Michelle Roux

Guest

Full Name: Michelle Roux
Age: 24
Date of birth: 21st July, 1998
Birthplace: Lyons, France
Current home: Dover, England
Blood Status: Half-blood
Sexual Alignment: Bisexual
Wand type: 14" Alder Wood wand with the core of freely given Unicorn Tail Hair

Hair colour and style: Michelle's hair is a mix of blond and brown, almost looking like a dirty blond in the right lighting. It's usually kept down, her locks falling in curls around and below her shoulders.
Eye colour: Oceanic blue
Height: She is a lithe woman of a respectable height of 5ft8 that she had inherited from her mother.
Body type: She is a slim woman with curves in all the right places and a modest bosom. She trains each day to maintain that figure and doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon.
Dress sense: Michelle is not a woman who actually cares about being fashionable or looking beautiful however she does have a pretty good sense of dress and tends to go that extra mile to look pretty enough but not gaudy unless it's needed. She loves wearing trousers and shorts, t-shirts and vests to dresses and skirts however if the need calls for it she will.
Birthmarks: N/A
Tattoos: Despite being a slightly girly-girl Michelle does have a lot of a tomboy in her so she does have tattoos. She has a fairly large one on her back of a Pheonix. She has another tattoo just above her breasts. And her last tattoo is further down the right side of her front over her stomach.
Scars: None
Piercings: Her ears are pierced as well as her bellybutton.

Likes:
- Traveling; While Michelle is someone who knows how to settle down she just loves to travel all over the world, seeing the different countries and their customs. She enjoys the different sceneries that countries can offer and would spend all her money on just travelling the world.
- Languages; She enjoys learning languages and currently has English, German, Russian and Slavic under her belt though she is learning more of them.
- Flirting; While not too bothered about romance yet she does love to flirt and fool around with people and does have quite a long list of past lovers.
- Ancient Runes; A subject that she took at Beauxbatons, Michelle is quite proficient at Runes and does have a Mastery in it, having taken it after graduating from Beauxbatons.
- Potion Making; Potion's had come to Michelle just as easily as talking did. It was a subject that she excelled at and she does enjoy it.
- Dancing
- Quidditch

Dislikes:
- Bullies; Michelle has a very bad history with bullies and that's mostly due to the fact that if she got bullied she gave back just as much and she just hates seeing people being bullied.
- Lying; Ever since her school days, Michelle has had bad memories of people lying to her. First, it had been her mother than it had been her older siblings, eventually, it got so bad that Michelle just ignored whatever her family said, not believing anything that left their mouths.
- Seeing people cry

Strengths:
- Photographic Memory; Having this type of memory recall could be considered both a blessing and a curse depending on who you asked. If you asked Michelle she would say it has its pros and cons. Having a photographic memory and perfect recall had let her graduate Beauxbatons with honours and had enabled her to quickly finish her mastery for Ancient Runes.
- Linguist; Being good with languages enables her to be able to read rare books in their own language instead of having to go through the painful process of reading English or French versions of them.
- Ancient Runes; Michelle had found an aptitude for the hard topic of Ancient Runes in her second year at Hogwarts when she swiped the Ancient Rune notes from one of the third years in her house.
- Silent Spell Casting; Unlike most of her peers Michelle has near perfect control of her magical powers thus she's actually able to do silent casting and this is one of her strengths as it lets her duel her opponents with them being hard pressed to guess which spell she was using as it was hard to tell by the color.

Weaknesses:
- Young Children; Michelle has a natural maternal instinct that had been amplified by a pregnancy she had but unfortunately, she had miscarried. Young children, toddlers and pre-teens especially, bring to the forefront the protector in her. Should someone use a young child as a bargaining chip against her she would quickly cave to demands.
- Empathetic; Michelle has been able to feel emotions from people from a very long time ago thus those people who know that can easily use her empathy as a reason to weaken her. The stronger the emotion, the more will Michelle feel it.
- Her selflessness; Being selfless Michelle has no idea what it means to be selfish so she tends to put people before her own safety and happiness.

Positive traits:
- Protective
- Selfless
- Happy

Negative traits: (3 minimum)
- Quick to anger
- Distrusting of the ministry
- Tends to be immersed in her own mind most of the time

Born as the only female in nearly thirty years, Michelle had been thought to be a blessing to the Roux family and because of that, her birth had literally been celebrated by the whole family. No matter where they were or what they were doing or even how close the family members were, her birth had literally been celebrated by every member of the Roux family.

