Leave Out All the Rest

Chapter 36: Smooth Talker

POV: Dominique

Incomprehensible conversation filled the Great Hall as the incomparable Minerva McGonagall approached the famous golden podium. 

"We want answers!" shouted one Freddie Weasley when the Headmistress cleared her throat, the sound demanding attention. He did not heed the look of power in her eye; instead, he glared, the action creasing his bloodied forehead. "Why were we attacked at the platform? We're kids, for fuck sakes!"

There was a boom of agreement echoing around the Great Hall.

"That is enough, Mister Weasley," McGonagall's shrill voice was louder than all other noise. "You are still a student at Hogwarts and as such you are to do as I tell you, so sit down this instant."

At her demand, all eyes turned to us. Uncle George rolled his eyes at his son just as Aunt Angelina yanked him down by his wrist, both looking torn between embarrassed and angry. From my seat, I could tell Gran was embarrassed at the lack of manners one of her grandchildren displayed and his parents were definitely going to get a talking-to for his display. 

As silence now started to settle, the Headmistress turned to the Aurors lingering like shadows by the staff table. Uncle Harry came forth into the light, his expression as austere as I'd seen it since all of this madness had begun. Most people thought he was exactly that, with him having had lived through all he had. While, yes, he was that, he was also one of the funniest blokes I had encountered (never rivaling Uncle George, though), so seeing him as Head Auror Potter was like looking at someone else entirely. 

"Here, sweetheart, let me." I turned to my right to see Dad taking a cloth drenched in Murlap from Victoire's hands. He dabbed it gently at the side of her cheek, at the red slice tainting her perfect, pale skin. 

Teddy shifted in his seat, aiming me a quick glance before crossing his arms and focusing intently at the front.

"She's not going to fall to pieces, you know," I scoffed at Dad. "So she'll get a little scar. Maybe it'll give her a bit of character—Merlin knows she needs it."

"Dominique," Dad growled as Victoire gave me an outraged look. "That's enough. This is serious. Your sister could have gotten hurt."

"From what? Like Ted isn't all banged up from laying his life on the line for her?"

"I'm not helpless," Victoire input. "I fought just as bravely as everyone else—"

I rolled my eyes just as Head Auror Potter had been convinced to take over at the head of the Great Hall. He cleared his throat. And far more quickly than it had happened with Mcgonagall, the room fell silent for the Chosen One. 

"Today's actions are unforgivable," said he. "It is an act of terrorism to rage battle in civilian zones, especially when those zones are filled with children. The Ministry would like to assure you the culprits behind such cowardly attack will be punished to the full—"

"The Ministry has been lying to us!" shouted someone from the throng. "Who are these people? What are they looking for? Why haven't you warned us?"

Another explosion of agreement rung through the Great Hall.

Uncle Harry cast a look behind his shoulder. Uncle Ron stood there. The slightest of nods were exchanged between the two.

"The Auror Department is not at liberty to discuss private, Ministry matters with civilians, but given what happened at the platform today, we can only give you the truth. You have the right to know." He took a breath, looking down at the golden owl podium like he was searching for something. A flash of grief crossed his features before he said, "The group that attacked today were looking for ancient artifices passed down the Sacred Twenty-Eight. These are rumored to have belonged to Salazar Slytherin. Myth says they contain the darkest magic, but no Pureblood family can confirm this. Our guess is they attacked with intention to take hostages to gather more information."

A woman stood from a bench on the Hufflepuff side of the Great Hall. She had the look of Bulstrode about her. "Who are they?"

"We don't fully know yet. We arrested culprits and the Auror Department will conduct proper investigations later today," said Uncle Harry before taking a pause. With the same flash of grief he had on before, he said, "While there were some injured during today's attack, it is with my deepest regret that I inform one fatality. Belinda Rookwood was a student here, very bright, and her loss— "

I stopped listening to Uncle Harry. Almost all at once, those of us who were familiar with Scorpius Malfoy turned to him. Though he had Rose now, though he had denied one rumor after another that he and Rookwood had been a thing, grief tore across him. Rose wrapped an arm around his shoulders as gasps resonated throughout the Great Hall from those who had known Belinda Rookwood. 

What a bloody day, I'm telling you.

X

"If you think on the bright side," Freddie began as I walked just a step behind him, both of us trailing after our family exiting the Great Hall along with all other shaken parents and students. "Final exams are cancelled."

