surprised, however, that a few of his friends managed to find him immediately. They'd been actively looking for him, then.
"Hadrian!" Amelie waved as she sat down happily, "I totally forgot to write while you were gone, but I followed the newspapers! You did amazing! Congratulations!"
"Yeah yeah, he's royalty now, we know." Hadrian raised an eyebrow as Trill Bensoir sat down between Amelie and Jaecon. "I can't believe you're a Prefect as well."
"Oh, you're the fifth year boy for Papillonlisse, Bensoir?" Hadrian blinked.
"Hey, don't look so surprised!" The boy crossed his arms, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout. "I'm amazing."
"And yet you've never managed to beat Hadrian's grades." Jaecen smirked. Trill didn't reply but he huffed and blew a deep red curl out of his eyes.
"I'm guessing you all missed me, then?" Hadrian smirked, "Maybe not Bensoir…" The boy sputtered, turning red and spewing denials that made Hadrian burst out laughing. "I'm just messing with you."
"You're mean." Bensoir slumped with his arms still crossed. Hadrian leaned forward across the space between them with a grin, and Bensoir turned even redder as his eyes widened.
"Cute, are we flustered?" He teased, and the sputtering denials started again full force. Hadrian had asked Fred if he minded his flirting, and Fred said he didn't. Hadrian was glad, since he wasn't entirely sure if he was okay with Whatever-He-and-Fred-Were restricting his personality.
"Careful Hadrian, Trill's liked you for years, his heart'll explode." Amelie laughed. Hadrian sat down in his seat more properly, snickering.
"Anyway, aside from Bensoir's nonexistent feelings for me, how is everyone? It's been nearly a year." Hadrian smiled at them all fondly.
"I got my Mastery in Transfiguration!" Amelie cried, pumping a fist. "I'm so excited, this means I can take a secondary class!" Hadrian frowned.
"You could've taken a secondary class whenever, you know I have."
"I know, but I'm not gonna take like fourteen classes at once! That's too much work!" She whined.
"We have eleven core classes all at once." Hadrian raised an eyebrow, "Twelve if you went with Divination."
"Ew, Divination." Jaecen wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I thought Potions was bad."
"Failed potions yet, Monsieur Samîel?" Hadrian teased. "How did you manage without my notes to copy?"
"I haven't failed yet!" Jaecen said, triumphant. "I plan to move up to Year 7 Potions this year. I'm sure I can do it." Hadrian laughed.
"I bet you can. Just don't try to make the potions backwards this time, alright?" Jaecen flushed as the other two in the booth burst out laughing.
"Hey! That was one time!"
"You still did it." Amelie said through breathless giggles, "You started with step nineteen and went backwards through the whole thing, it was hilarious!" Jaecen went to respond, but ended up laughing instead. It made Hadrian smile.
"So, did you replace us with new people from Hogwarts?" Amelie asked, finally taking a much needed breath.
"Hmmm, let me think." Hadrian tapped his chin with a pointer finger, eyeing the ceiling as if it had the answers. "Yes, definitely." Cries of playful indignation and Amelie pretending to burst into tears ensued, and Hadrian cackled with malicious joy. He'd missed Beauxbaton, and them, more than they'd ever know.
"So which was your favorite Task?" Jaecen asked, sending a playful glare towards Amelie as he changed the subject.
"Definitely the First." Hadrian said immediately. "The least stressful, quickest, and easiest." Trill huffed.
"Of course dragons would be the easiest for you." He said, "Not like they're massive fire breathing menaces or anything." Hadrian laughed.
"It's just that, the Second Task involved hostages." He grinned, remembering Fred's shameless promotion of his business afterwards.
"What about the third? It was a maze, right?" Amelie asked curiously. Hadrian frowned, the many trials in the Third Task coming to the front of his mind. Harry Potter… the Crucio… Voldemort… nearly bleeding out…
"It was." He didn't say more, just reached into his pocket and produced a book. Nobody bothered him for the duration of the trip.
Hadrian looked up as he felt the carriage make contact with the ground, wheels meeting the stone landing area forcefully. He tucked his book away and saw his friends glancing at him a little anxiously, making him roll his eyes.
