In three days time, Dominique was due to return to Hogwarts to start her seventh and final year. It was starting to hit her now how different life was going to be at this exact time next year, but she was trying not to get ahead of herself. They'd only arrived back from France the night before, and she was now immediately turning around and attempting to get packed and ready for school. It felt as if all she'd done lately was pack and unpack.

They'd found their Hogwarts' letters waiting for them once they'd gotten back. Even though it had been late, the opening of them had been a bit of a ceremony—not for Dominique, but for Louis, of course.

They, along with their parents, had gathered in the kitchen to watch him open his envelope, which was just ever so much larger than Dominique's. Their father had performed a drumroll on the kitchen table while Louis, stupid grin and all, tore into his for the big—albeit, completely expected—reveal. Along with his book and supply list, another letter accompanied the usual fare. This letter had a small, but important badge attached with the word's Head Boy inscribed. It was official. He'd gotten it.

Her mother had cheered, her father had beamed; Louis was following right along in his footsteps. Even Dominique had managed a sappy smile for him. Louis was pleased with himself, though he didn't say much. He smiled a lot as he examined the badge. It was a nice moment for all of them; a good way to end their holiday and start their new school year.

The following morning, she and Louis found themselves being rather lazy after their late arrival. They'd slept in, only to wake and now move their lifeless forms to the adjacent sofas in the living room. Louis had flipped on the radio to blast his all time favorite band, the Nymph Chasers, while he continued reading a book he'd started on holiday; she was flipping through the newest Quidditch Weekly that had come in the post while she'd been away. It was the first time she'd really thought much about Quidditch in over a week.

They already had plans with Sarah to go to Diagon Alley later that day; she and Louis hadn't seen each other in a week and we're most likely dying inside. Dominique had seen her very briefly after returning from the Trials, as she'd shown up on the evening before they left for France to see Louis off. While it hadn't been a very involved conversation—especially with her mother within earshot the entire time—Sarah had asked if the Trials had gone well and whether or not she'd had fun. Dominique's responses had been generic with no real details; there would be time for that later. Sarah was there for Louis, and the pair had disappeared off to the back porch for a rather ridiculous half an hour goodbye that seemed grossly unnecessary. He wasn't moving away, for fuck's sake.

France had come and gone. It had been lovely, as it always was. She'd seen her grandparents and they'd spoiled her and Louis rotten, which was always nice. She's also gotten to see her Aunt Gabrielle and her cousins, who had come up from Paris for a few days. They'd all gone to the beach and swam in the ocean; they'd walked the shops and enjoyed the cafes.

Victoire had come, too—for three days toward the end of their trip. She'd arrived alone, though Ted was set to come and spend the weekend with them. The pair tailed along with Louis and Dominique to their favorite spots; enjoying their usual routine. It was Ted's first time to France with them, and his presence continued to provide some nostalgia for Dominique. Back to a time when the four of them were all a decade younger and would spend long summer days around the beach by their house running through the sand and killing time by the seaside.

Age and time had, of course, changed so much—Victoire and Ted now kissed each other instead of kicking sand at each other; she and Louis were frequently mistaken for being a couple by strangers simply for existing near to each other, which was always annoying; and their pumpkin juices had been replaced by cocktails.

The day drinking, Dominique had to admit, was rather fun. It was the first time all four of them had done anything like that together, and she actually felt it was one of her favorite parts of the trip. It was nice to see Victoire cut a bit loose for her usual prim and proper self, and it was just nice to see Ted look well-rested and relaxed for the first time in ages.

At least he did until she asked him, "Why do you hate Stu Reynolds?"

They'd been sitting outside at a circular table of a beachside cafe they frequented, having been there for a good two hours already. Everyone was a bit tipsy. She and Ted had found themselves alone after Louis had gone to get himself something else to drink and Victoire had gone off to the toilets.

Ted started at her from across the table, his expression utterly perplexed. "I don't think you've ever asked me a more random question."

"Then give me a random answer."

"Who told you I hate him?"

"He did. Durrin, too."

"You're having chats with Reynolds now?"

"Among other things."

He sighed and rubbed his face. He suddenly looked tired again. "Short answer is because he's a dick."

"He said the same about you."

That made him blink. "Oh, did he?" He laughed a little. "Fine. You want to know? I was never keen on him even back at school. Just never bought into the hype. Then he went and did what he did to Vic, so he was dead to me after that." He shrugged. "Now I can't stand his face. Every time we run into each other—which is more than I want, but he's Durrin's mate, so it happens—he's got something to say. We just avoid each other. It's better that way."

