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Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and places from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by JK Rowling. However, all plots are my own and are in no way endorsed by JK Rowling or anyone affiliated with the Harry Potter universe.
Chapter 1: September 2013
It was Dominique's first day of school and she was terrified. Even though her big sister was going to be there with her, and she'd spent the whole summer getting ready, she felt like she was going to be so out of place. She knew she'd make friends – her parents always told her she had something called charisma, which supposedly made it easier for people to like her. What she was worried about was that she wouldn't like being at Hogwarts. She would be miles away from her parents and her brother for one thing. For another, she was going to have to share a room with a bunch of other girls – what if she didn't like them? Victoire was always telling her horror stories about her roommates. And what about classes? What if she wasn't smart enough to keep up with everyone else? What if it was just too hard?
As Dominique and her family drove to King's Cross station that morning, all these questions swirled around inside Dominique's head. Maybe she should stay home one more year, she thought. Just to make sure she was really ready. She almost pitched the idea to her parents, but then realized that it would be even worse to be the only twelve-year-old first year.
Much too soon for Dominique, they were on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, their trunks were on the train, and Victoire was tapping her foot as Dominique stalled saying her final goodbyes. Eventually, Victoire gave up and boarded the train without her, giving Dominique a chance to have a moment with her parents.
"You'll write all the time, right?" Dominique asked.
"Every day if you want us to," her mother replied.
"And if it's terrible, you'll let me come home?" Dominique asked.
Her parents shared a look and then her father answered. "We'll make you a deal. If you can stick it out until the Christmas holidays and you still haven't made a single friend, then we can talk about it, alright?"
"Alright," Dominique sighed. She could tell her parents wouldn't allow her to be pulled out of school. Her father was just humoring her. But it was nice to think she still had a bit of a choice.
The last warning whistle blew and Dominique knew she had to board the train or risk having to be walked up to the front gates by her father – definitely not the first impression she wanted to make on her classmates.
"Bye maman," she said. "Bye papa," she hugged them each in turn.
"Bye Dominique," her younger brother said, reaching for a hug. "Are you sure you have to go? I'm going to be all alone."
"Don't worry," Dominique assured him. "You're going to have a great time. And you'll be at Hogwarts before you know it."
Knowing she couldn't linger, because she'd already pushed as far as she could, Dominique waved goodbye and boarded the train. It couldn't have been a second too soon, because just as she reached the top of the stairs, the door slid shut behind her and the train slowly started to crawl forward. Dominique watched out the window as her family slowly disappeared from sight.
"Don't worry Domi," she muttered to herself. "You're going to be fine."
Taking a deep, calming breath, Dominique stepped into the hallway, expecting to find Victoire waiting impatiently. Instead, one lone trunk – hers – waited for her.
"She ditched me!" Dominique gasped in surprise. She realized she was talking to herself, but it wasn't as though there was anyone around to hear.
She peered at the corridor ahead and then turned around and did the same behind. As far as she could tell, Victoire wasn't lingering in the hallway somewhere. She must have gone in search of her friends alone.
As far as Dominique could see, she had two options; she could stand around in the hallway all day like a fool, or she could pick a direction and try to find her sister. She decided to go with the second option. She grabbed the handle of her trunk and began to drag it along towards the back of the train, hoping Victoire hadn't gone far.
"Victoire, I thought you were going to wait for me at the door," she said when she found her sister only one train car down. "Maman made you promise you'd make sure I was alright."
"Dominique, you're eleven," Victoire said in an annoyed voice. "If you can't find a compartment on a train by yourself, then you shouldn't be going to Hogwarts." Victoire was sprawled across the entire right side seat while two of her friends took up the left hand side. Dominique waited expectantly for Victoire to move.
"Maman said I could sit with you," Dominique said pointedly when Victoire didn't slide over.
"So sit," Victoire said a little meanly. "There's plenty of room."
If Victoire was going to be like this, then Dominique decided she would just have to adapt. She dragged her trunk inside the compartment, only realizing once she was inside how little room there was. To her horror, the luggage racks were high up; much higher than Dominique could reach. She tried lifting her trunk, hoping that maybe one of the girls would help her, but Victoire and her friends simply stared at her, so she decided to just leave it. Since Victoire still hadn't moved, Dominique sat down on her sister's legs.
