A/N: Alright, more OCs to be introduced and I got to do some world building finally. It's hard. I only design one magical district and wrestle with it while others to entire judicidial and educational systems... How do you do it, guys?

Burning Ice
Chapter 5.

"I'll do it myself."

"Do what?"

"A bit of magic."

"A bit of magic?"

"It's easy. You think. You wink. You do a double blink. You close your eyes… And jump!"

"William, what are you doing here?" Emily asked when she saw two figures stumbling out of floo in the foyer of Potter Manor and noticed her cousin being one of them. The other boy she didn't know but he was probably of William's age. The two of them were quite the opposite in looks. William had tidy black hair and hazel eyes, the other had curly brown hair and bright blue eyes. Overall, they were like a picture of a rich boy (pureblood) and a blue-collar worker's son (muggleborn). The difference was also accentuated with the fact that they were dressed in robes and muggle clothes respectively.

"Ah, we just…" The twelve-year-old flailed. "I had to get out? Mother wasn't too happy that I'd invited-…"

Emily tilted head at the other boy who seemed to have some sort of nervous tick with hands. It seemed almost like he was plucking at an invisible guitar.

"That's your friend you wrote me about during the past year, isn't he? Robert, was it?"

"Robert Shirley, yes. From Hufflepuff." William agreed.

"Rob is fine. You are Emily, right? Will has mentioned you a couple of times." Robert grinned a bit sheepishly and offered his hand. Emily shook it.

"I hope it has only been something positive." She replied.

"Well, much more positive than what he has had to say about his brother."

"We both know that isn't difficult obstacle to overcome." Emily deadpanned and made Robert snort in amusement.

"Too true."

"Hey, quit flirting! I'm here too!" William butted in, throwing his arm around his friend's shoulders and then basically choking him.

"Gahk!"

"We are not flirting." Emily glared. "For Merlin's sake, we're only eleven and twelve!"

"How do you know that? Rob could be eleven for all you know. We just finished our first year after all." William frowned while his friend tried to get free from the one-armed choke-hold.

"You told me in one of your letters that you and him were of the oldest on your classes, having missed the cut off for the previous year. Anyways, did papa know you guys were coming here? You were lucky we were here at all."

"No… Didn't have time. I probably should announce us to uncle Edward."

"I'll escort you. I need to meet with him anyways." Emily turned to head towards stairs. William and Robert followed after her, the other boy finally having been released.

"Oh?" William arched his brows enquiringly at his cousin.

"My school letters came last week and since then papa has been negotiating with the deputies so I could attend both schools in turn. I want to know the latest news about the matter."

"You got two?" Robert joined the conversation once more.

"Yes, maman went to Beauxbatons so they sent me a letter too. I expect that twins will also get two in five years."

"So, are you starting with which one then?"

"Most likely Beauxbatons at first but then I'll join you guys in Hogwarts and after my OWLs go back to Beauxbatons." Emily smiled.

"Why both?" William blurted out.

"Why not? Best of both worlds." She shrugged. "And like this I get qualifications both in Britain and France."

William and Robert got the permission to stay in the manor's guest rooms. The house elves would take care of them and once September 1st dawned, Edward would take them to King's Cross. Henry had been notified about the matter and the scholar was glad that it was all settled.

Meanwhile, Christine was taking Emily to shop for her school supplies to Paris's magical district at Rue Magique. It was one long street with gateways to inner wards within blocks. But when you went through the gateways, you were in a whole new area, dedicated to something specific to sell or something else similar. There were seven gateways, each named after a color of a rainbow.

"Where are we going first?" Emily asked.

"Gringotts, naturally. Then… Some basic stuff like your telescope, trunk, cauldron… Your wand." Christine smiled down at the girl at that. Emily smiled back. "Your robes and books naturally too. Maybe robes at the beginning so they have time to make all the items. Books quite soon also since perusing at bookstores is exciting but exhausting."

"Are we flooing or apparating to Rue?" Emily asked then.

"Floo. You ready?" Christine took a stone bowl full of floopowder that was placed next to mantelpiece and offered it to Emily. The girl took a handful and approached to fireplace. She tossed the powder into the fire and once green, she stepped into the fireplace.

