It was the start of summer '94. My family and I were all living happily in northern France, just southeast from the U.K.
My mother.
My father.
My older brother, Yvan
My older sister, Renée.
My younger sister, Colette.
And me. Emmanuelle.
We were perfectly happy, in our large home, with our cat and owl. My father was an auror in the French Ministry of Magic, my mother staying at home to take care of us and my siblings and I all attended Beauxbatons, Yvan about to go into his final year.Everything was perfect.
Until, one night, about a week into July. My mother, being from Ireland, had taught us all about You-Know-Who and the Wizarding War growing up, and how we should never value blood purity over character, especially given that we were half-veela. When our neighbourhood was attacked, killing a few families and burning down our home, the Dark Mark was casted into the sky. My parents immediately decided that their friends and family in Britain would need all the help they could get, and without warning, they registered us for Hogwarts and moved us to Ireland, close to my moms side of the family.
There's your recap, for you, now on with my story.
It was safe to say that my entire life being uprooted had thrown me off slightly.
Well, maybe more than slightly.
I'd only visited Ireland a handful of times, so it was difficult to get used to the constant cussing and the thick accents. I tell you, the French side of my family was much more... calm.
And then, there was the starting at a new school. New teachers, new friends, new quidditch team. It was terrifying. My mother had attended Hogwarts, and she said we'd be just fine, but that didn't ease my worries. I felt especially bad for Yvan, it was his 7th year and he wouldn't get to graduate with his friends.
Another Death Eater attack happened at the Quidditch World Cup. I didn't attend, as I wanted to study as much as possible to make sure I remained top of my class at my new school, but my siblings and parents did. I thought my mother had been shaken up when our neighbourhood was attacked, but this was on another level.
To be fair, I wasn't entirely sure how Veelas were impacted during the Wizarding War. There were no books on it, but I could assume that it wasn't good because every time it was brought up around my mothers family everyone went silent, and a few people left the room to cry.
~~~
On September 1st, I had to run through a brick wall in order to reach the platform I needed to take the train to Hogwarts. That alone was enough to make me not like my new school. At Beauxbatons, we went by carriage and then by boat. Much more sophisticated if you ask me.
I didn't waste a second getting onto the train, only taking a quick moment to kiss my mother and father goodbye, promising I'd write. I hurried onto the train, and to my demise I was unable to find an empty compartment. Luckily, a boy with red hair, a boy with dark hair and glasses, and a girl with long brown curls invited me into their compartment after noticing I looked a little lost.
"Good morning." I greeted them awkwardly, setting my trunk above us.
"I'm not sure I recognize you, what year are you?" the brown-haired girl asked.
"Fourth year, transfer from Beauxbatons. My name's Emmanuelle." I said, trying to sound cheerful as the strange mix of Irish and French accents in my voice filled the air.
"Oh, how silly of me! I read about this all in the Prophet. My names Hermione, and this is Harry and Ron."
"Nice to meet you, lads. Mind if I take a seat?"
"No, not at all." Harry said with a smile, moving over as he gestured for me to sit next to him.
I smiled, taking a seat. I recognized him to be Harry Potter, but I was certain that he'd probably heard loads of questions about it already, so I decided not to mention it. His face was covered in gratitude as he realized that I knew who he was but didn't feel the need to pry on every detail of his life.
After a few moments of silence, Ron cleared his throat. "So, uh, transfer?"
"Yes, I moved to Ireland with my family and the start of July." I said, before going on to explain the attack along with a bit of my family tree. They all listened quite intently, and I felt a little more secure knowing that I'd have friends.
After a while of conversation, Hermione offered to introduce me to some of the other students, which I happily took the offer. She introduced me to Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas and Pavarti Patil, who were all Gryffindors in our year, and then Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, and Padma Patil, some of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. I managed to find my siblings, Yvan sitting with a lad named Cedric Diggory and his friends, Renée with the Weasley Twins and Lee Johnson, and Colette with Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. I found a bit of comfort in knowing that they were making friends too.
As if the gods knew that I was about to ask Hermione why she hadn't introduced me to any Slytherins, someone in green robes bumped into me, causing me to fall onto the floor.
"Granger, who's this new little friend you've got? She another mudblood like you?" The boy who I bumped into asked in a mocking tone.
I scoffed, getting off the floor. "I'd advise you not to speak to my friends that way. And not that it matters or anything, but I don't have a single drop of muggle blood in my body."
"Oh, so you're pureblood?"
"I never said that."
"But that doesn't make-"
"Half Veela." I said between my teeth.
"Whatever. Just watch where you're going."
"Maybe I'll watch where I'm going if you watch your mouth."
"You filthy little-"
"Draco, lay off her," A girl in green robes with blue hair said, grabbing his arm, "She's new. I've read about her story in the Prophet, and she hasn't had an easy go of it so maybe let her get used to the new school before harassing her, kay?"
He rolled his eyes, walking back to his compartment. The girl turned to me. "Sorry about him, he can be a little..."
"Entitled?" I finished her sentence for her.
She chuckled with a nod. "Yeah, that's one way to describe it. Which Delacroix are you? They didn't have your pictures in the Prophet to save your privacy."
I held my hand out to her. "Emmanuelle. It's a pleasure to meet you."
She took my hand in hers with a warm smile. "Louise, Louise Lovegood. It's lovely to make your acquaintance. I promise not all us Slytherins are like him."
I smiled. "I best be off, but I'm sure I'll see you again at some point soon. I'm not sure where I'll be sorted yet, so maybe we'll end up being dorm-mates."
She grinned. "That would be wonderful. Toodles!"
~~~
1221 wordsUNEDITED
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A LITTLE DEATH-DRACO MALFOY x OC
Hayran KurguEmmanuelle Vivienne Delacroix; a fourth year transfer to Hogwarts from Beauxbatons. Half Veela, half human. With a heart of gold and hair of silver, she always manages to see the best in everyone. When she meets the well-known Malfoy boy, her curios...