AN: I hope you enjoy the story! This is my NaNoWriMo project this year so you can expect numerous updates, hopefully long. Reviews are welcome and will be rewarded!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
As the Hogwarts Express chugged away from the platform, Dominique Weasley let out a contented sigh. She way beyond ready for her final year at Hogwarts. She looked around slowly, soaking up her surroundings.
Fred and James were most likely causing havoc and testing out Uncle George's latest products. They were both right up there with the best prankers the school has ever seen, along with the Marauders and her Uncle George and his late twin Fred. The fellow Gryffindors were also entering their last year at school. Fred and James planned to follow in their parent's footsteps after graduation. Fred was going to take over his family's franchise, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes while James hoped to become a professional Chaser, preferably for Puddlemore United. While Dominique loved them both dearly, they often made her go slightly bonkers.
In the compartment across from her own, Roxanne, Molly, and Lucy were animatedly talking about a muggle book they had all just finished, "Pride and Prejudice". Much like their father, Molly and Lucy strictly believed in rules and order. They had learned to loosen up a tad, but not much. They had both been sorted into Hufflepuff to the disbelief of the entire family. It had been said on numerous occasions that they were the most cold-hearted Hufflepuffs out there, behind Zacharias Smith of course. Roxanne had somehow pushed the accusations aside and still talked to them regularly unlike Dominique's other cousins. Though they might all be family, everyone clearly did not like Uncle Percy's section of the family tree very much. Even Gran's smile falters slightly whenever she see's them. Nevertheless, Roxanne had maintained a close relationship with them. Being a rule-abiding Gryffindor, she had the heart of a lion with the personality of her parents combined, without breaking the rules. Roxanne and Molly were both in their seventh year and Lucy was entering her fifth as a prefect.
Out of the corner of her eye, Dominique could make out her favorite cousin Rose sitting rather close to an honorary Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy. Sitting opposite to them was another of her cousins, Albus. The three of them made an unbreakable trio, never doing anything without the other two. They all were entering year six with Rose and Scorpius being prefects for Gryffindor. When news of the three of them first becoming friends back in their first year, the combined anger almost made The Burrow erupt. The worst out of them all was by far Dominique's uncle, Ron. He looked ready to murder the Malfoy boy for coming near his baby girl. After Albus and Rose brought Scorpius home for Christmas and showed the family that he wasn't anything like his father or grandfather did he finally started to accept their friendship. Dominique highly suspected that another full-blown outburst from him was going to make an appearance in the near future. It was clear to all the women in the family that Rose and Scorpius would eventually start dating. They had even had made a betting pool to see who could most closely guess the time when they would start. Dominique had bet on November of this year.
Though she couldn't see them, she could most certainly hear the distinct voices of her two youngest cousins and her brother, Lily, Hugo, and Louis. Even though Louis was a year older than the two fourth year Gryffindors, he spent most of his time with them. Louis, like Dominique's older sister Victoire, had been sorted into Ravenclaw. To the delight of the family, he had made Lysander and Lorcan Scamander, twin sons of great family friend Luna Scamander, his two best mates. Hugo didn't talk much and that's what Dominique liked best about him. When the entire family was a lot like a raging fire, Hugo was a soft cool stream of water. He was always steady, always calm. He never lashed out at anybody unless they made fun of his family in anyone. Then you better stand back because Hugo has a mean right hook, which he made good use of after Emmanuel Zabini started to call Rose some undesirable names. Rounding off the group was Lily, sneaky, cunning Lily. According to her, the Sorting Hat almost placed her into Slytherin. While she does carry some traits of the once dark house, her fiery temper and unmatched bravery outweighed the Slytherin characteristics in her.
Then there was Dominique. She had chosen a small compartment that was the perfect size for herself, her best friend since their first year Irina Aleggory, and Ben Hall, other best friend and boyfriend. All of them were in Gryffindor together, effectively ruling the school along with Dominique's cousins.
"Domi," Irina said impatiently while tapping on her arm. Dominique blinked a couple times rapidly and turned her attention to Irina. Her black hair framed her porcelain face rather nicely and her exceedingly blue eyes were looking at Dominique in an annoyed fashion.
"What did I miss?" Dominique asked.
