August 12, 1978
It was a little less than a week later when the euphoric peace that had surrounded them, shattered. Dumbledore had come by and announced that he was sending them both on a mission – separate missions, of course – and they had been told that they had to leave immediately. Althea had wanted to protest, but she didn't because she knew that no matter how much time she wanted to spend with Remus, stopping Voldemort was more important. Althea shivered, a scowl crossing her face as she eyed the Parisian streets. Dumbledore had sent her to Paris, France because he was worried that Voldemort would try to gain the support of French pureblood wizards, who held the same blood purity values as the ones from Britain. So far, from what she had seen that didn't seem to be the case.
She had only been in Paris for about two days though, so it wasn't enough time for her to make any sort of good judgment. Right now, her thoughts held some foundation but not enough to make it concrete. She wrapped her arms around her middle, keen eyes roving around Muggle Paris. Althea thought that it was strange to see the wizards and witches, dressed in their regular clothing, wandering around interspersed with the Muggles. The crowds flowed seamlessly comprised of Muggles and wizards, and it was strange she thought. Although, upon looking closer she realized that maybe the Muggles didn't know that they were surrounded by people who could kill them with a flick of a wand, because the Parisian wizards and witches weren't dressed as formally as the ones from England.
Their clothes were decidedly much more normal and Muggle-like in fashion, so it was likely that the actual Muggles just thought that they were eccentric dressers. A slim, blonde girl slipped through the crowds unnoticed by most but Althea's eyes caught sight of her. She was dressed like the other witches in the street, although her clothing was much more edgy. She was wearing a dark charcoal long-sleeved blouse tucked into a black leather pleated mini-skirt, and around her neck loosely hung a dark blue tie with the Beauxbatons crest on it and Althea's eyes widened.
Shouldn't this girl be in school?
Moving from her hiding place, Althea shadowed the girl. It was evident that the girl didn't realize that she was being followed. She probably didn't notice because she was in a hurry to get somewhere, and Althea was keen on finding out where that was. She doubted that the girl would be involved in any sort of Dark Magic, because she doubted that Voldemort's reach extended into France but she couldn't be too careful.
The girl slipped into an alley, and Althea almost lost sight of her. Her footsteps paused as the girl walked up to a small house, out of the way of the chaos in the streets. It was situated comfortably between two much larger and much skinnier buildings, making it seem like it was out of place. The girl bounded up the steps onto the porch, knocking rapidly on the door until it swung open revealing a boy around her age with dark hair and dark eyes, and a scowl on his face that quickly evaporated when he caught sight of the girl.
The two conversed quietly in French, but they spoke so fast that Althea wasn't able to make out a word of what they were saying. Whatever the girl was saying evidently appeased the boy, as the tightness around his eyes eased and he bent down pressing a kiss to her cheek, whispering something that made the blonde flush. Althea smirked, backing away but since she wasn't paying attention to where she was going she knocked into something in the alley. The boy tensed and the girl whirled around, panic crossing her face which turned into confusion when she caught sight of Althea. Just as quickly though the panic was back on her face, tinged with anger. Althea raised her hands to show that she had nothing in her hands – like a wand – but it didn't make the girl relax. She bounded off of the steps and hurried toward Althea, her chest rising and falling angrily and her eyes filled with unshed tears.
"Who are you? Did my family send you?" The girl asked and Althea's eyes widened.
"No. I'm not even quite sure who you are," Althea answered, trying to smile.
The girl's eyes narrowed, "You're British?" She crossed her arms over her chest, "What are you doing here?"
"That is quite frankly none of your business," Althea snapped, her guard rising as she eyed the blonde Beauxbatons student. "Aren't you supposed to be in school at Beauxbatons?"
"School won't start without me," the girl answered confidently. She eyed Althea distrustfully for a few more moments before extending a hand. "Madeline Rousseau at your service."
"Rousseau." Althea whispered. "You're a pureblood." Madeline flinched, but jerkily nodded and Althea's eyes darted to the boy standing on the porch watching them with trepidation. "And he's not. He's a Muggle." She turned back to the blonde, "But he knows exactly what you are, doesn't he? Because you told him."
"I love him," Madeline admitted quietly, glancing over her shoulder. "Luc, he loves me too but my family doesn't believe that. Actually, to be fair, they don't even know that I'm seeing Luc because he's a Muggle and God forbid I ruin my family's pureblood reputation."
