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Chapter 1
"Dominique!" the sharp French accent cut across the tightly stretched eardrum of the fifteen-year old girl. Wincing slightly, her wide blue eyes opened groggily as she turned to look at the clock on her bedside table.
10:00am
Shooting up out of bed, Dominique Weasley almost tripped over her freshly washed laundry as she quasi-ran towards her dresser. Sorting quickly through clothing- she settled on an outfit and hastily made up her silvery blonde hair. It was mere moments before she was clumsily walking out of her door and downstairs.
A second head of angelic blonde was standing at the bottom of the stairs. A young woman in her early thirties, Fleur Weasley- although usually beautiful and composed was tapped her foot impatiently and wearing an irritated scowl on her face.
"Dominique" she said, her accent more evident than usual in her anger, " 'ow many times 'ave I told you to get up on time?", Dominique flinched as the mother continued to criticize her morning etiquette.
Eventually, Fleur stopped her tirade and ushered her daughter to the kitchen where two pieces of toast and bacon lay waiting. Quickly snatching up the food- it wasn't long until she was again moved to the living room. Unlike her grandmother's house- Shell Cottage's Floo Powder was housed in a small crystal bottle that sat innocently on the fireplace mantle.
Her older sister, Victoire was dressed in a clear blue summery dress which contrasted horribly with her scowl as the sixteen-year old tapped her foot, reminiscent of Fleur.
"Dominique!" she said grumpily, "I was going to meet Teddy 10 minutes ago. I cannot believe we are late" Dominique rolled her eyes and turned to her father who gave her the ghost of a smile. Bill Weasley's single earring and bright red hair completely stuck out from the lightly pastel colored room around them as he handed her the small crystal bottle. Smiling, she looked at the fireplace, already green from Louis's trip to Diagon Alley and threw the sparkling powder into the flames,
"Diagon Alley" she pronounced and was swept away in a swirl of ash. It was like flying through the center of a hurricane as she tightly shut her eyes so that she would not get sick. Within seconds her hand was being taken by someone and as she opened her eyes, Louis was smiling brightly at her. His shock of strawberry blonde hair was a welcome sight as he pulled her up and out of harms way as Victoire came hurtling through the flames, only to quickly pick herself up and walk off as if nothing had happened.
Louis and Dominique waited patiently as Bill and Fleur exited the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron,
"Victoire off to see Teddy then?" Bill asked Dominique as he wiped off some particularly avid ash off of his coat. She nodded succintly and he smiled. As Fleur took a minute to fuss over Louis and his ash covered clothes, Bill took Dominique by the shoulder and pulled something out of his pocket,
"I got something for you from my last trip to work with the dragons in some really deep down Gringotts vaults" her eyes lit up as Bill presented her with a bluish-greenish scale that reflected all colors of the visible light spectrum.
"Thanks Dad!" she took the scale and gave him a large and affectionate hug. They turned as Fleur was finished fussing over a rather annoyed Louis and all four of them headed to gather school supplies,
"So we need..." Fleur started and took out a slightly rumpled piece of parchment in which she listed off the items necessary for a fourth, fifth and sixth year student of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. After a minute in which Fleur named off book after potion ingredient, the small family was halfway down the winding streetways. As they rounded the corner of the Magical Menagerie- they came across a rather odd sight.
In broad daylight, there was a spectacle of Aurors all crowded around something on the ground. As was the natural way of events- behind them were reporters and bystanders, all hoping to get a glimpse of what the Aurors were so interested in. Bill stepped forward and turned to Fleur,
"Wait here for a second darling, I'm going to see what is going on" Fleur turned to gaze at her children but Dominique, not to be cut out of the action, immediately stepped forward,
"But dad, I want to see as well" Giving his child an affectionate pat on the head and a hug, he consented, and quickly overruled any sort of protest that Fleur had been giving.
Both father and daughter approached the crowd of Aurors and fought their way to the center where a man was bending over something on the ground. Bill tapped him on the shoulder and the person straightened up. Turning around swiftly, Dominique recognized her Uncle Harry's unruly black hair and signature emerald green eyes in a heartbeat.
"Uncle Harry" she cried, but before she could say anything more- Bill cut her off,
"What's going on here Harry?" the Boy-Who-Lived looked grim,
"I don't quite know Bill" he said seriously and pulled him aside, "There's been a murder but..."
"But what..?" Bill said,
"It wasn't done by any sort of spell or curse, it was... something different, something completely different than what we've ever seen before" Bill looked sideways at Dominique,
"Is it fine for Dominique to hear this?" he asked softly but Harry waved the thought aside,
"She'll find out anyways" he said gloomily, "That new reporter for the Prophet is relentless" Bill let out brief chuckle that was silenced as Harry pulled him and Dominique closer, "There was blood" he said softly, "More blood than any spell, except maybe Sectumsempra could generate" Dominique let out a shudder that although went unnoticed by Harry- was not by her father, who squeezed her shoulder briefly in comfort.
