Chapter Three
Falling Down
Sun fell through the dorm’s bathroom, hitting the mirror, momentarily blinding Dominique. She stood, naked, in front of the full length mirror-turning, turning, left and right, looking and looking. Picking apart every flaw, every detail-to be picked and prodded and perfected.
Dom ran her hands through her dark curls first, letting them cascade down her back and down to her tail bone; she put the curling masses of red in a bun, so she could see everything. Her face still looked to long, but how could that ever be fixed? Her eyes were too small, as well and her lashes were orange-and then there were the freckles. Without her clothes on, Dom could see every freckle that graced her skin-all over her face and her neck and shoulders. Not so much her chest, but all the way down her arms; her legs were just pale, and then there were the freckles on her ankles and toes.
But the freckles were almost nothing in comparison to the fat.
All Dom saw as she stared at her naked body was fat and freckles, red hair and disgustingly pale eyes. There was something that deceived Dom however, for there wasn’t an inch of fat on her body-in fact, you could see every bone, every crevice and hollow. She was a girl made of twigs and leaves, brittle and exquisite even in sickness-her body was like spindly tree branches covered in ice, so gently that if you even touched her she would shatter.
‘Disgusting,’ she thought, pinching the nonexistent fat on her hips. If she were a doll, you could pick her up by her pelvis bones with a single finger.
‘Look at you!’ her subconscious sneered ‘You are worthless, ugly-who would ever love you? Who would ever marry you? You’ll be alone forever-no one could ever love someone so hideous.’
“Shut up.” Dom whispered, blinking rapidly as to prevent the tears pricking behind her eyes.
‘Don’t you dare eat, you fatty.’ Her subconscious taunted ‘I know you’re hungry…I only want to help.’
“I must be crazy.” The words trickled from her lips, tasting almost sour-Dom was so hungry, so tired; but if she wanted to loose those last few pounds she couldn’t eat. She couldn’t.
Eyes slinking down to her hips, Dom whirled around, not wanting to see. The sudden movement made her head spin, and she sank to her knees with a gasp. Grabbing hold of the tub, she managed not to fall completely to the ground-black spots danced in her vision, and the room spun.
“Dom?” a flurry of nocks came at the door as Felicity spoke, and Dom squeezed her eyes shut tightly “Hey, Dom, the match will be starting in half an hour. You almost ready?”
“Yeah.” She gasped, eyes still closed as she gripped the side of the tub “Yeah, I’m coming.”
Shaking, Dom stood and began to pull on her jeans-they were to big already. “Dammit,” she breathed, flicking her wand so the seams tightened and the jeans fit her once more. A long sleeved white shirt and long sweater followed, and she let her hair out of its bun so it tumbled out around her shoulders. She swiped some lip gloss on before leaving, smiling at Felicity, who was watching Dom worriedly.
“You okay?” she asked “You sounded a little winded.”
“I’m fine,” Dom said briskly, grabbing her scarf and twisting it around her neck “Just didn’t sleep very well.”
“Yeah, I heard you muttering.” Said Felicity, obviously not completely convinced.
Dom tugged on her knee length leather boots, frowning “I mutter?”
“All the time, didn’t you know?”
“No.”
Wrapping her own Gryffindor scarf around her neck, Felicity watched Dom pull a jacket on over her sweater “Are you sure your fine, Dom?”
“Just cold, Fellie, really-leave me alone.”
Felicity nodded reluctantly, wondering what would happen if she continued to leave Dom alone. If she was this bad now, it could only get worse.
Wind ripped the brightly coloured leaves from the trees spindly branches, letting them tumble to the ground. Dom and Felicity walked down the path to the Quidditch pitch, chanting along with everyone else and laughing as Louie and his friends practically tumbled down the hill, whooping and yelling like idiots.
“C’mon, the best seats might be taken.” Just then a few fellow classmates waved them over near the front, and Felicity tugged Dom towards them. Hundreds of seats were raised in wooden bleachers, three golden hoops at each end; the tall stands were dressed each in a houses colours, were the teachers and other visitors sat.
Dom and Felicity stood at the very front, leaning over the railings and screaming as the Gryffindor team walked out, Ben at the head-he was captain, just like his father, Oliver Wood. Ben looked up at the stands, searching for Dom-he saw her, screaming his name like they had never argued a week or so ago. Even if he were mad at him, he could always count on Dom to come cheer him on.
Ben shook hands with the troll like Slytherin captain and they flew into the air; Ben was a keeper, so went straight for the goal posts. He’d made three saves fifteen minuets in, and Dom and Felicity along with the rest of the Gryffindor team were already hoarse.
