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Of Earth and Stars

Chapter 2: Defining Choices

August 1988 - Vienna, Austria

She followed the sounds of gently clinking glass to the kitchen. There, she found the ten-year-old girl with a sullen face. The girl was quiet as she poured herself a tall glass of lemonade infused with lavender and set the pitcher down with a dispassionate clunk.

"My dear, why the long face," the older woman asked. Her blonde hair was pulled back into an elegant chignon, and she carried herself with the grace of aristocracy. Her deep blue eyes watched sympathetically as the girl with inky black hair plopped down at the kitchen table by the window.

"Sophia got her letter to Beauxbatons yesterday," said the girl, lifting her eyes—an uncommon grey-blue. People often said her eyes were reminiscent of the deepest part of the sea.

"Sophia got hers, Eloise got hers last month, and Mia got hers last month too—why not me, Granna?" Suri Rosier-Black searched Amalia Rosier's face for the answers.

"Oh, Suri." Amalia joined Suri at the kitchen table, and smiled gently when Suri took another unhappy swallow of her drink. She almost chuckled at the contradiction between Suri's trembling lower lip and the determined set of her shoulders.

"Am I a squib, Granna?" Suri's eyes widened with momentary fear.

"You are the furthest thing from a squib and you know that," Amalia replied, seeing the tension leave the little girl's body with the validating words. "But maybe…" Amalia frowned as she thought of how to break the news to her granddaughter. "You were born late during the year, so maybe you won't get your letter until next year."

"What?!" Suri's eyes widened with shock. "No! I want to go this year! I'd be eleven when term starts, which is just in time!"

"I know that dear, try looking for a bright side. If you don't get your letter this year, then next year, you'll be among the older ones in your class."

"I don't care!" Suri frowned and looked away from her grandmother, glaring at the sweating glass of cold lemonade.

To the girl's left, a tapping sound interrupted her sulking. She turned to see an owl at the window and her heart soared.

"Granna! The owl has a letter!" Suri rushed to unlatch the window and welcome the owl inside, stroking the bird's head with gratitude as the bird released the letter into Suri's eager palm.

"Oh, Granna! It's addressed to me, see!?" Suri turned the letter over long enough for Amalia to see a name scripted across the front in fancy calligraphy:
Suri Ariel Rosier-Black.

Amalia watched as Suri excitedly tore into the letter, careful not to rip the contents. Suri extracted a folded piece of parchment and quickly scanned the page. "Chère Mademoiselle Rosier-Black, we are pleased to ask you to join us at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic this autumn—"

Suri broke into a large smile. "Granna, I—" She was cut off when a second owl swooped through the open window and dropped a letter beside her lemonade before perching next to the other owl.

"Two letters?" Amalia glanced at the new letter and paled when she saw the crimson wax seal.

"Strange," Suri murmured and picked up the letter. "It's also addressed to me." Setting aside her Beauxbatons acceptance letter, Suri tore into the second letter.

"Dear Miss Rosier-Black, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—" Suri looked up, her expression mostly calm except for the slight furrow in her eyebrow when she appraised her grandmother.

"Granna, why are you scared?"

"Suri Rosier-Black!" Amalia pressed her fingers to her temple and immediately, Suri lost the feeling of fear her grandmother experienced. "Please," Amalia continued in a tight, calm voice. "Let me see the Hogwarts letter."

Suri handed it over and Amalia scanned the contents. She was silent for a few moments before she finally folded the letter and set it aside. "Well," she said, smiling at Suri. "We'll just send an owl informing Hogwarts of their mistake. You'll be going to Beauxbatons in September."

"What if I don't want to?" Suri's voice, generally light, but strong came out in almost a mumble.

"What was that, darling?"

"I mean," Suri continued, looking from her Beauxbatons letter to her Hogwarts one. "What if this isn't a mistake and I get to choose?"

"Suri, Austria is within the boundaries for Beauxbatons. Besides, weren't you just complaining about the possibility of being a year behind your friends? If you got to Hogwarts, you'll be hundreds of kilometers away."

"I know." Suri reached up and gently touched the front of her blouse, feeling the bump of a silvery vial pendant cool against her skin. "But if I go to Hogwarts, I'll learn about my Mum and Dad."

Amalia paled even further. "Suri," she said slowly. "You know you can ask me anything about them."

"I know, Granna." Suri looked up and met her grandmother's eyes. Her sea-colored eyes were kind, but they were hard with steely determination. "I have a lot of questions, but maybe I'll get more answers if I go to Hogwarts. Maybe sit where my dad sat or meals or learn from the same professors in the same classes my Mum had."

Amalia sighed heavily at her granddaughter. Suri Rosier-Black, among her other strengths and unusual skills, had always been a good girl—albeit the most daring of her friends, and with a sense of indomitable passion. The passion, Amalia knew, visibly started with Suri's eyes hardening and her chin rising, as if preparing for a challenge. It usually ended with her getting exactly what she set out to do.

"Granna," Suri raised her chin ever so slightly, "I'm going to Hogwarts."

Author's Note:

Thank you for joining me on this new journey known as Of Earth and Stars.

So, keeping the theme from last chapter-who do you think Suri is going to fall in love with? :)

Also, I noticed I have a few international readers-for those of you who's first language might not be English (specifically US English), thanks for reading and following along! You all are rockstars!

Your reviews are love!

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