Year 3: Those Fragile Bonds
Chapter 24: December 2015
"But she pushed you down the stairs!" Brooke exclaimed. It had been a few weeks since Dominique's accident and her friends couldn't understand why Dominique was so calm about the whole thing.
"Technically, she didn't push me," Dominique clarified. "She used magic."
"What's the difference?" Brooke asked. "You broke your leg."
"And Madam Eldridge had it fixed in no time," Dominique reminded her. "I didn't even have to stay overnight. It was no big deal."
"No big deal?" Brooke cried. "You had to go to the hospital wing. I don't care how long you were there, the fact is that she injured you so bad you needed medical assistance."
"Okay, fine," Dominique allowed. "It was bad. But it's over now, so there's no use dwelling on it."
"Dwelling?" Brooke cried. "That's what you think I'm doing here?"
"Well yeah," Dominique nodded. "You're the one who keeps bringing it up."
"Because I don't understand why you won't tell Professor Longbottom what happened," Brooke replied.
"I've told you a thousand times Brooke," Dominique said. "Quinn won't like it if I involved the Professors. That's how this all started in the first place, remember? I told Professor Longbottom about Tommy, and that's why she locked me in the closet."
"Domi, this is different," Brooke said. "This isn't about some cat, this is about you. She injured you. Don't you think that warrants getting the Professors involved?"
"If I involve the Professors now, this will never end," Dominique insisted.
"What makes you think that?" Brooke demanded. "How do you know that next time she won't throw you out of a seventh floor window?"
"Because we're even now," Dominique replied. "She's done with me. Unless I get in her way again."
"You've thought that once before," Brooke replied.
"This time it's different," Dominique explained. "Last time, I thought she was just going to back off. My mistake was thinking that we were even when we weren't. But now that we really are even, she has no reason to come after me again."
"You've got to be kidding me," Brooke groaned. "You're saying that being locked in a closet and being tossed down the stairs and having your leg broken are equivalent to you tattling to the Professors that she stole a cat?"
"Well actually, since I got out of the closet in time to make the charms exam, it doesn't count," Dominique said. "There was no negative outcome for me."
"That's ridiculous!" Brooke exclaimed. "Being locked in a closet must have been terrifying. How can that not count?"
"Try to think like Quinn," Dominique said. "I did something to her that resulted in her having to go to detention. In her mind, detention is a bad thing."
"Yeah well, detention is supposed to be a bad thing, so she's got that right," Brooke muttered.
"Just stay with me here," Dominique requested. "So something bad happened to her. Therefore, something bad had to happen to me. Her first idea was to have me miss my charms exam, fail, and then have to go to summer school. But I thwarted her plan by escaping in time."
"Thwarted?" Brooke gave Dominique a look, which Dominique ignored.
"Which meant that while I'd caused her to have to sit three detentions, she still hadn't caused anything bad to happen to me," Dominique continued.
"But she started it by stealing Joanna's cat," Brooke said. "So she deserved the detentions."
"But Joanna's cat wasn't about me," Dominique explained. "That was about Joanna. Whatever went on between her and Joanna before I got involved stayed between her and Joanna. When I got involved, I started something new."
"But what about the swelling solution?" Brooke asked. "You already had a history from the swelling solution."
"No," Dominique shook her head. "The swelling solution thing was dealt with. We were even on that count. I messed her up by lying to her about which potion we were brewing, which meant that she was unprepared for class. In return, she made my hand swell up. It was taken care of. She'd have left me alone after that if I hadn't gotten involved with her again."
"Okay fine," Brooke said, crossing her arms to indicate that while she claimed to follow Dominique, she really didn't.
"So I interfered and she got detention because of me. The closet didn't work, so she had to try something else. Pushing me down the stairs was her revenge for the detentions she had to do in June," Dominique finished.
"So you're saying that having your leg broken is equivalent to three detentions?" Brooke frowned. "Because I say she'd have to serve a lot more detentions than that."
"The equivalency is not the point," Dominique explained. "The point is that in Quinn's mind, we're even. She got her revenge for the detentions, and I've paid my dues."
"So what?" Brooke asked. "You don't think she'll come after you again?"
"No," Dominique agreed. "I don't."
