Her heels echo ominously down the long walk from the doors to the front of the Great Hall. Hushed murmuring can barely be heard as she passes. The stares are curious, the bodies tense.
Her blonde hair swings down to her slightly swaying hips and it's the only thing about her that's feminine. Her grey eyes are a cool tempered steel that give away nothing. Her lips, though full, are slit into a thin line of mild annoyance. Her legs are thin and go on for what seems like miles. Her posture is perfectly correct but there's an indolent indifference to her form.
Her eyes are rimmed with black and her lips are colored with blood red. Her school skirt is short short short, and her tie hangs loosely around her neck. She's forgone the robes and elected instead to continue wearing her dark grey muggle jacket, her hands shoved deeply into the pockets. Her long, long legs are encased in ripped garter tights and some kind of muggle laced wedge heels.
Everything about her screams nonconformist. She's edgy, she's a rebel. If she weren't scowling, the number of her admirers would skyrocket. But she is, so they keep their distance.
Her cousins are smirking from their various tables. They know what she's thinking and they know she's quite nearly pissed off. She's going to turn the school upside down and they can't wait to see her do it.
She finally reaches the front where the Headmistress stands. The elderly woman's face is mildly pinched. She too knows that this rebel child will change everything. Unlike the girl's family, she is not quite sure she wants to be there for it.
"This year we have a transfer student," the Headmistress begins her address to the students. "Normally we do not allow transfers so late in their education, however, this is a special case. Please welcome Miss Dominique Weasley."
The students hear her name and gasp. She is so unlike everything they have ever heard about the famous clan. Chatter quickly breaks out as members of all four houses try to figure out which branch of Weasleys the girl belongs to.
The Headmistress eyes the seemingly unconcerned girl. Completely unshocked by the small scale uproar she has caused by her mere presence, Dominique makes eye contact with a couple of her cousins and rolls her eyes. Her facial expression has not changed, but the Headmistress gets the distinct impression that she is faintly amused.
"All right, you can harass the Weasley- Potters later," she says as she claps her hands for order. Gesturing to the stool beside her, she continues, "If you wouldn't mind taking a seat so we can find out what house you belong in?"
Dominique snorts but hops up on the stool. The Sorting Hat is placed gently on her head and the room quiets instantly.
Not even a full ten seconds pass before the Hat bellows, "SLYTHERIN."
Dominique snorts again and tosses the Hat to the Headmistress. She makes her way over to the Slytherin table and taps a seventh year on the shoulder. "Budge over," she mutters and he scoots immediately away from her cousin, leaving her plenty of room.
Her ginger haired cousin raises her eyebrows but says nothing. She just passes Dominique the fruit juice.
"Shut it, Rosie," Dominique growls. She eyes her juice and wonders if she can persuade the house elves to serve her something stronger.
"You shut it," Rose snarks. "And you're stuck with juice so get over it."
Dominique rolls her eyes. "Like hell I will." She says nothing else after that and her new housemates are wondering just what kind of girl she is but they're too nervous to talk to her.
She is, after all, Rose's cousin. And small though she is and thirteen she may be, Rose has already proven to her housemate why she was placed in Slytherin. And though the evidence is slight, they are Slytherins and all of them see the slight difference in Rose's bearing as soon as her cousin joined them. They are Slytherins and so they see the pride and miniscule respect in Rose's eyes.
They won't speak to her yet. But they're watching her. And just like the cousins, just like the Headmistress, they feel that this girl is different and they can already see that she will set the world on fire. So they won't speak yet. But they're waiting.
By the end of the week, Dominique has the entire Slytherin house firmly in her control. If Rose was their princess, Dominique is their queen. Her word is law. Bullying is down, misdemeanors are up, and the teachers are thoroughly exasperated with her harsh attitude.
No one from the other houses know how it happened, not even the Weasley-Potters. But then, they don't even bother to ask. Rose walks around with a slight smirk, and Lily Luna seems impressed, and neither of them look shocked.
Even the Slytherins that hate the Weasley clan follow her lead. She has won them over so thoroughly that they question nothing.
She treats them all as equals, even the little first years. If they have any trouble with members of other houses, Dominique takes care of it personally. When she finds out that some idiot fifth years in Ravenclaw have been harassing her third year girls, she confronts them in an appropriately intense Dominique-esque way, all in their faces and whispered promises so violent the boys wet themselves in fear. They never tell what she says to them, but they also never bother girls of any house again.
When a seventh year boy is rejected in the Great Hall by a sixth year Gryffindor in a way that leaves his face burning and his heart broken, Dominique does nothing. When she finds out that the girl had been flirting with him for months and led him on with the intention to humiliate him, she waits in the halls near the girl's common room and corners her. Neither are seen for hours, and when they do reappear, the girl's face is pale and her hands won't stop shaking for days later. She never tells what Dominique did to her, not even when the teachers demand that she turn Dominique in, but she does apologize to the boy in front of everyone and drops all of her heartbreaking games.
