Hometown Glory
Chapter Seven: In A Blink Of An Eye
"It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't." - Barbara Kingsolver.
He should have gone home, he knew it. He should have his listened to his mother, should have followed his father's pursuit as he suggested a new project for the joke-shop that he was planning with Uncle George, he should have gone with Kendra after she announced that some of the lot where going off to the house, that damned Abel Greengrass with them; and he had been meaning to tell the kid to back off his sister, but Maxim Weasley never listened - ever.
But besides that, he guesses this is his fault. Everything seems to be so nowadays. So as he tiptoes around the highest level of the Burrow, away from the remaining people left in the old house, Maxim opens the door of an old room with perfect care and barely any noise.
"…In here, quick." He whispered, opening the door completely after making sure there was no one there. He moves to the side, his back pressed against the door as he waits. "…Come on, quickly."
Entering the room, with an expression of worry and anger, Dustin Rowle carried in a girl; rushing her towards the single-sized bed at the opposite end of where the door was.
And coming right behind him, motioning Maxim to go on, Rex Rowle made sure there was no one on that floor before closing the door silently.
"Rex, the flask, mate." Dustin called out hurriedly, fixing the girl on the bed as he had laid her body in an awkward position.
And in less than a millisecond, Maxim watched with a pounding heart and mortified eyes as his cousin lifted the girl a few inches off the mattress, making her head sink back as he pulled down on her chin; making her drink the potion inside the flask.
Just as he did, just as the last single drop of potion left the flask, the girl started convulsion-ing; her body shaking with a spasm that Dustin had to leap off the bed. All three wizards stared at her, their eyes glued to the girl as she continued to shake repeatedly.
Maxim felt like he was going to faint; Rex narrowed his eyes, chewing on his fingernails as he watched nervously; and Dustin looked at the girl with no expression on his face, but his emerald-eyes gleamed with the turmoil inside of him.
And then she stopped shaking just as quickly as she had began, and her body glowed with a blue hue as her back fell on the mattress immobile.
Taking a cautious step forward, his heart still pounding, Maxim turned to the redheaded man in the room. "…Is she alright?"
"Now you care if she's alright!" Not expecting Dustin's sudden outburst, Maxim's side collided with the small nightstand by the bed. "This is all your fault!"
Maxim kept stuck by that nightstand, feeling instantly frightened and overwhelmed as the fury inside his cousin jumped up at him and punched him repeatedly on the face. "I…I didn't…"He paused, sucking in air as his eye-sockets began to burn. He kept silent for a few more seconds, trying to contain the tears that wanted to push themselves out, but he had no luck. He couldn't control them as long as Dustin was giving him that look of anger, of hate, of disappointment. "…I'm sorry.." He murmured so brokenheartedly.
Dustin rolled his eyes, looking disgusted as he turned back to the girl on the mattress. "Yeah, like your sorry helps."
And knowing that it didn't, Maxim looked down at the floor of the room as he felt a single teardrop slide out of his right eye.
Even though it didn't help with anything, Maxim was sorry - Maxim had been sorry for as long as he could remember. He never wanted any of that to happen, he never wanted this situation to have occurred; especially if it was something that he had caused.
"…Come on, Devon, come on." Dustin murmured, grabbing a hold of his sister's limp hand as she still didn't move.
They were both the same age, Devon and him, born one month a part, both with different personalities: she was poised all the time, able to crack a joke but preferred to give out the intimidating-factor; he was loud, annoying, was hardly serious, and did everything on a whim, but they were more than cousins, they were best friends. (Though he'd never admit it willingly to anyone else, because, come off it, who's best friends with their cousin?) He loved her very much, like a sister without the ferocity like how he cares for Kendra, but something that allowed her to be his partner-in-crime.
They were both fourteen, so careless and on a flare of rebellion when it happened, when it all began. They were running away from the embarrassing argument her mother, Dominique, and his father, Louis, both were having in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron when they bailed - taking the chance to explore the glorious streets of London unsupervised.
It was like a once in a lifetime adventure, like their world was much different now that they were in a different territory, and so they stumbled into a fantasy place when they walked through the crowds of muggles; admiring every bit like they weren't from there, like they were two runaway tourists enjoying the sights for the very first time. And after an hour or two of walking around like they tripped into something more magical than the world they came from, that's when they made a wrong turn in a wrong alley at the wrong time.
