Closed Sweet Gestures

[Professor Louis Alcott]

After seeing how successful a box of macarons had been as a gift when he had given it to Elizabella, Louis wished he had bought a few more to hand out. Unfortunately, he had only bought one box for himself, but he had decided to make the most of it. He had eaten a few of the sweets, and decided to hand out the rest. With last year's conversation still fresh in his mind, Louis knew who he wanted to approach first. He slid into a seat a the Slytherin house table at lunch, sitting next to Celia. He gave her a grin, then offered her a pretty pink macaron. Surely that was going to charm her. "Bonjour," he said, gesturing to it. "Something for you." He added, sure this would earn him at least a smile.

 

[Celia Vu]

Normally, Celia tried to avoid eating alone during mealtimes. She didn't need anyone thinking her a friendless loser. But today, she wanted some time alone to think and start planning out her strategy for the next three years. She had passed the big first test: getting a prefect badge. Next up was the head girl badge. Just a few years ago, that goal had been unthinkable. But Professor Alicastell was gone now, replaced by Professor Alcott-Ward, which meant Hogwarts no longer had a headmaster who hated her. She needed to take advantage of this opportunity.

Someone slid into the seat next to her, and Celia turned, ready to tell them off. One downside of becoming a prefect was that some of the younger students were under the mistaken impression that she actually wanted to help them, and she was growing rather tired of them bothering her. But it was just Louis — and he had a macaron. Celia arched an eyebrow, glanced down at the pastry, and then back at the Gryffindor. "Did you get the house elves to make that for you?" she asked, knowing full well he had not. The house elves didn't know how to make anything that wasn't British and boring.

 

[Professor Louis Alcott]

Louis wasn't sure why he had expected Celia to be impressed or grateful, he should have known better by now. It was both frustrating and intruiging. Louis didn't know anyone else like Celia. She was definitely complex. He still felt the urge to stay away from her sometimes, but at the same time he really wanted to impress her and maybe make her laugh or smile at him. Louis frowned a bit. "Non, it's from France." He said, hoping she would take it soon. "I thought I'd share it with you." He added a little petulantly. "I was in France for most of the break." He added, hoping she would have a mental image of him hanging around in Paris looking cool, which wasn't really what it had been like, but she didn't need to know that.

 

[Celia Vu]

Celia didn't understand why Louis kept on bothering her. Part of her regretted ever confronting him about his decision to avoid her since he was now back with a vengeance. She should've appreciated those months of quiet when she had them. But there was also something remarkably normal about Louis coming to pester her. It was like the world was settling back into equilibrium.

She had to fight back a smirk when Louis took offense at her question. Sometimes it was so easy to mess with him. Celia widened her eyes in mock surprise. "Wow, are you, like, from France or something?" she asked sarcastically. Louis had always been strangely insistent on reminding everyone that he was French — as if it wasn't immediately obvious from his name and accent. Celia could understand having pride in your home, but you didn't see her going around and reminding everyone she was American. She considered telling him to go away and take his weird apology macaron with him, but she had a feeling he wouldn't listen. Plus, it occurred to her that Louis could probably be of some help to her. She had a few questions about his uncle. "Fine, but we're splitting it. I don't know if you've done anything to it." Celia took a knife and delicately cut the macaron in half. "You first," she said, gesturing toward the piece closer to him.

 

[Professor Louis Alcott]

Louis faltered a bit as Celia's comment, surprisingly hurt by her sarcastic tone. He frowned a bit as he watched her cut it in half. He really couldn't tell if Celia liked him or not. It was so confusing and frustrating. "I almost forgot why I avoided you last year." He muttered, rolling his eyes. He then grabbed half of the macaron and stuffed it in his mouth. "See? Not poisoned." He said with a frown as he chewed. Why couldn't she just like it when he did something nice to her? Why did she have to be so rude all the time?

 

[Celia Vu]

Celia raised her eyebrows a little at Louis' muttering. "That's still an option, you know." She regarded him curiously, wondering when he'd become so... sensitive. She was pretty sure she'd said much worse to Louis in the past, and those remarks usually just bounced off him. But something had changed after that duel. Celia had first noticed it during their conversation last year, when she'd actually managed to make him angry. And now he was bristling at the slightest trace of sarcasm.

Before Celia could try and psychoanalyze him, Louis took his half of the macaron. She waited a beat. When it became clear he was not going to throw up or turn into a frog, she took a tentative bite. The macaron was admittedly very good, even better than the ones sold in Hanoi's French Quarter. "So this must be a big year for you," she said once she was done chewing, and she looked pointedly at the prefect badge pinned to Louis' robes. "Plus your uncle's now headmaster. Is that weird at all?"

 

[Professor Louis Alcott]

Louis was half convinced Celia would just leave the conversation once she finished the macaron, she didn't seem all that keen to talk about him. Why couldn't she just be impressed by him? But then she asked him a question that made him wonder if she was impressed. He looked at her uncertainly, wondering if she was making fun of him in some way. "I guess so." He said, glancing down at the badge. "Both of us, I suppose." He added, gesturing to her badge in turn. "It's a little weird. He's a lot more serious as headmaster." He added with a small shrug.

 

[Celia Vu]

Louis seemed strangely... hesitant. "Did you not want it?" Celia asked curiously. She was silent when he gestured at her own badge, not sure how she felt about the two of them having the same title, as if they were equals. Then again, there were far worse people out there wearing the same badge. The more Celia thought about it, the more arbitrary the prefect system seemed.

She considered Louis' answer. "Serious... like Alicastell-serious?" Celia asked, trying to get a better gauge of what Louis had meant by the word. Professor Alcott-Ward had seemed a little less strict than their former headmaster at the start of the year feast, but maybe that was just because it had been the first night. "Are you guys close?" Celia asked next, because she had a feeling that her real question — "Do you think you got the badge because of him?" — wouldn't go over well.

 

[Professor Louis Alcott]

Louis shrugged at her question. “I honestly forgot it was a thing until I got it with my school list.” He told her, vaguely aware this would probably be strange to her. He bet she had been waiting for this badge the moment the break started, checking daily for new owls. He shook his head when she asked if he was Alicastell-serious, laughing a bit. “I don’t think he could be her level of serious, ever. He’s a pretty goofy, laid-back guy, honestly.” He said with a shrug. “But as headmaster, he’s trying a bit more.” He frowned a bit at her question, wondering what Celia was asking for. “I suppose so. He’s married to my uncle Kyle, and now that we’re in New Zealand we see more of them.” He said with a shrug.

 

[Celia Vu]

Celia gaped at Louis. "How can you just forget?" Fifth year was notorious for two things: prefect selections and OWLs. Even if she hadn't been expecting a badge, she couldn't fathom just forgetting they were a thing. She frowned a little when Louis laughed. "Oh. That'll be a nice change of pace," she said though she didn't believe it. The school needed someone who would take things seriously, someone who would be willing to revamp the curriculum and reform the school so that it was actually the leading educational institution it claimed to be.

Celia's stomach twisted when Louis confirmed that he and Professor Alcott-Ward were close. Well, that explained the prefect badge. She wasn't surprised; she wasn't even upset. That was just the way the world worked — people got special treatment through personal connections all the time. She was just... tired. Tired, because she didn't have any connections in the magical world, and she would have to fight for everything she wanted. "I guess you'll be seeing him a lot more now that he's in charge," Celia commented mildly even as she studied Louis, waiting for his reaction.