Of Girls' Night & Talking Shit
Molly and Dominique just finished bringing the last of the food out to the living room and setting it up on the coffee table when Victoire and Lucy walked in.
"Oh, this smells heavenly," Lucy moaned. "I'm absolutely starving after the day I've had." She walked over and collapsed on the sofa with Victoire following suite.
"The day you had? I just finished a 12-hour shift at St. Mungo's," she said, sending a frown her cousin's way.
"Come now, this isn't a competition of who had the worse day," Molly chided as she handed them both glasses of wine.
"Besides, I'm pretty sure Daisy's week will have us all beat," Dominique said as she took a seat on the floor.
"Where is she?" Victoire asked. "Teddy's filled me in on the latest drama. Been meaning to catch up with her but just haven't had the time."
"Should be here soon. Told me she was skipping the Wanderers game to practice one-on-one with Nilsson," Dominique said.
"Still fighting with Remus?" Victoire asked, her blue eyes full of worry. Dominique nodded. Since the party last weekend, she had taken to checking in with her cousin on a daily basis. Partly to let her know that she was there for her and partly to keep up with any developments in the various situations in her life.
"Sorry I'm late!" Daisy said as she popped in, bag over her shoulder. "I was working with Nilsson and lost track of time." She dropped the bag and walked over, taking in the mountain of food and drinks. "Blimey, what's the reason for this feast?"
"Come sit here and tell us about your day," Victoire said, scooting over so Daisy could sit in between her and Lucy. Daisy sighed and walked over, plopping down.
"Is that curry from my favorite shop?" she asked, looking up at Molly and Dominique. They both smiled and nodded.
"We got all your favorites. Figured you could use a night away from the boys to just relax," Dominique said.
"And talk shit about all of them," Molly added with a devious grin. Daisy laughed.
"Merlin knows I could use it. We having a proper sleepover?" she asked.
"Might as well. We've got enough liquor to keep a pub stocked," Molly said. "Don't think any of us should attempt apparating with the amount we're sure to drink by the end of the night."
"I need a night away from Teddy," Victoire said, sighing. "I love the man, but if I hear about bloody reports to his boss again, I'll hex his mouth shut."
"And I most definitely need a night away from Kelly," Lucy added with a roll of her eyes. "You tell John you were staying over?" Daisy nodded.
"He went to the match and will probably end up on the sofa at my brothers' place after the party," she said, reaching for a glass of wine that Dominique had summoned for her.
"How are things going with him?" Molly asked as she started to fill a plate with food.
"About the same. We have mostly good days now, but every once in awhile, something will set him or me off and we have a bit of a row. But, I only broke one picture frame this week, so that's an improvement," she said with a small smile.
"Getting away from Remus seems to be helping," Dominique commented.
"Thank Merlin, that prat is going to be the death of me," Daisy said before taking a considerable sip from her glass. "And you know what gets me? He only goes after me. I'm not the only one in the bloody family with extra gifts. Why won't he go after Jamie and give me a damn break?" Dominique and Molly shared a look.
"Suppose he's used to always competing with Jamie. Competing with you is something new and different," Lucy said before taking a bite.
"I always thought Remus was more sensible than that," Victoire said.
"No, Jamie's the sensible one – for the most part, anyway. But Remus has never been outright hateful before," Molly said. "Annoying, frustrating and mischievous, yes. But never intentionally hurtful."
"I take it since John went to the game, Remus eventually apologized for what he said?" Dominique asked. Daisy glared and nodded.
"The next day he came around, looking like a dog with its tail betwixt his legs. Course, I got no such apology. John ushered him out to a pub to talk it over before I got the chance to hex him," she said, looking disappointed at the missed opportunity.
"I'm sure you'll get another shot at him, knowing Remus," Molly said. "Just… try not to destroy whatever building you're in at the time." Daisy chuckled, though Dominique could sense that she wasn't completely amused by the comment. She remembered the memory of the pub catching fire and poked Molly, silently frowning at her. Molly immediately got the message and looked at Daisy. "Sorry… bad joke." Daisy sighed.
"It's alright. It's true. I could bring an entire building down with just a temper tantrum nowadays," she said glumly before nearly emptying the wine glass. Lucy promptly refilled it, adding more than what Dominique had put in originally.
"It won't be like this forever, Daisy," Victoire said soothingly. "You'll get a handle on it eventually." Daisy looked at her older cousin.
"Some days I wonder if I will," she admitted. "Mum's doing the best she can, but I can tell even she's worried."
"It took her years to get hers under control. So don't beat yourself up if it takes longer than a few months," Lucy said.
"It also took her falling into a coma," Daisy said grimly. "Maybe I should just knock myself out and get it over with." All the women in the room gasped.
