ALICE AMELIE ROUSSEAU______________________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION------------------------------------------------------------
FULL NAME: Alice Amelie Rousseau
AGE&BIRTHDAY&SIGNS: Twenty | July 8th 2007
Sun Sign
Cancer
Element: Water
Quality: Cardinal
Ruling House: Fourth
Ruling Planet: The Moon
Chinese Sign
Pig
Fixed Season: Winter
Fixed Direction: North
Fixe Element: Water
Associated Sun Sign: Scorpio
Mayan Sign
Deer
Mayan Name: Manik
Direction: West
Qualities: Cooperative and Nomadic
Numerology
Six
Ruling Planet: Venus
Colour: Blue
Gemstone: Emerald
Qualities: Romantic and Nurturing
SPECIES: Human
BLOOD TYPE: Pureblood
ALLEGIENCES: Neutral
The Rousseau Family
The Roux Family
The Anderson Family
The Krum Family
The Bulgarian Ministry of Magic
The French Ministry of Magic
The International-Foreign Relations Office
The British Ministry of Magic
The French National Quidditch Team
The French National Football Team
Athlétic Club Arles-Avignon
The Bulgarian National Quidditch Team
The Bulgarian National Football Team
EDUCATION:
Première école de Avignon – Ages 5-11
Beauxbatons Academy of Magic – Ages 11-18
The London University of Magic – 18-22
EXAM RESULTS:
N.E.W.T RESULTS:
Core Classes:
Astronomy – Exceeds Expectations
Charms – Outstanding
Defence Against the Dark Arts – Outstanding
Herbology – Exceeds Expectations
History of Magic – Outstanding
Potions – Exceeds Expectations
Transfiguration – Outstanding
Electives:
Ancient Runes, Study of – Exceeds Expectations
Arithmancy – Exceeds Expectations
Care of Magical Creatures – Outstanding
Divination – Exceeds Expectations
OCCUPATION: Assistant to the French Wizarding Ambassador
WAND&WAND TRAITS:
Wood
Apple
- Gentle,
- Outdoorsy,
- Benefits Herbology,
- Benefits Care of Magical Creatures,
- Easily overwhelmed.
Almond
- Associated with wisdom,
- Associated with prosperity,
- Associated with healing
- Found with those who are quite driven.
Mango
- Wielders highly value family.
- Gives an excellent boost to Healing.
- Sputters at Care of Magical Creatures.
Core
Mooncalf Blood
- All blood is harvested from natural deaths,
- Gives a powerful boost to Charms,
- Gives a powerful boost to Herbology,
- Has leanings towards the Light,
- Wielders tend to be proficient in Occlumency,
- Wielders place a great stock in the value of family.
Selkie Skin
- Selkie wands bond to those who value justice,
- Selkie wands also bond to those who value fairness,
- Wielders often tend to be Aurors,
- Gives a powerful boost to Transfiguration above all.
Size&Flexibility
Thirteen and a half inches, springy.
------------------------------------------------------------
APPEARANCE
------------------------------------------------------------
BODY DESCRIPTION:
Alice has grown into a highly striking woman, akin to her sister in that respect, with all the trappings that go with it. Her ashen skin is arguably the most particularly notable feature about her but regardless of the elusive beauty it has, it still makes her appear rather ill looking or, even, ironically like death. However, thanks to the near constant flush of her cheeks, reflecting her emotions, she appears less sickly and more as though she had just been out for a run – though it does come from a rather over-active capillaries. Nevertheless, her snowy skin has been a constant for her, her last tie, perhaps, to her old family.
The frame that Alice has is ectomorphic, bearing her with light bones and rather weak muscles. Her shoulders are small and narrow, stemming from a long, swan-like neck. Her limbs are long, leaving her with a rather short torso and because of her slightness she has found herself with very little overall body mass. However, due to her penchant for healthy eating and her thorough enjoyment of all forms of exercise, Alice has not suffered as a result.
Her facial shape is incredibly rounded, almost endearingly so. She has a wide, smooth forehead and large, dimpled cheeks that are always a sweet shade of red. Her nose is long and thin, spreading into an almost arrow-head point at the end. Her eyes are small and decorated with long, fluttering eyelashes. The colour of her irises are most striking – a broad, dark royal blue that is piercing yet nigh constantly filled with humour and light. Other than her little hears and long, golden blonde tresses, that is it for Alice’s physique – a rather childishly pretty yet still arresting woman.
