In Need of a New Scene

(OOC: Steph said I could clone! It feels so wrong though...)

Armelle was on her way to one of her favourite bars in France. She had left a note for Veronique to meet her here later, the girl was out doing something and Armelle really needed to get out of the house. It was an odd feeling, having nothing to do. While she traveled there had always been something to look for, people to help or at least there would be someone she could entertain herself with. Home just seemed so tame.

With thoughts of having some fun on her mind, Armelle entered Le Rubis. It was quite the difference for the quiet streets outside, quite the crowd. Lots of noise too, Armelle liked it. She made her way up to the counter, “Hey Albert, long time no see!” She smiled at the elderly bartender.

“Ah Miss Armelle, how lovely to see you! A bison sour?”

The man knew her well. Even after so many years he remembered her regular. She nodded and waited for her drink to arrive. Armelle hoped that Veronique would show up soon, she hated drinking alone, but would make the best of it until she found someone to talk to.

((I said I could clone, so there!))

Jacob made his way through the crowded room. He had seen a familiar face and needed to see for sure if it were her. He had been at the bar for about half an hour, he found the loud noise and commotion to be a nice break from the silence of his office where he would try and think of what it was he was getting at in his research papers.

Only days before had Maria and Jacob been discussing inviting Armelle to their wedding and here she was.

"Hey there stranger," he greeted his old friend and for what had been while had also been his girlfriend.

Armelle had just taken a sip or the drink Albert handed her when she heard a familiar voice behind her. She nearly choked on that small sip too. She had not expected to meet anyone she actually knew, especially not an old school friend. She spun around quickly in her seat, red hair flying madly.

"Jacob! How are you old friend?" She cried out while giving him a hug. It never occurred to her that the hug might be awkward for him, she was just so happy to see someone she knew. "Sit down Jake, talk to me. Tell what has been going on all these years I've been gone."

He allowed the embrace and put his own arms around Armelle hugging her close before pulling away. "I'm good," he said a little shyly. It was amazing seeing his friend after all these years, and only days after his fiance and he had been talking about inviting her to their wedding.

"I"m good, have been pretty busy. I'm writing, doing a lot of research on magical theory, have made a few discoveries." He laughed, "don't ask what though, I'd probably bore you to tears." He was unsure of whether to tell Armelle that he was getting married too. Maybe too soon? He decided to wait and see.

"How about you? What have you been up to?"

Armelle let out a small giggle before taking a sip of her drink. What had she been up to? More like what hadn’t she been up to?! The red head quickly launched into the short version of her story.

“Ah well, you remember how crazy about potions I was in school, and how much I looked up to Andre Castel. Well after I graduated from school I decided that making potions wasn’t good enough for me, I wanted to learn more, discover.

So I took off about the world visiting both magical and muggle parts of countries trying to learn and discover as much I could. I actually have made a few discoveries; you may have read about them.
But anyway, while I was out there, being exposed to different cultures I saw lots of impoverished places. I tried to volunteer what time I could with whatever organization needed help.”

Armelle took another sip or her drink, she had only told the short version. The long story would have included lots or details about places she’s been and what she has learned. She was also quite curious about the discoveries that Jake himself had made. They would have to get together at another time to share those things though. Instead for now was strictly "catch up" time. “So have you kept in touch with anyone else from school? Do you know what the others have been up to? What about you and Maria, still together?”

Ah, the epic love story of Jacob and Maria. Armelle remembered her own small part of that story. The relationship that between Jacob and Armelle was special in its own right, but it was also quite the rebound relationship. They realised this, after both kissing someone who was not each other. Yes, Armelle Knew about Jade. No secrets were kept in Beauxbatons after all. It didn’t matter, Jacob got back together with Maria and Armelle had also moved on.

He was impressed, she seemed to have acomplished so much. As for reading her research, Jacob had indeed taken it upon himself to keep up to date on what she had discovered. "It sounds like you've done a lot for yourself, and for others too..." he grinned happy that his friend seemed to have done what she wanted to do.

“So have you kept in touch with anyone else from school? Do you know what the others have been up to?

"Well, yes. Julian has kept in touch, Russel a little bit every now and then. Julian has been doing the music industry pretty big time, made a bit of a name for himself. Has a new fling every other week. Sometimes even more then one. Russel's become an Auror, but you might have already known that. He was a little unsure of how their relationship was these days, but didn't question it.

