New Beginnings
by Nevermore's Shadow
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the associated names, places, etc. Many of the characters included in this story are my own, and I do hope you enjoy them!
Chapter One: Puffskeins and Slytherins
Alixandra Rousseau tugged at her golden curls in frustration, her nostrils flared and jade green eyes bulging slightly. "I do not want to transfer schools, maman! Can papa not simply teach at Hogwarts while I stay at Beauxbatons?" The twelve year old girl crossed her arms over her chest and chewed her bottom lip. Her mother huffed disapprovingly as she sorted clothing for their day of picking up school supplies in Diagon Alley, trying desperately to pull matching clothes from a large chest that rested on the floor of their temporary residence at the Three Broomsticks.
"I think you should be proud of your papa for being invited to teach Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, and stop making such a fuss," Alix's mother sighed, exasperated. She slipped a wand from the sleeve of her sweater and stabbed at the air between herself at the sweater, shirt, skirt, and robes laid out on the bed, muttering an incantation under her breath which transformed the ensemble into various shades of vibrant yellows and blues, with a touch of orange to reflect the imminent change of summer to autumn.
"I don't see why I can't simply use a portkey or floo powder to go back to Beauxbatons and stay with my friends," she tugged on the clothes her mother had set out, considering purposefully making herself disheveled simply to make her mother's task that much more difficult. Her vanity, however, got the best of her, and she smoothed her clothes out carefully in the mirror, though her reflection glared back disapprovingly.
"Consider it a learning experience, Alix," her mother, Marie, suggested gently, fixing her own blonde locks into a tight bun, "very few students get to experience school in another country. Besides, your father has been given a very special honor. Hogwarts usually favors alumni for teaching positions, but since your father is both an expert in Muggles and construction, they contacted him for the job." Alix kicked idly at a spot on the wooden floor, apparently lost in thought for a moment. Not only was Hogwarts a frightening place as a transfer student, needing to make new friends who spoke a different language, but the scars of the previous year's battle with Lord Voldemort still ran deep. Her father had originally been recruited to assist with repairing the ancient castle that served as the British Isles' home to magical learning. After Headmistress McGonagall had learned that not only had Claude Rousseau been raised by Muggle parents, but had continued to work alongside Muggles while concealing his magical nature, she offered him the position, vacated the previous year by Death Eater Alecto Carrow, on the spot. For a brief, morbid moment she wondered if there would be any new ghosts at Hogwarts as a result of the bloody battle. Her older sister, Delphine, had told her all about the various ghosts that resided in Hogwarts. Delphine had been part of the envoy sent from Beauxbatons to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament and had come back with many tales. At the time, Alix not just ate these stories up, but practically gorged herself on them, begging to hear every last exciting detail. Now that seeing the places involved in Delphine's experiences meant leaving her friends behind, they were not nearly as thrilling in her mind.
"Come on, we have shopping to do," Marie snapped Alix out of her reverie. She gathered her shopping bag and coin purse and made her way down to the bustling city street below. Many families were out picking up essentials for their children's upcoming school year. Alix saw a number of children her own age huddled around a broom shop window, all but drooling over the latest Nimbus design, which featured slick silver details on a black base. She did not entirely understand the obsession, but she supposed that everyone needed to have a hobby. As for herself, Alix had never really picked up much of a hobby, instead living vicariously through her friends, who obsessed over Quidditch players and new beauty potions. A few doors down from the broom shop, Alix began to hear a sound that was not unlike a large, collective hum. The sound appeared to be coming from a basket set outside near a shop, which bore a large sign reading "Magical Menagerie." All sorts of pets were on display in the window: cats, owls, toads, the odd newt here and there, but none caught her attention as much as the contents of the basket. Kneeling beside it, she found the basket was full of various colored balls of fur - custard and ginger and black striped with white, all of them humming contently to themselves. She reached out a hand and discovered the softest, most pleasant feeling her fingers had ever experienced. Beneath her caressing hand, the little ginger ball wiggled and hummed more loudly. Another girl with long, shining black hair knelt beside her, cradling one of the creatures, a brown and orange speckled model, in her arms.
"What is it?" Alix asked, not trying to hide the wonder in her voice.
"You've never seen a puffskein before?" the girl replied, an eyebrow arched in surprise, "they're not the most common of pets, but I would have figured..."
"My maman does not allow pets in the house," Alix grimaced, glancing over her shoulder at her mother, who was haggling with a shopkeep over the price of a new cauldron for Potions class, "she says they aggravate her hay fever. I doubt she'd even let me go inside of this store. She'd be afraid I'd get cat dander all over myself, I'm sure."
