The rest of that first day seemed to drag on for ages. It was an endless parade of listening to people talk about Quidditch, but no one actually playing it. She'd been forced to listen to speakers discussing the fundamentals of the sport, the changes in modern times and how they affected the sport, the elements of Seeking that truly set it apart from other positions, and essentially everything a large and dusty old Quidditch textbook could have taught anyone. If she'd wanted to take a class on Quidditch, she would have.

She never did find Jack or the others and ended up spending the rest of her day on her own. Once she'd given up looking for them, she'd walked to the canteen to find something to eat, though as expected, the place was absolutely packed with people. She couldn't have found someone she recognized if she'd tried—though truthfully, she didn't try. She was annoyed with all of them and happy to be alone.

She'd grabbed the first plate of food that looked appetizing and retreated outside. It was there that she'd found a shady spot to enjoy the warm weather. As she ate, she felt her mood mostly improving. Perhaps it was because she'd distanced herself from the massive crowds and her nerves were resetting to normal. She didn't know how people did it; how they could walk into something as large and as overwhelming as this place and feel relaxed. The sorts of people who could talk to anyone, make friends with anyone, and not be completely overwhelmed by the thought of meeting new people.

She'd never been that person. Even when she'd arrived at Hogwarts back when she was eleven, she hadn't needed to deal with those situations because she'd never been on her own; she'd always had Louis. He had no problem walking into school and meeting people, making friends, being social. He thrived in those situations and had always let her tag along. His friends slowly became her friends; his adventures became hers.

It had taken her years—until she'd made the Quidditch team—to create an identity outside of her brother's shadow. While she may have constantly taken the piss on him for being "the Louis Weasley," the truth was, she didn't know where she'd be without him. As she sat under that tree, feeling rather alone, the reality of her having to forge her own path now that they were adults was becoming more real to her.

Henry had also popped into her head while she ate, though she didn't know what made her think of him. Her mood dropped as she wondered what he was doing and whether he ever thought about her. Probably not. Why would he? After all—how had he put it?—everything they had was a matter of convenience. Nothing more. Dickhead.

After lunch, she'd walked around and explored—venturing outside of the busy center of camp and out toward the rows and rows of pitches. The grass was almost an otherworldly kind of green and smelled as if it'd been cut recently. Everything was meticulously cared for. The rings were clean and free from any weather damage, unlike the ones at Hogwarts. The grass was cut in such perfect rows that it was clear it was someone's specific job was to make sure everything was exact. She'd had given anything to be out there at the moment, soaking up this amazing day and these perfect conditions. Being so close, yet so far, somehow managed to dampen her mood even further.

At about a quarter to two o'clock, she walked back into the center of camp and returned to the massive auditorium building. It was different now, as if the building was alive and somehow capable of changing its layout. Instead of one large room, there were multiple; each labeled with signs stating the various positions. The Chasers room was the largest by far, spanning more than half of the building, but the other positions' room were equal in size. It was at the end that a large sign displaying "Seeker" hung above an entrance way. This was evidently the place she needed to be.

She'd arrived early this time—she had nowhere else to go—and as with their first orientation, there was a man in a red robe standing with packets of parchment pages at the ready. When she was asked her name, he checked a list to see if it matched. When it did, he handed her the pages and advised her to keep them in her orientation book; they would count toward her final ranking. The pages slide in perfectly, though they didn't seem particularly secure. She could deal with that later.

At the front of the room, the first row had few occupants. They were mostly alone, as she was, though she chose to avoid the row entirely and take the aisle seat in the second row. She immediately opened her book and pretended to look busy; feeling both keen to talk to someone, but also uninterested in anyone speaking to her. She knew it was strange to feel both alone, but also tremendously annoyed by people, but that was typical for her. It made sense to her.

Right before things were set to begin, she chanced a look around the room. It was almost full now, and she even spotted Giggleswick in the queue to collect his pages. She couldn't help but wonder what he'd been up to since leaving their first orientation. Had he been keeping busy? Had Jack? All the others? If she had gone back to the dorms, would she have found them there? Even Ellibit and Michael felt like welcomed company at the moment. Not Giggleswick, however. Never him.

Before she turned back around, another face in the crowd suddenly stood out to her. It belonged to Annabelle Paige, the Hufflepuff Seeker who her sister had mentioned was also attending. She was making her way to a seat with two other people, all looking as if they were having a breezy conversation. She had curly dark hair that she'd always kept at shoulder length at school, and apparently still did now that she'd graduated. She hadn't changed much at all.

