The Approaching Night

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire could hardly believe where the time had gone. It seemed like just the other day she had gotten her letter, inviting to go to this magical school. Now, here she was. It was tricky, admittedly, she hardly knew what anything was, learning was hard. She was at such a disadvantage compared to the others. Victoire tried her very best, but she was really disadvantaged compared to the others who had grown up around such things. He had little experience of the language, the culture and then the whole magic thing on top. She had however loved her time at the school, and was looking forward to more. She was looking forward to it more than she was looking forward than she was actually looking forward to going home. It was just going to be hard, she realised to return home where no one in her family knew what she was talking about ever. She hadn't really ever had that. She'd been out of the loop about what her family had been doing, and they had next to no idea what she'd been doing with herself during the term. She wasn't sure they'd even understand half of it. But, she was at least looking forward to spending time with her brothers, who were actually going to in Australia with her. Victoire was looking forward to going home. She was looking forward to seeing her family.

The young Gryffindor had found herself on the way out the school. It was in the last few days and she was just looking to kill time. Which she had decided to do was sit outside. The days were much shorter, so despite it being just mid afternoon, the sky was darkening. It reminded her of being home, a home she missed a lot less now she'd away from it for a little while. She had a book with her, but the girl had no real intention of reading it when she got to the lake. The girl just knew that it would be too dark, but that she would also rather watch the sun set. Which was why she had chosen to sit at the edge of the lake. With her shoes dangerously close to the still water. She was smiling to herself. The wizarding community had some really nice areas. While she'd always grown up in a small town that was close to the countryside, this was entirely different. New Zealand was just different from the country side she was used to. Belgium was a rather flat country. Smiling to herself she realised how calm this place was really. It was so quiet in the way she never remembered the muggle world being. It was nice, to hear so little. She loved this school, this place, the magic. It was all pretty incredible.
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[Perseas Stratis]

Winter was bringing the most dramatic changed at Hogwarts' grounds. Plants went dormant, trees got naked, just twigs left with their tiny seed heads anticipating spring's first warm touch. Only the conifers were the last standing sentinels of nature. The rest of it had surrendered into a long and deep slumber. The outdoors were always more inviting than the interior of the castle for Perseas and this time of the year, he loved long walks of the grounds' perimeter. It was a deserted place as most students preferred the snugness of their common rooms' fireplace. So many boring and shallow people in that castle. So few to appreciate this nature's metamorphosis. His little stroll began earlier the afternoon with the balmy caress of the sun on his face. He was hoping that now that the food was scarce in the forest that he could see unicorns closer to the tree lines but as the sun was climbing down to the outline of the mountains, he doubted he was going to see any. He thought that soon it was going to be bone-chilling and took out his wand to point at what he was keeping in his other hand. "Locomotor notes." he breathed and the mass of crumpled parchments floated before him. "Incendio!" the incantation came out of his mouth with a plume of vapor as the temperature was dropping and flames danced in his grey irises. It was a tradition for him to burn his notes at the end of each semester. The previous two years he was just dumping them into the fireplace but now that he knew this fire-making charm, he could do it everywhere he wanted with some caution.

He continued walking, accompanied by the hovering flames licking the spherical mass of ignitable material. He looked at the sky and amongst the colors of the fading twilight, he noticed two big constellations forming. Thanks to astronomy classes he could recognize Orion, the great hunter and Sirius the Dog Star. He walked absent-mindedly along the serene shores of the lake, wondering how come the ancients were coming up with such beautiful lore and myths to explain the existence of these celestial formation until when he noticed a dark figure sitting dangerously close to the water. He moved closer with the orb of flames closely following him and recognized the girl as the political enthusiast Victoire. "Waiting for the giant squid to appear?" he kidded, as she looked like she was waiting for something to interrupt this unnatural peace.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire was just enjoying the view, she had made a few friends during her time at this school. Victoire sigh to herself. But, she was still happy. Victoire had seen so many things during the past few months. She loved the fact she had seen quidditch, and was looking forward to giving it more of a try in the next semester. She was hoping that maybe she'd be able to get a broom soon and be able to show her siblings. She knew that she wasn't allowed to preform magic outside of school, but she wasn't so sure about flying, that was perhaps a small grey area. In any case, she was looking forward to showing them the moving photographs, the textbooks. There was so much she had to show them, and Victoire had no idea how often she'd actually see her parents. Her brothers she was sure she'd see often enough, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell them about the fact that she read that just because one muggleborn magical child has magic doesn't mean the rest would have them. Victoire was lost in her thoughts. A smile graced her lips. This place was perfect than perfect. She was so happy to have found her way to this school. To this area of it, when she had so few days left in it for now. The only issue she had was that her grades had not been as good as she wanted. But, the girl knew there was always next year.

