"Haha, I actually live in England, my mum's French. She was delighted when I chose to come here instead of Hogwarts. What about you Avalyne, what position do you play, if you have one that is." she was lost in thought for a moment before commenting again.

"It's weird just how much we have in common, and yet we're not even finding out until now. I feel like I've know you for ages, but it's only been a short while."

Chlo smiled, not quite believing, "Thats so cool, my Mother is English, her Mother Welsh, and my Father is french." Chlo explained, "though Hogwarts was never and option, it was Beauxbatons of Durmstrang."

"I think it's wonderful, I'm so glad you both spoke to me, I feel incredibly close to you both already." She smiled, feeling slightly elated, she couldn't wait to tell her other friends, that she'd finally found people she felt she could become firm friends with, in her own house.

Avalyne stared at Chlo with one brow raised before patting her arm. "Oh, you poor thing!" she said when Chlo finished her spiel for her mother's dressmaking business. "I'm sure they're lovely, but gods, that's just cruel," she added with a sympathetic sigh. Her thoughts drifted to flying and then back to her parents while the other two girls continued their exchange.

"Must be exciting to live in England...when I play with my cousins I'm usually a chaser or a beater. I rather like both, but if I could choose, it'd be beater," she chuckled, taking a sip of pumpkin juice from her goblet. Her plate had been long abandoned since the conversation started. "Though, keeper wouldn't be too bad, either...It's strange how it works out, isn't it? Us just finally talking and becoming friends, and we haven't even made it to the Belanger common room yet."

Chlo nodded in understanding, "my parents do have their redeeming qualities I suppose, but I won't disagree on the cruel front." she joked lightly, reaching for some cloudly lemonade, and almost spilling the jug, "oops." She giggled, pouring herself a genrous cup full, and gulping half of it down quickly, enjoying the fizzy whizzing bubble formula.

"Oh, my sorry." Chlo apoligised quickly for her lack of attention, "I don't live in England, so much as visit during the holidays to see my Nain Mauree," as she said her grandmothers name, she expressed just how much she admired the woman. "I spent alot of my time Provence and it is truthfully very beautiful there, but I do enjoy the busy streets of London when I visit." She answered.

"Beater, you need some upper body strength in you for that. As you can see I have zero." She joked, flailing her thin limbs as proof, " I think I'll try for chaser and seeker, I'm pretty agile on a broom... thats mostly the only place i'm graceful."She added, tying her hair into a loose bun, and placing her wand in it to keep it in place. She nodded at the girls, "sorry it's a habit." Before taking another gulp of lemonade.

"I'm glad though, it'll make me appreciate our friendship more." Chlo answered truthfully, "it both means alot that you'd give me a chance despite my families history here." She grinned euphorically. "But I do think we'll have to head up to the dormitory soon, it looks to be getting quite late."

Georgina made her way to the start of the term feast in a bit of a haste. She'd gotten so into the writing up of her lessons that she'd almost forgotten! But she'd made a quick run to her office to freshen up, and was then speedily making her way to the large chamber that would house the feast. She sat down hastily, greeting the headmistress with an apologetic "Bonjour Madame!" before looking out over the seated students. Everyone was excitedly chatting away, digging into the delicious meal prepared for the occasion. Georgina took a bit of soup in her own bowl and began eating as she took in the faces around her.

Chlo looked up through her glass, just in time to see a new professor fly through the student dining tables, and join the other professor eating at the top of the hall, she smiled, noting to herself that woman looked happy and approachable, and then leant forward to speak to her new friends.

"What do you reckon she teaches?" She asked curiously.

As Avalyne turned her gaze toward the head table, she raised a brow at the new teacher taking her place with the rest of the group. "Your guess would be mine." Grabbing a roll, she reached for the butter and honey, still watching the teacher. She looked harried, but not unkempt, approachable and young still. "I hope it's something like magical protection." The second year stretched and took a bite from her roll. "Something that could be fun," she added after swallowing the fluffy, buttery dough.

Chlo listened, and nodded in all the right places. "That would be cool, but she looks more like a Flying Professor, you know organised messy. I hope so at least, then we could ask about Quidditch tryouts." Chlo answered longingly, looking at the latest arrival to the Professors dinning table.