"Rue Magique." She said clearly and was spinning away, past other grates and exits. All the way until she was spat out of the fireplace. Emily smoothly somersaulted and straightened herself up. Gymnastics were so helpful with her balance and by now certain movements were already ingrained in her muscle memory. Clapping followed. It was some of the patrons in the café that served as an entrance to Rue. Emily smiled in embarrassment and was relieved when Christine finally came through the floo and led her to the back entrance and led to the shopping district itself.

While Emily had visited Diagon Alley and Rue Magique several times, it was always interesting to go again. The air buzzed with magic and it was exciting to see people milling about. Besides, she'd never gone to Gringotts which was in Adminstration block among lawyer officers, accountants and others. It was called Bloc Indigo as dark blue was nice neutral color, soothing but official and inoffensive.

But as stated, either Emily's parents already had the money they needed with them or then only one of them had gone into the vaults and the other remained topside with her. Sensible really. Previously she'd been too young to be safely taken down to the vaults with the rollercoaster ride of a cart drive.

"I can really go with you on the carts?" Emily asked her mother, with her eyes wide. The woman chuckled.

"Sure. Just don't get sick." Christine smiled.

"I won't." Emily promised.

The ride down was exhilarating. Emily suppressed the urge to scream in glee but did giggle uncontrollably once they stopped by her trust vault. And promptly apologized her behavior to the goblin acting as their 'driver'. But really everything was simply incredible. And she actually had her very own vault! It didn't have a lot of money like original Harry's trust vault (probably) had but quite decently anyways. And Dorea's money situation Emily did not want to entertain. The Blacks and the main Potter family both were filthy rich after all. Emily was instructed to take just enough for her school supplies and a bit extra for spending money, with the rest left into the vault to collect interest and wait for the next year.

Next, they headed for Bloc Bleu that sold scholastic supplies in honor of the color of Beauxbatons's crest and uniform.

The bookstore where they went first, was called La Cursive et Le Cunéiforme. Emily loved exploring it without any specific purpose but this time she had a clear aim. Straight towards the school book selection of the year plus some additional material that seemed interesting.

And with the feather light charm in the shopping back, it didn't matter that one of the heaviest loads had been picked first.

Now, the robes. The uniform shop was in the same district because of Beauxbatons but other clothing and fashion stores were in Bloc Pourpre. Emily understood that was because purple and violet were for a long time considered royal both in mundane and magical cultures because of the difficulty of obtaining the pigments. And thus it was selected to represent the highest fashions and jewerly.

The Beauxbatons uniform was gorgeous. Much nicer than the bulky robes of Hogwarts. Of course, they were nice in such a way that Emily wasn't sure how to actually work in them. They weren't quite what pictured in the Goblet of Fire movie but quite close. The color blue was slightly darker for once and the model of the skirt could be chosen from many options. For example, some Muslim girls attending could have a skirt reaching the floor or at least their ankles while some older girls who wanted to look more professional picked one that was styled like a pencil skirt. Because it was a school there was none that was shorter than right above knees. And all the skirts were charmed in such manner that if for a reason or other the hem needed to be gathered up (like avoiding it getting wet) or accidentally flew up in wind, there would only be dark mist-like illusion surrounding the girls' legs from knee up to waistline of the skirt.

Emily pondered her choice for a while. Since she'd be only about two years, it probably wouldn't matter when she got older… Christine had mentioned that some girls liked to judge others based on the model of the skirt. Quite stupid really because they all cost exactly the same amount of gold and were made of the same material: silk.

"I'd pick that one." A boy spoke next to Emily. Well, more like stuck his head over her shoulder. The girl squeaked in surprise and whirled around. He took a few steps back, his hands raised in surrender. "Sorry, did I scare you?" The boy apologized but didn't really look apologetic.

"Maybe a bit." Emily shrugged but quirked an eyebrow at the boy. He had light blue eyes and wavy light auburn hair parted at right. He seemed about her age and since he was in the shop… he was probably a first year too. He was already in school uniform though. "Which one did you mean?"The girl decided to ask, nodding her head towards the racks.

"This one." The boy pointed a loosely pleated skirt which was definitely different from the grey woolly ones that Hogwarts used. "Stands out appropriately but is still modest enough for your age."

