Your Nickname: Alisha
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: Yes
How did you find us and decide to write with us? Other
If you have written other characters here: Yes
If Yes, list them all: Primary: Devlin Matthews, Keegan Kearney, Kia Ferris
Secondary: Sid Dervish and Kale Ferris
Retired: Ophelia Grimlish, Marc Donnelly, and Maddie Pratt
Quidditch Only: Malynda Viridian-Drake
On Hiatus: Analiza Snark
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Secondary

Full Character Name: Cécile Lunette Fontaine
Character Birthday & Age: July 23, 1992. Just turned 17 years old.
City & Country of Birth: Pont-en Royans, Grenoble, France
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn: Halfblood
House & Year: Beauxbaton, 7th

Wand: 9" Pine wood, with Quartz and opal accents on handle, and Unicorn tail core. Smooth and supple.

Physical Description: If there is one thing people remember about the younger Fontaine, it is that she always seems to have a smile on her face, no matter what emotion she is feeling. Instead, she lets her expressive hazel eyes tell the story for her, something they do quite well when she lets them. This soft smile and those wide eyes paired with a button nose and rounded cheeks give others the general impression of sweet innocence as well as youth. She is routinely considered several years younger then Élodie, rather then the scant 10 or so months between them. The slenderness of her figure and her diminutive size does little to help this impression.

She isn't exceptionally pretty or curvaceous, but no one can deny that there is a charming beauty that both Fontaine girls possess. Cécile feels that Élodie carries it with much more grace and ease, and often hides her own beauty behind bulky cardigans and tights. Her arms and legs are rarely seen bare, both out of health and aesthetic concerns. Like her sister, she possesses a full head of long dark brown waves that she generally leaves loose about her shoulders.

Cécile gets ill quite easily, so her constitution is weak. She does her best not to show this weakness to others, especially her mother. Most people don't know she is ill because of her smiling face and bright disposition. Most of the time, the most you see is a trace of bags under her eyes and a reddened nose. There is always a self-cleaning handkerchief in her pocket or sleeve.

Personality Description: Many people have, in the past, accused her of being two-faced, since she always seems to be smiling. It strikes them as dishonest, but Cécile is not a treacherous person. She is quite honest with her feelings, but she does not feel that one has to be rude about it. She honestly cares about others and handles most situations with dignity and kindness, even if she finds the person insufferable.  She is the more emotionally mature sister, despite her diminutive stature, and often is the one who takes control of the situation, remaining reserved and calm in even the worst situations.

The worst mistake anyone could make about Cécile is to think she is weak (emotionally) or a pushover. She is neither. It is true that her intelligence and ambition is kept subtle and often overlooked, but she has more emotional perseverance then most. She is a hard worker with a keen analytical intellect and an eye for detail, and while she is not the type to step all over others to achieve her goal, she is not one to allow others to step on her either.

While she is honest about her feelings towards others, she is less so about sharing herself and her sister. She doesn't like people invading into her intimate affairs, especially when uninvited, and hides her pain or illness in order to keep them at bay. Most people don't even know she is sickly because she does her best not to show it. She saves her innermost feelings for her sister, and in the future, whomever she chooses to fall in love with (Though, to be honest, she is not sure how that is going to happen or when).

History: Manon Fontaine has two regrets in life: Bearing illegitimate children with a muggle and ruining her chances at becoming a prima ballerina. Cécile had her hand in both of these regrets, something her mother never has forgotten and has yet to let the young woman live down.

In the late 1980's, Manon Fontaine was on her way to becoming a household name, at least in France. She was a young but promising ballet prodigy that was quickly dancing her way to the top , a top that was also inhabited by Mefodiy Baskt, a famed Russian dancer who had become a well respected director. He was known for his harsh, dictatorial style of training as well as the beautiful results of said training. He was also known as being a womanizer outside of the studio, going through women as quickly as he went through dancers, often with them being both. Despite him being 15 years older then her, and a mere muggle, Manon found him intensely attractive and pulled out all stops to get accepted into his dance company.

