Irene woke up the next morning to a wonderful fragrance drifting through the window. And when she opened the shutters of her bedroom, a bright explosion of color quickly materialized before her. Flowers of all different colors and sizes - some magically enhanced - were beginning to cover the entirety of the villa in arches of wisteria, patches of sunflowers, and bouquets of hydrangeas. Waterfalls of ivy spilled onto the terrace and the fountains were sparkling as if the marble had just been installed.

As Irene descended the stairs for breakfast, she could hear Celia’s voice drifting through the hallways.

“…and check with Irene that she’ll be able to - ah! Irene there you are, how did you sleep darling?”

Irene plucked a plate from the end of the serving table. “Well, thank you, and you?”

“Oh yes quite well - anyways as I was saying before your prompt arrival, I have an errand to run before I come back and help set up. When you get back from your lesson could you help Farrow with directing everyone where to go?” Irene had gotten special permission from Maestro Rinaldi to miss half of the class today. In addition to being a donor of the art institute in France, Cousin Celia was also a donor to one of the institutes in Tuscany, the very one that Irene and her friends were attending. Despite Rinaldi’s harsh criticism of their work, he had become a good acquaintance of her cousin in the past few months and had given them all permission for a half-day so they might help with the set up. It also helped that the entirety of their class would be there later that evening.

“Certainly,” Irene replied with a smile before they dissolved into more chatter about the plans for the night. Magical instruments would be playing throughout the vineyard with the fountains in the courtyard syncing up with the music. When Irene pointed out that it might not be wise to have floating instruments around with Flopsy and Mopsy, Celia’s Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdogs on the property, Celia gaily waved off her worries, deposited a kiss on Irene’s forehead and floated out of the room to get her hat.

It wasn’t long after that until Betsy came into the room to announce that Mr. Rémy and Mr. Gasparini were waiting for her in the foyer. After taking a napkin and wiping the lipstick from her cousin’s kiss goodbye off her forehead, Irene ate one more bite of her toast before grabbing her bag and hurrying to meet them. Rémy still looked out of sorts, and slightly uncomfortable whereas Mateo had scooped up Bear in his arms and was crooning to him in Italian. Th cat, for his part, was looking mildly annoyed but tolerating of Mateo.

“Andiamo!” Irene greeted cheerfully, grabbing her hat, thanking Betsy and hurrying for the door. Bear leapt out of Mateo’s arms and meowed at the three of them before running outside. Mateo quickly followed. Linking her arm with Rémy, Irene tugged him along whispering, “Are you alright?” as they walked out the door. The far-off look in his eyes never really faded as he shook himself, looked at Irene and smiled. “Oui, beauté.”

Irene frowned at him as he seemed to go rigid with resolve and shake off the thoughts that had been running through his mind. “Just a little tired is all, nothing for you to worry about. Allez, it looks like Mateo’s got a head start on us.”

Even as he pulled her to run and catch up with Mateo, she kept an eye on him all afternoon, during their practice session, walking back to the villa and even while she was attempting to herd Flopsy and Mopsy into the house for the night (a fruitless endeavor).

“Rémy,” She eventually approached him when the festivities were in full swing. The instruments were playing a jolly tune whilst attempting to evade the sheepdogs trying to herd them. Guests whirled past them in a flurry of colors, but Irene payed them no mind. Sliding a glass of wine towards her friend, she sat down under the pergola that had been designed as a place of respite. “Won’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

“Tell me again why you signed up for the class.”

If she’d been expecting anything from him, it wasn’t that. Averting her gaze, Irene took a sip of her drink. Try as she might, the past few months hadn’t been the easiest for her. She missed home, and she missed her friends, but ultimately knew she couldn’t stay in Hogsmeade. Not while… “You know the story.” And he did. Confused as to why he’d brought it up, she glanced back at him, and her question died on her lips.

Instead of having a distant look in his eye, his attention was fully on the couples dancing middle of the courtyard; not just any couple, though. She watched as his gaze followed Hélène as she danced with Mateo, and with a jolt, realized she recognized the expression on his face, plain as day. She knew if she had been watching herself on that day of the flower show, her eyes following as Elias danced with Daffodil, that she’d have had the very same expression on her face as Rémy did now. Looking back and forth between Rémy and Hélène, Irene could only watch in stunned despair as a familiar ache hit in her square in the chest as if someone had hexed her. Rémy…

But then Hélène withdrew, her cheeks flushed, bun slightly undone and started walking towards them. Irene felt herself straighten, her eyes darting over to Rémy. While he smiled at their friend, his eyes still didn’t leave the courtyard. A shout rose from the crowd; Mateo’s voice if Irene had a guess. However she didn’t have to go searching for Mateo; Rémy had already found him, the pained expression on his face even more prominent.

Before she could even find the words, Hélène sat down, brushing wisps of hair away from her eyes and reaching over to take some of Rémy’s drink. “Ça va, Irene?”

Whipping her gaze back to Hélène, Irene opened her mouth to speak as her mind raced to cover her own shock over what she’d just discovered. She didn’t have to think of anything though. Hélène had turned to look to her childhood friend, her own expression morose.

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