Growing up, Matilda had never been careful. Reckless was her middle name. That all changed when she was in her tenth year of life, and had clearly made a grave mistake. In fact, it was a surprise that she hadn't died altogether (note the sarcasm). March was a met month. Mud, puddles, and plenty more made the streets unsafe, but Matilda never paid that much mind. She was a free soul, and the rain hadn't ever stopped her before. So why should it now? 

 Fifteen minutes into the walk around the park, and the French girl had run away from her mother again. She raced off to the playground, stomping in puddles and braving her way through the mud. She didn't look at where her feet were going, all she could focus on was how much she wanted to grab that swing before anyone else. How much she wanted to soar through the sky like a bird, even if her butt got wet, and she had the potential to kick mud into her face while trying to excitedly maneuver herself forwards, then backwards again. 

 "Matilda, you're going to hurt yourself!" The young brunette child's mother would call after her, worry etched on to her features. She followed after her child, but in a much more calm approach. She tried to avoid the mud and the puddles. Quite the opposite of what her daughter had learned, despite trying to teach her to be more ladylike. Her father had ruined that bit for her mother's hopes, though. Matilda wanted to be a superhero, like the ones in her father's comic books. She would call herself 'Supergirl', as though it made her official. And superheroes didn't take any caution - at least in Matilda's young mind.

 Sure enough, in the matter of a few seconds, Matilda's feet slipped up from under her, and she plopped right onto her bottom in the middle of a mud puddle. She cried, and cried, and cried. Tears seemed to mesh with the mud puddle, and her mother was tugging her up to her feet moments later. A walk home followed, with Matilda sobbing the whole way home. She was glad that she didn't know anyone in Éze well enough for them to end up making fun of her. She was, after all, covered head-to-toe in mud. 



 By this time in Matilda's first year, she was well-acquainted with the people in her year. More specifically, the girls that were in her dorm room. There was Willa Kingsley, who was an immigrant to France from America. She moved there before she was eleven, and was accepted into Beauxbatons. She wasn't glad to be there at first, and was awfully pessimistic about it. Now that they were well in to the first year, she was warming up, and her Papillonlisse traits started to shine through.

 There was also Gianna Martin, who has lived in Paris, France, for all of her life. Even though Matilda visited Paris yearly to see her grandmother, she was a little jealous of her. Sure, Éze was beautiful, but there was no way that there were as many cute boys there than there was in Paris. Plus, the shopping in Paris must be magnificent. Gianna and Matilda had become good friends, and they hung around each other a lot.

 Then there was Ophelia Babineaux, who was more of a prissy girl than anything. Her and Matilda really didn't get along during this time. Ophelia was obnoxious, rude, and definitely not Matilda's type of person to hang around with. In fact, it made her really wonder how such a person got into Papillonlisse. Ophelia lived in the countryside of Paris, on a vineyard that was plenty of acres large. She made sure to brag about her wealth every chance she got. It irritated Matilda more than anyone could imagine.

 Finally, there was Dionne Triste, Matilda's best friend out of everyone at Hogwarts. Dionne and Matilda got along like bees did with flowers. They were two peas in a pod - they called each other their sister, even. Matilda had never felt as close to someone as she did Dionne - not even her own brothers. Matilda's sisters were out of the question, they didn't even pay their sister any mind. In fact, since arriving at Hogwarts, they hadn't spoken to Matilda at all. Of course, this lead to discourse in their relationship, but Matilda wasn't affected negatively by it. In fact, quite the opposite.

 It was near the end of second year that Ophelia and Matilda even interacted. A prank was pulled, and students named them both as the culprits. Naturally, the Headmistress at the time called them into her office to sort it out. Matilda complied, anxiously at that, but she squirmed in the dark blue velvet of the seat in front of the Headmistress's desk for a good fifteen minutes anyways. As per usual, Ophelia was incredibly late. It made the girl wonder if she even cared about things like this.

 Twenty minutes into sitting alone with the Headmistress, and Matilda was more than impatient with her dormmate. Firstly because Ophelia was the one who wanted to prank someone, and secondly because she was late and that was one thing that Matilda never appreciated. Her body instantly turned when she heard the door to the office open, but her eyes rolled when she landed them on Ophelia. As always, she was smiling innocently, her hands behind her back as she made her way to the other dark blue chair, sitting down. Her blonde hair was curled, and the bits of mascara on her eyelashes was more than noticeable.

 For someone who decided to take all of the blame, she sure did look dolled up. Then again, if you're going to go down, you might as well go down with beauty and grace. Neither were something that Matilda thought that Ophelia acquired, but that was beside the point. Her gaze switched back to the Headmistress, and the interrogation began. 

 "Hello, Ophelia, you're late." The Headmistress stated, clearly unimpressed. Matilda fought off wearing a smirk, but she failed poorly. She couldn't ever stay straight-faced when it came to people potentially getting in trouble.