"That's a shame," said the girl, her deep brown eyes sparkling with curiosity, "your accent... you're French, yes? From Beauxbatons?" She placed the puffskein gently back down amongst its friends, scratching it delicately on the head.
"Formerly," Alix said, chewing her lip for a moment, "I will be starting Hogwarts this year."
"Wonderful!" the girl said, obviously not picking up on Alix's disappointment, "I'll be starting my second year! Though," she paused for a moment, her face slightly downcast, "we didn't really learn a lot last year. Not properly, anyway, in certain classes. It'll almost be like starting first year late. My name is Hana Kajiwara," Hana extended a hand, her face rather quickly turning from downcast to cheerful once again.
"Alixandra Rousseau," Alix replied, her lips barely forming a smile, "my friends call me Alix."
"Then perhaps in the future I shall call you Alix, as well!" Hana exclaimed, beaming. Alix found herself smiling just a small bit more. She had a friend, Colette, in Beauxbatons that had the same sort of irrepressible cheerfulness that this girl seemed to radiate, and it felt pretty good to be reminded of home, though that feeling was mixed with a bit of pain, a thought creeping into her head that she was betraying her old friends by trying to make new ones.
"I'll be starting as a second year," Alix mentioned.
"That makes sense, it would be silly to expect you to start all over again just because you came from another school. I wonder what the Sorting Hat will think!" Hana exclaimed with a giggle. Alix remembered Delphine telling her about the singing hat that decided which students would go into each of the four Hogwarts houses. She had not given much thought to such things, though she also recalled that there was quite a bit of rivalry between each house.
"Hana!" an impatient-looking woman shouted from across the street, gesturing for Hana to come to her with an emphasis that dictated that this should happen sooner rather than later.
"Oh, that's my mum, I need to go," Hana said, gathering up her things and giving the brown and orange puffskein another little scratch on the head for good measure. "Perhaps we'll be in the same house! I'm a Ravenclaw, if you want to find me in the Great Hall after the ceremony!" She called over her shoulder as she rushed to her mother, who scolded her for running off. When Alix returned to her own mother, who was using the newly bought couldron as a supplemental shopping bag, she received a similar reception.
"You have fur all over your robes," she scolded, eyebrows knit together in a fury as she gave an overdramatic sniffle, "I am going to be sneezing all day thanks to you!"
"Sorry, maman," Alix said, trying to sound appropriately ashamed of her behavior. The two of them continued down the street, entering the large bookstore, Flourish and Blotts, next. This was the most crowded of all the stores by far, and Alix found herself growing quite claustrophobic in the hustle and bustle.
"Now... you need to go get a copy of the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 and Intermediate Transfiguration, which should be over... there," Alix's mother gestured vaguely towards the other side of the bookstore, "I will go pick up your potions workbook for you. Meet me back at the sales counter, or wherever the queue ends, when you are done," and with that, her mother headed up the stairs, deftly navigating through ascending and descending patrons. Alix found herself ducking between people's elbows and dodging their feet as she moved towards the Transfiguration books. She slid her finger along the spines of the books, enjoying the cool feel of the leather binding, and spotted Intermediate Transfiguration. She snatched up a copy and began to move towards the general spellwork books when something heavy collided with her, sending her crashing into a bookshelf, which was unfortunately very sturdy, and left her with a nasty throbbing in her forehead. Her hands found her copy of Intermediate Transfiguration next to her on the ground as she turned back to see what had hit her. A thin black boy was sprawled on the floor, his robes tangled around his feet as he tried to get up. Approaching were a pair of brutish looking boys, both wearing robes accented with red and gold, the colors of Gryffindor, cracking their knuckles.
"Hey, Tim, aren't snakes supposed to be good at dodging things?" One of the boys, who had curly brown hair bent down and seized the boy by the back of his robes, pulling him off the ground.
"Maybe he's just more comfortable slithering around on the ground, Roger," the other, a heavy-jawed youth with black hair tied back in a ponytail. At this, Roger abruptly let go of their victim, letting him collapse on the ground again. This area of the bookstore was less crowded than the others, with no essential school list volumes being located there, Alix realized. She scrambled to right herself, puffing her chest out to look intimidating.
"Leave him alone, voyous! He has done nothing to deserve this!" she shouted, pointing a finger at the two bullies. She realized that she was making an assumption about the boy's innocence, but certainly nothing deserved this sort of treatment.