CLOTHING DESCRIPTION:
As a child, Alice was easy to cloth despite however much her preferences irked her mother. The little girl always favoured track trousers and t-shirts and would rarely be seen in anything else unless of course there was some sort of function going on. However, once she settled into Avignon with her adoptive family she found that in the easy sunshine of the French south it was far too warm to lollop around in the woolly trousers. So, she became a fan of dresses and brightly coloured shorts and pretty shirts – an influence that ultimately came from her elder adoptive sister.
As Alice got older she began to adopt her own sense of style which proved very feminine and very well suited to her. She has a penchant for what some would call the typical girlie-girl attire. She adores light, bright colours and avoids sober, stoic fabrics and hues like the plague, allowing through the former for her natural vivacity to shine through. Amongst the other Ministries of Europe she is known affectionately as the French Kaleidoscope and to those unfamiliar with her, it soon becomes very clear once they meet exactly why she’s called that. Against a backdrop of black, white and grey she is certainly a breath of unconventional fresh air.
During winter, Alice finds it especially cold as she is no longer used to those climbs and as a result she seems to live in layers of thick jumpers and woolly hats, scarves and gloves. She becomes a bundled up bit of cloth and somewhere underneath is her body but for all her friends know she could just be made of wool. Alice’s extensive sock collection also makes a dramatic entrance during winter and with it the jeans that she usually tries to avoid wearing but, lest she get freezing legs, she has to make do with. Regardless, her clothes remain bright and colourful as well as dainty and, well, very her.
During summer, however, Alice comes into her element and what could be classed as her ‘real’ wardrobe gets exhibited. She is a skirt and dress girl and never seems to forget that, either. She has more of these than she has anything else and is always prancing around in pretty, flowing pieces which she decorates with an immense amount of jewellery which is not exactly particularly expensive but it is certainly quite quirky and unique. Shoes are a massive factor – one we shan’t be going into – and let’s not even talk about the cardigans because they are plentiful and endearing.
She’s a ‘proper’ girl, this one.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES:
Whilst still having the ‘striking’ element of the Anderson genes, there isn’t much about Alice which distinguishes her from anyone else who is short, pale and blonde. Despite this, however, she is not totally unblemished and has her trophies from serving her time with her birth family which is irrevocably interlinked with the Krums; a fact which was always going to bring hurt to her.
When she was attacked by the Muggles, Alice was not spared any brutality because of her age or her gender. In fact, it seemed only to make them more feverish in their desire to bring harm to her. Her wounds were taken care of by the Healers that eventually came to save her life but the scars did not abate with any great speed and seemed to serve as a reminder to all who looked upon her that she was nothing more than disturbed, damaged and abandoned goods.
What proved that the event during her childhood actually happened has long since been either healed up with salve or covered with magic. However there is one scar which Alice can always feel on her skin regardless of the amount of healing salve she applies to try and calm it down and the glamours she places over it to keep it hidden. Around her neck and jaw, deep abrasions made by finger nails can be found and even with the glamour charms and the salve she still keeps her hair long as one last guard against it ever being seen.
More positively, Alice has quite a few ear piercings which she has gathered over the years. Those, which sparkle beneath her hair are her last and only real distinguishing feature, adding to her façade.
PLAY BY: Candice Accola
------------------------------------------------------------
PERSONALITY
------------------------------------------------------------
TRAITS:
001. Broody,
002. Cooperative,
003. Creative,
004. Devoted,
005. Domestic,
006. Gentle,
007. Good Humoured,
008. Good Memory,
009. Hard-Working,
010. Indulgent,
011. Intelligent,
012. Kind,
013. Magnanimous,
014. Maternal,
015. Motivated,
016. Nurturing,
017. Optimistic,
018. Patriotic,
019. Peaceful,
020. Perfectionist,
021. Playful,
022. Possessive,
023. Romantic,
024. Sensitive,
025. Sentimental,
026. Strong-Willed,
027. Studious,
028. Tenacious,
029. Thrifty,
030. Traditional.
LIKES & DISLIKES:
