Year 2: Read My Lips
Chapter 12: October 2014
By the end of September, the second years had all pretty much re-learned everything they'd forgotten over the summer, which meant that it was time to start second-year level work. In potions, this meant learning about the swelling solution – a potion that could make anything grow. Later in the year, they would learn size spells in charms to complement their work in potions class.
"Now there are many different recipes for the swelling solution," their Professor explained to them in class one day. "Depending on how fast you want the swelling to occur and to what degree. Therefore, I have decided to assign a fun little project, which you will complete in pairs that I will assign."
Everybody groaned at this. Why did Professors insist on assigning pairs all the time? They always ended up pairing people up in the worst combinations. In Dominique's opinion, everyone would do much better if they could just pick their own partners.
"In preparation for brewing the swelling solution next week, I want each pair to go to the library and find a different recipe for the potion. There will be a sign-up sheet in the after-hours potions lab where you can write which recipe you've chosen. Please don't sign up for a recipe that someone else has already claimed or you will be docked marks," their Professor continued.
"So we're supposed to go to the library, find a recipe, and hope nobody else has claimed it yet?" Dominique whispered to Miles. "What if it has been chosen? Then we have to go all the way back to the library, and then back to the potions lab, over and over again until we find one that's available?"
"My suggestion would be to get to the signup sheet first," Miles whispered back.
"Following this, with your partner, you will study up on your particular recipe for the swelling solution, and when we all come in next week, you and your partner will brew it together. Then we'll test them all out and see the different results," their potions Professor finished.
"Gee doesn't that sound like fun," Brooke muttered sarcastically. Dominique made a face as Professor Abbott-Longbottom began calling out the pairs.
It was immediately apparent that the pairs were anything but random. They were all same-gender for one thing, and all the Gryffindors were getting paired with Slytherins while all the Ravenclaws were getting paired with Hufflepuffs.
"Why do Professors always do this?" Dominique muttered. "Why can't Gryffindor ever get paired with Hufflepuff? The Gryffindor-Slytherin thing is so nineties."
"What, you think you're too good to be paired with a Slytherin?" Tom teased.
"I did not say that," Dominique crossed her arms as Tom got paired with Dylan Becker from Slytherin.
"Ugh, I can't believe it!" Tom said in frustration.
"You think you're too good to be paired with a Slytherin?" Dominique said mockingly.
"I think I'm too good to be paired with Dylan Becker," Tom clarified. "He doesn't care about school at all. I'm going to end up having to do the whole assignment on my own. Plus, he'll probably mess it up and I'll fail anyway."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Brooke assured Tom.
"Brooke Hill and Summer Snow," Professor Abbott-Longbottom announced the next pair.
Dominique stifled a laugh. What decent parent names their kid Summer when they already know they'll be stuck with the last name Snow?
"Miles Bailey and Sean Weston," the next pair was announced.
"Not so bad," Miles nodded acceptingly. "I mean, I could have gotten Dylan Becker."
"Shut up," Tom grumbled.
"Dominique Weasley and Quinn Adams," their Professor continued.
Dominique chanced a glance across the room where Quinn and her posse were sitting. Like Dylan, Quinn and her friends didn't seem to care about school in the least. Worse, they took joy in sabotaging other students who did care. She was not looking forward to this collaboration.
Soon, all the pairs had been assigned and the students were excused for the day. Nervously, Dominique approached Quinn to talk about their assignment.
"What do you want?" Quinn asked, looking Dominique up and down in disdain.
"I just wondered when you wanted to work on the project?" Dominique wondered. "We only have a week to choose a recipe and read up on it, so we shouldn't leave it to the last minute."
"How about you choose one and learn the recipe, and just let me know when it's done?" Quinn suggested, grabbing her things and sweeping out of the classroom, her minions following after her.
"That went well," Dominique muttered to herself.
DdDdDdDdDdD
That afternoon, the library was filled with second year students in some of the most unlikely combinations, flipping through potions books in an attempt to choose recipes for their potions assignment. Since Dominique's partner had elected to put Dominique in charge of choosing a recipe, Dominique was working next to Brooke and Summer – though she was quickly rejecting that decision.
"No way!" Summer cried. "We're not doing that one, it requires flobberworm mucus!"
Brooke rolled her eyes. "I can deal with the flobberworm you know," she said. "You don't have to go anywhere near it."
"We're still not doing it," Summer insisted. "Find another one."
"Okay, here, what about this?" Brooke suggested, pointing out another recipe she'd found.
"No way, it has to be stirred constantly and my arm would get way too tired," Summer disagreed.
"What if I stirred it?" Brooke asked.
