Dom sat on her bed looking at a letter in her hand. She smoothed it out and read it once more. It informed her that she was to attend a bonding weekend with Ollivander’s on Saturday March 10th which was today. She was to leave for the London offices in less than an hour and return in time for lunch tomorrow. She was supposed to bring a bag with clothes for warm weather, anything she might need for a day at the beach and an outfit appropriate for a fancy dinner. The letter didn’t give much information. It just said she would be meeting the other apprentices for the job.
“Dom, you need to pack,” Sierra said throwing clothes in Dom’s duffel bag.
“I know. I’m just nervous.” Dom fell back on her bed.
She was nervous about the prospect of meeting the other apprentices. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to bond with people that she was potentially competing against.
“You’ll do fine. You’re smart,” Sierra assured.
“Thanks Sierra,” Dom said.
Dom was a little surprised by the comment. Sierra had been distant the past couple weeks. Dom wondered if it was something she did, or something Hannah did, or something else all together.
She stood up and finished putting her clothes away. She needed to get down to the Great Hall. She smiled and gave her friend a hug. On the way out of the common room, she said goodbye to all her cousins and Hannah.
Outside the portrait, Calvin was waiting for her. He was whistling and had his hands in his pockets.
“Are you all ready?” He said taking her bag from her.
“Yes, I think I am,” Dom replied.
He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t worry that pretty little head of yours. You’ll be great. I promise.”
Happiness filled Dom. She and Cal had been closer since the night of the fireworks. She still hadn’t told him her revelation that she loved him. If she told the truth, it was because she was scared. With Frank, saying I love you had been easy. He had said it first and she just followed. Nothing was easy with Cal though. Their whole relationship was based on lies. The lies had been bothering her more and more. How could she say I love you when he didn’t know the whole truth? She promised herself that soon she would tell him everything.
“Thanks,” Dom said.
The walk to the Great Hall was faster than it had ever been. She wondered if it was because she was nervous.
“I’m going to miss you today,” Cal whispered as he wrapped his arms around her.
Dom hugged him back. “I’m sure you’ll survive.”
“Good luck, Kitty Kat.” He handed her the bag.
She walked into the hall. Neville was standing by the lit fire. He had a letter in his hand and was twiddling his thumbs.
“Miss Weasley, there has been a change of plans,” Neville said. “You will first have to go the Ministry of Magic and then from there you will go to France and then you will go to your destination.”
“Oh, okay,” Dom said.
“Good luck, Dom,” Neville said holding out a jar of Floo powder.
Dom grabbed some and stepped into the fire. Warmth rushed around her and she stepped out of the fire. Ministry workers were running all around. It was chaos. Dom wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do now. She saw her uncle Percy across the room. She waved trying to get his attention. He didn’t see her.
“Dominique,” Someone called out.
Dom turned to see Harry Potter jogging over to her. Her uncle looked rush as he came over.
“Sorry, I’m late. Come this way. You need to go into that fire over there and just say French Ministry,” Her uncle informed her.
He placed a hand on her back and led her through the crowd.
“Good luck from all the family, Dom.”
Dom waved goodbye and stepped into the fire. She followed her uncle’s instructions and was soon in the French Ministry. This time Leon Ollivander was waiting for her. He grinned and waved her over.
“Miss Weasley, wonderful to see you again,” Leon greeted.
“Leon, nice to see you as well,” Dom said.
“Now just this way, we must take a portkey to our final location.” Leon marched down one of the halls.
Dom followed him closely. The last thing she needed was to get lost in a foreign ministry. Leon’s light blonde hair was easy to follow. Her bag however hit a few people as she tried to keep up with Leon’s pace. She ignored the rude remarks and kept walking. She never had liked the French especially not her aunt Gabrielle. Her aunt always wore her skirts to short and top to low and was always hanging over her uncle Harry or her uncle Ron. In fact, her mother and grandfather were the only full blooded French she liked.
“Ah, here is the portkey,” Leon grinned holding up an old toothbrush.
“Where are we um going?” Dom asked.
“I’ll tell you when we get there,” Leon said. “Now grab onto the brush.”
Invisible robes yanked her up. She closed her eyes to stop the spinning. When she started to feel a dropping sensation, she opened her eyes. The air was warmer. She looked at the ground and the area surrounding her. It was a lush green landscape. A beach with crystal water was a stone’s throw away. Up ahead, a big plaza sat. All around the plaza were tiny little cottages. Several people were standing in the plaza.
