September 3rd, 1893 — Morgana Suite, Pendergast School for Young Roses, Hogsmeade

don't drink, don't smoke,
what do you do?
subtle innuendos follow
must be something inside
It couldn't be coincidence that Antonia had been roomed with Miss Elisabeth Champagne. Toni's first thought on the subject was that someone in charge must have believed that the two foreign girls would be terrible influences on the pure-bred English students. Her second thought, much more charitable, was that they must have been the only two who'd been pulled from school at their OWL level (or whatever equivalent Beauxbatons had), and thus were the only two sixteen-year-olds at the school this year. And they didn't want to room the teenagers with the older Roses.

Toni had said goodbye to her parents and beelined for the Morgana Suite, her new home away from home, to survey the situation. The wallpaper was simple, but Toni rather liked it. The beds were magnificent — Toni's bedframe at home was made of oak and wrought iron, so mahogany was a definite step up — and it seemed all the furniture, save the writing desk, was mahogany!

Now all she needed was to actually meet her suite-mate, privately, rather than among the whole of the student body. Toni knew the school took day students as well as boarders, so there were more students than the school could physically house, students who either couldn't afford to be boarders or simply didn't want to. Toni wouldn't judge them. She was a boarder, though, like her sister Svetlana before her.

Toni sat down at the writing desk carefully, about to investigate the drawers, just as the door to the room opened, and Miss Champagne entered the room. "Oh, hello!" she greeted, abruptly standing and nearly knocking over the chair — which she barely caught. "Hi, sorry. I know we just met downstairs, but, my name is Antonina. Antonina Solovyova." She hoped soon she could invite Miss Champagne to call her Toni. If they were to be suite-mates for the foreseeable future, well, hopefully they could be friends!

Elisabeth Champagne

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   Elisabeth Champagne

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As terrified as she was about starting at Pendergast’s School, Elisabeth felt a bit better as she was fussed over by her Aunt Ophelia while her youngest cousin clung to her torso, not wanting her to leave so soon. She reminded herself that she would see them often still, because her Aunt and Uncle could chaperone her during her free time to outings, and plus it wasn’t like she couldn’t write them letters. Upon finding the name of her suitemate listed, she also wondered if they were paired together because they were foreign; did she come all the way here to attend finishing school or did she immigrate to Great Britain like her cousins before Hogwarts? Elisabeth supposed she would ask if she got close enough to Miss Solovyova that it wasn’t rude.

While she spoke to a few of the other attendees of the school in the main hall, even said hello to the girl she’d be sharing a room with, Elise didn’t feel like she had been properly introduced until the two of them were alone in their shared room. It was a bit darker than Elise would have liked; she was far more interested in pastels and light colors, but it was quite beautiful nonetheless and the bed looked comfortable. She walked into the room and was immediately greeted by the girl, her eyes widening slightly when she saw her almost knock down the chair; she was partially reminded of Lucille and how awkward she was when they met and that gave her unexpected pain in her heart, but it also made her smile and hope she was doing alright.

“Hello, Miss Solovyova,” she replied, offering a small curtsy, like the one she learned during her year at Bellerose, the first finishing school she went to, “My name is Elisabeth Champagne, but if you’d like, Elise is just fine.” She supposed if they were going to live together, it would do no good to be so formal. She carefully sat down on one of the beds, hoping it was the one that belonged to her, and she cautiously asked, “Is it your first year here? Or have you been to finishing school before?”

  

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Beautiful Set by MJ!

Toni thought the white and mahogany color scheme worked quite well, with the bronze desk to set it off nicely. She wasn't used to a metal writing desk, her room was full of oak furniture, but she didn't mind it. Hogwarts had been full of eclectic furniture, after all.

"First year," she admitted sheepishly, holding her own wrists to try and keep herself from fidgetting too much. Her accent didn't match her name, and that said a lot about where she'd grown up. Hogsmeade was practically a British town in the Scottish highlands, and she'd spent nearly thirteen years growing up here. "And you can call me Toni. All my roommates at school did, eventually." Informality in the suite seemed a given to the girl. As Elise sat down, Toni took it upon herself to check the wardrobe nearest the bed she hadn't sat down upon. Quickly, she recognized the lovely sky blue dress she planned to wear for the first formal dinner. Perfect. "It looks like the maids have already sorted out our wardrobes, at least," she explained.