Dominique watched her as she sat, though at the exact same time, Annabelle happened to glance in her direction. They locked eyes immediately and Dominique could sense familiarity in her expression. Annabelle didn't seem to remember exactly who she was, but she smiled at her in a curious manner and waved awkwardly.

If she was expecting a wave back, she was mistaken because Dominique instead jumped in her seat, startled at being caught watching. She did manage some sort of awkward facial expression that she hoped resembled a smile—she honestly wasn't sure—but quickly spun back around in her chair to face the front. Very smooth. There was no way she hadn't looked like a complete fool.

"Good afternoon," said a booming voice that rang throughout the auditorium. "Welcome, welcome to all of our Seekers!"

Aiden Lynch stood at the center of the stage, his wand at his throat to project his voice out into the room. Behind him, several other individuals had walked out, all taking seats in chairs that had been provided. Dominique recognized each one of them immediately, but kept her focus on Lynch.

As far as Seekers went, he really had been top notch in his day. She knew he'd retired from the sport about a decade ago, but he'd been the most successful Seekers in the British and Irish League during his playing days—and probably top in the world at some point. When he played, there were few who were better, though he had come up against one of those few in that famed World Cup match in '94. He'd gone head to head against the legendary Viktor Krum in that match and lost the Snitch to him. Ireland had ultimately won the match, which certainly saved Lynch a load of flack from the fans.

Dominique would have loved if Viktor Krum had been here, but he was still playing professionally and far too busy to be visiting training camps. She'd met him once—her mother and he were close friends, which was actually rather hilarious. Her mother wasn't interested in Quidditch in the least, yet was friendly with one of the best Seekers to play the position in the last fifty years. They had competed against each other as teenagers in an event called the Triwizard Tournament and had bonded and stayed in touch over the years. Quidditch wasn't something they ever really spoke of, though Krum did seem greatly amused that she had a daughter who loved Seeking so much.

She'd been about ten the last time Krum had come around their house, and she'd been terribly, terribly starstruck. Instead of talking to him, she'd chosen to hide in the kitchen and chance awkward glances at him out in the sitting room when he wasn't looking. She didn't even speak more than two words to him, and her mother had to be the one to ask him to sign her Quidditch card for her. She still had that card.

"Now," Lynch began, smiling at the room. "We're all well aware of the importance of a good Seeker on any team. The backbone. The problem solver, if you will..."

He proceeded to carry on for a half an hour about the importance of Seeking, which even Dominique found boring. He may have been a Hall of Fame Seeker, but he was a painfully dull speaker who used the word "Terrific" far too much. She'd already returned to scribbling answers down into her workbook; it wasn't until he finally began introducing the people behind him that she bothered to look up.

"First we have Coach Malu Abreu," he said, gesturing to a woman with a rather impressive resting bitch face. "Hall of Fame Seeker and former starter for the Portuguese National Team. World renowned for her incredibly diving capabilities.

Please began to clap as he continued on the line. "Coach Hortensia Wagner." He gestured to an older looking woman. "The highest scoring Seeker to date in German Quidditch history. Beside her, Coach Nikolas Ahlgren, member of the Swedish National Team, though he spent many of his playing days in Britain playing against me. Almost beat me a few times. too." They both shared a laugh at that, as if it were some sort of private joke. "No, but honestly, they call him the Hawk for a reason. He can spot a target with speed and accuracy that only few can."

There had been a continuous round of applause for each of them as Lynch moved onto the final man sitting upon the stage. He was younger than the rest, by over a decade at least, and he was wearing sunglasses indoors. Tanned with jet black hair, his entire demeanor screamed that he'd rather be elsewhere.

"And lastly, Coach Marco Sabatino. A wunderkind at Seeking who at only twenty-six has broken records left and right in his home of Italy. You may have recently seen him on the Italian National Team in the last World Cup."

Dominique grimaced a little. Marco Sabatino was a phenom of modern Quidditch, that was true. His speed could not be touched and, as a rookie, he'd broken every single record a rookie could. That being said, she'd been at that World Cup and it had easily been the worst performance of his professional career.

He'd looked sloppy and slow, completely unlike his reputation. He hadn't caught the Snitch, Italy had lost, and the press had a field day blaming him. Despite returning to regular play and absolutely crushing it, she'd heard he was still plagued by hecklers and the occasional death threats. She'd read he'd recently had some unexplained health issues and was placed on a temporary leave. It would explain why he was here instead of playing. It would also explain the look of utter annoyance that was all over his face.

