Here it is, everyone! The first chapter of the RWBY Exchange/Transfer Student AU. Yang Xiao Long is hot for the French exchange student, Blake Belladonna, and Ruby Rose is paired with Weiss Schnee, the German transfer student colloquially known as the 'Ice Queen' for a History project. Bumbleby/White Rose, 4743 words. Enjoy!

From outside the confines of their tiny dorm room, the sun began to set, melting into the horizon in a mix of red, purple and yellow. Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long basked in the vanishing sun's light, painted with colour. They sat on the floor, Yang staring at the playing cards in her hands. Opposite them sat Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc, one of whom was smiling warmly, whilst the other scratched his head in frustration.

"…Jaune, got any fours?" Yang said, tucking a strand of messy blonde hair behind her ear in a fruitless attempt to stop it falling into her face. The blonde-haired, blue eyed boy sitting across from her sighed, and handed over a card, defeating spreading across his face. Lavender eyes lit up as Yang gleefully took the card from the downtrodden boy, and threw her entire hand onto the floor, proclaiming, "I'm out!"

Ruby rolled silver eyes, and Pyrrha smiled sympathetically, patting the boy on the back.

"One day," Yang said, smirking as she gathered up the cards back into one pile again. "Anybody keen for another round?"

Jaune shot her a look of exasperation, which only earned him a snigger in response. Ruby lay back down on the ground, letting her arms fall with a thump.

"I can't be bothered," she said. "I'm still tired after last night." The silver-eyed girl released a huffing sigh to demonstrate her point. Green eyes blinked as Pyrrha creased her eyebrows.

"I should probably see how Nora is doing…" she said, gesturing towards the door. Jaune nodded along, standing up alongside the girl with the fiery hair.

"Hey, yeah, where is she? I haven't seen her all day!" Ruby sat up suddenly, frowning. It was unlike Nora to stay out of things for long. Yang grinned, raising her eyebrows.

"She got waaaaay dizzy on the fizzy last night, so I heard she's still in bed, hung over as fuck. Ren's probably looking after her."

Ruby sighed in exasperation, and Pyrrha and Jaune exchanged a look of amusement. One other thing Nora was notable for was being a little too drink-happy. Luckily for her, Ren seemed to be content to look after her, leaving the silver-eyed girl to wonder just what it was like to have a best friend. Then again, she had Yang, didn't she? Her big sister was probably just as good.

Jaune and Pyrrha waved as they headed for the door, causing Yang to remark, "What, nobody's keen for another round? Lame."

The lavender-eyed girl pouted, and Pyrrha smiled weakly, waving, "Sorry!" as she shut the door behind her. Yang sighed dramatically, throwing her head back and leaning back against the wall below the window. Red, purple and golden light shone on her legs.

"Great," the older girl grumbled, "Now I have to think school thoughts. Why can't winter break be longer?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, smiling despite her sister's lack of enthusiasm. "It'll be fun, though! The classes are getting reshuffled, so you might not have to sit next to Ice Queen anymore."

Yang scowled, contempt in her voice. "It'd be better if break never ended, so that bitch could stay in Germany. Ugh."

In her sophomore year, Yang had decided to ask out Weiss Schnee, a German transfer student colloquially known as the 'Ice Queen' for her frosty demeanour and elegant appearance. The two had dated for a grand total of three weeks before exploding into the biggest fight their school had seen in years, resulting in the two being suspended for three weeks, and over two years of snide comments, dirty looks and 'accidents'. Yang had always left the meaning of the latter to Ruby's imagination, but the younger girl didn't get a good feeling from it. At all. It's either secret hook-ups in the closet again, or she's referring to the time she burned the girl's school uniform. Ruby suspected the latter.

Gazing out the window, Ruby watched the school courtyard, no longer covered in snow, but just empty concrete. Nobody wanted to be out in the cold this late, for sure. Suddenly, Ruby saw an unfamiliar black car drive up the driveway, coming to rest at the start of the Courtyard.

"Hey, Yang, look," Ruby tugged at her sister's sleeve, and the two stared through the window at the black car as their principal, Headmaster Ozpin, and his assistant, Miss Goodwitch, made their way across the courtyard, and greeted whoever was inside it.