They were friendly, those other teens with their casual conversation, smiles, and curiosity, but they also handed the monster, a trap, to him and Devon. It was like their inviting presence, the fact that they were muggles and they had never actually befriended any of those in their bubble of wizardry, deceived them from the very start; they should have known that things were different in both worlds and for a reason.
It was that awkward and unsure look exchanged by him and his cousin, the way it took a minute or two to actually figure out what to do, when they ignored their judgment and went to grab for what those muggles offered. And if it had felt like they were in a different world, what they took made them feel like the air was magnificent, like they were floating despite the magic in their blood.
It became addictive, those things. It was like a want, like their skin just itched to go back, and so they did; that entire summer holiday they'd find a way out of their seclusion of the Wizarding community and found their ticket to London. Then, before they even knew how or what, that summer holiday ended, but they found themselves back the next one and the next - but then Maxim had enough.
The only one who didn't seem to agree with that, the only one with ways to obtain those substances somehow was Devon. And alas, this is where they were now.
"…I've talked to her, you know," clearing his throat, making himself noticed again, though it hadn't been the brightest idea, Maxim murmured softly. "about quitting all that rubbish…I haven't touched that stuff for a while, Dustin, I swear."
Devon's brother looked up again, the same look on his face. "I don't care about you, Maxim." He spat so coolly. "I don't care what you're doing, all I care is for her to be better."
Maxim narrowed his blue-eyes, trying to hold in those other tears that wanted to follow the path that teardrop had taken. "…I didn't want this, honest…I'm s-sorry."
Dustin scoffed.
"Ease up there, Dust." Rex called from the background, stepping forward as he could see the tremendous guilt on the blonde's face. "This is a foolish mistake that two idiot kids made. Luckily, one is fighting through it, now we have to make Dev try too."
Dustin mumbled a curse about the 'fighter' while he still clutched onto his sister's hand.
Rex rolled his eyes, sighing. "Come on, mate. If Max and Dev were both in the same situation, or had it only been Max and Devon was standing in his place, you'd care."
And just in the moment that the redheaded bloke was about to retort something to that, his green-eyes glaring at the two behind him, the girl on the mattress blinked her eyes to life.
"….Stop it, Dustin." Devon stirred on the small bed, groaning a little as she pulled her hand away from her brother's. "You're making my favorite cousin cry, git."
Max smiled, relief washing over his features at the sound of her voice; at the sign of all her vitals going.
"Don't you see what's going on here?" Dustin ignored her, feeling a little outraged at her nonchalant tone. "Devon, you're addicted to this - this rubbish!"
Devon snorted, laughing silently as she rolled her eyes.
And finding no humor with that, Dustin glared at his sister. "We found you passed out with an empty bottle of Firewhiskey behind Granddad Arthur's shed, Devon. What if someone else would have found you? Mum for that matter?"
"Then it's a good thing my best brother did." Devon smiled at him, squeezing his hand that she used as leverage as she pulled her body into a sitting position. "Imagine the scandal that what have been?"
"This isn't funny, Devon." Her brother snapped instantly. "I'm not always going to be around to save your ass when things get out of hand…Nor will bloody Max either. What are you going to do then? Mum and dad will find out…sooner or later."
The redheaded girl raised her eyebrow, her dark-eyes, alike their father, zeroed in on his face. "…What?" she breathed with confusion, "What does that mean, Dustin? Are you going to tell mum? Are you going to rat me out?"
Dustin crossed his arms, staying silent for a second as panic rose in and out of the girl's chest. And finally, when he had given her enough time to hyperventilate, he answered her with an almost wretched, "…I'll be moving to America soon, Devon." It was a low whisper. "The Headmaster found me a teaching position in one of the schools - I'm not going to be here to save you, Devon, so please….save yourself."
"What!" Devon yelled, her usually quiet and composed demeanor breaking. "Are you mental?" She swatted his hand as he tried reaching for hers. "You're going to leave me, Dustin? In the moments when I'm always on something!"
"I thought you said you weren't an addict?" He retorted.
"I was lying," she shouted again, anger on her white face, "that's what addicts do!"
"- -Devon!" There was a thump, thump, thump from the outside. "Devon!"
And all those inside the room popped their eyes open, noticing that the blue-coloring from the sobering potion radiating from Devon's skin was there, and in fact, undeniable to pin-point what caused it.
