Fool's Gold // Sirius Black

Chapter Five: Beauxbatons Academy of Magic

Juliette and Sirius finished their summer punishments locked in their rooms. Very quickly, owl post became the one thing they both looked forward to. Poor Hades barely got a break. He constantly flew from home to home, letters and sometimes packages of records in tow. Their letters and replies somehow made the days fly by.

Neither Juliette nor Sirius knew the next time they would see each other. September arrived quickly, and both students were excited to leave the house and rejoin their school friends. Unfortunately, this meant the distance between the two more than doubled. Juliette worried this distance and focusing on their studies would halt the progression of their budding friendship. However, she was determined not to let this fear come to fruition.

When Cassius and Aurelie sent their daughter off to Beauxbatons, the departure was anything but a tearful, loving goodbye. Her parents had yet to receive an apology for Juliette's disobedience regarding the Black family. They hoped a semester of school would make her come to her senses. 

In order to travel to Beauxbatons, students met at the Beauxbatons departure point near Lyon, France. Families typically travelled by Floo Network, Apparition, or Portkey to meet at this location, adequately named Point de Cheval. To Muggles or passerby, Point de Cheval resembled a dilapidated ranch and horse stable. Once well within the magical boundaries of Point de Cheval, the secret and beauty of the location were revealed. 

Point de Cheval still resembled a horse stable in many ways, but it was one fit for royalty. The building itself was built with impressive, gothic architecture to mirror that of the Beauxbatons palace. Hundreds of feet of silver and white arches stretched towards the sky and magnificent stained-glass windows glittered throughout the building. Most impressive was not the structure itself, but the magical beasts that lined the long, paved path cutting through the center of the building. Two dozen giant, palomino horses with wings elegantly stood in rows down the center of the building. These were the Beauxbatons' prized Abraxans. Behind each pair of horses, a baby blue carriage big enough to fit twenty students waited for departure to the palace. It was tradition for students to ride in the Abraxan carriages on the first day of term. 

Juliette usually looked forward to this exhilarating form of transportation. However, for the first time in five years, Juliette would take the carriage to Beauxbatons without one of her sisters. As she stood in the bustling crowd, ready to leave, it didn't feel right without Rose by her side.

"I suppose this is goodbye, then," Juliette monotonously stated. 

She truly couldn't wait to escape the disappointed realm of her father for a few months. Juliette fiddled with the hat on her head. With a weak smile, Aurelie stepped forward and adjusted so it would lay nicely above the blonde bun at the back of Juliette's neck. Juliette looked proper in her blue Beauxbatons uniform, but she surely didn't feel it. Juliette's mother held her at an arm's length and smiled. Juliette would be the last daughter she would ever send off to Beauxbatons. Aurelie knew she should cherish these last few years.

"Je t'adore, Juliette," Aurelie said quietly. A sweet embrace between mother and daughter followed the statement. Cassius still stood beside the pair, gloved hands firmly at his side.

"Je t'adore," Juliette whispered back. A part of her worried about what her mother would do in the manor alone with Cassius for the next few months. 

"I suppose we will be seeing you for the December holidays," Cassius interrupted. "I am already planning an intimate dinner celebration with the Black family. Start thinking about ways you can get back in young Regulus' good graces."

'Gee,' Juliette sarcastically thought, 'why not just set the wedding date today?"

"Yes, father," Juliette agreed.