After introductions, Lynch let each one of the coaches speak. They all proceeded to lecture directly on their areas of expertise, and had begun laying out clear guidelines as to what they expected in the following days. They first four spoke for ages—especially the one called Wagner—though when Sabatino finally got his time, he spoke for all of ten seconds. His comment was, verbatim, "I do not tolerate tardiness. If you are going to be late, don't bother coming." He then turned and sat back down.

Lynch jumped back up rather hastily after that, having clearly expected something more. "Alright, then. Terrific! With that, I feel we can wrap up. We start bright and early tomorrow, so please rest up, eat well in the morning, and be ready for this amazing experience to begin."

More applause as people began to slowly stand and gather their things. Dominique didn't dawdle for a moment once they were excused. She was tired from sitting, she'd already reached the exits before the applause had died down. She tore across the courtyard; more than happy to walk straight back Dorm A as fast as she could.

The common area was bustling with people now. It seemed that with the language barrier broken, everyone was getting on with one another. She spotted Ansel talking animatedly in the corner of the room to some girl, while Zara was entertaining a group of people on the sofa like a queen holding court.

Dominique quickly pushed her way through the crowd; finally making it down the corridor that led to her room. When she pushed the door open, she was actually surprised to find it empty. Jack was nowhere to be seen, and by the looks of things, he hadn't been back to the room since earlier that day.

"You're back!" yelled Ellibit from across the hall. She had left her door propped open and was sitting atop an unmade bed. "I was wondering when the rest of the orientations would let out. The Chaser one ended a good half hour ago."

"Good for you," Dominique mumbled, tossing her book onto her bed before turning back to her. "Where did you go earlier?"

Her face fell. "I came back. We all did. We looked for you. But that building is so confusing. Did you know the walls can move? They're like the staircases at school. I can see why the boys got lost."

"Did you find them?"

"Not at first, but I looked for ages." She stood up from her bed and came to the doorway, now leaning against the frame. "I walked outside and they were there. They assumed we would come out eventually and they'd catch us then. We went back in looking for you, but you were nowhere to be found. The lobby was empty."

"I never moved."

She shrugged. "We figured we see you at the canteen, but it was a—"

"—complete madhouse."

"Right. We were at a table near the center. We kept an eye out for you. Jack said he knew you'd turn up because you'd mentioned you were hungry. We must have missed you."

"I went outside to eat," she said as more people started coming down the corridor, returning to their rooms. She and Ellibit watched them pass one by one, some smiling as they strolled by but most full of energy and seemingly ready to jump out of their skin. Dominique was about to turn back into her room and perhaps prop her door open as Ellibit had when Jack appeared from around the corner. As soon as she saw him, she found herself suddenly conflicted. On one hand, she was annoyed with him for ditching her earlier and leaving her on her own all afternoon; on the other, she was so happy to see him.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" he shouted in a playful way when he saw her, though she did nothing but glare at him after deciding she was going to let the annoyed side win. As soon as he was within feet of her, his tone returned to normal. "Seriously, I looked everywhere for you."

"I never left where I was supposed to be," she said, stepping out of his way so he could enter their room. "You're the one that ran off."

"I didn't run off, I got lost." He sounding tired as he set his book down on his bed. "Where'd you end up?"

"Walked around by myself until I had to go to that Seeker meeting."

"Was your meeting as dull as mine?" he asked. "Mine spent a good thirty minutes on illegal bats and their effect on Bludger trajectories." He made a face. "Thirty. Bloody. Minutes."

She smiled despite herself; probably her first genuine smile since earlier. Dammit. But after her day, it was nice to have a friend that she actually wanted to be around. She felt as if she were soaking up sunshine after sitting in a cold room all day. Something about having that kind of contact was energizing for her.

"Mine wasn't much better," she said. "Lots of talk of angles and speed ratios, but I sort of expected it."

"Came close to putting me to sleep," he said, checking his watch. "You hungry?"

"I could eat."

"Then let's get dinner," he said, glancing out the still open door and across the hall into Ellibit's room. "Hey Ellibit, is Mike not back yet?"

She shook her head. "Who knows what's holding up the Keepers' meeting."

"Right," he called back over across the hall, "We're going to get food if you want to come." He then immediately lowered his voice to barely a whisper that only Dominique could here, "but you won't because Mike's not here."

"Thanks, but I'm going to wait for Mike," she called back. "Maybe we'll see you down there."

"Cool," Jack called back in a dismissive way, before gesturing for Dominique to head out. "Better it's just us anyway. I know you managed to escape everyone today, but I need a break from people."

"Am I not people?"

"That's different," he said as they walked the corridor back toward the common area. "Anyway, I've already had a break from you. Sure, it's quiet at first, but Quidditch and you kind of go hand in hand for me. It's strange when you're not around."