001. Animals,
002. Cakes,
003. Cooking,
004. Dancing,
005. Early mornings,
006. Folk music,
007. Gardening,
008. Gigs,
009. Movies,
010. Reading,
011. Rock climbing,
012. Sports,
013. Sunshine,
014. Travelling,
015. Video games.
016. Cats,
017. Cities,
018. Coffee,
019. Conflict,
020. Crowds,
021. Dull Colours,
022. Extremism,
023. Injustice,
024. Intolerance,
025. Meat,
026. Mistreatment,
027. Muggles,
028. Rainy days,
029. Wine,
030. Winter.
GOALS:
001. Become a Primary School teacher,
002. Travel the world,
003. Take over her mother’s café,
004. Have a large family,
005. Get a dog,
006. Have a veggie plot,
007. Live by the sea,
008. Learn how to drive,
009. Learn two more languages,
010. Find her old book of fairy tales.
HABITS & QUIRKS:
001. Twirls her hair around her fingers,
002. Plays with her necklaces,
003. Twiddles her rings,
004. Wriggles her nose in concentration,
005. Fidgety,
006. Insatiable grin,
007. Bobs along to any music playing whether she knows the song or not,
008. Cracks her knuckles,
009. Bites her quills,
010. Sneezes feathers (see above for reason),
BOGGART: Separation from those that she loves.
PATRONUS: Eating cookies with Paul-Henri.
DEMENTOR: December 24th 2014
VERITASERUM: She is the deceased daughter of Richard and Vivian Anderson, sister of Mira.
MIRROR OF ERISED: Alice desires success primarily but, whether she realises it or not, it is actually secondary to her desire for a home by the sea and a family.
PERSONALITY:
Alice is as much of an Anderson as she was the day she was born. Growing up in a different environment has adjusted her temperament but like her sister she is a woman of many halves, quarters and eighths. She is one thing yet at the same time, she is another. This is a woman who harbours a very dangerous secret. Thus, she wears a starkly different persona to the one she would have had she lived her life unmolested by ambitious men. Stefan’s Krum treachery has changed Alice. Whilst she can still be childlike, playful and endearing there is a very serious, cautious and thorough head on her shoulders. She does not think herself a person whom another could take advantage and, certainly, believes herself to be the best person to live her life the way she does. Despite the picturesque way it has gone on from the age of eight, Alice wouldn’t have wished her start on anyone else. That’s the reason why she’s the way she is: it’s as much to protect herself as it is to forget. She’s a good person, ultimately. But bad things always do happen to good people.
------------------------------------------------------------
FAMILY & BACKGROUND
------------------------------------------------------------
FATHER:
Richard Anderson | b. 1973 | Retired Quidditch Commentator | Death Eater sympathiser
MOTHER:
Vivian Anderson née Williams | b. 1975 | Socialite-Housewife | Death Eater sympathiser
SISTER:
Mira Anderson | b. 2005 | Socialite | Death Eater
en. Elijah Krum | b. 2005 | Ex-Deputy Minister for Magic | Order of the Phoenix member
- Alice Krum | b. 2026
GRANDPARENTS:
Edward Anderson | b. 1952 | d. 2020 | Ex-Committee Member of the Nimbus Racing Broom Company | Neutral
Olivia Anderson née Prophet | b. 1955 | d. 2020 | Socialite
James Williams | b. 1950 | d. 2020 | Ex-Magical Historian
Helen Williams née Morrison | b. 1953 | d. 2021 | Ex-Florist
MATERNAL EXTENDED FAMILY:
Ella Henderson née Williams | b. 1980 | Socialite
m. Arthur Henderson | b. 1977 | Stockbroker
- Henry Henderson | b. 2003 | Quidditch Keeper for the Tutshill Tornadoes
- Noah Henderson | b. 2005 | Apprentice Stockbroker
- Allison Henderson | b. 2006 | Sculptress, Socialite
PATERNAL EXTENDED FAMILY:
John Anderson | b. 1974 | d. 2020 | Former Architect
Georgia Anderson née Truman | b. 1975 | d. 2020 | Former Painter
- Elizabeth Anderson | b. 1998 | Socialite
- Jasper Anderson | b. 2000 | Stockbroker
- James Anderson | b. 2001 | Architect
ADOPTIVE FATHER: Paul-Henri Rousseau | b. 1980 | French Ministerial Ambassador
ADOPTIVE MOTHER: Marie-Elise Rousseau née Roux | b. 1980 | Café Incroyable Owner
ADOPTIVE SIBLINGS:
Rémy Rousseau | b. 2000 | Café Incroyable Manager
m. Cécile-Anais Rousseau née Dubois | b. 2000 | Florist
- Édouard Rousseau | b. 2022
- Antoine Rousseau | b. 2023
- Gérard Rousseau | b. 2025
- Aurélie Rousseau | b. 2027
- Andrée Rousseau | b. 2027
Jean-Jacques Rousseau | b. 2002 | Football Commentator
m. Sabine Rousseau née Larue | b. 2003 | Physiotherapist
- Grégoire-Henri Rousseau | b. 2024
- Hugues-François Rousseau | b. 2025
- Stéphanie-Luce Rousseau | b. 2027
Marianne Carlier née Rousseau | b. 2006 | Baker
en. Stephan Carlier | b. 2005 | Entrepreneur
ADOPTIVE GRANDPARENTS:
Gaston Rousseau | b. 1950 | Former Politician
Colette Rousseau née Martin | b. 1950 | Former Horse Trailer
Didier Roux | b. 1950 | Classics Historian
Édith Roux née Dumas | b. 1950 | French Teacher
NATIONALITY: French, formerly Bulgarian
HOME TOWN: Sofia, Sofia-Capital, Bulgaria
CHILDHOOD TOWN: Avignon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
CURRENT RESIDENCE: Chelsea, London, England.
