September 5th, 1890 — After the first meeting of the French Club

If I can learn to do it
You can learn to do it
Something in you knows it
There's nothing to it

Hermia could not have asked for a better turnout for the first meeting of the French Club. She was thankful for overestimating what she arranged with the house elves for hors d'oeuvre as well. She forgot how hungry students were on a night of near-endless sweets. In hindsight, she might regret that on her prefect shift later tonight. She'd promised to meet Clementine back in their dorm briefly, but Hermia had another objective tonight.

She recognized the girl's name at Sorting. Their families were not close, but as the daughter of a French diplomat stationed in Tunisia for the better part of Hermia's life, she knew of the Algerian DeCroix family. Hermia didn't know they relocated to England, which would have horrified mama. Still, Hermia was hearing the younger girl was having difficulty with some of her peers and that classes may prove difficult. Hermia herself had dreamed of Beaxbatons and knew what it was to be the French girl in a British school. "Pardon, Mademoiselle DeCroix, a moment." Hermia smiled at the younger girl, hoping not to overwhelm her more than necessary. "My name is Hermia Bonaccord. I recognized your name at Sorting, and I wanted to check on you. I remember how wild the first few months are."

---

August Prompt

The following 1 user Likes Hermia Bonaccord's post:1 user Likes Hermia Bonaccord's post
   Violetta DeCroix

---

Lady is a genius

Thread Log

The last few weeks had been a bit of a whirlwind for the eleven year old French girl, she had been swept from her family home in Marseille and now found herself in Britain, her parents in London and her.. here.. stuck in the forest in a country that probably isn't even on any maps. She had sobbed when putting her beautifully Beauxbatons uniform back into her closet and replacing it with this shapeless black cloak, she had practically begged her Maman to let her stay with her cousin in Marseille and not come here.

But now, here she was. She had sat silently through the sorting ceremony was a little consolation that she had been sorted into one of the better houses. It was not Ombrelune like her mother or grand mother, but at least it seemed like it wasn't wrong. Her biggest challenge was the languages, her frightfully English dorm mate seemed almost like a trial by fire and Violetta had quickly sought out other French speakers where she could feel more at home.

The French club was one place like this, it was mostly English girls wanting to prop up their French to improve their class appearance, but there were a couple of native French speakers, and the president had a name that she even recognised.

She caught her breath when the much older girl singled her out while alone. Doing a small courtesy of respect. "Rebonjour Mademoiselle Bonaccord, Comment vas-tu?" she noticed what she had done, the other girl had greeted her in English, as was expected here, but Vee had replied in French, the young girl blushed. "Erm.. apologies Miss, I am not speaking my Anglais well. 'ow may I 'elp?" a nervous smile curled at the side of her lips.

---

Hermia Bonaccord

  

---

Hermia's heart ached for the younger girl as soon as she realized she had greeted her in English. Funny how that had become automatic for Hermia. Someday, if she applied herself, the English would come easily, too, but Hermia knew that was a long road ahead. English was, in one of its own words, ridiculous.

Quickly switching back to her native French, Hermia endeavored to calm Miss DeCroix. "Do not worry, with me, you are always free to use our language. After all, French was the official language of England for nearly three hundred years. I think we should remind them of its superiority." Hermia gave her a wink and a smile, hoping to relax her new companion. "I remember my first few months at Hogwarts being difficult, but I promise, you do not have to do it alone." Hermia made that promise to herself when she began French club; she never wanted another student to feel as foreign as she did initially. "Should you like, I would be happy to work with you on your assignments. Sometimes, the English in our textbooks is messy and harder to understand than spoken English."

Concern made her ask the last bit, "Are your housemates being kind? I should hope they are willing to help you."

---

The following 1 user Likes Hermia Bonaccord's post:1 user Likes Hermia Bonaccord's post
   Violetta DeCroix

---

Lady is a genius

Thread Log

Violetta let out a little sigh of relief when the older girl switched back to French and gave her permission to use the admittedly much more lovely language. She returned the smile shyly as Miss Bonaccord remarked on their duty to remind the English. She replied again in French this time. "Thank you miss, my parents have encouraged me to try and integrate into school as best as possible but it is very hard no? I know your name, there is a Mr. Bonaccord in the French ministry yes?" It was part of her childhood etiquette lessons to learn the names of the prominent families in the French upper classes so as not to be caught off guard in social situations. The eleven year found it a little silly sometimes, but she had seen the benefits several times and her parents usually knew best.

"The text books are the worst, you would think they were written by a half mad recluse from the middle ages.", most of them probablt were. She let out a little laugh but bit her lip hoping her small joke would go down ok with the older girl.

She nodded about her housemates being kind, she had literally nothing in common with them that she was aware of, but that was not their fault and nobody had been intentionally mean to her even if she did feel like the outsider in their new rooming situation. "A little help would be very much appreciated Miss Bonaccord, if it is not too much trouble, I would hate to be a bother." she felt so shy, but hear she was speaking to one of her social peers in her native language so she did begin to feel a little more comfortable.