Chlo continued to watch the table with growing curiosity, "when are they going to introuduce themselves? The anticipation is killing me." She whined, never liking to be kept waiting for long, the quickly turned back to her friend.

"Sorry... so what do you during your free time, do you sing, dance, paint?" she asked inquistively.

Astrid knew she was incredibly late. She had originally planned to be here before the students arrived, but her grandfather had needed to be coerced in to staying at St Mungo's, and it had taken longer than she'd anticipated. She hurried to the Dinning Hall doors, and placed an invisibily spell upon herself, so as not to disturb the students while they ate, and as not to cause a scene.

"Veilferto." She spoke quitely, and hurried through the tables filled with students quietly, making her way quickly to the staff table, and smoothly removed the invisibility charm. " Visiba Culnervum."

"I apoligise for my absence Headmistress, I do hope you recieved my owl, to explain." Astrid began, before slipping into her seat, and filling her plate, nodding politely to other staff members who caught her eye.

Sandi had never seen quite so much food at one time and in one place, and there was such a variety. She knew she her mother would not have approved of the amount of pastries she was eating, but she couldn’t help herself. She was finally at Beauxbatons Academe, and she was very proud of that fact. She had shot the “magic arrow” into the air and had been bathed in a shower of silver sparks, which meant that she had been “sorted” into Grodeffroy.

This night was a “dream come true”, but she still felt sad and scared. She missed her parents, and even missed her little sisters. She missed her home in Rennes, and she missed her room even more. The Beauxbatons Castle was beautiful but too big and too unfamiliar. All of the students seemed older than her, and she had yet to meet any other Grodeffroys. She had listened carefully to the headmistress’ address, and had she had read the student manual over several times, but she still felt lost and out of place. She wondered if she would ever feel like she “fit in” at Beauxbatons. At the moment all she wanted to do was cry and demand they send her home, but both of her parents had be Beauxbatons graduates (and so were almost all of the adults she knew). So she gathered up all of her courage, and vowed to stay, and try her best to fit in. Besides, she thought, she couldn’t return home a failure; she had to do well at Beauxbatons.

Avalyne chuckled at her new friend. "I like to dance and swim...and Madame Savuterre was probably waiting for the rest of the staff to be present. Maybe she'll announce the new faces when they're all there and have eaten something." Her voice lilted at the end and she crossed her arms on the great table and propped her head up on her hands. "What do you do in your free time, girls? Anything interesting?"

"Well if I'm not in the common room, you'll either find me with my friends from the other houses, flying, or brewing a potion of some sorts." Sophia said with a grin.

"It will be interesting to find out who's teaching what, and who else is in our classes. Maybe the headmistress will say when Quidditch try-outs are, or tell us who to ask. Wouldn't it be so cool if we all made it onto the team."

Chlo turned from the Professors table, confused, she was sure their was one person at the table who had not been their before, but couldn't work out who, or when they had arrived, and while it niggled at her mind, she decided to let it go, and turned slowly back to her friends, pausing only to glance at a sad girl on the Grodeffroy table, attempting to catch her eye to invite her over, but not quite managing it.

"I enjoy dancing... though I wouldn't say I'm very good at it," Chlo chuckled, "I love to skate, which is ironic because when I walk during the winter without skates I'm ridiculously clumsy." She added, then nodded at the reasoning behind Madame Savuterre's decision not to yet introduce the new professors.

Chlo twisted the ring on her left hand, "well... it sounds old woman-y, but I enjoy gardening, muggle gardening that is... I had a terrible experience with a mandrake root once."She shuddered, not enjoying the memory."Oh and I like to make it rain, and then splash in the puddles with my wellie boots." She added, "I love the sound of water." She said quickly allowing Sophia to speak, and nodded enthusiatically when she spoke about potions, and flying. "What about you Avalyne?" She asked.

Chlo grinned, listening to Sophia talk about all three of them being on the Belanger quidditch team, "that would be amazing." She said dreamily.

Avalyne stretched and looked back at the table, counting how many filled seats there were. She then turned her attention back to Chlo and Sophia, smiling at the thought of the three of them playing together for their house. "It would be wonderful...and gardening isn't too terribly womanly. My mother does it for a living, Chlo. It makes potion making easier on Father most of the time," she replied.

