𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱, fred weasley

˗ˋ 71

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
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-: seventh year :-

── IN WHICH SHE DECIDES

. . .

There had been barely any mention of Hogwarts since the week Elodie returned from the school in the Scottish Highlands. 

At first, there had been the initial buzz of it all during the last three days of school. Amelie was extremely angry to have been forced to miss out on the action of the Triwizard Tournment, and apparently, after the entire retelling of her time there from Elodie, the younger girl had deemed that her two best friend's joint letters throughout the year were completely unsatisfactory.

Amelie seemed happy after Elodie had told her everything - leaving out various details - but her mood seemed to deflate when the Beuamont girl announced her plans to transfer there for her final year. But after getting a little bit upset, she had accepted them.

The rest of the student body of Beauxbatons had treated Elodie like a celebrity, and groups of people who Elodie had rarely talked to before crowded around her, asking if the girls there were any prettier than them - and what could she tell them about the boys.

Elodie had told them about Fred and George, only to be greeted by squeals. She had rarely been subjected to this sort of attention from her peers, and for those final three days of Elodie's sixth and final school year at Beauxbatons, the girl had basked in it, smiling and waving at girls she barely knew when they all said their goodbyes and reunited with their family after the bumpy journey in the smaller school carriages.

Similar to those she attended school with, her father had been filled with all sorts of questions when she arrived home - a rather grand French chateau. He had apologised profusely for not being able to be there and support her, but hoped he could make it up to her.

And with those words bouncing around her mind, it was the first time Elodie asked about moving to Hogwarts. Silence had fallen around her, Célia coughing pointedly and Alexander looked awkward. Samuel Beaumont hadn't said anything in particular, waving his hands around as some vague sentence left his lips.

Her time at Hogwarts was barely talked about then, only mentioned when the staff asked her how her time away had been, or when she was talking to people in the muggle village nearby - she didn't tell them about the magical side of things, just told them the basic overview; her boarding school had travelled to another boarding school on a sort-of-exchange trip, and she had competed in a competition there.

The only time she properly talked about it was in her letters to Fleur and the twins. Fleur had gone back to England, to work at her part-time job at Gringotts. Acording to her, Bill Weasley had helped her English a lot. Elodie had gotten a laugh out of that - it wasn't her friend's job that had helped her, but the boy who had gotten if for her.

Although if Fleur was to read Elodie's letters to Fred, she would argue just how easy it was to fall under the Weasley charm. And Elodie couldn't exactly find the means to disagree with that. It wasn't exactly the worse thing to find yourself under, and if Fred found out she thought otherwise, then he wouldn't hesitiate in convincing her.

As the summer days passed, the chateau drowned in sunlight and not a cloud in sight, Elodie became more and more fidgety. She loved her current school, but for a while she just hadn't been able to picture herself attending for her final year. 

And although her mother believed otherwise, no amount of days spent lounging around in the chateau gardens, dressed in tiny sundresses with copious amounts of what seemed to be the magic version of suncream ( it protected your skin from burn whilst letting you get the perfect shade of tan ) rubbed into her skin.

So, one morning, as it neared the two weeks mark before September 1st, Elodie woke up with a mission. She was going to be attending Hogwarts whether Célia Beaumont liked it or not.

And after dressing, choosing one of the dresses her mother had bought her; it was pale blue with a square neckline, puffy sleeves and a flowing skirt, Elodie made her way down to breakfast, face set.

"Good morning darling." Célia said rather absentmindedly, barely looking up from that morning's edition of Le Cri de la Gargouille. It was floating above her face, magic turning the pages, and clearly distracting her mother.

In one swift movement, being watched rather nervously by Alexander and Samuel, Elodie had crossed the dining room and the length of the long dinner table and plucked the newspaper out of the air.

"Elodie?" Célia asked, gaze drifting down to the newspaper and then settling on her daughter. "Oh! That dress looks absolutely wonderful on you. Fleur's mother sent me one of her catalogues - mine had gotten lost in the mail - and I knew I just had to get you it. Isn't it pretty?" 

"Célia, I have a feeling that Ellie wasn't asking for you to compliment her dress." Samuel murmured, as he took his last sip off coffee and held up his cup, a maid rushing forward to give him some more.

"No?" Célia looked dumbfounded as she turned to her daughter, but Elodie could see a flicker of something in her eyes which clearly portrayed her mother's hidden realisation. 

"Mum.. Dad.. and Alexander - you're here as well." Elodie turned to look at the two male counterparts of the Beaumont family, Samuel nodding and Alexander raising his hand in acknowledgement. "I have decided I want to go to Hogwarts for my final year of Hogwarts."

"And essentially, there is nothing you can do to stop me."

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