What You Never Knew
Dominique Weasley: The Reluctant Shadow
1. She hated the 2nd of May.
Many people hated that day because it was the day of the Final Battle at Hogwarts, when Lord Voldemort- along with so many other, wonderful people- had been killed. Dominique, too, hated this- but that was only part of the reason she hated May 2nd. It was also her older sister, Victoire's, birthday. Every year on that day, the whole family would focus on Victoire- it was always "Victoire this" and "Victoire that" wherever she went. She couldn't help but muse about how wrong this was- shouldn't they be mourning the dead, instead of acting like it had never happened? Like they hadn't lost her Uncle Fred, bless his soul? She couldn't help thinking how bad this was of them.
2. Her first words were "No way".
Most babies' first words were "Dada" or "Mama" or easy words like that; Victoire's first word had been the latter, and Louis' the former. But Dominique? No, her first words were spoken when her mother tried to feed her the bloody awful mashed peas yet again. Then they were spoken again, and again, and again; consistently throughout her lifetime, in fact. George would always tell her, "You could be my daughter, Dom, I swear it. You're gonna be a first-class prankster- owl me if you need any help." This always made Dominique glow with pride at the words from her favorite uncle.
3. She hated the French language.
It was always so, so complicated. The way you had to get the accent just right; the accents on the vowels that were oh-so-easy to forget; the gender of each word. For whatever reason, even though the rest of her family- including her father- could speak the supposed "Language of Love", she had never been able to. But Victoire spoke it flawlessly and with blatant ease. Everyone- on both sides of the family- praised her for it, begged her to speak in French. Nobody noticed Dominique sourly sitting in the corner, waiting for it all to be over.
4. She hated how she looked.
Ever since she had noticed the ways boys looked at her older sister, with her big blue eyes, silvery-blond hair, willowy figure, and all-too-clear Veela heritage, Dominique had despised how she looked. Frizzy red hair; freckles coating every inch of her body; dull brown eyes; longer-than-average arms and legs. She was the epitome of a Weasley. She wanted to stand out; but it was always Victoire that people would notice in a crowd. Dominique was just another Weasley to them.
5. She had the shortest Sorting since Draco Malfoy was Sorted into Slytherin.
She had sat down on the stool, seen the shadow of the Hat's brim being held over her head by Professor Longbottom, and before he could even set the Hat down, it had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" for the whole hall to hear. The Great Hall had stared at her with wonder- not shock, she was a Weasley, after all- for a moment before exploding with the appropriate applause. It was the proudest moment of Dominique's young life.
6. During her Hogwarts years, the biggest pain in her side was Victoire.
Yes, she was her sister- but that was just it. She was her bloody perfect older sister. Perfect looks; perfect grades; perfect behavior; perfect demeanor; perfect boyfriend, even! Victoire Weasley was perfect everything. During Dominique's First Year, Victoire would pop up from out of nowhere whenever Dominique was in even a remotely uncomfortable situation to sort it out and stop it from happening again. Dom hated this. She knew her sister meant well, as always, being the perfect person she was. But she also knew that she could take care of herself, and resented her sister for thinking otherwise. It didn't help matters that half the time she was teased, it was because she supposedly "depended on her sister to take care of her".
7. Professor Flitwick hated her.
From the beginning, when Dom had failed to perform a charm correctly on the first try, the tiny teacher had inexplicably had something against her. So, of course, Dominique retaliated by making him the victim of a large portion of the thousands of pranks she pulled over her years at Hogwarts. She wouldn't have understood why her not being a natural at Charms was such a big deal if Victoire hadn't been the most skilled Charms student at Hogwarts since their Aunt Hermione. But, as that was the case, she knew why the other teachers- even the strict Headmaster McGonagall- liked her, despite her rather awful behavior.
8. There was one person who agreed with Dominique about Victoire.
His name was Nathaniel Jackson, and he was a year older than Dominique. She had met him at a party in the Ravenclaw Common Room, which she had been invited to by her younger brother, Louis- at the time, he was a Third Year, and she was a Fifth Year. Dom had accidentally bumped into Nathaniel while walking to the punch table.
"Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed immediately, looking up into electric blue eyes. Surveying the rest of this boy's figure, she saw that he had shaggy brown hair, a wide grin, and was seriously fit. She approved.
"No harm done," the handsome boy had shrugged nonchalantly, sticking out his hand. "Nathaniel Jackson- but you can call me Nate. And you are…?"
"Dominique Weasley- call me Dom, though," she had smiled, shaking his hand firmly. She saw the usual flash of recognition in his eyes, and prepared herself for being asked, "Aren't you Victoire's sister?"