---

Hermia Bonaccord

  

---

Hermia nodded her enthusiastic agreement. It would be foolish to do anything but assimilate at Hogwarts. As an ambassador's daughter, she was used to being an outsider. Still, she had learned that investing in the people around her, no matter how difficult, made the challenge bearable. "You must adapt to their ways, but do not lose who you are. And that can be very difficult here. My parents and brothers all attended Beauxbaton, and I felt very alone when I was sorted." Hermia confided. It was not something she spoke of often; she did not like to ruminate on her own history, but if it could help the younger girl, she was happy to try. "Oi, Papa is the French ambassador to Britain now. Though I wish we were still in Tunisia, the weather there was far more to my liking." Hermia remembered that the DeCroix family held some prominence in neighboring Algeria, but trade relations had never been Hermia's interest.

Hermia laughed at that. As a lover of history, she wasn't certain the younger girl was far off the mark. "Wait until your third year, Miss DeCroix. If you take Ancient Studies, you'll be reading scrolls written by fully mad recluses from even earlier than that."

Hermia was relieved the Slytherins hadn't started cannibalizing themselves yet this year. This year's Sorting seemed to bring several unpleasant surprises for some of the first years, and Slytherin had a particularly vicious reputation already. It was not a common room Hermia had any desire to be in.

"It would be no bother, I assure you." Now in her sixth year, Hermia had performed impressively, as expected, on her OWLs; she was a prefect and quidditch captain; she had been accepted into Alchemy; and her club life was flourishing. She was also avoiding her losses. The first anniversary of her brother's death over the summer had been torturous, and she had to give up four classes she had loved. Hermia would never voice that the loss of her classes mattered more to her now than any thought of Pierre. "Tell me, which classes are proving the most difficult?"

---

The following 1 user Likes Hermia Bonaccord's post:1 user Likes Hermia Bonaccord's post
   Violetta DeCroix

---

Lady is a genius

Thread Log

There was a warm smile on Violetta's face now "Oui, I think there is a chance our Papa's may have met at a summit last. I think I prefer Marseille's weather to Algeria though, everything was a little dusty there."

She thought again about Hermia's comment on Beauxbatons, the look on her face dropped a little bit as she held herself in check, she thoughts of the beautiful blue uniform that hung in her wardrobe at home that she would never get to wear. "It isn't fair, mon ami. " she looked like she might cry but every upper class girl knew better than that so surely Violetta did too. "Hogwarts isn't the same as Beauxbatons, how can I expect to be a proper French lady, here?" she let out a little shrug as her eyes glistened with tears that were eager to descend. She pulled out a beautifully laced hankerchief and dabbed it at her eyes. "I am sorry, Mademoiselle Bonaccord, your offer is very lovely and I shall certainly accept."

---

Hermia Bonaccord

  

---

Hermia grinned, even though she had loved the desert and the sea equally and still considered it home. Hermia's heart squeezed as the younger girl's face fell. Oh, Hermia remembered that feeling. Bringing herself to the younger's eye level, Hermia gave Violetta's free hand a brief squeeze. "I know it isn't fair, but you can make the best of it. You must use this change in your journey as a strength. You were born and raised to be a proper French lady, just as you are every day at home." Hermia couldn't imagine the DeCroix family being light with tradition at home.

"You won't forget what you already know; it just takes a bit of effort at the start. Etiquette will be easy to adjust to as long as you pay attention. The English use their forks differently, for some reason." Hermia still wondered at this peculiarity. "Potions and herbology may seem difficult, but I suggest you allow yourself to have fun outdoors and with potions, as the professor is your Head of House. It is important to know him and to speak to him soon about your concerns. History and transfiguration may be difficult as those two have plenty of reading, but I tutor for both. I can also translate or work with you during History, Charms, and Dueling clubs if you join any of those. Enough of the hard things, where do you feel the most confident?"

---

  

---

Lady is a genius

Thread Log

Hermia was very kind and provided so much reassurance. Her governess had gone through a few days of understanding British etiquette to prevent any immediate fuax pas from ruining her chances of getting her foot in the door. The lesson's Hermia talked about were things that a Vee felt to be very alien, herbology was a task for which her parents would hire someone, not expect their pristine young girl to do.

"I think I will like charms, perhaps I might emulate Morgana Le Fay?" she smiled again, the idea of being some beautiful enchantress and romancing the kings say well with the girl. "And Papa let's me aid with his arithmancy when he does his accounts." she nodded and thought about it. She had no problem being a witch, she looked forward to learning, and she was no means a weak candidate as a student, she just didn't plan on doing all that, here. "I think I shall be OK, it's just hard. Help with translations will be very helpful. Thank you." she smiled very sweetly at her new friend.

---

Hermia Bonaccord

  

---

"Well done, mademoiselle. The most important thing to know about thriving here is that you already have what you need to succeed. As long as you are willing to put in the effort, you will be fine." Hermia gave the younger a wink before taking a look around the room.

"Since our common rooms are neighbors, perhaps we split these sweets and go. We can work on translations tomorrow." Hermia motioned toward the sweets, already looking forward to returning this haul to her dormmates.

---

  

---

Lady is a genius

Thread Log

If the older girl's intention was that Violetta end their conversation feeling a little more secure in her future here, then she had succeeded. Violetta was still nervous, but having a friend, particularly a French one was very warming.

She too looked at the selection of French sweets that adorned the nearby table. "You have excellent tastes Mademoiselle" she said happily, eyeing up a beautiful lavender macaron that surely had her name on it. "I shall certainly help you to our dorms." and with that the pair could gather up the remaining gems and make their way off to thei respective rooms.

---

Hermia Bonaccord

  

---