"Is something important happening we don't know about…?" Ruby offered in explanation, confused. Yang just stared, pointing at the figure who stepped out of the car.

"Uh, it must be a new kid," Yang said, tilting her head. "She's wearing our school skirt, so…? I can't really see her face, but she doesn't look like anyone we know."

Ruby nodded – the girl had long, flowing black hair, though they couldn't see her other features from so far away. The description didn't match anyone in their year, or any of the other years.

Ozpin and Goodwitch led the girl into the administrative wing of the main school building, and Yang sighed as the black car drove away.

"Probably some new rich kid," she said, waving a hand. "Weird that they transferred in the middle of the year, though."

Ruby nodded, in affirmation, shrugging. "She's probably not even in our year, anyway. No need to worry about it."

Yang sighed, slumping down against the wall again. The light had turned from red and yellow to blue and dark, as the sun began to disappear. Only a few light rays scattered around the room, casting a chill over the two sisters.

"Brrr," Yang shivered. "Can you turn on the heater? It's freezing."

Ruby rolled her eyes, standing up stiffly and making her way to the other side of the room. Her older sister wasn't exactly dressed for the weather, wearing an orange tank top and black pyjama shorts.

"Maybe you wouldn't be so cold if you put some clothes on," Ruby suggested, her tone wry. Yang pouted, throwing her arms in the air in mock protest.

"You're wearing a tank top too!" she said. Ruby shrugged.

"I'm not the one complaining," she replied, "Besides, I'm wearing pyjama pants, not stupid shorts like you."

Yang rolled closer to her sister, grabbing onto Ruby's legs and holding them tight.

"Maybe I should just cuddle with you instead, then!"

Ruby panicked, trying to shake her off, but found herself toppling to the floor. With a thud, she fell to the floor, Yang grabbing onto her from behind and hugging her close. Ruby squirmed, wanting release form Yang's sideways bear hug.

"Yang! Get o-off!" she squawked, kneeing her sister in the stomach. Yang just laughed, taking the blow but refusing to let go.

"Tch."

Suddenly, the two roommate's attention was drawn to the door, where an unwelcome figure stood. Weiss Schnee faced them, a sneer on her face, and stood in the doorway, aloof.

"Igitt."

Her tone was as if she were disgusted. Then, just like that, she stalked off, and vanished. Neither of the sisters could speak German, but they were pretty sure she'd just insulted the both of them.

In seconds, Yang was on her feet, shouting at the girl from the doorway, "You wanna go, bitch!?"

Ruby latched onto her older sister, trying to act as a restraint, but ultimately failing.

"Go back to Germany where you belong!"

"Yang, calm down," she urged, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. Last time this happened, was…well, the incident two years ago. Ruby didn't want another repeat of two weeks of moochy, grumpy Yang to deal with.

Thankfully, the blonde growled, but stormed back into the room, lying down on her bed, shoving Ruby aside as she did so.

"I'm going to bed," she said, throwing the covers over top of herself and curling up.

"…it's seven."

"Ruby, I'm going to bed."

Ruby rolled her eyes, before shutting the door to their shared dorm. Maybe I'll go see what Nora's doing.

The hallways were lit now, as the day's light had faded, leaving only darkness to replace it. The cold, cream walls of the dormitory were everywhere, most stark and bare, with the exception of an occasional window. The carpet was, a deep maroon red that looked as if it had seen better days. Regardless, it was home – and it had been for the past six months.

Nora's dorm was wasn't far down the hall, only a short walk. After only a few minutes, Ruby found herself at Room 242 – Nora and Pyrrha's shared room – and knocked.

"Come in," came the call from inside. Ruby smiled, turning the round, ornate but tarnished doorknob, and stepped inside. Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ren sat, chatting, whilst Nora slept in her own bed. Ruby felt concerned. Aren't they gonna wake her up?

Almost as if sensing her discomfort, Jaune patted the floor beside him, saying, "Don't worry, she won't wake up."

Ruby smiled, taking a seat next to him. Jaune was of French heritage, resulting in a heavy accent, but having been raised bilingually, he spoke fluent English. The silver-eyed girl loved listening to him speak; he had a sort of flavour to his words that was interesting and…unique, if nothing else. If only he'd be a little more confident, he'd be a great Head Boy. Ren spoke up, continuing his story.

