Year 5: Out of Sync
Chapter 46: February 2018
Ever since returning to Hogwarts after the Christmas holidays, Summer had been even more competitive than usual with Dominique. She'd continued to date as many guys as she could get her hands on, flaunting them in front of Dominique's face as much as she could, but Dominique didn't care. She had William now. She didn't need dozens of guys now that she'd found the right one.
Dominique suspected that Summer was still upset about what had happened their last Hogsmeade weekend of the previous term. When William had declined to kiss her, she'd likely taken it as a personal affront. It wouldn't have mattered to her that William had done it out of loyalty or from the standpoint of monogamy. She would have perceived it as Dominique getting something that she couldn't.
And now that she was starting to realize that Dominique was sparing little attention for her and her parade of conquests, she was starting to get nasty. At first it was just name-calling and shoving in the hallways, but as February wore on and Valentine's Day approached, Summer became more and more vindictive.
It was a Saturday. Dominique was just on her way back to her common room after spending the afternoon in the fifth-year lounge with William. She was wearing the sweater Grandmother Weasley had knitted her for Christmas and a pair of tight jeans that hugged her legs in a way that made her feel very attractive.
Just as she reached the Grand Staircase, she ran into Summer. As the girls passed, Summer shifted so that her shoulder bumped against Dominique and she stumbled a little, knocking into a nearby suit of armor and causing its helmet to fall to the floor with a loud clang.
"Seriously?" Dominique demanded, getting fed up with Summer's childish antics. "When are you going to quit it and realize that I'm not interested in fighting with you anymore?"
Summer turned around and sneered. "You think I'm trying to pick a fight?" she asked. "That's funny. But I only fight with people that are worth my time. You were just an obstacle in my path."
Dominique sighed. Summer could say whatever she wanted, but Dominique knew the truth. Summer had a vendetta against her and was going out of her way to show it.
"Whatever," Dominique muttered. What Summer wanted was a confrontation, where she could prove herself superior. If Dominique refused to engage, Summer lost. "I've got homework."
Dominique turned to go, but then stopped when Summer called out again.
"Hold on," she said. "You're in violation of the Hogwarts dress code. I'm afraid I'm going to have to dock points for that."
"What are you talking about?" Dominique demanded, spinning back around.
Summer gestured to Dominique's outfit. "Well I don't know about you, but what you're wearing hardly looks like robes."
"It's a Saturday," Dominique insisted. "The teachers only enforce the uniform during the week."
"Well if you were a prefect, like me, you'd know that the rule actually states that the uniform is to be worn at all times while on school grounds. Now if you were spending the weekend away from school you could wear whatever you want. But as it is – "
"That's a technicality and you know it," Dominique said. "The agreed upon standard is that we can wear whatever we want on the weekend. I've seen you wearing your own clothes hundreds of times."
"That is neither here nor there," Summer insisted. "What matters is this instance that I was able to catch. And the rule stands whether or not someone else would have taken the time to penalize you for it."
"But I'm not doing anything the rest of the school isn't doing," Dominique insisted. "Are you saying you're going to dock points from every student in school?"
Summer looked to either side of her in a dramatic gesture and then looked back at Dominique with wide eyes. "I don't see anyone else here right now," she said. "I can hardly deduct points from someone if I can't see them breaking the rules. You on the other hand – "
"Fine," Dominique huffed. "I'll just get Professor Longbottom to overturn this, you know."
"Good luck with that," Brooke smirked. "But for now, I think ten points for the outfit and another five for arguing with a prefect. How does that sound?"
"I really don't care," Dominique muttered, knowing that Summer just wanted to get a rise out of her. The less she reacted, the less Summer got out of this and the less likely she'd be to do it again. "Can I go now?"
"I suppose so," Summer agreed, visibly deflating when Dominique didn't continue to fight her. "But I'll be watching."
"I bet you will," Dominique rolled her eyes.
She immediately changed her direction and headed down to the first floor to the greenhouses, where she sought out Professor Longbottom, who was currently watering his plants.
"Professor Longbottom," she greeted him, already decided on how she was going to broach the subject of Summer Snow. "How are you today?"
"Oh, I'm very well," the herbology Professor responded. "What brings you by?"
"Well I was just curious," Dominique said. "Is there anything you'd like to dock points from me for at the moment?"
This caught her professor off guard and he put down his watering can to study Dominique carefully.
"Is there some reason you want me to dock points from you?" he wondered, worry in his voice.
"No," Dominique shook her head. "I ask because Summer Snow just took fifteen points from me for no reason."
Professor Longbottom crossed his arms. "Summer is a prefect," he frowned. "She wouldn't abuse that power."
"Well she is," Dominique insisted. "She said she was docking the points because I'm not in uniform. But it's a Saturday."
"It is," Professor Longbottom agreed. "Though now that I think about it – the rule about uniforms doesn't actually have a weekend exception written in. Miss Snow must simply not have realized that it's not a rule we enforce when classes aren't in session."
"Oh, she knows," Dominique said. "She just wanted to dock points and would have used any excuse."
