Dancing Around Disaster
Fear of Falling
{Next Gen Personality Traits && Secret Santa Competition!}
~For abnormalities :] happy holidays!
~Teddy/Dominique, fearful
December 25, 2022
12:07 PM, The Burrow
At a quick glance, anyone would be fooled. It around noon on Christmas Day, and The Burrow was decorated splendidly for the occasion. Boughs of evergreen, chopped by Arthur with the aid of a muggle chainsaw (an early Christmas present from Charlie, of which Molly disapproved wholeheartedly) hung about the doorways and windows. The ancient nativity stood atop the old organ and the Christmas tree glimmered with soft white lights and strings of popcorn. A huge mound of presents loomed below, just waiting to be unwrapped.
But if one lingered a second longer, they'd get the distinct impression of disaster. The Burrow itself appeared untouched and picture perfect, but a melancholy cloud hung in the air, ruining the atmosphere.
The disaster was the invisible kind of havoc, the kind that entangles everyone near but leaves no visible damage. It was the kind of craziness that leaves a mark on the inside on the inside of someone, a constant prick, unforgettable.
As usual, her grandmother stood steady by the stove, but down the fine lines of her cheeks ran a stream of tears. All of her cousins appeared stricken, unsure of themselves. Even James was appropriately subdued. Dominiqe visibly winced as she glimpsed her mother. Fleur Delacour-Weasley laid on the tattered sofa, hair flying in every direction, eyes a burning red, face splotchy—completely fallen to pieces. It was a shock to everyone, who had never seen her looking less than pristine. Her father sat by her, rubbing her back, but his eyes were vacant and he was holding back tears.
Dominique stood by herself, to the side, shunned even in her grief like the ice queen she was.
"Nik?" It was Teddy.
"What's the matter, love?"
Dominique stiffened. "Nothing."
"Look at me," he commanded.
She obeyed, turning towards his voice.
She looked immaculate amidst the chaos. Her eyes were a startling blue, and her hair fell in perfect curls at her shoulders. She seemed untouched, from a separate universe from her family.
He tried to suppress his shock, but Dominique was nothing if not observant. Flatly, she spoke, "I know. I'm a terrible sister. Go ahead, yell at me. Scream. I don't care."
All he could manage was a breathless, "Why?"
She was eerily unfazed, and Teddy knew something was wrong before she even responded.
"Believe me, I tried, Teddy. But for anything… Ted, I don't have any tears left for Victoire."
And Teddy understood. He knew Vic's downfall was inevitable, and he knew that Nik had been shoved under too. It was all he could do to make sure her head above the water.
"It's okay. Nik, you're stronger than she ever was, there's no need to keep yourself locked up. I'm here with you, don't forget it."
"Oh, Ted," she quaked ever so slightly, and Teddy was reminded of a sapling in a tornado. She tried so hard to be strong, but there was no way she could win again the unrelenting wind without support.
Holding on to her, he led her to a quiet corner by the Christmas tree. "Talk to me."
"Kay," she said, and the levy broke.
December 25, 2022
One Hour Earlier, The Burrow
Dominique awoke to the sound of the front door slamming. It had been a long night, and sleep was hard to come by, which only served to stir up the nasty brew of unease that was simmering inside of her. With bleary eyes, she recognized her father as the culprit. She couldn't possibly blame her father, though. Dominique hadn't spent the last several hours at the WMRC* and she had kind of seen it coming.
Dom had fallen asleep on the couch, the last one to crash the previous night, and the last one to awaken Christmas morning. But everything felt wrong.
"She's gone."
Bill's words were redundant; everyone knew what had happened. He exhaled, unnecessarily loudly, and slumped into the kitchen chair. A faint trickle of a tear escaped his eyes, and he almost inaudibly, he mumbled, "Gone… for the whole year."
Misery needs company, and Bill found it with the Weasleys. They adored Victoire, and grief seemed to be a natural emotion, even if she wasn't dead.
Not for Dominique. She sat up, hugging the blanket closer to her shivering shoulders. She had to be alone for a while, where no one would notice her fake diamonds. There was no love left between the sisters, not now anyways.
Had there ever been?
September 1, 2012
9:14 AM, Shell Cottage
"Dom, put that in my trunk," Victoire ordered her younger sister.
Reluctantly, Dominique grabbed the sundress from the hanger and tossed it in the overflowing luggage.
"Careful! You might not know your manners, but it's rude to disrespect other's things like that. Fold it nicely, and set it down in the trunk."
Dominique glared, but did so.
"And what about my cloak? I'll need it at Hogwarts."
"No." Dominique moved toward the door in an attempt to escape her sister's bossiness.