]What about you and Maria, still together?” And here it was, they had come to it at last.

He nodded, "actually, we're engaged. Due to marry pretty soon actually. April."

Veronique walked into Le Rubis, a place she had never really heard of before. When she was studying heavily to be a Healer, she never really got a chance to go out and enjoy the night life. Nights, for her, were devoted to studying theories, academic journals, and recent medical breakthroughs in both magical and muggle world. In short, Veronique never really had a life.

As she walked in she looked around kind of uncomfortable. Armelle had left a note saying she found this new place and to come and check it out when she could. Veronique hadn't been out in a while so she decided why not. So she put on a black skirt that went to just above her knees, a green lower cut shirt (which brought out her eyes), and a pair of heels. She had left her long dark chocolate brown hair down and wavy.

She walked up to the bar and ordered a pretty strong drink, the bartender Albert gave it to her and she went to find her friend. When she finally spotted Armelle, she saw her being chatted up by a guy already. She chuckled to herself and rolled her eyes, Armelle hadn't been here much before herself. Veronique wish she had that type of magnetism on men. Walking closer she thought she might have recognized the man. No she thought to herself, it can't be, no way.

As she reached them with her drink in hand she spoke over the music, "Well, well, well I never thought I would see you two together," she said teasingly and gave him a small hug, "Just kidding. By the way, congratulations Jacob on the engagement. Pretty much everyone knew it would happen eventually."

Marriage? Hm, Armelle always knew that those two were destined for each other but she never really thought that Maria would end up being the marriage type. Just look at how long it took her to admit her feelings to him. But people changed, none of them were the same people that they were in school.

"Congratulations Jake! Not that this is all that surprising."

Armelle then spotted her best friend and waved her over. It was about time that she got here. Ronnie spent way too much time not relaxing. It was good to get out once in a while.

The woman felt an incredible urge for her face to meet her palm as Veronique brought up the two's romantic past. They had remained friends so it wasn't all that surprising, right? Instead though, she used her hand for the more useful task of waving to Albert for another drink. She had already finished her first one.

Hm, it seemed that Veronique knew about their friend’s engagement already. And taking into account the fact that Ronnie was congratulating him now and Maria and Veronique's past, Armelle assumed that the invites were all ready out. She hoped that they had not known where to send hers, as she had not had a fixed address for quite some time. But still, she could not let the opportunity to razz Jacob pass by her. With a quirked eyebrow Armelle asked,

"So old friend, shall I have to be Veronique's plus one?" her mock serious face faltered near the end of her question into a simple smile.

Congratulations Jake, not that it’s at all surprising. Jacob beamed, glad to hear Armelle’s felicitations.

It really was quite amazing to see not only his old friend Armelle in the popular pub but it was certainly surprising to see a second familiar face walk in off the street.

Well, well, well I never thought I would see you two together, Veronique approached the group. Jacob grinned and lent in to hug her. Just kidding. By the way, congratulations Jacob on the engagement. Pretty much everyone knew it would happen eventually. He smiled at Veronique. “Thanks, someone might have wanted to tell me that when we were still in school though. She certainly kept me on my toes.”

So old friend, shall I have to be Veronique's plus one? Armelle spoke and Jacob winced, hoping that she wasn’t too upset over the fact that they had had trouble tracking her down. He gave her a lopsided smile and produced his wand from out from his sleeve.

With a wave and a few intricate looking pokes and jabs he produced a piece of paper with the details of the wedding day. The thick card of paper was a mix between white and blue, the two tones symbolising their different house colours.

The card was also written in Maria’s delicate hand writing going to show how much Jacob had improved in Transfiguration since the days of school.

“Here you go, I’m sure Veronique has someone else she’d like to invite as a plus one.

Paris was a new scene to Jacques. He hadn't seen much outside Vichy since graduation. Occasionally he popped off to visit his growing half-sister, but, outside of that, he had remained well within reach of his alma mater. He had trouble letting go and moving on, even though his friends had taken different turns and retreated to the outer rims of magical France, each to their own devices. Having grown quite close to Armelle in schooling years and staying in touch through letters, Jacques was pleased to see her when he entered.

Whipping off his traveling cloak, the former Eau flipped it over his arm as he crossed the room, his sandals in his childhood having been traded in for more typical American cowboy boots, the heels of which clunked across the floor as he approached the table three of his elder classmates all inhabited.

