"Dom, are you coming in for cake?" Uncle Ron said through a mouthful. Dominique shook her head and wiped her eyes.

"Er…are you okay? Should I get your mum or-"

"No!" she pleaded, shaking her head. Her uncle stood awkwardly on the decking with his plate of birthday cake. "I'm fine," she insisted, somewhat unconvincingly.

"Oh…kay?" Uncle Ron sat down beside her looking uncomfortable, like he'd absolutely rather be anywhere else. It wasn't like they didn't get along but they hadn't had a one-on-one conversation since Christmas over a game of Wizards Chess. "Did one of your cousins say anything? Was it James? Little git, tell Freddie to-"

She shook her head, sniffing.

"No, nobody said anything. Nobody did anything, I just-" she went quiet, fidgeting with the hem of her Weasley jumper.

"It's nothing," she settled for. "You wouldn't understand." She pulled her knees up and tucked them under her chin.

"Right, probably not," Uncle Ron agreed. "Is it a girl thing then?"

"No!"

"Cause you're right, I won't understand a girl thing. I can go get your aunt? You know how many years it took me to notice that she was a girl?" He grinned sheepishly. Dominique laughed at her poor uncle and his sweet attempt to distract her.

Her nose was a bit runny from crying so he slid the napkin out from under his cake to hand to her. She wiped her nose with it, still smelling vanilla icing on it.

"It's not a girl thing…it's a me thing," she said.

Ron took a slow, thoughtful breath.

"I might not understand but if you tell me it can be an us thing? I didn't understand a lot of what people were going through growing up but...I got really good at listening." She considered his offer. "And moaning," he admitted, as an afterthought, "Sometimes you just need a good moan."

Dominique giggled and before she had even decided to she began slowly pouring her heart out.

"I love having a big family but sometimes I feel lost in it. It's not anybody's fault! Nobody makes me feel that way, I just do. It just feels like everyone else has their place and I'm just…here? Vic's the oldest in my family– my immediate family" she clarified and Ron nodded understanding, "and she's the first grandchild. Louis is the youngest and he's a boy and I'm just in between them, classic middle child. In the extended family everyone has their role. Rose has Quidditch, James is a troublemaker, Al is a bit bossy, Lily's got her animals and Hugo reads more than anybody I've ever met! Louis and Lucy are joined at the hip and Mol sings and plays music and half the school fancies Roxie without even knowing how kind she is! Teddy's got his mum's gift and Victoire…well, she's just flawless. She has a bit of a temper and she has no filter but she's pretty much perfect. Going to school in her shadow when everything came naturally to her felt like I was disappointing everyone. I sound horrible, I know I do, I love my family, I just worry that nobody would notice if I wasn't even in it."

"I noticed," Uncle Ron said, "Not just because I wanted your slice of cake either." She smiled sadly, eyes watering while she fought a new wave of tears.

"You just don't know what it's like to not feel special."

"Yeaah," her Uncle Ron sighed, "You're right. I have no idea what that's like. I can't imagine growing up in a big family with lots of expectations set by my older siblings and feeling overlooked. Must be awful." He had a sarcastic bite of his cake, smiling at her while she frowned at him.

"No, you're in like, history books and newspapers and you fought in the war and your're…"

"Harry Potter's best friend?" Ron offered. "Ginny was the youngest, a girl and brilliant at Hogwarts, Fred and George were the pranksters, Percy was the prefect and Charlie was the Quidditch star before your aunt. Your dad was the oldest and he was…cool." Ron smiled. Dominique snorted. She had been following along until now.

"My dad was cool?" She repeated disbelievingly.

"He has long hair, a piercing, an adventurous job for Gringotts and he was prefect and Head Boy at Hogwarts. Did you know, when I was about your age, I fancied your mum?"

"Ewww! Does dad know?" she giggled.

"Oh, I think everyone knew," Ron laughed. "Was just one more occasion where I felt overshadowed by my siblings."

"But you love Aunt Hermione."

"Yeah. There's that too. Your aunt was always the smartest witch of her age and now she's the Minister for Magic. Your Uncle Harry was The Boy Who Lived, the youngest seeker in a century, Triwizard Champion, The Chosen One, Quidditch Captain and about a million other things that used to make me jealous. I was so mad, but I couldn't be mad at Harry? It wasn't his fault, he didn't want the attention. I couldn't be mad at them just for being themselves so I think I ended up being mad at myself and I really don't want you to do that."

"I don't believe it…you get a special mention in The Real Knights of Chess at eleven and you got into The Chamber of Secrets. You destroyed the locket, broke into Gringotts, rode a dragon and you're still the reason students sing 'Weasley is our king' at matches!"

"Bloody hell, I'm great aren't I? Didn't know then though, just like you don't just now. Don't worry about trying to be something you're not Domino," Ron had a small grin on his face while looking in through the glass doors to Uncle Harry and Aunt Hermione who were laughing about something, "you'll find people who make you feel like you belong. Until then, you have us," he smeared icing on the tip of her nose, "and you have me."

THC

FFN: AWellWish

House: Hufflepuff

Class: astronomy

Category: Drabble

Prompt: [Platonic Pairing Type] Uncle/Niece

Word count: 998