A Birth day

Ruby heard Angus and nodded " thought thats what they were " she said and smiled " of course she said and picked up the applications and read them over before she happily signed them and placed them back among the other forms Angus had filled out " all right thats done" she said aving seen Angus's signiture already on the forms now next to her own.

She heard him talk again and nodded happy it was free for them to attend but she also knew things would need to be bought for them , like their uniforms and books and things for classes. She saw him talk out a blank cheque and smiled nodding to him she was okay with it. She looked at Madam Maxine as she spoke again " would there be any thing they would need, books and such?" she asked having a feeling if it was so they could make a stop in Diagon alley to fetch them.

"That was included in Mr. Donohue's packet there," Madame Maxime said. "He had the option of buying those things himself or of paying for them as part of their fees, and we will do the shopping for them. We have a large number of our families who simply do not have the time to do a lot of shopping, so we have the ability to do that shopping for them."

"I already signed for that and paid for it," Angus smiled at her. "We'll have to go shopping and buy anything that is not standard issue, but I paid for the standard issue things when I paid for their fees. I figured that would get them started sooner."

"Now, Girls, one last thing for today," Madame Maxime said to Anise and Ginger. She reached into a jar and got out two wrapped candies that looked like little wrapped sugar sticks. "You may eat them, of course, but first, unwrap them, and then, one at a time, aim at the ceiling and break the stick in half, if you would please."

"Um..okay," Anise said, as they unwrapped their sugar sticks. Anise broke hers in half and some vibrantly bright, glistening gold sparks shot upwards towards the ceiling.

"Oh. Interesting," Madame Maxime seemed a little surprised. "That is very interesting indeed. Now, you, Ginger."  Ginger broke her stick in half, and rose colored sparks shot upwards like Anise's gold ones had.

"Very good," Madame Maxine smiled. This sorts your houses for you. Ginger, you belong to Libellule. It means dragonfly. It's color, here, is rose on a pale pink background. It is famous here for people of love and compassion and great creativity. I will send you some information on that with your supply package. And, Anise, you surprised me just a little. Your choice was very, very clear. You belong to Panthere. It means Panther. Here is it characterized by a great white panther on a field of gold. It is the house of fighters of great bravery and courage and relentless devotion."

"I think that captures them precisely," Angus said.

Ruby heard Madam maxine talk and nodded " ah okay, good idea." she said then looked to Angus when he spoke that he'd paod for all they would need as standard and smiled to him when he spoke about visiting diagon ally " thats was my thinking too" she said watching as the girls broke the candles and smiled as each had perfectly been sorted into a house that would fit their personalitys.

Hearing Angus she smiled and nodded " I agree" she said smiling to the both " we can stop in diagon alley to fetch what isn't in the package, as you sugested Angus" she said " and maybe stop at Sparks for lunch as a treat" she said still smiling to them both. she was hapy they had got in and were in the houses each fit best and would do well.

"We would be shopping in Paris for Beauxbatons," Angus smiled. "Diagon Alley doesn't carry Beauxbatons supplies, but I think we should wait and get the supply shipments so we can see what they have and what they need. Still, I was thinking that perhaps they might like lunch in Paris on the way home. After all, if they are going to be spending some time in France, they need some exposure to French cuisine."

"What a superb idea," Madame Maxime smiled. "There are so many wonderful places for a good lunch. When you do your shopping for what few supplies they might need, you will need to go to Place Cachée. Do you know it?"

"I do," Angus said. "I don't get there often, but I do know it."

"There are some new restaurants there and on Boulevard Voltaire. You will find them to your liking, I should think. And, you will find the streets to be not so very crowded during the day during the week because our students are all here, you understand."

"That makes perfect sense," Angus nodded.

"I would think you will receive your shipments, Girls, in the next day or two. You will find a list in the box with a final list of any supplies you will need that we did not have already in our supplies for you. Your lessons will begin, then, next week on Monday morning. There may be some reading assignments prior to your first meeting with your professor. Do you have any questions?"

"Not that I can think of right now," Anise said.

"If something comes up, you may certainly send me a message. We will arrange a meeting for you so you can meet your heads of house, and then, as things come up, you may contact them. You may find them a bit easier to reach than I sometimes can be, sadly."

"We understand," Ginger replied. Madame Maxine rose to her feet, and when she did, the girls and Angus rose as well.

"That, I believe, concludes our business for today," she said, shaking hands with each one of them. "Professor Bastien will see you back to your carriage. It was a pleasure meeting you all, and I am sure I will see you girls around our castle very soon. Good day to you all." She flicked her fingers at the door to open it for them so they could all leave.

Ruby sat and listened as everything was arranged for the girls she was happy they had been acepted to Beauxbatons. When Angus mentioned shoping in Paris she looked at him with a small smile not giving away that she realy wanted to look around Paris and its many shops.

When Madame Maxine stood up she stood with the others and smiled to her " thank you for everything Madame Maxine." she said and smiled as she linked her arm to Angus. " I do like the idea of them trying some french cusine. " she told him " but you do know there favorate foods will be ones you make at home and from scratch." she told Angus softly .

