Ada followed Freddie out of the dining room and out into the crisp morning air. Freddie led her to a table at the far end of the patio and sat down, pulling the bundle of flashcards out of her pocket. Ada was humming nervously as she sat down beside Freddie and she was starting to look a little green.
"We don't really have to study if you don't want to," Freddie confided. "I just thought you might like to get out of there, away from that jerk Dimitri and all the others."
"Yes," Ada said, relief flooding her features. "Thank you."
"It's not like you need to study anyway," she said, untying the black ribbon that held the cards together. "I'll keep these out so it at least looks like we're studying if Lady Karen or someone comes out here."
"Good idea," she said with a nod. "...I can quiz you with them, if you really want to study. I don't want you to waste the last half hour before the challenge just sitting with me..."
"Nah, it's fine," she assured her, absently shuffling the cards. "Severus and I went through all of them twice this morning already and the last time I didn't get a single one wrong. Besides, I like talking to you."
"I wish I had your confidence," Ada said wistfully.
"Trust me, I was plenty nervous when I woke up. I felt like I was going to throw up until Snape talked me down and got some tea into me. We woke up at 6 so he could help me study and by breakfast I was feeling much better about my abilities."
"I only got to sleep for an hour last night. Lady Karen kept me up most of the night studying."
"That's terrible!" Freddie gasped. "You need to be rested before the challenge. You're more likely to make mistakes when you're sleep-deprived, she should know that!"
"I know," she said miserably. "She had me brew six different potions last night in our room and the longer we went on the more mistakes I made, which made her scold me, which made me anxious, which made me make even more mistakes. It was a vicious cycle."
"She sounds awful!" Freddie declared. "I know you admire her, but I don't think she's a very good teacher. The way she treats you is just...horrible! Ugh! I wish you could leave Beauxbatons and transfer to Hogwarts. Snape would be a better teacher for you than her and you could be his apprentice after I graduate – actually, no, if you didn't want to be Potions apprentice, he wouldn't force you like she did."
"She did not force me, I just...I did not want to disappoint her," she said with a sigh.
"I guess I understand that," she said, nodding. After all, she didn't want to disappoint Snape. Ever.
"I wonder if I would like Hogwarts. You said they do not have many art and music classes, and I enjoy those things a lot," Ada said thoughtfully. "Your uniform looks comfortable though and a lot warmer than ours."
The uniform Ada was wearing was made of what appeared to be silk. It was a light blue dress that came down to just above her knees and was paired with a cape of the same color that had a ribbon fastening. The Beauxbatons emblem was embroidered on the left breast of the dress. She was also wearing a slightly pointy hat over her braided red hair and the hat was the same light blue as the rest of the uniform.
"Your uniform looks comfortable enough," Freddie observed. "And it's really pretty."
"It can get cold," she said, shivering slightly. "It is colder here than it was at Beauxbatons."
"Sometimes my school robes get too hot, especially when I'm working in the dungeons which is most of the time."
"Dungeons?"
"Yeah, that's where the Potions classroom is, as well as Snape's office, his private lab, and the Slytherin Common Room and dormitories. My Common Room can get pretty chilly in the winter, but I hardly ever hang out in there anyway. I spend all my free time in Snape's private brewing lab. It's a small room and the fire under the cauldrons can heat the space up quickly. Luckily I can shed layers of my uniform, or I can just change out of my uniform into regular clothes before I go down there."
"You can wear regular clothes at Hogwarts? Like whatever you want?"
"Outside of class, yeah, it doesn't matter what you wear. You can ever wear Muggle clothes, which I find to be pretty comfortable."
"Ooo," Ada said wistfully. "At Beauxbatons we have two uniforms – this one, which is our formal uniform. We have to wear it to dinner every night and certain special events. The other is our everyday uniform, which we have to wear whether we are in class or not. It's a button-up dress the same color and length as this one, with a light blue blazer with dark blue trimming on the edges. I wish I could wear my Muggle clothes when I'm just lounging about reading. The only thing I have any control over is my pajamas!"
"Jeez," Freddie said. "That sucks. I love my Muggle jeans, and tank tops and t-shirts."
"What about your boots?" she wanted to know. "Are they part of your uniform?"