"Ow!" Victoire cried, jumping up. "What'd you do that for?"
"You were taking up all the room," Dominique said. "If you can't keep your feet on your side, then I'm going to sit on them." Where else was she supposed to sit anyway? On the floor?
"Oh my God, we are not doing this!" Victoire cried, moving her feet aside to give Dominique some space to sit. "Dominique you are way too old to pull all that 'you're on my side' stuff. If you're not going to act like a little kid, then you can go and sit with the other little kids."
"Maybe I will," Dominique declared, standing up. Her sister clearly didn't want her there and she was acting really different with her friends around. "You're just being mean. I don't think I like you very much at Hogwarts."
"We're not even at Hogwarts yet," Victoire rolled her eyes. "At least think before you say things."
That was it for Dominique. At home, her sister would play with her, and talk to her, and let her try on her clothes. That's the sister Dominique had wanted to sit on the train with. Not this new weird Victoire who just wanted her friends to think she was cool.
"I'm leaving," Dominique declared. She opened the door and dragged her trunk back into the hall. "Enjoy your boring train ride without me."
The door slid shut behind her, leaving her alone in the hallway once again. Now that she had left, she realized that this meant she had to find somewhere else to sit. She swallowed nervously. Hopefully she could find somewhere. It would be really lame if she had to spend the whole trip walking up and down the hallway with her trunk.
She started off, continuing towards the back of the train. Most of the compartments she was passing seemed to be filled with older students – fifth, sixth, and seventh years. She passed a few that had large groups of younger students, but she was worried that they might be second years and not first years. And besides, she didn't want to just barge in on a group.
Eventually, she came to a compartment with just one occupant inside. A boy who looked about Dominique's age. Dominique crossed her fingers slid the door open.
"Hey," she said. "I'm Dominique. Any chance I could sit here?"
"Sure," the boy said, gesturing to the empty compartment. "There's plenty of space."
Dominique chuckled and dragged her trunk inside. She looked up at the luggage rack, wondering if she should even bother trying to lift it, when out of nowhere, the boy – who had yet to introduce himself – stood up and grabbed her trunk by the top and bottom and heaved it up into the luggage rack.
"Wow!" Dominique exclaimed. "You're really strong! Are you a first year?" She couldn't believe an eleven-year-old was able to lift that thing all by himself.
"Miles Bailey," the boy introduced himself, holding out his hand. "And yeah, I'm a first year."
"Dominique Weasley," Dominique replied, shaking his hand and taking a seat across from him.
"So I guess you don't know anyone either?" Miles asked.
"No," Dominique replied. "Well, my older sister, but she doesn't want me around. She's a third year."
"At least you know she's around," Miles pointed out. "You know, if you need to talk to her or you have a problem or something."
"I thought so," Dominique said. "But as soon as we got on the train, she started acting all different."
"Well sure," Miles said. "Obviously she's going to behave differently when she's with her friends than when she's with her family. I know I wouldn't want my little sister hanging around if I was with my friends. Especially not it I hadn't seen my friends in months and my sister had been hanging around me day and night."
"Yeah, I guess you have a point," Dominique agreed.
There was an awkward silence, and then Dominique decided she'd better say something lest the situation become uncomfortable.
"So what house are you hoping to be sorted into?" she asked, a pretty generic question to ask on the train side to Hogwarts.
"Gryffindor," Miles replied. "What about you?"
"Oh definitely Gryffindor," Dominique smiled. "Almost all my family's been in Gryffindor since I don't even know how long."
Suddenly, Dominique and Miles had plenty to talk about. In fact, they didn't even realize it had gotten dark until the train started slowing down.
"We never changed into our robes!" Dominique cried when she realized how close they were. "Any chance you could get my trunk down?"
Hopping up onto the seat, her new friend grabbed her trunk and heaved it back onto the ground, move shouting for Dominique to move aside right before he dropped it on her foot. He hopped back down as Dominique opened it up and reaching inside for her robes.
"I'll just… go wait out in the hall then," Miles said awkwardly, sliding the door open and then closed again.
Thankful for the privacy, Dominique pulled the window shade down and changed quickly, switching places with Miles so that he could change too. By the time they'd finished, the train was just rolling into Hogsmeade station.