FINANCIAL STATUS: Solvent with two years of income in her bank.
SOCIAL STATUS: Upper-Middle Class
------------------------------------------------------------
CHARACTER HISTORY
------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Birth and Early Years:
The House of Anderson rose to prominence at the turn between the end of the Second Bulgarian Empire and the annex of Bulgaria by the Ottoman Empire. The nouveau-Imperial rule was a power shift that the family just barely survived, adapting and changing to the whim of the new rulers who took their sons for the Sultan’s whilst their women remained to witness a cultural suppression like no other. Their past lives were ones that they had to keep alive underground with an unrivalled resolve that could and would come to threaten every obstacle that would dare to partition their happiness. It is this resolve which has brought the House of Anderson to safety for centuries and it is this very resolve and versatility which has allowed Alice Anderson to survive, also.
It was into wealth and status that Alice Amelie Anderson was born during a late summer evening whilst the crickets chirped and the sound of the fountains outside ran merrily, dancing for the peering moon lolloping in the sky. She was swathed up after hours of painful labour and passed off, as was the custom, to an all-too obliging wet nurse who would take care of all of the early needs of the young girl. It was a disappointment, again. There was to be no son, it appeared. The first daughter had been a minor setback and a failure that would be ignored provided that there would be more sons. An intervening few years of miscarriages and stillbirths barely carried to term had produced a girl each time – or so the Healers had claimed – and after all of that all he got was a girl.
Girls had their merits, too, of course. Alice’s place was undisputed in the household and she soon made her presence known to all of the servants attending to the goings on around the manor. In many ways, Alice came to undermine her sister as Mira was still quite young and the attention she had previously demanded was diverted to Alice which created a rift before a relationship could even be formed, really. However, the pleasure that those who met Alice took in the young girl was something that the girls’ father took to with great joy and immediately began to shop around for someone for her to marry, setting aside money for the time when a dowry would be required.
Mira and Alice were brought up in Sofia – the capital and largest city in Bulgaria. Specifically, they lived and grew up on the outskirts. They romped about the grounds together, finding an easier ground as they got a bit older. However, once Mira became betrothed, everything changed quite rapidly. Elijah Krum was the son of the patriarch of the House of Krum. The young man was the heir and the two girls both knew it. That was why, to Alice’s surprise and delight, when Elijah found favour in her she eagerly took up his offer of friendship and soon the pair were inseparable quite in the way that their families had assumed Mira and Elijah would be but ultimately weren’t. It became clear quite quickly with whom the heir’s favour rested and talks were entered into that set about forging a new marriage alliance – one which would be mutually rewarding for both houses as love in their society was a hard found thing. At Christmas, they would announce it, it was decided.
That particular December was the coldest that the mountains deigned to release. In living memory there had never been a winter so brutal and unforgiving. The children were kept indoors and firewood was sourced from wherever they could find it in order to keep the bedrooms and sitting rooms warm. However, mischief would always take the children outdoors and it would be to their peril. Amongst the dinner celebrations, the young pair stole away outside during a pause in the harsh snow storm. Bounding about before the woods, Alice and Elijah showed off their magic to each other and, also, to the Muggles waiting there, watching from behind the thicket of trees.