For an idle moment, Toni wondered what Svetlana was doing. She knew her older sister's honeymoon had ended, but she hadn't been here to see Toni off as a finishing school boarder. She hoped Svetlana hadn't taken ill. And then there was Alexei, whom she would have forgiven if it was any other weekday.

"Do you have any siblings?" Toni asked after a beat had passed, sitting down on her own bed. "I suppose we ought to get to know one another."

Elisabeth Champagne

  

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Miss Solovyova did not sound at all like she expected her to, in fact, she sounded a bit more like her youngest cousins; the ones that lost their parisian accents or never had one in the first place. Perhaps her family had moved to Great Britain earlier than she had assumed and simply never anglicized their name, which Elise thought was just fine. “This is my first year here too,” Elisabeth replied, her own accent matching her French roots, unlike her suitemate, feeling some sense of relief that she wasn’t the only one, “Though I did go to a different finishing school last year. I didn’t care for it, though.” Of course, that wasn’t entirely true, but she couldn’t tell a complete stranger the real reason she had left Bellerose and she was bound to find out eventually that Pendergast’s wasn’t her first finishing school so it was best to admit it before it became some curiosity.

She smiled when given permission to call her Toni, rather than by such a formal name, and she hoped that meant they could be friends. “That’s good,” she stood up to take a look at her own wardrobe, her dresses matching the pastel colors she loved so much and it seemed the maids hadn’t wrinkled anything, though she doubted they would have. She shut the wardrobe and sat back down on her bed just before Toni did the same and asked her about siblings; Elise couldn’t help but laugh a little, did she? “I have four brothers. Two older, two younger; they’re all back home in France right now, though,” she answered; Narcissus was helping their father with the operations of the vineyard, Laurent was a professional Quidditch player, Alexandre was at Beauxbâtons, and Jean-Marie was probably playing games with his nanny, “What about you?” She was perfectly happy with getting to know each other; she was so relieved that Toni didn’t seem the stuck up and unfriendly type.

  

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Beautiful Set by MJ!

There it was. Two first year Roses who wouldn't necessarily fit in with many of the other students, for similar and different reasons. Toni was mildly surprised to find out that Elise had gone to a different finishing school before moving to Hogsmeade — she knew there were others, of course, but the whole idea of the finishing school felt so...English. "I see," she admitted, still smiling brightly. "Last year, I was studying for my Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. I...didn't do as well as I could have. But I scraped by." It wouldn't be long, of course, before Elise realized exactly why Toni hadn't done well. In fact, as they were sitting there on their beds, she was idly shaking her right foot under her skirts, resting her heel on her left foot, and it wasn't invisible in the rustling of fabric.

"I only have two siblings, both older," Toni confessed. "Alexei, my brother, has his work, but Svetlana attended this very school for five years! She must've been as polished as a diamond when she married this last June." Toni laughed quietly, properly, like she was expected to. "I can only hope I won't be here that long." Oh, but there was always the chance, and even longer could be on the horizon. After all, with her...quirks, the chances she'd be in for a short time were relatively slim. "Do you have any pets at home?"

Elisabeth Champagne

  

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Elisabeth was so jealous; she couldn’t believe that Toni got to take her O.W.L. exams before she came here; perhaps other families were more comfortable with their daughters having an education than hers. “I never got to take mine,” she lamented, though she tried not to sound entirely bitter as it would be rather unbecoming of her if she did, “I finished my fourth year and then I turned fifteen and was sent to a finishing school in Paris.” She definitely did see how fidgety Toni was and it made her a little anxious, not because it made her uncomfortable, exactly, but she remembered the awful punishments you’d get at her old finishing school for doing that sort of thing and she didn’t want to see her new friend get punished for her behavior.