Growing up, Michelle had grown to become a rebellious child, hating the attention that she received from her family. So what if she was a girl? Did that mean that she had to be treated like a porcelain doll all the time? She hadn't been able to stand the way people treated as if she was some kind of royalty that deserved the treatment. It's not like she was even a Pureblood.

During her childhood, around nine or ten, Michelle had found herself developing some type of Legimency ability; it wasn't exactly the power to read minds but more like being able to read the emotions of people around her. She has developed it enough to be able to read minds but she only really uses the power to skim surface thoughts and feelings of people around her.

No-one but Michelle knows the exact reason as to why she had started developing this power; it was due to the constant lies that she had been told by her mother and her second and third older brothers. It was the constant pressure that had been put on her as the only female born into the Roux family.

Going to Beauxbaton's had been the only reprieve that Michelle had received from her home life; there she could be herself and try to at least make friends and her own connections. Overtime Michelle became quite popular with her peers, despite her family name and what being a Roux entitled, Michelle, was quite approachable, a friendly female who always took the time to help her fellow students with whatever she needed.

There are three things that Michelle is proud of from her time at Beauxbatons; first, she became a prefect in her sixth year, second, she became a Head Girl in her seventh year and then third, she had graduated Beauxbatons with the highest marks that she could've ever received.

Her life after that was her own to live; she had left the family to pursue her own path. She still keeps in contact with her eldest brother, Mitchel, and her father but other than that she keeps the rest of her family at arm's length and refuses to make the first move to talk to them.

Following her successful apprenticeship with an Ancient Rune's mistress, Michelle moved away from France, taking her quarter of the Roux inheritance, before she settled in England where she currently lives in a rented out apartment in Dover, doing odd jobs here and there but never really settling for one. Currently, she works as a hostess at a Muggle nightclub.

Mother:
Name: Renne Roux nee Anglin
Age: 55
Living or Deceased: Alive
Blood type or Species: Half-blood
Occupation: Healer

Father:
Name: Adrian Roux
Age: 57
Living or Deceased: Alive
Blood type or Species: Pureblood
Occupation: Potions Master

Siblings:
Name: Mitchel Roux
Age: 37
Living or Deceased: Alive
Blood type or Species: Half-blood
Occupation: Hit Wizard

Name: Micheal Roux
Age: 34
Living or Deceased: Alive
Blood type or Species: Half-blood
Occupation: Unspeakable

Name: Carlos Roux
Age: 29
Living or Deceased: Alive
Blood type or Species: Half-blood
Occupation: Ward Master

Spouse/Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Partner/Fiance:
Name: N/A
Age: N/A
Living or Deceased: N/A
Blood type or Species: N/A
Occupation: N/A

Children:
Name: N/A
Age: N/A
Living or Deceased: N/A
Blood type or Species: N/A
Occupation: N/A

Pets:
Name: Mickey
Age: 4
Living or Deceased: Living
Blood type or Species: Persian Cat

Adrian and Renne met when Renne had been on Holiday in France with her family; Renne had only been fifteen at the time but Adrian fell in love at first sight with the woman. He didn’t really care that she was a Half-Blood or that she wasn’t French. She was the most beautiful woman that he had met and he wanted her.

Their relationship was beautiful, the marriage even more, and they did love each other dearly; their relationship wasn’t meant to be though. Divorce, however, was out of the question, Adrian wouldn’t stand to be a divorced father with four children and Renne didn’t want to lose the privilege of being married to a Roux.

Their marriage is pretty much an act by now; even though Adrian want’s to divorce his wife, he’s not prepared to deal with the fall out that will happen should he do so. So he decides to just bear with it purely for the image of the Roux family.

Posts : 1363 Join date : 2015-12-20

Guest

August, 2014 - Roux Residence, Lyons, France

A low throbbing in her temples informed Michelle that her mother's grating voice was slowly causing her to have a headache, the high-pitched tones of the harpy making the sixteen-year-old Roux female grit her teeth as she stiffly sat at the family dinner table, her eyes shuttered and her lips pursed in anger as only the many years of perfecting her mask kept her from biting back at her mother, the woman who only saw her as a means to gain more wealth, more status in the Pureblood circles that she was so fond of attending.