"We're here." Hadrian said, as if no one else knew, and stood to grab his luggage. Everyone else followed suit, exiting the compartment and joining the orderly stream of students dismounting the golden steps of the carriage. In neat rows they spilled onto the grounds, and Hadrian beamed at his surroundings after he dropped his trunk off with the rest. They'd be collected and shipped off to the dormitories after the Sorting, so Hadrian didn't even spare it a glance as his eyes took in the sights.
The Beauxbaton Palace glistened, white and gold as it stood between the vast valleys and hills of the Pyrenees Mountains. The rolling green lawns laid before him, the lake somewhere to the east and sadly not in view. Still, as he breathed in the warm air he couldn't resist the welcomed belonging he felt by simply standing there.
"You're like this every year." Hadrian looked over to see Trill watching him closely. "You really love it here, don't you?"
"Beauxbaton is my home away from home." Hadrian smiled warmly at him, and the boy looked away quickly. It made Hadrian frown slightly.
"Hadrian! Bensoir! You coming?" The two turned to see Jaecen waving them over as Madam Maxime led the first years away, and the upper years went off towards the castle with a teacher. It looked like Monsieur Dupont, the Care of Magical Creatures Professor.
Hadrian smiled at Trill once more and jogged over to Jaecen and Amelie. Bensoir followed, albeit more slowly.
"Someone looks happy." Amelie teased. Hadrian sighed, content.
"Beauxbaton." He sighed, and she giggled, bumping her shoulder against his. He grinned, and the group chatted lightly as they followed the stream of students up to the Palace.
Hadrian studied everything they passed, partway soaking in the familiar sight while also assessing if he could find any differences he might have missed during the previous year.
The Flamel Fountain still stood in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by stone and beautiful potted plants. The large golden entrance doors of Beauxbaton still stood tall beyond it, and they still opened to welcome the students for the start of the year. The entry to Beauxbaton was just as beautiful, the marble floors and gold carvings along the walls in a stream of patterns. Monsieur Dupont led them through the white halls and past the massive archway of the Dining Chamber. Hadrian couldn't help a glance inside.
The sculptures along the walls were as beautiful as he remembered, this year featuring the beautiful false images of idealistic mermaids in every corner. Some were in dance poses, reaching for the sky with their tails curling beneath them, while others smiled out and had their hands in their hair. They were made of the same glistening blue ice that never melted, and were as exquisitely designed as he remembered. The high ceilings were still high, with golden chandeliers still hanging as they always had and slightly swaying to make the light dance. He smiled as they passed it, heading into the Sorting Hall.
The Sorting Hall was one door down from the Dining Chamber, and had six walls. The wall with the door and the parallel wall all the way on the other side, and the four walls diagonally parallel to each other around the room. A perfect hexagon. The Houses stopped in their respective zones, Papillonlisse on the wall to the left of the door, Ombrelune on the right, and the Bellefeuille students across from them on the parallel wall, next to Papillonlisse. Hadrian waved to Fleur, Trill, and Gabrielle on the Papillonlisse side, while Amelie and Jaecen stood on either side of him. Henry Tolleson approached, and Hadrian blinked at the boy in mild surprise. Tolleson usually didn't spend much time with their friend group.
"Oh, Heir Tolleson." Hadrian acknowledged with a nod. "Lovely as always." The boy raised an eyebrow.
"Still as gorgeous as ever, aren't we, Lord Black?" Hadrian laughed, and Tolleson smirked.
"Indeed. Guess who's a Prefect this year?" Hadrian grinned at the sixth year's amused expression.
"Aw, are you the new baby we have?" Hadrian laughed again, nodding.
"Yep. There's an Ombrelune Prefect meeting after lunch, right?" Hadrian checked. Tolleson nodded.
"Yeah, meetings are the easy part. Actually keeping the students in check and patrolling all year is the hard part." Tolleson rolled his eyes, "We patrol in pairs by house, so you'll be with the female fifth year Prefect from Ombrelune."
"Twelve Prefects in the lower years, four in seventh year." Amelie counted. "Hadrian is one of the six fifth years, Heir Tolleson is one of the six sixth years."
"Wait, I thought there were six in the seventh year as well?" Jaecen frowned, "Once you're chosen as Prefect in fifth year you're always a Prefect."