"Long time, no see, strangers." Jacques crossed his muscular arms, his ring finger still bare as he had been single the stint he spent in Vichy. Magical blacksmithing had gotten him into quite the workout routine. He hoped he hadn't interrupted something, but he couldn't resist joining the crowd he had physically evaded for quite a few years.

Armelle looked over the invitations, they were done up quiet beautifully. She couldn't wait to plan her own invitations someday, even though that day seemed to be far, far away. "Nice invites Jake, surly something this beautiful was all Maria." She winked at him in order to prove that she wasn't really being rude.

"Long time, no see, strangers."

The young woman's head whipped around, causing her to become slightly dizzy. She was only starting on her third drink and she was already feeling light headed? She was momentarily distracted by the thought before focusing on the man that had just joined their growing group.

"Jackie!" Armelle cried out in greeting before engulfing him into a hug and then kissing him on both cheeks. The boy was fine back in school, but he had definitely grown up. "Being a blacksmith sure has done a lot for you," She commented while taking him in.

She then glanced around the room looking for an empty table, there really was too many people to be standing around up at the bar. Plus, if they went and sat down, it might help her pace her drinking a little bit better. "Look over there you guys," She pointed over to an empty table near the back, "Lets go take a seat."

Tugging down the emerald knit top from where it had begun to ride up her hips, the brunette carefully manoeuvred her way through the multitude of people enjoying a few drinks after a long day’s work.

“Oh, désolée.” Maria murmured as she accidentally trod upon a stranger’s foot. He gave her a grin, surveying her from top to bottom as he did so.

“How about a drink, then?”

She shook her head, apologising and quickly moving away to find her fiancée. Where was he? Her amethyst eyes scanned the bar for his familiar face, and spotted it a few metres away.

“Hey.” Maria leant in to kiss him sweetly, before drawing back, “I got caught up with a few things at home and-” she paused, realising that they were not alone.

“Armelle?” her voice betrayed her surprise as she gazed at the red-headed woman. Her eyes travelled up to meet Veronique and…Jacques?

“C’est incroyable- amazing!” she laughed, immediately reaching out to embrace her old schoolmates warmly.

Veronique laughed when Jacob was talking about his and Maria’s very rollercoaster-like relationship in school. It was true, she did really keep him on his toes, but, Veronique knew that in the end they would end up together thanks to a very informative Potions class. Then again, Maria and Veronique’s relationship wasn’t always the best.

She saw Jacob produce an exact replicate of the copy of the invitation she had at home and she shook her head while smiling. Jacob was always amazing in Transfiguration whereas Veronique had been really good but not that good.

Mere moments afterward, Jacques, another boy from their school came to join them. This was turning into a miniature reunion. Jacques sure did look really good though, his muscles combined with his height sure made him into one fine fellow. Being a blacksmith really suited him. She widened her eyes for a moment not even believing it was him. Then after she snapped back to reality she gave him a hug, “I agree Armelle. Jacques, never change professions,” she laughed.

Before the group went to go find actual seats instead of all standing around a bar she turned to the bartender for a Firewhiskey, then went to join the group.

Then all of a sudden Maria appeared out of nowhere. Veronique should have guessed it since wherever Jacob would be now, Maria would not be far behind. She embraced her schoolmate back and while they were still in the embrace she softly said to her, “Congratulations.”

The excited jump from Armelle was expected and warmly accepted. The boy returned the chaste kisses on both cheeks and laughed slightly at the comment on his profession and affect on his appearance. Feeling Armelle in his arms was no longer the tense way it had been back in school, with the constant expectation of something more. Instead, he felt the warmth of friendship. Veronique and Maria showing up also added to the air of joviality.

The man continued in the direction that Armelle had pointed out, giving his elder, Maria, a small hug on his way over. "Congratulations? Are you two finally getting hitched?" He had always suspected it of Maria and Jacob, but he hadn't seen either of them, especially his old drinking pal, in quite some time. Staying regrettably in Vichy did that to someone. He was pretty much out of the loop until now.

Jacques found his way to the indicated table, away from the bar, and pulled out a wooden chair. The sound of the scraping legs indicated the bar had been in business for quite some time, leaving the man with an urge to inhale the musty air of the atmosphere and take in what he had not yet experienced.

The whole of this place was new to him, and being with a group of his old friends made the reunion of sorts even more entertaining.