"And I like to dance..." she chuckled, making a mental note of Chlo's comment about ice skating and grace. "But that was more Mom's idea than my own. She said that every young lady should take at least a year of it so they can be somewhat graceful." Avalyne shrugged. "Something about body awareness...but I also like music, though I can't carry a tune at all," she laughed. Truth be told, just about the only member of Avalyne's family who had any prowess with music was her middle brother Caden. "But we have a lot of land with a lot of animals wandering around, too. It's always interesting to take photos of them, so I guess photography would be another thing I'm into..."

It was beginning to feel like her second year was off to a great start. Avalyne couldn't wait to see what the rest of the term had in store.

Ashley was sitting at the Mauplume table, looking around. She this was her 3rd year, though she she still had a fun time looking around like everything was new.

Of course, she was sitting alone, which she usually did.

She sighed. She wasn't actually fond of coming to feasts, only because she always sat alone and it got lonely. She wouldn't demand that someone would sit next to her, because that she wasn't like that at all.

So, she sat alone at the Mauplume table.

Belle slipped quietly into the feast. Running late she knew but she had not been in the castle for years and had got a bit lost. She had arrived yesterday and had spent an hour looking for her rooms, but she had found them and managed to settle in but so far other than an interview with the Head Mistress, she had not met any of the other staff.

Seems she had missed the announcements for everyone was eating. She slipped into a spare seat and instantly a plate appeared before her. She helped herself to a bit of roast pork and freshly baked vegetables and poured a liberal amount of gravy over it. She looked up and down the table . . seems a few Professors were still missing for there was still a few spare seats.

Bonjour she ventured to a Professor sitting close by. Mon nom est belle, je suis la nouvelle potion de professeur. Je suis heureux de vous rencontrer

She gave the woman a smile and started to eat. It would be nice to make new friends and she was looking forward to getting to know the other Professors.

((OOC ~ Translation: My name is Belle, I am the new Potion's Professor. I am pleased to meet you. ))

Astrid turned her head at the womans introduction and extended her hand, "Bonjour Mademoiselle Belle, je suis Madame Astrid Lueure," she introduced, "mais vous pouvez m'appeler Astrid." She chuckled, raising her goblet to her lips, and taking a generous sip.

Vous avez dit que vous alliez être l'enseignement de potions, oui" She inquired. "J'aime l'art, mais je serai Transfiguration enseignement." She smiled warmly.

"Alors s'il vous plaît me parler de vous, comment êtes vous venu à travailler à Beauxbâtons?"



(Hello Madmoiselle Belle, I am Madame Astrid Lueure, but you can call me Astrid.)

(You said you were going to be teaching Potions, yes? I love the art, but I will be teaching Transfiguration.)

(So please tell me about yourself, how did you come to work at Beauxbatons?)

Belle looked over the table where the Delashmit students were sitting. It was this house she had been sorted too in her time at Beauzbatons. She had made good friends at the time but when her parents had moved her back to England she had lost touch with them all and had no ides what any of them were doing these days. She had though still kept in touch with some of her English friends from Hogwarts where she had been sorted into Ravenclaw.

She daintily nibbled at her food, she was not usually a big eater but she did have a soft spot for the desserts. Good thing she like to work out for if not she might have been a little heavier than she was.

The lady she had addressed bade her hello and introduced herself as Astrid, telling her she was teaching transfiguration. "Nice to meet you Astrid. I am afraid I was never much good at Transfiguration she said with a smile then her face fell for she had not even stopped to think.

"Désolé" she sputtered out "Je juste suis récemment retourné d'Angleterre" she said with a shrug of her shoulders, as if that explained everything. She picked again at the food before her.

"Je sortais avec ce type mais nous nous sommes cassés vers le haut et bien il était temps pour quelque chose nouvelle. Et vous ? Comment a fait vous venez ot obtenez cette position." she explained. She would have to watch herself with that . . But it would be hard for her over the next few months for she had been speaking English for the past 10 years.


**********

((sorry)) ((I have just recently returned from England ))

((I was going out with this guy but we broke up and well it was time for something new. What about you ? How did you come to get this position.))