"Michelle, dear, you must tell me, what do you think about Monsieur Caval? Isn't the man a charming fellow?" The question was expected and Michelle had just as much of an expected answer that she told her mother many times and no matter how many times she heard it, Michelle doubted that her Mother actually heard the real meaning in the witch's voice.

"Monsieur Caval is over twenty years old Mother, I am only but sixteen." The words were polished, cold chips of ice, her voice a low soprano compared to her mother's high screeching like tones. "The man is good looking, I can't deny that but I have no doubt that he already has a wife picked out from women much closer to his age."

That would've been the end of the conversation had it been any normal day; however, the Fates' seemed to have actually shifted in her mother's favour that particular day because what she heard next made Michelle quiver in anger, her eyes flashing darkly in a silent promise of pain. Her mother never knew when to stop while she was ahead, it would always lead to an argument between the two of them and with each passing argument, Michelle's familial love towards her mother dimmed.

"But, ma chère fille, you should be looking into settling down already. A mari should be found early on or all the good ones will be taken." The forty-seven-year-old Witch placed her utensils down, clearly not recognizing the danger and tension that was at the table, or if she did recognize it she chose to ignore it. "Now Monsieur Caval is a wealthy wizard who would love to have such a young and youthful wife such as yourself. Just think of all the parties that you would be invited, all the desires that he would grant you, all the children that he would gift you with. Don't you want that for yourself?"

A slow exhale of air followed by a slow inhale was heard for the next few moments as Michelle calmed her down from her sudden murderous thoughts, her wand hand twitching in want of grabbing the weapon and cursing her mother into the seven depths of hell.

"Maman," The slowly spoken French word made Renne beam even if the word was hissed in anger, only her father and eldest brother picking up on the anger in her tone. "I have no plans of marrying. Anytime soon."

Had her mother been someone else, Michelle had no doubts that the woman would've dropped the conversation and turned to a more pleasant topic however as this was her mother, she grew indignant, her nostrils flaring as she pushed her chair back from the table and while she was not standing up yet, Michelle knew that had it not been improper her mother would've shot up and demanded answers of her but considering the fact that her father was still eating, Renne was forced by her own manners to sit still until her husband finished his dinner.

"Michelle, this is not up for debate." The cold tone of voice did nothing to Michelle who only started at her mother with a blank look on her beautiful face. "If you do not find a suitable husband during this year at Beauxbatons I will-"

"You will what Mother?" Michelle cut her mother off efficiently, a perfectly sculpted brow arching in question as she finished off her dinner, placing her own utensils down and dabbing at her lips with a napkin before she took a sip of the sparkling white wine that had been served her that day. "Disown me? Disgrace me? I think not, you wouldn't want such a blight on your perfect reputation after all."

Disowning a female wasn't that unheard of but considering the fact that her mother cherished her picture-perfect family reputation, the woman wouldn't dare do something like that; not that she even could disown her. Her father was the head of the Roux family after all and only he held the power to disown anyone and he would never disown Michelle, she was the apple of his eye and her mother knew it.

"I will find a suitable husband for you myself," Renne replied without even batting an eyelash and this stopped Michelle dead in her tracks, her eyes flashing towards her mother who looked awfully smug at having caught her daughter off guard with something.

"Oh really?" Michelle slowly stood up from her chair, stepping back from the table and pushing her chair in, she left her hands resting on the back of the chair, her eyes considering her mother with an air of indifference, her head slowly cocking to the side as she wondered what sort of husband her mother would try to find for her. "I wish you luck then mother for I doubt that you will find a man fitting your criteria and considering that I am not a Pureblood there will be even fewer men willing to marry me." Which was a lie because many men would marry Michelle if only for her beauty.

"Don't be stupid Michelle." Renne laughed lightly, even if it was a slightly strained laugh. "Many men would love to marry you. I am sure that by the end of the year I will have found a man for you to marry."

A deep sighed followed by a shake of her head, Michelle stepped back from the table, her dress swishing about her ankles, her heels clicking lightly against the polished wooden floors.

"I will not marry Mother and that is final. I have told you many times and I will tell you this again." Michelle looked down at her mother. "I am not you and I have no wish in marrying into riches, I only want to live out my own life and find my own husband. Whether that will be ten years down the line or ten months is up to me, you have no say in my future, what so ever."

The sixteen-year-old witch stalked out of the room, ignoring the calling of her mother's voice for her to come back and that she was being rude; she cared not and she doubted that her Father did either. Had she stayed in that room any longer she would've blown up at her mother and she didn't want that, even if because the strain of living in the same house as the harpy would be hard on her.