"…You're right." Emily nodded slowly. It didn't have that strict ironed out feel but was still tidy. And it wasn't as flowy as the bell skirts that she'd eyed previously. "Merci."

"Have you already chosen?" Christine approached the two.

"Yes." Emily nodded, lifting the tag that the skirt in question had, marking the model of the skirt.

"Good, I'll inform the clerk so they can fit you in." And as soon as she had appeared, Christine was gone too. The boy next watched after the woman amusedly, with a glint in his eyes that told about an inside joke.

"Was that your mother?" He asked.

"Yes. Christine Lalonde. My name is Émilié Lalonde." She curtseyed. The boy's eyes widened and once Emily was upright again, he bowed, one arm curling across his torso and the other remaining behind his back.

"Pleasure to meet you, mademoiselle Lalonde. I'm called Blanchard Cleptes." The boy replied and straightened up. "May I enquire if you are a first year, too?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Blanchard of the Cleptes family." Emily smiled. "I'll indeed start my schooling at Beauxbatons this coming autumn. I haven't heard much of the Cleptes family though. Apparently, you got the brand of thieves during the French Revolution for stealing numerous magical and non-magical artifacts from the pureblooded families and mundane Royals but then began carrying the name proudly and no one cared anymore who you were originally as they benefitted from your loot as well."

"Very true." Blanchard smirked. "Yes, we indeed take what we can use and sell or trade them on. In the past decades we've branched out to define our trade as anything stealable. Including people and lives." The boy shrugged like the fact that his family kidnapped and killed people as well didn't matter. And maybe it didn't to him.

"Ho? Do you get much trade then?" Emily asked.

"Now… that'd be telling family secrets."

"My apologies."

"Nah, it's okay. It isn't as sinister as it sounds and we weight the gravity of each situation carefully before accepting or declining. And our closest business partners are abroad so…"

"Are the business partners secret too?" Emily was starting to like this boy and his relaxed way of speaking. His eyes shone in intelligence and alertness.

"Not to Lalonde." Blanchard winked. "They are the Zabini of Italy, Greengrass of England and Mardesangre of Spain."

Emily noted that all mentioned families were grey or otherwise neutral despite their reputations.

"Underground… no, simply a lesser known, beneath the surface network? Thieves of Cleptes, trade of Greengrass, general influence of Zabini and informants of Mardesangre… That sounds… dangerous. Is it truly alright to tell me this? Even if I'm a Lalonde." The girl smirked, like the information hadn't affected her at all. Anyone else, light or dark, would've been startled of the information. And the way it was in this case just offered. Unless Blanchard wanted something from her. Catching her eye, the boy smirked back and tucked his hands into the pants of his school uniform.

"Yes, because late Seigneur Michael Lalonde's wife Eloise and my brother's, Heir Francois Cleptes's, fiancée Jeanne Delacroix are closely related and…" He trailed off, giving a significant look at Emily.

"Ah yes, Lalonde-Delacroix-Cleptes Alliance from the time of Great War. Three one of the highest standing families making a stand to help mundanes and taking more active role in the non-magical France." Emily remembered from the lessons Aurelia had imparted to her. "Meaning also that dealings to foreign countries are known to each other."

"And like so I know that you are half a Potter as well thanks to your mother's marriage." Blanchard concluded and smoothly turned in the spot in order to leave. "It's only fair that you know the three main contributors for our network."

"Shouldn't you include your great-aunt's family to that too? Or do Galet as vassal family not count?" Emily called at his back. Blanchard froze, but chuckled then.

"So, you do have made your homework after all. But no, Galet suffered great losses as of late. It would be a shame to keep demanding favors from them while things are still precarious." And with that, the boy swanned off, "Au revoir, Émilié Lalonde. See you at Beauxbatons."

Just then Christine came back and had Emily ushered to stand on a stool for fitting the dress and the shirts. Finally. Had the woman been arguing about something with the clerks? Or gossiping with friends?

Telescope, cauldron, scales, vials, knife, parchment, quills… It was exhausting to walk from store to store. And apparently Christine had been discussing with Madame Fontaine about the newest fashion of winter cloaks and how much they could be charmed without damaging the fabric.

Then… Then came finally the time Emily had been waiting for.

