Year 4: Friends and Foes

Chapter 38: April 2017

When the Easter holidays finally rolled around, Dominique was more than ready to go home. She was sick and tired of school, and of Summer, and Tom and just everything. She needed the time to recuperate and refocus her attention. She'd spent far too long worrying about Summer and far not enough time working on her plans for her relationship with Adrian. If she was serious, she had to do something. He'd been single all year, but that could change in an instant. He was good-looking, popular, intelligent, funny, athletic… all the things a girl could ask for. Dominique was shocked he hadn't been scooped up yet.

But Dominique was a catch too. Dominique was attractive – she had her mother's genes, after all. And she was smart too. She could create her own spells from her mind. Professor Flitwick – the elder Professor Flitwick – had practically considered her a prodigy. She was a good conversationalist, was relatively well-liked amongst her classmates (certain exceptions excluded), and was extremely well-read. Adrian would be a fool not to go out with her. The problem she'd been running into up until now was that she'd been shy. She hadn't taken opportunities when they'd presented themselves, and she'd let Summer mess her up the few times she'd been ready to do something.

That was all over now. When the holidays were over, Dominique was going to have a plan. And she wasn't going to wait around for her plan to make itself happen. She was going to make it happen. And she was going to succeed.

First though, she had to prepare.

Adrian was a sixth year. That meant he was in Victoire's class. If anyone would be able to tell Dominique about him, it was Victoire.

So a couple of days into the Easter holidays, Dominique found herself knocking on Victoire's door.

"Come in," Victoire called out from inside.

Dominique opened the door and walked inside. Her sister was sitting at her desk, working on some assignment or other. It seemed that all Victoire was doing this holiday was assignments, which was a far cry from last holiday when she wouldn't get out of bed.

"Hey Vic," Dominique said, taking a seat on the edge of Victoire's bed.

"Domi," Vic said, scribbling something quickly and then turning around to face her sister. "What's up?"

"Just thought we could have a sister to sister chat," Dominique shrugged, trying to play it off casual. She couldn't just start questioning Victoire outright, she had to build up to it.

"Alright," Victoire agreed. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing special," Dominique said in a casual voice. "How's Teddy doing these days?"

Victoire shut down. "I don't really want to talk about Teddy," she replied.

"Oh," Dominique said in surprise. "Did something happen?"

"Didn't I just say I didn't want to talk about it?" Victoire demanded. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure, sure," Dominique agreed, her curiosity overwhelming her. Now that she knew something was up between Teddy and Victoire, she wasn't sure she would be satisfied not knowing what. "How uh… how are Kara and Brianna?" she asked, naming Victoire's two best friends.

"They're both doing good," Victoire nodded. "Kara's started dating this guy in our year, Jonathon Cadwallader, I don't know if you know him?"

"Oh yeah," Dominique nodded, pretending she knew who that was. She didn't.

"Yeah, he's the male Gryffindor prefect," Victoire explained further, knowing intuitively that Dominique was faking.

"I know," Dominique said, blowing out a puff of air to try and see blasé. "Jonathon, yeah totally. And then there's… Cameron Philbrick and… Adrian Carter…"

"And Joseph Alderton and Nathaniel Peterson," Victoire confirmed.

"Right," Dominique nodded. "Brianna dating any of them?"

Victoire shook her head. "She's kind of having this thing with one of the guys from Ravenclaw," she revealed. "But it's not serious. It's more… well you're a fourth year, so you wouldn't understand."

"Hey! I'm almost fifteen!" Dominique cried, not appreciating being babied. "I can understand."

Victoire sighed. "Let's just say they're spending time together. Like they might if they were dating. But they're not dating."

"Okay, see, I followed that," Dominique said. It sounded to her like they were friends who kissed, but didn't hold hands or buy each other flowers. "I'm not a child, you know."

"Of course not," Victoire said, kind of patronizingly. Dominique decided not to push the issue. She didn't want to get caught up in an unimportant topic when she'd come for a very specific reason.