As she sat, she shook her head slightly, and a small shiver brought her mostly back to where she was. Her thoughts mostly fading away. Thankfully just as someone spoke just behind her. She glanced round as he spoke, and smiled more. Perseas, the slightly older boy who'd had slightly opposing views in terms of the political sphere. She smiled at the memory. It made her look forward to the coming elections. She smiled at him, and registering what he said, looked back out at the lake, a giant squid, she had heard rumors about such things, but she'd never quite believed it. "See, now I was told that was a myth made up by the upper years to scare first years" She glanced back at him when she finished speaking, grinning happily at him. "How are you this evening?" She asked politely as she glanced between both him and the lake in front of her. "Semester end well for you?" she asked, smiling brightly at him. She liked him. He was nice to her, and she liked the fact she'd let her argue with him. it had been nice that much was certain. She didn't really get to do it nowadays since hogwarts had no debating team, well not yet. She was very much looking to the developments with the election, and she hoped in the future semester hoped she might just be able to talk with him more about it.
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[Perseas Stratis]

Perseas had recently found out that he preferred the company of muggle borns rather than people who grew up around magic like him. Rafael was one of them and Victoire was certainly another one. Even Rhiannon the geek was a much pleasant person to have around than most snobby mixed bloods and pure bloods, roaming around the school as if they owned it. Perhaps it was that the muggle borns were more down to earth and not as if they knew everything already. Maybe this was a role he liked to take over himself. "Hmm, I thought so as well but my older brother had seen the beast before." he disclosed excited for starting a topic about elusive creatures. "He actually has scars from its huge suction cups on his ankle." he said about the convincing scars, Minoas had showed to him and Theseas few years ago after returning from school for the holidays. Perseas wished he had been the one who had experienced such a close encounter. Everything seemed boring to him and he had no stories to tell when he was going to return back home about massive acromantulas or hidden areas in the girls' lavatory infested with red caps. "Better without the pressure of the exams." he said and had a seat on the grass right next to her. Just yesterday he sat for his last exams. He was glad that he wasn't going to have any for quite a long time. "It was actually quite boring but at least I did well at my exams." he stated as the flames consumed the last bit of parchment and left only embers to fly away. "How about you? How was your first year in the magical world?" he wondered how different it was for a muggle born to get to know the world of magic.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire was happy to see Perseas, she smiled as he spoke, glancing back out at the lake, as he spoke about the beast. It was of course possible that there were giant squids, but she was sure that they couldn't really exist in fresh water. victoire would admit that she knew next to nothing about squids. She just didn't know that much about them. Mostly because she didn't have to know much about them anyway. She frowned slightly as she glanced between both this boy and the lake. She looked at her own ankles, thinking about the suction marks from encountering a giant squid. "I'm not saying your cousin is a liar, but are you sure?" She didn't wanted to accuse the guy of lying, but she was really skeptical of the fact a giant squid was living in this lake. She just didn't think it could actually be possible. It seemed a little silly, there was no way that it would exist and that there wasn't more concrete proof. Although the talk of scars, really wavered her thinking. She glanced back at him, "Are you being serious, or are you joking with me?" She asked with a small smile, wondering if he was just having her on about it.

The young Gryffindor nodded, it was better without the pressure of exams. It was so much better. She was always thankful for exams being over. She knew she could've done better, but it was past now, she could do nothing about it now. It was done, and she was happier with it behind her. She was happy that she didn't really have to worry about it for another little while. She had always loved learning, but she hadn't always really liked exams. They were pretty horrible. She nodded at him, happy that he'd done well on his exams. "That's good" Victoire glanced at the parchment as it finished burning. "Also good, looking forward to going home. It was, magical really" Victoire laughed slightly at her poor choice of words. "It was, I never thought I'd see half the things I've seen at this school. It's a great school, and the magic is incredible. I feel blessed to be able to do this. Although I'll admit," She paused glancing up at him, "I'm excited to go home, but I don't know how my family is going to act around me considering what I am now" She was still smiling but it was a sort of sadder smile than before. She couldn't wait to show them everything, but she was nervous about it.
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[Perseas Stratis]

A wide smirk plastered on his lips when he realized that his reputation preceded him. Her doubts could be emanating from her muggle background but Perseas had the impression that this was all because he was known around school as a jokester and troublemaker. "It was my brother and yes I saw the marks with my own eyes." he stated, struggling not to grin. He found irritatingly funny when you were telling the truth to someone but they seemed skeptical to believe you. "Although I've seen nothing more than common flying seahorses coming out of this lake. Merpeople are supposed to have colonized the lake as well but still I haven't seen any sign of them yet." he said. If only he could cast that bubble-head charm or if he could 'borrow' some gillyweed from Professor Blaze's stock, then it would have been a whole different story.