Yes, Dominique is Slytherin's queen and Salazar have mercy on the soul of anyone tries to mess with her snakes. She looks out for her own and relies on no one to help her.
She does not have friends; she has subjects. And for her that is enough. If she is lonely, she finds her cousins and brother. Though at least two years younger than her, they keep her entertained with their own misadventures. She gives them tips on how to get out of detention and the best lies to use when out past curfew and how to get revenge without getting caught. She teaches them how to steal and how to hide their thoughts and why her threats work on students and teachers alike.
In return, they teach her the secret passageways and best places to smoke without getting caught. They show her the Marauder's map they nicked from Uncle Harry and how to tickle the pear to get to the kitchens. They tell her the best places to go in Hogsmeade and how to get shop owners to show her the actual valuable merchandise.
Not only do they exchange skills, but they also exchange information. Dominique never tells what she does to keep the Slytherins in line, and her cousins never tell her what their housemates plan as revenge. They do however keep a grapevine open solely for gossip going around the castle. Dominique hears everything, from whose parents were furious at them to who was dating whom. She hears it all and she takes it all in.
A month into the school year, Dominique finds a seventh year Ravenclaw in a compromising position with a fifth year Hufflepuff. She raises her eyebrows but says nothing and continues on her way. Days later, she is told by Fred that said seventh year had been dating a sixth year Ravenclaw for the last six months.
Mouth pursed in thought, she has him double check to make sure they're still dating. They are and Dominique debates the pros and cons of getting involved in other house drama. She arranges to meet the sixth year girl and calmly tells her what she saw. She is fully prepared to walk away while the girl stares at her in disbelief, but she is stopped by a hand on her sleeve. She looks up to see a face filled with determination.
The girl tells her that she had suspected for a while but had no proof and would she please lend her a hand with some revenge in exchange for a future favor. Dominique knows a good trade when she sees it so she immediately agrees.
Two days later, it comes out that the girl has dumped her boyfriend in the Ravenclaw common room. A week later, and somehow his house knows that he has contracted an amplified version of a muggle STD. They try to brush it under the rug, but somehow the rumors keep circulating until everyone knows about it and it's all anyone can talk about.
The girl thanks Dominique and tells her the favor is hers whenever she wants it no matter what. They don't speak again but the girl passes on the information that the Slytherin queen exchanges revenge for favors.
By the end of October, Dominique controls the school. No longer is she merely a queen; she is an empress. First through third years no longer worry about walking down the halls or scurrying through their common rooms to escape hazing. Fifth years no longer worry about being roughed up by seventh years. And seventh years now maintain a respect previously unheard of.
All because of Dominique.
Her cousins are not surprised. That's how Dominique has always been. She flies by her own flag and people of any age are powerless to stop her. Her code is her own and she makes it others as well. Her morals are loose, yet her standards are high. And her expectation of the best makes students want to be greater than they ever dreamed.
Maybe it's the Veela blood in her. Maybe it's her slightly feral werewolf traits. Or maybe they just see a girl who fire burns so bright it makes them want to burn bright too.
It's May now, and they're graduating. Dominique was voted by the students to speak at the ceremony much to the chagrin of the faculty. She makes her way up to the platform, all eyes on her.
As she makes her way up the steps, the students are reminded of the first day that she came into their lives. Her hair is still down to her hips and still the only feminine thing about her. Her lips are still bright cherry red and her eyes rimmed with pitch black. Her skirt is still short, short, short and her untucked collared shirt's top buttons are undone. By this time, she's completely forgone the tie and she still refuses to wear robes.
She stands there at the podium and parents and teachers and students all wonder what she's going to say. She's never spoken before so many people, preferring her confrontations to be one on one. She meets each of her cousins' eyes and then she speaks.
She tells them it's ok to be different, to do their own thing. They're going into a big, bold world and to fit in, they're going to have to be big and bold as well. She talks about loyalty and revenge and the strange code of honor that she has somehow instilled in each of them.
The parents are confused; this is not the Hogwarts they remember. Her Uncle Harry though, he sits with her Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron, and all three of them think to themselves that maybe that's ok.
Dominique finishes her speech and begins to step away, but then she stops. She turns back to the audience and she tells them all quite clearly,
"To those of you who owe me favors, don't think for one second I've forgotten who you are. And to those of you I've threatened or beaten or coerced into being better people," –here she pauses for the slightest of seconds- "I'm watching you. Even if you're still here and I'm gone, I have ways of finding things out."
Her last warning made, she strides back to her family. The students follow muggle tradition and for the first time toss their caps in the air in celebration of leaving and to new beginnings.
Her cousins knew as soon as she stepped back into their lives.
The Headmistress knew as soon as she introduced the girl to Hogwarts.
The Slytherins knew as soon as she was proclaimed one of them.
Dominique Weasley is ice but she burns what she must to go where she wants. She is held back by nothing and she does what she has always done to light her way.
She sets her world on fire until even the universe acknowledges her blaze.