Year 1: The Bonds of Friendship

Chapter 8: April 2014

"Oh it's so good to have my girls home again!" Bill Weasley exclaimed when he returned home from work. It was the Easter holidays, and Dominique and Victoire had elected to return home this year instead of staying at Hogwarts like most of the school. Dominique figured since Brooke and Miles were both going home, and Victoire wanted to come home, she might as well come home too.

"Hi papa," Dominique cried, running to her father and receiving a big hug. Victoire got one too, and then Bill insisted on taking a look at his daughters properly.

"Look how big you've both grown," he marvelled. "Why Victoire, you're practically all grown up."

"What about me?" Louis asked, looking for attention.

"Well you must've grown at least a foot since I've been at work," Bill said good-naturedly. "What did you have to eat for lunch today?"

"Tomato soup," Louis replied. "Maman made it."

"Well there must have been something in that soup, because you look about as old as me now," Bill replied.

"Papa," Dominique spoke up. "Can we all go get ice cream tomorrow in Diagon Alley?"

"Not tomorrow chèrie," her mother said. "Your father has to work tomorrow and I have to go to a healer's appointment with grand-maman Delacour, so you three will have to spend the afternoon at Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey's."

"But don't worry," her father added. "We'll make sure to get ice cream sometime before you have to go back to Hogwarts."

Dominique and Victoire exchanged a look. They hated staying with Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey. It wasn't their Aunt and Uncle they disliked spending time with, although as far as Aunt and Uncles went, Percy and Audrey were the most boring ones they had. The problem was Molly; bossy, know-it-all, outspoken Molly. Louis could usually avoid Molly by playing with their other cousin Lucy, but Dominique and Victoire had a harder time avoiding her.

"Can't I just watch the kids?" Victoire inquired hopefully.

Their parents exchanged a look.

"It didn't go so well the last time," their father pointed out.

"I know, but I'd be really responsible this time," Victoire promised.

"Maybe we'll try again in the summer," their mother allowed. "But Percy and Audrey are already really excited to have you over tomorrow and it's too late to cancel. Besides, you haven't seen your cousins since Christmas and I'm sure Molly would love to hear all about Hogwarts since she'll be starting next year."

"Great," Dominique mumbled to herself. Should have stayed at Hogwarts, she thought.

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"Victoire! Dominique!" Aunt Audrey exclaimed the following afternoon when they arrived.

"And me!" Louis cried, not wanting to be left out.

"Yes, and Louis too of course," Aunt Audrey amended, despite having seen him only a few days prior. "Well it's wonderful to have you all here. Come in, I just made a batch of cookies and the girls are in the kitchen."

"See you later mes chèries," their mother called before disapparating and leaving the Delacour-Weasleys with the Brown-Weasleys.

Reluctantly, Dominique and her siblings entered the house and followed their Aunt into the kitchen where Lucy and Molly were indeed waiting for them.

"Victoire! Dominique!" Lucy cried in excitement, not having seen them in a while. The eight-year-old jumped up and ran over to give her older cousins a hug.

"What about me?" Louis demanded, hating being the forgotten one.

"But I saw you last week," Lucy told him with a frown.

"So what?" Louis demanded. "Don't you like me anymore?"

"Sure I do," Lucy said. "Hey, wanna see my new toy wand? It can change the color of things."

"Cool!" Louis cried following Lucy out of the kitchen at a run.

"Well I'll leave you three girls to it," Audrey said. "I have some cleaning to do, so just let me know if you need anything."

Once Aunt Audrey had left the room too, Victoire and Dominique turned to Molly, wondering what their cousin would insist on doing this afternoon.

"So did you want to look at the new book daddy bought me?" Molly asked. "It's all about the goblin rebellions, it's really interesting."

"But that's fourth year material!" Victoire said in surprise.

"Doesn't hurt to be prepared," Molly shrugged. "Hey, aren't your exams coming up pretty soon?"

"Yeah, in June," Dominique confirmed.

"What sort of things do you need to know for first year exams?" Molly wondered.

"Just the basics," Dominique shrugged.

"Oh come on," Molly insisted. "Start with Potions. What sorts of potions do you need to know how to brew for first year?"

Dominique could tell that Molly wasn't going to give in and that this was simply how she was going to have to spend her afternoon – going over the first year curriculum.

"Well there's the forgetfulness potion of course…" Dominique sighed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Victoire sidling out of the room and she was immediately jealous that her older sister might get to spend the afternoon in peace.

"Ooh, I know!" Molly exclaimed before Dominique could even list the next potion. "I'll quiz you, to see how ready you are for your exams!"

"Oh, I don't think that's really necessary – " Dominique started.

"Oh, it'll be fun," Molly insisted. "Trust me. Okay, first question… what direction should you stir a forgetfulness potion?"

Dominique sighed. "Um… clockwise?" Dominique replied, making it sound more like a question than an answer. They hadn't covered the forgetfulness potion since first term and she hadn't started revising yet since it was only April."

"Correct," Molly said. "Next question… what is the final ingredient you must add to a forgetfulness potion?"