"Here we go," Miles said, leading the way off the train. "Any idea where we go from here?"
Moments after he'd asked, Hagrid's booming voice called out, "firs' years this way! Firs' years follow me!"
"I think we're supposed to go over there," Dominique smirked.
"Right," Miles muttered. "I knew that."
DdDdDdDdDdD
When Dominique finally saw Hogwarts for the first time, her mouth fell open and she just sat there in her boat like a gaping fish. Eventually, Miles told her she should probably close her mouth, and Dominique embarrassedly stared at the bottom of the canoe until he confessed that he had been floored by the sight as well.
Once they were out of the boats, they were led up to the Entrance Hall and soon they were entering the Great Hall.
"Look at that ceiling!" Miles said, pointing upwards. "It's like we're outside!"
"It's beautiful," Dominique agreed. "I like the floating candles too, they make it all so much more magical."
They lined up at the front of the room, staring at a hat on a stool. It must be the sorting hat, Dominique thought. When everyone had stopped walking, the hat began to sing – something Dominique had been prepared for, but many of her fellow first years, including Miles, hadn't been.
Once it was finished, Professor Longbottom unrolled a scroll and began to read their names off in alphabetical order. The first girl called was named Quinn Adams. She sauntered up before her name was even finished being called and took the hat from Professor Longbottom, placing it on her own head and sitting down on the stool. Dominique hoped she wasn't sorted into Gryffindor, because she didn't look like the kind of person she wanted to room with. When the hat declared her a Slytherin, Dominique was relieved, because she knew without a doubt that she wasn't going to end up there.
Next, Zeke Aldrin and Grant Arnold both got sorted into Gryffindor, and then Professor Longbottom called Miles' name.
"Cross your fingers for me," Miles whispered to Dominique as he stepped forward and sat down on the stool. Dominique did, crossing her fingers on both hands, and even crossing her toes in her shoes. Miles was really nice and they got along so well. She hoped he would end up in Gryffindor, because she could tell already that they would end up being really good friends.
When the hat declared Miles a Gryffindor, Dominique clapped along with the rest of the Gryffindor table, smiling widely at him as he made his way over. For most of the rest of the sorting, Dominique just waited impatiently for her turn. She kept an eye on the other girls who got sorted into Gryffindor. Thankfully, none of them looked crazy – hopefully she wouldn't have the same kind of roommates problems that Victoire has.
Finally, when there were only two of them left, Dominique's name was called. She walked up to the front and sat down, letting the Hat fall onto her head.
"Well don't we seem sure of ourselves?" the hat whispered into her ear. "For someone who hasn't been sorted yet, you seem pretty convinced of where you're going to end up." That's right, Dominique thought back to the hat. So just put me there and get this over with. "Well I suppose I can't argue with you. You'll be a perfect fit in GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted the last word, sending the Gryffindor Table into a round of applause.
Dominique did a little jump as she hurried down and took the empty seat Miles had saved for her next to him.
"Congratulations," he said.
"You too," Dominique returned.
They had to quiet down while the final student, Sean Weston, got sorted into Slytherin, and then the Headmistress said a couple of words. As soon as she sat down, all the empty bowls and plates in the center of the table were suddenly filled with food, and everyone hungrily began to fill their plates.
"Well hi everyone!" the boy sitting on Miles' other side said, leaning forward and looking down that table at everyone else. "I'm Grant Arnold. It looks like we're all going to be getting to know each other pretty well over the next seven years, so I just wanted to introduce myself and get off on the right foot. I know we're all going to have a great time here at Hogwarts and I do enjoy meeting each of you individually." When he finished his general speech, he turned to the boy across from him, Zeke Aldin, if Dominique remembered correctly, and held his hand out to shake. Dominique and Miles shared a look and Dominique had to stifle a laugh. Grant reminded her a bit of her Uncle Percy, she thought.
"So what class are you most looking forward to?" Miles asked Dominique, getting the conversation started again.
"Oh, I don't even know," Dominique admitted.
"I think I'm most looking forward to Astronomy," the girl across from them jumped in.
"Why's that?" Miles asked.
"My older brother says the class is held at midnight," she replied. "I've never been allowed to stay up that late before."
