Pendulum Swinger (Dominique)

[parvati patil macmillan]

Parvati had heard through the grapevine that Dominique Weasley had been having a rough time coming to terms with Harry’s death. Even without a body, without that closure, the fact that he was presumed dead—that he was almost certainly gone—must have hit his family members the hardest. Though Dominique had never come to see her after the kidnappings, Parvati knew that she had dated Ethan Johnson. And while the young woman wasn’t a member of Ouroboros, she was still a family friend, and the Weasleys had enough to come to terms with. (Considering the stance that Victoire had taken at that last Order meeting and Parvati’s own thoughts on how very rash she had been, too, she could only imagine how torn Dominique must have felt.)

She’d reached out to Dominique by owl shortly after the start of the Hogwarts term. Before something else happened and her schedule became hellish again, Parvati had wanted to let Dominique know that she was there to talk to her, at the very least. She wasn’t doing it to gain knowledge of what the girl’s older sister was up to or how Victoire thought that she would be capable of avenging Harry; she could find that out through her own channels without dragging a girl who was barely out of school into the fray.

When Dominique had agreed to meet with her, Parvati decided upon a relatively public place to meet, just so that anything too related to the Order would be avoided in their conversation. A table towards the back of the Three Broomsticks on a weekday was about as private as they could hope for; the pub was hardly busy without crowds of students packed inside of it.

Parvati sat and waited for Dominique to arrive, ordering herself a cup of tea in the meantime.

@dominique

[Deleted]

Dominique was not excited about this at all. Last year she waited for Madam Macmillan to ask to speak with her for months, expected it even, but she also avoided it. Dom didn't want to talk to anybody about what happened with Ethan and while some people got her to, she never went to see the counselor. 

However, she got an owl from the woman shortly after term started and Dom knew she couldn't avoid her anymore. She answered back, agreeing to meet with her, even though Dom wasn't looking forward to it. She didn't know what she was going to say and it was going to be awkward, she was sure.

She got to The Three Broomsticks, took a deep breath and walked in. Making her way over to the table where her former-counselor was sitting. Man, it was weird to think she could call her Parvati now ... probably. Wouldn't do it unless asked though. Why was she so nervous? "Hi," she said as she sat down across the table from the woman. "How are you?" Sure, small-talk was a good way to start this off. Why not?

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Although she didn’t notice as Dominique entered the pub, considering how far removed the table that she had selected happened to be, Parvati glanced up from her teacup just as the young woman was approaching her at the table. It had been a while since she had last seen her, though Dominique looked well enough. She set the cup back down as the girl came closer.

“Hi,” Dominique greeted her as she sat down at the place across from her. “How are you?”

“I was about to ask you the same question,” Parvati smiled. “I’m well, though,” she answered. “The Ilvermorny students are beginning to find their feet here, I think,” she noted. Of late, that whole situation had been the biggest news besides the developments to do with Harry. “How have you been, Dominique?”

@dominique

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Dom smiled a bit when Parvati greeted her, but she couldn’t help the uncomfortable feeling taking over her. Parvati was worried about her. There was really no other reason why she would ask Dom to meet up with her and Dom wasn’t really keen on talking about how she felt. If she wanted to do that, she’d meet up with Riley or Seamus. She didn’t want to talk about her issues with anyone she didn’t approach herself. She smiled and nodded when Parvati explained that the students from America were doing well. She shrugged when the question was turned on her. “I’m fine. Still looking into jobs and such, so I have a lot of time on my hands. Not much to report though.” She doubted Parvati would believe her, but didn’t want to say anything else. She’d have to see how this conversation went.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Dominique gave a shrug that seemed rather noncommittal to Parvati. “I’m fine,” she replied to her. “Still looking into jobs and such, so I have a lot of time on my hands.” She also added that there wasn’t much that she could report about her job-seeking.

“Do you know what you’d like to do?” Parvati asked, curious to know what sort of career path Dominique was considering for herself. “There isn’t anything wrong with taking a year out, either,” she offered her. Especially at Dominique’s age, it wouldn’t do her any harm. Parvati took another sip of her tea. “If you want to do that, of course…” she clarified. She wasn’t going to push the issue, but Dominique had been through one thing after another in relatively quick succession; no one was going to fault her for wanting a break.

