Closed A Small Adjustment

[Vivienne Hoshino]

Vivienne hadn't been having the greatest start to her new Hogwarts life. She wasn't supposed to have been put into Gryffindor and she had no idea how this absolute tragedy could have happened. The sorting hat must have made a mistake and said the wrong house. She didn't think it was possible to change houses. The sorting hat in Scotland had clearly announced her eleven year old self to be in Slytherin, and Slytherin was where Vivi had expected herself to stay. She'd never considered the idea that she might have changed so much since she was eleven. The two years she'd spent at Beauxbatons must have broken her and she was doomed to destroy her family's honour with her own recklessness. Vivi had tried to rationalise it away, but the simple fact remained: she had joined her two younger siblings in becoming disappointments to the family.

Still, Vivi was certain there had to be some benefits in becoming a lion and crying over it would only ruin her mascara. Red had always been more her colour, anyway. If it wasn't for the stabbing fear in the back of her mind that her parents were going to disown her, Vivi might even be happy about it. She was not above lying to her parents to tell them what they wanted to hear so, as long as Teddy and Blue kept their mouths shut, Vivi had nothing to worry about for now. Settling into a new school was confusing enough without additional concerns, and Vivi was already finding the castle extremely daunting to navigate. Trying to find her own way would take forever, so she tapped a nearby student on the shoulder to get their attention. "Hello, excusez moi? Could you tell me which way to the Owlery?" she asked.

 

[Salem Lee]

Salem was disappointed at how easily some of her classmates already seemed to be falling back into the school routine, even so early in the semester. She was itching to do something interesting this afternoon, literally anything that wasn't just walking to and from class and her dorm. She spun eagerly on one foot when someone tapped her on the shoulder, grinning at her fancy French sounding accent. "Oh,uh, oui!" Salem said excitedly, doing her best to think of any other French words, though she'd only been to France once. When she was five. "It's uh.. parlez vous... This way," she said, covering one eye as she looked down the corridor as if it might help her think straight. "Are you an exchange student?" Exchange sounded pretty fun, if Salem thought it wouldn't mean leaving her mums behind for a year, she'd wanna do it herself. The older girl certainly looked like she could be French, stylish and pretty like Salem imagined French people were.

 

[Vivienne Hoshino]

Vivinenne smiled at the... girl? She hoped she was correct in thinking that this androgynous child was a girl, but one could never tell for sure. She was adorable in her attempt at speaking French, and Vivi admired the energy regardless. "Ah, thank you so much," she said graciously, holding her hand to her heart. Having to explain her complicated educational history to strangers didn't sound like a good introduction, and being a French exchange student was infinitely more glamourous than being a nobody from Wales from Vivi's perspective. While French was arguably her worst spoken language, she'd become fluent enough to get by and she'd taken great pains to make sure only a native speaker would question her accent. "I transferred from Beauxbatons in France just recently," she said. "I'm Vivienne Hoshino. I have a sister in third year here, you may know her? She is called Blue?" Vivi was curious how far her siblings' reputations had spread around the school, though she didn't hold great hopes for their popularity. Raising the family name from obscurity in this tiny country was supposed to be her job now, after all.

 

[Salem Lee]

Salem listened to the older girl with wide eyes, entranced by the way she spoke and moved. She was snapped out of her staring some when she introduced herself, nodding along before realizing there'd been a question in there. "Uh Blue, oh yeah! I know Blue!" Salem didn't know Blue very well, but she'd immediately memorized the older girl simply on virtue of being named after a colour, which Salem thought was pretty cool. "I'm Salem. Like the place. I just moved to New Zealand not too long ago too, so we have that in common," Salem said, hoping Vivienne might find Salem's worldly-ness cool. "Do you like Hogwarts so far then? Or is Beauxbatons better?" she asked, leading Vivienne onto one of the moving staircases. She'd never thought about which school she'd go to herself growing up, having assumed her mums would teach her, but now that Salem was stuck at just the one, she was curious if there were more interesting options out there.

 

[Vivienne Hoshino]

Vivi was a little concerned that the younger girl wasn't entirely all present, or perhaps easily distracted, but Vivi didn't care as long as she was paying attention. She seemed like the kind of person Blue would easily friends with. "Is that so?" Vivi asked, curious about Salem. It would fit very well with her theory that New Zealand was a country that people ran away to when they'd been shunned by the rest of the magical community. Not that Vivi could relate herself, she was merely here as a tourist because the rest of her family had fled first. "Did you move from Salem?" she asked, raising a perfectly tweezed brow to show that she was joking.

She followed Salem onto the staircase and held onto the railing to stop her shoes from tripping her over. Having to learn a new castle that was similar, but not quite identical, to the one Vivi remembered was a little difficult for her to get her head around, but she'd manage. She always did. The moving staircases made her nostalgic for her first year and knowing how proud her parents were of her for being just like her brothers. "I think they are both good in different ways," Vivi said, diplomatically. "I would have to see more of this Hogwarts before knowing for sure."

 

[Salem Lee]

Salem beamed when it seemed like Vivienne thought her name was interesting. Which is was. Salem liked it a lot. “Oh no, we sort of went all over, but I was born there,” she said proudly. “I miss travelling a lot though. Do you? Did you go around Europe and stuff?” She asked, making sure to stop and check that Vivienne was still following alright. “I like your shoes,” she said, noticing how carefully the other girl was on the stairs.

Salem had to admit she was hoping Vivienne would agree that Hogwarts was boring, but maybe it was for the best. If she found out that Beauxbatons was a cooler school, it would make staying here all that more annoying. “I can show you around more if you like. Have you been up the towers yet?” Salem had gotten bored almost immediately after the first week last year and had spent a lot of time roaming the castle in hopes of finding anything more interesting. At the very least she knew her away around now, and was happy to let Vivienne know some of the best short cuts she’d found.

 

[Vivienne Hoshino]

"Oh wow, that is very impressive," Vivi said. Travelling sounded interesting to her now, though it hadn't when she was much younger. Portkeys between countries had mostly just made her feel ill and there were always so many places she was expected to be, so she'd never really gotten to slow down and experience anything. "Ah, a little bit. I suppose I miss it, but there is always the holidays," she shrugged. Her father would probably be in Japan by Christmas, or perhaps someone might actually be at the house in Wales for once. France had been wonderful without her family's expectation, but she had a responsibility to them now.

"Merci! They make me tall, no?" Vivienne preened as Salem noticed her shoes. It had taken many hours and countless blisters for Vivienne to learn how to walk in heels like it was nothing, and what was the point of her suffering if not for the attention? Vivienne had enjoyed Salem's company, but she did have a letter that was best send away from prying eyes, and a brother to track down without an audience. "You are so sweet to offer, but I'm sure I can find my way from here. But I would bet you know all the secrets of this castle, so I'll know exactly who to look for if I need a tour guide." Vivi began to move away from Salem as they reached the top of the staircase, then half turned towards the younger girl to blow her a kiss, wiggling her fingers in a cheerful wave as she headed towards where the Owlery had to be.