“Welcome to a lovely little island in the Caribbean,” Leon said. “We are at The Sand Piper, a wizarding resort.”
He picked up her bag in his hand and seemed to skip off towards the group of people. Dom followed him wishing she had worn something other than her Hogwarts robes. They were hot, mildly uncomfortable, and frankly quite unattractive. The people up ahead were all wearing shorts and light colored tee shirts.
“Everyone, this is Miss Dominique Weasley,” Leon said with a broad smile.
“Miss Weasley, it is my pleasure. I am Sylvester Ollivander, Leon’s older brother and current keeper of Ollivander’s Shop,” One of the men stepped forward and said.
The older Ollivander had silvery eyes that were the same as Leon’s. He had no hair though. Dom couldn’t tell if he was bald by will or age. He was in good shape and she guessed he no older than 35.
A woman of small stature stepped forward next. She was shorter than Dom’s 5’4”. Her hair was black and fell against her chin. Her light hazel eyes gazed critically at Dom.
“I’m Paige Ollivander, Sylvester’s wife and the only person to pass this course,” She said.
“Nice to meet you,” Dom said staring right back into Paige’s eyes.
“Let me introduce the other apprentices, this is Nico Salvatore,” Sylvester said with a wave to the tall boy standing there.
Nico Salvatore was quite handsome by Dom’s standards. He had dark brown hair that hung perfectly to his shoulders. His eyes were dark almost black. He had a face that reminded Dom of a Greek statue.
“How do you do?” Nico said with a strong accent.
“Yes, Nico here is from Italy. He went to an Italian school of magic,” Sylvester explained.
“I attended the Salvatore School of Magic. My ancestors founded it,” Nico said with the hint of a sneer.
“Lovely,” Leon said with a clap of his hands. “This is Eva Karlsson.”
Eva Karlsson was tall with blond hair that hung limply around her face. When she peered out of her curtain of hair, her eyes were big and brown reminding Dom of a puppy she once had.
“Hello,” Eva said softly. She too had an accent.
“Nice to meet you,” Dom said smiling at the girl.
“Top notch, now that everyone knows each other, let me show you your rooms,” Sylvester said.
Dom was sharing one of the cottages with Eva. The cottage was a tad smaller than the dorms at Hogwarts. There were two full size beds, a bathroom, and a small kitchen. Leon had told them to unpack and wash up and then to meet in the plaza for the first activity. It was odd this whole thing. She was on a tropical island in March for her internship with one of the best wand making businesses in the world. She decided to just enjoy the weather and not think about it or anything else this weekend.
Dom quickly changed into a pair of shorts and a light weight tee shirt. The cool material of the shirt felt good after wearing the robes. When she pulled out a pair of shoes, a note fluttered to the ground. Her name was on the front in Cal’s handwriting. In smaller letters, it said, “Don’t open until you go to sleep.”
She smiled and tucked it back inside her bag. She finished getting ready and turned to her roommate. The girl hadn’t said anything yet. Eva looked quite scared in fact.
“Uhm Eva, where are you from?” Dom asked.
“Oh, I am from Germany,” Eva answered in broken English.
“My uncle is currently working there,” Dom said thinking of her uncle Charlie.
“Oh, you are related to Harry Potter, correct,” Eva asked.
It shouldn’t have surprised Dom that the girl knew that. It seemed everyone knew who Harry Potter was and who all his relatives were.
“Yes, he is my uncle,” Dom said. “Well we better go out into the plaza.
Eva didn’t say anything or make a gesture that she heard besides for walking out the door. Dom followed. This weekend was going to be interesting.
Nico and Leon were standing out in plaza. From what Dom could see Leon was trying to make conversation. Nico was looking down his rather prominent nose at him. Leon just kept smiling and waved when he saw the two girls. His brother, Sylvester, walked out of a cottage. His wife wasn’t anywhere in sight.
“Are you ready for the first activity: lunch?” Sylvester said.
Dom was beginning to think that the whole Ollivander family might be a little crazy. Leon was babbling about something to Eva. Nico was strutting ahead with Sylvester.
“Everything will be explained at lunch about this trip,” Sylvester called out.
Dom reveled in the sun as they walked across the plaza and down a sand covered path. A couple other wizards were lying out on the beach. She saw a quite large lady that reminded her of her Aunt Muriel.