I snorted. "Yeah, Fred, I'm sure all of this was to cancel exams."

"Be relieved," he insisted, "because there was no way you were going to pass your Potions final."

"I would've," I told him, a smirk forming on my red lips now. "I'd just do the same thing I did every other year to pass." When my cousin raised a dark brow at me, expecting further explanation, I said, "You know that Ravenclaw tutor? Florence Lee? Yeah, well, let's just say she gives up answers in exchange for a good shag."

Fred's jaw dropped. "Where can I find her?"

"Sorry, kid, but you don't have the right pieces Lee likes," I said with a laugh.

At the sound emitting from my mouth, Dad turned from his consoling of Victoire to glare at me. He looked at me like he caught me with wand in hand, Killing Curse slipping past my lips. 

"Is this funny to you?" he snarled at me. "People are dead, Dominique. Have some respect."

"First of all," I glared back, taking a step away from Freddie, "I wasn't laughing at the situation, Bill. Secondly, am I supposed to live in mourning forever? Am I supposed to be scared forever? Fucked up shit happens all the time, I can't stop that."

"That is a little girl's answer," Dad said, practically baring teeth at me. 

"Zat iz enuf," Mum stepped in between Dad and I, leaving Roxanne's side before Uncle George pulled her tight into his arms. She was having a hard time with this, even though there were no scratches on her tan skin. Aunt Hermione had said something about PTSD. "Zee two of you 'ave been arguing for days! Stop eet now, comprenez vous?"

Dad gave Mum a stiff nod and I crossed my arms, looking away from both of them. As much as we both hated it, Dad and I had the same temperament. We both were always a step away from burning everything down if someone so much as looked at us wrong. Still, he had not told Mum about my little (big) news. And as much as I resented saying it, I appreciated that the old man had not said anything to the family.  

"Mum," Victoire interrupted, clearing her throat lightly. There was a look of suspicion in her perfect blue eyes that made me want to give her the finger. While we were not necessarily close, her older sibling intuition was never wrong. "Teddy and I are going to find Molly. She should know what happened here today." 

A slight frown appeared on Mum's beautiful face. Aside from Gran, there was no one else who believed in family unity more so than her. She had been appalled at cousin Molly's decision to move to the Muggle World after graduating Hogwarts. Especially when that meant severing almost all ties with her relatives. It was a choice she (nor Gran, nor Uncle Percy) seemed likely to forgive or forget.

"Percy and Audrey are with Artie in the Hospital Wing," Teddy interrupted, a look of unease on his features. He did not agree with Mum's resentment (not anymore, at least). Not since he understood what Molly had felt: like an outsider looking in. They had bonded over that, Ted and Molls. Then she left and he stayed. "Kid's a bit banged up, but he'll be fine. I'm sure Molly would want to know."

"Very well," Mum said stiffly. "You tell Molly zat zee family iz perfectly fine. Tell her zat eet iz best if she visits somezime soon, yes?"

Just as Teddy reached for Victoire's hand to steer her away from our forming group, my sister asked, "Where is Louis? I want to make sure he is all right before I go."

I frowned, looking around. I had not seen the git since the platform, either. 

"Hermione and Draco brought Cormac McLaggen to the school," Dad said to Victoire. "He was going to wait to tell his children of their mother's passing, but with everything that happened...Louis is with Coral now."

"Merlin," I breathed, my mouth twitching to a smirk. "He loves her, doesn't he? I mean, I kind of figured it was just snogging, but if he—"

"WEASLEY!" 

The rest of my sentence was cut off when someone slammed into me. I felt myself be lifted off from the ground, arms of steel embracing me, caging me in, squeezing me so tightly the last puff of oxygen in my lungs became a wheeze. My nostrils filled with the smell of smoke, sweat, and blood, but beneath that there was the slightest, woodsy twinge that I knew came from one person in this entire world.

"Put", I heaved, "me down!"

My feet quickly touched the ground again. I stumbled back, adding distance so I could catch my breath. My red, frazzled hair covered my eyes, but I blew it away to better glare at the bloke in front of me.

"Fuck sakes, Rowle," I grunted, "you thought you'd kill me since those idiots didn't get a chance to, huh?"

Eyes the color of night glittered at the bite in my words. Sunlight pouring in through the tallest windows of the castle allowed me to see the shadows of worry, relief, and overwhelming adoration in Derrick Rowle that he was reeling back in. 

But I had seen it. And all of it had belonged to me. 