Guest

An Alternate Future - December 2018 - Paris, France

A life of being a porcelain doll, nothing more than a pretty face and a broodmare; the life that waited for many Pureblood ladies who had no way to get out of their parents clutches. Those that fell for a wealthy wizard were spared, those that did not were condemned to a loveless marriage with a wizard who would rather see her swollen with children, spitting out as many as possible for her body, then following her own career path.

Old Purebloods, wizards and witches who boasted of many generations of magic in their blood, wizards and witches that still thought of themselves being in the eighteenth century were the most pitiable human beings that Michelle had ever had the pleasure of knowing. Those Purebloods were the ones that made all the other Purebloods look bad, making everyone think that they were only looking for pretty looking women to be a doll on their arm.

It was the life that awaited her now.

Not even a year after graduating from Beauxbatons her mother had proclaimed that she secured a marriage for her with a wealthy British wizard, a Pureblood Wizard from an old family; a man in his late twenties who was looking for a wife, a long time partner. According to her mother, the man had been enchanted when the woman had boasted about Michelle; according to her own feelings, the man was probably just looking for someone to give him heirs and spares, children to mould for his own desires and not even letting Michelle had her own say.

As she stood in front of the floor length mirror in the bridal suite that she currently was occupying at a high-end hotel in Paris, Michelle couldn't help but mourn the life that she could've had if she had accepted that Mastery just that little bit quicker. The white dress that flowed down her body might as well have been black for how Michelle was feeling. No matter how pretty the dress was, Michelle couldn't bring herself to smile at her reflection; the woman looking back at her looked as if she was slowly being shackled in millions of chains, each one stopping her from taking any steps away from the wedding that was slowly approaching.

Her shoulders felt weighed down as if thousands of tons of steel were sitting upon her slender body, her eyes, once a beautiful luminescent blue, were dead, the usual twinkle of mischief missing from it. Her face looked weary and no matter how much makeup had been put on her face, the woman could still see behind those beautiful pinks and reds and rouges. She could still see the sunken cheeks, the black bags under her eyes.

Turning away from her reflection, Michelle slowly moved towards the window, her hand pressing up against the cold glass; all it would take would be just one whispered word and the window would break and Michelle would be free falling to her death yet she couldn't do it. Not to her father or her oldest brother, they wouldn't be able to handle her death just as they were unable to handle her marriage to a man that she didn't even know.

Her father had been furious with his wife when he found out but it had been too late to save Michelle from a loveless marriage, the woman had signed the contract and that had been that. He tried everything that he could, even going as far as looking into long forgotten and outlawed means of breaking a contract but nothing came up; the only way it could be broken was if her husband-to-be cheated on her or he died. She had entertained the thought of killing the man but she wasn't that far gone to actually go ahead with it, her father probably would've done it but she didn't want the man in prison for killing her soon to be husband.

"Michelle?" The knock on her door and the deep voice of her father made Michelle bite her lip harshly as she turned around to face the man that stepped into the room. He looked just as weary as she did and that said something as Adrian Roux wasn't a man that would look how he felt.

"Papa, is it time?" Her voice was soft, quiet and resigned, her shoulders slouching as she sat down on the loveseat in the room,
her father taking the space next to her, his hand curling around her manicured fingers and squeezing. She could feel his hand shaking and, as she looked closer at him, she could see the tell-tale of tears in her father's eyes and that stopped her voice from going any further; her father, a man who was just as strong in personality as he was in magic, was close to crying.

"Oh, Papa..." The white-clad woman wrapped her arms around the man who had brought her up, her arms squeezing tightly around those firm shoulders. "It's okay, I'm okay. I had a feeling that something like this would happen. I'm resigned to my life now."

She shouldn't be though, she should be enjoying her last days as a teenager, going for her mastery and finding a job that would suit her. She should be out in the world, partying away and finding a lover for a night. She shouldn't be dressed up as a doll in a white dress, a veil hanging from the top of her head. She shouldn't be ready to give her life away to a man who could possibly break Michelle in every sense of the word.

"You can say no, no-one will blame you for it." Adrian murmured into his daughter's hair, ignoring the perfume that clung to her. "Both your brother and I are so sorry that we couldn't protect you from this."

"There's nothing to be done about this now Papa. Mother had always planned for me to marry after Beauxbatons and unfortunately she has finally gotten her claws into my future."

