Chapter 2: October 2015

With the arrival of October, one of Dominique' worries was put to rest. After discovering his love of astronomy, Louis had joined the astronomy club and had finally made a friend, which meant that Dominique could stop worrying that Louis would graduate friendless. However, with Brooke practicing Quidditch all the time, Dominique was seeing her friend less and less, only confirming her fears that their friendship was disappearing.

"… so then Zeke just lets one rip and Grant is like 'dude'!" Tom said.

Dominique sighed. As much as she liked Miles and Tom, sometimes she really didn't care to be a part of their conversations. She stood up, intending to head down to the library and find a new book to read when her friends stopped her.

"Hey, Domi, where are you going?" Miles asked.

Dominique shrugged. "Look, I get that you guys are… well guys," she said. "And that means that sometimes you want to talk about that time when Zeke farted. But I'm really not interested in this topic of conversation, so I'm just going to leave you be."

"Aw, no," Miles shook his head. "Come on, we'll talk about something else. Don't go."

"I really don't mind leaving," Dominique offered. She appreciated what her friends were trying to do for her. It had been hard on her, having Brooke gone all the time. It was hard on Miles and Tom too, but in a different way. They were jealous that she'd made the team and they hadn't. But for Dominique, losing Brooke to the Quidditch team felt like losing her best friend.

"No, I was done telling that story anyway," Tom assured her. "Come on, we can talk about something you want to talk about. Weren't you reading Teen Witch earlier? Tell us about that."

Dominique smiled. "Thanks Tom, but I'm positive that you want to hear about Teen Witch even less than I want to hear about Zeke's flatulence."

"No really, we're very interested," Miles assured her.

"Just… don't worry about me," Dominique said. "I'm totally fine. I need to go to the library anyway, to return the book I finished yesterday. There's no reason why you shouldn't continue your discussion while I'm gone."

"You'll come right back though?" Miles asked.

"Sure," Dominique lied. "I won't be gone long."

Having assuaged her friends' concerns, Dominique left the common room, slowly making her way down to the library. It was sweet, that Miles and Tom were trying to fill the gap left by Brooke's absence, but talking to the two boys just wasn't the same as talking to Brooke. And she knew that the whole situation was just as frustrating for Tom and Miles. Without Brooke around, Dominique found herself spending more and more time with her male friends, which meant that the two of them had less time to have their boy conversations. Dominique didn't want to always be bringing them down. So she'd stay in the library for a time and read, giving them time to talk about whatever other gross stuff they wanted to talk about without her listening in.

Reaching the library, Dominique first went to Madam Maxwell's desk at the front and deposited the book she'd just finished in the returns pile. Normally, Madam Maxwell would recommend a new book to Dominique when she brought back the old one, but the librarian was elsewhere at the moment, so instead Dominique headed back to the fiction section and began perusing titles.

When she came across the Ursula Turner books, Dominique felt a twinge inside of her. How long had it been since Brooke had read a book for leisure? From what Dominique could see, all of Brooke's free time was spent down at the pitch, and whenever she wasn't practicing Quidditch, she was frantically trying to compete all her homework.

With a sigh, Dominique chose a book that seemed interesting and settled herself into a comfortable chair where she was sure nobody would interrupt her reading.

DdDdDdDdDdD

Much to the excitement of the third years, the first Hogsmeade trip of the year was announced for the third Saturday of October. Dominique was ecstatic. She'd been dreaming of going to Hogsmeade ever since she was in first year and Victoire had gone on her first Hogsmeade trip and come back with all sorts of cool stories. Unfortunately for Dominique, Brooke wasn't nearly as excited as she was.

"What do you mean you're not coming with us?" Dominique demanded.

"It's not that I don't want to go," Brooke explained. "But since everyone's going to be in Hogsmeade, the Quidditch pitch is free all day. It's the perfect opportunity for me to get some practice in."

"But it's not actually an official Gryffindor Quidditch team practice," Dominique said, making sure she'd understood what Brooke had said.