"She was such a hassle to get back to her dorm room; she stopped every five minutes to tell me how great I was. Whilst I appreciated the flattery, I was more concerned about getting her home."

Pyrrha smiled wanly, gazing at her roommate with mirth. "She certainly does enjoying drinking," the red-haired girl said, nudging Jaune and raising an eyebrow. The blonde-haired boy blushed, and protested.

"I-I didn't have that many! I don't even have a hangover!" he said, with impudence in his voice. Ruby and Pyrrha looked at each other, giggling.

"You had enough, Jaune," Ruby said, covering her mouth. "That's what counts. You were completely giddy."

Jaune went redder, sending the two girls into another fit of giggles. Ren just rolled his eyes,

"Where's Yang?" Jaune asked, looking around. "She didn't come with you?"

Ruby just shrugged, gesturing towards the outside of the room.

"Ice Queen's back, so she went to bed early."

The room's atmosphere suddenly turned from jovial to frosty at the very mention of the girl.

"Oh?" Jaune was seemingly oblivious to the change in mood. "Is she back? That's great!"

Ruby laughed nervously, looking at Pyrrha and Ren for help. Neither of them said anything, and just exchanged looks. Usually, Jaune's larger-than-little crush on the Ice Queen was a source of amusement in the blue-eyed boy's, well, boyish charms, but at a mention of Yang? It was better left unsaid.

"…moving on, how'd you manage to get Nora back here, Ren?" Ruby tactfully tried to change the topic. Jaune looked bewildered, but slowly the conversation resumed as Ren recounted his 'heroic' tale of getting Nora back home from the prior night's party.

Then, suddenly, it was 9:22pm and Ruby was yawning.

"Shoot, I should probably go to bed, guys. See ya." With a second yawn, Ruby stood up, heading towards the door.

"Oh, see ya!" Jaune called out, followed by a tired wave from Pyrrha and Ren. Ruby waved back, before quietly shutting the door, and heading back down the hallway to her own dorm room.

At the sudden blast of cold air, Ruby shivered. The hallways didn't have any heaters, meaning the night air would always be frigid and unwelcoming. The silver-eyed girl rubbed her upper arms in an attempt not to freeze solid right then and there.

As she walked, she saw someone coming towards her, with black hair, pale skin, and bright amber eyes. Oh. She must be the girl from the courtyard. If she was indeed a new student, she didn't show any signs of it. She seemed to know exactly where she was going, walking down the hallway with a purpose.

She passed Ruby without so much as a glance in the younger girl's direction, leaving Ruby a little bewildered. Huh. Maybe I've just never seen her before. The girl shrugged, ignoring it for now.

Ruby opened the door to her and Yang's shared room quietly, trying not to disturb her sister on the off chance the girl was actually asleep

To the younger girl's surprise, it seemed her sister was actually asleep, Ruby noted as she tiptoed into their room. She could hear Yang's gentle breathing, and the room was completely dark. Ruby smiled wanly; when Yang said she was going to bed early, that usually meant she had a hangover. She usually never let on, but the girl had been grumpy all day. Nice try, Yang, but you're not fooling me.

Ruby settled into bed, pulling the sheets over her shoulders. Now I know why you were so weird last night. 'I've only had a few', my butt. Whilst Yang did have a remarkably high tolerance to alcohol, Ruby's older sister also had a tendency to overdo it. Not that the older girl would ever admit it, though.

Ruby sighed, a little contentedly. Whatever. The silver-eyed settled, closing her eyes, and allowed herself to slowly fall asleep.

It took all of half an hour for Blake Belladonna to admit she was completely lost. The school walls wound in unfamiliar ways, too confusing for her mind to grasp.

She sighed; how exactly had a simple bathroom trip turned into an hour-long expedition of the unexplored? The Headmaster had seemed nice enough, personally coming to greet her. His assistant was a little frostier, but still kind enough to escort the girl to her dorm. Surprisingly enough, her roommate hadn't yet arrived back, so Blake had taken it upon herself to unpack. Half an hour later, she was still alone, so the dark-haired girl had decided to take a brief bathroom trip, and hopefully learn a little more about the geography of the school.