The eighteen-year-old sounded much too mature for her age and as Adrian looked at his child, he couldn't help but mourn the loss of a bright mind to his wife's machinations. Had he even had an inkling of what his wife was doing he would've stopped it but it had been much too late when he found out.

"You shouldn't be getting married this early though..."

"But I am and I am ready to face the man who will be my husband," Michelle said firmly as she held her father's face between her hands and pressed her lips to his forehead. "I hope that my feelings about this man are wrong. I hope that mother did not arrange a marriage for me with a man who is heartless. I will see how it goes... If he is just as heartless as my feelings are telling me I'm quite sure I can make an accident happen and no-one would be none the wiser about what happened."

Adrian searched his daughter's face for any sort of lie but he saw none and decided to listen to his daughter.

"Very well, I'll trust you. Just know that if you need any help I'll be just a floo-call away."

"I know Papa." Michelle gave him a soft smile as she pulled away from him before standing up with his help, her arm sliding through his as she grabbed her bouquet. "Let's go, I may not be happy about this but I am ready to do this."

"You make me so proud." Adrian murmured fondly as he led his daughter out of the bridal suite and down the stairs to the reception room where the wedding would take place. He may be giving his daughter away to a man that didn't even love her but he had no doubt that she would survive this marriage, that's the kind of woman she was and the kind of daughter he had brought up.

With her head straight, her blond hair falling in loose curls behind her and her steps resounding through the halls, Michelle took her first steps as a wife.

Guest

Lyons, France - May, 2004

A pained cry left the lips of a small blond-haired six year old who fell to the floor in a heap, her hand reaching up to hold her throbbing cheek, her blue eyes teary and wide as she stared up at the woman panting above her, her hand raised and those hateful grey eyes glaring down at her daughter, as if she were nothing more than a bug under her foot.

"M-Maman??" The young child stuttered out, her small body shivering from fright as she watched her mother as if looking at a monster. The dress she was wearing was dirtied, her shoes lying in a heap somewhere to the right of her and her cardigan having joined said heap when her mother's heavy hand had smacked her across the face.

"How many times have I told you to not run around in dresses Michelle?" The woman's voice was biting and harsh, making the young witch wince and whimper as she curled in on herself. Her heart was thundering across her chest, sounding almost like countless hippogriffs running around. The fear from her mother's slap had her rooted to the spot, unable to move away from the woman who was as hateful as a hag and as horrible as a harpy.

"B-But maman..." The young girl cried out before screaming as her mother's hand connect with the back of her head, sending her careening forward and dirting her dress even further, making Renne even angrier, not really caring that it was her own fault that the dress was getting dirtied.

"I did not raise you to be a hooligan, Michelle Vanessa Roux." The spittle rained down on Michelle and the child had to scramble away from her mother in fear of even more backlash, her breaths heavy and harsh as she scrambled to stand up and even then she kept a safe distance from her mother, her young mind already warning her of her mothers temper that flared at the worst of times.

"I was just playing Maman," Michelle replied quietly, flinching at the glare that her mother shot her though she did not raise her hand again, thankfully, however, the damage had been done and the thundering steps behind Michelle warned her of the approaching figure of her father.

Taking a quick glance over her shoulder, the young witch squeaked in fear at seeing the fury that was on her father's face and she quickly scrambled to hide behind a tree, her small hands holding onto the tree trunk and she peeked out to watch the oncoming storm. One of many that she would be a witness to.

"Renne!" Her father roared, startling the young girl and making her flinch even though the roar hadn't been aimed at her. In later years, Michelle would be thankful for her father's protectiveness of her though for now, she was just a scared little girl watching everything with tears running down her cheeks.

"Adrian." Her mother's voice was just as cold addressing her father as it had been when Renne had been addressing her. The woman's voice was never warm, at least not in private; she had always been a cold and shrewd woman even from the few memories that Michelle had she had never seen or heard her mother speak in kind either to her or her older brothers. Only in public did Renne put up a mask of a prideful and happy mother who spoke about her children with fondness.

"How many times have I told you not to hit Michelle?" Adrian's voice had taken on an even icier toner than his wifes and Michelle had to blink wide, doleful eyes at that; that had been the first time she heard that tone of voice from her father.

"She... deserved it." Her mother replied with a snarl, her manicured hands curled into fists. "I told her time and time again to not run around in her dresses and look at what she has gone and done! Ruined it! A perfectly good dress that cost me hundreds of galleons ruined in a day!"