They arrived at an open pavilion with a couple long tables and benches. To Dom, it was a tropical Great Hall.
“Sit down, sit down,” Sylvester said.
The three apprentices sat down and looked at the two brothers.
“This weekend is to be a bonding experience,” Sylvester started.
“We will be participating in all sorts of fun and getting to know each other. This will help us when we start to work together,” Leon continued.
“By the end, we will be one big happy family,” Sylvester finished.
Dom wasn’t sure she wanted to be part of the ‘family’. One crazy family was enough for her. Nico and Eva didn’t seem too thrilled either. Eva was looking down at her plate. Nico wore a frown and an expression of boredom.
Sylvester clapped his hands and food appeared on the table. There were all sorts of fruits and some sort of pork. Dom took a small sip of her drink. It was tropical like everything else.
Lunch was awkward and silent. The only breaks in the silence were Leon or Sylvester making some out of the blue comment.
“First, we are going to have a volleyball match,” Sylvester said.
Dom wanted to ask how volleyball was supposed to help them bond but she kept her mouth shut. Neither Nico nor Eva said anything. Sylvester just kept smiling and ushered them to the volleyball courts.
The volleyball courts were located on the beach. Dom slid off her shoes before stepping onto the court. The sun was still shining brightly and Dom was beginning to wish she had brought some sun lotion.
“The teams are Ollivanders versus Non-Ollivanders,” Leon said.
“Sir, there are three of us and only two of you. It is not fair,” Eva said.
“That’s fine. We are quite good at beach volleyball,” Leon replied.
This weekend was getting weirder by the minute. Leon stepped to the line and served the ball. Dom saw exactly where it was going. She had learned something from playing Quidditch with her cousins all those times. She ran right at the ball.
“Damn,” Dom cried as she fell to the ground holding her head.
She had run straight into Nico. He was lying on the ground as well rubbing his head. They had both bent down to hit the ball at the same time.
“Fuck this,” Dom heard Nico mutter.
On the other side of the court, Leon and Sylvester were laughing.
“You must learn to work together to win,” Sylvester called out.
Dom raised one eyebrow at Nico. He scowled back at her. His face was becoming less handsome by the moment.
“Yes sir,” Eva replied.
Dom pushed herself of the sand and stood up. She could work together with other people. She wasn’t so sure that Nico could though.
“We must win. Do you understand?” Nico glared at Dom and Eva.
“Oh, okay,” Eva said stumbling over the words.
“Fine, let’s win,” Dom said.
“Good, I’ll take front. Dominique, you take back and Eva, you just go wherever needs help,” Nico instructed.
The three spread out in their positions. Surprisingly, Nico’s plan worked. They did fairly well. In the end, they won by three points. Nico even smiled once and Eva seemed to becoming out of her shell a tad.
“Bravo,” Sylvester said.
“You are now free to do whatever you want. You’ve passed the test,” Leon said.
Dom didn’t like the look in Leon’s eyes. It suggested that this was the first test but certainly not the last. She assumed the match had been to see if they could work as a team. They had done that and their reward was free time. She gazed longingly at the beach. Spending the next hour sun bathing sounded like a wonderful idea. If only, she had a friend here. Sierra and Hannah had spent countless hours over the summer with Dom lying in the sun on the beach by shell cottage. Dom looked at Eva. It didn’t hurt to ask.
“Eva, would you like to lay out in the sun with me?” Dom asked.
“I, well, I, you see burn very easily,” Eva mumbled.
“I have some good sun lotion. You won’t burn,” Dom said.
“Well then, I guess that’s fine. I would very much like to,” Eva said with a hint of a smile.
“Alright, let’s go change,” Dom replied.
They walked back to their cottage. On the way, she saw Nico chatting with some girls. He had taken off his shirt and was leaning against a fence. He reminded Dom of James. The cocky attitude, the want to be worshipped, it was all James or the way James was a year ago.
Eva changed in the bathroom first. Dom sat out on one of the bed’s fingering Cal’s letter. She wanted to open it. She wanted to see what he had written her. Guilt overpowered temptation though. She dropped the letter back in her bag. After all she had done to Cal; the least she could do was obey his instructions.
The sun and the sand proved to be therapeutic. Dom fell asleep quickly on the soft sand. She let her fear and worry wash away. There was always tomorrow to worry.
“Dominique, we have to go,” Eva’s soft voice broke through Dom’s sleep.
The sun glared in her eyes as she blinked them open.