"No, two Prefects become Heads." Tolleson disagreed. "One Boy and one Girl."
"Oooh." Jaecen said, smiling sheepishly. "I forgot about Head Boy and Girl."
"D'you who it is, this year?" Hadrian asked Tolleson, tilting his head in thought. "The Ombrelune seventh year Prefects are… Lady Helena Belmont and Heir Trace Coyle, right? Did either of them make it to Head?"
"Hold on, Lady?" Amelie exclaimed, cutting off any response from Tolleson, "I thought she was an Heiress!"
"Their mother died, so Helena became the Lady of the Belmont Family." Hadrian smiled sadly. "Her little sister is Heiress now." Amelie crossed her arms, frowning.
"I still think it's stupid we can't be Lords." She huffed, changing the subject.
"Ladys are Lords. Just female." Tolleson chided, making her sigh.
"Yeah, but if a woman marries a Lord, she's a Lady. But if a man marries a Lady, he won't be Lord unless she names him her Heir and then dies." Amelie denied, shaking her head, "It's proof Lords are above Ladys."
"She has a point." Jaecen said, grinning. "Well, when you take your title, Amelie, you could always declare yourself a Lord." She laughed, swatting his shoulder lightly.
"Maybe I will!" Hadrian looked up to see Madam Maxime entering, and shushed them.
"It's starting." He whispered, and a hush fell as the other Houses noticed as well.
Madam Maxime strode into the Sorting Hall with the first years strung along behind her, gaping at the white room and marble floors. Eyes caught on the banners above each Houses' group, their symbols on full display.
Ombrelune: A Moon hanging in place, a bright white on a dark blue background.
Papillonlisse: A butterfly, white and delicate as it landed on a leaf surrounded by a lavender purple.
Bellefeuille: Five leaves laid out in a circle, striking and pale on a deep green background.
At the center of the room, Madam Maxime stopped by what looked like a regular podium to those who didn't recognize it. The Headmistress tapped it with her wand, and it opened like a flower to reveal a bundle of arrows. It made Hadrian smile to see the utter awe on the first years' faces.
"These are the Arrows of Beauxbaton." Madam Maxime announced, her heavy voice ringing across the room in French. There was a murmur afterwards as she paused, translation spells whispering in some of the first years' ears. "I shall pick the Arrows one by one, and each will have a name on it. Upon hearing your name, step forward and shoot your Arrow to the far wall. You will know your House by the color it gives you." Whispers hissed in ears as Madam Maxime continued, and she spoke once more when they tippered out. "And so we shall begin."
With a wave of her hand the Bow materialized, and she plucked an Arrow from the bundle before her. Examining the name, she smiled as she called for the first student.
"Nillia Dunnette." Her voice announced. A tiny girl, a full head smaller than those around her, stepped forward. Her thick black hair covered her face from Hadrian's angle, but she seemed extremely nervous. Dunnette was handed the Bow and her Arrow, and Hadrian remembered how Lady Magic assisted.
For his own Sorting, like many others, he had no idea how to even hold a bow and arrow, let alone shoot one. But Lady Magic swept over him and for a single moment, he knew. So Hadrian understood as the tiny first year notched her Arrow and let it fly. Spinning as it was released, the Arrow was consumed with green light and disappeared in a shower of lights.
"Bellefeuille." Madam Maxime announced. "Welcome, Nillia Dunnette."
"Bellefeuille, Nillia Dunnette." The House of Bellefeuille murmured, smiling at the girl as she hurried over to them. Theo said that at Hogwarts, the Houses cheered and clapped for new students. It sounded awfully unruly and chaotic to Hadrian, but then again, nearly all of Hogwarts could be described that way. Beauxbaton valued order far too much for things like that.
And so the Sorting continued, each child walking forward and being led through their Sorting, firing their Arrows and watching them dissolve into sparks and light. House Ombrelune gained twenty five new students, which was pretty excellent for a year's showing. Hadrian smiled at each new student, boys and girls and other children looking nervously at the taller and older students they'd joined. Hadrian remembered how anxious he'd been, how withdrawn he'd kept himself as he processed and overcame his past. The way a few students leaned away from the people around them, and the ones hunched with their shoulders near their ears, made Hadrian almost sad.
