La vie de Lucien de Bressolles

Disclaimer : I own nothing…..nope nothing at all

Summary: Memoirs of a life in France through times of War, peace and intrigue. Major AU, contains time travel and destruction of canon character ideals….sort of. Vaguely cliché

A/N: This is a plot bunny which was in my head the other day and wouldn't go away, I'm probably not doing it justice but I tried.

Chapter One:

Beauxbatons was an interesting school to say the least.

When I, myself attended everything was still very much focussed on les idéaux de sang, I mean the ideals of blood. Purity dictated what classes you attended, who you attended with, what your suite of rooms was like and even what food you were allowed to eat and when your meals were held.

Unlike Poudlard en Angleterre, forgive me Hogwarts, in England, we did not have houses, which we were sorted into by the use of a decrepit old hat, we attended classes based on intelligence and our illustrious pedigrees.

Upon application to Beauxbatons, un sang-pur, a pureblood or a half blood must send a record or a family tree if you will, stating purity and relationships to other families, thus on arrival our suites were already prepared in areas separate form those we had blood feuds with, in vicinities declared by our families allegiances, those who declared neutrality where housed separately than those who despised the very presence of un sang-be-Bourbe, a mudbloods, and so on. The illustriousness of our suites was dictated by our status, essentially. Those with the purest blood, and highest connections got the better suites. I myself was included in this, the highest ranked neutral party in the school from my very first day; it was to be expected of course, after people were told just exactly who I was.

In all my time at Beauxbatons I do not think I met one pureblood who actually liked the presence of a mudblood, half bloods could be liked, on rare occasions but the closest a mudblood ever came, was being tolerated and that only happened under exceptional circumstances, usually when it was found that the mudblood was not actually a mudblood at all but the descendent of a cracmol, how do you say it? Oh yes a squib. Squibs descendants weren't much better than mudbloods in the long run, but it did offer a chance to be tolerated in pureblood circles, and grant the opportunity to attend some of the more 'traditional' classes.

While I was attending Beauxbatons, the halfblooded purist in England was gaining a hold, purebloods of England, who despised mudbloods and muggles were joining him in an attempt to cement their age old superiority. You see Albus Dumbledore the headmaster of Hogwarts, had been telling everyone for years about how mudbloods or half-blood or pureblood it makes no difference, any difference that could be declared was outlawed and considered dark by the English ministry, thus annulling all rights old pure-blooded families had to there blood magic, passed down through generations of that specific family.

This, surprising enough, did not make Albus Dumbledore or the Minister, who was under the headmaster's thumb, popular with e pure-blooded families, even those who accepted muggles and mudbloods, as blood magic was their right, it was not some so-called 'dark' ritualistic incident.

I think the only families who did not resent Dumbledore's meddling were those who were either too manipulated to see what exactly he was doing or those that could barely claim to call themselves purebloods, having no blood gifts of their own.

It is a known fact to all purebloods, whether light sided or not that purebloods do have more power and better magical talents than mudbloods, necessary theories which are not taught in schools as they are known to every child brought up in a wizard household, mere customs and ways of life which can even be claimed to be law are disregarded by small previously muggle children who enter into a new world and make no attempt to truly understand where they are. Purebloods have an age old power of these children; they understand where they are and know how to manipulate those ignorant to ours laws to their advantage. Albus Dumbledore tried and is still trying to expand this difference, by banishing age-old pureblood rights.

Dumbledore is essentially made a war, most pure-bloods, true extremists are really in a minority, would be perfectly happy to sit back, indulging in their rights and let the little mudbloods attempt to learn magic and raise their station in the world. Most purebloods understand the need for new blood every once and a while, but dear old Dumbledore pushed pure-bloods to side with purists as we were neglected of our rights.

Dumbledore wished to show the wizarding world to muggles, to give the same rights to ignorant fleas, as to illustrious lions. He doesn't seem to understand that although witches and wizards may not be so feared anymore, compared to the middle-ages, we are still feared and if we are not feared then we shall be exploited. Muggles would want solutions to their problems, and would resent us for those who were not helped. Muggles would wish to 'study' what exactly gives us power. Muggle extremists would banish us for worshipping Satan or some such nonsense. It is far better that we remain secret and pure-bloods retain their rights.