She made a sort of ‘wow’ expression with her eyes and lips at the idea of Toni’s sister being in finishing school for five whole years; that seemed like a lifetime! Elise definitely agreed that she must have been the ideal wife when she finally graduated. “Goodness, that’s a long time,” she agreed, laughing politely as well, “My Aunt says I only have to be here until what would have been the end of my seventh year, and then I shall debut at the same time as most of my peers. But, I suppose she could change her mind.” Especially if she did poorly and needed more help. Elisabeth nodded excitedly at the talk of pets, “I have a snowy owl, Étoile, she’s probably in the owlery right now, and I have a persian cat named Princesse who’s with my cousins right now. Do you?” Then, she supposed while they were getting to know one another and Toni seemed to be the kind of person so far to be comfortable with questions, “Does your family live here? I’m staying with my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Wellingtonshire for the time, but I was born and raised in Champagne, France. They’re the Rosiers, if you know of them.”

  

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Beautiful Set by MJ!

Oh, dear. Toni feared she had made her new friend jealous. It wouldn't do to start a friendship off on such a wrong foot, now, would it? But at the same time, Toni had no idea what to say. Did one offer condolences for the missed opportunity of an education? It was definitely a grey area in etiquette lessons, and one that Toni feared inquiring about would earn her more of a punishment than her fidgeting would. So Toni said nothing with regard to that subject any longer.

"Indeed!" Toni burst amidst her laughter, before she quieted, letting Elise continue. She was glad for the news that Elise had a firm date of when she would finish her schooling, even if it could change at a later time. She listened, nodding and humming at all the right points, before the conversation was turned back to her. Two questions this time. Toni grinned. "Unfortunately, I don't have any pets at the moment. Mother and Father have an eagle-owl, of course, but he's really the family owl, the messenger. His name is Viktor. But I think I would like a dog. Perhaps a Samoyed." She paused for a moment, thinking, before she continued. "The Rosiers...yes, I do know of them. I know Dorian, though not well. A year ahead of me, and in a different house. I was a Hufflepuff."

Carefully, Toni stood once again, moving to the wardrobe and digging for a box, which she found after a few minutes of fussing. With delicate hands, she brought it over, slowly opening it to reveal one of the parures she'd brought with her — blackened steel and yellow topaz, with a badger's head at the center of the tiara. "It was Mother's idea. Svetlana has one for her house, and Alexei a pocket-watch with his house's symbol on the shell. I brought it in case of a school associated event." She laughed quietly. "I think it a bit gaudy, but, well, it works with the dress Mother had made to accompany it. And only with that. Do you like jewelry? Do you have any with you?"

Elisabeth Champagne

  

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At least, despite her jealousy, Elise wasn’t the type to decide she hated Toni now that she knew that she got to continue her education further than she ever did; she should be thankful, anyway, that at least she got books and such from Alexandre and Dorian who were still in school and wanted to share their lessons with her so she at least had something. If Toni was curious, of course, she would be happy to share. “That’s understandable. I only got Étoile when I went to Bellerose, since usually I’d use one of the school owls,” Elise wasn’t familiar with the breed of dog that Toni mentioned, as her family were cat people, but she was sure it was cute anyway, “I hope you get one. Pets are wonderful companions.” She perked up at hearing that Toni was familiar with her maternal cousins, especially Dorian, whom she was closest to out of all of them. “Yes, Dorian is my cousin; his mother is my mother’s sister,” she explained, “Oh! I know that house, he has friends in it, I think? I’m afraid I’m not too well read on the houses, but Hufflepuff is the yellow one, yes?” She wondered what house she would have been in.

It seemed she got her confirmation when she was shown a beautiful tiara in her house colors, and once again Elise was looking with wide, amazed eyes; she had quite a few gorgeous pieces in her collection, but she didn’t have a tiara like that. Perhaps, she thought, she would have to ask for one for Christmas. “It’s beautiful,” maybe it was a bit gaudy, but Elise was impressed nonetheless and she adored shiny things like that, “Your mother has good taste.” She giggled a bit, matching the energy, as if she was the one going to wear it instead. Elise pulled her own jewelry box out of her wardrobe to show what she had, “I love jewelry! Well, I have this locket, it has my parents in it; my mother gave it to me before I left, and this ring belonged to my grandmother on my father’s side. I wear them the most, but I also have this diamond bracelet, this ring… oh and this emerald necklace, it was a gift from Dorian from last Christmas, I suppose I don’t have anything as nice as you do.”

  

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Beautiful Set by MJ!