(Sorry I took so long to post this everyone, I've had it done for a couple weeks.)
The next day dawned bright and early, and found Dominic up and dressed and headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast, while Pixie curled up with Astoria, who was dead to the world. Dominic guessed that this was fair. It was, after all, Saturday.
She reached the Great Hall with little difficulty. There were only two students from her house there. âTheoâ Nott and a boy who looked a lot like him. Sighing, she sat in front of them and began to load up her plate.
âAnderson,â came the grumpy voice of Nott. She ignored him in favor of the bacon sheâd just taken a bite of. She hummed in pleasure. âAnderson.â This time she looked up at him. âDid we say you could sit with us?â She swallowed her food.
âI donât believe I asked your permission. As it is, Astoriaâs still sleeping and I donât like to eat alone.â She began to hack up her eggs. âYouâre the only one I know in the house whoâs up. Youâre stuck with me. Brother or cousin.â Nott blinked.
âWhat?â She gestured to the other boy.
âIs he your brother or cousin?â She sopped up the yokes of her eggs with her toast and bacon and began to dig in.
âBrother, why?â She swallowed and shrugged.
âYou guys look alike. I thought Iâd ask before I make any assumptions and call him the wrong name.â She took another bite of food and chewed thoughtfully. âSo whatâs his first name?â Nottâs eyes narrowed.
âWhy?â She rolled her eyes, continuing to eat for a minute, well aware of the eyes of both boys trained on her.
âCanât just call you both âNott,â now can I? Cause too much confusion.â The brotherâs shifted. Finally the older one spoke.
âThomas. Iâd actually prefer you call me âNott,â since Iâm youâre upperclassmen. Why donât you call my brother âTheo,â thatâs what his friends do.â She blinked up at the boy, giving him a look that quite plainly said she thought he was an idiot.
âBecause heâs not my friend... Or at least, Iâm not his. Weâve done nothing but argue since we met.â Thomas shrugged.
âAll the same, itâd be awkward if you called me by my given name. There are only three of you this year, so itâs probably best that you learn to be friends.â She sighed, but grudgingly agreed with the older boy. Shrugging, she dug into her food heartily.
âWell, Anderson, what do you plan to do today?â She thought about it for a second.
âWork out, I guess. I didnât get the chance yesterday.â The elder Nott frowned.
âWhat about the stairs?â Theo snorted.
âDidnât even wind her.â Nottâs eyebrowâs raised. Dominic shrugged.
âWhat about you?â Before either of them could answer, a voice behind Dominic chimed in.
âThat is going to take so much getting used to.â Dominicâs eyes widened and she looked behind her. âHey, Dom.â Anthony Carmichael was the only person whoâd ever given her a nickname outside of her family. Heâd always been friendly towards her. And he was wearing Gryffindor Red.
Dominic had not been in the wizarding world long, but sheâd understood quickly that Gryffindors and Slytherins did not mix well. They were rival houses and as a general rule, hated each other.
He glared at her housemates, who glared back. He smiled at her and sat down.
âFinally opening up after all these years, huh? Well, I guess you had to hide what you were just as much as I did.â She turned away and began eating quickly again. He frowned. and touched her shoulder. âDom...â
âGo back to your own table, Carmichael.â He glared up at Nott. âItâs obvious the girl doesnât want to talk to you.â A wild look covered his face.
âThatâs not true! Is it, Dom!?â He whirled to look back at her, pleading her to say it wasnât with his eyes. Instead of answering, she continued eating. This was not a situation she appreciated. âDom?â She sighed. If she said it was, she would be losing her oldest and first friend. But if she said it wasnât, she would be forever hated by her own housemates. She chose neutrality.
âIâd like to spend some time with my housemates, Tony.â His face crumpled. âI do plan on working out later; do you want to join me?â His face lit back up before smirking at the Nottâs and leaving. She went back to eating.
âThe hell was that?â Theo looked furious. At that moment, Astoria sat down next to Dominic, Pixie perched on her shoulder.
âTheo!â Theo gave her an apologetic look. âWhat was what?â Theo glared at Dominic. Not was joining him.
âAnderson here just agreed to âwork outâ with Anthony Carmichael.â Astoria frowned, handing Pixie over to Dominic, who sat hi in her lap and continued to eat. âShe called him âTony!ââ Astoria turned to look at her.
âHow do you know Carmichael?â Dominic frowned, looking between the three of them.
âMrs. Carmichael was one of the nurses present when I was born. Tony and I grew up together. Mom would watch him sometimes when the Carmichaelâs couldnât get a sitter. He was my first friend. My only friend.â All three of them sat there, shocked.
âMrrrreep!â Dominic looked down at the kitten on her lap, grinning. She started petting him while she ate. The others were still staring at her. Other members of the house were filtering, still sleepy. Dominic finished eating and stood.
âWell, Iâm gonna go change and work out. Iâll be in an empty classroom if you want to try looking for me.â With that, she started back towards Slytherin house.
Â
Thomas Nott stared after the girl walking away from them. She looked so much like his mother; he wondered why his little brother didnât see it. The though had hit him the night before, when sheâd stepped forward to be sorted, that she might be the little girl his mother had given up. The signs were there.
His mother had always told him that in a moment of weakness, when sheâd thought that maybe sheâd keep the little girl, sheâd started calling her Dominic. The girl was Theoâs age, and Nott blood would explain why sheâd been sorted Slytherin. Especially since sheâd been raised by muggles. Because his mother was pretty sure muggles had adopted his sister. He glanced at his brother, who was talking to Astoria, completely oblivious that his twin was probably in this school... or that he had a twin in the first place.
