It's Going to be a Great Year!

Things had really changed for Autumn over the summer. Her little sisters were practically all grown up: Marli was starting preschool and Hannah had started speaking. Her father had gotten a promotion at his crummy job and there was more money coming in. And suddenly, and miraculously, her parents were off of her back. For some reason, they trusted her. And the fourteen-year-old had no problems with them.

And that wasn't all. She had made up with Gregory. And that was the most important part. And even though she still hadn't been communicating with Julie-Pierre, she was still happy.

No parental problems, glowing little sisters, a rekindled relationship with her cousin, and starting her fourth year at Beauxbatons was contributing to her current state of happiness.

So when someone got into the carriage with her, she couldn't help but bombard them with questions. "Hello! How are you? Isn't it a lovely day? Such calm weather! The winged horses look so nice today, don't you think? It's gonna be a great year!"

Last year had been a most wonderful year and Lucie couldn't see how this year could be better than that. Academically she hadn't shone but that wasn't any surprise. She didn't expect to. It was everything else which made the year her best to date. With no expectations and as yet zero disappointments she was ready as she ever could be for the coming year. Ready to turn her back on her awful brothers and count her lucky stars the younger one didn't turn out to be a wizard.

She stepped into the carriage with a light step and a smile. Her mother was the only one to see her off. Her mother! A rare occurrence due to the fact she usually had to work on Lucie's first day back at school. Instead she was having some built up leave and took Lucie to Paris by herself. No grandparents. No brothers. And Lucie could start her fifth year knowing mum did love and care about her more than Lucie had believed.

Lucie's good mood took an unexpected turn into uncertainty again the moment she faced the younger girl with a flow of words. The suspected thief of her book. The captain of the Cerisier team. The overly happy and cheerful girl with the same name as the season they were coming into for their return to Beauxbatons.

"Oh um yeah," she eventually said as she sat down opposite Autumn. "I guess it will be." Lucie couldn't answer all the other questions due to the fact she couldn't remember what exactly the younger girl had said. "What are you looking forward to the most about this year?" she asked as a way of deflecting from the fact she hadn't answered any but one question. And deflecting from herself at the same time.

"Oh! Hi, Lucie!" Autumn greeted. She hadn't actually seen who she had asked questions of. "Congratulations on winning the cup last year! It was a really good game!"

Autumn had no bitterness towards losing to Lucie. Cerisier didn't quite work together last season. Autumn had already been thinking of team building exercises that would hopefully improve the bond between all of the players.

"I don't know what I'm looking forward to most. I just feel like things are going to be different," she answered. Autumn had never been much of an emotional person. However, her gut feelings had been accurate recently, leading her to believe that it was beginning to always be right. "What about you? What's going to be good for you this year?" Autumn asked.

"Thanks," Lucie returned, her smile now back on her face. Playing against Autumn's team had been a much more pleasant experience than playing against that new Montagnard captain with the horrid smirk. Beating her had been extremely gratifying. "So are you ready to give us a challenge this year?" she asked Autumn. As much as she liked the girl, despite the book theft, she still was determined to beat her again.


Lucie shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe do better in classes this year." It did sound rather pathetic but Lucie knew she wasn't very academically inclined. Any test she'd done well was because some revision for another test was neglected. "Good for me though I guess is knowing my younger brother really is a muggle. That's very good since it means I never have to see him during the school year." An odd thing to be happy about the coming year but Lucie couldn't come up with anything else.

"I sincerely hope that we will be a challenge. I'm definitely working on the Chasers this year. They don't want to work together, which is a large obstacle," Autumn replied, smiling. She was excited for the coming season. Even if they lost their game, it would still be fun. "But whatever happens is fine, I suppose. How did you get your team to work together?"

Asking a successful Quidditch captain made more sense than asking anyone else how to work it out. Professor Bowen was probably not concerned with the emotional and social part of Quidditch. Especially since there shouldn't be a connection between that group of concepts.

Doing better in school was a smart thing to do. Autumn was a mostly A-B student. If you did your assignments, you automatically got a decent grade.