Louis had returned then, sipping on something and sitting down beside Dominique. She acknowledged him before looking back at Ted. "He had a lot of wild things to say about you. I told him none of it sounded like you."

"Because he probably made it all up," Ted muttered. "He's full of shit."

"Is he full of shit when said you shagged Elizabeth Cole not long after they split up?"

Louis, who'd been lazily leaning back in his chair and soaking up sun rays, suddenly sat up at the comment. He let the sunglasses he'd been wearing fall down the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

From across the table, Ted's expression was rather unreadable, though she definitely detected some surprise and disbelief in there. He met Dominique's eyes for a brief second before turning around in the direction of the loo. When he turned back, he was back to staring at her. "How did that even come up?"

"Wait, did you!?" Louis yelled, and when Ted didn't immediately deny the accusation, it caused him to laugh rather loudly. "Teddy, you fucking stud." Ted threw him a look telling him to shut up.

"Does Vic know?" she asked.

"Yes, she knows," he snapped. "She found out a while back and we talked about it. I tell her everything. Past is the past. We don't reminisce about that sort of thing." He checked over his shoulder again, seeing that Victoire was now headed back over toward them. "So, let's not dredge it up."

"But I have so many questions," Louis said with a smirk. "Mainly, how did you manage that?"

"Was she drunk?" Dominique asked, jumping on Louis' train of thought.

"Was a love potion involved?"

"Did she lose a bet?"

"Imperius Curse?"

"Was she somehow under the impression she only had twenty-four hours left to live?" Dominique piled on. "I could see why she would sleep with you if that was the case."

Louis nodded. "Yeah, that would make sense."

Ted took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. "Are you done?"

"No," they both said, while Dominique added, "We'd be happy to keep going."

"I'd be happy if you please shut up."

She and Louis exchanged a quick smirk, with her offering, "Well, he did say please."

"I can appreciate politeness," Louis said, right as Victoire reappeared and took her seat. She was all smiles until she looked at Ted. His expression was still rather pinched, and she must have picked up on some shift in the mood because she was already asking, "You alright?"

"I'm great," he said, forcing a quick smile back at her. She didn't seem convinced and glanced across the table at her siblings. As if on cue, they both smiled back at her in an nearly identical fashion.

Her face fell. "What did you do?"

Dominique feigned being offended. "What makes you think…?" she began to say as Louis added, "Why would we have done anything?"

She looked back at Ted. "What did they do?"

"Nothing," Ted offered, clearly looking to drop it. While Dominique loved nothing more than to poke at him and Victoire because it was genuinely fun and always had been, she wasn't looking to cause unnecessary drama and drum up rubbish from the past. They were on holiday. They were supposed to be having fun. It was best to change the subject.

"So, I had sex with Stuart Reynolds," she said completely at random, and as if she were talking about the weather.

Brash, sure, but she may as well tell them. Louis was bound to find out once they got back to school with the way everyone talked. Victoire and Ted would probably find out as well, since Hogwarts' gossip still had a way of traveling out into the outside world. At least this way she could defend herself—though whether she still needed to defend herself remained to be seen.

Ted and Victoire were staring at her; both looking as if she'd suddenly stupefied them both. Beside her, Louis had now taken his sunglasses and placed them on top of his head. He was rubbing his eyes as he quietly mumbled, "Where am I? What is happening today?"

"Sorry?" Victoire had asked, blinking at her sister in a fuzzy sort of way. "I don't think I heard you correctly."

"No, you did."

"What…? No. She's taking the piss," Ted said as he examined her face. "Why would you—?"

"You had sex," Victoire said, interrupting him, "with Stuart? The one from school? The one I used to fancy?"

"Oh, did you used to...?" She made her face look deliberately pensive. Louis snorted beside her.

"You're taking the piss," Ted repeated.

"Were we not just talking about him?" Dominique asked. "Why do you think I brought him up in the first place?"

Victoire gaped a bit. "When did you even have the chance to—?"

"Trials. He and Durrin are good friends, apparently."

"They're best friends," she said, her expression becoming more pinched as she glanced over at Ted. He still looked rather thunderstruck, as if he was still waiting for her to tell them it was all a big joke.

"Was he the one?" Louis began, his arms crossed over his chest. "You said you did with someone I knew?"