"Lethe river water?" Dominique ventured, not having much of a clue, but remembering that the lethe river water had to be added in two separate doses; one at the beginning and one at the end.

"Nope," Molly said with a smile that only served to anger Dominique. "The last ingredient is mistletoe berries. Lethe river water is only the second-to-last ingredient."

"Well I was pretty close," Dominique said, proud to have remembered so much about a potion she hadn't thought about since November.

"Close isn't good enough. Close doesn't get you marks on exams," Molly pointed out. "Alright, what's another potion you've studied this year?"

She continued on asking Dominique questions like this for the good part of an hour. When they had gone through all of the potions Dominique had studied that year, they moved onto History of Magic, and then Transfiguration, and then Charms. When Aunt Audrey finally returned to the kitchen, they had started with Herbology and Dominique was ready to lose her mind.

"No, no, you've got it all confused," Molly was correcting Dominique. "Bouncing bulbs are purple and spiky bushes are yellow. Just because you can destroy them both with incendio doesn't mean they're the same plant."

"Well it sounds like you girls are having an interesting afternoon in here," Aunt Audrey commented.

"Yeah," Molly agreed. "I'm helping Dominique get ready for her exams. She hasn't started revising at all yet, so this will help get her started."

"Why don't you give Dominique a break, Molly?" Aunt Audrey suggested. "Lucy and Louis are up in Lucy's room and I know they'd love to show you all the redecorating they've been doing."

"But Dominique needs my help," Molly insisted.

"I think she'll be okay for a few minutes," Aunt Audrey assured her.

With a sigh, Molly pushed her chair back and disappeared to find her younger sister and cousin.

"Thanks," Dominique said gratefully.

"Molly can be a lot sometimes," Audrey said. "She has a very strong personality."

"That she does," Dominique agreed.

"I think Victoire is reading outside under the tree if you want to go find her," her Aunt informed her.

"Thanks, I think I will," Dominique said, standing up and heading for the back door. Before Molly comes back for round two, she thought to herself.

On her way out, she grabbed a couple of cookies from the plate Aunt Audrey had left out; one for herself and one for Victoire.

"Hey," she said, approaching her older sister.

"Hey Domi," Victoire said, putting her book down. "How's it going?"

"Ugh," Dominique huffed, handing her sister the cookie and flopping down in the grass next to her. "It's humiliating! I'm the one in school actually learning all this stuff, and somehow Molly's the one tutoring me!"

"Yeah, well she's too smart for her own good," Victoire assured her. "It's not healthy how much time she spends studying when she should be enjoying her childhood."

"She doesn't even need to go to Hogwarts next year. She could just show up in June and write the exams and she'd be fine," Dominique said.

"I'm sure that's not true," Victoire said. "Just because theory comes easily to her doesn't mean the practical will."

"Oh I bet she'll be great at that too," Dominique muttered.

"Well it doesn't matter anyway, because no matter how good she is, it doesn't affect how good you are," Victoire pointed out.

"It just makes me feel so dumb when she's always correcting me and stuff," Dominique confessed.

"Well you shouldn't feel dumb," Victoire said. "Don't compare yourself to Molly. If anything, compare yourself to your classmates; you know, the ones who will actually be writing your exams with you? Better yet, compare yourself to yourself – as long as you do your best, everything will be fine."

Dominique shrugged. "Whatever," she muttered. "I'm not going back in there though."

Victoire laughed. "Maybe if we're quiet, Molly won't realize we're out here and won't be able to find us at all."

DdDdDdDdDdD

Their mother returned to pick them up about an hour later. As it turned out, Molly had found Dominique and Victoire out under the tree, but Victoire had sacrificed herself and submitted herself to Molly's tutelage, leaving Dominique free to sit under the tree and pull grass up out of the ground. Though they loved their Aunt and cousins, both girls were happy to leave.

"I have a surprise for you," their mother said when they had arrived back home.

"What is it?" Louis asked excitedly. "Did you bring us presents?"

"Even better," their mother said. "I brought…"

"Moi!" a familiar voice called out, coming around the corner from the next room.

"Grand-maman Delacour!" Dominique cried running to give her grandmother a hug.

"Careful," her mother warned. "Grand-maman isn't as strong as she used to be."

Victoire helped their grandmother into a chair and the three children sat around her while their mother went to prepare dinner.

"Alors?" she asked in French. "Comment allez-vous les enfants?" Though she had been able to speak some English back when Fleur had been school-aged, in her old age, grand-maman Delacour had forgotten most of it and had reverted back to French.

"Bien," Victoire replied.

"Et vos examens?" their grandmother asked. "Vous êtes preparez, les filles?"

"Oui," Dominique confirmed. "Je pourrais même les écrire aujourd'hui si vous voulez."

"Oh c'est magnifique!" their grandmother exclaimed. "Vous êtes deux filles très intelligent, je le sais. Vous allez changez le monde."

Just then, the front door opened and their father walked in.

"Papa! Look who's here!" Louis cried, running over and dragging his father into the living room. "It's grand-maman Delacour!"