"I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding," Professor Longbottom insisted. "I'll take a look at her report later and have a word with her if I deem it necessary. I'll make sure the points are returned to you if the situation is as you say."
"She shouldn't be allowed to be a prefect if she's abusing her power," Dominique said then. "It's not right."
Professor Longbottom's expression grew hard. "Miss Weasley, it's not up to you to decide who is or is not made prefect. That is a decision is made by the Heads of House, as well as the faculty as a whole. We do not make these decisions lightly and do not appreciate students questioning these decisions."
"But she's not being ethical," Dominique insisted. "What she did wasn't right."
"Like I said, I will review her report and assess the situation myself," Professor Longbottom said. "For now, I suggest you return to Gryffindor Tower and make sure your essay on the correct methods for pruning flutterby bushes is better than the last assignment you handed in."
"Right," Dominique said, appropriately abashed. "I'll just go then."
While the conversation with Professor Longbottom hadn't gone exactly as planned, Dominique did notice her fifteen points returned to the Gryffindor hourglass that night at dinner. She smirked at Summer smugly from across the Great Hall, glad to know that even if her Head of House wasn't happy with the way she'd handled things, he still recognized that Summer had acted out of turn. The Slytherin girl did still have her prefect's badge pinned to the front of her robes though, which was disappointing but expected.
As Dominique moved to leave the Great Hall, Summer stood and met her as she passed through the doors.
"This isn't over," she warned, before disappearing down the stairs to the dungeons.
DdDdDdDdDdD
Dominique didn't have to wait long for Summer to strike again. She was in the library, studying with William and a couple of his Ravenclaw friends, when Summer passed by and then stopped, gasping loudly at Dominique.
"Is that what I think it is?" Summer cried, her drama queen voice reaching new levels of cringe-worthiness.
"What are you talking about?" Dominique demanded, already exhausted from the conversation that was about to happen.
"That," she said, gesturing to a book that was set on the table right next to Dominique.
It wasn't a book that Dominique recognized as one of her own, though it was sitting amongst her things. She picked it up and turned it over to reveal the title: Moste Potente Potions.
"I've never seen this book before in my life," Dominique replied honestly. "I'm not even working on potions right now."
"Hold on," Leanne Mitchell, one of William's Ravenclaw friends, said. "Is that from the restricted section?"
"It is," Summer confirmed, using Leanne's shock to boost her own. "Dominique, I hope you have permission to have taken that book out."
"I don't because I didn't," Dominique frowned. "It must belong to someone else. Guys?"
She held the book up to the others at the table, but they all shook their heads, some even moving back in their seats, away from the ancient tome.
"Tut tut," Summer said, shaking her head. "Taking a book from the restricted section without permission. That's against the rules, you know."
"But I didn't take it," Dominique insisted. "And even if I had, I would have more sense than to leave it lying around for anyone to see. Someone planted it."
Dominique knew who her suspect was, but wasn't about to say so with a table full of Ravenclaws listening in. She was still trying to make a good impression on William's friends, who remained hesitant about her place in William's life. Accusing a prefect of framing her without proof wouldn't put her any further into their good graces.
Summer just smirked. "Oh, Madam Maxwell!" she cried out.
It took mere seconds for the librarian to storm over, angry about the noise and the commotion they were creating.
"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded, looking at Summer angrily.
Summer maintained her cool and with an innocent look, pointed at the book.
"I just thought you'd want to know that Dominique Weasley has taken this book out of the restricted section without permission," she said. "As a prefect, it's very important to me that everyone follow the rules, and I just couldn't let her get away with it."
"What's this?" Madam Maxwell demanded, grabbing the book and inspecting it. "Moste Potente Potions? I don't recall receiving a permission form for this book. And I certainly don't recall receiving a permission form from you."
"It's not mine," Dominique insisted. "I swear."
"Yet it was found amongst your things?" Madam Maxwell demanded. "How would you explain that?"
Dominique looked to Summer with daggers in her eyes. The girl was downright devious and the lengths she was going to in order to get a rise out of Dominique were excessive and ridiculous.
"I can't," Dominique said. "You'll just have to take my word for it."
Madam Maxwell shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't do that," she said. "Someone took this book from the restricted section without permission, and the evidence points to you. Fifty points from Gryffindor."
"Fifty points?" Dominique demanded. Fifty was a lot of points to lose in one shot.
"This book is dangerous," Madam Maxwell insisted. "Do you realize what you could have done if you'd tried to brew any of these? Only the most advanced seventh years are permitted to borrow it, and only if they prove themselves to be responsible."
"But I wasn't going to brew anything," Dominique insisted. "I'm terrible at potions."
"All the more reason to dock points from you for having it," Madam Maxwell insisted. "Even an expert potioneer could do serious damage if he or she brewed one of these potions incorrectly, but in the hands of a novice… well that could be disaster."
"So that's it then?" Dominique demanded. "There's nothing I can say?"
"Unless you can prove that someone else took the book," Madam Maxwell said.
Dominique sighed. She'd known it would come to this.
"Fine, take the points," she sighed. "I don't care."
