She's always loved those Disney fairy tale stories. Growing up, she just wanted her Prince Charming. She's found him, but not really. He can't be her Prince Charming, or people would whisper and stare. They're cousins! they'd say. Once again, she thinks of just how much she hates that tiny implication.
.oOo.
"All aboard!"
The Hogwarts Express squeals, and all the children say goodbye to their mums and dad, ready for Christmas break to be over. It's crazy getting a compartment, but the Weasley-Potters (and friends) who aren't prefects make sure to save a few compartments for everyone. Normally she sits with Lily and Roxanne, her two cousins who love being loud and obnoxious about as much as her, but she promised him she'd meet him in the very last compartment.
"I'll make sure no one knows we're there," he told her, and she chose to believe him.
So when she walks back there, not seeing anyone in the compartment, she smiles. He's in there, she knows. And he is, a hellion grin on his face.
"How'd you do that?" Dominique asks, sitting down next to him.
"Simple Marauder charm. Top secret, ma'am." James winks at her, and it melts her heart.
She sits down next to him, and he engulfs her in a hug. They sit like that awhile - not talking, just being. Sure, they have classes they'll need to focus on, but it's Rose and Albus's job to stress, not theirs. They've both always been brilliant, and he likes pranking too much, and she likes kissing boys too much, so why be bothered? She just really needs him right now, and she decides to tell him so.
"Nah, you don't. We'll get back to our lives before; me skipping class, you being perfect."
"Perfect was Vic's thing, remember?"
"According to Teddy."
"According to everyone," Dominique quips back, and all James Sirius does is laugh.
"Yeah, her hair was way blonder than yours anyway," he says. Dominique hits him.
"Shut up."
Silence is bliss, Dominique thinks, and wonders if her 'raise hell' attitude was the right way to go. She is the only Weasley to ever be a Slytherin, so she figures she was born to rebel. Even if she doesn't like it.
She's pretty sure she loves James, though, and that is rebellion in itself.
The train slows down, and Dominique leaves the compartment alone; James follows under the Cloak.
"Merlin, where were you?" Molly shrieks when she sees her, and Dominique giggles. Apparently Rose searched the entire train; not a blonde hair on Dominique's head was spotted. Good, she thinks.
She doesn't say that, though. "I'm so sorry! I kind of travelled through different compartments."
Molly nods. "Lily claims she hasn't seen James, and neither has Lucy, Roxanne, Louis, Fred, or Albus. I checked. Lorcan said he was probably off pranking with Grayson Wood, though, so…."
"Yes, they love their pranks."
"Let's just hope this one doesn't involve turning anyone's hair orange. I thought Victoire was going to explode last year."
Dominique rolled her eyes at the memory of her perfect sister shrieking, running up and down the Great Hall. Of course, instead of being laughed at, everyone sympathized with her. Except the Slytherins, of course, herself among them.
Coming the opposite way she arrived, James is walking towards the pair.
"Oh good," Molly mutters, breathing a sigh of relief, "you're here, too. Lucy was scared we'd have another Uncle-Ron-and-Uncle-Harry-in-Second-Year kind of story."
James chuckles deeply and shakes his head. "Right here. Got a big surprise for you all." He winks.
Molly frowns at Dominique's amused expression. "I don't know what Albus is going to think about that, but oh well."
"Since when do I care about Alby?" James replies.
"You don't," Dominique interjects.
"Correct."
"But you actually do."
"Also correct, Dom."
Molly sighs, again, and leaves them to walk off the train alone. They climb in a carriage - that is, conveniently - empty. Making the trip in silence, they get out, and Hogwarts takes Dominique's breath away like always. She has to sit with the Slytherins at dinner, but she watches James and his friends' delight as Uncle George's fireworks light up 'Hope everyone had a magical Christmas!' in the Dining Hall.
Several people mutter how the Potter-Weasleys are mental, but most talk about how brilliant they are. Or how hot James is, which makes her laugh on the outside but fume on the inside. She doesn't know how long she can go with sneaking around in broom closets and taking midnight trips to the kitchens. But Dominique doesn't really have another option, if she wants James.
"Hello? Are you there?" Scorpius Malfoy, a carbon copy of his father, is sitting in front of her.
"Oh, yeah," Dominique replies, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. She chats with the younger boy for awhile, and continues to do so as they make their way to the Slytherin Common Room. She hangs out with Scorpius when she can't be with her cousins - who are all Slytherins, save for one or two who are Hufflepuffs.
"Goodnight, Dom. Walk with me to breakfast?"
"Sounds good."
And then Dominique walks into her Dorm, the other girls already fast asleep. She's friends with them, yes, but she'd rather hang out with her family most of the time. She showers and changes, afterwards climbing into the bed - which is warm in contrast to the Common Room, which is underneath the Black Lake.
Thoughts of Quidditch and school and James and Potions and homework and James rush through her head before she falls asleep