"I'm looking forward to potions, I think," Miles said. "It sounds like a lot of fun."
"Oh, not me," Dominique said. "My mother tried to get me to help her cook a stew one time, and the whole thing burnt and the house smelt for weeks."
"You know stew is food, not a potion?" Miles asked.
"Yeah, but it's the same idea," Dominique replied. "Basically, you're putting stuff in a pot over heat and hoping it turns out a certain way."
"That's an interesting way of thinking about it," Miles said.
As he pondered that, Dominique glanced down the table, looking for Victoire. She hadn't seen her since that morning, and she was starting to miss her. Miles had been right earlier; she couldn't hold Victoire's attitude against her. Who wanted a pesky little sister following them around? Finally, she found her sister sitting about halfway down the table and in deep conversation with her friends. She tried to catch her eye, but she just wasn't looking up. Dominique sighed and could only hope her sister wasn't going to completely ignore her all year.
DdDdDdDdDdD
When the feast was over, the Headmistress said a few more words and then sent them off to bed. A female prefect began to call for the first year Gryffindors to gather by the doors, so Dominique and Miles got up with the rest of the classmates and made their way towards her.
Suddenly, Teddy popped up next to the female prefect and began calling the first years forward with her.
"Teddy, are you a prefect?" Dominique asked.
"Yup!" Teddy smiled proudly.
"Congratulations," Dominique said.
"Thanks," Teddy replied. "Alright, if everyone's here, then let's get going."
They began to follow Teddy and the female prefect out of the Great Hall and towards a room filled with staircases.
"You know the prefect?" Miles asked.
"Yeah, he's basically my cousin," Dominique replied. "He's my uncle's godson, and my uncle did a lot to help raise him. He's been a part of my family since before I was born."
When they arrived at the seventh floor, Dominique was pretty exhausted. She hoped it was just because she was also tired, because she was going to be climbing these stairs every day. Miles didn't even seem the tiniest bit exerted, and Dominique was momentarily jealous.
"So this is the common room," Teddy said as they all clambered inside. "These stairs lead to the boys' dorms, and the ones over there lead to the girls'."
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me or Teddy, or one of the older prefects," the girl added.
"Yeah," Teddy agreed. "Now get some sleep. Classes start at eight, and breakfast will be available as early as six. Curfew's at nine, so don't be caught outside the common room past then."
"Curfew is lifted at quarter to six, for those of you that prefer an early breakfast," the girl prefect added.
The prefects left then, disappearing up their respective staircases. Slowly, the first years began to follow them.
"Well, I guess this is where we part ways," Miles said.
"Looks like it," Dominique agreed.
They stood there for a moment awkwardly and then Miles spoke again.
"So, how about we meet up for breakfast tomorrow?" he asked.
"Okay, how about seven, in the Great Hall?" Dominique suggested. Six was a little too early for her.
"Great!" Miles smiled. "Well, goodnight."
"Goodnight," Dominique smiled back.
They parted, and Dominique began to climb the staircase to the girls' dorms. She was a little nervous, now that Miles was gone, but she knew she just had to keep moving forward.
The first years were the fourth dorm from the common room. Dominique pushed the door open and decided to just get the introduction over with.
"Hey guys, I'm Dominique Weasley," she said.
"Hey Dominique," the girl she'd talked with at dinner replied. "I'm Holly by the way, I don't think I ever mentioned that.
"You didn't actually," Dominique said. "But that's okay."
"I'm Brooke," the girl nearest Dominique said, flipping her extremely long hair over her shoulder. Dominique was immediately in love with the girl's hair.
"I'm Joy," the third girl said. "And that's Brittany," she gestured to the last girl, who was digging through her trunk frantically.
"I think I forgot one of my textbooks," she said, panicked. "I can't find it anywhere!"
"I'm sure it won't be a big deal," Joy assured her. "You can just have your parents owl it to you."
"Oh! No, it's okay actually, I found it," Brittany said, emerging from her trunk victoriously.
Dominique looked around and realized that their trunks had all been brought up and bed assignments had been pre-determined. Holly was on the far right, with Brittany on her right and Joy directly ahead of where Dominique was standing. Brooke had the bed next to Joy, which meant that Dominique was going to be in the bed on the far left, between Brooke and the wall.
