Written for Round 8 for QLFC- Write about your chosen next-gen character.

A big thank you to Jordi for betaing.

Beautiful Memories

"Sing it, Vicky! Please!" Dominique was curled up in bed in seemingly the perfect sleeping position, but her crystal blue eyes were wide and awake.

"Dom," Victoire groaned, while brushing her beautiful blonde hair. Dominique waited patiently, watching how her sister's hair slightly glowed in the dark and wondering why her own strawberry-blonde didn't shine in the moonlight. She heard her sister sigh and place down her hairbrush.

"Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques, dormez-vous? Dormez-vous? Sonnez les matines, sonnez les matines, ding ding dong, ding ding dong."
The beautiful sound of her sister's voice was music to Dominique's ears. She snuggled deeper into the peach-coloured sheets and closed her eyes. Victoire started singing it again and again, until Dominique became drowsy and finally fell asleep.

(***)

Dominique could hear her mother's singing from the bottom of the stairs and she quickly scrambled into her bed noisily, dropping a large ivory hairbrush on the floor. From the protection of her periwinkle blue bed sheets, she saw that the impact of the drop created a crack in the stone.

"Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques, dormez-vous? Dormez-vous? Sonnez les matines, sonnez les matines, ding ding dong, ding ding dong."
The beautiful sound of her mother's voice became louder and louder until she made it to the top of the stairs and outside Dominique's bedroom door. Her mother knew she was awake.

As the bedroom door quietly creaked open, Dominique squeezed her eyes shut so tightly that she started to see weird, blurry spots.

"Dominique."

She pried one eye open and saw her mother's crystal blue eyes staring straight back at her. She could probably see her red rimmed eyes and snotty nose. She wanted her sister, it wasn't fair! She didn't want to hear her mother tell her that she would only have to wait two years until she would be able to go to Hogwarts. Or that she should be happy to know that her sister was going to be an extremely talented witch. All she wanted was to hear her sister sing Frère Jacques.

"Why are you still awake?" Fleur asked, her heavy French tongue filtering out the words. Her long, pale fingers combed through Dominique's messy curls.

"I couldn't sleep." Her mother's nodded, accepting the lie. The real reason why she was up at 4am in the morning was because she had a dream about Victoire forgetting her favourite hairbrush and herself flying through the skies to give it to her at Hogwarts. Only part of that dream was true, of course.

"I could make some 'erbal tea. Your aunt 'ermione bought some for me, but I'm sure you could have-"

'No, mama." Dominique hoped her mother couldn't see the disgusted look that crossed her face. Her mother's combing motion stopped and she knelt down on the floor. Fleur was back up in a second with Victoire's ivory hairbrush in hand. Her expression was unreadable, while Dominique's face was filled terror.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to crack it. I dropped it on the floor when you were coming up the stairs, mama. Sorry!" Dominique said all of that pretty quickly, and tears threatened to spill.

Fleur brushed her fingers on the once smooth ivory and said in a distant voice, "My grand-mother gave this to my mother, and she gave it to me."

Dominique's bottom lip quivered. "Can't you fix it by magic?"

"My mother said it was a special brush, so if I damaged it wouldn't be able to get fixed… but, of course, she just said that so I would be extra careful with it." Fleur brought out her wand from her front pocket and pointed it at the broken hairbrush. "Reparo." The hairbrush was repaired in an instant.

"Now, do you want me to sing you to sleep?"

Dominique thought hard before saying, "Yes, just not Frère Jacques please."

(***)

"You still have that chipped thing." Victoire turned around at the voice of her younger sister and her shoulders relaxed slightly. Dominique thought that Victoire looked stunning in her wedding dress. The summer sunlight made it shine like a chandelier.

"Yeah, something old, I guess." Victoire turned the hairbrush around in her hands. "Do you remember when I used to sing Frère Jacques to you?"

"Yep. That was the only bit of French you bothered to learn from mother."

"What can I say? French was not my fortè."

"Don't let mother hear you say that," Dominique grinned and walked further into Victoire's bedroom. "Scared?"

"Only slightly." Victoire gave her ivory hairbrush to her sister. Dominique gathered Victoire's elegant, honey coloured hair and started to brush gently.

"Well you shouldn't be. You're the belle of the ball in Teddy's eyes, everyone can see that."

"I'm not just a pretty object to stare at, Dom," Victoire said, suddenly cold. "I'm just boring compared to you. Beautiful, but boring Vicky."

Dominique ceased her brushing. She had never heard Victoire be so self-critical about herself. She was the leader of the self-pity party, not the smart and attractive woman who stood before her.

"Even though you are marrying a Lupin today, you will always be a Weasley, and being Weasley means that you are strong. Vic, if you think that Teddy might leave you because you are 'boring' you are not the older sister I grew up with. Your not brittle like your ivory brush. You are a strong-willed, creative and a fiery spirit when you need to be. Anything but boring."

There was a small silence and then Victoire smiled slightly. "Where did that come from?"

"Eighteen years of envy." Dominique continued brushing Victoire's hair, but she stepped away.

"Envy? I think someone has to remind themselves who they are again."

"I know who I am. The immature, wild and short tempered Weasley of the family."

"You're forgetting beautiful, intelligent, ambitious."

"Oh, stop it!" Dominique's cheeks grew hot. "This is your special day, not mine."

"Don't be surprised when I try to hook you up with Finnigan on the dance floor." Dominque's blush deepened, causing Victoire to burst out in laughter.

"I hate you, Vic."

"I love you too, Dom."

Team: Montrose Magpies

Position: Beater (2)

Prompts:

(colour) periwinkle

(nursery rhyme) Frére Jaques

(dialogue) "Where did that come from?"

Word Count: 1061

Character: Dominique Weasley