"So it is!" their father said. "What a nice surprise. Bonjour Apolline, comment ça va?" he asked their grandmother with his terrible accent.

"Très bien," their grandmother replied. "Je vois que tu n'a encore pas coupez tes cheveux. Ils sont très longues."

"C'est vraix," their father laughed.

"Peut-être ils vont être plus courtes la prochaine fois qu'on ce voit," grand-maman Delacour said.

"Peut-être," Bill allowed.

"But papa, I like your hair," Louis said.

Their father chuckled. "Don't worry Louis, I won't be cutting it anytime soon. Just don't tell your grandmother that."

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"Hey Vic?" Dominique asked a few days later.

"Hmm?" Victoire asked, looking up from her notes – she was starting to study for her exams.

"Did you and Teddy ever make up?" Dominique wondered.

"What do you mean?" Victoire asked. "We were never in a fight."

"Oh," Dominique frowned. "Well back in January, it just seemed like – "

"That was nothing," Victoire shut her sister down. "Just a misunderstanding."

"Oh," Dominique shrugged. "Okay…"

"Don't worry Dominique, it's all sorted out now," Victoire assured her.

"Okay," Dominique said. "I just wanted to check."

"Don't worry about me," Victoire said. "And if you are going to worry about me, worry about how I'm supposed to pass Defence…"

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"Domi?" Louis appeared in Dominique's doorway one afternoon while she was working on an assignment for her astronomy class.

"What is it?" Dominique asked, looking up from her work.

"Whatcha doing?" Louis asked, shuffling from one foot to another.

"Come in and see," Dominique offered, gesturing for her brother to come closer.

A smile spread across Louis' face as he crossed the room and came up beside Dominique at her desk to see what she was doing.

"What is it?" Louis wondered, looking at the long parchment filled with what seemed to him like tons of strange markings.

"It's a star chart," Dominique explained. "See, these are the stars and planets in the sky, and what I have to do is identify their names from this picture."

"How do you do that?" Louis wondered.

"See all these?" Dominique asked, gesturing to a stack of parchment filled with her writing. "These are my notes from class. I can use them to help me figure out where the stars and planets are supposed to be and then I just have to find them on this map."

"Sounds like fun," Louis said. "Can I help?"

"I don't think so," Dominique said. "It's pretty complicated."

"I'm very smart," Louis offered.

Dominique laughed. "I know you are," she said. "But I think this is just a little too advanced for you yet."

Louis pushed out his bottom lip in a pout.

"Here," Dominique suggested, pulling out her transfiguration notes. "I have something you can help me with."

"What is it?" Louis asked eagerly.

"Well all my notes are completely out of order. See how I've written the dates at the top of each page? How would you like to put them in order from oldest to most recent?" Dominique asked.

"Okay!" Louis cried, grabbing the papers and laying down on the floor on his stomach. As he worked, he began humming to himself and Dominique smiled as she returned to her Astronomy homework. She'd really missed her brother these past few months that she'd spent at Hogwarts. It was nice to have him around again.

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"Hey!" Miles greeted Dominique when she boarded the train at King's Cross station. "How was your holiday?"

"Really good," Dominique replied, thinking of the quality time she'd gotten to spend with her family. "How was yours?"

"Alright," Miles said. "My sister wouldn't leave me alone for even a second."

"Flora, right?" Dominique asked.

"Yeah. You'll meet her next year when she starts Hogwarts," Miles said.

"My cousin Molly starts Hogwarts next year too!" Dominique realized. "Maybe they'll be friends."

"That would be cool," Miles agreed.

The train whistle blew and the train began to pull out of the station. Dominique and Miles stepped up to the window to wave goodbye to their families as they left for a final two and a half months.

"So, want to play a game of gobstones?" Miles asked.

"I don't know if we'll be able to play too well on a moving train," Dominique pointed out. "Won't the stones roll all over the place?"

"Good point," Miles said with a frown. "So then what do you want to do?"

Dominique shrugged. "Have you finished all your holiday homework?" she asked.

Miles grimaced. "No," he confessed.

"Me neither," Dominique said. "We should probably – "

"But homework is so boring!" Miles protested.

"Well we have to do it sometime," Dominique pointed out.

"Fine," Miles sighed, reaching for his trunk to collect his things.

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By the time they reached the castle, Miles and Dominique had both completely finished their homework, leaving them with an entire evening free to play gobstones while the rest of the first year Gryffindors were stuck doing their homework at one of the tables in the common room.

"This is so unfair," Brooke complained, glaring over at Miles and Dominique having fun while she attempted to complete her star chart. "You could just let me copy yours and then I could play too."

"How would that be fair?" Dominique asked. "Then I would have done all the work and you would be getting credit."

"Well it would be a lot more fun than this," Brooke whined.

"Too bad," Dominique said. She turned back to the game of gobstones she was playing with Miles and threw her final stone, winning the game. "I win again!" she cried in victory.

As much as Dominique had enjoyed her time at home, she was glad to be back with her friends.