Her parents were not pleased with this move, having never been fond of the idea that their pureblood daughter would be taking on such a muggle hobby in the first place. However, Manon was intensely competitive and ambitious, leaving behind the traditionalist values she was raised with to chase down her dream of being famous. Mefodiy recognized this passion and readily accepted her into his company. It wasn't long before she was one of his favorite dancers and soon, his lover. This was kept quiet from everyone, Manon was just 17 and she didn't want the other dancers to think she had bedded her way to the top nor did she want her parents to know about her affair with a muggle. It was clear to her that he was a womanizer and that she would likely never marry him, but she also knew that if she could keep their relationship private as well as remain a perfect dancer, he would never leave her.

However, this was not meant to be. She had just finished her debut show to rave reviews, only to find herself growing ill and gaining weight, inexplicably. It didn't take long for her to realize she was pregnant, 3 months so. Mefodiy was furious, but he didn't want to lose his golden goose, so he took her to a small resort town at the base of the Alps, Grenoble, and put her up there to 'recuperate and train' for the next year. Élodie was born 6 months later in late September. Though she was not ready for children, Manon doted on the tiny girl, excited to have someone she could raise alongside Mefodiy to be a famous dancer herself one day. Mefodiy was less enthused but still came and stayed with her in Grenoble for a couple of months after his daughters birth.

It seemed like Manon was going to get her happy ending, but then she discovered, a mere month after Élodie was born, that Mefodiy's visit left her with more then a warm and fuzzy feeling. When she revealed she was once again pregnant, Mefodiy lost it. He had humored her childishness before, looking forward to her returning to the stage, but for her to be so careless to get pregnant again was simply unacceptable. It was as though she was trying to ruin him! He told her that if she expected to remain even in the chorus of his company, she would need to learn to control her desires. The hypocrisy of this statement was not lost on Manon, but she was so determined to remain on the top that she ignored it and tried her best to dance for as long as she could, growing belly or not.

This proved to be a devastating idea. The strain the pregnancy placed on her diaphragm and the fact that she had been out of practice for so long caused her to have complications. She went into labor early and said complications required her to have a C-section. Cécile was born a couple weeks early, on July 23rd, to far less joy than her sister. Manon was far too intent on returning to dance to properly care for her newborns, so she moved back to Priscop (Near Paris) with her parents. She told them that the father was a Beauxbaton alumni that impregnated her and disappeared, hoping that they would be less upset if they thought their grandchildren were pure. They were quite disappointed and suspected that the real father was not a wizard, much less a pureblood one. However, after making a deal with Manon that the girls would marry into pureblood families, whether they liked it or not, they went about raising the girls while she tried to return to where she left off.

But once again, things did not want to go Manons way. When she returned to the company, mere weeks after Cécile's birth, she found that she had been replaced by her rival, both as lead ballerina and as Mefodiy's lover. He refused to see her outside of the studio and told her that she had to start over in the chorus if she wished to remain. Desperate, she begin to push herself harder then ever before, going against the doctors recommendation that she take it easy until her c-section healed. While her practice paid off as far as proving she could still dance, it soon revealed its dark underside when she collapsed on stage and had to be rushed to the hospital. The strain had torn the muscles in such a way that while she would be able to walk again, dancing would be impossible.

Returning home, defeated and bitter, Manon gave up her dreams of dancing and became a socialite like so many of her wealthy pureblood friends. Her parents did most of Élodie and Céciles rearing for their early years, instilling in them not only old world manners but their traditionalist views as well. It wasn't until Élodie was 5 and Cécile was 4 that their mother would take any real interest in either of them. Élodie was a hearty and athletic child, which inspired Manon to enroll Lola in dancing classes. When Lola showed innate talent, Manon realized that while she had failed, her daughter could live out her dreams. She also tried to enroll Cécile, but quickly discovered that Cécile did not have the stamina or strength to be a dancer. This just seemed to be salt added to the wound considering Céciles' birth, in Manons mind, was the reason she had to give up being a dancer in the first place. She never once considered it as a result of her own foibles and how Céciles' health issues were mainly her fault. Despite Cécile showing a heightened intellect and magical capabilities at a younger age then her sister, Manon had little to do with her from then on.