"How can you say that?" Brooke demanded. "After everything she's put you through?"
"Because if she did, then I'd be the one with the right to exact revenge," Dominique explained. "She doesn't want that. She has no reason to attack me again."
"And you're just fine with that," Brooke stated, unimpressed.
"I am," Dominique agreed. "What she did wasn't necessarily right, or even justified given the magnitude of the action, but I'm happy to let it go if it means being rid of her."
"You thought you were done with her before," Brooke repeated her earlier statement. "What makes this different from that?"
"I've already explained that," Dominique sighed, tired with this line of questioning. "I thought she could just let things go without exacting revenge. I was wrong. But now there's no more revenge to exact, because she's taken care of everything. There are no more loose ends."
Brooke threw up her hands in defeat. "If you say so," she finally declared. "But I'm keeping an eye on you anyway. Miles and Tom too. We're not so convinced."
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Brooke's promise to keep watch on Dominique held true. Everywhere Dominique went, someone went with her. One time, Miles tried to follow Dominique into the bathroom when Brooke was off at Quidditch practice, but Dominique drew the line at having her male friends listening to her pee.
It was almost a relief when the Christmas holidays came around. As much as she loved her friends, Dominique would enjoy the peace of not being watched every second of every day. Maybe once her friends had had some time to rest and relax, they would be able to let up a little and give Dominique some space. Or at least give her the semblance of some space.
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Christmas morning, Dominique woke early, unable to contain her excitement. Christmas Eve at the Burrow the previous night have been fun, but Dominique was even more excited for what was to come. She and her family were travelling to France to spend Christmas with grandmaman Delacour and Aunt Gabrielle. Dominique hadn't seen grandmaman since two Easters ago, and she hadn't seen Aunt Gabrielle in almost as long.
Since she was the first awake, Dominique eagerly got ready, double-checking her trunk to make sure she had packed everything she would need. They would be staying at Grandmaman's house for the remainder of the holidays, returning to Shell Cottage only a couple of days before school started again. It would be a fun family vacation, and Dominique looked forward to spending time with her mother's family.
Once Dominique was packed and ready, she went to find her parents, eager to get going. To her dismay, they were only starting to crawl out of bed, which meant that Dominique had a while to wait yet before they would be leaving.
"Go and wake your brother and sister," her father, Bill, suggested.
Hurrying to do just that, Dominique started with Victoire – who would probably need the most time to get ready if she insisted on showering and fixing her hair and makeup before they left.
"Victoire?" Dominique called out softly, knocking on her sister's door. When there was no answer, Dominique pushed it in further and stepped boldly into the room.
Normally, Dominique didn't invade her sister's privacy like this. However, this was a special day. It was Christmas after all!
"Victore!" Dominique called with more volume, stepping up to her sleeping sister and shaking her by the shoulder. "Wake up, we're leaving for France soon."
"I don't want to go to France," Victoire pouted. "I want to stay right here."
"Well we're going whether you like it or not," Dominique declared, pulling Victoire's comforter off her and dragging it out of the room.
"Hey!" Victoire cried. "Where are you taking that?"
"To the bathroom," Dominique declared. "I'm going to soak it in the bathtub so that you can't just take it and curl up underneath it again."
"Don't you dare!" Victoire cried, jumping up and cutting Dominique off in the hall.
Dominique smirked. "Well you're up now," she said, handing the comforter to her sister. "Now get dressed and get downstairs. I want to see grandmaman and Aunt Gabrielle."
With Victoire taken care of, Dominique moved on to her younger brother. Louis wouldn't be as difficult, she knew. And he wouldn't take much time to be ready.
"Louis?" Dominique asked, nudging her brother's bedroom door open. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah," Louis' voice came from inside. "I was just packing my bag."
"Other than that are you ready to go?" Dominique asked, rolling her eyes at the male habit of packing at the last minute. At least he'd gotten up early to do it though.
"Yeah, shouldn't be more than five more minutes," Louis nodded.
"Great," Dominique said, pulling the door closed again. So Victoire was the tardy one now.
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"Ma Dominique!" Grandmaman Delacour exclaimed when Dominique arrived through the floo system.