"Yes."
"Why can't you do it yourself? I think you get a sick pleasure out of telling me what to do. I'm tired of it, Vic!" Dominique exploded.
Victoire didn't hesitate, marching right up to Dom and slapping her across the face. Instantly, Dom raised her hand to the large red mark, her eyes brimming with tears. "How?" she murmured faintly.
Victoire appeared slightly shocked, but it quickly wore off. "I really hope you won't tell Mum, Dom. You're my only sister and I adore you to bits and you wouldn't want to ruin the last day we have together, would you?"
Dom didn't get a chance to reply as Fleur Delacour called up the stairs, "Victoire, are you ready?"
"Yes, mum," Victoire replied, waltzing down the steps. "Could you levitate my luggage down? It's really heavy."
With a flick of her mother's wand, Victoire's numerous suitcases rested at the bottom of the steps. "Aren't you coming, dear?" she questioned Dominique, who stood at the top of the staircase, the red part of her face hidden by the wall.
"No. Victoire and I already said our goodbyes," she managed. Then she turned away from her family, heading into her bedroom, where she could cry in peace.
There was a part of every little sister that wanted to live up to the older one; Dominique was no exception. Victoire was far from perfect, but she was Dominique's big sister, and that was good enough.
But with Victoire gone, there was no need to impress anyone. Dominique took this notion to heart, and realized that she didn't want to emulate her sister.
So she changed. Dominique informed her mother that she didn't like wearing dresses, started spending more time with Louis, and took to playing football with the muggle kids down the street. Gradually, she became somewhat of a tomboy. Her blonde hair was perpetually in a messy ponytail, and her skin was tanned from all the time she spent under the sun.
Her parents noticed the changes, but didn't say anything. They though Dominique had come into herself when she was no longer burdened by being the younger sister. It puzzled them; the fact that Dominique didn't stick true to herself when her older sister was present, but it was all right now, so why worry?
They didn't, and Dominique didn't. For the first time in her life, she was content.
September 1, 2014
10:37 PM, Gryffindor Common Room
Naturally, when it was Dominique's turn to go to Hogwarts, Victoire didn't sit by Dom on the train. The most Vic managed was a small smile when she noticed that her younger sister had been sorted into Gryffindor. Dom managed a small smile back, just barely.
After the feast, when all of Dominique's newly-made friends had trudged up to their dormitories, Dominique lingered in the common room for an extra second, simply marveling at all the ways her life had changed.
But at least one thing remained constant. "Hey, baby sis. How's Hogwarts treating you?"
Ever-so-suavely, Victoire appeared, coming down from the Third Year dormitory. Her long blonde hair had been curled into perfect ringlets, and her eyes were done up in mascara and a light pink shade of eyeshadow. Dominique had a hard time believing she had come downstairs for a friendly chat with her sibling.
"Where are you going, anyways?" she questioned back, not bothering to answer Victoire.
Vic shrugged, a sly smile twisting on her lips. "To see a man about a dog," she replied vaguely.
Narrowing her eyes, Dominique tried again. "I may be a lowly first year, Vic, but I'm pretty sure that you're not supposed to be going out right now."
Victoire blinked, and her long black lashes smudged ever-so-slightly under her eyes.
"Well, well. You've changed, Dominique."
"I guess I have."
"Yeah, into a little snot-nosed, obnoxious brat. I don't like you anymore, Nikki."
And with that, Victoire pushed past her sister, through the protesting portrait, leaving Dominique in the deserted common room.
Dominique eventually went to bed that night, even though it was far too late. She nearly fell asleep at the breakfast table the next day, only to be woken up by a smiling Teddy Lupin, brandishing her schedule.
"I took the liberty of handing you your schedule personally."
Dominique said nothing, just grabbed her schedule and stared back at her porridge.
"Since when is there anything wrong with a bit of friendly conversation? What's the matter, Dom?"
Squinting, Dominique turned in her seat. She had never been able to hide the truth from Teddy, and that hadn't changed in the few years they had been separated. "Vic and I had a fight last night."
"Well, I'm sure it wasn't that bad. I'm sure that all sisters fight."
"Teddy, she called me a snot-nosed brat and told me she didn't like me anymore."
The 5th Year Hufflepuff's eyes flashed charcoal for a moment before he responded. "Ouch."
Dominique closed her eyes. "Yeah."
"Well, I'm sure she'll come running back to you in no time. You're too awesome to resist."
It was cheesy, but it worked for Dom. Smiling for the first time this morning, she thanked Teddy and left the breakfast table, on her way to Charms.
