all that i can give - sirius black

chapter one,

Edited: 2/22/22

September 1st, 1975.

Natalie looked around at all of the identical compartment doors surrounding her, trying to remember which one Charlotte had said she would be in.

She was supposed to meet Charlotte and catch up for a bit, then return to her compartment with Salvo. She would sneak off to Remus' compartment after to collect him, and then they would both go to the Prefect's compartment a little before the meeting.

Natalie just got home from her trip to Italy last night, and she hadn't gotten a chance to see any of her friends between now and then. She communicated with them through letters, of course, but she still missed her friends. Besides, she had gifts.

Natalie took a look at the compartment diagonal from her and internally debated with herself, might as well just knock and see. There was no harm knocking on compartment doors until she found the right one, she told herself.

It turns out, there actually could be some harm in knocking on every compartment door. Because, Natalie was a new business witch, and as a business witch she had appearances to keep up. So, when people inside the compartments she knocked on asked about her trip to Italy and how meetings with investors went, she had to give them her full, undivided attention. That on top of greetings and the formations of plans to meet up once the students got to school, had taken roughly half an hour.

Half an hour until she knocked on the right compartment and Charlotte Auche opened the compartment door.

Charlotte Auche was a carbon copy of her mother, Anabelle Auche (née Sewlyn.) She had her mothers dirty blonde hair and her sky blue eyes. In fact, almost all of Charlotte's features were the same as her mothers, with the exception of her fathers cheekbones and his smile. Yes, Charlotte matched her mother in looks to a T, but her personality was all from her father. The wit and sly thinking was all thanks to Adrien Auche, and is probably what got her into Slytherin.

Lost in her thinking, Natalie was caught off-guard when Charlotte was suddenly hugging her and her mouth was running at that surprisingly fast pace only Natalie could understand, albeit just barely.

"Woah, I've missed you too." Natalie chuckled, hugging her best friend back.

"I've missed you more, Nat." Charlotte said, and released her before taking in her outfit, "Oh, and look at your dress! My skills are unmatched." she squealed. And Charlotte's skills were, in fact, unmatched.

At the beginning of the summer, the women of the Leonie family officially hired Charlotte Auch to commission new outfits and dresses for them. It wasn't as if they couldn't on their own, but Charlotte had the perfect eye for things that made them look like queens. Currently, Natalie was wearing a dress Charlotte made for her and sent her while she was in Italy. It was a simple, white dress that went to her ankles with a small slit in the side, with loose flowy sleeves. The fabric was light, protecting her from the late summer heat. It had tiny pink flowers decorating it that Natalie adored. She paired the dress with some white heels and golden jewelry. It was a simple day dress, one that she wouldn't be able to wear soon when the weather started getting cooler.

"I only look this good because of you, Lottie." Natalie replied with a small grin.

"Well of course, what would you do without me?" Charlotte grinned back and dragged Natalie into the compartment.

Natalie greeted the other two girls in the compartment, Marissa and Olivia, before they all started gossiping about their summers.

Around an hour later, Natalie learned that Marissa had spent the majority of the summer helping her mother with her younger brother who had just turned two. Olivia spent it assisting her old ballroom dancing teacher with some of his newer students. Charlotte shared some details about the week she spent in France with her aunt, and showed the girls some of the new dress designs she had planned.