"Well hey, now you and Teddy could double date with Kara and this Jonathon guy," Dominique suggested. "You know, since one of your friends is dating someone."

"Right," Victoire said, her voice immediately going dead again. There was clearly something going on that she wasn't saying.

"Victoire is everything alright?" Dominique asked, concerned.

"Everything's fine," Victoire assured her. "Just forget about Teddy. I'm certainly trying to."

"Hang on," Dominique said, putting the Adrian thing on hold for a moment. "Did you guys break up?"

Victoire closed her eyes, as if trying to hold back tears, and took a couple of deep breaths. "Yes, alright?" she said finally. "We broke up. Are you happy now?"

"Of course not," Dominique said, filled with compassion. Was this why her sister had been so distant and strange lately? How could Dominique have been so blind? So caught up in her own life that she hadn't realized Victoire was in pain? "I'm so sorry Vic. Is there anything I can do?"

"You can stop talking about it for one," Victoire snapped.

Dominique leaned away in surprise.

"I'm sorry," Victoire said immediately. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just tired of talking about it, and I'm tired of thinking about it and I just want to get on with my life."

Dominique nodded. She could accept that. And actually… this was the perfect way to get Victoire talking about Adrian.

"Alright, well do you have your eye on anybody yet?" Dominique questioned.

Victoire blushed. "That's not… it's too early to be thinking about…"

"What about one of the other sixth year guys in Gryffindor?" Dominique suggested. "Obviously Jonathon's already taken, but there are four others."

Victoire shrugged. "Yeah, but Nathaniel is dating some girl in Hufflepuff, and I'm pretty sure Joseph's with someone from Ravenclaw," she replied. "And Cameron and Adrian are so into quidditch to begin with – not my type."

"Well let's not write them off too quickly," Dominique said. "Tell me about them."

Victoire shrugged, not seeming particularly interested. "Well Adrian's on the quidditch team, which I guess is cool if you're into that."

Dominique nodded, practically on the edge of her seat. "What else do you know about him?" she asked.

"I don't know Domi, why does it matter?" Victoire groaned. "I'm not interested in him. Besides, if he was going to go out with anyone, it would be Caitlin by a long shot."

"Caitlin?" Dominique repeated, her heart sinking. "Caitlin Bell?"

Victoire frowned. "How do you know all the people in my year?" she asked.

Dominique feigned nonchalance. "I'm observant, I guess," she replied. "But back to Adrian. Why Caitlin?"

"I don't know," Victoire groaned. "It's just something I said, forget I said anything."

"If you said it there has to have been a reason!" Dominique insisted.

"Why do you care so much?" Victoire questioned. "What's the big deal about Adrian anyway?"

"I don't care," Dominique replied, immediately defensive. "I just thought you might like to move on with someone, and who better than someone in your own class?"

"I appreciate the sentiment," Victoire replied. "But if I'm going to move on with anyone, it's not going to be with someone who gets up at the crack of dawn every morning to run around the castle with another girl. Besides, like I said, I'm not into Adrian."

"Right," Dominique nodded, processing the new bit of information she'd just gleaned. So Adrian went running every morning. With Caitlin, presumably. Which meant two things for Dominique. First, she was going to have to get much more interested in physical fitness. And second, Caitlin Bell was a bigger threat than she'd thought.

DdDdDdDdDdD

"Dominique, come help me with dinner," Fleur requested the following evening. Dominique gave up on the assignment she was working on for muggle studies and headed to the kitchen. "Can you peel those potatoes for me?"

"Can't you peel the with magic?" Dominique whined.

"Yes, I'm capable," Fleur chided her, "but I've already got too many enchantments going on at once. I've got that spoon stirring the pot, I've got that knife chopping those vegetables, and I've got this spatula mixing up the batter for dessert. If I enchant the potato peeler too, I'll have too many enchantments to keep focused on."