"You're so full of shit," she said, laughing as they passed through the common area. The room had mostly cleared from earlier, though there were several stragglers still hanging about. Probably people waiting for the Keepers' meeting to end.

"I was being serious."

She turned to see his face, waiting for him to laugh or break or show any signs of cracking, but he didn't. He looked completely sincere. She didn't know why, but that comment hit her like a train for some reason. It was probably the nicest thing anyone had said to her lately; after a shitty couple of weeks, and a particularly rubbish day, it was exactly what she needed to hear. She felt rather teary-eyed and she didn't know why. She had to bury that. That couldn't surface.

"You ok?" he asked as they walked out into the cool evening air. The sun was on its way down, and an orange and purple glow painted the sky and bounced off the grass that seemed to cover every inch of this place. She was now especially focused on studying those blades of grass as a means of keeping herself distracted from the stinging in her eyes.

"Fine," she said, fighting off the lump in her throat and attempting to stay one step ahead of him at all costs. "It's been a long day. I'm tired."

"Yeah, this place is exhausting and I haven't even broken a sweat yet." His strides suddenly got longer as he managed to keep pace with her. He had turned to look at her, but she hadn't had time to avert her face. His tone suddenly grew concerned. "But seriously, if something's wrong—"

"What would be wrong?" she snapped, and she even surprised herself by how sharp that had come out. If he would stop asking questions, she wouldn't have to go on the defensive.

"You have been going through some stuff lately," he said. "You seem a little…"

Don't say sad. Don't say down. Don't say off.

"You haven't seemed like yourself."

She forced a laugh. "Trust me, I'm still every bit of me."

"I just noticed after this morning," he continued. "After that thing with Giggleswick. Where you froze up when he brought up—"

She held her breath. Please don't say his name.

"Davies."

She exhaled hard. Fucking aye.

"You know," he said as they drew closer to the canteen, "you're allowed to be upset about it."

"Gee, Jack," she said, her tone laced with mock enthusiasm, "Thanks for your permission."

He sighed. "I'm only saying that I get it. When Jane and I split up, I was a wreck for a while. But shit, I let myself deal with it. You're trying to act as if nothing ever happened and that you weren't with him for—"

"Right, I get it," she interrupted. "Everyone is 'just saying' this and 'just saying' that. Sarah and my siblings, even my own bloody mum keeps saying I should talk about it, but I don't want to, alright? We didn't even have a real relationship."

"Why do you keep saying that? It seemed real to—"

She turned to look at him, even with her eyes now stinging. "Because it wasn't. It was two people who fucked around. Nothing more. I was stupid to ever think so. I mean, can you seriously compare what he and I had to any of your relationships? To Louis and Sarah? To anyone?"

"But every relationship is different."

"Fuck," she stammered, stopping just outside the canteen doors. "Can we not?" Her voice cracked. "I don't want to talk about him. It's been a shitty day and I just want to…" She stopped. She didn't even know what she wanted to do, but she was once again fighting off tears. Her eyes were welling—in public—which only made her feel like crying more due to how embarrassed she suddenly felt. Crying in public was her definition of the lowest she could go. She closed her eyes and turned away.

To his credit, Jack didn't harp on the matter. Had he stared at her like some people would, or even if he'd tried to comfort her, she would have lost it. She'd have hated him. She'd have gone and found a hole to die in. But he didn't say anything; he didn't do anything. But he also didn't go anywhere. She didn't know what he was doing for those few quiet moments, but when she did finally open her eyes and wipe away a few stray tears, she found him leaning up against a nearby wall, absently people watching.

She swallowed hard, feeling more composed—albeit embarrassed. "Can we just…?"

"Whatever you want," he said, making a quick movement toward the door to pull it open. He held it for her, and with a slight nod, she passed him to enter.

Inside, it was absolute chaos once again, but this time she was happy for the distraction. She was starting to think that this was the reality of this place; that mealtimes were always going to be hectic and hellish. It didn't make much sense to have a magic auditorium that could change its size and was scarcely used, but then have a canteen that was used multiple times a day and couldn't fit half the camp.

"There's nowhere to sit," Jack said, standing up on the balls of his feet to scan the room.

"Let's take it outside," she said, squeezing through the crowds of people in an attempt to make her way up toward the counter area. She was hoping one of these days, she'd get a chance to look around and properly find something she actually wanted to eat; instead she once again grabbed the first thing she got a hand on. This time, it was a bowl of rice with chicken and some vegetables on top. That seemed as good a choice as anything. Might as well keep it simple.