"She's a six-year-old girl, Renne. Do you actually think that she will sit still and do nothing while you prattle on and on to your friends?" The cold question seemed to have taken her mother off guard if the blinking of her eyes was anything to go by. "Don't fool yourself into thinking that she's anything like you Renne. Michelle would rather spend her time playing outside than sitting still on a chair and even pretending that she was listening to what you were teaching her."

"She's my daughter and she will do what I say, Adrian." Renne narrowed her eyes, her husband not even being moved by that; having been with the woman for so many years already he had grown accustomed to her attitude.

"She's my daughter as well Renne." Adrian stared his wife down, not budging an inch. "Don't think that I will let you hit her around. She's not some mini you that you can push around and do your bidding. Touch her once more Renne and a divorce from me will be least of your worries." He sneered and looked her over. "My parents aren't as fond of you as you may think and if they find out what you have been doing, well..." He let her think on that as he turned towards his cowering daughter and with a soft smile he approached her, crouching down and holding his arms out.

"Come here trouble." His voice turned fond and soft as he spoke to his daughter and Michelle was quick to leave her hidey spot and ran into her father's arms, clinging to his neck and hiding her face in his shoulder as he stood up,
securely holding Michelle in his arms.

"Are you... threatening me with divorce Adrian?" Renne questioned with a hiss, her voice lowering an octave and Adrian gave her such a cold look, frosty and downright terrifying that the woman's voice got caught in her throat.

"Don't think you can keep blackmailing me Renne, there is only so much I can stand and you hitting our daughter is not one of those things." He warned her. "Keep what I said in mind, if our boys tell me once more that you have hit Michelle I will file for divorce quicker than you would be able to say 'Not Guilty' in court."

With those parting words, Adrian left his wife standing in the middle of their garden as he carried his daughter into the house and up to her bedroom, his three boys already following him, each of them clearly anxious to see their sister and whether she was okay.

Setting his daughter down on her bed, Adrian kneeled in front of the young child who was sniffling as the last of her tears dried out.

"How are you feeling love?" He asked even as he pulled out his wand and waved it over her face, silently healing the bruises that his daughter no doubt had.

"Papa... why does Maman hate me?" Michelle's voice was quiet as she asked, her hands curling into the hem of her dress.

"Your mother... is a hard woman to understand love. Even I don't know why she hates you." Adrian replied, silently apologizing to Michelle; he knew perfectly well why Renne hated Michelle and that was because the child was more lucky in life then Renne had been.

"Now, why don't you get changed out of your dirty clothes and I'll take you and the boys out for some ice-cream?" He laughed when all four of his children cheered and the boys scrambled to help their sister get changed into something different other than a dress.

Standing up and moving towards the window, Adrian frowned as he looked down into the garden where his fuming wife was currently pacing. He would need to somehow curb his wife's attitude, the woman was clearly a few screws loose and if he didn't watch her like a hawk he would fear what she would do to Michelle.

"Papa! We're ready!" Michelle tugged on his hand and beamed up at him, warming his heart with her innocence. He hoped and prayed to Merlin and Morgana that his daughter kept that innocence for a little while longer.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" He smiled and let his daughter lead him out of the house. For now, he would focus on his children and cheering up Michelle. Later, in his own private study, he would think on what to do about Renne.

Guest

Lifes Troubles - September, 2023 - Roux Residence, Lyons, France

"Papa?" Michelle knocked on the door to her father's study, patiently waiting for the man to let her in, her shoulders were hunched and her eyes were bloodshot with tear-tracks down her cheeks. It had been a few days since her terrible parting from Jacques and while the witch was stubborn, she rationally knew that she shouldn't have fought against the Clement heir, she had nothing to gain from fighting him but she had a lot to lose.

While they hadn't been friends, they had been some sort of acquaintances through Mimosa and it was through the young witch that Michelle got to know the man beneath the pureblood mask that he always wore. It was through Mimosa that she got to like Jacques and she had a feeling that she had blown her chance of getting to know the man. Not that she could blame him. She cringed just at thinking of the day they had met and talked about Mimosa but Jacques had pushed buttons that only her mother had pushed and it had been tough to hold her tongue back and she had paid for it dearly.