 "Yes, Madam, I promise it won't happen again! I ran into a boy, and I had to help him pick up his papers." Ophelia responded, and it took everything in Matilda to not scoff at her reply. It was such a lie, that she was surprised the Headmistress didn't mention it. She just shrugged it off, and continued on.

 "Today I got a report that one of you played a particularly nasty prank on one of our students. Is that true?" The Headmistress asked, looking directly at Ophelia as she did so. Matilda's eyes refocused on Ophelia once more, expecting her to say the answer that she told Matilda she would give. Unfortunately, that was just not how things were going to go that day.

 "You see, it was Matilda," Ophelia started, saying it slowly as though she was nervous. Matilda's jaw dropped - was she really going to put the blame on her? After they agreed to push past their conflicts? "She told me that she wouldn't do it.. but.." The blonde girl trailed off, looking at Matilda. She was a good actress, because the way she feigned her worry would make anyone believe she was telling the truth. "But I watched her cast the curse on the Ombrelune boy. She didn't even think twice."

 Matilda was starstruck. Speechless, she mulled over what she should say in the time that the Headmistress turned her attention onto the brunette girl. She felt her heart rate pick up - how could she do this to her? Matilda hadn't even done anything! She was the one to tell Ophelia that she shouldn't do that to someone, and Ophelia still went ahead and did it. The nerve she had to put the blame on her. "Matilda?" The Headmistress inquired, raising an eyebrow. 

 Obviously, she was expecting a reply, but Matilda didn't have anything for her. She was at a loss, and instead she dropped her gaze to her lap. "I told her to stop, I did! She tried to make me take the blame too. To make me do the whole confronting you thing. I'm glad it was both of us that were brought in, so you could see the real side of things." Ophelia continued, earning a sharp look from the Headmistress, as if to say 'That's enough'. Matilda's eyes brimmed with tears - she had trusted Ophelia, and this was what she got from doing so. What a great deal that was. 

 "What do you have to say for yourself, Matilda?" The Headmistress asked. It was like she dismissed the fact that Ophelia had been there, too, that more people probably accused her of it than they accused Matilda. It was like the world always worked in Ophelia's favour, and Matilda already felt like she was at a loss.

 "I-I didn't do it.." Was all that she could manage to choke out, but it wasn't enough. She had no courage to stand up for herself and tell the Headmistress that it was all Ophelia's fault. Even though Matilda hadn't raised her wand, she was the one that was getting in trouble. What kind of luck was that?

 There wasn't any proof on Matilda's end, nor testimony. The Headmistress was forced to go with Ophelia's side of thing. There just wasn't any other choice. "I think I know what needs to be done here." She sighed, leaning back in her chair. She wasn't known for liking giving her students punishments for their actions, but she was sometimes forced to do so. "Matilda, you'll be given detention with Professor Malveux at three o'clock daily for three weeks starting tomorrow." She stated, writing it down on a sheet of parchment to keep her reminded on the matter. "Ophelia, Matilda, you are free to go."

 Matilda waited for Ophelia to leave first, only leaving a few minutes after the door closed behind the blonde girl. Outside, Gianna stood, looking frantic. She had obviously seen Ophelia come out, and knew the outcome of the situation already. She was far more clever than Matilda was - she could guess just about anything right. And this time was no exception.

 "You got in trouble, hey?" She asked, taking a few steps to engulf Matilda in a hug, "I'm sorry."

 "Why are you apologizing?" Matilda asked, confused. Her arms wrapped around Gianna's torso for a few moments, before the two parted. "You did nothing wrong." 

 "She made me do it." Gianna admitted, looking sheepish. Matilda's features were far more confused, though. What did she mean? Had Gianna played a role in getting Matilda in trouble? If so, would Matilda be able to forgive her for putting her in such trouble? Probably, but not anytime soon.

 "Do what?" Matilda asked, a few moments later. She dreaded the answer - she didn't want to lose trust in Gianna, but if it was what she suspected, then it was inevitable. She would have to lose a good friend to her, whether she would like it or not. It was just not in her power anymore, it was in Gianna's hands now.

 And on that note, Gianna looked very nervous now. She fiddled with her fingers, and switched her stare to the window. This was a side of Gianna that Matilda hadn't seen yet. It was different, and it was probably safe to say that it was very interesting to see, even if it wasn't in the best situation possible. "She made me blame you for the incident, when Professor Malveux asked me about it." 

 And so Matilda's suspicions were right. She was to lose a friend, whether she wanted it to be that way or not. She didn't even have much to say to the other girl. In fact, all she was able to do is turn around and walk away, ignoring every 'sorry' that Gianna called after her until she couldn't hear her voice anymore. So what if she lost a friend? So be it.



T.B.A. || W.I.P.