"A word."

Dominique looked up from wiping the table down and saw Scott and Lenny standing in front of her. The two of them were scowling heavy; Scott took her arm and took the damp rag she was using out of her hand.

"We're closed. Get out." Lenny barked at the one and only customer.

"I ain't finished yet –"

"Out now, else I'll put you in a bloody pie!" Scott growled, nodding to one of the other waiters to drag the guy out.

Dominique didn't do or say anything. She let Scott lead her through the 'staff only' door, through the kitchen, into the office and then through to the other room, the one she only discovered three weeks ago. It was behind a book shelf, very cliché for a London mob boss to have a secret room where there seemed to be an endless supply of weapons, cash, clothes, car keys – and around a dozen large chest freezers that she didn't need to open to know what was being kept inside.

"Talk." Lenny slammed and locked the heavy metal door behind the three of them.

"Three weeks ago you rang me in the middle of the night – we got to your flat and found you soaking wet, covered in blood with a dead guy on your rug!" Scott yelled.

Without trying to stop herself, Dominique's eyes trailed over to one of the freezers; the smallest one. White, a small dent on the side of it.

"Who was he?"

"What happened?"

"Why did you kill him?"

Scott and Lenny both fired questions at her one after the other but it didn't matter.

She didn't answer.

She never did.

# # #

Skimming her fingers over the black and white keys slowly, the smallest of smiles graced Lily's lips as she closed her eyes and lowered herself down on to the small stool.

Years ago, whenever she and Dominique were at their grandparents' house together – which was all the time because they were the only people who could cope with the two of them together- they would sit at the piano during rainy days and just . . . play.

"You have to let her out of your sight sometime, dear."

Her mother's voice surprised Ginny; she didn't realise she was being watched as she watched her own daughter. She looked away from Lily for a brief second and glanced around the kitchen to see all of her brothers, their wives, her husband and her parents looking at her carefully.

"I know." She wrapped her hands around the cup of tea somebody had placed in front of her and brought it to her mouth slowly. "I just never realised the small things that she did before." Ginny smiled slightly when she saw how her daughter cocked her head to the left ever so slightly.

"Where is Fleur, Bill?" Hermione asked quietly, breaking the small silence that had descended.

Since it was a Sunday, everybody was coming to The Burrow for one of Molly's famous Sunday roasts, but as Ginny looked around the kitchen once more she saw that Fleur was missing.

"She's coming later . . . she had some work to catch up on -," Bill's lie was interrupted by Fleur herself opening the kitchen door and walking in, Blake following behind her. All eyes went to the latest miserable mother in the Weasley family.

"Blake says that Dominique's flat has been empty for weeks -,"

"Fleur . . . maybe now isn't the best time –"

"Why?" Fleur stood straight and looked around her brother and sister-in-law's before her eyes followed where Ginny's were and saw Lily sitting at the piano. "Oh – I understand. You have your daughter back so I'm not allowed mine back?" she asked scathingly, turning her glare on to Ginny.

A few of the men in the room gulped as two of the most formidable Weasley women glared towards each other. Fleur stood proud and strong, not a strand of hair out of place and her flawless, virtually wrinkle free skin, was as pale as usual. Her eyes were almost slits and as cold as they were beautiful.

Ginny slowly got to her chair, her eyes wide and furious, more burning hot with anger than shining bright with warmth.

"Your daughter is the reason I've had to get mine back –"

"Oh?" Fleur raised a perfectly arched eyebrow and brought a hand up to silence her husband with one quick motion. "Eet was my daughter who took Merlin knows what from a young age?" she took in one quick, angry breath through her nose and carried on. "Eet was my daughter who successfully lied about an addiction for years? Eet was my daughter that did anything and everything to feed her addiction?"

Fleur's heavy words hung in the air; strong, obvious, hurtful and painfully true as each and every Weasley took them in.

"It was your daughter that hid her away from us –"

"To keep her healthy, clean and safe. You really think that the papers wouldn't have noticed The Boy Who Lived visiting a rehab centre? Lily's name was false when she was there!" Blake defended, looking from one aunt to the other. "She also kept her hidden to stop you seeing her the way she was -,"

"She's our daughter!" Ginny yelled loudly.