Jacob looked around as the group grew, turning into a high-school reunion right before their eyes. He greeted Jacques with a friendly hand shake and once Maria had arrived he greeted his fiance with a quick peck of a kiss on the lips.

"Well this calls for a fresh round of drinks," he said disappearing from the group to gather some fresh drinks, quickly taking note of what his friends were already drinking to make sure he knew what to get, he already knew what Jacques liked and of course Maria...

Returning he passed around the fresh round of drinks to his friends before turning to Maria. "I had no idea that this place was so popular for former Beauxbatons students."

Armelle quickly finished the drink she had in her hand. Jacob was off to get new ones and she never did have enough patience for things like drinking. It was fun but she couldn't be bothered to take her time. This usually meant early nights or early nights spent with someone else. But this night was special; she was with friends she had not seen in a while tonight.

"Neither did I Jake. I've been here a few times a long time ago but have never seen any of you guys. All we're missing for a full reunion of our friends is Russel and Julian. But here's to us anyway," She raised her glass for a toast "To friends, and also to Jake and Maria's engagement. We all knew it would happen."

Jacob smiled and raised his glass also. "You could have told me that some time ago," Jacob gave a sly smile toward Armelle and then let his eyes glance toward Maria where he wrapped his arm around her waist to give her a tight squeeze and a quick kiss on the cheek.

It was true after so long since they had seen each other, a Beaxbatons reunion of the old group was definately in order. Hearing the names of Julian and Russel lifted her spirits, It had been a long time since they had talked, almost five years or so. After Veronique left Beauxbatons she didn't even keep in contact with her best friend Armelle. But, now was not the time for brooding it was time for celebrating.

Jake had ordered a round of drinks for everyone and she took her respective one and raised it up for a toast. Smiling she said, "To Maria and Jacob, I'm sure the wedding will be beautiful."

After she had finished her drink she put it back down on the table. The music that was now playing had a good beat and some dancing was in order. Looking at Armelle then Jacques she grabbed Jacques for the dance floor the motioned for Armelle and the others to join them.

Raising his glass in glee for the two lovebirds, Jacques toasted alongside all his friends he would have thought he would most likely never see again. He turned the glass back, tipping the contents down his throat and finishing with a a sigh of refreshment. How to tell them all about his past few years was a loss for him. There was much he had and hadn't done in the confines of Vichy and anywhere else he had apperated. All in good time though, they would hear about his ventures and troubles, as he was sure they all had had.

Much to his surprise though, Veronique grabbed him and headed towards the dance-floor. He, being quite used to the young woman's habits despite some time apart, joined right in without a second thought. Noticing the gestures she delivered to their friends to join, Jacques nodded to them all too.

"Come on over!" Hopefully none of them had developed into lame partypoopers over the course of graduation, but he really hoped a few of them had loosened up from their days at the Academy as well. He could remember distinctly the days that joining in on the fun was not acceptable for Prefects or particularly studious fellows.

Her cheeks a rosy pink, Maria ducked her head almost shyly as her friends gave their congratulations. We all knew it would happen.

She chuckled, “Really? Even back at school? Well if you had, that would certainly have saved some time.” she remarked amused.

Watching as Jacques began waving frantically towards them; Maria nudged her fiancé towards the dance floor.

“Go on. I’ll join you in a bit. I just need to catch my breath,” she explained with a smile.

Jacob gladly sipped to the toast and laughed as Veronique forced Jacques onto the dance floor. Maria was now nudging him to join though, not being a dancer unless he had a partner with him he decided to sit out.

"No, it's fine. If you want to dance later I'll come but I'm fine sitting and drinking for the time being." Dancing was not really Jacob's forte anyway and did not fancy making a fool of himself, particuarly when he was drinking at the same time.

Armelle raised her glass to the toast, "Maria and Jacob," she cheered before downing the drink in her hand. She really needed to remember to pace herself, which was always something she struggled with. The girl couldn't remember exactly how many drinks she had at that moment. Though that thought didn't really matter once Veronique pulled Jacques up from his seat to dance and her two friends waved her onto the dance floor.

Maria and Jacob seemed content sitting on the sidelines for now though it wasn't overly surprising, if Armelle recalled correctly, Jake wasn't so into dancing back in the Beauxbaton days. "Well you love birds can stay here, I'm going to dance," She informed her friends, words only slightly slurred. It wasn't because she was drunk though, there was no way she was drunk yet.