The girl stared shockingly at the door, her chest heaving up and down in panic; Maxim closed his eyes, shutting them like if he couldn't see anything then that made him invisible; Rex cursed himself, bad timing to be between this affair; and Dustin stared at the door too, and his heart thumped along with the footsteps getting louder outside.
"- -Devon, are you up here?" Thump. Thump. "Devon! You were supposed to go with your stupid Uncle Louis- -" Thump. Thump. "Devon!"
And just as the creaks from the old floor outside were heard, Maxim leaped forward and knocked Devon off the bed; sending her towards the other side, face-flat on the ground as the door opened.
"Oh, Merlin- -"Dominique paused, jumping up once at the faces peering at her so randomly and quietly. "Dustin, what are you doing here, I thought you were going with Wood to his family's?"
Dustin cleared his throat, looking causally at his mother as he shrugged. "He hasn't seen his grandfather in a while, mum, you know they're really close. Quidditch blokes and all that, so I didn't want to disturb."
The redhead woman rolled her eyes. "Right. Like I didn't also find out that you and Rex are going out to the pubs again."
"He's brokenhearted, mum, he needs a distraction." Dustin replied quickly, watching with a glint of amusement as Rex turned red.
Dominique sighed. "Have you seen your- -"
"Found it." Coming up from the floor, Devon smiled brightly as she held a pearl-earring with her fingers; her skin now its original pale shade. "Oh, hey, mum."
"Where were you?" Dominique asked instantly, crossing her arms. "You were supposed to be off with Louis, remember? Your father and I are going to some bloody Ministry event for the Aurors tonight with Teddy and Victorie, and you know there's no one to watch over you."
Devon's expression went blank, almost annoyed. "I'm sixteen, mum, I don't need to be babysat."
Her mother let out a scoff. "That's the same thing I always told your Granddad Bill and I ended up pregnant with your brother." Dustin frowned, and the other two boys in the background laughed, but Dominique went on. "Now, unless Dustin wants to watch over you tonight instead of being off with Rex getting drunk - I suggest you pick a relative to go to."
"…You should let me stay alone tonight, mum…Might give me practice since Dust's not going to be around anymore." Devon murmured, crossing her arms as her brother rolled his eyes.
"What does that mean?"
"You should let him tell you, apparently he takes big decisions by himself now." Devon replied, walking from the other side of the bed and heading towards the door with a, "Max, let's go," and didn't turn back.
Taking the opportunity that exit gave, Rex scurried towards the door after giving his friend a good-luck thumbs-up; all while pulling himself away from the danger zone.
Raising her eyebrow, Dominique turned to her eldest child. "What's going on?"
Dustin sighed, shaking his head to himself. (Do something good for one of your siblings, expect to be kicked in the crotch as gratitude.) "…Alright," he breathed, taking the plunge as he looked directly into the green-eyes the woman had inherited him, "promise me you're not going to be mad, mum…."
X
Crash.
"I can explain!"
Crash.
"Seriously, I can!"
Crash.
"Oi! Are you mental, that almost got my head!"
Crash.
"Listen!"
Crash.
"This is not going to solve anything!"
Crash.
"- -Protego." And before the last flying-plate could hit the cowering man on the face, Bill Weasley appeared at the entrance of the kitchen of his mother's home, wand out and looking at the scene with a deep expression.
Standing on top of the old table, angry and inflamed like the color of her hair, Dominique Rowle turned to her father with a profound glare. "Stay out of this, dad!"
Bill narrowed his eyes at his middle child, dropping his wand as the man hiding behind one of the old chairs finally managed to grab the wand that had been blasted from his hand, no doubt. "You're destroying your grandmother's kitchen, Dominique. Can you honestly not see the disaster that's going to cause once she comes back from Narcissa Malfoy's house?"
"I don't care about Grandmum!" Dominique huffed. "All I want to do," she turned around, pointing a finger at the man that had so foolishly stayed in the room, "is murder him for destroying my family!"
"Destroying?" The man stood tall, his wand out in case he needed the defense as he frowned at the redhead. "I gave your son the opportunity he had been looking for all year. I don't know about you, Dominique, but that sounds like I enhanced your family."
"No one asked you to!" She retorted, not caring for the sensible side of the Headmaster of Hogwarts comment.
Sighing and shaking his head with resignation, Bill said to the man, "Thank you for coming and supporting the family through my niece's re-bonding ceremony, and I'm sorry for the….inconvenience, Neville."