They went with Professor Bastien who chatted casually with Marcus about restaurants where they thought the girls might enjoy a good lunch. Angus was familiar with a couple of the ones that Bastien and Marcus were thinking of.

"Well, of course," Angus told Ruby. "The fact that we almost always cook from scratch and that we really only order the best quality produce we can find may spoil them just a wee bit. However, Rosaria cooks the same way, and I'm sure Beauxbatons will do no less."

They reversed the process from their arrival process and got in the carriage and took it back to the livery. Once they had returned the carriage, Marcus and Angus decided on a mid-range restaurant and they took them on a short walk to the restaurant, in a muggle neighborhood. It looked very upscale, but, in looking at the menu, it looked to Angus like it was basically just simple ingredients prepared in classically French style. Marcus knew how to bypass some of the lunch reservations, and it wasn't long before he had secured a good table.

The girls opened the menus and found them to be largely pointless for them since they didn't speak French. Angus and Marcus helped them to pick out foods they liked, and Anise settled on beef tartare, since it was something she already liked and it was socially appropriate to be able to eat it here. Feeling a little more adventurous, Ginger picked the sea bass. Marcus picked the chicken basquaise, and Angus picked the leg of lamb with the potatoes and vegetables.

"Your turn, Ru," Angus said. "What will you have?"

Ruby chuckled listening to Angus and nodded "I'm sure they only use the finest ingredients." she said as she returned to the carriage and roe it back to the town and climbed out. Following them to the restaurant she looked at the building of the restaurant Angus and Marcus had chocen for dinner "Wow this is beautiful" she said following them to a table and sitting next to Angus.

Opening the menu she read and scanned the list then looked at Angus " I'll just have what you're having" she said and closed it, placing it beside her plate as she took her napkin and placed it over her knee to wait.

Angus ordered a nice bottle of white wine for them to share, and he placed the order. The girls were watching what some of the dishes looked like as the servers delivered them to other customers' tables. To Angus, Ginger seemed to be enjoying seeing all the happy people and smelling all the delicious food. Anise, on the other hand, was looking stressed from the time she opened the menu. Angus knew her. He knew her better than he actually knew Ginger. The signs were very subtle but he saw them. He reached over and laid his hand on hers.

"Talk to me," he told her. "What is it? What's bothering you?"

"I can't do this," she told him very softly. "I don't belong here."

"Why not?"

"I'm not a fancy person. And I don't speak one word of French," she said. "I live with animals. I don't fit in...."

"You live with me, and with Ruby and a couple of teen age boys that act like animals..." Angus said. At that, that made her laugh a little. "Look, you aren't going to be living in the castle. You're going to be living at home, like you always have. We will be taking you to Evie's and Faith's in the morning and picking you up when your school day is finished and bringing you home. You don't have to speak French by next week. But--you two are more than intelligent enough to learn French. If you want to learn, we'll see if the school can help you with French lessons. If they can't, I'll hire you both a French tutor. Fair enough?" She thought about it for a moment, and then she nodded.

"You really think we could learn it?" she asked.

"Absolutely!" he said, picking his next words carefully since they were in a muggle restaurant. "And besides, if you want to join the team, you really should learn French anyway." Neither girl had considered that the headquarters was in Paris and learning French might help them if they were going to do missions in Paris.

Ruby looked over at Anise and saw the tense look on her face reatching out she took her hand in her own and let Angus talk to her to reasure her that all will be fine " hes right, oui tu peux, si je peux, toi aussi, it means 'yes you can, if I can so can you' " she told her with a chuckle " and thats about the exstent of my french " she lent closer to Anise " truth be told, I only asked to have the same as Angus becuse I can't read french." she admitted " but your not me and your adaptive, so you'll adapt to this, don't put your self down until you have tried it." she added then smiled to her as she sat back up as the waiter pored out their drinks.

Ruby looked at Angus hoping he undrstood she was trying to make Anise feel at ease even with her showing her some what foolish side to them all.

"Well, maybe you should take some lessons too, Ruby," Marcus said. "I know some tutors, and I'm sure Robert does too. Maybe you should learn with the girls so you can all help each other. Some of the agents I know learned french by starting with some phrases about things they do every day, like conversational French about cooking supper together. Or maybe a boardgame you can all play together and speak only in French. It's good practice, and its fun. And you could always go to a French theater or a French concert, or do a Paris guided sightseeing tour where the guide speaks in French. And some of the French museums have self guided tour where you wear earbuds and carry an audio recording the describes the artifacts in French. All of that would help you all learn faster. The more you use it in your daily life, the more fluid you will become with it."

"Those are all great ideas. And there are a lot of people at home that speak French that would be happy to help you," Angus said, as the waiter arrived with their lunches. He set the dishes on the table, refilled their glasses and excused himself.

"That looks great. I'm starving," Angus said, looking at the mouthwatering lamb. "Tuck in, All."

"Are French table manners different?" Ginger asked.

"A little," Marcus said. "Shall I show you?"

"No, teach us," she told him. "Let us copy you so we learn how to do it."

"Fine by me," Marcus said. "Then let's begin while the food is hot." He explained French table manners to them at each stage of the meal and his belief about where some of those traditions might have come from.