"Come in mon ange," Her father's tired voice filtered through the wooden door and she pushed it open, bowing her head in greeting to her father before she slipped inside and closed the door shut behind her, thanking Morgana that her mother was currently away on business with some of her associates doing Merlin knows what. Michelle cared not and she never would. The harpy of a woman had only birthed her, she was no maternal figure to the witch.

"Papa, how do you apologize to someone whom you... insulted, in a word?" No matter how she phrased the question she still grimaced as she perched herself on the chair in front of the man who had brought her up.

"What have you done Michelle Vanessa Roux?" Her father's voice was stern as he watched his daughter and while his old heart ached at seeing the tear-tracks on her cheeks and her bloodshot eyes, his upbringing held him back from pulling his daughter into his arms and reassuring her that everything was fine. His daughter was no longer a little child needing coddling and protection, she was a grown woman.

"I..." Michelle licked her lips and the witch stared at her trembling hands in her lap, her fingers curled tightly around the hem of her skirt in her hands. "I think... that I've insulted Jacques Clement and I may never get the chance to get to know him... as a friend or even a passing acquaintance."

"Mon Dieu." Adrian groaned and placed his face in his hands, his fingers curling around the greying hair at his temples. What had his daughter done? Insulting someone was the one thing that he had instilled in his daughter to not do. But insulting the, technically at least, Prince of France? He didn't know if his daughter would ever be able to get in the child's good graces, something told him that things had been said, on either part, that would end in troubles all the way around. "Tell me, in detail, how the meeting between the two of you went."

The order in her father's voice made the witch flinch back from the towering form of her father who looked the part of a Pureblood lord and not a kind father who forgave all her faults. In a quiet voice, the twenty-six-year-old explained everything in great detail, not leaving anything out from the conversation she had with Jacques even though it was a short one.

The silence that overtook the entire study was stifling and made Michelle feel like she was being weighed down by tonnes of steel, her shoulders shaking and her eyes screwed shut as she waited for her father to say something, anything.

"Michelle, I love you to bits but at this moment in time I want to put you over my knee and spank you." The cold tones of her father were harsh and sharp and the look on his face made her heart stutter in fear; she had never had that look aimed at her from her father, only her mother earned such a look, but in that moment in time, in those scant few seconds, she felt as if she was being told that she was worse than her mother. "You need to learn to watch your tongue and filter what you say. Jacques Clement isn't someone that you can just insult and stubbornly butt your head with. He is, technically, your leader, someone who can make or break you."

"I know!" Michelle cried out. "I know that... I know that I shouldn't have said anything of such sort and I should've kept my mouth shut..." Her lower lip trembled though no tears left her eyes, she had never cried in front of her father and she wouldn't start now. "But I don't know what to do now! I want to make amends, at least apologize to him... I don't know how though. How do you apologize to someone with whom you fought like that?"

"I can't tell you how to do that." Adrian calmly replied, his hands placed on top of his desk as he watched his daughter and formulated plans upon plans on how to work this. The only way that he thought of was to get his daughter to send a letter with heartfelt apologizes yet, some part of him, knew that there was a possibility that Jacques would just throw the letter into the fireplace and never read it. If that happened then Michelle would have no chance of reconciling with the man, there was, however, a slim chance of Jacques reading the letter if only to see what his daughter would write. "What I can tell you is, though, that your apology should be from the bottom of your heart and not half-hearted. You don't want to apologize to Jacques just because he's practical royalty here in France. You want to apologize to him because you genuinely mean it... So the question is, do you genuinely mean that you want to apologize?"

The question was rhetorical and Michelle knew that, yet she still answered. "I do mean it." Her answer was vehement and full of heat yet her eyes told her father how much she was scared to do so.

Gifting his daughter with a smile, Adrian leant over to grab a hold of her clenched hand and squeezed it tightly. "Then sit down, grab a quill, some parchment and write your apology. You don't want it to be long but you want it to be heartfelt. I'll sit here and wait for you to finish and then you can send it."

Not needing to be told twice, Michelle swiped some parchment from her father and one of his quills before she went ahead and wrote her letter carefully but with heartfelt words. She didn't know if Jacques would read it or just throw it away but a part of her hoped that he would at least see what she wrote, if only for her own peace of mind.

To Heir Clement,

I'm writing to apologize to you on how we parted that day in August. I don't expect you to accept my apology, nor do I expect you to read past this part of the letter however my conscience won't allow me to just leave it as it is.