Perseas leaned forwards and grabbed a flat rock, well-hidden among the wisps of grass. He smiled when Victoire characterized her first year at the school as magical. "And you have seen nothing yet." he commented and tossed the stone to watch bounce a few times on the glass like surface of the lake, dissolving serenity with ripples that grew larger and larger. "It's a nice school." he agreed and eyed the enormous structure standing in the distance. Golden light was coming out of the numerous windows as the life inside the castle was adjusting to the arrival of dusk. "It could use a few more events to make our lives more interesting. Ever since I found that Room of Requirements, there is nothing else to explore." he complained and a sigh slipped off his lips. It was true. Perseas might have explored every single corner of that castle. He had discovered hidden areas behind portraits, secret passageways where dead-end walls were standing and it was that room, the icing on the cake. He believed there was nothing else to be explored. Except maybe from the forbidden forest. With this thoughts, he turned his attention at the pointy outline of the tree tops fading in the dark sky. He had attempted to infiltrate the deepest parts of the forest twice. The first time he came across a professor patrolling. He was forced to turn back and avoid detention. The second time, he just got lost and after hours of circles, he was just glad to see again the castle out of the tree line. "So it is Belgium for the next three months?" he asked, wondering if she was going with her family for vacations somewhere else.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

To Victoire the words brother and cousin sounded a little the same. She knew they were not at all similar but to her they definitely sounded similar. She went a little red when he corrected her, though she was still doubtful that this boys brother was telling the truth. However she was beginning to think she could just believe it to be true. Perhaps it was true and it was just Victoire who was still pretty disbelieving that the magical universe she now lived in wouldn't have a giant squid in a lake beside a school. However she was sure in this place stranger things had happened. "I think I'd have to see the marks myself to really believe it, but I trust you, so I'm not going to complete dismiss the possibility." she gave the boy a smile just as he went into what he had seen. Victoire realised now that she had not seen any of these things he was talking about. Perhaps this was because she simply didn't spend all that much time at the lake. "You're lucky! I don't spend enough time here lake side to be able see anything. Admittedly I should spend more time at the lake to see these things. I kind of always forget." she shrugged at him, making a promise to next semester to spend more time there.

Victoire nodded along with him, it was a great school. Much better than the muggle school she would've attended had she not been a witch. The muggle school had not been this nice. "The muggle school I was supposed to go to wasn't in a castle. This place is amazing" she said agreeing with what he said. She had not done much exploring and she had no idea what the room of requirement was. Though she was sure she could make a guess. "The room of requirement is a room that that becomes what you require, right?" she asked, pretty unsure about it. She had not found it. She wanted to now, though she didn't need a room like that at all. At his words she shook her head, annoyingly they would only be spending about three weeks in Belgium, and this was mostly to see family and bring the last of their stuff to Australia. "I wish Perseas, but no, we're only going for three weeks which is better than nothing. I'll bring you back some chocolate from Bruges. They have the best! It'll be nice to not have to speak English all the time" Victoire laughed slightly. "What about you? Where are you spending your holidays?" Victoire asked politely to him.
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Sorry if there are any mistakes and also that this is a little lame.

 

[Perseas Stratis]

Perseas smirked again but this time his frown lines appeared between his eyebrows. No one ever had said the words 'I trust you' to him. He was more used to hear the exact opposite. It was a good reason not to start arguing this time with her. Plus, it was a nice philosophy to not believe everything they were serving you. Perseas was like that. Most people were presenting myths as fairytales but he believed that the truth in them was much more dominant than most believed.
"Flying sea horses are really common." he said when she called him lucky for seeing them. "They jump out of the water and fly for short distances over the surface before they submerge again. But you ain't gonna see them at night." he told her in case she was raising her hopes too much for tonight. Perseas knew a lot about magical creatures despite having just one year background of Care of Magical Creatures lessons. It was an advantage when you were brought up among flying horses, griffins and hippocampus and had a magizoologist for a father. "The forest is home of more interesting creatures but I'm planning to explore it when I'll be more experienced with defensive spells. I don't want to become dinner to werewolves." he shared and played a little with his breath coming out in vapors.

Perseas was educated at home before attending Hogwarts and so he had never seen the interior of a muggle school. Muggle technology might was giving them a touch of innovation but still they couldn't look nothing similar to their schools were magic was oozing from every corner. "It is based on the original Hogwarts in Scotland but I don't know to what extend they look like." he added this piece of information as a person who really liked history. "That's right. It's a polymorphic room. It changes depending on what you're searching for but first, you have to find it." he said about the strange room. "I accidentally came across it when I was searching for a place to release a few pixies." he explained, passing over the fact that pixies in his possession was quite peculiar itself. He didn't want to disclose the location of the room, simply because he didn't want his twin to find it but Victoire seemed genuinely nice person and he couldn't imagine her telling about it to everyone.

