Well, here's chapter four. (: Feel free to let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Enjoy!
Chapter Four.
“Maman?” Vic said at the breakfast table the next morning. She was sitting primly, picking apart a muffin with her usual perfect nails. I rolled my eyes, taking another bite of the oatmeal that I preferred.
“Yes, dear?” Maman was reading the paper, drinking coffee.
“I think Dom has something she wants to tell you. It’s very good news, don’t worry. She just couldn’t find the right way to tell you.”
Merde, I cursed in my head.
Maman looked at me expectantly. “Yes, dear?”
I swallowed, cursing Victoire and all her children to hell. “Well, you see… I got a new job-” I tried, but Vic cut me off.
“Not that, silly. The boy.”
I closed my eyes. Maman was excited. “Boy? Who is he?”
“Teddy Lupin,” I finally managed to get out, hiding my face behind my hands.
Maman’s chattering stopped instantly, and I felt a weight sink down into my stomach. “You mean… Victoire’s Teddy?”
It was an innocent question, and I knew exactly what she meant, but it infuriated me. “He is not hers!”
Maman nodded. “I apologize, I did not mean it that way.” She was looking down. “I was just… surprised.”
I swallowed. “I’m, er, sorry, Maman.”
She shook her head, smiling at me. “It doesn’t matter. How long ‘ave you been togezzer?”
Great. Her accent was coming back. She was mad.
“Well, I heard them last night telling each other they loved them,” Vic giggled, looking for all the world like she was really happy for me. “So it must have been a while, don’t you think?”
I shook my head. “No, Maman, it ‘as only been a week! I swear!”
Maman nodded. “Sure, of course,” she said, and swallowed. “Clean up after yourselv’s, girls, won’t you?”
We nodded, and she left.
“How could you?” I hissed at Victoire, fighting the urge to chuck the sugar bowl at her.
She smiled at me, showing her teeth—a perfect smile. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Dom, dear, I was just telling our mother that you were with a boy. I mean, she deserves to know, doesn’t she?”
“That’s a lie, and you know it.” I was livid once more. “You just want him all to yourself, and you’re hoping he’s going to run back to you if Maman makes me break up with him.”
She smiled. “Sweet, innocent Dom. You think the whole world’s out to get you, don’t you?”
I laughed, smashing the bowl onto the table. “You’re just jealous!” I was repeating my words from yesterday, but I didn’t care. “You wish you had what we had! You wish Teddy had loved you, and not just wanted you for your body!”
She stared at me, not blinking. “How dare you?” she snapped. “You think that you’re his first ‘love’, just because he’s yours? Listen, sweetie, he’s been around. He’s had more girls than you can count on your pretty little fingers. He’ll love you and dump you, like he did with me, and he’ll never look back.”
“Like he did with you?” My voice was sugary sweet, and I smiled. “I know how to play this, Victoire. I’ve grown up with you for a sister. I can be cruel, just like you.”
“Fine. I was just trying to help.” She’d been cleaning the table, and she slammed the rag onto it. “You can do whatever the hell you want. I don’t care anymore.” She stomped out of the room, throwing her arms up.
“Fine!” I shouted. “I don’t need your bloody help!”
“You’ll wish you had listened when all he wants is a shag!” Her voice was deafening, a bloodcurdling scream. “You’ll wish you’d taken my advice instead of doing what I did!”
There was a last sob, and then a door slammed.
And then I was alone.
Maman walked back in, but I couldn’t face her. “I’m sorry, Mother,” I said, as respectfully as I could, “but I really don’t want to talk to anyone right now.”
I felt tears in my own eyes, and I jammed on the first shoes I saw, racing out the door.
I let my feet take me wherever they wanted, not paying attention to directions or speed. I was running out my anger, and as the miles added up, I could feel myself calming down, slowing. My breathing became more even, and the tears finally started to dry up.
I looked around, praying for a sign, anything, to show where I was. There were signs that said street names, but I didn’t recognize any of them.
I was by myself.
Sweating and cursing under my breath, I began to walk around. I could have Apparated, but I didn’t want to have to deal with Victoire and Maman.
So I walked.
It didn’t matter when I got home; I had rarely spent a day at the house, always with Teddy or my cousins. So I wasn’t worried as the minutes stretched into hours.
Then I heard my name.
“Dom?”
I turned, dreading seeing his face. This was his fault, all his fault—if he hadn’t been so bloody irresistible, maybe Victoire wouldn’t hate me.
“Yeah?”
I hadn’t convinced him, that was obvious, and his face morphed into that of his father. I swallowed. “What’s wrong?” His voice was soft.
“Vic hates me.”
“She does not. She loves you. You’re sisters; you’re bound to fight.”
“Yeah, easy for you to say.” I gulped. “She says you just want a shag and that you’ll dump me like you did her.”
He stared at me. “Dom,” he said slowly, “I love you. Only you.”
“That’s what you said to her!” I was crying again, and he tried to put his arms around me. I shrugged away. “You said the same thing to her, and I can’t be the one that you fake with while you’re pining after my sister!”
“What?” That had stumped him.
I swallowed. “Vic says you’re only with me until you can be with her. Because I’m her sister.”
His mouth fell open, and his eyebrows came together. “Vic doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about,” he said slowly. “I wouldn’t… Is that what you really think of me?”
I stayed quiet.
“Well, then you obviously don’t know me at all,” he snapped. “I would never do that to you, toy you around like that. You just… I love you, Dom, but you’re really thick sometimes.”
“Teddy.” It was a whisper, and I reached out for him. “I’m sorry—you’re right.”
It was his turn to pull away. “I don’t… I think I need to think for some time, Dom.”
I swallowed, nodding. “Fine.”
He Apparated away, still looking cross, and I felt more tears in my eyes.
For once, I didn’t feel like running, and I just spun around, Apparating home.
A/N: Key:
Merde = Shit.
Please leave a review letting me know what you thought! (: I think we're about halfway through the story now.
Write a Review Bird of the Summer: Just As the Fall Begins
Printer Friendly Version
