[April MP] I will be chasing a starlight (Chantal)

Life was a constant struggle for Sylvain Chéret and he had already been struggling for quite a while now. However, the seventh year was positive that things would look up once he'd graduate. Without a ray of hope there was no sense in going on anyway, was there? He had learned a long time ago that life was difficult. Ever since his parents had separated he had been aware of that. The feeling had intensified when his mother had met Maximilien's father and had decided to marry him. He could not bring himself to calling Maximilien his step brother. They had nothing in common, they despised each other and were unlikely to ever act like brothers around each other. However, his family situation was not his sole reason for distress. Sylvain felt trapped between being a boy and a man. He was of age now and yet he did not feel fully like an adult. Nevertheless, he was not a child anymore either. Girls had become interesting to him, he had had his first crushes, his first heart break. There was only one thing he knew - he was glad to leave Beauxbatons behind and was actually counting the weeks, no, even the days until his graduation.

He wasn't quite sure what he'd do after school though. He had some ideas, had gone to the career advice and had basically spent many sleepless nights thinking about his options. He did not want to discuss any of that with his family though. They had disappointed him so much that he did not want to rely on them anymore. He had only few friends whom he felt he could trust and none who seemed to really understand him. So, in the end, the boy felt rather alone with his thoughts.

Then fate seemed to have taken pity on him and had sent him a sort of sign. He had been wary at first when he had seen Chantal Garnier, but soon had felt the urge to speak to her. While the boy had not taken part in the lessons where she had filled in for the regular Charms professor, he had observed her from afar. The young woman was simply gorgeous and Sylvain liked the fact that she wore muggle attire as it reminded him of the time in his life when everything had still been normal and he had still spent a lot of time with his muggle dad. She was also blond and Sylvain definitely had a thing for blondes. Naturally the musketeer remembered the older witch from her time at school, after all she had been in Ombrelune too and, in his opinion, she had been an outstanding Quidditch player. He wouldn't have been surprised had she chosen to become a professional player. However, as he had learned the witch had become an auror which was maybe even more impressive.

Hence the desire to meet her and talk to her had risen after he had seen her at Beauxbatons. He knew that she sometimes came to Harmony & Rhapsody in Chatoeil and, thinking that he might meet her there the weekend after her lesson, the boy made his way to the small wizarding town. He was wearing muggle clothes that day, no school or other wizard's robes. For the occasion he had chosen some grey washed out jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. Nothing too fancy, but still something that he thought looked well on him. Upon arriving in front of the shop Sylvain looked at his reflection in the window, subconsciously running his hand through his messy hair. Was this really a good idea? What did he want to say to her anyway? The boy turned away and paced up and down the street, wrecking his mind for a good phrase to start the conversation but nothing would come to his mind. Would she remember him from her time at Beauxbatons? Was it good if she did? He had been quite an outsider during his first few years at school, not really being into magic so much and wishing himself back to his muggle dad.

He was tempted to go back to Beauxbatons without even attempting to speak to Chantal but then he thought about his muggle dad's job as a stage actor and the roles he had already played himself. He tried to think of a story about a young man overcoming his fear and talking to a beautiful young lady and although he did not find the perfect story to match this situation, he suddenly felt more confident. He did not have to be Sylvain the pathetic loser, he could as well be Sylvain the Ombrelune musketeer or Sylvain the future actor, Sylvain the future astronaut... There were plenty of options. He did not have to act like he was as small and insignificant as he usually felt.

Bracing himself for a possible encounter with the successful young witch, Sylvain finally approached the shop again and stepped over the threshold. He had been to the shop several times before - never before because of her. He smiled, feeling confident now that he was allowing himself to be strong. "Bonjour," he said to no one in particular before his eyes caught her. Chantal looked as lovely as always and Sylvain approached her without showing any hesitance at all. He was Sylvain the future star now, one day girls might admire him for who he was instead of judging him for what he was not.

"Salut Chantal," he addressed her, offering a light version of his best smile. "Sylvain, Sylvain Chéret. I'm not sure you remember me. I'm glad to see you here. I've heard your day at Beauxbatons has been a full success." His voice sounded mature now, more like the voice of a man than a boy's voice and Sylvain quite liked that. "I was wondering if you've got a moment. I'd like to talk to you about some things that might be of iinterest to the Ministry and others that are of importance to me and my future." He hoped that the pretty blonde would be willing to talk to him despite him still being a student for at least another few weeks.

It had taken quite a while for Chantal to forgive Matthieu for not immediately coming to greet her after returning from Portugal this past November. Nonetheless, she eventually decided to let it go, as her eldest sibling was in dire need of her help. Without her visiting the shop at least once per month, her brother was lost as to how to complete any kind of paperwork and, therefore, one would correctly assume that not only he hadn’t paid all of his taxes to the Ministry, but also had a lot of different requests for events and similar occasions that he’s completely ignored. It irked her that he could so easily ignore everything associated with the actual reality of things, but Chantal didn’t lecture him anymore. In the end, she came to terms that for Matthieu nothing but music existed for years now.

Her brother had gone to their studio to conduct a guitar lesson with a local villager, a child who seemed to still have to wait a year or two before starting his Beauxbatons life. She’d lost track of time ever since then, Chantal constantly sending letters of confirmation of attendance in Matthieu’s name. In the end, it was spring, so many festivals were taking place, and everyone with a band wanted their music promoted. Her brother was hard to impress, but Chantal was sure he was bound to find a band or two he’d enjoy – if only he’d attend. She would have to definitely send him a howler to remind him to not forget the dates.