"And Dominique is mine!" Fleur yelled just as loudly.

The two women stepped closer together, both of their hands itched towards their wands at the same time – making all of the men in the room gulp quickly; who would win a duel between the two of them nobody could guess. A Triwizard champion against a Weasley woman?

"Stop it!"

With all of the commotion between Fleur and Ginny, nobody had noticed the piano stopping, nor had they noticed the rest of the family arriving. Lily was standing in the doorway, slightly in front of Victoire and Louis, Albus and James and the rest of them.

Apart from Dominique.

"It was my fault I left. My fault I stayed away. My fault you guys didn't know where I was." Lily whispered, using a shaking hand to wipe away her tears. "Dominique did everything she did . . . she did all of that for me." She looked away from her parents and Dominque's parents and focused instead on the fireplace, looking into the embers as they burned away.

"She lied –"

"I'd have done the same." Lily's voice was barely above a breath now. "If . . . if she needed me –"

"She does." Harry cleared his throat, causing everybody to look at him. "She does need you." Everybody was looking at him, but nobody was looking at him the way Ginny was; as if she was looking at a stranger who had just burst into song and dance in front of her.

"Daddy . . . what are you saying?" Lily looked towards her dad with wide eyes.

"That your cousin is alone, scared, angry and embarrassed and probably exhausted after lying for you for two years." He let out a deep sigh, a sigh that she knew meant he was disappointed in her.

Everybody looked away from Harry, the famous son, husband, father, brother and uncle and towards Lily, the infamous daughter, sister, niece and granddaughter. They all watched as she walked slowly over to her father and kissed his cheek before heading out of the back door and the sound of her apparating away was all they could hear.

"Lily – no!" Ginny made to get up and go after her but Charlie took her hand and stopped her.

"She needs to do this." Harry said quietly. "She needs to start looking after herself."

# # #

Lily's searches proved futile. She searched for hours, for days and she still couldn't find her cousin. Nobody knew where the muggle café she worked was at in London, she was never at home – or their old home. Blake had Lily's old room and even though she had offered to move out, Lily had refused. For some reason, that place didn't appeal to her any more. The idea of her and Dominique being in that flat didn't liberate her any more . . . she didn't want to be there.

"Any luck yesterday, poppet?" Harry asked from behind his paper as Lily threw herself down in a chair at the breakfast table, joining her parents and brothers. She rolled her eyes when her mother immediately placed a bowl of porridge, a whole banana and a glass of water in front of her.

"Nope." Lily pushed the porridge away and reached for the bacon instead – as she did every morning.

"Where are you searching today?" Ginny asked tensely; she didn't approve of Lily waltzing around muggle and magical London, not at all.

"We used to hang around Bethnal Green . . . there was a park where I'd – um, where I would meet some friends." Lily looked down at her plate as her parents and brothers looked at her carefully or awkwardly.

"Friends?" James asked quietly. "Do you mean . . . do you mean dealers?"

Lily swallowed the lump in her throat and glanced up before she nodded once. She cleared her throat as she looked back down at her plate.

"Maybe . . . maybe somebody could come with?"

Albus and James both accompanied her to the all too familiar area of London. Lily led the way around the streets of a council estate that she used to prefer. When she mentioned this, her brothers questioned what she meant.

"The gear was purer here." She muttered, keeping her hood up; she told her brothers to wear hoodies or zip-ups with hoods on to keep from being recognised.

"Who would recognise us?" James asked as he pulled his hood up.

"People who'd make it impossible for our parents to recognise us ever again." Lily replied, gulping silently. She pointed out areas where she used to hook up with a dealer back in the day; behind the shops, in a storage garage, in the park, a phone box . . . and even a street corner.

"Isn't the most ideal place, is it?" James mentioned, motioning towards a group of ten or eleven year old boys on mountain bikes and tracksuits, glaring at them as they walked past. One of them rode off in the direction Lily was heading.

"Keep your voice down, James." Lily warned him, looking for where the boy that rode off had headed too.

Before James could answer her, a car came speeding towards them before it skidded to a quick stop, leaving skid marks on the pavement. Lily closed her eyes and let out a deep breath when she recognised Mackenzie Hammersmith get out of the car, with a group of girls and boys she vaguely recognised.