Seeing as Veronique and Jacques were partnered together at the moment it seemed Armelle was going to have to fly this dance solo. Not that it overly mattered to Armelle; she just loved any chance to show off her moves to the general public. Beginning with the sway of her hips, Armelle began to move her body to the beat of the music. The dress she wore clung to her curves so there was no chance of accidently showing something inappropriate whenever she spun around.

Which was something she was doing at that moment. Unfortunately mid spin a bought of dizziness overcame her and she fell right into Jacques who was a whole lot closer then she had a t first thought. Okay, maybe she was a little drunk then she gave the drinks credit for. The thought made Armelle giggle.

Dancing had been quite the event. He was moving as any male placed in a situation with an attractive female friend would. It was slightly awkward at first, but the two were single so the liberty to let loose and be carefree. Jacques was in close proximity with everyone on the dance floor, but Veronique in particular. Alas, the frivolity of the evening did not come without consequential distractions. It seemed that Jacob and Maria had opted out of joining in on the fun on the floor, but Armelle had chosen an opposite reaction. She had joined them and was rather distracting in her curvaceous mannerisms.

Jacques had been quite the wolf since he left school, both literally and figuratively. He had to mentally correct himself on more than one occasion here, at Le Rubis, that he was dancing with Ronnie rather than the girl that he had so forcefully pushed away. Through his experiences, he had refused to let her be anywhere near him, but the friendship was still there. It was because of that, though that the two could not become anything more than friends. The former Eau was still too dangerous for any committed relationship. It would take some drastic show of affection to contribute to him trying anything with more than one night involved.

At that moment, though, Armelle fell into him. "Whoa," he shifted bumping into Ronnie, but stabilizing himself with space before he even got forceful enough to knock anyone over. "maybe we should get you home." Jacques was willing to take the former Terre back to her apartment or wherever she was staying as long as the objections were harsh and slurred. That diction would allow him to know that she was beyond the capacity to decide for herself if she were to stay or not.

"No, no, I'm fine Jax," She assured her very handsome, very muscular friend. She tried to push away from him; this was a task that she of course failed at because she was indeed quite inebriated. In the end she just gave up and let herself be held by the same arms that pushed her away back in school. Figuratively of course, not like the literal pushing she was doing a second ago. Besides, she had failed at her pushing where he had succeeded. The thought made her giggle. She must really be drunk if she was thinking of such old things. Maybe she had underestimated the drink making skills of Albert.

"Okay, lead the way to home" she gave in to Jacques; though she didn't want her inability to hold tonight’s liquor to ruin her friends' fun. "You stay and have fun" She said in slurred words to her best friend, "And don't let those two start acting married and old"

"Well, they look like they're having fun." The witch murmured, watched with veiled amusement at the antics of the trio. Casually shrugging off her coat to reveal a low-cut top that hinted at the small curves of the brunette (although not nearly matching Armelle’s) and played to her glittering amethyst eyes, Maria slipped off her seat and moved towards her fiancée.

“Now that I’ve gotten my breath back, are you sure I couldn’t convince you to dance?” she enquired sweetly as she gazed at Jacob beneath her dark lashes.

“I would hate to dance alone.”

There was a sort of tug-o-war match going on between the werewolf and the woman he was attempting to support. Armelle, at first, did not want to allow Jacques to drag her home, but he was going to win out even if he had to force her to apperate with him. She was in no state to be popping around France by herself and Jacques wouldn't let her. Alas, when Armelle finally did give in, he realized that he had no idea where she lived and asking her now may lead them both into some dark alley or other obscure place the intoxicated woman may have a fancy to visit.

"Ok, back to my place then." Jacques winced at the idea, but he did not know where else to take her. Only on one other occasion had Armelle been to the ruined shack he lived in and it had been against the former Eau's wishes. Following him was a dirty trick, but it had happened. He gave an apologetic smile to Veronique at that moment, nodding to signal that things would be fine and he would be able to manage their drunk friend. Once outside, the former Eau decided transport was going to be quite difficult.

Swinging Armelle over his shoulder, the tall man looked around to make sure there were no cling-on figures other than the former Terre on his shoulder. Since they had successfully escaped the larger crowds, Jacques magically whisked them away to Nice where he could allow her to sober up. Somewhere in that house there was a coffee maker.