Astrids eyes roamed the numerous dishes and delicacies that adorned the table, and soon found herself desiring a certain elf-made wine to accompany it, instead she continued to listen to the choir or Wood Nymphs, whilst she took another forkful of veal.

Astrid directed her attention back to Mademoiselle Belle, and soon found herself laughing again, "Please, do not fear, there are a whole variety of subjects I should be kept away from." Astrid enthused, "and please feel free to talk English around me; though I 'ave no English heritage, I did spend a large portion of last year in England." She explained, adjusting her necklace as she spoke.

She hoped that she had not brought up any unhappy thoughts or feelings for Belle, and listneing to her, soon found herself nodding sympathetically, and patting her hand comfortingly. "Je vivais en Angleterre, en travaillant avec Aurors au siège du ministère de la magie, alors ... mon grand-père, il est tombé malade, il fut transféré à St.Mungo 's, mais il n'y avait pas beaucoup qu'ils pouvaient faire pour lui ... Il a commencé à perdre sa mémoire et me faire oublier. J'ai décidé qu'il était temps de partir et de revenir en France, mes mères qui m'a convaincu d'appliquer pour le poste de la Transfiguration." Astrid explained, hoping she hadn't made Belle uncomfortable, and sought to change the subject.

"Alors vous avez assisté à la Beauxbâtons quand vous étiez plus jeune?"



(I lived in England, working with Aurors at the Ministry of Magic, ...then my grandfather, he fell ill, and was transferred to St.Mungo's, but there was not much they could do for him ... He began losing his memory and eventually forgot me. I decided it was time to leave and return to France, my mother convinced me to apply for the Transfiguration post)

(So you attended the Beauxbatons when you were younger?)

((OOC ~ I hope you meant wine there LOL ~ gotta love typos))

Astrid to her relief could speak English and gave a laugh at her reply. "It is true, you should have seen what I did to a poor little mouse one day. Potions and Herbs were about my best subjects and I wasn't bad at Charms but everything else was rather comical " she said thinking back to her flying lessons. Oh she had mastered it in the end but it was not her preferred way to travel and had not used a broom since her school days.

Belle continued to nibble and when Astrid patted her hand Belle gave a funny look. What was that for she wondered. Was it because she had said she had broke up with a guy. Luke his name had been and they been together for 5 years. She had met him when he come into the Apothecary one day and they had hit it off. Things had been good for 4 of the 5 years but in the last year he had gone a bit strange . . a little secretive and Belle has suspected he was being lured to the dark side that everyone was saying was getting stronger again.

It had not been a nice break up but Belle had been glad to get out of it. To her it was a phase in her life . . but she was over it now and it would not hold her back.

Astrid had gone back to French and Belle was finding it hard to keep up with them switching between languages. "Do you mind if we stick with English then she asked for it would make it all a little easier. " "Sorry to hear about your Grandfather . . is he Ok otherwise? " she asked a look of concern crossing her face. It was never nice to hear about such things, and it would be awful to be taken out by a disease one had no control over and no choice in. It was her dream to create a potion that could reverse such a condition.

Astrid changed the subject and Belle found herself smiling. "My dad is English but Mum's French . . I spent my first four years here at Beauxbatons, got sorted to Delashmit but Dad's job took us back to England so I finished years 5 to 7 at Hogwarts . What about you, did you go to school here? " she asked as the plates on the table all cleared off and a fine selection of desserts took their place.

"My favourite part of the meal " she grinned reaching over to grab a bowl and she helped herself to nice fruit pudding, which she poured custard and cream all over. .

Astrid pushed back her plate, and patted her tummy affectionately, she missed the lightness of French meals, that still had the ability to fill you up, and for the fist time since she'd moved back to France, she found some genuine happiness, however mundane it was.

Astrid soon found herself laughing again, listening to Belle's mishaps in Transfiguration, and mentally reminded herself never to introduce her to the mice she now kept in her classroom. Astrid soon found that conversation with Belle was not only easy but enjoyable, and the more she talked to the Potions Professor, the more comfortable she became.

"I am so sorry, ofcourse, it will 'elp with my English if talk also. I sometimes think my accent is too thick for the language, but I have grown to love it as much as my mother tongue." She replied, before nodding as Belle expressed her sympathy for her Grandfathers situation.