"Is it now the time to get my wand, maman?" Emily asked when they walked out of the trunk shop. She'd gotten a standard sized trunk with three compartments (supplies, books, clothes) and some extra charms to make it easier to move and be secure. Emily really liked her trunk. It was made of some red tinted wood, name of which she forgot, and had silver-colored clasps and corner guards as well as her initials on the front. It was very nice trunk indeed. She'd probably decorate it later with some leaf pattern…

"It is the last item on our list." Christine smiled and indicated the road ahead. "I'm sure Madame Dubois is already waiting for us. I swear, the woman is prescient or something similar."

Emily laughed.

Madame Dubois's wand shop in Bloc Orange (where scientific and higher-grade magic stores were at) was not dusty and mystic like Ollivanders'. The counter and the shelves were made of some pale colored wood while the hard wood floors were of warm cherry. Two apple green benches were below the front windows which were covered with light green see-through curtains. Seeing outside from inside but not vice versa that was. On the shelves themselves, was an organized chaos. The narrow boxes containing the wands were placed there a bit haphazardly but what Emily could discern from the markings at the end of them, they had the same wood together and then by length so that the shortest ones were in upper shelves and longer ones below. But not all the way down to the floor though. The bottom shelves had some cabinets in them.

"So, you are little Émilié Lalonde." A voice spoke from between the shelves. Emily swallowed the yelp coming up and watched as a woman looking to possibly be in her late forties emerged from there. She wore sapphire robes made of velvet and had clinking heels, her weathered face smiling and curly brown hair gathered on top of her head in a messy bun that was apparently held together by her own wand. "Like my shop?" The woman grinned.

"Yes. It's nice." Emily nodded. "Pleased to meet you, Madame Dubois."

"Oh, you high-class girls and your pretty-tidy manners." Madame Dubois laughed. "No need for stiffness here. Call me Reinette. Nice to meet you too."

Emily smiled a bit awkwardly. This straightforwardness was new.

"Not much of a talker then? Alright, I'll talk for both of us then." Reinette continued. "Which one is your wand arm?"

"I'm right-handed." Emily offered her right arm.

"I see." The woman approached and tugged a tape measure from one of the numerous pockets of her robe. The heels went clink, clink as she walked. Then she began physically measuring Emily's arm. Wrist to elbow, around the wrist, the length of her fore, middle and ring fingers. "Spread your fingers."

Emily did. Reinette measured from the tips of thumb to little finger, thumb to middle finger and middle finger to little finger.

"You can put down your arm now. Don't frown or make funny faces now…" The woman then measured from between Emily's eyes to her hair line. The girl couldn't help but giggle.

"It's cold." She giggled.

"Now, there's the smile." Reinette grinned back before whirling around and stalking to one of the shelves. "Now… While the length of the wand must not be awkward when compared to the user, tall wands do not always go to tall magicals and likewise short witches and wizards to not automatically have short wands. The length of the wand is more indicative to the character of the person, their ambitions and drive. Similarly, the bendiness of the wand relates to the morals and character of the witch or wizard in question. For example, a person with flexible ideas has more flexible wand… but it can mean both weak-mindedness as well as open-mindedness. More rigid one indicates determined nature but also possibly unnecessary stubbornness and unwillingness to compromise. So, one shouldn't judge people according to their wand. Because, like my English colleague across the channel says, the Wand chooses the Wizard." Reinette rambled on. "This is very true and that's why one shouldn't look down on another because of their wand. The wand is fated to you. Magic wills you to have your wand in your hands. Sometimes it is from a shop like this, sometimes it's inherited, sometimes you win the wand that matches you perfectly from someone else. Either way, there will be time in your lifetime when you'll have your wand in your hand."

She came back with a couple of narrow boxes in her hands.

"Now… Your mother Christine," Reinette politely nodded in Emily's mother's direction. Emily had forgotten she was in too, sitting on one of the benches, out of the way. "…has Laurel and Unicorn wand. And according to wandmaker gossip, your father Edward in the other hand favored Poplar with a Phoenix tail feather. It is quite interesting to note that him and his sisters all had differing wand cores from each other. Usually there is at least some similarities between siblings but with them there is none."

Emily listened with interest as Reinette unpacked the first wand.

"Now… Let's start with Laurel as well, nine and a quarter inch, with phoenix feather inside."

