The French Redhead☆Jily AU

《ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ #39》

8th December 1976, Beauxbatons, France

Marlene McKinnon woke up to see snowflakes on her window sill. Jumping up from her bed, she pressed her face to the window, childish delight spread over her face. The glass fogged when she exhaled and Marlene found herself tracing her initials in it.

Marlene pushed her curtains aside and saw Lily smiling at the snow outside the window. The others were stirring too, for a cold December morning.

"Morning." Lily smiled at Marlene.

"Same to you," beamed Marlene as she walked towards the bathroom to get ready for the day.

It was a Sunday, which meant no classes and just fun. The Dreamers packed up some food, blankets, a tent and some warm clothes and hiked up on one of the hills surrounding Beauxbatons. The small hill was coated with white snow and the trees were leaf-less, but it was comforting all the same.

Remus collected the logs for a campfire while Frank washed the vegetables. Mary and Marlene arranged the tent while Lily added safety charms around them. Exhausted after their work, they collapsed in the tent, munching blueberry muffins and sipping hot chocolate as they enjoyed the day.

"This is the most enjoyable thing about winters at school," said Mary as she pulled her soft blanket closer against her, enjoying its warmth.

"Indeed." Frank warmed his hands against the fire.

Lily and Marlene were playing a serious game of chess, which included the latter muttering curses in Latin everytime she lost a piece. You see, the McKinnons have a sort of Roman origin. Marlene can't read Latin, but she can speak it. She often reminded people how colourful the language was until it became endangered of fading.

"CHECKMATE!" Lily shouted, grinning broadly. Marlene muttered another curse and took a long sip of her hot chocolate.

"Tsk-tsk, you are bad at this," Frank told Marlene, a sympathetic expression on his kind face. Marlene only scowled at him, making everyone burst into laughter.

They settled in their cozy blankets and fluffy cushions, laughing and joking while enjoying the falling snow outside and the spectacular view the hill provided. That was friendship, you laugh, you smile and, sometimes, you cry. In any circumstances, you stay together. Whether it be an earthquake, a tsunami or perhaps something as horrible as an avalanche. You share happiness but you also share sadness. In friendship, its all out the others, not yourself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

9th December 1976, Hogwarts, Scotland

"Happy birthday, Izzy!" Emmeline beamed as she kissed Isadora's forehead.

"Thanks," the slightly sleepy birthday girls smiled at her.

"You gotta wake up! It's your birthday!" Kate exclaimed, pulling the covers off Isadora.

"Rise and shine!" Alice added helpfully.

"Or we'll not give you your presents," threatened Dorcas playfully.

Together, the four of them pulled Isadora out of her bed and threw her--quite literally--in the bathroom. Isadora shook her head at their childish behaviour, but got ready soon.

"Happy birthday, Dodona," smirked Sirius as he handed her a box wrapped in dandelion-themed paper.

"Don't call me that." Isadora scowled and took her present, her eyes narrowed as though it would pop open and throw a punch at her face. (True story, by the way. Around Circa 1973, James Potter was punched in the face by a rather violent birthday present, given to him by Sirius Black.)

"Don't worry, its useful stuff," assured Sirius, a mischievous light sparkling in his moon grey eyes.

"Not so sure," said James, eyeing the present with a curious spark in his hazel eyes.

"There's not a scintilla of evidence that it's not useful stuff," argued Sirius.

"Shut up," snapped Kate.

"Happy seventeen to you," Maddison Vance said to Isadora as she walked by with Regulus trailing after her. She sat beside Emmelinem while Scarlett Potter kissed Isadora's cheeka and wished her a happy seventeen.

"Thanks guys," smiled Isadora as she stuffed the gifts in her bag and resumed her day. It went by quickly and after a loud and cheerful party in the common room, everyone was ambling to their dormitories. Isadora could not help but sigh as she closed her eyes. The only person she wanted on her birthday belonged to someone else. What a birthday.

Kate silently charmed some dandelions and kept them in a beautiful vase on Isadora's nightstand. On every 9th December since, the dandelions sang a beautiful tune for Isadora.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

10th December 1976, Beauxbatons, France

The play turned out to be hard. So freaking hard. Every time Xavier Smith would try to touch Lily, Remus would come out at the wrong time. Marlene was desperately trying to teach him Latin, but it was failing.

"You scumbag!" Remus shouted as Xavier bent down to Lily's level.

"CUT!" shouted Lydia Rowle. "Remus, Gods did not use words like 'scumbag'!"

"I thought that a change would be good," said Remus sheepishly.

"We're gonna lose," grumbled Jennifer Loranzo. Grudgingly, Mary agreed with her.

"Think positive," chided Frank.

"What are the other teams doing anyway?" asked Lily as she took a seat.

"Hm, Nannette's team is preparing on the skit where Zeus makes ants," sniggered Marlene.

"She's forcing that Willoughby guy to crawl on the floor," added Mary, shaking her head with an amused smile.

"I predicted long ago that Nannette's cracked," said Remus, laughing.

"She's cracked and her team is cracking," snorted Lydia.

"Not nice guys," said Lily, shaking her head. The rest of the day melted in shouts, curses, Latin insults and practice.

A/N: Heavens above, my head's gonna burst. It hurts like fucking hell. Take care and stay safe.

Love,
~Aurora♡

P. S. COME BACK ANA