"He is a very old man so ofcourse nothing is set in stone, but I do believe nothing ails him otherwise." Astrid answered, a shiver creeping up her spine, at the mere idea of her Grandfathers health deterioration further, and she felt relieved when Belle began talking about her early education.

"A Delashmit lady, oh I should have known, you embody their aspects exactly." Astrid enthused, "Oh 'ogwarts, I hear it is a fine institution, it must have been wonderful to see the cultural differences." She continued.
"I attended Beauxbatons, Belanger was my house back then... It is strange though, I feel if I were to be sorted again, that I might end up somewhere else." Astrid answered. So much had changed in her life, and she felt so detatched from the girl she had been, the one who had craved acceptance. She smiled loosely, and noticing Belle head for the deserts, she too dived in.

"Deserts." She all but drooled, "...We meet again." She chuckled, placing a rather delicious looking apple tart upon her plate, and selecting her cutlery began to dig in.

Belle was enjoying talking to Astrid and it would be fair to say she liked the woman. They were about the same age she guessed, she was pleased to have a friend so quickly. The fruit pudding was delicious and she quickly finished it off. Her eyes fell on a chocolate truffle dessert and that was the end of Belle. Anything chocolate and she was hooked. She leaned over and helped herself to generous amount of it.

"Your English is good. but if you need help I would be happy to help" Belle replied savouring the sweet taste as the chocolate slid down her throat. "There is nothing as fine as French Chocolate except maybe for Belgium chocolate" she said to Astrid who was tucking into a rather nice looking apple tart.

"Thank you for your compliments. I rather enjoyed Delashmit while I was here. I made some good friends but sadly I lost contact with them when we moved back to England. I often wonder what they went on to be " she mused a little sad. Her mind went back to the day she had been sorted and how her and the girls whom she shared a dorm with had sat up all night bonding and talking.

"Belanger is fine house too so I hear. As they all are I guess " Belle said as she took another bite of the chocolate truffle "This is really good you must try some " she urged Astrid about the chocolate. It was nice to meet someone who shared her love of the sweets. She had a feeling her and Astrid would have a lot in common and was looking forward to finding out more about her.

"So what about you. . did you leave any hearts behind when you came back to France? "

Astrid continued to rub her stomach. Why did everything have to taste so good, when it came to food, she was often likened to a bottomless pit; in fact her Mother used to comment that her legs had to be hollow to allow for her to eat like she did. She ran a hand through her hair, yes, food was defintely her weakness.

Astrid peered up through her lashes at Belle, "Oui? Yes? Thank you, I 'ave only learnt through my nine months in England, so I know very minimal." She spoke, offering her thanks. "You would 'elp me? She asked, "Zat would be very good of you." She smiled, staring enviously at the rich chocolate cake that lay teasingly on Belle's plate, and when encouraged to a take slice, she didn't wait to be told twice.

"I am so sorry. I am much like a child, in zat my eyes are... to large for my stomach." She chuckled, tooling herself up with cutlery and taking a large bite. She moaned quietly. "Oh you are quite right, French chocolate excites ze taste buds." She giggled, quickly taking another bite.

She smiled sadly "Oui, I understand it is a 'ard zing to lose anyone you grow to care for." Astrid began, "but it did give you ze opportunity to do other zings which you might not 'ave achieved without leaving those friends." Astrid smiled again. "I am sorry, it is just my way. I must believe zat zings 'appen for a reason."

"Oh all ze 'ouses are fine, after all Beauxbatons teaches us all ze things we needed to know to be ze best we could be; ze 'ouses were used I suppose to encourage perhaps traits that we were lacking at ze time. She smiled, and then found herself blushing as Belle alluded to Astrids' love life.

"I cannot say I 'ad ze time when I was there, though I met some lovely men at ze Aurors department at ze Ministry of Magic. She spoke, her voice dropping slightly so no one in the immediate area could hear beside herself and Belle, "I just 'ave issues when it comes to... uh, um.... oh what is ze word... uh! Relationships. I do not zink love shall ever find me Belle," She said honestly. "What about you, are you looking for love?" She smilled.

Ashley looked to her friend and smiled as she turned to her friend.

"Hey Nettie," She said.

She hugged her friend.

"How is the new school year going so far?" Ashley asked Nettie.