She started to nod, again glancing over to where it was starting to dawn on Ted and Victoire that the "just kidding" wasn't going to follow. Ted suddenly looked rather horrified. Victoire seemed nothing but confused as she muttered, "But you wouldn't have."

"But I did."

"But you wouldn't have."

"But. I. Did."

She stared at her for a long moment. Dominique could practically see the wheels turning in her head as if this was quite possibly one of the most ridiculous things she'd ever heard. "Did you seriously?"

She nodded.

Ted stood up. "I can't…" He shook his head. "I'm getting a drink."

He walked off after that. Dominique hadn't meant to come off so cavalier, but it had felt right just to say it. She still couldn't tell how exactly Victoire felt since she was obviously processing things. On the contrary, Louis now seemed particularly interested in the progression of this conversation and kept looking from one to the other.

"Why?" she finally asked.

"Opportunity?" Dominique offered. "Right place at the right time? Bored? Looking to rebound after Henry? He's fit? Take your pick." She stopped to watch her sister's face. "You're not...angry, are you?"

Victoire seemed to think about that for a long moment. A very long moment. Long enough that Louis and Dominique were now silently making faces at each other as if trying to decipher what was happening. When she finally spoke, her voice had actually startled them. "I'm more confused. You never fancied him. I thought you couldn't stand him"

"Again, just sex," she said. "Not marriage."

Victoire rolled her eyes as she sat up and sipped off her cocktail. "I don't understand how you can have sex with someone you don't even fancy."

"I mean, I enjoyed him well enough to have sex with him," she said. "He was an alright bloke once we got to talking. Even said he felt bad for what he did to you and seemed really sincere."

"You talked about me?" she asked. "Before you had sex with him, you talked about me?'

Dominique shrugged a little sheepishly. "It wasn't...Not right before. But you obviously came up at some point."

"You are so weird," she said, draining her drink and looking over to search for where Ted went. "And I'm not angry. I have a lot of thoughts, but I've moved on and he's evidently moved on..." she paused and mumbled, "...to my sister. He was aware you were my sister?"

"Not at first, but it did come up, yes."

"Weird," she mumbled once again, now staring into space. At the same moment, Ted had returned with a drink in one hand and paper napkin in the other. He immediately handed the latter to Dominique.

"So, that's the name of a Healer friend of mine at St. Mungo's who can get you checked out for all the potentially awful things that sleeping with Reynolds could have possibly brought upon you. You should owl him before you go back to school. Just to be safe."

Louis started laughing beside her, though she took the napkin and crumbled it up immediately; chucking it straight back at Ted.

Once that was out in the open and Victoire ultimately didn't care, Ted pretended like it had never happened, and Dominique felt a sense of relief that could only come with having come completely clean of a burden.

As it were, there was really only one secret left; that was barely even a secret anymore considering so many people knew about it. Even Jack knew about it, but he hadn't heard it from her mouth. He still had no confirmation that it was real.

She'd thought about him constantly while away; especially when she was sitting on the beach or whenever she had an opportunity to let her mind wander. She'd played that last day at the Trials in her head over and over and over again, and it became so apparent that he'd been testing the waters with her. He had heard she'd fancied him and was trying to see how true that was; whether she'd fess up to it. She wanted to believe that he hadn't gotten a definitive answer and that was why he didn't come right out and say anything. She didn't know what to do with that.

She was afraid to see him. Where exactly did they go from here? She didn't know what she wanted to happen. A relationship? What would that entail? With Henry everything had just happened and she'd never had time to give it any thought. Then everything had fallen apart and she'd sworn off relationships after that. While she could obviously change her mind, she wasn't sure she was ready to give another boy the power to hurt her again so quickly.

Not to mention what would happen if she and Jack went the way of her and Henry? What if it didn't work out? Then what? It'd be one thing if they were out of school and could go and live separate lives where they never had to see each other, but they weren't there yet. They had a whole school year and—more importantly—an entire Quidditch season to get through. They'd already seen what happened to their Quidditch team when they weren't getting along—and the truth was that they both needed this season to go well. This wasn't a season either of them could afford to screw around with. It was too important.

