Exploring (Alora)

Harmonie sighed and leaned against the wall of one of the shops in the square. Russia was alright, she supposed. But the girl couldn't help but compare the place to France. Harmonie cracked her neck out of boredom. The people so far, were dull too.

Filing her nails absently, she watched the grey sky.

Was anything interesting going to happen this century or was she going to have to die here?

Lora was wandering the streets angrily, trying to think of plan to get back Kait. She knew she would have to fly to Greece first, but she wanted to make sure Dylan and Frodo could make it as well. She couldn't help but feel saddened at the fact that Faye had cancer. After hours of walking, she came across a girl standing on the pavement, looking bored as hell. And she definitely didn't look like she was from around here.

"Um, hey there." She told hesitantly in English, as she approached the girl. "Everything alright?" She asked, hoping her mix of German and Russian accent was clear enough.

Harmonie jumped slightly when one of the foreigners approached her. "Mon dieu." she cursed underneath her breath, then laughed softly at herself. She was becoming more and more edgy.

"'ello." she said with equal hesitance as the girl, her h's too harsh to be heard. It was clear that she was French.

"Oui, oui, I am just...err- how you say...dying." she nodded uncertainly. "I am very bored." she admitted openly.

"You..you no speak English well?" she frowned, struggling with the language.

"Yeah, I can see that you are bored," Lora told with a light laugh. She wished at this moment that she could speak French. "Well, I can speak English just alright, cause I have a friend in London," she replied with a small smile, trying not to let her accent show too much. "I'm guessing you are from France? Are you here on holidays?" She asked curiously.

"Zat obvious?" she raised an eyebrow. Her English wasn't that bad, was it? Perhaps she should practice a bit more. Shrugging one shoulder, Harm continued to speak;

"Yez," she nodded. "I live in France with my family."

"I travel around the world in ze 'olidays." she said uncertainly- definitely more room for improvement with English. "And you are from...?"

"Your accent is sort of a give away," Lora replied with a small smile. "Plus, I've been here lots of times and I haven't seen you around before. And neither at school."

"Oh, that's nice. I just came back from France a few days back actually," she admitted. "And I have to say it was really amazing." She grinned lightly. "Which school do you go to?"

"I'm from Germany and I go to Durmstrang," she answered. "It's an okay school, gets a little boring though." And kinda dangerous, she mentally added.

"Ah, yes, yes, French accent, no?" she tilted her head to the side at the girl. "What was your name, girl?" she asked in the most polite way she could fashion from her broken English.

"France's finest- Beauxbatons." Now that sentence Harmonie knew in 4 languages.

(OOC- Just assume she's speaking close to fluent German with a French accent now It'll be hard for the thread to move forward if she can barely talk sooo )

"Ah, Durmstrang!" she exclaimed. "And Germany, you say?" she grinned, as she questioned Alora in near to fluent German.

"Durmstrang's boring? Not from the rumours I've heard." Harmonie continued in German, speaking lowly. Durmstrang sounded like a madhouse to the French student.

"Yeah, the French accent," Lora confirmed with a smile. "Oh, my name's Alora but you can call me Lora." She introduced herself and gave the girl a hug. "And you name is...?"

She smiled in relief when she heard the girl speak German. "Yes, Germany!" She exclaimed with a grin. "I miss the place a lot. I can't wait to go back once I'm done with school. I wish I was on good terms with my mother; that's the reason I didn't stay long for the holidays either," she admitted.

"Well, not boring per say," she continued in German. "I just hate being confined in those four walls; plus the people are too dark for me." She shuddered at the thought. "But at the same time, I can't help but love the school," she told with a sheepish smile.

Harmonie froze up a little when the stranger hugged her and her hands itched to reach for her purse- just to double check she hadn't been pick pocketed.

"Harmonie de Venin. Pleasure to meet you, Lora." she smiled.

"I'm hardly on good terms with my mother and I'm being dragged around the world with her. I'd rather be in your place, Lora." she shrugged. Harmonie had been trying to put as much distance as possible between her and her mother for the whole of the holidays.

"It is your home- I can understand. Beauxbatons is my home. Love it there." Harmonie murmured, smiling to herself.

Lora looked at the girl's expression and smiled with embarrassment, "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just a force of habit, I guess."

"Ooh, that's a pretty name!" She exclaimed with a grin. "I always knew that French names were more fancy than Russian," she commented.

She shook her head in disagreement. "I don't think you'd like to be in my place. I'd rather travel the world against my will than not have a father and have a mother who half hates me," she muttered. "It's no mystery as to why I hate going home. Sure, she gives me what I want, but not what I need."

"Well yeah, it is sort of my home." She admitted. "But that's because of my friends and boyfriend. If not for them, I'd go mad in there. Also, did I mention that the Professors are all psychopaths?" She laughed.

Harmonie laughed shakily and waved the matter away with an elegant sweep of her hand. "Please, don't apologise." she smiled slightly.

"Mm- French names are often rather more dainty and pretty. But Russian ones are more strong and powerful. Don't you think?" Harmonie asked, making polite conversation. Connections were good to have.