In the early hours of December 24th 2014, Alice Amelie Anderson was pronounced dead. Preparations were begun immediately to ensure the burial would be quick and over with as soon as possible. It became abundantly clear that there was only one option left for the two families and that was to marry Mira to Elijah but, also, to keep Mira as far away from Muggles and everything to do with them as possible. Nothing more was to be said. Everything would be forgotten and there would be no more games. But of course, the attack changed everything.
When Alice was taken to the mortician to be prepared for burial, a discovery was made amongst the horrific injuries that she had incurred. She was alive. The Muggles had been thorough, as the executer of the crime had detailed, and there was little left of the girl that could identify her as her parent’s daughter. Amidst the blood and the dirt, the abrasions and the broken bones, Alice was alive and thus it became clear that she was indeed still an Anderson; a fighter.
Determined to ensure that she lived, the mortician did not think twice about taking her to hospital. However, before he could even so much as offer where her parents could be found, he was shoved out of the emergency room and the little girl’s treatment began. His work called, as it always did, and eventually he had to leave. She had a chance for life and he understood better than most that the Pureblood way of life was not one many preferred. He had made his choice for her, whether it was right for him to do so or not, and now he just hoped that she’d survive.
Alice’s injuries could not be treated in the infirmary the hospital had. During the night she was flown into France where the best paediatric doctors worked over her, setting bones and slowly but surely knitting her back together again. It was there in Paris that she found herself when she woke up to the smiling face of a kindly nurse who, regrettably, only spoke French. However, the little girl did not lose her desire to learn during the attack and so explained as best she could that she did not speak French but would care to learn.
Rehabilitation was a long, slow process and Alice had to learn and relearn things that should have come easily to her. Frustration set in quite quickly and the doctors understood that the little girl, whose appetite for adventure and play was so unlike any that they’d encountered before, needed to be amongst other children and so Alice was found a foster family that understood her needs. But, as is the way with these things, the placement didn’t last long and Alice found herself bouncing from home to home and back again until she was back in hospital with a chest infection – unrelated but it seemed to coincide all the same.
It was possibly a miracle that the late night wandering whilst the dew was falling actually gave her that infection – though of course you wouldn’t want to imagine it that way but it was, in fact, a miracle. For, whilst she was nursing her ills there was a visit by the Minister and many of his attendants and it was while the flowers were being put around for the children that Alice met Paul-Henri Rousseau …
“Salut.”
A shadow fell over the teal bedclothes, blocking out the bright sunshine drifting in through the wide panes of glass opposing the bed. A bright azure gaze lifted from the mauve ribbon tied about the neck of the toy rabbit slouched in the arms to whom the eyes belonged to and they set themselves down on a man who looked the part of the other people who had composed the retinue behind the Minister.
Respectfully, the little girl sat herself up a little more in her bed, lifting herself off of the pillows. Her rabbit slid from her arms to sit by her leg and she inclined her head awkwardly, returning her eyes to the sheets before picking her gaze up, glancing at the man up through her long lashes. A half-smile peeked at the corner of his lips and he took his arms out from behind his back, gesturing to the space at the foot of the bed where her feet did not quite reach.
“May I, mademoiselle?”
Alice nodded briefly and despite the lack of necessity in her doing so she lifted her legs away anyway, crossing them under the covers. She lifted her rabbit up and set him in her lap, her fingers clinging to his round, soft tummy as she eyed the man before her very carefully. Her hair was a mess about her, her skin pasty and not as prettily porcelain as she had been told it was by the nice nurse called Maggie. She was too ill to join the party.
“My name is Paul,” the man introduced, holding out his hand. “What is your name?”
“Alice, monsieur.” The little girl stuttered, sliding her hand into his palm, the size of which could have swallowed her little fist a dozen times over. Regardless, she shook his hand firmly and he smiled brightly at her, the expression lighting up what Alice perceived to be very sad eyes – like the eyes that her last foster mother had worn when she had to go back to hospital.
“Do you see the mademoiselle out there, Alice?” Paul asked, pointing to the woman that Alice could just see through the oddly angled blinds covering the window that saw into the hallway. Alice nodded.
“I would like to ask her to marry me, Alice. Do you think she will say yes?” He added.
Alice frowned a little bit. “Well, are you nice?” She asked. “If you’re not nice then I don’t think she will.”
The little blonde is an authority on these things, you know.
Paul inclined his head thoughtfully, nodding briefly as an ‘ah’ escaped his lips. He brought his hand to his chin, rubbing the greying stubble growing there, and looked briefly out at the mademoiselle just as she disappeared with another man.
“Do you think I should ask her, Alice?”
