Summer had started, and Sirius and Regulus were spending a lot of time learning French. They were going to France very soon. Every morning, Capella, Lyanna, and Severus would come over to learn French with them. One morning, Sirius asked a question that had been on his mind for a while.
"Who all will be going to France?" Sirius asked curiously.
"It will be all of us," Arcturus began, gesturing to himself and the others in the room: Sirius, Regulus, Capella, Lyanna, Severus, and Melania. "We will also have Lucretia, Ignatius, Marius, Ilaria, Narcissa, Andromeda, Ted, Dorea, Alphard, and Cassiopeia."
"Wait, Aunt Cassie is joining us?" Regulus asked in surprise. "She never wants to do anything with us! She's usually perfectly content with just researching things day and night."
Melania smiled. "It took some convincing, but she finally agreed to put down her research projects for three weeks," Melania explained.
"Wow!" Regulus exclaimed. "That's a first!"
"Wait a moment," Sirius cut in. "Did you just say that Aunt Dorea is coming too? And Uncle Alphard?"
"Yes, that is correct," Arcturus confirmed.
"I haven't seen them in a long time," Sirius said with excitement.
"Weren't they at a family ball once?" Lyanna asked.
"They come to each family gathering," Arcturus told her. "You most likely met them at the Yule Ball."
"Oh, that's right!" Lyanna said in realization.
"So, are Cygnus and Druella not going?" Severus asked.
"No, they are not," Arcturus said.
"They were not interested," Melania added. "They said that they were not going to spend any time in the presence of a Muggle-born."
"Well, we don't need them anyway, if they're going to be dunderheads," Severus stated.
"You really like calling people that, don't you?" Sirius teased.
Severus glared at him. "I do not," he snapped.
"Well, it's better than some names," Lyanna said, glancing at a blushing Sirius and Capella.
Capella then rolled her eyes. "Don't start, you two," she pleaded. Everyone laughed.
A few days later, all of the Blacks that were going on the trip gathered at Black Manor. They were all going to take portkeys to the Ministère de la Magie. They took two portkeys. When they arrived at the Ministère de la Magie, Arcturus led them to the desk where they would check in.
"Bonjour, je m'appelle Arcturus Black, et avec moi se trouvent certains membres de ma famille. Nous sommes ici en vacances pour les trois prochaines semaines," Arcturus said in French.
"Seigneur Black, nous avons beaucoup entendu parler de la famille Black. Bienvenue en France! Allez-vous séjourner au Château Noir?" the woman at the desk asked.
"Oui," Arcturus confirmed.
"Signez ce formulaire, et vous serez alors prét," the woman said, handing Arcturus a form. Arcturus signed it before handing it back to her. With that, the Blacks walked out of the Ministère de la Magie building.
"I didn't know there was a Black property here," Capella said as they walked down a sidewalk.
"Yes, Château Noir is where some generations of the Black family lived," Cassiopeia explained.
"Are there no Blacks that live there anymore?" Regulus asked.
"It is used as a vacation home now," Dorea explained.
"So, we have a Black Castle in Scotland, and Château Noir here?" Sirius asked, pretending he didn't already know the answer.
"That's correct," Melania confirmed.
They arrived at Château Noir in no time. There were enough rooms in the Château for everyone to have their own room.
The first few days were filled with exploring different parts of France. Cassiopeia and Arcturus seemed to know more about France than anyone else. They even visited the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
On the fourth day, they met up with a distant Black relative that lived in Paris. She was a distant cousin named Chantal.
Chantal stood tall and proud. She was what some would call a proper Black.
"Bonjour," she greeted.
Arcturus introduced all of the members, but when he introduced Ted Tonks, Chantal sneered.
"Une Sang-de-Bourbe! Quelle honte!" she spat.
Ted looked at Andromeda in confusion. Andromeda sighed.
"She called you a Mudblood," she said. She then turned to Chantal. "Il faut être gentil! Il est peut-être né-moldu, mais il est tout aussi magique que vous et moi!" she exclaimed.
Chantal glared at her, but before she could say anything more, Arcturus stepped in.
"Nous sommes venus ici pour voir notre famille, pas pour discuter de préjugés dépassés. Si vous ne pouvez pas garder vos opinions pour vous et être respectueux, alors nous partirons. Le choix t'appartient," he said sternly.
Alphard stepped forward, glaring at Chantal. "Vous avez entendu le patriarche. Soit vous tolérez Ted, soit nous partons. Je suis sûr que vous ne voudriez pas ça, n'est-ce pas? Cela ruinerait votre réputation si vous chassez le patriarche, la matriarche, le like héritier et les autres membres à cause de vos préjugés complètement dépassés. Si vous pensez que cette famille veut entendre des ragots sur la pureté de votre sang, vous auriez dû être né il y a un siécle, lorsque la famille Black était encore une famille puriste du sang. Maintenant, ferme ta gueule!" Alphard snapped.
Chantal hesitated, but nodded. She called for a house-elf and ordered tea for everyone, even Ted.
They all started talking, getting to know Chantal more. By the end of the afternoon, she was much more respectful toward Ted. She still didn't like Muggle-borns, but she was definitely more respectful.
Two days later, the Blacks were exploring Strasbourg, one of France's major cities. They had just finished a tour of the European Parliament, decided they needed a break. They headed to the Parc de l'Orangerie.
