Ice Storm

It has been an month, since Cosette has been in a public place. Ever since she agreed to take upon training from her grandmother, life became a busy filled one. Her last life, Cos was used to having lots of free time to her thoughts, exposing herself to more of the cursed insanity that haunted her family. Now, she was only getting about five hours of sleep, drinking Sane Potions, and learning what the world has to offer. The major points that her grandmother was covering right now, was learning French and how Purebloods lived. After all, Cosette was no longer a Half-Blood who had a reputation of trouble being caused wherever she went. The girl was now a pureblood who had been living with her mother for the past seventeen years, until now.

Living the French life was something that she had never tried before. Cosette thought the French would be uptight people, and declaring love at first sight existed. Sure, they were a little up tight, but they knew how to had fun. At least some of them.

But Cosette wasn't going to 'go have fun' anytime soon. She wasn't Kait anymore-something that her grandmother remind her of daily. She wasn't an angry teen who depended on people anymore (though Cosette declared that she had never depended on somebody before). She was now a girl that wanted very few friends, and depended on nobody. She was too only care for her own skin, and sacrifice anything to keep the bloodline of the Holender's going.

Her morals went against this. Cosette was raised with morals that wasn't taught to her, but found herself. Being raised as a muggle, she found no problems with lack of magical blood. And she was extremely loyal to friends, to the point where she will risk her own life. Her grandmother didn't understand that though. Cosette thought, "That woman was raised with lack of-"

"Would you like to buy some roses, young lady?" Cosette turned around abruptly, staring at the old women dressed in cheap cloths. The state of those cloths, showed that this women faced money issues. Knowing how it felt like, her heart reached out for this women, and bought all of the roses with no words. Her Russian accent was still obvious, and was learning how to fight it.

Sniffing the roses, Cosette was unaware of the surroundings. Her mind was stuck with the women, wishing that nobody had to live like that.

Mel was dancing (yes, dancing) through the streets of France because she was bored. In her bright red jeans and green and black striped top, she really stuck out. Then she spotted an older girl with her arms full of roses. Mel walked up to her. "Hey," she said. "Want some help carrying those? It's quite an armful."

"I got it," Cosette replied quietly, studying the young girl. It was odd for a young girl to walk up to an adult who was a stranger. Cosette admired the bravery and boldness of the girl, but it could get her in trouble someday. Putting together french words, she managed to get out, "Would you like a few though? I don't need this much." She hoped Grandmother didn't have somebody following her, but Cos wouldn't be surprised if the woman did.

Standing tall and straight, Cosette realized a pureblood didn't speak to little kids on the street. Learning how to be a proper pureblood, even though she wasn't one, was hard.

But oh well, the damage was done. What will it matter if there is a few more cracks?

Mel grinned. "Sure, thanks." She took three from the girl's bundle. "You're not French are you? Your accent sounds Russian." In only slightly halting Russian, she added, "And thank you for the roses. They are beautiful." Returning to French, she asked carefully, "So, where do you go to school?" She wasn't sure if this girl was a witch or not, although something told the young girl she was.

Panicking slightly, Cosette tried to hide all of the Russian accent. "My mother is Russian, and never really got rid of the accent," The brunette lied smoothly in French, glad that she put a long sentence together succesfully. If she kept this up, Cosette will be able to speak fluently in four languages in some time. Cocking her head to the right, she pretended to not understand the girl when she spoke Russian. "What did you say?"

Cosette thought she was doing a good job hiding her history and identity. However, she knew her grandmother will find a fault with it anyways. "I was homeschooled, up until last year when I finished off my schooling." It was odd, having to lie about everything that happened in her life.

Mel cocked her head to the side. "Never heard of that happening. I suppose it's possible though." Mel said no more on the subject, but thought about it. There was something... Off about the story. Maybe it was that her French was just a little too proper, a little too hesitant. Maybe it's because you usually had the accent of where you lived, not who your parents were. But she didn't think the girl was telling the truth.

Mel smiled at her. "That must have been interesting. What's being homeschooled like? And what's your name, by the way? mine is Amélie, but most people call me Mel."

"Well, they do say that everything is possible." Cosette could sense that she didn't believe her, which made Cos realize that she needed to work on her cover up stories. Which was an odd thing, for her to wrap her head around. Cosette could come up with a cover story when it came to life threatening situations, or when she gets caught at pranks back in Durmstrang. But when it came to lying about her past? That skill wasn't there for use.

"You learn more, because there is no distractions," Cosette replied hurriedly, wanting to get off the topic of her accent. "It's Cosette, Cosette Holender." The girl made sure to add the tone of pride in saying her last name, hinting that she was a 'pureblood'.

Mel grinned. "I'll believe that when my brother Alec stops being a fathead," she joked. She did love her brother, no matter what she said, but she really wished he would find something else to do instead of smoke. "Do you have any siblings?"

Mel smiled at the older girl. "It's nice to meet you Cossette." She stuck her hand out before remembering that Cossette didn't have a hand to shake with.she lowered it awkwardly.

"Who's Alec?" Cosette asked, momentarily confused. She heard that name before, but couldn't remember where. After a few more minutes of thinking, the ex-hrabrost remembered.

Iris.

Iris and him were friends, and if she babbled to Alec about the girl she met, Alec might tell Iris and... and...

"I got none," Cosette lied, her tone now completely emotionless. How could this girl bring up so many emotions, with one conversation? She had to leave, before this girl asked her more questions. Cos had a identity to hide, and it had to stay hidden.

Not bothering to say good-bye, Cosette ran off, handing the girl the roses. Maybe her grandmother was right- she wasn't ready for society.

Mel smiled. "He's my brother and he-" Before she could continue, the girl shoved the roses into her arms and ran off. Mel cried out as some of the thorns dug into her arms and chest. She pried them out slowly, one by one, inspecting the blood that welled up from a dozen scratches, some actually quite deep. She looked at the roses, prepared to throw them away, but found that she couldn't throw away such beautiful things. She shrugged, looking at the place in the crowd where the girl disappeared. Cossette was very strange, but Mel decided not to think about it too much. She wandered back towards her house with an armful of roses and a body full of scratches.