"You'll do no such thing, Daisy Nymphadora Wood," Molly said, sounding every bit like their Gran Weasley. "It's not going to be easy, but we all know you. You never give up once you've started something. And you always get it eventually. This'll be no different." Daisy smiled slightly, thankful for her cousins' support.
"Besides, after all the crazy stunts you've pulled on the quidditch pitch the last two seasons, this should be nothing," Lucy said, grinning. Daisy laughed.
"If only that were true," she said.
"So, back to John," Lucy said. "Has he gotten any closer to getting over his little rivalry with Wills?"
"What rivalry with Wills? I swear you lot leave me out of the best stories," Victoire said, sitting up and turning to face Daisy. The ginger laughed wryly.
"John and I could be married for 20 years and he still won't give that up," she said.
"John seems to think that Wills knows more than he does and that he's attempting to steal Daisy away from him," Dominique told her older sister with a slight laugh.
"Has he gone daft? Wills has been joking about marrying you since before you were in Hogwarts!" Victoire said. "Though… didn't you technically ask him to marry you first?" Daisy's cheeks turned pink as she frowned at her cousin.
"Christ, I was 9 at the time. I also asked him to the Quidditch Ball every year until I was about 13," she said, chuckling slightly. "And John does have at least half of that right… Wills does know more than he does."
"What?! When did this happen?" Victoire nearly shouted.
"Yea, I was curious about how that came about as well. Jamie only said he overheard you and Lucy talking about something," Dominique said. Lucy and Daisy shared a look, with Lucy smirking slightly.
"Might as well tell them the whole story," she said smugly before sipping from her glass. Daisy sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Well… so that night at the party – when I first felt John – I was standing with Wills, Jamie and Remus. I got a bit confused and wasn't sure who it came from or what it even was exactly, so I grabbed Lucy and we went to my room to talk-" she said.
"Back up a moment. You didn't know who it came from? Wouldn't it have been obvious?" Molly asked. "You only get it with family and loved ones, yea?" Daisy's cheeks started turning red as lavender started streaking up her hair. Lucy laughed loudly.
"She thought it might have been Wills," she gleefully exclaimed. Daisy glared at her as her hair shifted into a deep purple. Dominique's eyes widened.
"Wills? You seriously thought you had developed a connection with Wills?" she asked. Daisy shrugged.
"I was confused! John wasn't nearby, but Wills was standing next to me. And he is always saying he's going to marry me…"
"But Daisy, you make connections with people you love, not the other way around," Dominique said. Everyone in the room save Lucy looked at Daisy in shock, though a grin was slowly spreading across Victoire's face.
"Don't look at me like that! I don't love Wills like that, and you all know it! It could have been just because I think of him as an older brother," she shouted as Lucy could no longer contain her giggles and was now outright cackling next to Daisy.
"Suppose it would make sense," Victoire said contemplatively.
"Though, we wouldn't blame you if you were in love with him. You two do have such a close relationship," Molly said, grinning madly. "It would only be natural that it should develop into something more."
"You all seem to conveniently forget that I am currently living with my boyfriend whom I love very much," Daisy said, shooting glares around the room.
"Relax, we're just having a bit of fun," Victoire said, chuckling. "You know we all adore John."
"I can just picture Uncle Oliver's face, though…" Lucy said, nearly dying of laughter.
"Oh, that would be funny," Victoire chimed in. "What is it he always says to Wills?"
"You'll never marry my daughter?" Molly suggested.
"Stop flirting and get the quaffle," Dominique added.
"You'll never be in my family," Lucy chimed in.
"No, I think it's quit talking and shoot the damn quaffle," Molly said.
"I believe you all are looking for, 'Wills! There's no way in hell I'm letting you marry my daughter!'" Daisy said, doing her best impression of her father that she could. The women all looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"So… how did Wills end up getting let in on the big family secret?" Victoire asked, steering the conversation back on course.
"He apparently followed me, thinking he had upset me, to apologize and ended up overhearing me and Lucy talking about everything," Daisy said, trying to calm down. "So, I had no choice but to fill him in – I'm still rather shite at obliviating people. And just to clear up the whole connection thing, I asked him point blank if he loved me."
"What did he say?" Molly asked, leaning forward.
"'Of course, I love you,'" Daisy replied with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "The man doesn't know how to be serious to save his life."
"He was probably just nervous," Dominique said. Daisy nodded.
"He then said there was no way I could have connection with him as he doesn't feel that way about me and it had to have been John," she said with a sigh. "And then I made him swear not to mention anything about our family secret to anyone. Mum and Dad'll go ballistic if they find out. Not to mention, John will probably break up with me on the spot."
"Surely he wouldn't if you explained it to him. You didn't intend to tell Wills, he just put his nose where it didn't belong – as usual," Molly said. "John was always reasonable."
"New John is not always reasonable," Daisy retorted. "I wish I knew why it was Wills gets so under his skin – despite the obvious… Wills gets under everyone's skin to some extent."
