Chapter 2
Prologue: Chapter 2
Suddenly, she begins to fall, and fall and fall and fall, then suddenly, she's in this strange house, she was laying on a simple white bed, wearing a light blue night dress, a blue bookshelf in the corner and a wardrobe, presumably holding clothes, on one side, with dark blue french windows above her, the room, while small, felt comfortable, and homely.
Then a letter appeared above her, addressed to her, so she opened it
‘Hello Hermione, this is from Death, your in France, 1990, you’ve just turned eleven and will soon receive you letter asking you to join Beauxbatons School, you name is now Hermione Rousseau (get it?), your new clothes are in your wardrobe, and to help you out, you know french as if it was your first language, like it’s supposed to be, oh, and you can now do some rather dark (and illegal) magic related to me, now enjoy your new life!’
The letter then burned itself, then the ashes disappeared.
New world, new name, new family, hell, even new Nationality, this was a lot for Hermione to take in, she stood up woozily, and went to her wardrobe to pick out some clothes, and was shocked by what she saw
“What the hell am i? Some fashionista?”
She saw cardigans, chokers, oh so many crop tops and jackets, everything from booty shorts to pants that would cover her feet, and the shoes! High heels, slides, trainers, flip flops, boots, who needs this many shoes?
She decided to bite the bullet and put some on, a white crop top, a dark red crop jacket, black booty shorts, black leggings, and black combat boots
“okay , I’ll admit, these are pretty good and comfy”
As she turned to leave she saw herself in the mirror and saw the changes to her person
“I, I’ve got red hair!? I-! Actually, I like it, it’s a pretty vibrant and dark red as well, now how to tie it…. Hell I’m french now, might as well go with some french braids”
She carefully braided her hair into a french braid crown to keep it neat and off her shoulders, giving the mirror another look, she decided she liked it, then looking at her bed, she saw a blue Pegasus pendant, she knew exactly what that meant
“Mum! Mum! My pendant is here!”
“Come down quickly! Let me see it!”
Hermione quickly rushed down the stairs, wondering why she called her mum, she hadn’t seen her yet.
“There you are, let me see!”
Her mother seemed to be in her mid 40s, her dark red hair similar to her own put in a messy bun with stands going every which way, dressed in simple white shirt and red pants, with cat eye glasses adorning her face with sharp blue eyes shining out from them
“Oh this is wonderful! My little Hermione is finally going to Beauxbatons!”
The pair relished in the excitement for a few moments, then the Pendant suddenly glowed brightly and a holographic list appeared, a school equipment list, mighty fancy for something so simple
“Ahhh! This is so exciting! Grab your things dear and I'll apparate us to Place Cachée and get everything!"
Hermione quickly ran back upstairs, and began searching for what she might need, she pulled out her money, and a hat, while searching she found her wand, it's tip still red from her last night in her apartment, she stuck it in her pocket, then on a whim, pulled up her sleeves, and her scars were still covering her arms, seems ot even time travel could get rid of those, as she took a deep, shaky breath, she pulled the sleeves back down and rushed down stairs again
"now dear, take my arm, and we'll be right there"
She put her hand on her mothers arm, then felt the familiar sensation of being pushed into a tiny pin tip, then quickly enlarged again, then she was blinded by the brightness of the sun, before being quickly pulled by her mother to the nearest store, Baguettes Magiques de Cosme Acajor, from the looks of what people were carrying when they came out, she assumed it was some sort of wand shop, as she was pulled inside, she marvelled at the shelves upon shelves if wands, seemingly going several stories up
“Ah, Acajor! It is so good to see you again!”
“Madam Rousseau! I trust your wand is serving you well?”
“Yes indeed it is, although it does not see nearly as much action as it once did”
“And we should be glad for that, now, is this little Hermione here?”
“Yes it is, ready for her first wand, her Beauxbatons letter arrived earlier this morning!”
“Oh Beauxbatons, sometimes I wish I could be a student again, much simpler times, now, a wand yes yes, I recall yours was Holly with Phoenix feather? 16 centimetres?”
“Yes it is, you still amaze me how you remember that”
“Oh that was a rather special wand, since i’d had it for quite the while, i was quite happy to see it finally find an owner, but now, a wand for our little Hermione , hmmm, lets try this, Chestnut, unicorn hair core, 24 centimetres”
Hermione took it gave it a small wave, nothing happened
“I’ll take that then, not to worry, at least that's less of a clean up! Now, how about Ebony, same core, but 15 centimetres”
Another wave, this time, a stack of cards were sent flying
“Merde, that's a pain, hmm, i sense something rather odd about you, young Hermione, your family have always had rather interesting wands, lets give you one of my more experimental ones”
He moved off into the shelves of wands and returned holding a black case, taking the wand out and handing it to her
“beech wood, core of a horned serpent horn, and 16.5 centimetres”
As Hermione took it, the cards stacked once more, the dust was blown off all of the wand boxes, and the room warmed quite nicely
“Ahhh, i think we have quite the remarkable witch here, Beech wood tends to bond with those who are wise beyond their years, and Horned serpent horns cores are quite powerful, and should there be parseltongue near you, you will hear a musical tone emit from the wand, beware when it rings, now, thanks to me not having to repair anything, and young Hermione doing the dusting for me, just 20 Bezants please”
“Quite unlike me getting my wand! Here are the Bezants”
“Oh quite! I thought I’d have to repair the whole shop! Now you two have a good day!”
“Thank you Acajor, now Hermione, we need to get your books, uniform and other equipment”
Hermione's eyes lit up at the mention of the books, she wondered what they would be taught at Beauxbatons?
“Let's go!”