"You've been gazing around dreamily the entire ride. You have spoken a word to us for almost an hour now."
"Us?" Dominique asked, her voice going up an octave. She then noticed the built arm around her shoulders protectively. She turned her head to the right and saw Ben's smiling face looking down at her.
"Yes, the both us," Ben said with a smirk planted on his cute face. His dirty blonde hair swept over his forehead and grazed her softly as he leaned down to give her a gentle kiss on the nose.
"When did you guys come in here?" Dominique asked after she recovered from a Weasley blush.
"Wow you really were out of it, weren't you Domi? We came in here right after we gave our speech in the Prefect's compartment," Irina answered. Dominique's cheery mode turned cloudy after remembering that Irina and Ben were the Head Boy and Girl this year. They both would be living the special Head tower from now. Dominique frowned when she realised she would have the dormitory to herself this year. Well, Roxanne would be there but she usually went up to the boy's dorms and slept with her long-time boyfriend Daryl Overland. It would be so quiet in the dorm from now on. So lonely.
"Oh yeah, I forgot…" Dominique's voice faded into the air. Noticing what she was most likely thinking about, Irina sat down next to her and patted her arm reassuringly.
"Hey, just because I won't be in the dorm with you, doesn't mean we won't see each other," Irina said firmly.
"Same goes for me," Ben started out. "Irina and me being Head's isn't going to change in our relationship. I love you."
"I love you too," Dominique looked back and forth between her two best friends and then smiled. "You right, nothing is going to change."
For the rest of the long trip, the three of them discussed how they spent their summer, what Quidditch was going to do the best the next year, and the latest gossip they had heard, much to Ben's complete disappointment. Just as they were diving into the topic of Laura MacMillan's and Avery Vick's nasty break-up, it was announced that they had arrived.
Dominique, Irina, and Ben arrived in the Great Hall walking side-by-side-by-side. They took their seats at the Gryffindor table and continued their previous conversation as students filed in.
"I heard that he broke up with her over owl and her dad got angry that he went after him," Irina whispered into Dominique's ear.
"No way!" Dominique screeched. "My uncle's and aunt's knew her dad. He never would have done-"
She was abruptly cut off when family friend Professor Longbottom opened two large wooden doors and revealed the nervous unsorted first years. Most of them sported a sickly shade of green on their faces. In silence, they walked up to the front of the giant room to find out what house they would be placed in.
As they were being sorted, Dominique's mind drifted off and began to think about other things, like her future. All of her cousins and friends knew what they were going to do after Hogwarts except her. Molly and Irina were going to jobs working for the ministry, Roxanne was applying to become the Professor Flitwick's teacher's aid, after which she would take over the position of Charm's professor, and Ben was going to be a Healer. They all knew where they were headed. Dominique tried to think of jobs that interested her, but came up short.
"Domi!" Irina said loudly.
"What?" Dominique asked startled.
"You missed the entire sorting!" Sure enough, new faces were at the end of each table.
"Oh, I guess I did," Dominique replied absent-mindedly.
"What's going on with you?" Irina asked confused before scooping up some mashed potatoes for her plate.
"Nothing," Dominique said quickly. "Really, I'm fine. Just being a bit spacey today."
"Alright," Irina said unsure and then started up a conversation with Ben.
Dominique ate her dinner in silence. After she ate a few morsels of food, she just sat on the wooden bench listening in on other people's conversations. When the feast had ended, Dominique left unobtrusively to her dorm without saying a word to Irina or Ben.
When Dominique entered her room, she couldn't help but notice how vacant it was and how vacant it would become. Unsurprisingly, Roxanne didn't even make an appearance, opting to go straight to the boy's dorm. Surrounding herself in her blankets, an unfamiliar felling swept over her. Neither welcomed nor unwelcomed, it seemed to comfort her. It cradled her as she tried to drift of to sleep. The feeing stayed with her until she closed her eyes, anxiously wanting the next day to come.
AN: Did you like? The next few chapters will bring a huge game changer that will really pick up the story. Would you be so lovely as to review?
PS: If any of you want, you can read my other story "Run As Fast as You Can" which is also a Next-Generation fanfiction. Shamelessly advertising here. Anyway PLEASE REVIEW!