Emily took the wand and frowned at it. It felt like plain wood. Then she flicked it at some targets that Reinette had raised from behind the counter with an absent flick of her wand.

One of the paper targets was promptly reduced to ashes. It didn't even blow up. Just went grey and crumbled down.

"Nope." And the wand was snatched away and packed back into the box. "Then, Hazel, unicorn hair, good for shield charms."

This time the target was blown in pieces, the pieces getting stuck on the shelves.

"Elm, unicorn hair."

Nope.

"Birch, dragon heartstring."

Nada.

So went on with a couple of more. But Emily didn't let her frustration to show. Even if she couldn't get a wand from Madame Dubois's, maybe one could be found from Ollivanders'. Maybe.

As if sensing her thoughts, Reinette smiled impishly and opened one more box. It was the third last of the second batch she'd brought out.

"Alder with a phoenix feather core, ten and half inches, slightly springy. Go on, try it." The woman encouraged.

Emily's breath hitched. She knew this wand. Damn it, this was the one she'd gotten at Pottermore when it was still new and shiny and fun website. She reached for the wand and gave it a little twitch. She could already feel the warmth beneath her fingertips and the gold and silver sparks only solidified the feeling. The wand was hers. Emily drew the wand across the air above her head in an arch, leaving a stream of sparks behind.

"Ah, magnifique." Reinette grinned, already bustling about the shop and putting the boxes back in their places while Emily relished in the feeling of finally having her own wand.

"Wonderful, Émilié!" Christine came up to hug the girl. "I'm so proud of you."

"It is always a joy to match Alder wands." Reinette spoke up, leaning against the counter. Just how quickly this woman moved and worked? "Alder wands are loyal to their owners and quite suitable for non-verbal spell work. With a phoenix feather core, I trust this one will serve you very well."

"Thank you, Madame Dubois." Emily smiled.

"It's Reinette." The wandmaker protested with a dismissive wave of her hand. "And I was just doing my job. It's something I enjoy."

"How much will it be then?" Christine asked.

"Six galleons."

After Christine paid, Reinette turned to address Emily again.

"By the way, once you've gotten either your sixth-year exams or the English OWLs done, come back here. I'll remove the trace from the wand then."

"Oh?"

"After either exams, many girls leave school to be wed so it's standard procedure here in France. Bit annoying to have trace go off while being already recognized for your magic already. The boys mainly remain all seven years in school so it's maintained on them though." Reinette smiled ruefully. "And as girls are more mature by fifteen and sixteen than boys, it's alright on that front too. They know responsibility better. We don't tell boys thought since they'd get jealous." The woman winked.

"I see. Thank you for your information."

"But then again, if boys leave school as well, they are also informed about premature trace removal by mail. Some after all go to apprenticeships or start businesses."

Emily nodded. That made sense too.

"Now, off you go. Enjoy the last days of summer before you are off to school."

"Oui. Merci beaucoup!"

On the last week of the summer, Emily approached Aurelia. She wanted her hair cut. While Emily knew that when she was older and especially married, she'd need to have longer hair that could be put up in order to be decent… But while she was still younger, Emily wanted to have freedom of deciding on her hairstyles and length.

Aurelia agreed and with Christine's permission as well, Emily's hair was cut to chin length. The locks framing her face curled nicely inwards and with a simple hairband, Emily could keep them in order.

She was satisfied and couldn't wait until September dawned and the next chapter in her life began.

A/N: Madame Dubois's shop is like less dark and less dusty version of Ollivanders basically.

And I got to introduce Blanchard finally! He and Andrew are probably my favourite characters I've created for this fic. Cleptes family tree is currently under work. I'll tell you when it's done.

On the other hand... Yes, Galet refers to Arsené Galet. I have Umei's permission to have him connected to Blanchard. With Cleptes literally meaning thief, I couldn't resist not to have Gentleman Cambrioleur's namesake related to them.

By the way... I hope the Cleptes by description don't come off as... too Varia-ish. I mean there will be a plot point way later where people think they can bypass interracting with Varia by making a contract with Cleptes but... They are not assassins.

Anyways, this was the last chapter that I've writted beforehand. I'll try to get the next one done in a week but... Real Life. Might get work, studying, and so on so forth.