"What should we do?" Narcissa asked. "There's a zoo, or we could go on a boat ride, or there's a playground."
Just then, a family of four entered the park. Arcturus and Melania exchanged a look of realization before approaching the family, the other Blacks following close behind.
"Bonjour, Seigneur et Dame Joubert," Arcturus greeted the two adults.
"Bonjour, Seigneur et Dame Black. C'est bon de vous voir ici en France. Soléne, Noémie, dites bonjour à Seigneur et Dame Black. Ils viennent d'une famille de sang pur en Angleterre," Lord Joubert said.
"Bonjour," both children greeted the Blacks.
Melania introduced all of the Blacks to the Joubert family. The Jouberts were a pure-blood family in France who, like the Blacks, had once valued blood purity, but in recent years, had drifted away from those outdated values.
Sirius, Regulus, Capella, and Severus talked to Soléne and Noémie while Arcturus and Melania talked to their parents. Soléne was thirteen, and Noémie was twelve. They went to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. Sirius remembered Harry telling him about a girl named Fleur that went to Beauxbatons. Fleur would be one of the Triwizard champions in the future.
"Nous verrons se nous pouvons venir nous rendre visite un jour," Regulus told Soléne and Noémie.
"Super!" Soléne exclaimed.
As they left that day, the children knew that they had found new friends, and the adults were just happy that they had a chance to catch up with allies they almost never got to see.
The three weeks in Paris went by faster than they would have liked. Before they knew it, it was time to go back to England.
Sirius and the others received hugs from Dorea and Andromeda. Alphard gave them a pat on the back.
"I hope you had fun," Alphard said.
"We did," Regulus replied.
"Glad to hear," Alphard said. "I realize just how much I'm in your lives, not much. I hope to change that."
"That would be great!" Sirius exclaimed. Regulus nodded.
"Same here," Dorea agreed.
"It would be great to see you more as well, Aunt Dorea," Regulus said. Dorea smiled.
"I'll see what I can do," she promised. Everyone headed home.
"Thank you for taking us, Grandmother and Grandfather," Sirius said as they settled back into Black Manor.
"You are welcome, Sirius. I hope to go again sometime, but at least you got to go at least once," Arcturus said.
"We should go to Spain one summer," Regulus suggested.
"Then it looks like we will be teaching you Spanish next," Melania said with a smile. Sirius and Regulus were excited. The trip to France might have been over, but more adventures were sure to come.
Translations:
French: Ministère de la Magie
English: Ministry of Magic
French: "Bonjour, je m'appelle Arcturus Black, et avec moi se trouvent certains membres de ma famille. Nous sommes ici en vacances pour les trois prochaines semaines."
English: "Hello, my name is Arcturus Black, and with me are some of the members of my family. We are here on vacation for the next three weeks."
French: "Seigneur Black, nous avons beaucoup entendu parler de la famille Black. Bienvenue en France! Allez-vous séjourner au Château Noir?"
English: "Lord Black, we have heard much of the Black family. Welcome to France! Will you be staying in Black Castle?"
French: "Oui."
English: "Yes."
French: "Signez ce formulaire, et vous serez alors prét."
English: Sign this form, and you will be all set."
French: "Une Sang-de-Bourbe! Quelle honte!"
English: "A Mudblood! How disgraceful!"
French: "Il faut être gentil! Il est peut-être né-moldu, mais il est tout aussi magique que vous et moi!"
English: "You need to be nice! He may be a Muggle-born, but he is just as magical as you and me!"
French: "Nous sommes venus ici pour voir notre famille, pas pour discuter de préjugés dépassés. Si vous ne pouvez pas garder vos opinions pour vous et être respectueux, alors nous partirons. Le choix t'appartient."
English: "We came here to see family, not to argue about outdated prejudices. If you cannot keep your opinions to yourself and be respectful, then we will leave. The choice is yours."
French: "Vous avez entendu le patriarche. Soit vous tolérez Ted, soit nous partons. Je suis súr que vous ne voudriez pas ça, n'est-ce pas? Cela ruinerait votre réputation si vous chassez le patriarche, la matriarche, le like héritier et les autres membres à cause de vos préjugés complètement dépassés. Si vous pensez que cette famille veut entendre des ragots sur la pureté de votre sang, vous auriez dû être né il y a un siècle, lorsque la famille Black était encore une famille puriste du sang. Maintenant, ferme ta gueule!"
English: "You heard the patriarch. You either tolerate Ted, or we will leave. I am sure you wouldn't want that, would you? We will ruin your reputation if you drive away the patriarch, matriarch, the Heir, and the other members because of your crazy outdated prejudices. If you think this family wants to hear your blood purity gossip, you should have been born a century ago, when the Black family was still a blood purist family. Now, shut your mouth!"
French: "Bonjour, Seigneur et Dame Joubert."
English: Hello, Lord and Lady Joubert."
French: "Bonjour, Seigneur et Dame Black. C'est bon de vous voir ici en France. Soléne, Noémie, dites bonjour à Seigneur et Dame Black. Ils viennent d'une famille de sang pur en Angleterre."
English: "Hello, Lord and Lady Black. It is good to see you here in France. Soléne, Noémie, say hello to Lord and Lady Black. They are from a pure-blood family in England."
French: "Nous verrons se nous pouvons venir nous rendre visite un jour."
English: "We'll see if we can come visit sometime."
French: "Super!"
English: "Great!"