“My last mother was married to a mean man.” Alice continued, expressing her point. “You seem nice. Maybe you should.”
“Your last mother?” Paul’s eyebrows knitted together confusedly, forgetting his marital dilemma for the moment.
Alice nodded. “Yes. She is number … uh…” She looked down at her hands, stretching out her little fingers before holding up both, showing him seven digits.
“Sept!” Paul spluttered. “And how old are you, mademoiselle?”
Alice added another digit and Paul sat back a little, setting his hand down on the bed to support himself.
“Huit!” Alice vocalised with a smile. “Nearly. In six sleeps’ time.”
“Do you know what you’re getting for your birthday?” Paul asked, sobering himself from his shock.
“Another family,” Alice informed him brightly. “Nurse Helene did not like my last mother. I am going to have a new one. Not for long, though. Doctor Simeon said …” Alice frowned a little bit.
“That visiting hours are over.”
A new voice joined the fray and the two new friends looked up to see the very doctor stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets.
“Monsieur Rousseau – the Minister is ready to leave.”
Paul nodded and sighed, getting to his feet. He turned back before electing to go just long enough to shake Alice’s hand once more, wishing her a good day. Then, he left.
Paul-Henri Rousseau was almost pitifully in love with Marie-Elise Roux, the daughter of the Minister for Magic. The fiancée of the Deputy Minister, Marie-Elise was nigh completely untouchable. Had it not been for her natural capacity for kindness and generosity, Paul-Henri was almost convinced he would have never entertained the idea of loving her. After sharing pastries with her that her fiancé had scorned her for purchasing from the little bakery that Paul-Henri spent his mornings in, he found himself looking out for her in the bakery and purposely bumping into her in the corridors of the Ministry just so that he could help her pick up her things. He wanted to marry her – of this he was sure. But an August wedding was on the cards for the engaged couple and Paul-Henri could see himself heartbroken at the end of it.
Why he found himself asking a child for advice was something he kicked himself later for whilst he was counting sheep. But what he found that upset him most was the idea that she had, in her eight short years, already had seven homes. Seven sets of parents. Never mind his love life. That little girl didn’t have a place she could call home except from possibly that hospital bed. All she seemed to have to her name was that rabbit. Thus, another plan rapidly formed in Paul-Henri’s mind, one that abandoned Marie-Elise in favour for a much more honourable endeavour.
“How do you adopt, toubib? How do you adopt one of your inmates?”
Doctor Simeon looked up from the file open on his desk, arching an eyebrow at the government official before him. Paul-Henri did not look as though sleep had been kind to him. Rather, it looked as if the lady slumber had been elusive and unforgiving of him. However, monsieur Rousseau had not forgotten the need to appear presentable and seemed caught between home and work, slumber and true wakefulness. Thus, when the good doctor took a look at him, he found himself doubting that the government man was serious.
“I am sorry, monsieur; whatever do you mean?”
Paul-Henri swallowed his irritation. “Alice.” He ground out. “How do I adopt Alice?”
Doctor Simeon chuckled humourlessly. “I do not think you are qualified to undertake such a decision.”
“Excuse me?” Paul-Henri spat. “I can give her a home. A name. A life for herself. I can ensure her future. Can you tell me you can do the same by shoving her into a home with people who don’t even care about her?”
Doctor Simeon had the grace to blanch a little bit and he closed his file. His hands found his hips but before he could articulate a response, a new file was slapped down onto the table. With the sheer volume of homeless children that they dealt with, the Ministry had extended a privilege to that hospital quite unlike any other. They could find homes for the children they cared for.
“Helene,” Simeon sighed, glancing at the redhead beside him. “It is not enough to give Alice a home and a name and a life and a future. She needs to be in delicate hands. Hands that will love her. Not ones which will ensure things and give her leave to call herself by someone else’s name. She needs a father. I will not apologise for my reservations.”
“Monsieur Rousseau can do that, Simeon.” Helene insisted, looking to the very man whose integrity they were questioning.
Simeon’s lips pressed into a thin line.
“I want her to choose. Spend a few weeks with her. Please. I do not want you to let her down.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Paul swore.
Simeon sighed. “We’ll release her into your care. You’ve had children before haven’t you, Monsieur Rousseau?”
Paul blanched but nodded nonetheless. Helene patted his arm and expressed her desire to go and pack up Alice before taking her leave.
“I wasn’t driving.” Paul insisted, looking up at Simeon once Helene had gone. “I wasn’t even there. Why do you still blame me, after all these years?”