So she'd made a decision while in France. As much as she fancied Jack—which was a lot—she couldn't do it. She couldn't let it happen. If she nipped it in the bud now, before either of them got carried away, then things could go back to the way they were before the Trials. Back when things were simple and feelings were secret. If he wanted to know if her feelings were real, she had to make him think they weren't. She had to pretend as if she didn't think about him all the time; she didn't daydream about his arms or his smile or the various things she'd like to do to him. She had to stop that. She wasn't sure how she was going to do that, but she had to. She'd already made that decision. She was sticking to it. It was for the best.

"I'm going to shower," Louis said back in their living room, snapping his novel shut and tossing it to the foot of the sofa. He was now sniffing the front of his shirt before also smelling under one of his armpits. "Sarah will be here in a few and I probably shouldn't smell like day old socks"

"She's been in your room," Dominique said, not looking up from her magazine. "Trust me, she smelled it."

Louis put on a fake laugh before standing and stretching his arms over his head. "Did mum or dad leave you money for books and supplies? I forgot to ask them."

"I think they left some on the kitchen counter," she said, flipping the page and continuing to scan photos.

He made a non-commital noise before disappearing around the corner and then loudly thumping up the stairs. She realized she should also go and get dressed if they were going to get their day started, and aimlessly tossed her magazine to the floor before standing. The radio was still playing a Nymph Chasers' song about some wild night, and she let herself bop around for a moment as a way to shake out her laziness. The music kept her from hearing the knock at the door, or it creaking itself slowly open. She nearly screamed when she saw Sarah walking in.

"Sorry! I knocked!" Sarah apologized. "I heard the music and assumed you couldn't hear."

Dominique was still clenching her fists tightly to her body, though she let herself exhale. "Fuck, you scared me."

"Sorry," she repeated, shutting the door behind her before turning and smiling. "Great song, though."

Dominique shrugged, not caring much one way or the other. The Nymph Chasers were also Sarah's favorite, and she probably enjoyed them even more than Louis did. Their shared love for the band had been one of the things that had brought them together in the first place.

"You look great," Sarah offered, walking into the room now. "You definitely got some sun. How was France?"

"Good," Dominique said. "Same old, same old. Grandparents, beach, repeat. Nothing particularly exciting. And Louis was good, don't worry. I didn't even see any girls trying to flirt with him since everyone always assumes he and I are together when we walk around together." She rolled her eyes.

Sarah laughed a little as she glanced around the otherwise empty room. "Where is he?"

"Showering," she said, collapsing back onto the sofa. "He'll be down soon."

She nodded but said nothing as she went to sit on the sofa that Louis had vacated not long before. It wasn't until she'd sat and picked up his novel, given it a once over, and placed it back down that she finally said, "Good, because I was hoping to get a few minutes alone with you."

"Me? To what do I owe the honor of your undivided attention for once?"

Sarah's face suddenly looked tired, though she didn't bite on the jab. "I saw Jack last night."

Dominique forced her face to remain utterly blank and emotionless, despite now sensing from Sarah's tone that this clearly had something to do with her. "Ok?"

"He came over to Flynn's. It was the first time I'd seen him since you'd left for the Trials. I guess he was spending some time with his family."

"He'd mentioned that," she said, attempting to appear casual despite the fact that she was in desperate need to know where this conversation was going.

"Anyway," she continued. "Was of course happy to see him since it'd been awhile. We caught up a bit. He told me all about the Trials and how he did really well. How you did really well."

"No, he did really well," Dominique corrected. "I did alright."

"He was the one who said it," she said. "I asked him about the non-Quidditch stuff. I heard you two shared a room and he apparently got off with some French girl. And you walked in on it all?"

Dominique nodded a little.

"And you had some sort of a one night stand with Stuart Reynolds?" she asked, staring Dominique down as if she couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth, "Now," she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before reopening them, "I don't even have the time to touch that at the moment, so we'll get back to that later."

"Good," Dominique muttered. "Because I'm so tired of talking about him."

"Oh, you are not getting out of that, so don't think you are." She stopped and made a face as if forcing herself to refocus on whatever it was she was attempting to get to, "Anyway, Jack tells me he had a strange night where Erin Tanner and Zara Zabini got drunk and told him you fancy him."

Well, there it was. Complete confirmation that he knew because Sarah wouldn't know the exact details otherwise. Those words had definitely come from Jack's mouth. She closed her eyes and let her head drop.

"How do Erin and Zara know anything about any feelings you have for anyone?" she asked, letting her expression grow a little wild. "And when did you start having feelings strong enough for Jack that they were worth telling random people about? Before you left, it was this little, baby, 'only when I'm drinking' crush. You were adamant about that. Now you properly fancy him?"

