[Aurillac] Used to be a major scale ~ [Sidonie]

Two blonde females approached the house slowly. They moved with matching grace and dainty little steps. The younger one, who looked about sixteen or seventeen but was really only fourteen and a half, held a pale blue box in her hands wrapped in a silver ribbon. Her mother moved like a dancer and was much more beautiful, even though she was well over thirty. Gabrielle was excited to see her friend. They’d met up for ice cream a couple of times over the summer, and Sid had visited her, but the summer was almost over now, and the next school year was impending. They were fourth years! Already! Gabby remembered meeting Sidonie back when they were eleven. To her fourteen year old mind, eleven seemed so young. She felt like there was a world of difference between her and first years in terms of maturity. Gabrielle tucked a strand of silvery hair behind her ear and off of her pretty face and proceeded to knock on the door.

The way that the last term had ended had been traumatic, and Gabrielle and Sidonie had discussed it at length via letters and in person. The willowy part-veela was quite thoughtless and sometimes even a little contemptuous of Sidonie, but she did care for her friend. In her own weird way. It was true that most of Gabrielle’s “friends” at school were more like “minions”, but Sid was her closest friend. They might not talk about intellectual things all the time, but Gabrielle respected her friend’s intelligence. Right now, she was still feeling quite protective of the younger girl. She’d spent her summer allowance (and a little more money that she’d talked her father into giving her) on new things for Sid, to make her feel better.

Gabrielle had been to Sidonie’s house before, and yet her mother decided to wait with her on the Riviére welcome mat until they answered the door. It was a little frustrating, especially if Sidonie’s father or older brother answered. Sure, Nicéphore was only sixteen, and Gabrielle’s mother was thirty years his senior, but teenagers were often even worse than young men when it came to the way they reacted to her mother. She was almost fifty, but men still threw themselves at the blonde woman. Gabrielle supposed she couldn’t blame them; Apolline was probably the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. The fourteen year old tossed some of her own silvery blonde hair behind a shoulder impatiently.

Sidonie rushed around in her little two story house, the clock ticking closer to the time Gabrielle was supposed to be over. Her father was away at work, and her mother was just finishing up cupcakes to sit on the plate in her room. There had been a lot going on for the now fourteen year old since the end of her third year, and really only a select few friends were there for her through some of it. It put a perspective on who was a true friend and who wasn't. Her real friends wrote to her and visited her despite being on lock-down.

Gabrielle wrote her constantly before and after the secret sneak out to Lachapelle's extravagant party. It made her feel special, like someone was there looking out for her. Logically she needed none of that, just some time to get her parents on board with allowing her to attend her fourth year. Emotionally it was what she needed desperately, since it was Gabby's visitations that allowed her to go to school in a few days. The belle's friends were important to her, and so was her status. Not being back into school would of course been devastating to her.

She wanted everything to be perfect and lined up in according to how she wanted it. Her room was spotless clean, and she made sure of it because that's where she'd be spending time with Gabby for most of the get-together. They'd have tea there, and cupcakes that were hastily rushed up the staircase at the current moment. She wanted to laugh, giggle, talk about anything that ranged from school to boys, and whatever else there was to do. It was great, the whole thing. She was genuinely happy today. She looked around the house, knowing that Gabrielle was familiar with it and the fact it held a lot of muggle technology such as light switches, television, radio, and so on. She was relieved that she didn't have to explain any of the stuff. It was too complicated anyway.

There was a knock on the door and Sid couldn't help but jump up out of the couch she just sat in and head to the door with a shuffle to her step. "Got it!" she immediately called, claiming stake to opening the door before her mother or brother had the opportunity to move from anywhere in the house. She opened it up and was greeted by two individuals instead of the expected singular Gabrielle she was hoping for. It was the pap's mother of course, she'd seen her before numerous times, they looked a lot alike. She gave the older woman a cheeky smile, "hello Mrs. Delacour," before turning to her best friend, "Gabrielle!" she squealed, briefly hugging her before stepping back through the door. "Come in, come in. Snacks are ready and if you'd like to stay a bit Mrs. Delacour that's okay. My mom is in the kitchen if you'd like to say hello," or whatever... "come on!" she quickly grabbed the girl's hand rushing her up the staircase, "we have cupcakes, and brownies, and my room is finally clean." It was messy last visit, and she was ashamed of that greatly. "I'm so happy you're here!"

“Sid!” Gabrielle exclaimed, her lips quirking into an easy smile. The blonde felt a little relieved that it had been Sidonie and not her father or – especially – her brother who opened the door. She was at an age where it was a little more than annoying when teenage boys ogled at her mother (though whether this was because of her irritation at the boys, or the fact that they weren’t ogling her instead, she wasn’t sure). Sidonie certainly seemed enthusiastic, Gabrielle noted, as the younger girl squealed her name and wrapped her arms around her in a quick hug. The blonde gave her mother a lazy wave and let Sidonie pull her up the staircase, holding the box safely under her free arm.