“WOOD! WOOD! WOOD! WOOD!” the crowd cheered, though Ben was only listening for one voice-Dom’s. He could hear her, screaming his name and laughing, clapping and cheering every time he made a save. She was fairly close to the goals, so he could see her clearly; the autumn sun made her cherry hair shine, and he could see the blue of her eyes from were he hovered in the air.
Something about how the sun was in her eyes made Dominique think Ben looked oddly like an angel, hovering in the air with his blonde hair and blue eyes-his scarlet robes billowed in the wind, and she could see the brilliant grin on his face from the stands. Suddenly, she was gripped by a bout of dizziness, and she had to grip onto the railing to keep from falling to her knees.
“Are you okay?” shouted Felicity, but Dom barely heard her.
“Yeah!” she shouted back “Just…just jumped a bit to much.”
Felicity went back to screaming, and Dom shook her dizziness off and continued to cheer, though her head still spun. As she and Felicity stood on the benches, hollering as Ben made another save, Dom felt the world whirl.
All control she had over her body vanished, and suddenly everything went black. There was complete silence, utter darkness and air rushing past-and then nothing. For those moments air brushed her skin like silk, her body was completely weightless and there was nothing, nothing but the feeling of falling.
Rain beat against the windows of the hospital wing, grey light filtering through and falling across Dom’s pale, freckled face. Bill Weasley sat at his daughter’s bedside, holding her hand gently in his.
It scared him how frail it was, the way her freckles stood out against her pale skin-it was as if she were a bird, with hollow bones. He didn’t want her to fly off.
Dom stirred lightly, eyes fluttering open and a slight sigh slipping past her chapped and pale lips. Her blue eyes, so pale-Victoire once matched them to a colour chart and said they were somewhere between ‘Sistine blue’ and ‘cool vista’. Bill knew Dom hated how pale they were, but Bill loved that they shared these traits; he was no doubt his daughter, right down to way her upper lip had a small indent in the centre, as if a faerie had pressed it’s finger there the day she as born.
“Daddy?” Dom’s voice was weak as her fingers twitched, feeling the calluses of her fathers fingers. She turned her head to the side so she could look at him, though her eyes were blank-she didn’t seem very surprised, or scared.
“Hey there Dot,” he whispered, calling Dom by her old nickname; he hadn’t done so in years.
“Who won?” she asked jokingly, smiling at him.
Bill shrugged “You’ll have to ask someone else, honey, I have no idea.”
Turning her head back so she could see the ceiling, Dom’s eyes fluttered closed again and she sighed “I hope we won, or Ben will be in a funk for days.”
Frowning, Bill squeezed his daughters hand as he looked her over-why wasn’t she asking questions? Why could he see how bony her shoulders were, the frail outline of her legs beneath the sheet? She was so thin. “Dominique, you fainted.”
“So?” she breathed, eyes still closed.
“So, people don’t just faint honey. You’re mother and I are very worried.” Bill couldn’t help but picture Fleur’s pale face when they got the owl informing them Dominique had fallen out of the Quidditch stands, luckily caught by a player.
“I’m fine.”
Obviously she would say that, but Dom didn’t look fine. Bill knew his daughter; she was feisty and stubborn, and she didn’t just faint “Dominique-”
“Is Mum coming?” she asked suddenly, cutting him off.
“Yes, she’s on her way.”
Dom pulled her hand away and opened her eyes, reaching for the glass of water on her bedside table “She doesn’t need to come; owl her and tell her not to bother. I’m fine.”
Bill had gone through so many adventures, fought so many evils and seen so many horrible things-but hearing his own daughter lie to him, see her lying in a hospital bed with so little strength was scarier than any tomb he’d ever entered. He didn’t know the counter curses, couldn’t see his escape route-so he nodded and turned away, preparing to owl his wife and tell her not to bother coming, Dominique was fine.
Raindrops struck the windows of the hospital wing, providing Dom a soothing lullaby in the big, empty room. She’d spent the night shivering beneath the thin sheets, to cold to get out of bed and as Madam Pomfrey to make the room warmer. Her father had left a half hour after she woke up, then visited her again while she ate supper-how she had hated supper.
The chicken had stuck in her throat in a dry, heavy lump along with the potatoes and carrots-she couldn’t even look at the pudding. But Madam Pomfrey was ruthless, making her eat every bite; Dom had drank water between each sip, which she knew made her fuller faster, and then drank a large glass of milk before going to the bathroom. She hadn’t wanted to throw up, but everything was so chaotic and unorganized, she wanted to have one thing under control.