"Grandmaman Delacour!" Dominique greeted her grandmother, running to her and flinging her arms around her. "Comment ça va?"
"Bien lorsque vous êtes arrivez," Grandmaman Delacour replied.
Dominique smiled. Her French might be a bit rusty, but it was all coming flooding back to her as she spoke with her grandmother who only knew French.
"Où est Gabrielle?" Fleur asked once they were all cleaned off, wondering where her sister was.
"Elle arrivera bientôt," Grandmaman Delacour replied.
While they waited for Aunt Gabrielle, Grandmaman Delacour invited them all to join her for breakfast in the dining room.
Dominique had almost forgotten how good food at her grandmother's house was. The bread and cheese alone was enough for her to never want to leave France again. Then there were the pastries, which were simply delectable, better than any she'd ever had at Hogwarts, which was saying something.
After Grandmaman Delacour had asked each of her grandchildren about their lives and how they were doing at Hogwarts, the adults begun discussing boring things, which Dominique didn't care to listen to. After eating her fill, Dominique excused herself and decided to bring her things upstairs to the guest room that she typically shared with Victoire. She would get settled before Aunt Gabrielle arrived.
While Dominique was on her way back to the living room where they'd arrived, there was a knock at the door. Since Dominique was closest, she called out that she would get it and walked down the hall to the front entrance, hoping it was her Aunt arriving at last.
Dominique opened the door and was pleased to discover that it was her Aunt Gabrielle after all. However, Dominique did not recognize the man who was standing beside her Aunt.
"Dominique!" Gabrielle exclaimed joyfully, grabbing Dominique in a hug. "Joyeux Noel!"
"Joyeux Noel Aunt Gabrielle," Dominique said back, eyeing the stranger curiously.
She knew Gabrielle could tell she was curious, and her aunt wasted no time in introducing her companion.
"This is Michel, mon copain," Aunt Gabrielle introduced the man as her boyfriend.
"Oh," Dominique said in surprise. "Nice to meet you."
"And you as well," Michel replied with a smile.
Dominique frowned at her aunt. "Does grandmaman know that you're bringing him?" she asked, gesturing to her aunt's boyfriend.
"Non," Gabrielle shrugged. "But Christmas is a time to be together with the ones you love, is it not?"
Dominique nodded, accepting this logic, and invited the two inside.
"Everyone's in the dining room," Dominique said. "We were just finishing breakfast."
"Fantastique," Gabrielle exclaimed, hanging her coat in the closet along with Michel's and following Dominique down the hall to the dining room.
When the three entered the room, everyone immediately stood to hug Gabrielle and wish her a Merry Christmas. For the first minute or so, nobody even noticed Michel standing awkwardly in the doorway. That is, not until Gabrielle pulled him forward to introduce him.
"Everyone," Gabrielle said. "Ceci est mon copain, Michel."
"Your name is Michelle?" Louis asked with a frown. "But that's a girl's name."
"Non Louis," Gabrielle corrected. "His name is Michel," she repeated, stressing the French pronunciation.
Louis shrugged. "Sounds the same to me," he muttered.
Meanwhile, Bill and Fleur had moved to greet Gabrielle's new boyfriend, asking questions about his life, his job, how he and Gabrielle had met… Grandmaman Delacour on the other hand, remained seated, crossing her arms in front of her as she eyed the new man her daughter had brought home.
It turned out that though Gabrielle and Michel both lived in France, they'd met travelling abroad in Italy. Gabrielle had been taking pictures of Italy's most famous wizarding sites for a wizarding travel magazine when she'd met Michel, a columnist for the same travel magazine. He was writing the piece that would be accompanying her pictures.
That had been six weeks ago. They'd spent some time together when they were in Italy, but then Gabrielle had had to go to Spain for a photoshoot in Madrid. When Gabrielle had returned home to France, she and Michel had looked each other up, and were now supposedly inseparable.
"Michel is trying to get me a full-time position with his magazine," Gabrielle revealed then.
"So you wouldn't be a freelance photographer anymore?" Dominique asked.
"Non," Gabrielle shook her head. "But I would still get to travel a great deal. And I would have a more steady income."
"Well, it is about time you settled down," Fleur told her sister.
"Settle down?" Gabrielle scoffed. "If I get this position, I could be travelling the world instead of just Europe."
