disclaimer: disclaimed.
notes: this was meant to be a drabble. but then it grew. for the couscinset fest - a nextgen challenge at the hpfc. again, no capitalization. lyrics below from are you hurting the one you love? by the ever amazing florence + the machine. this sucks. majorly. i don't like it that much. but whatever. also - apologies for the confusing timeline here, guys. but i couldn't help it.
also also - i don't usually do nextgen anymore. i've done them too much. but this was just too tempting. and last but not least: MAJOR T, GUYS. LIKE, NOT EVEN KIDDING. you've been warned~.
summary: tell me that you love me. / dominique&james, breaking each other. cousincest.


{are you hurting the one you love -

setting up

ϟ

- and was it something you could not stop?}


dominique weasley doesn't do love.

she does one-night stands and one date and then never calls them again. she breaks hearts as easily as counting to one, two, three, and couldn't care less about it.

and before now, she never believed in karma.

but things change.

/

it's been two years, but the wounds she has doesn't leave easily.

it's been two years, and still she can taste the smell of his cigarettes on her mouth.

it's been two years, but it seems like only yesterday.

/

they didn't do it much, at first. at first, it was experimentation. at first, it was just for fun, no strings attached, just fucking. they were young and they certainly weren't in love and both doubted that they ever could be - so why the hell not, was their excuse.

but soon, it became something more - at least to her.

and she hated it.

/

"dom," he says curtly, cigarette in hand, as he joins her outside of the burrow. he offers her one. she declines. "dominique weasley, you've quit smoking?" no reply. "bravo. i've been trying to quit for char for months. tell me, how'd you do it?"

she looses it then. "don't you dare talk to me like that, potter. what, did you bring darling little char here just to hurt me? you know i never meant to hurt you - "

he drops his cigarette. "but you did, dom. and something like that can't just heal without someone else."

she throws her head back, laughs. "so i suppose you told char that you were broken over a break up? never could love again?" no reply. "of course you did. classic james, always fooling people."

she walks away, her head high despite the sinking feeling in her stomach. and she could have sworn she heard -

"who said i was lying to her, dom?"

- but she dismisses it, swears it was just her imagination, and goes back to try and enjoy the new years eve party.

/

admittedly, it was weird, at first. but then they began used to each other, began to know each other in more than just one way. they began to know who their favorite bands were, their favorite colors, their insecurities. they began to feel - to feel, well, loved.

and love, for dominique weasley, was a very, very, dangerous thing.

/

lily convinces her to dance with one of the scamander boys - honestly, they look so alike that she isn't sure which one. he asks her questions like what's your favorite band what do you want to do in your life are you doing anything tomorrow evening?

to the last one, she says yes, which is a lie.

because getting too close, for dominique weasley, is a very, very, dangerous thing.

/

james and her get a flat together. two rooms, to say that hey, this isn't anything more than friends sharing an apartment. no one suspects anything. they're free to go.

/

she realizes she's quite possibly in love with him when she wakes up in his bed one morning. and her first thought was fuck.

then she runs.

/

she runs for a year, going to spain, france, scotland, turkey - anywhere she can think of. she fills a journal in each trip, even if it's only for a couple of days. on these trips, she just writes and writes and writes what's in her head, no stopping. half of the pages are filled with i don't know what i'm doing.

most of the journals turn out more depressing than she'd like to admit. but there's a sentence or two describing how beautiful insert place name here is, how much better it is from home. and sometimes, she believes in that one sentence.

/

"ten seconds, everyone!" uncle charlie calls out. dominique pretends not to notice james coming in, james kissing char, char laughing. she tries not to notice the ring on char's finger, or the glimmering smile she always beams.

"ten, nine, eight, seven - "

/

james finds her in morocco. she's sitting in front of a coffee shop, her notebook open and twirling her pen in her hand.

"what the hell, dom?" he first says to her. he has a million questions to ask and certainly doesn't hold back. "what did you think running away would do? everyone's been worried sick! my dad has had practically everyone out searching for you but damn, girl, you can cover your self well. and why did you run away, if i may ask? i thought everything was going splendid - "

she stands up then. "fuck you, james, fuck you! everything was not going splendid, everything was getting too - " but she couldn't finish it. "look, i gotta go." but before she could apparate, james catches her and instead apparates back to their flat.

"too what, dom?" he asks once their back.

she sighs, fidgets around for a few seconds, then: "too fucking serious. i don't do serious, james. and don't you dare make a bad pun about you middle name being sirius or any other shit like that." james smiles slightly. "everything was just too much."

silence.

"so you ran."

"so i ran."

more silence.

"you could have at least left a note."

"i didn't want to be found, james," she whispers. "i wanted to be lost."

/

" - six, five, four, three - "

now, dominique weasley doesn't do love. she doesn't do commitments or plans or anything of like. what she does do, though, is a clean slate.

" - two - "

and this, starting in a second, was her clean slate.

"one!"


notes: i can't believe i gave this a somewhat happy ending. i mean what even. anyway. please if you liked it enough to favorite, leave a review, too. :)