"Hey, this tadpole thinks snake boy didn't do anything wrong," Roger snorted, looking at Tim with a smirk.
"Tadpole? I don't..."
"She's a little frog," Roger sighed, rubbing at his forehead, "do I really need to explain everything to you...? Well, I guess we'll just need to let her in on some Hogwarts history..."
"You see," Tim began, leaning a meaty arm against the bookcase beside Alix, effectively trapping her in place, "the Slytherins didn't do too much to help out at the Battle of Hogwarts. In fact, a few of them did a lot of harm."
"So we figure we show the little snot his place, and all will be well in the world," as Roger spoke, Alix glanced down at the Slytherin boy, who had sat up on the ground, but was making no motion to try to get away.
"I know that it might not easily sink into your pea-sized Gryffindor brains," the boy said, trying to sound confident, but shaking slightly, "that not everyone's definition of 'bravery' and 'helping out' is running headlong into the fray like a pack of animals. Some of my upperclassmen did help, and joined the battle with Professor Slughorn-" he was silenced by a swift kick in the ribs.
"I'm sorry, what did you say? I don't speak Parseltongue, you sniveling little-"
"Oy!" Another voice joined the din now. Tim and Roger's attention turned, allowing the boy to get to his feet and Alix to slip away from Tim's imposing form. "Wot have I told ye two bawjaws about bullying Slytherins?" The accented voice came from a tall girl with bright red hair, cut in a pixie style. She was only slightly smaller in build than Tim and Roger, and with her arms crossed, she made for a very intimidating figure. She strode forward, shoving Roger away from the boy, "ye leave these kids alone, or so help me, I've got a bloody Beater's bat with yer name on it. And that use of 'bloody' isn't just an expletive, you understand me, ye sods?"
"Of course, Blue, we didn't mean anything by it... just having a bit of fun, is all..."
"Sod off, ye two, go git yer books, though I doubt ye can even read 'em," and with that, Tim and Roger scurried off, looking like dogs with their tails between their legs. On closer examination, Alix could see freckles crossing this girl's nose, though the pattern as well as the nose itself seemed to be slightly askew, like it had been broken and never quite healed properly, "Ye two all right?" She asked, crossing her arms and eyeing Alix and the boy up and down.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Alix answered first.
"I'll get by all right, just a couple of cracked ribs," the boy grunted.
"Yer Dominus Aurelius, aren't ye? Yer pa was-"
"Yes, and he's in Azkaban now," Dominus cut her off, "but my mother is not. She stayed clear of the war and kept my brother and I away from it, as well. Not that they had much of a use for a first year in the battle."
"Aye," the girl nodded, "They didn't much need a second year, either. M'name is Heather McAllistair, by the way, it's good to meet the to of ye. If those numpties bother ye again, just give me a shout. Don't let Tim and Roger scare ye off, most Gryffindors are decent types."
"I'm Alixandra Rousseau," Alix said with a nod, "I had heard that Gryffindors were supposed to be brave and noble."
Heather snorted at this, "Perhaps we're all brave, in our own ways. A li'l thick in the noggins, some of us, if ye ask me."
"Why did they call you 'Blue'?" Alix inquired, tilting her head to the side slightly, eyes darting to the girl's clearly red hair.
"Och, they think it's cute, cause I can swear a blue streak like nothin' else," she replied, her chest puffing up slightly as a grin split her face, "of course, that is most definitely true. I can make a Banshee blush when I'm peeved enough. Well, I've got me own shopping t'do. I'll see ye two at the Great Hall, then."
"Thank you so very much for helping us out," said Alix. Heather nodded and gave a quick two-finger salute before heading back into the crowded area of Flourish and Blotts.
"I appreciate the assistance, Alixandra," the boy said, his eyebrows raised slightly, "not a lot of people stand up for Slytherins."
"Well... I know a bully when I see one, and I don't approve of that sort of treatment for anyone."
"You can call me Dom, by the way... my dad named me Dominus," he began to walk towards the stacks that contained the Grade 2 version of the Standard Book of Spells and grabbed two copies, handing one to Alix, who bowed her head slightly in thanks, "Not too fond of it myself... I don't mind the idea of moving up a bit in the world, but the implications of dominating people, not so much."
"It's nice to meet you, Dom. I look forward to meeting you again once we get to Hogwarts!" The two parted company and Alix met up with her mother once again. She found herself feeling a little bit better now that she found two potential new friends - potentially even three, if Heather was being more than just kind and tolerant. Her heart still hurt at the idea of not seeing her old friends until the break for summer, but perhaps things would not be quite so bad.