As Madam Maxime had the last student come forward and sent him to Papillonlisse, they were dismissed to their dormitories. Hadrian knew the fifth year Prefects were in charge of the first years, since the older years already knew how. It was like a first test for the newest Prefects.
"My name is Lord Black, and I'm an Ombrelune Prefect." Hadrian said, loud enough to be heard, but not a shout, and looked around for his female partner.
"I'm the other Ombrelune Prefect, Heiress Gianna Belmont." He spotted Lady Helen's younger sister and smiled.
"If you'd follow us, we'll introduce you to the Common Rooms." Hadrian beckoned the students from the front, Gianna took the back and made sure to smile at the stragglers. Upper years followed behind that, giving the first years the full view of the Palace without taller kids in their way.
They seemed in awe of the endless shades of white and light grays of the halls, unique carvings and interesting statues on every corridor. The Ombrelune Commons were in the east wing of the fourth floor. The fourth floor had all three Commons, Bellefeuille to the west and Papillonlisse to the south, with the Headmistress Office and Quarters on the north side.
As they arrived at the dormitory, they stopped before a statue of a woman. She was stereotypically beautiful, long flowing hair carved from marble with a small nose and full lips, and her eyes were closed as she looked towards the sky with a vast moon on her chest. The first years examined her with confusion, and Hadrian turned to smile at them all.
"This is Lady Ombrelune, Mistress and Protector of our Commons. She only opens for those of the House of Ombrelune. Once you've been Sorted, you can be introduced to her." Hadrian stopped, making eye contact with Gianna, who smiled and stepped forward to join him by the statue.
"While being introduced, place a hand on the moon. She will connect with your core, and will accept you as one of her own. After that, you can come and go as you wish. If you want to bring someone from another House inside, you'll need her permission." She smiled out at the students, some looking skeptical and others amazed.
"Alright, please separate into two lines. One in front of me and one in front of Gianna. It'll help us go through the process smoothly." Hadrian watched as they separated, some kids instinctively moving to gather in boys and girls, while some students noticed this and purposefully chose the opposite to mix things up. Good for them. Herd mentality usually wasn't a good idea. "Gianna?" Hadrian prompted. She shook her head.
"You first, Lord Black." He nodded easily, and stepped to be right beside the statue.
"Alright, c'mon. Don't be afraid." Hadrian beckoned to the first student in his line, and he took a shy step towards Hadrian. "Press your hand to the moon and state your name." Hadrian murmured encouragingly, a translation spell twittering in the boy's ear. Determined brown eyes looked at the statue, and he reached out a pale hand.
"Me llamo Alejandro García." The boy said firmly. Hadrian smiled gently at the foreign language. He then pressed his own palm to the moon, right beside Alejandro's. Warmth flooded into his palm, and from the way the first year gasped, the other boy felt it too. Hadrian removed his hand, nodding for the other boy to do so as well, and the statue was suddenly non-corporeal.
"Go on." Hadrian encouraged. The boy reached out a hand, and it went right through the now misty statue. Hadrian watched this, and then turned to Gianna as she tapped him on the shoulder.
"You should go with him, I just realized the firsties shouldn't be in there alone. I got the rest of the kids." She looked like she was halfway between sheepish and amused, so he laughed quietly.
"Sure, sounds good." She smiled at him, and Hadrian turned to press his hand to the moon and step through the statue after the small boy. He was staring open mouthed at the space around him, which was a fair reaction.
The Common Room opened to the same marble floors and white walls, but there were warm blue rugs around the room and deeply pigmented curtains hung over the bay window that showed off their man made lake. Chairs and small round tables made of lightly colored wood sat before the window, ocean blue cushions on the chairs and sky blue tablecloths. A fireplace sat directly across from the entrance, the flames bewitched to crack in millions of shades of blue. Above them was a dark blue ceiling with dozens of twinkling constellations decorating it in a way that amazed hundreds. Unfortunately, it was nothing compared to the starry night sky ceiling in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. Hadrian wondered faintly if he'd see anything as beautiful as that Hogwarts ceiling on the night of the Yule Ball ever again.