“Mister Ollivander says we need to get ready for dinner,” Eva said.
Dom sat up. She brushed the sand off her legs and picked up her stuff. According the Eva, they had thirty minutes to get ready. Dom showered quickly and preformed a couple hair charms. She wore a white sundress that Victoire had given her for Christmas.
Nico, the two Ollivander brothers, and Paige were in the plaza.
“Tonight we will be dining with our grandfather, Mr. Ollivander,” Sylvester said. “He is very old and blind. Please do not be offended if he ignores you, it may just be that he can’t hear you.”
Mr. Ollivander…the old man who had sold her her wand. She wondered if he remembered her. He supposedly remembered every wand he every sold.
They walked back down the sandy path to the dining pavilion. This time though they kept walking. They ended up at a small cottage. They went inside.
“Grandfather, we are here with the new apprentices. They are right here,” Sylvester said.
Mr. Ollivander came over. He was in a wheelchair. His eyes were the same silvery color of his grandsons. He had tufts of white hair on his head.
“I thought you said you were taking three,” Mr. Ollivander said.
“We did. There are three: Nico Salvatore, Eva Karlsson, and Dominique Weasley,” Leon said.
“There are four. One, two, three, four,” Ollivander muttered. He pointed his finger at each apprentice. When he got to Dom, he kept his finger straight at her as he said three, four.
Leon mouthed sorry over his grandfather’s head. “Grandfather, there are only three.”
“Don’t talk to me like I am a child. I may be blind but I can sense their souls. There are four souls,” Ollivander huffed.
“Let’s just sit down to dinner,” Sylvester said through a forced smile.
“No, I want to talk to the girl with the name of Weasley. Alone,” Ollivander requested. He glared in the direction of his grandsons. Everyone shuffled out of the room.
“Dominique, I remember when you came and got your wand. Cherry wood, ten inches with a unicorn hair,” Ollivander said.
“Yes sir, that’s it,” Dom said.
Despite the odd circumstances, it was neat to know he remembered her wand. The old man nodded and didn’t say anything else. He just looked straight at her. Dom knew that he was blind but a stranger wouldn’t have been able to tell.
“You have some things in your life that you need to work out,” He said.
Dom gulped. Could he really see her soul? Did he see how tarnished it was with lies?
“Listen to me, you will be a great wandmaker but you need to sort out your life. Get rid of whatever is holding you down,” Ollivander said.
“Yes sir,” Dom mumbled.
“You have something that the others don’t. I know this. I see this. Go bring my grandsons back in,” Ollivander instructed.
Dom walked shakily to the door and told everyone they could come back in. The old man had told her exactly what she had known. She needed to tell Calvin. The power of someone else saying it shocked her. The guilt raged through her.
“Leon, send Miss Weasley back to Hogwarts. She has something she must do for me,” Ollivander said.
“Yes sir. Sir, is she still part of the training?” Leon asked in a hushed whisper.
“Of course, she is. She has learned what she needed to learn this weekend. That’s all,” Ollivander said. “Now, go.”
Leon walked over and took Dom’s arm. Before they were out the door, Mr. Ollivander called to them.
“Good luck, Miss Weasley. You will need it in the upcoming weeks.” Ollivander waved goodbye.
The rest of the group seemed too shocked to do anything. Sylvester waved a little but everyone else just stood there looking at her. She felt as if she had done something wrong. Mr. Ollivander had said she was still in the training but still.
“I’ve never seen my grandfather act that way,” Leon said in an apologetic tone.
“It’s fine,” Dom said.
“Here is a portkey. It was supposed to leave tomorrow morning for Hogsmeade but let me change the time...Ah, here we go. It’s set to leave in ten minutes,” Leon said handing her an old pen.
“Thank you, Leon,” Dom said.
“My pleasure, I’ll send you a letter in the next couple weeks detailing your training schedule over summer.” Leon leaned down and kissed her cheek and then headed back down the path.
Dom threw her stuff in the bag and pulled her Hogwarts robes back on. She was unsure of how to explain this to her friends and professors. She walked outside thinking of what to say. She’d just tell them that it had ended early. No one had to know that she was the only one who had to leave.
As she was pulled up in the air, Ollivander’s words entered her head. “Good luck, Miss Weasley. You will need it in the next couple weeks.”
A/N: So what do you think of the chapter? What will Dom need the good luck for? Who thinks it's time for Dom to tell Calvin everything?
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