The next morning Poppy Pomfrey placed a heavily laden breakfast tray on her bedside table, standing by her bed and watching her swallow every bite. “You need to keep your strength up Ms. Weasley,” she said kindly “A smart girl like you needs to be able to focus in class-come and see me if you have any more dizzy spells or anything else of the sort, okay?”
Dom had mumbled a vague agreement and rushed out of the Hospital wing as fast as possible, tugging her long grey sweater tightly around herself. Making a detour into the closest loo, the eggs, bacon, pancakes and fruit came up easily-there was only the smallest bit of blood, but she brushed it off as not throwing up in a while.
Popping a mint in her mouth, Dom left the bathroom to see Ben rushing out of the hospital wing, looking frantic. He looked up and down the corridor, and he sighed with relief when he saw Dom, dull grey light hitting her as she walked into the corridor.
“Dom!” he cried, rushing up to her and pulling her close in a tight, crushing hug. Dom was so surprised that she didn’t pull away, didn’t say a word-just let him hug her. “I was so worried-they wouldn’t let me see you-are you okay?”
The minuet he asked her if she was okay, the warmth that had spread through Dom turned to ice, and she pushed him away. Her eyes were blazing as she balled her hands into fists “I’m fine, for Merlin’s sake, can people stop asking me that?”
“Dom-”
“No!” she said, looking rather mad with her pale eyes and curls everywhere, face flushed and looking as if she may just throw something. “Don’t Dom me, Benjamin Wood! You have no right to ask if I’m okay, I am perfectly fine-I don’t need your help!”
“Please, Dominique…” Ben faltered, reaching for her. He longed for those few moments back, were she’d just clung to him as he held her-like he’d always wanted.
“I do not need you and Felicity on my back all the time, bugging me and following me-I’m a big girl, I can go to the bloody loo on my own! I-am-fine!”
Ben didn’t say a word, just looked at the ground. Dom was breathing deeply, trying to catch a breath after yelling; it was strange how easily she tired these days, how her body was so energized after throwing up and then…then there was nothing. “I caught you, you know.” He said finally.
“What?”
“I…I caught you, when you fell over.” He looked up, smiling briefly “Scared the hell out of me, you did.”
Then, as if it had never been, the anger drained from Dominique and she threw herself at Ben. Surprised, he wrapped his arms around her as she hugged him tightly, closing her eyes to battle back the tears. Ben breathed in the smell of her, knowing he would get another chance like this again; she’d used the same cherry blossom body wash for as long as he’d known her, and it had always lingered in his mind, drifted through his dreams.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered “I’m just so tired of people bothering over me-I’m honestly just stressed, that’s all.”
“S’okay.” He mumbled into her curls, unable to make his brain work any further-the cherry blossom scent was intoxicating, filling up his mind and slowing everything down.
Pulling away a bit, Dom smiled sheepishly at him “Are we…are we okay again?”
‘Okay?’ thought Ben ‘Brilliant. They should make girls perfume into drugs or smelling salts or something…I’m on top of the world-just don’t pull away.’
Instead of saying his most embarrassing thoughts, Ben smiled at her and nodded “We’re okay; we always were, really.”
“I’ll always cheer you on, Benjamin.” She said, poking him in the chest. Her arms were still around him, and the empty corridor and the rain and everything else disappeared for Ben as her finger sent bolts of electricity shooting through him-she was practically electrifying, stimulating and exhilarating.
“I know, and I’ll do my best to get you seats to all my games next year.” He said “Won’t be able to win without my lucky charm.”
She beamed at him and went on her tippy toes, placing a feather light kiss on his cheek “I’m sorry that I’ve been suck a crappy friend, Ben-I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
Ben’s heart fell, and he tried to mask the slow cold filtering through him. “Yeah…it’s okay; I’ve been the bad friend anyway.”
Dom just shook her head and chuckled, pulling away completely and tugging on his pinkie finger “C’mon, we can find Fellie and play some chess-I’ll let you win.”
“Okay.”
Letting Dom pull him towards the common room, Ben knew he had fallen hard for Dominique Weasley, and was still falling-and there was no one to catch him.
A/N: Okay, so not as dramatic as I thought...anyway, if there are any mysteriously missing W's, it's because it's stuck and it takes me a lot of effort to flippen get a W.
Question: a) do you think Dom will ever catch on to what's going through Ben's head? and b) what do you think of Dom's constant insistance that she's fine, and Bill just agreeing?
TELL. ME.
Hope you enjoyed it and please please vote and comment guys! It just makes my day whenever you do!
Rose<3
P.S I made the banner myself with photoshop, but I'm considering re-casting Ben...any thoughts? PLEASE!?