I apologize on how I acted that day in the library and while I have no reason for my attitude towards you, I can only speculate that you pushed buttons that I didn't know I had. Whatever I had said in the heat of the moment I didn't mean. It took me not even half a day to realize what a fool I have been to fight you in such a public place or even fight you at all.

I'm a hotheaded person by nature and I was just caught unaware by how your words cut into me. Normally I would be level-headed but your words, no matter how true -and they were true-, cut into me so deep that I just lost it. I lost it and I apologize for that.

As previously stated, you don't have to accept my apology. I wouldn't accept my apology if I was in your place but I just couldn't leave our parting as it had been. I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that you are a better man than I am and you will find it in yourself to forgive me, however, I don't expect you to. I hold no illusion that you will accept my apology, I only pray to Merlin and Morgana that I hadn't blown my chances at getting to know you.

I would like to, once more, sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart at how I acted.

Sincerely,
Michelle Roux.

Getting approval from her father at how the letter was worded, Michelle straight up ran to the owlery and sent the letter off with crossed fingers. If the letter would come back unopened she would just admit defeat and never send one again, but if the letter wouldn't return, she would hope for the best.

Guest

Broken Childhood - July, 2008 - Roux Residence, Lyon, France

When people think of a broken childhood, they think of a broken-up family, they think of divorced parents where they both fight over the right to keep their child with them. A broken childhood is never thought of as a privately broken-up household. After all, the public image of a happy family must mean that the private one is the same right?

Wrong.

Just because the public image shows one thing, doesn't mean that it's the same in private. And Michelle learnt that in a very harsh way. She had only been eight at the time, already able to understand the world around her and how people worked. She had already understood that the marriage between her parents wasn't as happy as they portrayed it to be. Oh, she had no illusions that it hadn't been a happy one once upon a time. After all, they had four children and no matter how much they hated each other now, they must've been happy so many years ago. No-one would gift their partner with four children if they were unhappy in a marriage.

Yet she hadn't understood, not until then, that her mother despised her very existence. She hadn't understood, until then, that her mother had wished her dead from the moment she had been born. Oh, she hadn't been able to kill her only daughter if only because Adrian would have her arrested on the spot but that didn't mean she hadn't dreamt about killing Michelle if only to rid the world of the beautiful child that would one day grow up to be a stunning woman.

She had heard voices that night, one that belonged to her mother and one that was one of her mother's acquaintances and, as curious as the young child was, Michelle had silently approached her mother's rooms, the door open up ajar so that the witch could peek through the small slit and watch and listen to what was going on. She wished she hadn't.

"What is the one thing that you wish you had done Renne?" A cold voice purred and Michelle's brows furrowed. Whose voice was that? She didn't recognize it and the person it belonged to was sitting too far away from the door for Michelle to find out who it was.

"One thing that I wish I had done?" Renne's voice was curious before it turned cold, the hissed words making Michelle stumble back from the door, her eyes wide. "One thing that I do wish I had done is that I drowned my daughter at birth."

"Oh?"

"Ever since she had been born, she'd been a thorn in my side," Renne replied, her voice cutting into Michelle like a knife, the young girls' knees buckling under her and she had to hold onto the wall to stop herself from collapsing in the middle of the floor. "She'd always had Adrian wrapped around his little finger, running to him in tears whenever I've done something to upset her. Can't even smack her without the little bitch bursting into tears and alerting Adrian to her distress. Most days I just wished that she had died during her birth, then I wouldn't have to put up with her whiny ass. Oh, she makes me want to wrap my hands around her and strangle her."

Stumbling away from the room, not wishing to hear any more, the distressed girl ran back to her own room, her steps frantic as she slammed the door to her room open only to slam it back close, the sound probably echoing loudly in the house though not loud enough to alert either her father or mother.

The moment she collapsed onto the bed the eight-year old let her tears fall and she cried into the pillow on her bed, her cries loud in the quietness of her room, echoing loudly in her ears. She didn't know how long she cried for or how long she even stayed in her room for, all she knew was that her mother hated her and wished her dead. Just this once, Michelle wished that she could use her magic so that she could obliviate that knowledge from her head. After all, what child wants to remember such things?

» Michelle's Quizes
» We need to talk {Jacques and Michelle}
» To The Cutest Kid In The World {Mimosa and Michelle}
» I'm Not Just A Pretty Face {Michelle Plotting Page}
» Summer Time for Mentoring {Mimosa and Michelle}