"Do you know anything?" Bill said softly, "Anything we should be aware of?" Harry seemed to think for a second before answering,
"Take your family home" he said quietly, "We still don't know how or why this was done because as far as we know- this wizard was completely innocent" Bill straightened and shook Harry's hand and clapped him on the shoulder,
"Good Luck" he said gruffly, "If you need any help, Fleur and I are always there for you" The Boy-Who-Lived smiled,
"Thanks Bill" before turning back to take control of the Aurors. Turning to Dominique, Bill began to speak,
"Tell your mother that she needs to take you and Louis home right away-I will locate Victoire and we will be home as soon as possible" Nodding her head shakily, Dominique turned to walk back to her mother, but her father stopped her again- "It'll be okay, Dom" he said softly and enveloped her in a hug, "I promise" she smiled,
"I hope so dad, I hope so"
The daughter and father split ways as Dominique walked towards the Veela family and Bill turned toward Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor to retrieve his eldest daughter. His dragon hide boots made loud thumps as he walked up the street and past the mob of reporters and aurors. His bright red hair made him the subject of many a "Hello" or "How are you doin?" but Bill ignored the salutations and moved toward the parlor. As Bill approached, he moved toward the snogging couple and uncomfortably coughed to get their attention. It took a second cough and awkward shuffling of his feet for Victoire and Teddy to break apart. His daughter's face was a deep red and she turned to fiddle with her dress as Teddy turned to see his psuedo-uncle looked awkwardly down at them,
"Hello there Uncle Bill" he said brightly and stood to shake the heavily calloused hand of the curse breaker. Bill shook the hand of the boy who was dating his daughter and turned to Victoire,
"We have to go" he said seriously to his daughter, "I don't know if either of you" he addressed Teddy, "have seen the aurors down the street- but I talked to Harry and it is a serious enough situation that it warranted him to tell me to leave Diagon Alley today" Both teen's faces had turned from adolescent guilt and happiness to a more mature perspective,
"So we are leaving now?" Victoire said quietly, her previously blotchy face now a natural pale. Bill nodded and made to leave immediately but was stopped by the ringing tone of Victoire's voice, so similar to his wife's.
"What about Teddy?" she asked, clinging to the muscled arm of her boyfriend,
"He can come with us" Bill said dismissively, "It's probably not safe for him either" He began to walk towards the Leaky Cauldron and was soon followed by both teenagers.
In no time at all- all three had flooed back to Shell Cottage and were enjoying a spinach casserole that Fleur had made for dinner.
The platform had been empty up until 10 o'clock on September 1st. The swells of parents and students had not really begun until the late morning which coincidently was when the Weasley family arrived. Their luggage was all neatly stacked on a trolley that Bill was driving as Fleur was lecturing Victoire on the nuances of being sixteen. Dominique and Louis were walking together behind their odd family and talking heatedly about a Wizarding Chess game the two had fought out last night and in which the ending was not properly determined.
"No, I took your knight on E6" Louis demanded, clapping his hands together for effect,
"Um, no" Dominique said sassily, "It was on E4, which was the only reason I could have taken your piece with my bishop- it's really quite simple" the two younger sibling's dialogue continued as they made their way to the train.
The shining red and black train was covered partly in smoke that left a light layer of condensation over the fresh paint. This only proved to raise the argument between Dominique and Louis as they drew diagrams and pictures on the train exterior. Finally the family stopped in front of the prefect compartment for Victoire to put her bags away. Bidding a hasty farewell to both her parents- the sixteen year old girl hopped on the train and within seconds, a flurry of girlish shrieks erupted within the train. Dominique turned to Louis, laughing slightly,
"Victoire and her popularity" she said, shaking her head back and forth, "I'll never understand how she doesn't kill them all, if not just for their laughter and excitment".
The family continued along the platform and eventually came across the Potters and the other part of the Weasley family. Hasty greetings and farewells were exchanged between the families as the other Weasley family containing Ronald, Hermione, Hugo and Rose were left free of children while the Potters had young Lily Luna to keep them company.
It was soon time for both younger siblings to leave and the goodbyes were said. Kisses and hugs were given and received by and from Dominique, and by Louis. It was 12pm within minutes and the train was off. Immediate relief hit Dominique as she felt the train pull off into the tunnel and out into the countryside. She turned to Louis,
"Well I'm off" she said warmly and hugged him before trudging off to find her friends. After looking through a couple apartments, Dominique found her four friends sitting comfortably in a right side compartment. Opening the door cautiously, she poked her head in to make sure it was, in fact, the correct people. A warm greeting later, Dominique found herself wrapped in a hug,
"Dom!" Irene Wilkin's voice was anything but the shrill sounds that Victoire's counterparts made upon her appearance. Dressed down in muggle clothing-Irene's slightly wavy black hair enveloped Dominique's face as she was squeezed. After Irene had sat down, Fred and Roxanne both came to hug her,
"Hey Cuz" Fred called while Roxanne went with a simple "Hey",
"How was everyone's summers?" Dominique asked and turned to look at the children of the infamous George Weasley, both children sported identical grins,
"Great" they chorused, although they could look less alike. The dark brown hair of Roxanne and the flaming red hair of Fred made the similarity of responses and facial expressions completely suprising at first but after knowing both siblings for almost their entire life- Dominique found it reassuring.
"We went to Rome" Roxanne said, "And we went to so many Quidditch games- I can barely remember who won what"
"Roxanne!" said Fred in mock shock, "How could possibly forget the games. I remember every single one, down to the play by play calls"
This began a riot between the siblings while Irene and Dominique began to discuss their own summers. Soon enough, the conversation moved to discussions about the upcoming school year and what it meant to finally be a 5th year. The topics ranged from prefect privledges to who the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher was (which none of them knew). In the middle of one of these conversations, the trolley lady turned up outside their compartment. The older lady offered them any number of treats which Dominique offered to purchase.
As she was standing outside the compartment and waiting for the candy to be collected, she noticed another figure waiting for candy as well. It was the silhouette of a girl around the same age as herself with dirty blonde hair. Thinking nothing of it, Dominique gave her thanks for the sugary snacks but as the other girl reached forward to get her own sugar fix, Dom noticed something was wrong.
She re-entered the compartment with the candy and said nothing to her friends as she contemplated what was so "off" about the girl as she munched on a licorice wand and chocolate frogs. Throughout the rest of the train ride, Dominique thought about this conundrum and as the last minutes muggle clothing came and they were all dressed in their trimmed robes, Dom realized. The girl was wearing a black cloak- without any color or distinguishing house symbols- at all.