Over the next six years, Manons feelings regarding her children became abundantly clear. She doted on Élodie, praising and spoiling her but also working her until she was exhausted and in pain. She had to be perfect at all costs and Manon watched her like a hawk at all times, making sure she was always eating the correct foods, wearing the right clothes and talking to the right people. On the other side of the coin, Cécile was pretty much ignored by her mother and left in the background as more of a companion to her sister then a daughter. Manon didn't leave her wanting for the basic things in life, but she did not spend much time caring for Cécile otherwise. Nothing Cécile could do would make her feel the same pride in even the simplest thing Élodie accomplished.

Most children would feel resentful towards the preferred sibling, but Cécile actually felt that Élodie, not herself, got the shorter end of the stick. She saw how hard their mother worked Lola and how much it was hurting her, which she thought was far worse then just being ignored. Lola, in turn, felt bad that her sister was neglected and would go out of her way to make sure Cici was taken care of, going as far as to share all the toys and gifts that her mother showered her with. By the time they reached school age, the girls were inseparable, relying on each other to keep going. Their mother noticed this and did her best to keep them apart, worried that Élodie was hiding something from her. They were no longer allowed to sleep in each others rooms and when Manon wasn't training Lola, she was doing her best to keep her busy. For some reason, she became quite paranoid that the girls, who hadn't even hit their preteens yet, were conspiring against her. She nearly chose to homeschool them, but her parents interceded and forbade her to make such a silly decision. The girls needed to meet other children their own age, especially young pureblood men that would be excellent marriage prospects in the future. Tied to her parents purse strings, Manon had no choice but agree and soon the girls found themselves heading to Beauxbaton.  Being born late in the year, Élodie ended up starting school the same year Cécile did, which was perfect for the close siblings, who would dorm together and take the same classes.

Beauxbaton proved to be the best thing for them. Lola was free, most of the year, from her mothers insane coddling and could pursue friendships and hobbies she had never been able to do before. Cécile finally had a chance to prove herself and actually get some recognition, working hard to maintain excellent grades and no disciplinarian issues. The girls became even closer, despite having different interests and friends, because they needed each other. Cécile was shy and awkward with many children her own age and Élodie was charismatic and easygoing, making it simple for her to make friends. She included Cécile in their exploits so the younger girl could feel accepted. She also cared for Cici when she got ill, which was frequent. Cécile, on the other hand, had better marks and a better grasp at magic then Élodie, so in turn she would help her sister with her schoolwork.

Once they would return home, in the summer, things would return to the way they were before, with Manon harping on Élodie about practicing and ignoring Cécile. The girls came to resent their mother as they grew older, especially when she became jealous of their closeness and tried to pry them apart, lest Cécile ruin Élodie's career as well. Towards the end of their fifth year, they started working on a way to communicate with each other so their mother couldn't interfere.  With hard work, the two managed to teach themselves Legilimency over the next couple of years, using it to their advantage in many ways. ((This depends on the acceptance of the special ability application, which will follow shortly)).

It is now their final year of schooling and the girls are ready to be done in more then one way. With the intention to move away from their mothers grasp, the pair has entered the Tetrawizard tournament in hopes to win the prize money, since they are reasonably sure Manon won't be giving them any if they leave her.

How Do You Fit Into Your House?: Cécile was accepted as a possible champion because of her excellent marks and ability to think both analytically and creatively on her feet. She is a bit nervous, however, about the physical aspect because of her health. She would much prefer if Lola was given the role and that she could assist her with the various tasks, as opposed to doing it all herself.

Writing Sample: --

Sum up your character in one paragraph: Cécile has been underestimated most of her life, either because of her gentile nature, childlike face or sickly constitution. But she is a woman of great surprises, harboring both intelligence and perseverance that is not seen in many of her peers. Combined with her sisters confident strength and physical prowess, and the Fontaine sisters will be a force to be reckoned with.