Autumn didn't really know how to respond to the comment about Lucie's brother. there was no shame in being a Muggle. After all, she had done it for ten years. But there was also no shame in being a wizard either.

"That is good, I suppose. I guess I'm lucky. My sisters are much too young to be in school with me," she said, unsure. She didn't think that she'd mind Marli or Hannah being at school with her, but they were sisters. Brothers had to be different.

Lucie wasn't sure she wanted to give away all her team's secrets and in the case of this question there was no danger of that happening by giving Autumn an answer. "Well I'm not at all sure," she admitted. "I've just managed to get them to work together without really knowing how I did it. Luck?" It was rather amazing considering she'd been so young when made captain.

"If you'd ever met my brothers you'd know why it was good," Lucie said ominously. "They're forever trying to make me more like them. More like a boy." She wrinkled her nose at the sorts of activities they wanted her to be involved in. "And then when I got my letter inviting me to Beauxbatons they called me a freak. My mother and grandparents didn't mind at all and were really supported but them...nuh...ugh. Never the sort of sister they wanted me to be." Of course in a way it would have been poetic justice if Hans had been a wizard but that would have meant spending her final three years at Beauxbatons with him there as well.

Autumn wanted to ask for more information. Luck wasn't definite. It wasn't always there. She needed something reliable.

But maybe Lucie just had a decent group of kids who didn't like to bicker. She only knew the names of four players, and only two personally, so she couldn't make an accurate judgement.

Autumn felt uncomfortable with family talk. She couldn't ever give much advice, since her family life was messed up. Autumn sometimes felt like her aunt and uncle were her parents. She tried her hardest not to think like that. It would only make her emotional.

"Well, that's not very nice. Everyone is different, so one is a freak," Autumn replied. She wouldn't ever say something like that to her sisters. Or to anyone.

"If your brothers want a relationship with you, tell them they have to deal. The real you isn't bad, right?"

Maybe Autumn was over-simplifying things, but it seemed like a fairly easy thing to do. Sure, it was a problem, but not too big if only two people were harassing her.

"I know that. You know that. They don't know that." And that simply described her brothers. They knew nothing of differentness. The pair were booksmart. There was no arguing there except for the expert cheating part. It was the human thing Lucie felt they were not so clever over.

She snorted at the idea of Owen & Hans wanting to have anything to do with her. "They'd much rather I didn't exist and the feeling's mutual." She leaned back in her seat and glanced out the window of the flying carriage. "I do wonder sometimes though what..." She shook her head. "Well it doesn't matter. Once I graduate I can cut all ties with my brothers and just visit mum and my grandparents." Perhaps after her grandfather's dog died.

"Anyway, enough about my family woes. Let's talk about something else." She then proceeded to ask the first question which popped into her head. "What's your favourite animal?"

Autumn listened carefully. She was glad she learned something about Lucie, even if it was an awkward topic. It made her seem more like an acquaintance than just a Quidditch rival.

Autumn held in her sign of relief. Changing the topic was something Autumn generally had trouble with. Actually, segueing in general. Seeing how things were connected and successfully communicating those things made little sense to her. And she was well aware of that.

"My favorite animal?" she asked. She thought about it for a moment. "Giraffes," she decided. She giggled. It seemed like a strange choice, given her current height. Maybe it was a bit of irony. "What about you?" Autumn asked.

"Where country are you originally from?" Autumn asked. It was something she had wondered before, but never got the chance to know. It was a little more serious than Lucie's question, but it seemed like a safe one.

Lucie smiled Autumn's answer and nodded. "Mine's a squirrel," she replied. She leaned back and her smile widened at the memories the mention of her favourite animal always evoked. "They're just always so busy running around the trees and searching for nuts. But you have to be very quiet if you want to see them in action." She held a finger to her lips. "They're very shy creatures. Why do you like giraffes?"

"The Netherlands. I've never left except to come to school. And we've always lived in Amsterdam. In the same house." Never changing location, except going to boarding school, but changes always happening around her. Lucie wasn't sure if she liked it or not. No time to dwell on that question and so she threw it back at Autumn. "Which country do you originate from?"