Hadrian watched as students came through one by one, each meandering around the space and taking in the sights with awe. Some even shyly chatted, smiling and giddy about their new House and place at Beauxbaton. Inevitably, students gathered in groups of their native language. Beauxbaton usually had students that came from France and Spain, but sometimes they also received kids from Italy or Germany, and even from Sweden. Though, very rarely from the latter.
Finally, Gianna stepped through and signaled that she'd finished. Hadrian joined her, their backs to the entrance, and they assessed the kids in front of them.
"This is the Ombrelune Common Room, where you are free to spend your time in any moment outside of classes." Gianna smiled. "You have a curfew, which is eight pm. After that you're required to be in here, though not required to sleep. However, I do recommend it, since breakfast is at eight am on school days."
"The upper years can help with anything you need, but we'll be introducing you to all of the Prefect tomorrow morning. There are two in each year in each House, so you'll have lots of options of people to go to. Sound good?" The kids nodded, though some responded verbally as well. It made Hadrian smile fondly.
"Now, if you'd follow me, I'll take all the girls to the female dormitories, and Hadrian will take the boys." Gianna announced, hands on her hips.
"Of course, if there's a problem with picking a side, just let us know. We have a separate place where you can be more comfortable, so don't you worry. It's not an issue or an inconvenience for us." Hadrian assured the students. With that, the first years separated into their groups, and Hadrian and Gianna made eye contact as they assessed the kids in the middle.
"Do you six mind waiting while I give the girls their tour?" Gianna asked, smiling at them. The group nodded, some seeming to sag in relief as they realized the Prefects were serious about accommodations. It was sad they might've thought they were being lied to, but it was inevitable for people who didn't have support growing up. Seeing Gianna had it handled, Hadrian led the boys up a staircase on the left, knowing the girls were to go up the right.
The staircase was a spiral, going upwards into a turret that connected to an upper floor corridor. Hadrian always loved the way it looked outside; two spirals heading upwards to form a sort of archway. The girls went up the other spiral, but the corridor was divided in two with a wall. They were on the same floor and corridor, but still separate. It was made so they didn't have to build completely different floors for the main two genders.
"There are large rooms for each year, yours being the first door." Hadrian reached the top of the stairs and led them through the first door on the long corridor. "These are your sleeping quarters."
The room was much like those of the upper years. There were thick blue curtains around each bed, which also had a dresser. The beds were all twin sized, and had white mattresses with soft blue sheets and darker blue comforters folded on top.
The girls dormitories were identical, and the rooms below the Common Room were much the same as well. Those beds were for anyone who fell anywhere in between or outside of the binary gender scale. They were through a door behind a blue curtain in the Commons to keep it more private, and down the staircase were roughly fifteen available beds and a bathroom. But Hadrian had only been down there once, since he was firmly male.
"The beds are labeled, with your name magically stitched into the curtain." Hadrian said, pulling himself back to the present as he approached the nearest bed and showed off the small golden stitching near the bottom of the curtain. "Please find your beds, where you'll find your luggage waiting behind the curtain."
Each boy excitedly checked each curtain, some even calling out the names of others if they didn't find theirs. It was a little chaotic, but very efficient. Once every boy found their bed, they threw back their curtains and looked around happily at their little spaces. Hadrian cleared his throat lightly, smiling at them as they looked over.
"The bathroom is on my left, and it has five showers, five toilets, and five sinks." He said, pointing at the white door for them all to see. "Please keep your toiletries in your own areas, because they'll surely be lost if you try to keep them all in the bathroom." A few kids snickered at the statement, while others nodded seriously. "That's all I have for you, except that lunch is to be served in an hour. I'll be up to collect you before then, but feel free to come down and mingle if you like." With one last smile and a wave, Hadrian slipped out of the room and back down the stairs.
He was happy to see the room empty of first years, meaning Gianna was downstairs with the rest of the kids that weren't her girls. So, Hadrian exited the Commons and grinned as he came face to face with the mass of Ombrelune upper years waiting in the corridor for the first years to be settled.
"You all can come in now, they're all set up." Some of the students cheered quietly, while others slumped in relief. Hadrian remembered having to wait while first years were introduced, but he'd never minded it. Just more time to read, in his opinion.
As he reentered the Common Room and took a chair by the window, watching the other students stream inside as they chatted happily, he grinned.
Home at last.