Tommy wondered momentarily if he should write his mother and tell her what heâd found. No, he though, this would only hurt her. Sheâd been fragile since sheâd given up his sister, constantly regretting giving up the only girl sheâd likely ever birth to. His father? Tommy didnât know how Theodore Nott, Sr felt about the little girl his mother had been forced to conceive. He knew his father didnât blame her- Sheâd been under threat. Cooperate, or her life and the life of her one and a half year old son would be forfeit.
Yes, he decided. He would write to his father. His father would know what to do. Until then, he would wait.
Â
Anthony Carmichael glared over at the Slytherin table... again. Couldnât those foolish see that Dominic Anderson belonged to him? She always had. Since they were kids.
He had decided when he was four, she was three, that he didnât care if she was a muggle and he was a wizard, he was going to marry her when they grew up. After all, his dad was a wizard, and his mom a muggle, and they were happy. And with that four-year-old logic, he had set about to woo the âfair princess.â He had become her first friend, and as far as heâd known, her only one.
Heâd been shocked when her name had been called at the sorting. Seeing her tiny figure, long, straight black hair, and, finally, slate blue eyes, heâd been overjoyed. Heâd held his breath as the hat took forever to sort her. âPlease be Gryffindor,â heâd pled silently. âPlease be Gryffindor.â The hatâs call of âSlytherinâ had crushed his heart. Still, he told himself, there was hope. Opposites attract, right?
He had been even more hurt when he saw her in the Great Hall, happily chatting away with the Nott brothers while eating. Didnât she know who and what their father was? Heâd approached and spoken to her, only to be told off by the brothers. Dammit, she was his; he could talk to her if he wanted. Sheâd crushed his heart, asking him to leave, but sheâd glued it back together by asking him to work out with her. He loved just watching her work out. She usually danced, and she was a lovely dancer. She had a lot of grace to her.
Heâd left, as sheâd asked. Heâd heard the younger Nott question her, only to be interrupted by another, female voice. From the safety of his house table, he watched as Astoria Greengrass sat next to her, handing her a strange, black and white fluff ball that had been on Greengrassâs shoulder. Anthony approved of the Greengrass girl. She was a girl, and therefore not a threat to him. He watched as she, too, questioned Dominic about him. He was pleased by Dominicâs answer. Pleased that he was her first friend. Someday he would be more. He watched as she stood, bidding her companions a good day, while she went to work out. He glared again at the older Nott, who stared after her with a strange look on his face. Anthony fought the urge to walk over and threaten the older boy, and left. He decided to sit in the Entrance Hall and wait for her to finish changing, since he didnât know where the Slytherin common rooms were.
When he saw her come up from one of the dungeon halls, he grinned and called out to her. She smiled back at him and found an empty classroom.
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When she re-exited the dungeons, Dominic found Tony waiting for her. She smiled at him and led him to the nearest empty classroom. The desks and chairs were all pushed out of the way, leaving her the perfect empty space for her workout. She looked over Tonyâs outfit and frowned.
âCan you fight in that?â She gestured to her own yoga pants and tank top. He was in a T-shirt and jeans. He shrugged at her.
ââTâll have to do. We sparring?â She nodded and he grinned. ââKay, then. Can we agree on no throwing to the floor? Itâs stone and I donât fancy explaining the bruises to my roommates.â She chuckled and nodding, moved to the center of the room after setting Pixie on the ground under a stack of desks. Hopefully, he wouldnât get hurt there.
She and Tony squared off, sizing each other up. Theyâd only been going at it for 20 minutes before they were interrupted. A cold, sneering voice echoed through the room, and Tony lept away from her. She, on the other hand, did not drop her stance or guard.
âWhat, may I ask, is going on here?â
âP-professor Snape! Sir! Weâre- uh- that is to say- um-â
âWeâre in the middle of a sparring match. Would you like to watch?â She glanced at the teacher out of the corner of her eye. Greasy black hair that hung limp around his face, dark eyes, and black, billowy, bat-like robes. Dramatic, she thought. Her vision snapped back to Tony. Both he and the Professor were staring at her, Tony looking like he thought she was quite insane. After a few moments of silence, she heard the teacher sigh.
âI guess that would be wise, seeing as youâll need someone around to get you to the hospital wing when you inevitably get hurt.â He settled against the wall next to the desk Pixie was hiding under. Tony, in true attest to just how well he knew her, was already blocking the punches she was sending his way.
An hour later, they were both panting and leaning on each other. Dominic had one, which wasnât really surprising since sheâd won every match theyâd had since they were kids, unless she was sick. Professor Snape clapped dryly.
âAnd what was the purpose of all that? Dominic stood, stretching her sore limbs in a light cool down. Tony did the same a little ways away from her.
âExercise, mostly,â she responded when she had enough air. She crouched down and picked up her kitten, who âmreepâed at her. Snape raised an eyebrow at the tiny cat, but made no comment. âBut also practice. I have a competition at the beginning of the next summer, and I wonât do well if I donât keep practicing.â A soft âahâ was his response.
âAnd you were sparring with Mr. Carmichael, because...â She shrugged.
âWe took classes together. Heâs probably the only person in the school I can spar with.â Without waiting for a response, Dominic left, heading back to her dorms in search of a shower and clothes that werenât laced with sweat. Effectively leaving Tony with the Professor.