“Because you should have been there. I wouldn’t have lost my sister.”
-----
“So, what do little girls like to eat for dinner?”
Paul looked up from the fridge and glanced over at Alice who, clad in a new pair of pyjamas which they had gone out to buy especially that morning. They were green, because Alice had explained that green was the best colour, and on them there were large white dots because, again, she had articulated exactly why dots were the best thing – behind flowers but only just and it just simply wouldn’t be logical to put flowers on green ‘jammies: you wouldn’t see the stalks.
“I don’t know,” Alice paused for thought. “But I like cookies.”
Paul chuckled. “Cookies, eh? What about breakfast?”
“Crepes!” Alice exclaimed brightly. “Sandwiches for lunch.”
“And cookies for dinner.” Paul finished with a chuckle. “Are you sure you get all of your major food groups there, kiddo?”
Alice frowned. “Cookies are food.”
“What about vegetables, though?” Paul pressed, closing the fridge and moving to the cupboard where he knew he had a packet of cookies. There was no other food besides crepe mixture and he was sure she didn’t want to start on that too early. Bizarrely enough, cookies would have to do.
“I like them,” Alice informed Paul as he lifted her off of the counter. “When can we have some?”
“We can go to the market tomorrow if you like,” Paul smiled, handing over the cookies.
“Thanks.” She smiled back. “Can we get fruit too?”
“Whatever you like,” Paul replied, following after Alice as she padded into the living room of his flat.
“Then we can go and see your girlfriend?” Alice added.
“She’s not my girlfriend, Allie.” Paul sighed, flopping down on the couch beside her.
Alice offered up a cookie to him. “But you’re nice. She has to like you back.”
For Paul-Henri and Alice, life was terribly simple and it was not plague by any great difficulty. With her new father, Alice flourished and everyone at the hospital noticed as much when she returned a few weeks after the adoption was finalised in order for them to check her chest. It was agreed between them that she would go to school in the autumn and he would return to work fully. Until then, however, they planned on visiting his parents in Avignon and the summer was to be sent there, wandering about the coast. But Alice wouldn’t let Paul-Henri forget Marie-Elise. He didn’t help himself, either. He couldn’t think about anyone else outside of the little home he’d made for himself and Alice. But with the wedding fast approaching, surely there was no chance.
“You know, you could go to the wedding.”
Paul choked on his dessert. “What?” He spluttered, dropping his spoon. “What do you mean?”
“You could go to the wedding and tell Marie-Elise that you love her.”
“I could if I had a death wish,” Paul conceded, putting down his dessert.
“No. You love her. You have to tell her,” Alice insisted, dumping her dessert in his bowl, setting down her own before picking up the one now full to bursting.
“Hungry?”
“Don’t change the subject. You need to tell her otherwise you’ll never forgive yourself.”
Paul-Henri was sacked that summer. That autumn, he and Marie-Elise go married and moved to Avignon, buying a renovated farm house not far from where his parents were living. Alice thrived on family life, joining the local school and helping out her parents as much as her youth could allow. Marie-Elise bought and set up what would eventually come to be the Café Incroyable and life for the longest time returned to perfect simplicity.
Not long after Alice turned nine, the following summer, Marie-Elise and Paul-Henri adopted three further children. Then, Alice truly was settled amongst her siblings and one by one they all began to go off to Beauxbatons, their magic flourishing under the gentle care of their parents. All memories of what she recalled to be a form of a past life were supressed and replaced with what she cared to remember. Thus, when it came for her to join the magical world she did so as Alice Amelie Rousseau, Alice Amelie Anderson being left behind.
Beauxbatons Academy for Magic:
The last of her siblings to go to Beauxbatons, Alice joined the prestigious magical school in the autumn of 2018. It was to be a chilly but picturesque winter and Alice entered the same dorm room as her elder sister, Marianne, who had congregated in there with friends she had made in the early days of her arriving at the school. It was a large room with a glass ceiling so that the girls could look at the stars. It was decorated with silver and pale blue and double poster beds made up the majority of the furniture as well as large wardrobes, desks and arm chairs by a roaring fireplace. The cast of girls changed a little every year but Marianne remained until it was time for her to graduate. From her fifth year onwards, Alice was First Girl of the dorm and had to look after everyone inside. Eventually, when she reached her sixth year, she also became a Prefect and completed those duties as well as those of First Girl throughout her remaining two years.