"Aren't you the girl who transformed all of the staff's food into live chickens last week during lunch?" He asked, his eyes sparkling. Dom fought to keep her jaw from dropping at being recognized for herself, for once.
"The one and only," she beamed up at him. "So, what Year are you in?"
"Sixth."
"Oh, I'm in Fifth. I'm guessing you know my sister, Victoire, in Seventh?"
To Dom's surprise- again- Nate's nose scrunched up in mild disgust. "Yeah, I know her. No offense, but I don't think much of her. I mean, she seems nice and all, but she's just… too nice. It's bloody annoying."
Dom blinked a few times before her face broke out into a huge grin. "Nate, I think we're going to get on smashingly."
And they did.
9. James was her favorite person in the world.
He was a little prankster himself- and Dominique took it upon herself to mentor him. The two became the most successful pranking duo since their uncles Fred and George, despite their large age gap, and were as close as could be. They could have been siblings- Dominique knew that Louis, darling little brother he was, was too much like Victoire for her to treasure him the way she did James, no matter how hard she tried. Victoire was the one person who criticized her for this, chiding that, "Louis feels neglected; you should hang out with him more, Dom. He is your brother, after all." Every time Dom was told this, she bit her lip to stop herself from screaming back at her sister to shut up.
10. There was only one thing she really regretted in life.
It had been a perfectly normal day- Dominique had finally gotten her son to fall asleep when she heard a knock on the door. Sighing, she had gone to open it, and had been faced with none other than her beaming sister.
"Hello, Vic, what brings you here?"
"Oh, just thought I'd drop by!" Victoire had smiled, walking through the open doorway. Dominique noticed, as she did this, that she had a rather large bag over her shoulder.
"What's in the bag?" she had asked, eyeing it curiously.
"I'm glad you asked, Dom! You know how you told me how you were having trouble getting little Robbie to go to sleep? Well, I found a bunch of stuff that might help!"
Dominique sighed. "Thanks, Vic, but really, you didn't need to do anything-"
"Nonsense, I wanted to! Besides, you shouldn't be ashamed of asking for help, Dom. After all, I have experience with these things- how do you think I get my little Dora to go to sleep every night? It takes practice, but you'll get it eventually!"
Dom gritted her teeth. "Really, it's fine. I've gotten Rob to sleep perfectly fine the last few nights, I really don't need any help-"
"I don't mind helping, I really don't. It's simple, see, a trick that always works is a warm milk bottle-"
"Victoire, for once in your life, will you please shut up!" Dominique shouted at her sister, her weariness combining with her annoyance to push her over the edge. Victoire was perfectly still, shell-shocked, and Dominique ranted on, "All my life, you've always thought you knew best, and I've always been expected to be just like you! Well, guess what?! I'm not, and I don't have any interesting in being like you, either!"
"Dom, I-"
"I have my own life, as Dominique Jackson, not 'Victoire Weasley's little sister'! Finally, I'm considered my own person, and I don't have to hear people go on and on and on about how wonderful you are and how I should be more like you and all that bull! And then, you have the nerve to come waltzing into my house, telling me how to take care of my own child?!"
"I didn't mea-"
"You've been doing it all my life, Victoire, don't you dare try to tell me you haven't noticed by now! Don't try to tell me you haven't noticed how I'm always at least one step behind you, never as good as the perfect Victoire Weasley!"
"It's Victoire Lupin now, Dom, and-"
"Don't call me 'Dom'!" Dominique snapped before she could stop herself. "Only people I care about can call me that!"
Victoire had stared at her, dumbstruck and hurt, for a moment before exiting the house and slamming the door behind her.
Dominique had finally digested everything she had said, and three hours later, Nathaniel came home to find his wife in the same sport, crying her eyes out.
No matter how much Dominique wanted to stand out, she was always just a shadow when compared to Victoire. A reluctant shadow. And in the end, it was being a shadow- and all the grudge that came along with it- that severed her relationship with her family. Until, that is, she received an invitation to her father's funeral, decades later. She and her family went, and when she had seen Victoire crying with Teddy's arm around her shoulder, something told her that it wasn't just because of their father dying. She never forgave herself for making her sister cry. But from that point on, she knew that not everyone saw her as a shadow- shadows couldn't cause tears. For that, she couldn't help loving her sister- even if she never saw her again.
I don't think this is my best work- I'm not a big fan of angst, myself, no matter how minor. Thanks for Pixiebookworm for the suggestion. Please review- won't update again until I have 3!
-Joelle8