Unfortunately, she'd never made it to the bathroom, and she now knew less about the geography of the school than she thought she had before. Blake sighed, running her hands through her hair. She didn't even know if she was anywhere near the dorms.

What if I'm somewhere I shouldn't be? Wouldn't I get in trouble? If anything, Blake just wanted to have a normal school life, without getting in trouble or doing bad things. Maybe if I keep my face straight, if I come across a teacher, they won't get mad at me. The black-haired girl made an effort to keep her face straight, facing ahead. The cream walls stared at her, and Blake stared back. To her left, she heard a noise that sounded like a door opening, and then closing. Her stomach seized with panic. Don't look away. Straight face. Look ahead. Look confident. Blake maintained her composure, and somebody walked right past her, though Blake felt the burning sting of eyes watching her for the briefest of moments. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a flash of brown hair, red tipped. Blake's head whipped around, her composure vanishing. She saw a girl in pyjamas vanish into another door, closing it behind her. Shit. What am I doing? I could have asked her for directions. Blake sighed, tugging at her hair.

Then, she halted, briefly. Wait. If she was in pyjamas, does that mean I'm in the dormitory hallway? Blake checked the doors; they were numbered in a familiar fashion. The girl heaved a sigh of relief, as she realised she was at Room 247. My room was…263, right? Blake continued walking down the halls, nerves creeping into her stomach as she reached the door numbered 263. She reached for the handle, and to her surprised, the door was unlocked. Is this the right room….? Regardless of her nerves, she opened the door anyway.

To her relief, the room was familiar, although her things had been unceremoniously shoved to the side. Blake supposed her roommate was back – and, as she looked around the room, she was right. A girl with icy white hair in a ponytail was rummaging through her luggage, and hanging things up in their shared wardrobe. The girl turned around as Blake shut the door, staring at the black-haired girl as one would a stain upon a shirt.

"You're my roommate?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow. She had a noticeable German accent, but her English seemed fluent enough. Blake nodded, unsure what to do.

"…yes," she said, trying to keep it simple. Despite how well she could read and write it, and even understand it when listening, Blake still had trouble speaking it confidently. Small answers were fine, but long conversations were particularly daunting. It was much easier just to keep to herself.

Her roommate's eyes widened as the girl heard her response.

"You're French?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Blake nodded again, surprised the girl had recognised her accent from such a short answer.

"I speak some French – is that your native language?" she asked, and again, Blake nodded, beginning to wish the girl would introduce herself and just leave her alone. I kind of want to sleep. Her need to go to the bathroom had vanished, replaced by her eyelids drooping and intermittent yawns. However, the girl across the room kept going, apparently fascinated.

"How fascinating – what part of France are you from?"

The girl didn't seem to have any intention of stopping. Blake tried not to sigh as a yawn escaped her lips.

"Alsace," Blake yawned, heading towards her bed, thankfully already made. The white-haired girl stared at her with striking blue eyes, traces of a smile playing on her mouth as she sat cross-legged on her own bed.

"Oh! Do you speak German, then?"

She kept going and going, without letting Blake stop to take a breath. Please, just leave me alone. Blake nodded reluctantly – she did speak a certain amount of German, having learned it whilst she was growing up from the other kids in the street. She wouldn't call herself fluent, but she could mostly hold a conversation in it. She was probably equally as good at German as she was at English – okay, but there was a lot of room for improvement.

Her roommate inhaled with excitement, eyes flashing. "My name is Weiss Schnee, by the way," she said, placing a hand on her chest and smiling proudly. "I'm the heiress to the Schnee Oil Company."

Blake had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Great. I'm rooming with a likely brat. "Blake."

She kept her answers curt, trying and hoping to send Weiss some sort of message – such as, 'please leave me alone, I don't want to talk to you'.

Weiss opened her lips to speak again, but Blake interrupted her suddenly, with "-I'm sorry…can I go to sleep?"