"Wills makes him feel insecure," Lucy said, causing everyone to stare at her. "What? He talks about it with Ryan and Ryan tells me."
"Insecure?" Victoire asked.
"Well, yea. You know how Wills doesn't have a humble bone in his body. Walks around like he's the bloody Chosen One, most of the time. Anyway, you can't deny that he and Daisy have a special relationship – always have since he started the team. And everyone bloody knows about it. So, it's not so much that John is worried that Wills is actually going to step in and sweep Daisy away – he's worried that he and Daisy will always be closer to Wills than she is with him," Lucy explained.
The women were all quiet a moment, thinking it over.
"Makes sense… and especially after Wills calmed you down last weekend before you made something explode," Dominique added. Daisy thought for a moment.
"Guess I never looked at it that way. I mean, Wills has just always been there in my life. I didn't find it odd that he could talk me down and never really thought our relationship was anything unique or out of the ordinary," she said finally. "But… I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do a little more to reassure John that I'm not about to go riding off into the sunset with Wills."
"Don't let Wills hear you say that. He'll go find a unicorn just so he could tempt you," Victoire said with a chuckle. Daisy smiled and laughed.
"No, he'd show up with a Pegasus," she said. "The grander the display, the better." The group dissolved into giggles again.
"How are things going with your mum?" Molly asked after they had calmed down. Daisy had sat up and started helping herself to piles of food.
"A bit better. I've gotten to where I can do about a couple shields at a time, but I'm still struggling to do other spells while I've got them up," she said with a grimace. "Jamie's up to about four and can keep them going while shooting off jinxes for a time."
"Who are you shooting jinxes at while practicing?" Victoire asked. "Please tell me it's Remus." Daisy laughed and shook her head.
"I'd like to but he's been banned from helping us since he ends up making things worse. We just shoot at some practice dummies that Mum and Uncle George created for us," she said. "It's getting a bit easier, but leaves me utterly exhausted afterwards."
"You'd think after all those years playing quidditch you'd have a higher stamina," Molly said. Daisy shrugged.
"It's different. Quidditch requires a lot of athletic ability and concentration, but this needs more than that," she said before taking a massive bite of pizza.
"Anymore breakthroughs on the investigation front?" Victoire asked, looking at Molly and Dominique. They both glanced at each other, suddenly feeling a bit downtrodden. After the initial excitement of discovering the existence of Nikos Aliefantis, they had hit a roadblock and were struggling to find anything remotely related to his current whereabouts.
"Not since we spoke with the muggle professor, unfortunately," Dominique said. "Chris wasn't lying when he said it takes time to track someone down."
"So you're on first-name basis with Abbott now? Noticed he started calling you Dom at the office. Anything you want to share?" Molly asked, waggling her eyebrows. Daisy sat up, studying her cousin.
"Merlin, no. Would you stop with that?" Dominique said, frowning at her cousin and roommate.
"You and Chris?" Daisy asked. Dominique looked over at her, eyes wide.
"It's nothing like that. Molly just likes to make something out of nothing," she said quickly. Daisy shrugged.
"He's actually a really nice guy," she said. "It's worth giving him a chance."
"Well… he does seem to be less annoying than I originally thought he would be," Dominique admitted. "But, we only have a professional relationship. Nothing more."
"Right, she's saving herself for Magnus anyway," Molly said, grinning.
"Who's Magnus?" Victoire asked. Dominique glared at Molly again.
"Aunt Hermione's new assistant. And no, there's nothing going on there either," she said, her cheeks turning pink. "While he may be attractive, there is definitely nothing going on."
"Sure there's not. Then why is it you spend extra long getting ready on the mornings you deliver reports to Aunt Hermione?" Molly asked innocently.
"I do not!" Dominique shouted, looking scandalized.
"And then she comes back with her face all flushed and smiling," Molly said, looking at her sister and cousins on the sofa.
"That was just because I had had a good chat with Aunt Hermione!" Dominique yelled. "I was excited about the news I shared with her."
"Of course… that was it," Molly said before popping a crisp into her mouth.
"I told you, I'm not getting involved with anyone until after this whole danger mess is over with," Dominique said, straightening up. "I didn't just break up with Paul for no reason or because I was bored with him, after all." She took a drink of wine, sulking. The rest of the group went quiet, realizing they had hit a nerve.
"How did your talk with him at the party go?" Lucy asked softly. Dominique shrugged.
"How do you think it went? He asked if we could have another go and I had to break his heart – again," she said bitterly.
"You don't have to make yourself suffer because of me," Daisy said quietly. Dominique looked over at her, seeing the guilt clearly on her face. She sighed as her face softened.
"It's not your fault, Daisy. It's just… I don't want to put him in any danger," she said. Daisy nodded.