March 4, 2018
8:54 PM, Gryffindor 4th Year Girls Dormitory
Rumors constantly circled around Domininque; she was the center of a gossip-fueled hurricane. He was a boy, she was a girl. She couldn't see why anyone thought that this was big news. She liked him. A lot. And he liked her back, so what was the big deal? Dom's head spun as she listened to her best mate, Andi Wood, try to reason it out.
"I think I know why. People like a scandal, and this is one! You're fifteen, Dominique. Cam's your first boyfriend, and he's the most popular bloke in the school! No wonder everyone wants to talk."
"Andi, we're not dating!"
The olive-skinned girl was not fazed in the slightest. "Well then, you two have a definite thing. And it's adorable! Who would've thought that the tomboy would get Cameron Andrews?"
Dom snorted, but she couldn't hold back her grin. "Certainly not me."
Andi smiled back and continued, "I know, and especially after there was that rumor about Cam and your sister."
Dominique nearly slid off her bed. "What rumor?" she inquired, appalled.
"Well, I overheard Ainsley Davies telling Blake Carmichael that Victoire said that Cam was good in the sack, if you know what I mean. And Davies is your sisters best friend, so I'm not sure that she would go around spreading lies, although I suppose it's possible, as Victoire snogged her ex a couple of weeks ago but I thought they got over that… " Andi trailed off, realizing that she had just said what Dominique did not want to hear.
Shock enveloped Dominique whole. Her shoulders slumped, the sparkle in her gray-blue eyes faded; her vitality had seemingly left her. Victoire was out of control, but surely she could manage to stay away from the only thing that was Dominique's? She supposed not.
Her friend winced, wishing she could swallow her words. "Well, I'm sure it's not true. I heard it from Ainsley Davies, and you know what a ditz she is. Vic's probably just making up shit, trying to get to you. You're stronger than her, Dom, and she hates it."
Dominique shook her head, getting up from the bed. "I'm going to see Teddy."
But of course she ran into Victoire first.
They found themselves in the middle of an empty hallway. It was happenstance, but Dom was ready.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Cameron is my boyfriend, if you're too stupid to figure it out."
But Victoire was ready. "Not officially, which means I can do whatever I want with him," she smirked.
"You're crazy, Vic! You can have all the boys in Hogwarts, but you still have to go for Cam!"
"I can do whatever I damn want to, Dom. Leave me alone."
"No. I'm not five years old anymore. You can't walk all over me and expect to be forgiven."
"Watch me, Dominique," Victoire retorted. "And you know what? If you can't deal with my little mistakes, we're not sisters anymore."
Dominique stomped her foot, a very childish action, but fitting for the situation. "Fine. Goodbye, Victoire."
"Good riddance."
And with that, two sisters broke apart. Dom ended things with Cam, Vic dated him for a few days, got bored, and dumped him. They moved along—in completely opposite directions.
The few glimpses Dom still had of her sister were unsettling, but she willed herself to forget. She was better by herself, more independent, stronger than ever before.
Victoire didn't seem to be doing so badly herself. She was a Prefect, near the top of her class, with endless good looks and a personality that could charm the hardest of hearts. Until they found her second face, the ugly, nasty, one that broke boy's hearts and made enemies like second nature, but looked perfectly innocent the next day.
Dominique knew she couldn't keep it up forever.
She tried to ignore the impending disaster, and look how well that worked out.
December 25, 2022
12:10 PM, The Burrow
"Teddy, Teddy," Dominique looked toward her boyfriend with wide, scared eyes, reminiscent of a baby fawn. He didn't say anything, but squeezed her hand, just reassuring her of the fact that he was there.
"Teddy," she paused, "I don't know what to do. Victoire… Victoire, well, she was my sister, and… Teddy, I'm scared and I shouldn't be, I let everyone down."
"Shhh, love. It'll be all right. You don't have to be strong for me, we've got this."
"But, but, but," she babbled and her eyes were glassy, on the verge of giving way, "I knew. I knew it wasn't going to end well and it didn't. I knew it and I didn't tell anyone. And if I'm not strong enough for this, who's to say I won't end up like her?"
And then it was too much work to hold her tears back; Dom was exhausted and scared and she just couldn't do it anymore. Teddy simply held her, holding her limp hair back and letting her tears fall.
Neither moved for what seemed like hours, but Teddy finally spoke. "You're stronger than her, Dom, because you have me. You're not on your own anymore, and I'm not going to let you fall."
It wasn't over, but the worst was over.
They had weathered the storm, and that was enough for now.
*WMRC – Wizarding Mental Recovery Centre
a/n: Merry Christmas, abnormalities! I hope you liked it :]
Thank you so much for reading :) Leave a review if you have any questions, comments, or criticism, I'd love to hear it!