"No, no," Summer shook her head. "You'd get tired and then I'd have to do it."
Brooke grumbled, shoving the two rejected recipes in Dominique's direction.
"Here," she muttered. "Maybe you can use one."
"Thanks," Dominique said, pulling the book towards her to take a look.
She had to admit, the second recipe sounded exhausting. Quinn would definitely make her do all the stirring. But the first recipe didn't sound too bad at all. There was minimal stirring, a decent amount of time where the potion just needed to brew on a low temperature, and she could deal with a flobberworm if she had to.
"I think I'm going to use this first one," Dominique said, closing her books and gathering her things.
"Are you sure?" Summer asked condescendingly. "You're seriously willing to touch a flobberworm?"
"Obviously I'd wash my hands afterward," Dominique said. "It's not like I'm never going to have to touch one anyway. We're going to have to make tons of potions with flobberworms and flobberworm mucus before we graduate."
"Whatever," Summer said, flinging her hair to the side as she turned back to a book she was reading.
Shaking her head, Dominique headed up to the library counter to check it out with Madam Maxwell. Once she'd done that, she hurried down to the dungeons to sign up for her recipe before anyone else did. Luckily, the sign-up sheet only had one sign-up so far, and it was for a different recipe. Rejoicing that she didn't have to go back to the library and start over, Dominique carefully wrote down hers and Quinn's names and then the name of the wizard who came up with the recipe they would be brewing.
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"So did you all manage to choose a recipe?" Miles asked later that night when the four friends were together again.
"I did," Dominique volunteered. "It was pretty easy since Quinn didn't want any part of it."
"You're so lucky," Brooke groaned. "Summer had an opinion on everything and when we finally found one we wanted, someone had taken it and we had to find another one. It took forever."
"At least you've chosen one," Tom grumbled. "Dylan Becker just rejects every one that I find without even looking at the recipe. I finally got so fed up that I decided that we had to take a break. We're going to try again tomorrow."
"If he's going to be a pain about it, you should just make him choose the recipe," Dominique suggested.
"But what if he picks a terrible one on purpose?" Tom asked.
Dominique shrugged. "At this point you're not going to have too many options left."
"What about you Miles?" Brooke asked. "Did you find a recipe yet?"
"Yeah," Miles confirmed. "It was pretty easy actually. Sean already knew what he wanted to do, he just had to find the book that had the recipe in it."
"How did you end up with such a great partner?" Brooke wondered.
Miles shrugged. "Well the truth is Slytherin's not all bad, so one of us was bound to get a decent partner."
"I didn't mean that – " Brooke began, but Miles cut her off.
"It's fine, I know what you meant," he assured her.
"Okay," Brooke said, leaning back.
Slowly, the conversation drifted away from potions and towards other things, and soon, the second years had to part ways for the evening, girls to their dormitory and boys to theirs.
DdDdDdDdDdD
"I thought I told you I wanted a swelling solution that acts quickly."
With a mouthful of bacon, Dominique confusedly turned around in her seat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall to find Quinn standing behind her with an angry expression on her face. Flanking Quinn on either side were her two best friends, Marsha and Catherine.
"What?" Dominique asked as she tried to swallow all her food in one gulp.
"For the assignment," Quinn clarified. "I wanted a recipe that's fast acting."
"But you didn't – "
"I've looked at all the recipes, and I know which one I want to do," Quinn said.
"Great," Dominique said, willing to do anything to get Quinn to let her eat her breakfast in peace. "Which one?"
"The one that French guy came up with," Quinn declared. "Francois Legault."
Dominique frowned. She was pretty sure that was the recipe Brooke and Summer had settled on. "I think someone already signed up for that one," she commented.
"So?" Quinn deadpanned. "Figure it out. That's the one we're doing."
As Quinn and her friends walked away, Dominique gaped at her. Had that really just happened? Had Quinn really just informed her that they were stealing someone else's recipe and that Dominique was in charge of seeing it through? How was she supposed to convince Brooke and Summer to trade potions with her when Summer had already rejected the recipe the first time around.
"What are you going to do?" Miles wondered, reading Dominique's mind. It was just the two of them eating that morning, as Brooke and Tom had taken an early breakfast in order to take advantage of the free Quidditch pitch that morning. Miles had considered going, but had apparently taken too long to get out of bed.
Dominique sighed. "I guess I'll talk to Brooke," she said, unsure what else she could do. "But there's no way she'd going to want to go back to the library with Summer to find another recipe. And there's no way Summer would want to take my recipe."
"I'll trade recipes with you," Miles offered immediately.
"Oh, Miles, no," Dominique shook her head. "I can't ask you to do that."
"I don't mind," Miles assured her.