Ignoring Summer, she turned back to the Ravenclaws, who were all looking at her with apprehension.
She tried to ignore them, but as they continued staring, it got harder and harder to focus on her work.
"What?" she demanded, surprising them all with the vehemence of the statement.
"Nothing," Blaine Townsend said. "Just – why would you take that book?"
Dominique dropped her hand onto the table in annoyance. "I didn't," she insisted. Looking around the table, she could see nobody believed her. She looked to William. "You believe me, right?"
"Sure," he nodded. But Dominique could see in his eyes that he didn't. She couldn't blame him. Summer had covered herself this time.
"I've got to go," Dominique declared. She didn't feel like staying if everyone was just going to judge her and stare at her.
She packed up her things, and though William asked her to stay, it was a half-hearted plea and he let her go easily enough. Once outside the library, Dominique tried to figure out what to do next. Summer obviously wasn't giving up, and she was getting more creative now. Having Madam Maxwell deduct the points was a smart move. Dominique couldn't very well complain to Professor Longbottom about the librarian, and there was no way to prove Summer's involvement.
So, Dominique sought out the next best solution: her sister, Victoire. As Head Girl, maybe Victoire could help her where Professor Longbottom had refused.
Victoire was in the common room with her friends Kara and Brianna when Dominique arrived. Dominique walked over and asked Victoire for a word, and the sisters moved off into a corner where they could speak privately.
"What's up?" Victoire wondered.
"It's Summer Snow," Dominique declared.
"The Slytherin prefect?" Victoire asked.
Dominique nodded to confirm. "She's out to get me," she said. "First she deducted points because I wasn't in uniform on a Saturday and now, she's manipulated Madam Maxwell into docking points for something I didn't do."
"Hold on," Victoire said. "Slow down. Why is she out to get you?"
"I don't know," Dominique grumbled. "She's never liked me, and she's liked me even less since I've been dating William. She tried to get him to kiss her, and he wouldn't, and now her life's mission seems to be to take as many points from me as possible."
"Because your boyfriend wouldn't kiss her?" Victoire asked. "Doesn't that seem a little petty?"
"Yes," Dominique insisted. "That's the point. She's being childish."
"Look, I know about the uniform thing, Professor Longbottom discussed it with me. And it sounded like she just wasn't clear on the correct interpretation of that rule," Victoire said.
"Seriously?" Dominique demanded. "She's fooling you. I've seen her in her own clothes hundreds of times."
"Why don't you just let me worry about my prefects, and you just try to stay out of trouble," Victoire suggested.
It was the same dismissal that Dominique had gotten from Professor Longbottom. She hadn't expected it from her own sister, but she now saw that she was going to have to handle this on her own. Nobody else understood. Nobody else could see through Summer's mask of innocence to realize how truly devious she was.
"Whatever," Dominique muttered, the phrase becoming strangely familiar. "Forget I talked to you."
Dominique stalked off to her dormitory, and though she could hear her sister calling out for her, she ignored her and slammed the door behind her instead.
It was a couple of days later when Dominique had her next encounter with Summer. It was late, and Dominique was just returning to Gryffindor Tower after a late night in the library. She was cutting it close to curfew, but she was confident she would get back just in time. Unfortunately, Summer was waiting for her up on the seventh floor.
"Well, well, well," Summer said, stopping Dominique in her tracks. "What do we have here?"
"I don't have time for this right now," Dominique insisted. "It's almost curfew."
"I know," Summer smirked. "And you're going to be in violation of it in… three… two… one." Summer crossed her arms and her smirk widened. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Well I would have made it back in time if you hadn't stopped me," Dominique said. "The portrait hole is right down the hall."
"And yet, it's past curfew and you're roaming the halls. I think that may warrant a detention."
"A detention, really?" Dominique demanded. "It's a minute past curfew and you want to give me detention?"
"Curfew is not flexible," Summer insisted. "It's not like some of those less strict rules. Either you're in your common room, or you're in violation."
"Isn't there a sliding scale of punishments?" Dominique asked. "You know, five points if you've only just missed it, and fifty if it's midnight?"
"The scale of punishment is left to the discretion of the prefect," Summer declared. "And I think that your disregard for curfew and for my authority warrants a detention. Tomorrow night. I'll set it up with your Head of House."
"Fine," Dominique agreed, her voice devoid of emotion. "But if I serve this detention, will you back off? Can I have my life back?"
"I don't know what you mean," Summer said.
Dominique rolled her eyes. "You know exactly what I mean. I'm tired of this – whatever this is. I don't want to fight with you."
"But I want to fight with you!" Summer insisted, her façade breaking. "Why don't you fight back?"
Finally, Dominique saw that she was getting somewhere.
"Why do you need to fight with me?" she asked. "What did I ever do to you?"
Covering up her brief slip, the mask slid back on and Summer's voice returned to the cool, collected, prefect voice.
"Professor Longbottom will contact you about the time of your detention," Summer said coolly. "I suggest you don't break curfew again."
And with that, she strode away, leaving Dominique more confused than ever.