Blake held her breath, going over the phrase in her mind. Did I pronounce that correctly? Were my inflections alright? Thankfully, it seemed her roommate understood what she'd meant to say. The girl sniffed, going back to what she was doing before. Relief washed over the black-haired girl as she changed into her pyjamas, crawling into bed. Weiss wordlessly turned off the light, and within minutes, Blake could hear her breathing softly in her sleep. However, instead of sleep coming easily, Blake lay awake in bed, wondering exactly what the following day would bring for her. Am I going to be able to talk to anyone here? What concerned her most was her English – having come from a town where French was spoken and English taught, it made things difficult to suddenly show up at an English-speaking school in an English-speaking country. It helped that Beacon was somewhat known internationally, meaning it received a number of international students. Despite this, the academy was, in the end, an English-speaking school, and Blake dreaded the thought of not being able to understand anyone properly.

It was probably another half hour of worrying before Blake Belladonna finally settled into an uneasy sleep.

Yang Xiao Long woke up to the sounds of birds chirping, the warmth of the sun on her face, and the image of her darling sister Ruby Rose pulling a face directly above her own.

Yang's head cracked against the back of the wall as the girl backed up suddenly. Ruby fell on the floor, sniggering and laughing. Yang growled, leaping out of bed and straddling the girl's stomach, holding her sister down. Then, she began to tickle the girl.

"You think I'm gonna let you off making me bang my head this early in the morning?" Yang said, eyes flaming, and let out a wicked laugh, "You're deluded, darling little sister!"

Ruby laughed uncontrollably as Yang tickled her neck, her armpits, even her feet.

"O-ohkkay Yang, p-, please stop! I gi-ive, I give!" Ruby squawked, lifting her hands in surrender. Yang grinned, raising her eyebrows, and released the silver-eyed girl, offering her a hand. Ruby gratefully took it, and Yang punched her shoulder.

"Ouch, that really hurt my head," Yang said, grabbing her uniform off of its coat hangers.

Ruby just stuck out her tongue, and Yang giggled as the two put on their uniforms – a red plaid skirt, a white blouse, and a black blazer.

They chatted about nonsensical things as they headed to the cafeteria for breakfast, Yang recounting yet another tale from Saturday night's party, which led to Ruby raising her eyebrows, and reminding Yang just how drunk she'd been – which the older girl profusely denied, of course. She hadn't been that drunk.

Yang chose a bowl of cereal for breakfast – plain and simple, and sat down at their typical table. Ruby was more of a toast girl, and took the seat opposite Yang as Pyrrha, Jaune, Ren and Nora eventually joined them. Each table sat around ten people, but nobody else usually wanted to sit with them. All six were perfectly fine with that.

"Ruby, whatcha got first?" Yang asked, bringing a spoonful of cereal to her mouth. Her younger sister sighed, munching on toast.

"History. You?"

"Chemistry," Yang pulled a face, sticking a finger down her throat. Ruby rolled her eyes, but Nora shoved her head in.

"Why'd you take it if you don't like it?" she asked, apparently having recovered from her two-day hangover. Yang held back a snigger. She's incredible, alright. What a comeback after yesterday.

"I dunno, I passed last year? It's just so boring," Yang replied, shoving another spoonful of cereal into her mouth. "Who cares about stupid Lewis diagrams and that shit?"

Jaune nodded in agreement, nibbling alongside at toast, "Yeah. I'm glad I decided to drop it. I think we have Latin first, right Pyrrha?"

Jaune's accent was still heavy as ever, Yang noted as Pyrrha nodded in affirmation. The six continued to chat, nibbling away at their respective dishes, until suddenly, the bell rang, indicating five minutes until class began. Yang sighed dramatically, slinging her bag onto her shoulder and standing up.

"I'll be seeing you, then, guys."

Yang waved as she headed to the exit, then pushed through the double-doors and began to walk down the link between the cafeteria and the Science block. Instead of cream, the walls here were simply polished wood, and the floor some sort of white lino. Probably to stop the floor melting when we drop chemicals, Yang mused as she paced down the halls. Her Chemistry class was on the floor above, and as she headed towards the stairs, she was bombarded by a sudden swarm of people. Dear God. Her pace slowed as she moved slowly, but steadily up the stairs, trying not to push the person in front of her as she was shoved from behind. Yang had to hold her tongue to avid lashing out at whoever was walking behind her.