She opened her eyes, but said nothing. She instead just took a heavy breath.

"Do you?"

She still didn't answer her. She knew she needed to say no; that she didn't properly fancy him and nothing had changed. Erin and Zara were cracked. Everything was just as it was before she'd left. Stick to that story. She knew all of this, but she couldn't seem to find the words.

"He asked me if it was true," Sarah said. "Whether or not I knew anything."

"What did you say?" she asked, her tone now eager. There was no hiding anything there.

Sarah shrugged. "I said I didn't know. Because I don't know." She stared at her. "What should I have said? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing happened," she said. "And I don't know." She started wringing her hands a little. "I don't know! I feel as if I was in holiday mode while I was there. Nothing was real. Yes, I slipped up a bit and felt some things because he was right there sleeping three feet away from me. Yes, I got chatty with Erin and Zara because they were there and willing to listen. It was a strange situation. You know how you go on holiday and get carried away? You sometimes can act a little differently?"

Sarah shrugged as if she could see that.

"That's what it was. Now that I'm back home and back around everyone else and everything familiar, I don't know. I don't think I fancy him." She looked away. "I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"Because Sarah, it's fucking complicated. Not to mention, Henry and I haven't even been split up a month, so I was thinking of taking a little more time to deal with that before jumping into something else."

They stared at each other for a moment. Sarah seemed to be considering something because she finally came out with, "I asked him what he thought. How he felt about it."

Dominique couldn't pretend not to care if she tried. "And?"

"But he didn't say much. You know how he can be. He seems confused. Almost too confused, if that makes sense. As in, there are normal levels of confusion when you hear stuff like this, then there are serious levels of confusion—as if he's been thinking about this a lot and he'd been waiting to talk about it. I got that impression. He, like you, did also use the word complicated. And then something about Louis—"

Dominique rolled her eyes.

Sarah smirked a little. "Right? I mean, really? I feel as if a conversation would solve that problem, but what do I know? Weren't you the one telling me he's a—what'd you call him? A man of honor? A knight or something?" She threw her a look. "Seems you were right because Louis was one of the first things he went to."

Dominique looked away. "That's all he said?"

She nodded. "Flynn and some of the others came around then and Jack dropped it. I left after that. Too much drunken testosterone for my tastes. Seemed as if he only brought it up to ask me what I knew." She shrugged. "Had I known you've gone and properly started fancying him, I would have—"

"Stop," Dominique said, throwing her a silencing look. "Look, he's right. It's complicated. I don't…" She sighed. "Neither of us need this right now."

"Need what? If you two push through the confusion and complications, you may find something pretty great on the other side."

"Or the whole world goes to shit," Dominique countered, standing up from the sofa and ready for this conversation to be done with—never to return. "Look, it was temporary madness. I'm telling you, when we're back at school, it'll be an old story. Nothing to even talk about."

Sarah stared at her while the sound of Louis' footsteps overhead were now apparent; he'd evidently gotten out of the shower and would be back down soon. "Alright. Well, I invited him to go shopping with us today."

"Jack?"

She nodded. "Last night, I told him we were all going to get our stuff for school today and that we'd be there around lunchtime. He said he'd meet us around noon."

Dominique looked down at her clothes, realizing she was still in a tank and a pair of sweatpants that she'd slept in the night before. She immediately felt an urgent need to change. She needed to brush her hair. She needed to wash her face. Despite the fact that she'd showered the night before, she was now entertaining the idea of doing it again just to be extra sure that—

A sudden knock at the door gave her a start. She turned to look at it before whipping back around to look at Sarah. "Is he coming here?"

Sarah shook her head, though she looked confused. "He told me he'd meet us there. He could have changed his mind?"

She felt her anxiety rise, but stopped just short of saying, "Fuck" as she quickly started running her hands through her hair, which was knottier than she'd have liked. She took a heavy breath and stood up straighter as she walked straight over to the door, forcing herself to be cool and collected. With a gentle tug, she pulled it open and peered out onto the front porch—only to feel immediately petrified to the spot.

It wasn't Jack.

"You're home," said Henry, standing there with his hands in his pockets and an oddly kind smile on his face. "I'd been coming by all week to see you."

A/N: Thanks again for all the messages, reviews, love, questions, comments, concerns. You all are amazing. :D Part two, "Something Found" is next in the series! Hope you check it out!