"Do you want what you need? Perhaps if you told your parents that you wanted it, they would give it to you?" she suggested.

"Well, the teachers at Beauxbatons aren't too sane either." she grinned.

"Well, I don't think there's anything strong and powerful about my name, but I guess I have to agree with you," Lora replied with a smile. She was beginning to like this girl, though it was kinda obvious they weren't alike in most ways.

"Firstly, it's just 'parent' cause I don't know where my father is. And secondly, what I really need is some love and attention from my mother; something she probably won't give me,"she shrugged.

"International or not, I guess all teachers are crazy, huh?" She laughed lightly. "It'almost scary since they actually try to kill the students and all." She shuddered at the thought. "So which is your favourite subject"?

Harmonie returned the smile politely. "It's powerful and pretty. Very nice." she assured her.

She grimaced slightly- this time her expression was truly genuine- and apologised. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..." she trailed off, unsure of what to say. Deep meaningful apologies weren't her thing. Her nice girl act could only reach to a certain extent.

Harmonie attempted to lighten the mood and laughed uneasily. "Well- the attention isn't all too good, trust me."

I wouldn't know much about the love.

Ignoring the thought, Harm focused on what Alora was saying. She raised both her eyebrows, truly shocked. "They do try to kill the students? I thought it was just a rumour! Why do you still go there?" she said in a flurried frenzy.

"My favourite subject? Hm." the girl tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps DADA. Or Astronomy. Though they tend to change each year" she shrugged. "What about you?"

"Thanks," Lora mumbled and blushed lightly at the compliment. "I guess certain people in every country, except for Russians, find my name to be nice," she told with a light laugh as she recalled Riley's praise. "But seeing that I'm from Germany, I'd say it was a German name."

"Oh no, no, don't worry about it!" She assured with a wave of her hand. "It wasn't your fault, you didn't know. Really, there's no need to apologize." She smiled at Harmonie. "That may be, but compared to the lack of attention I've been getting, I'll take what I can get."

"Well...not technically 'kill' but seriously injure would be a better usage," she told with a slightly disturbed expression. "Besides, most of the time it's the students who are crazier than the students," she commented. "I still go there because of my friends." And Dylan, she mentally added.

"Ooh, I love DADA! But my favourite is Magical Combat," she answered with a grin. "I also like Charms. So what are you going to do once you finish school?" She asked.

"Why not Russians?" Harmonie frowned disapprovingly. The name Alora really was quite pretty, in her honest opinion. Anyone who disagreed was clearly wrong.

A small bubble of laughter escaped her lips. "We seem to be parallels, Alora."

Harmonie nudged the other girl in the side playfully. "Do the students ever harm the teacher, then? Because I've been tempted to to do so myself, a few times." she winked.

"Once I finish school?" she shrugged. "No clue. Something fun?" she grinned. Harmonie wasn't one for planning the future. "What about you?"

"I guess my name kinda stands out from the other common Russian names," Lora replied with a shrug. "Then again, maybe that's just in my imagination. But seriously, French names are much more elegant, even though a bit difficult to pronounce," she told and smiled teasingly.

"Parallels can end up as friends, though." She pointed out and grinned.

"Well, there have situations where some of the students almost harmed the teachers," she admitted. "If you want to end up in the worst sort of detention ever, you are free to hurt them," she told with a light laugh.

"An Auror," was Lora's immediate reply. "It's just that something happened while I was a kid, and that was when I decided I want to be an Auror. If that doesn't work out...I have no idea," she replied. "So what do you think of Russia so far?" She asked.

Harmonie hummed in agreement at Alora's last statement. "That is very true." She paused thoughtfully. Harmonie isn't too bad though, is it?" she frowned.

"My twin and I are parallel." Her face softened at the thought of her sister and a fond smile played at her lips. She laughed slightly to herself and glanced behind her quickly. "Though I lose track of her every 5 seconds." she shrugged sheepishly.

"Maybe I'll think twice about that, then." she murmured, almost a bit disappointed. There had been some serious methods running through her head a few moments before.

"An auror?" she repeated, then shifted her slipping handbag onto her shoulder. "Isn't that a bit...much?"

"It's good- though there's nothing compared to home." she murmured, but nodded approvingly at her surroundings.

Lora laughed lightly at Harmonie's question and replied, "Nah, yours isn't difficult to pronounce. I just figured that most French names are fancy, that's all."

She smiled at the girl's obvious affection for her sister. "Must be nice having a twin, huh?" She asked quietly. She felt instantly saddened as she thought of her own sister and once more screamed in her mind, 'Why did she die?' "So do you both get along well?"

"What do you mean a bit 'much'?" She asked confusedly. "If you mean to say that it's a bit too ambitious, then yes, I guess it is. But there's nothing else I'd rather do in my life cause I know I'll be able to prevent some deaths," she admitted in a sure tone. "I know I can cause I'm that much determined."

Lora nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, no place like home indeed. Even though I'm beginning to love Russia dearly, I miss Germany so much sometimes. Especially since I rarely go there since I don't want to face my mom most of the time." She told.