"Oh no," she chuckled. "These are just my favorite boots. It doesn't matter what kind of shoes we wear with our uniforms, as long as they are black."
"Merde, I'm jealous!" she declared, looking down at her feet. "I have to wear these with both my formal and informal uniforms."
Freddie looked under the table at her shoes curiously. They were pointy-toed heels in the signature light blue, with black fringe.
"Oh I would fall over in those for sure," Freddie laughed. "I hate heels. Those look especially uncomfortable, how can you walk in those all day?"
"You get used to it," she said with a shrug. "They are supposed to help us keep our posture straight...they do pinch though. I had blisters on my feet for the first few weeks when I started school, all the girls did."
"You should definitely come to Hogwarts. You said your dad is an alumni, right? Maybe you could talk him into letting you transfer. Then I could come visit you in Hogsmeade next year, that's the wizarding village near the school that students are allowed to visit on weekends."
"...Can I tell you another secret?" Ada asked hesitantly. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone."
"Of course, you can tell me anything," she said. "Who would I even tell?"
"Well," she said slowly. "My Papa did not really go to Hogwarts. I know I said he was a Ravenclaw, but I made that up. I read about the Hogwarts houses in a book and thought Ravenclaw sounded like a good one, but he never went to Hogwarts."
"Oh?"
"And my maman does not really know Madame Maxime personally...because my maman is a Muggle," she said sadly. "And so is Papa. I am a Muggleborn."
"Oh," Freddie said, though she had suspected as much. Ada was staring at her shoes again, looking ashamed. "Well that's okay, Ada. There's nothing wrong with being Muggleborn, no matter what your school says."
"Really? I thought that...well, you said you are a Slytherin, right? I read that they are all purebloods and that they hate people like me as much as the girls at Beauxbatons would if they knew."
"I am a pureblood, but I don't feel that way. You're right that most Slytherins do act that way, but definitely not all of us," she assured her. "I was raised by people who acted like Muggleborns were scum and only purebloods deserved to use magic – but I got the hell out of that house as soon as I could. I know better now and I haven't had contact with my aunt and uncle since I left. And I haven't used the M-slur in ages and I'm honestly ashamed I ever did..."
"I am so glad you don't hate me," Ada said, relieved. "I was scared to tell you, I'm scared to tell anyone...but then you said you liked Muggle clothes and I thought, well, maybe it would be okay to tell you. I am so glad you don't think less of me."
"I could never think less of you," she said. "We stopped in a few Muggle cities on our trip here and I was fascinated by everything I saw there. Streetlights and cars – and those big trucks with all the wheels that haul freight? Those things are crazy! Oh and television! Oh my god, we stayed in a Muggle hotel night before last and Snape showed me how to work the telly and it was so cool. I don't understand how any of those things work, but I got to see Elton John singing on the television and it was amazing. How do they do that, make pictures and sound on a box like that?"
"You know Elton John?"
"Yes! I love Muggle music. I used to have to hide my records from my uncle when I still lived at Gray Manor. My best friend Daniel, he introduced me to Muggle music starting in our first year. I was reluctant at first and teased him, but I grew to really like it. He got me listening to all the best bands – the Eagles, the Doors, the Beatles, Pink Floyd. The Eagles are my absolute favorite though. I've played that vinyl so much I'm surprised it hasn't fallen apart."
"Oh I love the Beatles!" Ada said, her emerald eyes glittering. Then she lowered her voice. "Daniel- he is the boy you told me about last night? The one who vanished?"
"Yeah," Freddie said quietly, feeling a wave of sadness creep over her. She shuffled the flashcards absently while she used her Occlumency to keep the sadness from taking over.
"Was he Muggleborn?"
"We were never sure," she told her. "But he could have been. His mum's a Muggle and he never knew his father. ...He probably was."
She hadn't thought about it in ages, but she used to tease and joke with Daniel about him being a 'Mudblood'. He had always laughed and even made jokes about it himself, but Freddie couldn't help but wonder now if he ever felt like Ada did about her heritage. She felt guilty and embarrassed that she had thrown the word 'Mudblood' around so casually. It seemed so stupid and childish. She was older now though, she knew better.
"...What other bands do you like?" Ada asked her and Freddie was grateful for the subject change. "Have you ever heard of Noir Désir?"