The younger girl’s enthusiasm was infectious. There was a shared sense of exasperation aimed at their parents between the two girls. It went unspoken, but an exchanged glance was all that they needed to communicate the feeling. Parents were so frustrating sometimes. “I’ve been dying to see you too,” she told her as they entered her friend’s room. “Not talking about that party has been killing me.” The blonde’s voice was considerably quieter when she said this, and she was thankful as Sidonie shut the door behind her. She gave her friend a look that said she was thinking about that night. It had been madness. The fact that it had happened a week ago, but that their parents didn’t know anything about it, was exhilarating.

If she were honest, going back to school was going to be a bit of a relief if only for that reason. She followed her friend over to the bed and slid her shoes off so that she could crawl in, cross-legged onto it, thinking. Even if her parents somehow found out – and she wasn’t sure how they would, unless one of their friends had told their parents or something – how mad could they really be with only letter communication? It had easily been the most daring thing she’d ever done. Gabrielle didn’t really defy her parents openly, because she usually got what she wanted. “Those brownies look good,” she commented with a small smile. The blonde glanced around her friend’s room appreciatively. It was simple and feminine. She liked it.

After taking one of the brownies and swallowing a small bite (and dapping politely at the corner of her lips), she spoke again. “So are you excited about going back to school? I bet you can’t wait to get out of home.” Gabrielle rolled her eyes, knowing from their extensive letter communication that her friend was going a little stir-crazy here, as nice as the place was. “Oh! And I have this!” Gabrielle held Sidonie’s present out with two hands and a soft smile. “Happy birthday, baby.”

It was so pleasant to see Gabby. Really she wasn't all too surprised to believe that either. Sidonie was actually a really happy girl at the moment and while that was rare for most of the summer months - she found herself bursting with joy. There was no telling what they'd do today. Sidonie knew the first line of defense against the annoyance of her older siblings or her parental figures walking past her bedroom and peeking in was the door she didn't hesitate to shut it. Her room, her space. Plus she didn't necessarily need to throw stuff at her brother if he awkwardly stopped to be stupid and do something embarrassing - like drool. The brunette bounced up on her bed to sit with a bit of comfort as Gabrielle mentioned the party.

"I know!" She squealed out, "it was awesome! Not to mention," she lowered her voice, much like what her friend did, "my parents don't have a clue!" Which was surprising in many ways because current-Sidonie keeping a secret from her parents was more than difficult until they calmed down about their 'precious baby girl being taken'. "They asked how the show went... and I told them it went fine and we had a good time." It wasn't like she flat out lied anyway. She went to Gabrielle's to watch a show which happened to be Lachapelle's party.

She offered the plate of brownies to her best friend before her eyes widened with the thought of leaving home. She desperately wanted that. "Oh yes I sooo cannot wait to get out of here." She flung her head back to look at the ceiling in an attempt to get her point across further. It was frustrating! But that ordeal quickly changed when Gabrielle said she had something, and handed her the present. Her birthday gift. It seemed excessive for Sidonie to get a gift from her friend when what she wanted was just her company and that was satisfying enough.

Despite that though, a gift was a gift, and the belle had no regrets to take it and open it. She was happy to know she was thought of. It was apparent that Gabrielle bought cloths for the birthday girl as she pulled them out to look at them. Sidonie didn't think that Gabrielle would of remembered her clothing size, but it seemed she was mistaken on that part when looking at them to know they'd fit her. "Aww thank you Gabrielle! This is great!" It really was. It was extremely difficult to get her mother to buy her the things she wanted and liked verses what her mother thought was appropriate for her and her personality. Shopping was horrible torture to endure considering what her mother thought she'd like was different. Sure Sidonie wasn't really sure how Gabby's gift would look on her, but it had to be better than a frilly ruffled top that made her look eighty years older.

“Me too,” Gabrielle agreed in a low, devious voice. She gave the other girl a knowing look. “I didn’t think it would be so easy to lie to them about something like that, did you?” This had been on her mind a lot lately. If it was so easy to lie about something as big and rebellious as Lachapelle’s party had been, what else might the girls be able to get away with? Gabby had made a mental note to keep an ear out for other upperclassman parties this term. Maybe they’d be able to pull a similar stunt during the Christmas holidays. The blonde had a way with people, and wondered if acquiring an invitation to such an event would really be so difficult. She brushed some silvery hair off of her face and gave her friend a small smile. Was Sidonie thinking the same thing?

Gabrielle knew that Sid had a little trouble when shopping with her mother. She’d never really had that problem herself, as her mum was much more fashion oriented. Sure, there were moments that made Gabrielle roll her eyes, like when her mother would not buy something for her because it was a little too short or a little too low cut, but for the most part they had similar taste. Which was nice. Gabby wasn’t interested in clothes that she thought looked trashy or overly sexualised, so they didn’t butt heads much when it came to fashion.

Naturally, her gift was highly fashionable, but not too pretentious. The blonde had an eye for these kinds of things, and she already knew all of Sidonie’s sizes. “Try it on,” she encouraged with a bright smile. “I think it’ll fit you perfectly, though have you grown a bit over the summer? It might be a tad shorter than it’s meant to be.”