"Fine," Dominique muttered, grabbing the potato peeler and starting to peel the potatoes. The potato skin was going everywhere, but Dominique didn't care. Her mother could just vanish it all away when she was done.

"So how're things at school?" Fleur asked conversationally. "I feel like we've barely talked since you've been back."

"Things are good," Dominique said. "Really good."

"How are your friends?" Fleur wondered. "Did you ever patch things up with that boy… Tom was it?"

"No," Dominique shook her head. "I don't think me and Tom will ever be friends again."

"I'm sorry chèrie," Fleur said sadly.

"It's fine," Dominique shrugged. "I've still got Miles and Brooke."

"Yes, Miles was quite the young man. I remember him from when he came to eat ice cream with us that one time," Fleur commented.

Dominique nodded. "Yeah, that was him," she confirmed.

"Do you think the two of you might be progressing to something… more than friendship soon?" Fleur asked.

"What?" Dominique cried. "Miles? No way, I don't like him like that." She shook her head vehemently as the thought of her and Miles dating played out in her head. She was only grateful Miles hadn't been here to hear that too. He would surely be thoroughly embarrassed and disgusted at the thought. "Miles is my friend. That's all."

"Alright, alright!" Fleur held up her hands in surrender. "I was just asking."

"That's fine," Dominique said, trying to shake the image of her and Miles from her head. Unfortunately, it was lingering and making peeling the potatoes very difficult.

"Well is there anyone that you're interested in?" Fleur asked then. "Anyone at all?"

Dominique hesitated, and this was all the ammunition her mother needed.

"Ah! So there is! What's his name?" she demanded.

"Maman," Dominique groaned. "Do we have to do this?"

"A mother needs to know these things," Fleur said, trying to sound wise. "I'm only trying to help."

Dominique sighed. "Well I'm not telling you his name," she declared determinedly.

"Well then why don't you tell me a little bit about him?" Fleur requested.

"Alright," Dominique nodded. "Well he's a little older than I am," she began.

Fleur nodded. "Your father was older than I was," she said. "We Delacours tend to be attracted to older men."

Dominique thought of Victoire and Teddy and nodded.

"He's also on the quidditch team," she added.

"Is he?" Fleur said in surprise. "But you hate quidditch."

"So?" Dominique shrugged. "I don't have to play it. I just have to watch."

"And do you enjoy that?" Fleur wondered.

Dominique thought about it. "Not really," she admitted. "But I like watching him."

"Hmmm," Fleur hummed thoughtfully. "What else do you know about him?"

"Well he's very athletic," Dominique declared. "He gets up every morning to go for a run around the castle."

"I see," Fleur nodded. "And this is something you are also interested in?"

"Well no," Dominique shook her head. "But it's not like I would have to do it."

"Does he have any other interests?" Fleur wondered.

Dominique shrugged. "I don't know, honestly," she replied. "We haven't spoken much."

"What about school? What classes does he take?" Fleur wondered.

Dominique thought and realized she didn't know the answer to that either. She shrugged again.

"It sounds like you don't know anything about this boy," Fleur observed. "Are you sure you like him?"

"Absolutely," Dominique replied certainly. "He's popular, and attractive, he's an athlete – "

"You're just listing off generic qualities," Fleur pointed out. "None of that is real."

"It will be real," Dominique declared, angrily swiping at the potato in her hand until she accidentally broke skin. Flinching, she dropped the potato and Fleur quickly vanished it. They couldn't eat it now it had touched the floor. "Once we start dating, then I'll learn all that stuff about him," she said, running her palm under cold water until the small bit of bleeding cleared up.

"If you're certain about this boy, I won't stop you," Fleur declared. "I just hope you're doing this because you actually like him, and not because he's a pretty face."

"Of course not," Dominique said flippantly. "But he's way more than a pretty face, I promise."

DdDdDdDdDdD

Over the course of the holidays, there was one conversation Dominique kept avoiding. But as the holidays were coming to a fast close, she knew she couldn't avoid it any longer. She didn't want to postpone it until they were back at school, because it would be so much more awkward then.