"Right," Brooke agreed.

"Then I don't get it," Dominique replied.

"How can you not get it?" Brooke demanded. "Our first game is at the end of the month. I have to be ready."

"Isn't that the point of the team practices though?" Dominique inquired.

"Well sure," Brooke nodded. "But I need to practice more than that. I'm new to the team, only a third year, and I have to go up against Blake Edwards soon. Not only has he been seeking since he learned to ride a broom, this is his fourth year on the Ravenclaw team, and he's their captain."

"And you think that skipping the Hogsmeade weekend will make you good enough to beat Edwards?" Dominique frowned. "You must realize how insane that sounds."

"Well not just that," Brooke shook her head. "But all the extra time I've been putting in. If I miss even one opportunity to practice and I don't beat him, then I'll never be able to forgive myself."

"So you want to know that you did everything you could to beat him, even if you lose," Dominique said.

"Are you implying that I'm going to lose?" Brooke asked, suddenly defensive.

"No!" Dominique assured her friend. "No, I said if."

"Look Dominique, I understand that you don't care about Quidditch and you think I'm being stupid, but this is something I care about, and I'd really like you support in this. But I guess that's too much to ask, isn't it?" Brooke pushed her way past Dominique to the door.

"No, that's not – Brooke wait!" Dominique called after her friend. "Brooke I just meant – "

But Brooke was long gone.

Dominique felt like she wanted to cry. All she'd wanted was to convince Brooke to come to Hogsmeade with her, Tom, and Miles. Instead she'd only alienated her friend further.

"What am I going to do?" Dominique wondered, feeling completely lost.

DdDdDdDdDdD

"So, where do you want to start?" Tom asked as the three friends arrived in Hogsmeade. "We could go to Honeydukes, or Weasley's Wizard Wheezes – don't your uncles work there Domi? Didn't you say you could get us a discount or something?"

Dominique shrugged, uncaring. "Probably," she muttered.

This whole day was a disaster. When she'd awoken, Brooke had been in the bathroom, getting ready for her day of Quidditch practice. Dominique had tried to talk to her friend, but Brooke had ignored her and left before Dominique could explain herself. And now she was in Hogsmeade without Brooke. It wasn't how the trip was supposed to go. Ever since she'd started imagining her first trip to Hogsmeade, Brooke had always been part of the picture. So it felt wrong that Brooke wasn't here.

Tom and Miles exchanged worried looks.

"Domi," Miles said slowly. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine," Dominique said, a little louder than necessary. "Let's just go see my uncle and I'll try to get you some free stuff."

The three made their way into the shop, where, just as he always was on Hogwarts' Hogsmeade weekends, Dominique's Uncle George was waiting.

"Hi Uncle George," Dominique said, gesturing for her friends to come closer. "These are my friends Miles and Tom."

"Great to meet you both," George said. "How can I help you today?"

"They want free stuff," Dominique said without any lead up.

Tom elbowed Dominique in the side. "Way to be direct," he muttered.

Uncle George only laughed. "Tell you what boys?" he said. "Anything you see down on the first floor here?" He gestured to the dozens of displays surrounding him. "On the house. One thing each."

"Thanks Uncle George," Dominique smiled at her uncle as Miles and Tom immediately started looking for the best deal.

"Just have them bring it to me before they leave so I can reverse the anti-theft spells," he said.

Dominique nodded and then joined her friends as they shopped.

"What about Skiving Snackboxes?" Tom suggested. "I've always wanted to skive off class, but I've never had the guts to just not show up."

"I don't think so," Dominique said. "Skiving off class only means more work in the long run. It takes twice as long to catch up on a class than to attend it."

"Your uncle said anything on this floor," Tom pointed out. "That means these are fair game."

"Not if I tell him not to give them to you," Dominique shook her head. "He still has to remove the anti-theft spells."

"Fine," Tom muttered, putting the snackboxes back. "We'll find something else."

In the end, Tom chose an extendable ear and Miles some canary creams. Dominique had no idea what they planned on using them for, but decided it was better not to know.

After Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, they headed to Honeydukes, where both boys bought an armload of candy each. Dominique purchased some jelly slugs only to find out moments later that they were not very good at all. Miles offered to trade her for some fizzing whizzbees, but Dominique insisted that the slugs were disgusting and she wouldn't inflict them on anyone else.

After checking out a few more shops, the three Gryffindors decided to take a break for lunch at the Three Broomsticks. They all ordered butterbeers along with their meals and Dominique found herself staring out the window morosely. Brooke should be here. Brooke would have gone crazy for the sweets at Honeydukes.

"Domi?" Miles asked, pulling Dominique from her thoughts. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Dominique nodded. "I was just thinking about… things."

"We were just saying that after lunch we're thinking of swinging by Scivenshafts and maybe Spintwitches," Tom said.

"You mean the Quidditch shop?" Dominique frowned.

"Well… sporting goods technically," Miles said, shooting a look at Tom.

Dominique nodded. "You know, I think I'll head back up to the castle early. You two should continue exploring the village though. I'd love to hear about it later."

"Wait, Domi, don't go!" Miles insisted. "We don't have to go to Spintwitches."

"No really," Dominique said, standing up. "I think I'm done for the day anyway. You guys have fun."

DdDdDdDdDdD

As soon as Dominique had left the restaurant, Miles turned to Tom, concerned. "We need to do something about this," he said.

Tom shook his head. "They'll work it out eventually. They're best friends after all."

"No," Miles disagreed. "I thought that too, but this isn't working itself out. Domi is miserable, I can't let it go on like this anymore."

"What are you going to do about it?" Tom asked.

Miles blew out a breath. "Talk to Brooke?" he suggested.

"And what are you going to say?" Tom demanded. "If you come at her, she's only going to get defensive. You know Brooke."

"Well what am I supposed to do?" Miles asked. "She's messing everything up. All Domi bought all day were those nasty Jelly Slugs. She's been looking forward to this trip for years and because of Brooke she couldn't enjoy any of it." Miles sighed. "We should never have mentioned Spintwitches," he muttered.

"Dominique would've left whether we brought up Spintwitches or not," Tom said. "You saw her. She always leaves after she gets all pensive."

"She needs Brooke," Miles declared. "Brooke is her best friend."

"I think they both need each other," Tom said. "Clearly Brooke's not doing so well either, if she's spending the Hogsmeade weekend on the Quidditch pitch alone."

"Right," Miles agreed. "Okay, so when we get back to the castle, we just find Brooke at the Quidditch pitch and tell her it's time to make things right with Domi."

"In a non-threatening manner," Tom added.

"Right," Miles agreed. "In a non-threatening manner."

DdDdDdDdDdD

Dominique arrived back at Hogwarts long before anyone else did. She wondered if she'd find Victoire and Teddy up in the common room, taking advantage of the fact that everyone was gone for the day, but all she found were a bunch of first and second years enjoying a common room to themselves.

She bypassed the common room and went up to her dorm, not in the mood to be surrounded by eleven- and twelve-year-olds. Deciding what she needed was a nice hot shower, Dominique grabbed her bathroom kit and turned on the shower.

Today had been hard. All around her there had been friends laughing and shopping and enjoying their day in Hogsmeade village. And even though she'd been with Tom and Miles, Dominique had felt all day that something key had been missing – Brooke. They were best friends. They had been since first year. And now it felt like Brooke didn't even care about her – after their last conversation, Brooke probably even hated her.

Brooke had her team now – full of new friends and people who were interested in Quidditch. Maybe this was all Dominique's fault after all. If only Dominique had shown a bigger interest in Quidditch – gone to Brooke's tryouts even – then maybe their friendship wouldn't be disintegrating before Dominique's eyes.

Dominique heard the bathroom door open and she immediately wiped the beginnings of tears from her eyes, embarrassed that she'd almost been caught crying in the shower.