Thankfully, she only had to endure one flight of the crowd, and made her way out of the swarm of black-and-red to her Chemistry classroom. She walked inside, and took a seat at the back, concealing a yawn. Though her hangover – headache – from the day before had gone, she was still tired.

More and more people filtered in, many of whom Yang recognised, but wasn't particularly close with. Boring. Do I even have any friends in this class? Yang punched herself internally for being dumb enough to pick a class nobody else was taking.

Then, suddenly, a girl with raven-black strolled in, looking around with dull amber eyes. She walked to the back, and took the seat at the desk next to Yang's, sitting down quietly and taking her books out. Yang stared, mesmerised.

Holy shit, Yang thought, swallowing and trying to hide to inevitable blush that was spreading across her cheeks. She's really, really hot.

Ruby Rose bounced as she strolled into her History Class, accompanied by a notably less enthusiastic Lie Ren.

"Come on Ren, it's History! It's exciting!" she said as she rolled on the balls of her feet, hands clasped behind her back and a grin on her face.

Ren raised an eyebrow, saying, "Whilst I enjoy History to some extent, I don't think I share your…extreme enthusiasm."

Ruby pouted, poking out a tongue. "You're no fun." Ren raised both eyebrows this time, and Ruby giggled. The class as already partially full, most of the desks chosen already. The back rows were already completely filled, but that didn't bother the silver-eyed girl; she preferred to sit at the front. Ren took the seat next to her as Ruby chose a seat in the second-to-front row – close, but not too close to the Teacher.

"I wonder what we're going to be covering next?" Ruby said, vibrating in her seat. "Maybe the Wars of the Roses? Or the 1688 Revolution?" She had to stop herself from squeaking. Ren smiled wanly, blinking.

"You really love this stuff, don't you?" he said, gesturing towards his textbook. Ruby nodded, shaking her fists with excitement.

Suddenly, Ruby's face fell a little as a figure walked into the classroom. Weiss Schnee, the Ice Queen, stalked into class, taking a seat in the front row. Upon seeing Ruby, the white-haired girl curled her lip, then promptly turned her attention towards the front – away from Ruby. Oh, great. Ice Queen's in my favourite class. Ren pulled a sympathetic face; he was all too aware of the conflict between Weiss and Yang, and by association Ruby. The girl sighed, then let a smile wash across her face. Who even cares? It's not like we're gonna talk to each other. We're not even sitting near one another. Besides, History is my favourite subject! There's no way I'm gonna let her ruin this!

Ruby's smile felt a little more confident as their teacher, Mr. Port, walked into the room, placing the lesson's note on his desk. He cleared his throat, and the talkative din of the class died away as everyone began to pay attention.

"Welcome, everyone, to Senior History. I hope you all have had a good break, and that you've all rested up, ready for a new semester of hard work."

Ruby grinned, looking at Ren. Her friend rolled his eyes at her blatant enthusiasm.

"Our first topic this semester will be World War I. You'll be working in pairs for a group project that will span the first half of the semester. It'll count towards thirty percent of your grade, so work hard. Now, I'll begin with naming your partners."

Ruby sat up straight, excitement blazing through her veins. I'm so excited! World War I! World War I! The original World War! She grinned ferociously at Ren, who just rolled his eyes.

"Lie Ren and Sky Lark," Mr Port continued, earning a pout from Ruby. She'd have liked to have worked together with a close friend, but she supposed it wasn't the end of the world.

"Ruby Rose," Port continued, his voice gruff. Ruby's ears pricked up, excited.

"…and Weiss Schnee."

Ruby's stomach dropped forty floors, and she swallowed heavily. Ice Queen?...Really? She turned her head, meeting Weiss's invasive blue eyes. Her gaze was met with a disgusted expression as the Ice Queen curled her lip in repulsion. Ruby swallowed again, her heart sinking.

Oh man, Ruby thought. Yang is really not gonna be happy about this.

As part of this chapter, I had the lovely tumblr user lilamala help me out with Weiss's German. Thanks so much!

Igitt - means "yuck",and is pretty much pronounced like eegit, all vowels short.

Well, there we are, the first chapter. Read/Review/Favourite/Follow, and let me know what you think on my tumblr, seacatsinspace. If you have any headcanons you'd like me to throw in, let me know! Thanks for reading!