At least in France, Dumbledore's decrees did not get introduced. I think he was surprised by this at the time believing full well that it was his right to be listened to; ironically enough most pure-bloods thought and still think that too. France understood that we, as purebloods had rights over mudbloods and so encouraged us to accept our rights as we saw fit. If we really wanted to we could abandon our family suites and live in dormitories with the mudbloods; I don't think anyone ever chooses to but we did have the option. As a result of France's policies when the illustrious Lord Voldemort came calling the majority of us did not even consider him as we were not punished, we were not neglected, we had our rights, and we praised Morgana that Dumbledore was English.

Now all my ranting about Dumbledore has gotten me off topic, the point of this memoir is to tell about my life, beginning with my days at Beauxbatons, well hopefully, my life is rather confusing you see I was sent back in time, well more like banished, but I think it was unintentional to send me back in time, not that anyone actually knows about it yet…See as I told you my life is very confusing. When I was almost 15, I was sent back something like 15 years in fact to the precise point in time that I had actually been born.

My name is Comte Lucien Christophe Xavier Henri de Bressolles; at least this is the name i have claimed as my own. In England I have gained a reputation merely as Count Lucien, I think. Personally I have never understood the need to translate my title to English, but the English do work in mysterious ways. Usually in France and at Beauxbatons I was merely known as either Lucien or Christophe.

I was born on the 8th of Janvier, January, 1965, in one of the distinguished de Bressolles family manors, or so my transcript claims.

On the 31st de Juillet, 1980, a French Unspeakable, going by the name Lionel de la Tour noticed a disruption in the space time continuum, and presently rushed to find, well me being rather dazed and confused and thus my life as Lucien de Bressolles began. I think I found more out about my family in the month before I began Beauxbatons than ever before in my life. My blood was tested and was as pure as it could possibly get, which considering id always been told I was a half-blood I found interesting to say the least.

I was taught French in a special chamber of the French ministry, where time was delayed to an extent and as no time passed inside or outside one could do anything but not age, almost as if sitting outside time I suppose, I could explain better but I'm afraid I am not allowed. Occlumency, I was taught in about a month, a thing which I had never heard of before, along with legilimency. The most complicated of all things, I think was me learning all the pure-blooded actions and customs, to learn how to properly speak, walk, dance, dress and just generally act, but I learnt it and in my opinion are better for it, at least I am respected and hold a lot more power in the French world anyway. My appearance was also changed, not a lot but enough so that I am not recognisable. My skin was turned a olive, so I appeared more european, and my hair was lengthened, as befitting a pure-blooded heir at that point in time. The angles of my face became sharper and more aristocratic, essentially that was all subtle but noticeable.

My blood line is of untainted quality, enough to make most English wizards faint, Europeans do have such problems with inbreeding and such, our countries are close together and easy to travel between, even before floo-powder and apparition were truly used in everyday life.

I am a descendent of Olympias, la reine de la Macédoine, Queen of Macedonia. Olympias is said to have been a great sorceress, mother to Alexander the Great, and a powerful parselmouth, who quickly mastered the arts of snake magic. It is rumoured she actually slept with her snakes, and that her husband was not Alexander's father but a God. But that is all suspicion and embellishment.

My ancestor Henri de L'Espicier was a favourite at the court de Roi-Soleil, the Sun King, Louis XIV.

Really my family is simply wonderful, neutral for years, rich and heavily influential, filled with blood talents unparalled by any English family and very few in France.

I was gifted with a black cobra named Apophis, who was rather volatile in nature, amusing to listen to though, by the French unspeakables who joined together to train me over the summer.

I think I learnt more enchantements, I mean spells, in one month than I had before in my entire life. I learnt more about my family history and about the manipulations of dear Dumbledore.

The Unspeakables offered me a job for when I finish school; I told them I would think on it, as I would be seeing them anyway. Lionel promised me that over the year my vaults would be properly set up, which of course to everyone else were always there, my estates, manors and a castle through out Europe would be established, embossed with my family crest and colours, simply enough black and white, every person was to have knowledge of me somehow, I never asked that question, something told me I didn't want to know.

So the day before I was to travel to Beauxbatons, I was sitting in Paris in a high class hotel examining my family ring, it was and still is made of silver, carved into the shape on an ouroboros, a wheel of time, a snake biting its own tail, it is a symbol of eternity. The ring has small onyx stones dotted on the snake, like scales, truly it is simply a beautiful ring, I still love it after all these years.

The next day my new life at Beauxbatons would begin, I was away from everything I knew and I was terrified.