"Hello?" Dominique called out. "Holly? Brittany? Joy?"

"It's me," a familiar voice replied. "Can we talk?"

Dominique shut off the water and wrapped a towel around herself before exiting the shower stall and joining Brooke in the middle of the bathroom.

"What did you want to talk about?" Dominique asked.

Brooke shifted from one foot to another as she tried to figure out what to say.

"I spoke with Tom and Miles just now," she said.

"Oh?" Dominique said in surprise. "They sure finished in the village fast. I thought for sure it'd take them a few more hours to see all the shops they wanted to see."

"They said you left pretty early too," Brooke said.

"Yeah well," Dominique said, gesturing to the shower and herself. "I think it's pretty obvious since I'm here and not there."

"Right," Brooke nodded, looking at the ground. "They also mentioned that you didn't seem to have that great of a time."

Dominique shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know what they said, but I had a fine time," Dominique said. "We went to my uncle's shop, got some free stuff. Bought some candy at Honeydukes. Ate at the Three Broomsticks… It was a lovely trip."

"Then why are you back here so early?" Brooke inquired.

"It's a small village," Dominique replied. "Doesn't take long to see everything."

"Miles seems to think it had something to do with me," Brooke said.

"Miles needs to keep his nose out of my business," Dominique declared, deciding right then to have a word with Miles later.

"No, it was good of him to come and talk to me," Brooke shook her head. "Both of them really."

"Was it?" Dominique asked, annoyed that her friends were interfering in things that weren't their business.

"Look," Brooke began, "I've been a jerk."

Dominique was surprised by this statement, but didn't let it show. She still didn't know where Brooke was taking this.

"Go on," Dominique said.

Brooke sighed. "Ever since I made the Quidditch team, I've been spending all my time practicing and I've totally neglected to spend any time with you. I'm sorry for that."

"No," Dominique shook her head. "No, you should be out practicing. I mean, how can you expect to beat Blake Edwards unless you put in the same kind of time that he does, right?"

"Exactly," Brooke said, relief flooding through her voice as she realized that her friend understood.

"Look, I get that Quidditch is important to you," Dominique said. "And now that you're on the Quidditch team, it's going to have to be a bigger part of your life than it was before. I just miss you."

"I miss you too," Brooke admitted. "But ever since I joined the Quidditch team I've felt like you were judging me for it."

"Well then I'm the one that's a jerk," Dominique cried apologetically. "Because that's the last thing I wanted to do. I want you to be happy and do what you love. But I also don't want to lose you to it."

"I don't want to lose you either," Brooke said.

"So you don't like Caitlin Bell and Kayla Thompson better than me then?" Dominique asked, naming the other two female Gryffindor Quidditch team members.

"No way," Brooke shook her head. "Caitlin is actually kind of mean, and Kayla can be so annoying. Plus, they're both significantly older than me. So to them I'm more like the kid sister who can catch a snitch. Not the best basis for friendship."

"So we're alright then?" Dominique asked, heart soaring in her chest.

Brooke nodded. "We're alright."

The girls moved to hug, but then Dominique wrinkled her nose and stepped back. "You definitely need to shower before I go anywhere near you."

Brooke laughed. "Yeah, I've been training all day, so I probably smell. I'll see you when I'm done showering?"

"Yeah," Dominique nodded. "I'll be down in the common room, waiting for Miles and Tom so I can kill them."

"Don't do that," Brooke said. "They were only trying to help."

"I admit," Dominique said. "Their intentions were good, and the result was positive. But I don't need them interfering on my behalf with anyone else."

"Yeah," Brooke nodded. "Alright, see you later."

As Brooke got into the shower and Dominique headed back to the dormitory to get dressed, Dominique found herself smiling. She and Brooke were friends again. The whole thing had been a big misunderstanding. And now that they were friends again, when the November Hogsmeade weekend came around, they could go together and buy bags and bags of candy.

Maybe I won't kill Tom and Miles, Dominique thought to herself as she pulled on her shirt. At least, not this time.