For the past two weeks he was getting owls from his mother who wanted to discuss both with him and Theseas, what they were going to do for the next three months. He was hoping they were going to find his father who had been working on a secret project to release griffins in captivity. It was the secret project of activists who were planning to release the creatures against the local authorities' agenda. This was making his father an outlaw and they were avoiding to come in contact with him for five years now. They didn't want to expose him so he was sending them owls with his news whenever he had the chance. Perseas loved reading the letters. They were full of adventurous deeds and offense but he would much prefer to have his father back. "At least you will be with your family. I bet you missed them after all these months in this madhouse." he said and hugged his knees to his chest. "And chocolates are always welcome." he smiled, knowing that Belgian chocolate was the best. He thought how funny this was since cacao beans and sugar weren't originated from Belgium. He nodded when she mentioned that she wouldn't have to speak English. He was really going to enjoy that part as well. "We'll go back to Greece. Our coven is going to have its annual gathering so we'll pay a visit there. Time to practice my Greek as well." he laughed back. "Then we'll probably go to visit my older brother at Austria. He's studying there Elemental Magic." he concluded. He would have preferred to go somewhere else at a more cultural country like India or Colombia but he had missed his older brother as well.

"Don't worry. If your family really loves you, they'll treat you nicely." he said, noticing a hint of worry on her features. "Nothing has changed about you. You're the same person as always." he continued, going back to her concern of her family feeling differently about her now that her true nature was revealed. "If they don't, then they are certainly jealous. And you can always hex them if they'll make your life miserable. No wait! Don't do that. We're not allowed to use magic when we are not at school." he remembered and decided to inform her in case she didn't know. He didn't know how close she was with her family and if they had received well the fact that their daughter was a witch but he recalled from their political debate back at the great hall, that Victoire's father was a politician. Perseas might was slightly prejudiced towards politicians but they were always caring about their image. A witch in the family could be falsely considered a liability to many muggle families, let alone to the family of a politician. "Are you close to your siblings?" he asked next.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire smiled at the boy when he starting talking about flying sea hourses. There was so much about magic that she did not yet know, and yet she was still incredibly happy to hear about it. On the first days, Victoire would not have believed it at all, but now they were heading into the last few days of the term, she believed it. She was getting used to it more than she had ever before. It was strange how normal thing appeared to her now, more so than before. She was much happier just going with things and researching later, than the other way around. Which help a lot for her. It made things a lot easier. Smiling at him, she was glad that he appeared to know so much about everything magical. She knew so little still, and speaking to Perseas always made her feel like she was fairly clueless about this world. It just took some reminding that she was much more new to this world than he was. "Oh well, I guess I'll have to see them until next time. I will definitely do more exploring next year." She told him, with a firm nod. Running a hand through her blonde hair, she knew that she could've done it this term, but such a thing hadn't happened. Victoire smiled as Perseas began to tell her about what the room of requirement was. She was very interested to see it. Victoire pulled her blonde hair on to one shoulder as she listened to him. "Kind of seems beyond the rules of physics, but this is magic. Virtually anything is possible" She chuckled lightly, Magic was incredible, but also pretty weird. She had no real use for a room like that, but it would be interesting to try to find it.

At the mention of her family, Victoire half shrugged at him, giving him a small smile, she was looking forward to seeing them a little more than she was sure they were of her. She smiled at him, of course she would bring some back and she bring some for more than just Perseas. It was a good gift, and it always took a while before chocolate went off, so all was good. She really was looking forward to going back home, there were plenty people that she wanted to see, lots of old friends that she wanted to see. She listened as he talked about where he was going. It seemed like fun, "That sounds amazing. Is there a school in Austria that teaches elemental magic? That sounds amazing" She thought that of all the careers she'd heard about so far, it was by far the most interesting. "How did he end up doing that?" Victoire asked, as he then seemed to pick up on her worries about her family. Victoire had honestly been worried about them for a while. Her family were relatively progressive, yeah but that didn't really include magic, or witches. They seemed supportive enough but a long break might change things. "I hope you are right Perseas" She smiled a little sadly at him, a small sigh escaping her lips as she glanced back out at the lake. At his next question Victoire just shook her head. "Not really, they went to boarding school back in Belgium, which I didn't go to. So, I don't know them as well, as I probably should, they feel like cousins more than brothers." She said simply. She glanced at him, and forced a smile, "Are you close with your brothers? It's brothers right?"
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