She headed over to her designated bed and laid her trunk on the ground, opening it up and pulling her things out as she tried to decide how she wanted to arrange herself. She had a side table with a drawer and a cupboard next to her bed, and since the left-hand side of her bed was just a wall, she could spread her belongings out however she wanted without disrupting anyone.
As she unpacked, she started to think about Victoire again. She felt bad for the way they'd left things and she hated to go to bed knowing that they were on uncertain terms.
"I'll be right back," she declared, standing up and heading for the door.
She was pretty sure she'd passed Victoire's dorm on the way up, so she descended, checking the doors until she found the one that said third year on it. She pushed the door open to find that there was only one occupant; a girl who was pinning up Quidditch posters all over the wall above her bed.
"Hi," Dominique said tentatively.
"Hey," the girl said, hopping down. "Did you need something?" she asked.
"I was looking for my sister, Victoire Weasley," Dominique replied.
"Oh yeah, she'd not back yet," the girl said. "I'm Caitlin."
Dominique nodded. She'd assumed as much from the Quidditch posters.
"Do you know when she'll be here?" Dominique asked.
"Sorry kid," Caitlin shrugged. "Couldn't tell you."
"Thanks anyway," Dominique sighed, returning to her own dorm, disappointed. Should she wait and go back down in a bit? Or should she just let it go for the night?
"Hey, what's wrong?" Brooke asked when Dominique returned.
"Oh it's nothing," Dominique muttered. "I think I'm having a fight with my sister, and I was hoping to make things right, but she wasn't in her dorm."
"Maybe you should just go wait for her in the common room," Brooke suggested.
"Yeah, thanks," Dominique said. "I think I will."
Dominique descended to the common room and sat in a nearby armchair to wait for her sister. She wasn't seated for long though, before some seventh year came over and started yelling at her.
"You can't be down here, first year," the girl said.
"Why not?" Dominique returned. "It's my common room as much as yours."
"The upperclassmen are having a party," the girl replied. "No first years allowed. You have to leave. Besides, it's passed your bedtime."
"It's like, eight o'clock," Dominique said. "And besides, I don't have a bedtime."
"You still have to leave," the girl insisted.
"Yeah, yeah," Dominique muttered. It wasn't like she wanted to stay at the party anyway. "I'll leave in a minute; I'm just waiting for my sister."
"Dominique!" her sister's voice cried, coming from behind her. Dominique turned around just in time to see her sister appear from the girls' staircase.
"You're the sister?" the seventh year girl asked.
"Yeah, why? What's wrong?" Victoire asked.
"I told her the party is for upperclassmen only, but she insisted on waiting for you," the girl said.
"Okay seriously?" Victoire asked. "Not everyone's even back from the feast yet. Have you ever thought about, oh I don't know, giving us all like, twenty minutes before you start kicking us out?"
"Just clear out before you overstay your welcome," the girl muttered, walking away.
"Victoire!" Dominique exclaimed, once it was just the two of them. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Yeah, I heard," her sister replied. "Listen, I'm sorry about earlier, on the train…"
"Oh whatever," Dominique said, waving her hand in front of her face. "I was being annoying and you just wanted to hang out with your friends."
"So you're not mad at me?" Victoire asked.
"I was," Dominique admitted. "But I'm not anymore."
"Well that's a relief," Victoire smiled, wrapping Dominique up in a hug.
DdDdDdDdDdD
When Dominique returned to her dorm, Brooke was waiting to hear how it had gone. Dominique confirmed that everything between her and her sister had been worked out. Since Joy, Holly, and Brittany had claimed the three showers, Brooke and Dominique sat on their beds and talked for a while until it was their turn to use the bathroom.
The following morning, Dominique hurried to get ready and packed her bag before hurrying down to the Great Hall for breakfast with Miles.
"How was your sleep?" he asked.
"Fantastic!" Dominique replied. "These Hogwarts mattresses are amazing!"
After breakfast, they attended their first classes. As Victoire had promised her, the Professors mostly just introduced the courses. Nothing seemed too difficult yet. By the end of the first week, Dominique was feeling good about being at Hogwarts. She and Miles were great friends, she and Brooke were becoming closer, and so far she was staying completely on top of all her classes. Things were looking good.