"But Sean chose that recipe specifically," Dominique pointed out. "He wouldn't want to give it up."
"I'll talk to him," Miles assured her. "It won't be a problem, I swear."
"You'd really be willing to switch?" Dominique asked.
"Sure," Miles agreed. "Why not?"
"Thanks," Dominique smiled. "I won't get Summer to agree to take my recipe, but maybe she'll take yours."
DdDdDdDdDdD
When Dominique and Brooke met up later in Charms, Dominique presented her proposition.
"You've got to be kidding me," Brooke cried.
Dominique made a face and shook her head. "I wish I was," she admitted.
"You're saying that after the hours I spent trying to find a recipe Summer was alright with, now you want me to give it away?" Brooke summarized.
"Yes," Dominique confirmed. "But I would be willing to trade my recipe for yours."
"Summer already rejected your recipe," Brooke pointed out. "That's how you got it."
"Yes," Dominique agreed. "But this morning, I traded that recipe to Miles, so what I'm offering you is the Theodore Stanley recipe," she said, naming the recipe that Miles had given her.
"Sean was willing to give that up?" Brooke asked in surprise.
Dominique shrugged. "I guess so," she said. "That's what Miles said at least."
"Wow," Brooke nodded. "Well I guess I can at the very least suggest the Theodore Stanley recipe to Summer."
"Thank you so much," Dominique said in relief.
"I'm not promising anything," Brooke reminded her. "All I can do is try."
"That's all I'm asking," Dominique replied.
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That evening, Dominique waited in the common room for Brooke to return from her library appointment with Summer. Apparently Summer had insisted that if Brooke want to speak with her, she make an appointment, and the only time Summer had had free was after dinner in the library.
"Calm down," Miles said when he noticed how stressed out Dominique was. "It's either going to be a yes or a no, and if it's a no, then there's not much you could have done differently. Quinn will just have to deal with that."
"If I don't get the Francois Legault recipe, I have a sneaking suspicion that Quinn is going to have Marsha and Catherine murder me," Dominique said.
"Well now you're just being dramatic," Miles rolled his eyes. "A couple of second years are not going to murder you. Especially not in a school as magically supervised as Hogwarts. I mean, there is literally nowhere in this castle where someone could murder someone without a portrait or something noticing."
"Yeah, except for the Astronomy Tower," Dominique muttered, thinking about the death that had taken place in her Aunts' and Uncles' days here. "Oh my God, she's going to have me murdered in the Astronomy Tower."
"What are we talking about?" Tom asked, arriving and taking a seat.
"Where in the castle Dominique is most likely to be murdered by Quinn Adams and her friends if Brooke can't convince Summer to trade potions recipes," Miles summarized.
"She could lure her down into the Chamber of Secrets," Tom suggested. "No witnesses down there."
"Don't you know they've blocked off entrance?" Dominique frowned. "When they did the renovations after the Battle of Hogwarts, they made sure it was inaccessible to anyone, including Parselmouths."
"How do you know that?" Tom asked.
"It's in Hogwarts: A History," Dominique said, suddenly grateful for her Aunt's obsession with the book. "Everyone knows that."
"Apparently not everyone," Miles snickered.
Tom made a face. "Well she could always lure you out into the Forbidden Forest," he said. "As long as Hagrid wasn't passing by, she'd be golden."
"Great, then it's simple," Miles declared. "Dominique, don't go wandering into the Forbidden Forest no matter how good an idea it may seem. And also, don't go up to the Astronomy Tower alone for the next week or so until this whole thing blows over."
Dominique rolled her eyes. "Alright fine, you've made your point," she allowed. She turned to Tom, reading to change the conversation. "So did you and Dylan agree on a recipe?" she asked.
Tom groaned. "Yeah, we did," he said. "But only because everything else was taken and it was all that was left that we could find. It looks awful. Any chance either of you'd want to trade for it?"
Dominique and Miles exchanged a look.
"Well obviously I can't," Dominique pointed out.
"Yeah, and Sean's already pretty upset about giving away the Theodore Stanley," Miles said. "I finally got him on board with the new recipe, but I don't think he'll be too keen on switching again. Especially not for the recipe nobody wanted."
"Sean was upset?" Dominique asked, feeling guilty about taking the Theodore Stanley from him.
"Just a little," Miles shrugged. "Don't worry Domi, it was fine. I worked it out."
"I didn't mean for this to cause you any trouble," Dominique apologized.
"It didn't, I promise," Miles assured her. "Besides, I offered. You didn't force me to trade."
Before Dominque could respond, Brooke appeared, climbing through the portrait hole and looking utterly defeated. Dominique looked at her hopefully, but could see in her friend's face that the appointment had been unsuccessful.