@dominique

[Deleted]

"Nope," Dom answered easily, popping the 'p' sound as she spoke. She honestly had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. Before Ethan died ... well, she wanted to play Quidditch with him, but now she wasn't sure if she could do that job. Without him, Quidditch wasn't as much fun and she knew that it would always remind her of him. Could she really live with that as her job. She shrugged. "I might take a year off ... might go traveling or something. A friend suggested working in a shop in Hogsmeade and I've been thinking about that, but if I do go that route it's a short-term solution. I don't want to stay there." So she had a few ideas of things she could do, but not much else and definitely not something that she knew she wanted to do with her life long-term. It would come. When the timing was right, Dom was certain.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Dominique’s “nope”—that she had no idea what she would be doing now that she was out of school—was a resounding one. The girl spoke again after shrugging her shoulders. “I might take a year off… might go traveling or something.” She certainly had the resources if that was something that she wanted to do. “A friend suggested working in a shop in Hogsmeade and I've been thinking about that, but if I do go that route it's a short-term solution. I don't want to stay there.”

That Dominique knew she didn’t want to stay in Hogsmeade, however, told Parvati something else: She had more of an idea of what she wanted—or, at least, knew what she didn’t want—than she’d said. Parvati nodded. Hogsmeade wasn’t bad, but rarely did it have the vibrancy that Dominique probably sought. “There’s nothing that says you’ve got to have every detail of your future planned.” She hadn’t had a set plan at her age, under not exactly dissimilar circumstances. “I know it seems everyone is perfectly sorted—knows exactly what they want to do and how they’re going to do it,” Parvati told her “No one really knows, especially not at seventeen or eighteen.”

@dominique

[Deleted]

Why did Dom always feel like she was being evaluated when she explained her situation to adults? Well ... adults other than her sister. Vic seemed to understand where she was coming from, at least, which was a nice change. Everyone else? She felt unspoken judgment, even if it wasn't there. Was she getting paranoid? Other people's opinions of her never bothered her before but now things were different. Despite what anyone else said, Dom did feel pressured to know what she wanted to do with her life. She knew that Parvati probably didn't want to make her feel that way, she was a counselor after all, but Dom still did. She felt judged and she hated that. 

She shrugged when the older woman said she didn't have to have her future planned. "I know, but I've never really not known what I want to do before. Usually it just comes to me, but it's not this time." Huh. That was a little more than she actually meant to reveal. "I'm sure I'll figure it out, I just wish I knew when. I'm not really very good at being patient and stuff." That shouldn't be news to anyone who knew her at all. "So I'm looking for some way to fill my time until I figure it out.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Dominique said that she knew what she had just been told, that she didn’t need to have her entire life in order just because she was out of Hogwarts. “I know,” she spoke, “but I've never really not known what I want to do before. Usually it just comes to me, but it's not this time.”

Major life disruptions would do that, Parvati thought, listening as Dominique continued to explain her thoughts, or her lack thereof.

“I'm sure I'll figure it out, I just wish I knew when. I'm not really very good at being patient and stuff. So I'm looking for some way to fill my time until I figure it out.”

Parvati could have given her the “typical” advice, to do something that would look impressive to someone who would want to hire her later on, but that seemed so shallow. ”I don’t think anyone would blame you if you wanted a change of scenery for a bit,” Parvati considered. Not that it wasn’t nice to have the familiarity of most of the people she knew around her constantly, but there had been so much that had happened. “And,” she added, “if you want to stay in Britain, you know you’ve no shortage of connections here.” Hermione and Victoire, both, were well within her reach; Parvati, herself, was happy to help, and she assumed that a lot of other people would be, too.

“Whatever you decide—forgive me for the cliché,” Parvati went on, ”the world is yours.” The world was still dangerous, on occasion, but there were still good people in it, the Weasleys among them. ”Even if what you decide to do with your life right now isn’t what you do for the rest of your life—even if you try something and realize that you can’t bloody stand it and want nothing to do with it ever again, it’s progress. And sometimes it will take time to get there.”

@dominique

[Deleted]

Dom waited not-so-patiently to see what Parvati would have to say to her. It wasn't like the two were particularly close, or like Dom ever visited her when she was attending Hogwarts, but that didn't mean they couldn't talk. After a moment the Hogwarts counselor started to speak, explaining that no one would blame her if she wanted a change of scenery, but that if she wanted to stay she had plenty of connections. Dom nodded, knowing most of that already. She considered possibly leaving the country, but Dom wanted to be nearby in case Vic needed her for something. It might be stupid, but she couldn't help it. So she stayed, feeling bored some days, but generally finding different ways to entertain herself. 