Jack had followed her and grabbed the same thing, whether because it was what he wanted or because he had the same idea she did. It took them ten minutes from start to finish to grab everything and make it back outside to where the sun was setting properly now. Somewhere in the distance, Dominique swore she heard some deep bass music.

"We could take this back to the dorm," Jack offered, though she had already gone and placed her stuff down under the same tree as earlier.

"I'm not a big fan of eating where I sleep," she said before she sat. "Is that weird?"

"We could eat in the common area."

"Then I'd have to talk to people."

"Am I not people?" he said, mimicking the same tone she'd used earlier. He grinned, thinking he was funnier than he actually was before he sat across from her.

It was actually a lovely night. There was a certain feel to the air that made Dominique wish she was at home—or maybe she wished she were at home for other reasons. Still, evenings like this made her want to take her broom out and fly around until the sun disappeared entirely. If the moon was visible, she could stay out for probably an extra hour or so. It would have also been a good night for a bonfire on the beach just beyond her house. That may be what Louis or Victorie were doing tonight; they did it all the time in the past.

"Do you hear that music?" she asked, tucking into her dinner.

Jack nodded, his eyes scanning the line of dormitories not too far off in the distance. "I think it's coming from D Dorm? Apparently, some wild shit goes down in there. I overheard someone in my Beater meeting saying that you could die in there and not be found for days."

"That sounds like a load of bollocks."

"I never said I believed it," he said, taking a large piece of broccoli into his mouth and struggling momentarily to chew it. "Jus' vut I 'eard."

"I don't even understand why they have a 'wild' dorm," she said. "Why is that even a thing? How do you even end up there?"

"It has something to do with rankings from the previous year," he said, having swallowed. "They group those people together. It's why we're in A. We're unranked. B and C are all the middle ranked people because that's where most people end up, so they take up the most space. Then D is where all the low ranked people go. They're the ones who aren't here to compete, just to...who knows? Get wrecked, I guess?"

She considered that. It made as much sense as anything else she'd heard. "Who told you that?"

"Zara and Erin. I ran into them before our afternoon meetings and it seems as though they'd gotten the whole lay out. They seem to have this place all figured out."

Dominique hummed, digging around her bowl for some chicken. She remembered seeing Zara earlier, already having found a niche with new people. It was like that at school as well—people gravitated toward her. She'd probably have the whole place as her new best friends by the end of the week.

"Shame I missed out on all of that after everyone ditched me," she said, stabbing a piece of chicken and then popping it into her mouth.

"No one ditched you," he said. "But, you know what? If it makes you feel any better, I never did find those girls. So, it was a waste of time."

She stopped chewing, suddenly remembering exactly what she had in her pocket. She'd honestly forgotten all about it until this minute. With a slow movement, she reached inside and pulled out the piece of parchment she'd been handed earlier, noticing that it had gotten considerably wrinkled throughout the course of the day. She inhaled slowly, feeling as if that paper felt rather heavy all of a sudden. She wasn't even sure she wanted to give it to him, but he'd probably run into those girls again; they'd probably tell him that they'd given her the note. She'd have to find an excuse as to why she never got it to him.

She reluctantly held it out for him to take.

He wasn't paying attention. He'd just put food into his mouth and was silently chewing as he stared out across the Square toward the loud music. She cleared her throat, catching him with his fork in his mouth. His hands were full, so it took him a moment to situate and free up a hand. Once he had, he pulled the fork out and examined the parchment. "What's this?"

"You're welcome."

"What is it?"

"Would you open it?"

He did as he was told, unfolding the parchment. She watched him read it, his face confused at first, but slowly she could see the realization hit him. "Is this…?" He sat up straighter and looked directly at her. "What is this?"

She picked a carrot up out of her bowl and took a loud bite. "Again. You're welcome."

"How did you get this?"

"I won't reveal my secrets. But," she shrugged, "you should have stayed put."

"You actually..." He smirked at the paper and then at her. "You actually did this." He started to laugh. "I've been spending my time with the wrong Weasley all these years."

She smiled, but cocked her head curiously to the side; her expression silently urging him to explain what he meant by that.

"You're just much better at this than Louis. See, with him, girls go and fall for him. I might as well be paint drying on the wall. They don't even pay attention. He means well, but…" He shrugged.

"Some girls pay attention," she said, though he was barely paying listening at that point. Instead, he was inspecting that piece of parchment one last time before finally pocketing it. He'd returned to eating and she'd turned away, letting herself watch the sun disappear entirely behind a building. Her mood felt more sullen now, and it seemed her recurring black cloud was back now—as it often was in the evenings. She was starting to get used to it.