AN: Dominique, (whom Lily calls Niq (pronounced like "nick")) is Lily's best friend, aside from Septimus. In fanon, Dominique is also a metamorphmagous. This chapter takes place shortly before Chapter 5: Heart, making Dominique, Septimus and Lily sixteen. At the end of this chapter, they disapparate illegally. I don't think that's very far-fetched, because she's Harry Potter's kid, c'mon.
.pain.
You are best friends. Born a day apart (you, April nineteenth-Aries- and her, April twentieth- Taurus.) you have done everything together. First steps; holding hands. First baby tooth gone- hers went first and you pulled your front one so you could match. You spend your first day at Hogwarts together; Slytherins, no question about it. She radiates quiet wisdom and love of nature (Gram says she takes after her dad). You are a loud, opinionated smart ass who isn't afraid of anything (you take after Uncle Ron). She is slow to anger; your fuse is short. Opposites, yet complimentary beings. You cannot have one without the other. It is a running joke in the family that where Lily is, Dominique will be also, closely followed by Septimus. The Others- they don't understand. They don't quite seem to get how small and how fragile she is. How much she needs your protection, and can't do things without you.
She's sick, obviously. Long sleeves hide shyness and scars and a secret desire for someone she can't have. It's an unspoken agreement between you and Set; Protect Lily At All Costs. Because when she gets hurt, or she is sad, or is in trouble, Bad Things happen, like finding her in the blood-stained bath, blue and barely breathing, or not knowing where she is for three days until she comes home full of sadness and guilt and bitterness for an unkind world.
Ted lives on his own now, across the street from The Leaky Cauldron. If there was one person Lily had more adoration for than her father, it was Teddy Lupin; tall, blue-haired and arrogantly charming, with a penchant for causing trouble and heartbreak in his Hogwarts days. He forcibly reminds you of the stories Uncle Harry tells about his own godfather, Sirius. There is no solid reason to dislike him, but you do. (Probably because his personality is so similar to your own.)
There are frequent drunk summer nights spent with all the cousins- Set and Scorpius included- in Ted's posh loft. None of their parents accompany them because the honorable Teddy Remus Lupin is chaperoning, after all. You tsk. The apartment is filled with huge oak furniture and PlayWizards and booze- so much booze. Raucous laughter and thank-god-our-parents-aren't-here conversations and occasionally there's fireworks set off in the living room and the whole environment is oddly lust-filled and drunk and happy.
The boys drink the most out of anyone. Set, Scorpius, James, Al, Fred and Louis put away Firewhiskey like nobody's business. Lily drinks, although infrequently. You stay sober; watching Lily, waiting for Something to happen.
One night it does; three in the morning and you look up from Pride & Prejudice and notice that two people are conspicuously missing from the uneven circle of drunk Potters and Weasleys.
For some reason, you decide to check upstairs first. Pass a bathroom and a bedroom and make your way to the end of the hall, where an oak door signifies Teddy's bedroom. No sound. You tentatively knock. She wouldn't sleep with him, you think. She knows how dangerous that is. No movement, no come in. Try the knob- it's unlocked. Push open the heavy door and the first thing you see is Teddy, all limbs twisted in sheets. He is most definitely unconscious, dark circles under his eyes and his face full of blue stubble. Naked.
Anger and anxiety pulse through you. Where the hell is she? Stalk across the room, resisting the urge to shove him out of bed, and push open the bathroom door. Your mouth drops open, eyes take in the scene. You are going to kill Teddy Lupin.
She sits naked on the counter, fingers compulsively tapping, counting cuts on her wrist. She has a blooming black eye and handprint-bruises around her neck and on her hips and bite marks everywhere and there's a bit of blood on the counter and she won't look up and holy fuck what a sick fucking bastard.
You reach for her and she flinches back, green eyes filling with tears. "Lil," you murmur, working to keep your voice steady so you don't scare her. "Did he rape you?" Lily nods, then shakes her head, then shrugs.
"Niq," she mumbles, "he was so drunk. So was I. I mean I only had one shot but you know how low my tolerance is but he called me beautiful and I couldn't say stop and he kissed me and said all the right things." Tears slide down her face.
You set your jaw, reserve judgment of Teddy when you're alone with him and your wand. You go into automatic protect-mode. "Stay here," you order her, as if she could move. You stalk back into the room, go for the bottom drawer in the giant dresser, where Victoire keeps some of her things. Thank god she's in Paris with grand-mère for the summer. You pull out a pair of pajama pants, and rustle through the closet, pulling down an old jumper, so big it will swallow Lily whole. You head back to the bathroom; she hasn't moved.
"I have clothes," you announce. She nods. You both stand there for a moment until she reaches for the jumper. She scrambles into that and the pants. Victoire is five foot nine and curvaceous and petite little Lily is five foot. The clothes drown her, but they're better than nothing.
"We're leaving," you say, and put your arm gently around her. She nods. As you head into the bedroom, she shrinks against you, and you have such a burning hatred for the man on the bed that your hair turns red at the roots.
She reaches up and touches your white-blonde head. "Niq," she shakes her head, "it's not his fault." You purse your lips and say nothing. Downstairs, you reach for the doorknob, but she stops you. "Septimus," she says, like you're obviously forgetting something. You grit your teeth. Aren't you enough?
"Stay here," you order again. You let go of her and she sways slightly on her feet.
Three minutes later, you are dragging Septimus down the steps, Lily trailing behind. Once you hit the cool night air on the street below, he seems to sober up a bit.
"Who…?" he asks you, gesturing at Lily. You shake your head.
You reach and Septimus reach for each of Lily's hands, looking, from far away, like parents with a child between them. Lily stifles a sob.
"I'm going to fucking kill him," mutters Set. You nod, and the three of you disapperate.