Dom smiled when Parvati said the world was hers. "Oh, it will be," Dom joked, really unable to help herself. She definitely didn't have any plans for world domination or anything, but she did believe heartily in enjoying herself and she was pretty good at finding ways to do so. She nodded as the other woman continued. "That's true. Maybe I just need to jump in somewhere and give it a chance," Dom agreed, though she honestly couldn't see herself doing that unless the job appealed to her initially. So far, none of the available jobs did that. She was working on it though. "Thanks," Dom added at the end. She appreciated that Parvati was willing to listen and offer her advice, despite the fact that Dom might not use it. She wasn't good at taking advice unless it told her to do what she was already planning on. She was just stubborn that way.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Despite her uncertainties in some regards, Dominique voiced her confidence that the world would be her oyster. She also agreed that, perhaps, she should give something a chance, and she thanked her for the advice.

Parvati nodded, happy to see that Dominique did seem to be eager to take on what the world had to offer her. "It's not a problem," she replied. "I was your age once," Parvati reminded her. Although it had been a long time since then, she remembered the uncertainty of that time as though it had been yesterday. History appeared to be on the course of repeating itself, which was something that she wouldn't voice aloud for fear of cementing it.

@dominique

[Deleted]

Dom was glad that at least Parvati didn't think it was a bad thing that she didn't know what she wanted to do. There was another person on her side, another person that Dom didn't have to worry about judging her or thinking she had no ambition. Dom had ambition, she just didn't know where to direct it at the moment. Right now she was dedicated to enjoying herself and trying to figure out what exactly she did want to do for the rest of her life.

She smiled at the other woman, "Thanks. I'm glad you're not worried that I don't know exactly what I want yet. That's a relief." Dom paused, not wanting their entire conversation to be focused on her. If it was all about her, then she was likely to get onto topics that were even more difficult than her future job. Like Ethan. "So how is this year going? You have all the students from Ilvermorny at Hogwarts. Was their transition slow?"

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Admittedly, Parvati had been guilty of doing that with her own sons, but she had begun to realize how ridiculous it was of her to expect that they would know what they were doing post-Hogwarts. Every few months seemed to bring a new challenge, so of course they would have to adapt—and change their minds, if it came to that. If her sons or anyone not of her own generation had seen her while she was in school, she assumed that they would have been surprised to see that she was the same person as that girl. There had been worse people—Pansy Parkinson, for one—so Parvati couldn't be too hard on her teenage self.

Dominique changed the subject to ask about how the new students who had arrived at Hogwarts from Ilvermorny were settling in. "So how is this year going? You have all the students from Ilvermorny at Hogwarts. Was their transition slow?"

Surprisingly, it had been smooth. There were the problems to be expected with cramming two schools together, but nothing terrible had happened. The Americans were mixing with the Hogwarts students more than Parvati had expected, anticipating that it would take some more encouragement to get them all interacting. "They're actually settling in quite well," Parvati noted. "Some of the teachers from Ilvermorny came with the students, and they've kept their Student Council in addition to our prefects, so I think that's been helpful." It helped them to maintain normalcy, anyway.

@dominique

[Deleted]

Dom nodded as Parvati started to explain how this school year was going. "That sounds good. So everyone seems to be getting along quite well, all things considered? Have there been any major arguments or fights?" Hopefully not. Dom wanted things in Hogwarts to be better than they'd been the last couple of years. If nothing else, she wanted it for the younger students, as well as the students from Ilvermorny. She wanted them to enjoy Hogwarts as she had before everything went wrong.

parvati patil macmillan

[parvati patil macmillan]

Dominique said that it sounded good that everyone had been settling into Hogwarts life without incident. "So everyone seems to be getting along quite well, all things considered? Have there been any major arguments or fights?"

That had been one of the concerns for everyone involved, Parvati thought, but shook her head. The Hogwarts students were less protective of their territory than some of the staff—herself included—had anticipated that they would be. Getting so many more foreign students at once than they ever had would have been enough to cause some major conflict, but everyone seemed to be behaving.

"Nothing too major so far, at least," Parvati answered Dominique. Maybe it was because of how things had ended for the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; she couldn't exactly say. "The professors who transferred to Hogwarts with the students have been very helpful," she added. It was invaluable to have colleagues who knew what the hierarchy at Ilvermorny had been like and who needed to be watched more closely. "As have most of the students, to be perfectly honest. Your cousin Hugo and Addilyn Slater are doing wonderfully as Head Boy and Head Girl, and the prefects under them have been very good with the new students."

She continued. "Part of me wishes that they had been like this with the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang last year in spite of the competition, too." It was unfortunate that they hadn't, and especially in hindsight. "I think we're all grateful that things have been the way they have."

@dominique