"Hey Louis," Dominique said, knocking on her brother's door. He was packing his things back into his trunk, but he paused when he saw he had a visitor. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Sure," Louis nodded, straightening up. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine," Dominique nodded. She shifted uncomfortably. "Well, everything with you is fine."

"What does that mean?" Louis frowned.

Dominique sighed. "It's your friend, Justin," she said.

"Justin?" Louis frowned. "What about him?"

"I don't want to cause any problems or make a big deal or anything," Dominique said. "I'm coming to you because you're my brother and he's your friend."

"What did he do?" Louis asked.

Dominique shrugged. "It's nothing really," she said. "Only… sometimes I think he's following me around. Am I crazy?"

Louis sighed. "No you're not crazy. I'd hoped he'd stopped with that, but apparently not."

"Can you ask him to stop, please?" Dominique requested. "Only, it's a little weird, being followed all over the place."

"Of course," Louis nodded. "I'll talk to him as soon as we get back. Consider it dealt with."

"Thanks Louis," Dominique said gratefully. She hadn't wanted to get anyone in trouble, but if it had been anyone else, she would have had to report him to Professor Longbottom.

DdDdDdDdDdD

The morning of their return to Hogwarts, Dominique was finishing up the last of her packing when she came across a sweater that was Victoire's and not hers. Grabbing it, she headed for Victoire's room to return it. When she couldn't find Victoire anywhere in the room, she entered, simply intending to drop it in Victoire's trunk and leave. But her attention was caught by a letter that was laying open on Victoire's bed. Upon closer inspection, Dominique found that it was signed by someone named Joe Sanders. It almost looked like a love letter – but of course it couldn't be.

"What are you doing in my room?" Victoire demanded, appearing in the doorway.

"You weren't here," Dominique replied, jumping in surprise. "I was returning your sweater. Who's Joe Sanders?"

"He's none of your business, that's who he is," Victoire declared, crossing the room in a few large strides and grabbing the letter from the bed, stuffing it down her shirt.

"Why is he writing you love letters?" Dominique demanded, not letting it go.

"It wasn't a love letter," Victoire said, her blush betraying her. "And I already told you it's none of your business."

"So when we were talking the other day and you said it was too soon to move on, you were just lying to me? Again?" Dominique demanded. She was getting sick and tired of Victoire lying to her about her relationships. She'd done it with Teddy, and now she was doing it again with this Sanders guy.

"I never actually finished that sentence," Victoire defended herself. "So I didn't technically lie."

"Oh! So your defence is that I cut you off before you could finish your lie?" Dominique cried. "Nice! Very classy!"

"Or you're one to talk!" Victoire cried back. "Snooping around in people's rooms, reading their mail."

"I was returning a sweater," Dominique retorted.

"And you conveniently waited until I was in the shower to do it," Victoire threw back.

"I didn't know you were in the shower!" Dominique cried.

"Just get out!" Victoire screamed, chasing Dominique out into the hall and slamming the door in her face.

Dominique returned to her room in a huff. Why did Victoire have to make everything such a big deal all the time? Dominique was just curious about the letter. She'd never heard Victoire mention a Joe before and wondered who he was. It was fine if Victoire wanted to move on with a new guy. It was healthy even. Goodness knows, if she and Teddy were broken up, she would have to eventually. Dominique was happy for her sister.

But there was no time to think about that. The Hogwarts Express would be leaving in a few short hours and then it would be back to Hogwarts, back to classes, back to friends, and most importantly, back to Adrian. Dominique needed to get her plan sorted in her mind. There would be no time for lolly-gagging this time around. She had to make the most of her last couple months at Hogwarts before the summer. She wasn't about to let a whole year go by without doing anything.

She would start with a few conversations. She would maybe work her way up to studying together. And by the end of the term, she would have gone out on her first date with him.