The shop’s door opened and someone stepped in, but Chantal didn’t bother getting up from the chair behind the counter. She was writing a response to another invitation and, well, it was the weekend; many people came in and out with the purpose of only looking around, perhaps strangely and curiously at the muggle bands they had exposed if they were of magical ancestry strictly. “Mhm.” The former Ombrelune let out as the person greeted nobody in particular. There was no need for excess of politeness unless someone bought something – that was her motto.

However, as the person saluted her again, this time around also stating her name, Chantal arched an eyebrow as she lifted her head and straightened her back. She let her quill rest of the counter, her eyes slightly narrowing as they feel on the teenager’s figure. He knew her, but she wasn’t sure as to where to place him. Having substituted at Beauxbatons for a day had made her remembering people from the school even worse, as there had been too many people for her to remember. Far too many actually, since Chantal wasn’t especially sociable in the first place.

“Ah, Sylvain.” She repeated, only after the boy stated his name, Chantal being able to slightly recall him. He’d been one of her house mates in the past, and she’s heard from the Charms professor only good things regarding him, including the fact that now he was Ombrelune musketeer. A boy who was a pride to their house, naturally. “I didn’t recognise you. You were quite shorter the last time I’ve seen you.” She let out a soft laugh, eyes falling on the counter as she placed the quill on top on the little bottle of ink in the corner. Before she could ask him regarding his visit there – meaning what he wanted to purchase – Sylvain mentioned wanting to talk to her about something regarding the Ministry.

Chantal’s eyes looked directly into his, and a smirk appeared on her face. “As you see, I’m off the clock now.” She pointed mostly towards her attire, which was not only especially casual, but also lacked her auror pin. The French witch sighed, and ran a hand through her hair, as she got up from the chair behind the counter; if it was so important that he had to speak to someone basically weeks before graduation, Chantal guessed it could be something serious. While tension in France was already widely spread, the fact that it had gotten within Beauxbatons could be extremely troublesome for someone who also had their NEWT examinations soon. Considering his position as musketeer as well, Sylvain could know something that would interest her indeed.

“Fine.” She added, gesturing him to follow her up the stairs in Matthieu’s flat. Chantal opened the door leading directly to the salon, and let it open, so she could hear if someone would enter the shop – an actual client. “Sit down.” The witch added, pointing in general towards the living room, so the boy could take a seat wherever he wanted. She took out a cigarette out of her pocket, and lit it with her lighter, later on leaning against the edge of the sofa. “So what’s happening that it can’t wait until you graduate?” Chantal inquired, arching an eyebrow as she took a drag out of her cigarette.

“I’m assuming this has to do either with the giants, Madame Maxime’s absence, or the current students protests. Which must be a hell to deal with weeks before your exams, by the way.” She nodded in disapproval, and snapped her fingers, so the ashtray on the table would levitate towards her.

Chantal greeted him and began to talk to him. So far so good. She said she had not recognised him which was fine, given that they had last seen each other years ago and had never been close. However, did she remember him or did she just pretend to know who he was? The boy felt his insecurity coming up again but refused to let it show. He was a confident young man who'd soon graduate and leave his pathetic teenage years behind. However, her statement that he had been shorter last time they had seen each other did not make him feel more confident. Nonetheless the boy chose to go over this nonchalantly.

"Oh yeah, quite a bit shorter, I think," he grinned, pretending to find the thought amusing when he really didn't. "It's been a few years and you made quite the career in the meantime."

He nodded when she said that she was not there as a Ministry official now. He could see that and he could not deny that the jumpsuit she wore looked great on her. However, the boy had never quite understood the sense of jumpsuits. To him they seemed like the most unpractical piece of clothing for women. However, that was hardly a topic of conversation for now. Although he could not deny that he'd love to hear if Chantal found it practical or for whatever other reason she had chosen to wear it.

Then she agreed to listen to what he had to say and Sylvain felt relieved. He hoped that his nervousness did not show, that he didn't transpire enough that it became either obvious or smelly. Anyway, he followed her up the stairs into a flat which he assumed belonged to Chantal's brother. He looked around for some proof of this assumption but soon directed his attention back at Chantal. He wanted to talk to her, after all, not waste precious time and annoy her. He sat down when Chantal told him so. "Thanks," he said, "thanks for taking the time to talk to me."

She did not waste any more time and came directly to the topic of conversation that he had mentioned downstairs. Sylvain nodded thoughtfully, unsure how to put what he had on mind.

"You are aware of the students' protests?! Are you also aware that there's a group of students plotting to overthrow the Ministry? They're really radical and I think they need to be stopped before they do anything silly and destabilise the system further." Sylvain was not entirely against the goals of this underground student organisation but he was working on his application to join the Ministry and definitely didn't need it to be overthrown right before he might join. It might still be possible to get a job there then but an unorganised system was definitely not the work atmosphere he was looking for. He had paused to consider whether it was already the right time to address his ambitions but quickly decided to respond to what Chantal had said first.

"Well, the giants and Madame Maxime's absence lead to the student protests in a way. Things at Beauxbatons have got out of control and some students think it's the Ministry's fault. And yes, you're right, it is not easy to deal with that all during a time when studies should come first. However, there are almost always exams for some people. I'm just unfortunate to be dealing with my NEWTs now..." He shrugged and waited for Chantal's reaction to his news or weren't they news for her? He looked at her curiously and ran his hand through his messy hair subconsciously.