"I really did think you died out there," he said with mock, his pink lips grinning at me. "We know you're terrible at defensive spells."

"Maybe," I scoffed, "but I've always been able to curse gits perfectly fine. Should I demonstrate?"

A hand tugged me further back. I looked up, seeing Teddy tower over me. His grey eyes were transforming black. "Rowle, right?" he said to Derrick. 

Derrick raised his chin, gaze narrowing at Teddy. "Yeah, that's right. Rowle."

"Weasley. Lupin. Potter," I said, shaking off Teddy's hold from my shoulder. "Are we just going to say surnames like a bunch of arseholes?" 

"Any relation to Dorian Rowle?" Teddy persisted, ignoring me completely.

"Cousin," Derrick replied. "Why? Does the prick owe you money, too?"

Teddy glared for a moment longer before snorting loud enough that I grimaced at him. "Yeah, the prick does. Any chance you know where I can find him?"

"Sleeping outside the Hog's Head no doubt," Derrick replied. "Family disowned him."

"Oh, I remember him," Victoire then added in. "He used to bet on—"

"Okay, that's enough," I wedged my way in between all of them. "You were going to find Molly, not connect with my boyfriend on his deadbeat cousin. Get out of here."

Teddy and Victoire silenced themselves instantly. Then I felt the presence of everyone else around me, too. 

Shit.

Dad.

"Boyfriend?" he was the first to speak, low and powerful enough that I felt the rumble beneath my feet.

"Smooth," Derrick huffed beside me. 

"It slipped," I said. "Can you blame me? There wasn't enough oxygen in my brain after your lethal hug."

"How long have you had a boyfriend?" Victoire demanded. 

"Uh, a year now?" 

"Two," Derrick corrected me. "Two and three months."

"Really?"

"Yeah, since yesterday. So technically, two years, three months and a day."

"Oh, well, happy anniversary, babe."

"You, too, Weasley."

"Wait, wait," Freddie cut across me and Derrick. "I thought you were doing that Ravenclaw girl?"

"We weren't exclusive," I told him, "and can you not say that in front of my parents, you idiot?"

Freddie grimaced. 

"Then you're not together?" Victoire questioned again.

"Relationships are complicated, Vic," I told her with an eye roll. "Not every single one blossoms from childhood like yours and Ted's."

"Or out of immediate friendship," Derrick added.

"True," I told him. "We did snog before we even tolerated being in the same room with each other."

"Yeah, you dropped a boiling potion on me that same day, too, if I remember."

I laughed. "Yeah, well, you were doing better than me and I had a bet I needed to win for Gryffindor. And you know how much we hate losing to Slytherins."

"He's a Slytherin?" asked Mum.

"Well, his name is Rowle, Auntie Fleur," Freddie pointed out. 

"That's stereotyping," I huffed. 

"I'm sorry," James' voice came out from the throng, making himself known as he popped around from Aunt Ginny, "but boys actually tolerate you?"

"And girls," I told him. "More so than you, which is a shame isn't it, Jamie?"

He frowned at me. 

Lily then came round from the other side of Aunt Ginny. "Good thing you're meeting Uncle Bill with witnesses around, Rowle," she said. "Or not. His family does make up the top positions at the Ministry, so he might be able to murder you without ending up in Azkaban."

Uncle George looked up at his older brother before blinking in my direction. He grinned wide. "What'd you do, Dom?"

"Nothing!" I said immediately, as it was in my reflex to deny everything. "Oh, wait. That's not true. I'm pregnant, actually, and Dad's known for a few days now." I turned to Derrick, smiling innocently. "Surprise."

Dad made a move forward, but Uncle George blocked him.

Victoire gasped, blue eyes wide and afraid.

Teddy caught Mum before she hit the floor. 

Gran and Grandad shared a look that often translated to oh, that Dominique.

"Louis is going to be so pissed," James laughed.

Lily joined her brother with her giggling, making Aunt Ginny frown at both.

"You son of a bitch!" Freddie launched himself at Rowle. The unexpected (but expected) action caused them to propel against the floor, arms flying everywhere. 

"You're after my money, aren't you, Weasley?" Derrick managed to say through his teeth as he dodged a punch from Freddie.

Uncle Ron and Uncle George encouraged him to try harder from the background.

I scoffed, but there was a smile on my face. "Who said it was yours?"

Translation from a Slytherin to a Gryffindor: I love you. I love you too.