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Dominique spent the rest of the day wandering around her grandmother's large home. Her parents, Aunt Gabrielle, and Michel were all getting to know each other in the living room, Victoire was holed up in hers and Dominique's shared room writing some sappy letter to Teddy, and Louis had elected to work on his astronomy homework, even though it was Christmas Day.
As Dominique passed the kitchen, the smell of her grandmother's cooking wafted through the air, enticing Dominique to go inside and see if she could sneak a bite of something.
"Grandmaman," Dominique greeted her grandmother. "Ça sent delicieux."
"Merci, ma belle," her grandmother thanked her. "Voulez-vous goutez?"
Dominique accepted the offer to have a taste, and her grandmother gave her a spoonful of the sugar cookie dough that she was molding into cookies for dessert.
"Vous n'aimes pas Michel?" Dominique asked, having noticed her grandmother's cool demeanor ever since Gabrielle had arrived.
"Pourquoi vous me demande ceci?" Grandmaman Delacour asked.
Dominique shrugged. "Vous n'êtez pas très content de lui voir," she commented.
Grandmaman Delacour laughed. "Gabrielle a beaucoup de copains," she said, referencing the many boyfriends that Gabrielle had had over the years. "Je ne suis pas content, mais je ne suis pas malhereux non plus."
Dominique nodded. Her grandmother would be happy if Gabrielle and Michel stayed together longer than a few months. She didn't dislike Michel, she simply didn't believe he was going to stick around.
"Merci grandmaman," Dominique thanked her grandmother for the taste of the cookie dough and then departed from the kitchen.
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"Victoire?" Dominique asked a while later, finding herself back in hers and Victoire's bedroom.
"Hmm?" Victoire asked without looking up from the letter she was still writing. It was practically ten sheets of parchment at this point – way too long to be sending to someone her sister had seen only yesterday.
"What do you think of Michel?" she asked.
Victoire shrugged. "I don't really know him," she admitted. "He seemed nice enough."
Dominique mused on that for a moment before speaking again.
"Grandmaman says Gabrielle has a lot of boyfriends," Dominique said.
"Okay," Victoire said, not sure where her sister was going with this.
"Well do you think she'll stay with Michel long?" Dominique wondered. "Or do you think they'll break up too?"
"I really couldn't say," Victoire replied. "I don't know Michel that well."
"What about you and Teddy?" Dominique wondered.
"What about us?" Victoire asked, looking up properly, now giving Dominique her full attention.
"Do you think you'll ever break up?" Dominique wondered.
Victoire frowned at this. "I hope not," she said.
"But realistically," Dominique said. "Don't you think you will? How many people stay with the same people they dated in school their whole life?"
"Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny dated while they were in school," Victoire pointed out.
Dominique nodded. "I guess that's true."
"Why are you asking so many questions about this?" Victoire wondered.
Dominique pondered on that, but couldn't come up with an answer. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "I really don't know."
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When it was time for dinner, everyone gathered in the dining room to enjoy Grandmaman Delacour's wonderful Christmas meal. Dominique found that she quite liked Michel, and she very much hoped that Aunt Gabrielle and Michel didn't break up, like Grandmaman Delacour seemed to think they would.
After dinner, they moved into the living room to exchange presents. From Grandmaman Delacour, Dominique received a very nice small box of French chocolates. Aunt Gabrielle and Michel got her a pink sweater (though Dominique knew it was really from her aunt, and not really her boyfriend). Her parents got her a charm bracelet that she immediately clasped onto her wrist. Victoire had gotten her a nice scarf from Hogsmeade and Louis, who was broke, offered to do her share of the dishes for the remainder of their time in France.
After opening presents, Grandmaman Delacour played some Christmas carols on the piano, which everyone sang along to. Many of them were sung in English, and while Grandmaman Delacour couldn't understand the words, she understood the music well enough.
"C'était très belle, Apolline," Bill said when the caroling was over, in his terrible French accent.
Grandmaman Delacour didn't care about the accent though, and thanked him for his compliment before sending the children off to bed.
As Dominique crawled under the covers with her sister, she listened to the sounds of the adults laughing down in the living room. It had been a good Christmas.