"I know the feeling," she said. She sat back on the sofa and it was as though she had deflated. "Some days I wonder if it would be better if John and I broke up. I can't bring myself to tell him the full truth. But I worry about him being too close to us whenever this bomb drops." Lucy looked over at her, the same worry on her face.
"I'm actually thinking about telling Ryan everything," she said. "Just so he can make an informed decision. If he wants to stick it out with me or go."
"But Lucy… you two have been together for almost three years now. Surely you don't actually think he would leave because of this," Molly said, obviously concerned about her younger sister.
"I know. It kills me to keep things from him. And I'm terrified of if he does decide to leave once he knows. But at the same time, I want to keep him safe," she said. "And he won't be safe if he stays. Or if he's kept in the dark."
"I doubt that Ryan would leave you because of this," Molly said. "He loves you too much." Lucy looked over at her sister, shooting her grateful smile.
"I hope so," she said. "Because it's going to take a lot more than love to get through whatever is coming," she said solemnly. They all went silent, retreating into their own thoughts.
"Teddy and I have decided to put off children because of it," Victoire said softly. They all turned and looked at her in surprise. Victoire had made it no secret among them that she was ready to be a mother. "Just… we don't want to be raising a child in the middle of a war and risk leaving behind an orphan."
Dominique's heart sank at the statement as all the old fears came rushing back in. She looked around the room, worrying that sometime in the near future, one of these women wouldn't be there. Daisy put her plate down and looked as though everything was her fault, while next to her, Lucy looked away, though Dominique caught the sheen of unshed tears in her eyes. Next to her, Molly was looking down at her hands, brow furrowed. Her sister – usually so optimistic and bright – sighed as though she were carrying the world on her shoulders.
"Merlin's beard, what is wrong with all of us!" Dominique exclaimed, causing everyone to jump. "Look, we're not sure what's coming, but we do know one thing – we're not going to lose."
"How can you know that?" Daisy asked, a hitch in her voice.
"Because I know us," Dominique said, beginning to smile. "Our family has survived two wars. You and your brother and your mom have been given amazing gifts – and yes, I do think they are gifts, no matter what you say. With all of us, there is no way we won't win and overcome whatever is in the future."
She could see her resolve slowly start to spread around the room. Victoire smiled and nodded as she reached over and squeezed Daisy's hand. The guilt started to leave Daisy's face. Lucy blinked back her tears and nodded her head in agreement. Molly beamed at Dominique.
"I don't know about you lot, but I think we have a pretty badass family. Even Remus, though he's being a git," Molly said. Daisy chuckled.
"He's pretty good at jinxes when he puts his mind to it," she admitted.
"See? We just need to stick together and we'll get through this," Dominique said. Daisy nodded.
"You're right," she said. "And that, I think, deserves a toast." She grinned as five shot glasses zoomed over to them with a bottle of tequila lazily following.
"Still can't get over how you just do all of this without a wand," Victoire said, sitting up and plucking one of the glasses out of the air after the liquor had been poured. Daisy shrugged.
"Once I got out of my head, it came naturally," she said, taking hers. They all held their glasses up.
"To the Wood-Weasley-Potters!" she declared loudly.
"To kicking ass and taking names," Molly followed. The five women grinned at each other and took their shots. Dominique smiled as she looked around as the relaxed atmosphere returned to the room.
She could feel, in that moment, all the way down to her bones, that whatever was coming, they would be victorious.
Seriously, there's nothing I love more than some good old fashioned family/women bonding. And I figured with a family as tight-knit as the Wood-Weasley-Potters, there's a lot of bonding. Hope this chapter answered some questions and if not... well, there's definitely more to come! Went through and edited some of the upcoming chapters and I'm super happy with them now. They read a lot smoother and the points and such that I am trying to get across I think are coming through much better now.
twilghtlover427: He is, but he'll eventually come around. Wow, that is an awesome theory. Like, I'm super impressed with the thought put into it. Unfortunately, I can't really tell you if you're right or wrong at the moment. You'll just have to wait and see! ^_^ (Annoying, I know.) To be honest, in the original version of "Saving Iris" that I wrote, I did actually have Sirius. A lot of moments with Mr. Weasley and half of Lupin's moments in that one were actually between Iris and Sirius. But when I did the re-write years later and re-posted the first 9 chapters, I decided to go with canon and took him out. Which was sad, because I thought of anyone, Sirius and Iris would have understood each other the most. And I rather liked Sirius... I thought he and Harry needed more time together.
morganna12: I'm happy to hear that you love it! I've really enjoyed exploring Dominique and her relationships with her family and such. And I love this family as well. To be honest, I've worked in some stuff from my family - namely being loud, cracking jokes and meddling. Haha! My mom's family is massive and noisy and our favorite games to play when we get together is telling stories to embarrass each other.
Thanks for reading, following and reviewing!