Hermione practically dragged her mother to Magillard: Plumes et Tome, when they went in, Hermione’s eyes boggled at the levels upon levels of levels of book shelves, all filled to the brim with books, thankfully not stacked to the roof like Flourish and Blotts, as the pair went through the gigantic shop, picking out a variety of books, charms to transfiguration to magical beasts to defence against the dark arts, as well as gathering a few fashion books, brought by a strange urge Hermione could not bring herself to ignore, before going to the counter to talk to Monsieur Dubois
“Ah, Madam Rousseau, pleasure to see you, Books for your daughters first year?”
“Indeed Monsieur Dubois, quite the reader”
Hermione noticed that her mother seemed to be trying to avoid looking at the man, and the tense tone in her voice, then noticed the odd looks the Man kept on giving her mother, his eyes roaming all around, and looking at certain body parts.
‘Eargh what a creep’
She thought
“Now, come on Hermione, let's get you your clothes”
“Yes mum”
The pair once more walked out, her mother depositing the books in an enchanted bag as they headed for Maison Capenoir to get her uniform, as they were walking, Hermione asked Death for a small favour
‘Hey Death, can you give me the knowledge of whoever's body I’m in please? I feel a bit awkward not knowing what's happening’
‘Oh yes of course! I really should've thought of that’
‘Thank you’
Then she heard a bell ringing, and the smell of cloth and cloth cleaner filled her nostrils
“Hello Madam Beaufort!”
“And the Rousseau’s return! How are my most faithful customers?”
“We are doing well Madam Beaufort, we’re here to get my Little Hermione her Beuaxbatons uniform!”
“Oh how wonderful, i was wondering when this day would come, please follow me, I’m assuming your measurements have not changed since last time”
Madam Beaufort was a sweet lady, and had spent many hours helping the budding fashionista in Hermione pick out her clothes and learn new stylings, and had asked her a few times to come work with when she came of age
“Oh, no Ma’am”
“Right this way then my dear, i believe the blue shall look wonderful on you”
Madam Beaufort and Hermione then spent the next few minutes adjusting the uniform to fit her perfectly, just as Madam Beaufort predicted, she did indeed look amazing in it, her mother giving an enthusiastic ‘Magnifique!’ when she saw
“Now, how much do we owe you?”
“Oh nothing, all uniform sales are paid for by Beauxbatons, just sign this so i can send it off”
Holding out a piece of paper and pen, she quickly signed it and left, calling a cheery farewell
“Au revoir Madam Beaufort!”
“Au revoir!”
“Now, to Bonnetvolant Chapellerie to get your hat”
A few minutes later Hermione had the Beauxbatons hat, and they were off to buy cauldrons, a simple affair, only taking the time to find the right one, then off to Le Corbeau Mystique to buy an owl, they bought a orange owl with dark eyes, that she decided to name Pattenronds, then headed back home.
By the time the pair arrived back at home, it was getting dark, so they quickly made a small dinner, and discussed the coming year
“So hun, how are you feeling about going to Beauxbatons? Anything I can do to make it easier?”
“I’m excited, really excited, I’ve wanted to go as long as I can remember, I can't wait to be learning magic every day! You’ve told me the stories about it, the nymphs, the statues and fountains, I can't wait!”
“My, I have told you those haven’t I? I should have left them as a surprise for when you get there! That way you could bask in their beauty with all the others”
“No I think it was a good idea! I can know something none of the others do, how many people are in a year level anyways?”
“Oh, I think it’s about 150 to 200? Although in 5th year there are sometimes more added since that's when most people getting home-schooled join”
“So, how do I actually get there?”
“On the 1st of September, a carriage will arrive to pick you and the other 1st years, we’ll just have to get to the closest meeting place, which is just Place Cachée, so not to worry, I’m sure you’ll make some friends on just the ride there!”
A few moments later and the pair was cleaning up, and after brushing her teeth and changing, Hermione was off to bed, as she lay staring up at the ceiling, she couldn’t help smiling, after all the craziness of her previous life, it felt good to be a first year again, ready to embark on a new journey at a new school, hopefully this time she wouldn’t have to fight any dark lords
1st of September, 1989
“Hurry darling! The carriage is arriving in a few minutes!”
“Coming mum!”
Hermione pulled her uniform over herself, straightened it, and put the hat on, her french braid waterfall fitting quite nicely, her magickly extended bag weighing almost nothing in her hand, then she rushed down stairs, taking her mothers arm once more
“Ready dear?”
“Always mother”
They apparated away, quickly appearing at Place Cachée, many people in the same uniform as her there waiting with their parents, then a bell rang, as they all looked up, they could see a majestic blue carriage pulled by four flying horses as it gracefully touched down, the door opened and a women in the uniform stepped out
“Alright first years, in you come” she said
“Okay Hermione, be good, don’t make any trouble, keep your grades up, and try to make some friends okay?”
“I will mum”
“Oh I’m going to miss you”
She pulled her daughter into one last hug and kissed her forehead before Hermione ran off and hopped inside the carriage
“Hold on everyone”
The carriage began to move forward, then up, Hermione’s stomach dropping momentarily, seeing a few peoples faces go slightly green, quite the different experience from the Hogwarts express
“Alright everyone, we’ll be at Beauxbatons in about 2 hours, so just sit tight everyone!”
As everyone slowly settled in, Hermione relaxed in her chair and took her hat off, and in the corner of her eye, saw a short blonde girl next to her looking quite nervous and anxious and decided to talk to her
“So uhh, you excited to get there?”
“Y, yes, my m, mother has t, told me stories”
“Really? Mine did too! I can’t wait to start learning spells!”
“Y, yeah, i, i want to learn to be an a, Animagus, i think it w, would be fun to d, do”
“Ooh, that sounds really cool, maybe we could do it together, I’m Hermione Rousseau, what’s your name?”
“F, Fleur Delecour”