Always eager to learn, Alice fitted in immensely well with the other studious girls at Beauxbatons. The young woman was highly mature for her age and enjoyed, as a result, residing with some of the elder students during her leisure time. As such, when she came to her seventh year she didn’t have as many friends as those who she had befriended were all older than her. Ultimately though that didn’t matter as, wrapped up in her N.E.W.T revision she didn’t find there was much time left to worry after socialising anyway. Alice was determined to get the best grades possible because she wanted as many opportunities available to her as possible. Alice was determined that she would do well in life regardless of the cost and in her seventh year, it was her social life which suffered.
Throughout her time at Beauxbatons, Alice wrote consistently to home, relaying what had happened in letters to her father who, with the same clockwork nature, wrote back equally as frequently. Her mother’s letters were just as detailed and informative and Alice would spend hours painstakingly attempting to recall what it was she had done in order to assure her parents she was enjoying herself. It wasn’t until she’d left Beauxbatons that it became clear to her that her siblings only ever wrote home to inform their worried parents that they were still alive. Nevertheless, Alice continued to write home. However nice Beauxbatons was, she needed the crutch of Paul-Henri and Marie-Elise.
During her sixth year, Alice had her first boyfriend. Peter Albertsson was from Sweden, formerly of Durmstrang Institute. He transferred to Beauxbatons in September of the year before and by the following year found himself brandishing his Prefect’s badge along with Alice. The two did their rounds together on Thursday evenings. During those hours they spoke about anything and everyone – the sublime and the ridiculous. Eventually, through Peter Alice had their first kiss and though she recalls that it was somewhat slimy and not too enjoyable, she did find that she wanted to give it another go and thus the two became boyfriend and girlfriend in that roundabout way that teenagers do. In all truth, also, Alice couldn’t have been happier.
In terms of her studies, Alice excelled but she lacked any natural talent, meaning that her excellence came from extensive and continuous hard work. She made her home in the library and the Herbology greenhouses and in either of these places, her friends could always find her, tending to the plants or perusing the shelves. It was in the library, also, that she and Peter met up most often. However, there was no illicit coupling in the back of the library. Rather, they studied much to Peter’s frustration and Alice’s eager pleasure. She adored poring over old volumes and tomes. Her other half didn’t as much but that tide turned when N.E.W.Ts approached and he became more in depth in his studies than she did.
Towards the end of her schooling, Alice became restless and eager for change. At the same time, her father became part of the French Ministry again but this time he did so as an Ambassador. In the summer after she graduated, he was due to move to Britain and exercise his role as Ambassador within the English Ministry, negotiating terms of agreement between the two countries. The idea of experiencing a new country was highly appealing to Alice and she entered into an agreement with the Ministry, also, which had her take on a role as her father’s secretary in the hope that she would eventually succeed him in his ambassadorial role after he retired.
As Alice began to succeed in terms of career and, inevitably, in her studies, the relationship between herself and Peter failed but it was through no genuine fault of her own. Peter found her childlike disposition no longer amusing to him. Indeed, instead he found one of Alice’s own roommates far more diverting. Needless to say, by the end of the year they were no longer and Alice graduated with enviable N.E.W.T scores, getting ready to join her father in French politics.
Adulthood:
After graduating from Beauxbatons, Alice followed her father to London where the pair gathered in the ambassadorial embassy. That same summer, Alice enrolled in the local university that catered for magical endeavours. There she began doing the preliminary studies that would aid her in the September when she was due to begin a Charms and Magical Law degree. Throughout that she still maintained her position as an aid to her father and has done so terrifically well, balancing her studies accordingly.
However, the introduction of the Marriage Law changed the easy relationship between the French and English ministries. Along with that, the further meddling of the government in Hogwarts business made tensions rise between the two ministries. In January, 2027, Paul-Henri retired, too, but Alice stayed on, aiding the new ambassador in the hope that her experience – whilst not enough to gain the job – could help soothe tensions. It didn’t help, her presence, but she certainly feels at home in Britain now. But, she needs a reason to stay. She has yet to find one.
------------------------------------------------------------
BEHIND THE CHARACTER
------------------------------------------------------------
ALSO KNOWN AS: Amy
RP EXPERIENCE: Five years.
HOW YOU FOUND US: I live here.
MAIN CHARACTER: Elijah Krum
PURPOSE OF CHARACTER: To wreak havoc.
by Alice Rousseau Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:11 pm