"I won't tell anyone," Althea murmured her voice soft, "because right now there's nothing more dangerous than a Muggle being associated with a pureblood."
Madeline flinched at the unintended verbal blow, and she sighed her shoulders hunching. "You know then. About vol de mort, 'flight of death'…I believe in Britain he's called You-Know-Who."
"His reach extends into France then."
Madeline nodded, "He's making nice with families like my own. He's seeking to wage an all-out war against purebloods and anyone who opposes blood purity even Muggles, which many consider to be a threat. My family is of course no exception to what is happening, and many of them are on You-Know-Who's side." Her voice softer she whispered, "But not me. I'm just trying to protect Luc."
"If you want to protect Luc, you need to get him out of the country. Out of Europe," Althea told her and Madeline's eyes widened. "The safest place for him right now is likely America since it's an ocean away from You-Know-Who's reach." Althea's eyes moved to Luc who was still watching them. "Take him and run. That's the only thing that you can do for now. Although, I would recommend discussing it with him."
"Of course, I would," Madeline sounded offended. "I wouldn't take away his free will.' She glanced at Luc and then looked back at Althea. "Is it really that bad?"
"Not quite yet, but soon it will be. And it's better if you aren't here when everything happens."
"And you?" Madeline asked a wry smile curling her lips. "You can't be any older than I am."
"I can't abandon my family or my fiancé. My parents and siblings are in America. Seek refuge with them." Madeline nodded and Althea continued, "I don't know where they live but you can contact the Magical Congress of the United States to find them, and when you do tell them that Althea sent you."
"Thank you." Madeline turned around to walk back to Luc. "You should get out too, while you can. Take your own advice."
Althea just watched her go a bitter smile appearing on her youthful features. As much as she would to flee, she couldn't because she wasn't a coward and she also couldn't abandon Remus, and Remus wouldn't abandon his friends. Turning on her heel Althea Apparated to the hotel that she had taken residence in, and began digging through the files that Dumbledore had given her. Her old Headmaster was nothing if not thorough and organized.
Finding a file labelled Rousseau, Althea grabbed it and hurriedly began reading through the family history and their biographies. The Rousseau family, was a prestigious French pureblood family and if Althea could equate them to any pureblood in Great Britain, it would undoubtedly be the Malfoys. They could trace back their pureblood lineage almost as far as the Malfoy's could, and had managed to keep their blood pure through all of the generations except it seemed when it came to Madeline. Fortunately for the Rousseau family, Madeline wasn't their only heir; she had three younger brothers, and an older sister who had already married into a prestigious Italian pureblood family. Perhaps that was why Voldemort was seeking to ally with the Rousseau family. If all of the children married like Madeline's sister had, he could exploit their connections and gain allies in more pureblood families from other countries.
It was a smart strategy, and one that made her nervous. As far as she knew, the Order of the Phoenix didn't have sort of strategies – or allies – like that. Maybe they did, but it wasn't like Althea was all that sure. She was often kept out of the loop on things when it concerned the Order of the Phoenix, for reasons that she didn't know. It made her feel like none of them trusted her, but she knew that wasn't the case – Lily, James, Sirius, Gideon, Fabian, and Remus all trusted her and she knew that McGonagall and Dumbledore did too, however she still couldn't fathom why it seemed that some things were being hidden from her.
Althea flipped through the rest of the file on the Rousseau family, deducing that Madeline wasn't on good terms with them. In many ways, the Rousseau girl that she had just met, reminded her of Sirius. They both came from influential pureblood families and they both rebelled against the values that their family had tried to instill within them. Madeline fell in love with a Muggle, while Sirius was blasted off of his family tree and was a Gryffindor. Arguably, one could say that was his only crime – he had not been a Slytherin. But, then his family learned that he didn't share the same thoughts that they did on Muggles and that was all it took for him to be disowned. It was sad really, because Sirius and Madeline had done nothing wrong at least on a moral standpoint; it was their families that were in the wrong.
Althea tucked the loose sheets of paper into the file and closed it, stuffing it into the desk in the hotel room. She had a lot of investigating to do, and she felt like this job was going to be the most difficult one that Dumbledore had given her yet.
She didn't know when she'd be able to return home. To Remus.