Neville Longbottom nodded once at the man, exhaustion deep in his chest as he turned around to leave the disastrous mess the Burrow's kitchen was, and the Weasleys mental relative that Dominique was. (He was just much too old now to deal with a battle.)
"…Sure, reward that bastard." Dominique snapped, still standing on the table as her father pulled out one of the chairs; taking a seat. "You have no idea what he's done, dad!"
Bill laid his wand on the tabletop. "Of course I do, Dominique." He told her. "And so does your mother. Neville contacted us to discuss the opportunity that had rose for Dustin."
His daughter's jaw dropped, shock and a betrayal on her freckly face. " How could you - Why in Merlin's saggy left leg did he tell you two? I'm his mother!"
"Because you're irrational and unstable, Dominique." Bill said to his daughter with that honesty he always spoke to his children with. "Because this was a very important offer he was going to give Dustin, and he needed someone who truly wanted the best for him to look over the request before handing it to him."
Dominique crossed her arms, tapping her foot on the table. "And I suppose I - the boy's ruddy mother - didn't want the best for him?"
"Sit down, Dominique." Bill told her as soon as he sensed her irritation lightening up.
"I don't want to."
"Now." Bill said in his parental tone, his blue-eyes turning navy at his annoyance.
And so Dominique sat instantly on the tabletop, crossing her legs and her eyes forcing themselves not to frown as the man scooted his chair closer to her.
"If Neville would have come to you and Derrick with the offer he was about to give Dustin, what would you have done?" He asked her.
"I would have killed one of the Wizarding world's heroes in a heartbeat." She said with all honesty, crossing her arms tighter on her chest. "How dare he even accept an offer that could take my son away from me? He had no right to do so."
Bill stared solemnly at his daughter. "Because this wasn't about you, Dominique." She looked up at him, lips shut tight as she knew better than to interrupt him while he spoke. "This is about Dustin, about all his hard work.
"You know how hard he has been working to do something with his life, Dominique. Especially after wasting the first five years of his schooling trying to be what the rest of the other men in our family left behind, their stupid legacy of being morons. Why else did you think he asked and pleaded for a chance to go under Neville's teachings after he graduated Hogwarts last year?"
Dominique still frowned. "…Because he had ruddy exam marks, and no one would look twice at him."
"Exactly." He patted her knee. "Because he had no other choice, but he chose not to give up. He chose a different route, even though knowing that the Shop was always going to be there for him to work in. He decided to be his own man, Dominique. And because of that, because of his dedication, he got that offer to teach in the states."
Dominique bit her lip, eyes narrowing as she tried looking over her father's head as she tapped her fingers on her crossed arms. "…I don't want him to leave." She said through gritted teeth, not liking it one bit that she was starting to feel overly sensitive. "I want him to…stay with me forever."
"Every parent feels like that, Dominique, but that's part of life. That's the gist of being a parent, to let your kids go. Of course it's going to hurt when they- -"
"That's not true." She cut across him, staring at him on his scarred face. "You weren't like that with us," she then snorted, "well, not with me to be exact."
Bill rolled his eyes.
"I'm being serious." She told him honestly. "I saw you blubbering like how Uncle Ron gets after too much Firewhiskey the day Vic got married to Teddy. You even shed a tear when Louis left to move in a flat with his precious Coral McLaggen, and that was just wrong. I would have chucked the idiot out the door when he was born, but you got all sentimental about it and actually cared….But, no, not with me."
This time, Bill crossed his arms. "What do you want me to say, Dominique?" He looked expectantly at his daughter, an eyebrow raised. "You were a disaster since you started taking your first steps - which, I remember, you did running away to follow a unicorn that happened to cross Shell Cottage's yard.
"You've been a hectic mess all of your life, Dominique. Let's not mention that things you got yourself into while at Hogwarts, or even during the summers. You drove Fleur and I insane, you still do, in fact. You were just a headache, and then you went and got pregnant from Rowle when you were seventeen."
Dominique glared. "….Oh, sure, throw that at my face." She huffed.
"And who can forget the even bigger chaos you were during your pregnancy with Dustin?" Bill continued sincerely. " Or everything that came after that? Your Aunt Angelina swore you would end up giving me a heart attack and that would be the end of me. Not to mention taking your mum out in the process too, because you know how many nights Fleur went without sleep to look after you. And it wasn't until the day you finally packed your bags and left with Rowle that we found peace and quiet…."
The redheaded woman rolled her eyes, mumbling a curse. (Okay, so she was the mental child, tell her something new.)