"No chance?" Dominique surmised as Brooke collapsed into an armchair.
"Not even the slightest," Brooke replied. "Sorry, I did my best, but she refused to budge."
"That's alright, you did your best," Dominique sighed. "Now I just have to figure out what to do about Quinn."
"Well you have the Theodore Stanley," Tom pointed out. "It's no Francois Legault, but it's better than the Hans Brubaker," he named the potion that Dominique had originally chosen and then traded to Miles and Sean.
"True," Dominique agreed. "At least the Theodore Stanley is a fast-acting one. The Hans Brubaker was a gradual swelling, so this is at least closer to what Quinn wanted. Unless you wanted the Theodore Stanley back, Miles?"
"Keep it," Miles said. "I've already dealt with Sean, there's no reason to rock the boat any further."
"Thanks," Dominique smiled. "You're the best."
DdDdDdDdDdD
The day of the potion brewing arrived, and Dominique was terrified. She'd avoided Quinn all week, too afraid to tell her she'd failed in acquiring the Francois Legault recipe and now she was going to have to face her.
"Hold on," Quinn said, holding up a hand when Dominique started to explain the situation. "So you're telling me that even after I explicitly told you which recipe I wanted to do, you signed us up for a different one, and on top of it didn't bother to tell me until now so that I've come to class unprepared to brew the potion we're meant to brew?"
"Well I figured you weren't going to do any of the work anyway…" Dominique trailed off as she shifted uncomfortably under Quinn's glare.
"I take offense to that!" Quinn cried. "Of course I was going to help with the potion. Obviously I can't now, because I don't even know what recipe we're doing, but had I been informed, I certainly would have participated."
"So…" Dominique hesitated, unsure where they stood now.
"So you'd better be ready to do all the work on this," Quinn said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms in front of her.
Nodding tentatively, Dominique grabbed the list of ingredients they would need and headed to the storeroom to collect them. Though things could have gone better, they also could have gone much worse. It seemed that Dominique's only punishment for failing Quinn's mission was that she would be brewing the potion alone, which she'd been anticipating doing anyway. Perhaps this whole thing had been a ruse so that Quinn would have an excuse to not do the work.
Once she'd collected the ingredients, Dominique returned to her and Quinn's brewing station and set up her cauldron with some water, adding the first few ingredients and letting it simmer. When Professor Abbott-Longbottom would walk by, Quinn would pretend to be reading the recipe or crushing something in her mortar, but mostly Quinn just sat back and stayed silent, which was perfectly fine with Dominique.
"Is it done yet?" Quinn asked when Dominique added the final ingredient.
"Just about," Dominique said, giving it a final stir. "There," she said, satisfied.
"Great," Quinn nodded. "And you said it was fast acting?"
"That's right," Dominique agreed.
"Perfect," Quinn said. She pulled a ladle out of her bag and dipped it into the potion.
"What're you – " Dominique began to ask, but before she could finish Quinn had overturned the ladle over her left hand, causing it to swell up to five times it's normal size.
"What was that for?" Dominique cried as her hand stretched painfully. She held it to her chest, trying to shrink it back down with force, but failing. The potion was scalding and her hand was throbbing both from the heat and the magic.
"That was for disobeying by direct orders and then lying about it," Quinn declared with a smirk. "I suggest you think twice before crossing me again."
Dominique gaped as Quinn swung her bag over her shoulder and sauntered out of the class before the bell had even rung.
"Professor?" she cried, gritting her teeth against the pain. "I accidentally spilled some potion on my hand."
Immediately, their Professor hurried over with an antidote and poured some of it over Dominique's afflicted hand. The effect was instantaneous. The potion was cool to the touch and soothed the burning sensation immediately. The painful stretching stopped too and the hand gradually returned to normal size.
"Attention class," Professor Abbott-Longbottom announced. "Please be careful about spilling your potions, especially on yourselves as the effects can be painful depending on your chosen potion."
Dominique rolled her eyes. No kidding.
"Are you alright?" Miles asked, hurrying over, not having noticed until now what was going on. "What happened?"
"Quinn dumped potion on me because I didn't get her the recipe she wanted," Dominique replied.
"That's insane!" Miles cried. "Who does that?"
"I don't know," Dominique shrugged.
"You have to report her," Miles insisted.
"No way," Dominique shook her head. "She'll only retaliate worse. Clearly she doesn't care about authority figures or else she wouldn't have just walked out of class. In fact, I don't think Professor Abbott-Longbottom even noticed she left."
"She can't just get away with this," Miles insisted.
"I think she can," Dominique replied, a hint of sadness in her tone. "At least this time."