"So tell me why," Bill reached for his daughter's hands, uncrossing her arms as he did, "I cried like a child that night, the night you left?" He kept his expression sober as Dominique's eyes flew wide. "Or every other past night that you were in pain? Or all those nights I put your mother to bed and I stood up until dawn worrying about you?"
She remained silent, a knot forming in her throat.
"…Because letting go of your children, Dominique, is hard." Her father said with the calmest voice she had ever heard him speak with when he talked to her. "But you prepare them for the day they can take off on their own, because that's what being a parent means. Because you raise them to believe in themselves, so they can survive on their own."
Dominique's eyes watered, her chin lifting up a few centimeters as she tried to contain her pride. "…But how will I know he'll come b-back?" Her voice squeaked towards the end.
Bill smiled, his scarred face stretching and glowing. "Because if he loves you, no matter how mental you are, he'll always need you. Because he will never truly leave."
Dominique laughed, shaking her head slowly as she clutched onto her father's hands. "…I stayed, daddy."
The oldest of the original Weasley children laughed roughly, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his daughter's forehead. "And sometimes I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad one," he said as he stood from the chair, "but it lets me sleep at night." And before he could turn and leave, he shot her another look. "Clean this mess up, Dominique, alright?"
The woman scowled, ready to whine.
"Now." Bill said in his commanding voice, and just as he headed out towards the living room, he added, "…Let him go."
And Dominique scowled deeper.
"…What does that old man know, anyway." She huffed to herself in a mumble as she jumped off the table; pointing her wand and quickly repairing the dishes she had smashed in her fury.
Peeking an eye around the corner, because the only exit to leave from was in the kitchen, Rex and Dustin were hiding against the wall as they watched the woman sneakily.
"…It's not safe." Rex mumbled to Dustin, shoving his back completely on the wall. "…She'll murder us."
Dustin turned to him, glaring. "…No, you dunce. She'll just murder me."
Rex Rowle smirked, chuckling silently. "…Oh, yeah." And then Dustin punched him on the chest swiftly. "…Ouch - obviously I'd take a curse for you, mate, damn."
"..There's no other way out, mate." Dustin mumbled defeated at his adopted-cousin. "..I got to face her one day."
"..You don't have to- -"
"Of course he has to, the idiot lives with me." Appearing at the corner where the two teenage boys hid, Dominique appeared with a dish at hand. "Or you thought you were saved because you're spending this week with your great-grandparents?" She asked her son.
Rex was about to bolt towards the spiral staircase when Dustin held onto his collar, shoving him between him and his mother. "We were, ah, just going to….I told you about the…." He paused t clear his throat. "There was that pub but….I suppose - I'll just go back to Uncle Percy's old room and just sleep."
Rex nodded furiously in agreement, trying to push away from his Uncle Derrick wife's personal space. "I agree, I'm going to do the same. Dad must be worried about me."
Dominique rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as the dish hid behind her back. "Your father's in Peru, Rex, and trust me, he is not thinking about you right now."
"That's harsh." Rex frowned. "I know I'm adopted, but, oi. I'm still the only child."
Ignoring the nineteen year-old 'child', Dominique looked at her son sternly; something glittering in her eyes as she did. "…You can go." She said after a moment of looking at her child's face.
"I - what?" Dustin knitted his eyebrows. "To the pub or….?"
"You're going to have to tell your father personally, mind you." Dominique ignored him, her expression serious. "You know how attached he is."
"…Because I'm going to the pub?" Dustin asked skeptically.
Dominique mumbled a curse and shook her head. "If you do what Hugo did, Dustin, and you don't come back at all, I'll make sure to come back as a poltergeist after I die and you'll never get rid of me."
"Sounds good to me- -" Rex flew towards the kitchen, grabbing Dustin by the arm and pulling him with him.
And just before the two disappeared out the door, Dominique caught a gleaming smile on her son's face, and that's when she knew it was definitely not about her.
AN: Hmm. I really liked the outcome of this chapter.
I feel like it got a lot of different things going on: the drug addiction teens get into (magical or not!), the growing up, the wanting to turn your life around, the letting your kids leave home...
So summary of characters, shall we?
Dustin and Devon - obviously Dominique's kids
Maxim - Louis and Coral's
Rex Rowle - just like a friend.
And yes, Neville is the Headmaster of Hogwarts now. YAY! Lol.