"Well, well, what have we hear, Kylie?" he sneered, looking down at Lily with a greedy glare. Lily looked back at him through a blank face.

For the first time in a long while . . . she was in trouble. She was in trouble without Dominique.

"Looks like we've finally got hold of a little smack-rat. A smack-rat that's in debt." A girl she only knew was called Kylie answered Mackenzie.

"Jay, Al – go." Lily whispered, knowing full well what was coming.

"Let us pass." Albus cleared his throat and squared up to Mackenzie. "You don't frighten me."

"It's not me you need to be frightened of." Mackenzie snickered. With a wave of his hand, two of his friends came forwards and headed towards Albus. Before they could do anything though, Albus smashed his fist into Mackenzie's face the same time that Lily shoved Kylie to the ground. James grabbed hold of Lily's arm and ran, shoving two of the kids with bikes out of his way roughly. Lily could feel Albus' hand on her back, pushing her forwards as the three Potter siblings ran for their lives.

Mackenzie sent two of his guys after Lily and her brothers while he dived in his car and spent it speeding after them.

He was so angry and fuelled by rage that he didn't notice a slim looking girl standing close by, her hood pulled up to hide her face but her hand was in his direction. He didn't notice the very faint jet of light hit his car; he only noticed that his back tyres suddenly fell from the car, sending the car spiralling wildly into the nearest building.

# # #

Lily, James and Albus didn't stop running even after they apparated into the Potter's living room; the three of them ran up the stairs and burst into Harry's study where they found both of their parents having some lunch.

"What happened?" Ginny asked straight away.

"Ran . . . into . . . some old . . . friends." Lily panted, clutching a stitch in her side.

"You look like you ran all the way back from London." Harry conjured up three glasses and filled them with water before sending them floating over to his children. "Did you find her?" he asked, looking towards his daughter.

"Of course they never!" Ginny yelled, shoving her plate away from her and getting up so angrily she sent her chair toppling over. "How could they? Dominique doesn't want to be found so she won't be found! In case you don't remember, she's rather good at hiding things!"

"Ginny -,"

"No! She kept Lily hidden away from us for –"

"I didn't want to be found!" Lily screamed, ignoring the stitch in her side and the fact she was still out of breath. "I didn't want to be around you! I'm an adult! I can make my own decisions!"

"You didn't know what you were doing – you were ill –"

"I was an addict, Mum!" Lily spoke in a calm voice; the calm voice that every Weasley male knew was trouble coming from a Weasley female, born or married. "I was an addict and I'll always be addicted. I'll always crave the shit that nearly killed me. I am not a child. I haven't been a child for years –"

"You'll always be my child –"

"And that's the problem, isn't it?" Lily breathed heavily, looking from her mother to her father and back again. "I . . . I can't be here. You're suffocating me. I'm twenty two years old, mother. I – I'm sorry." And without giving them any warning, any hint of anything, Lily apparated on the spot.

# # #

Dominique looked up at the tall block of flats before she sighed heavily and headed into the building, taking the normal route – the stairs instead of the elevator. As usual, she took them two at a time and on the second floor she walked down the corridor to use the staircase at the opposite end of the building so that her front door would be the first she saw. As she headed to her flat she silently braced herself for whoever would be behind the door.

She had only been back to the flat once since Dexter died and that was with Scott and Lenny to remove the body and grab some clothes. Blake should still be living there, she told herself quietly, standing in front of her front door.

Summoning all of her Gryffindor strength, Dominique fished her key out of her pocket and unlocked the door.

"What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?"

Lily was standing in the doorway, on her way out by the look of it.

"I live here."

"I live here."

Dominique and Lily both spoke at the same time as each other and gave each other identical, annoyed glares.

"I've been looking for you –"

"What the hell were you doing going around Bethnal Green –"

"I've looked all over London for you –"

"You do realise Mackenzie Hammersmith has got all of his guys looking for you – "

"Where have you been?! Your mother is in bits –"

"SHUT UP!"

"SHUT UP!"

Both girls stood glaring at each other, panting heavily as they tried to shout over each other. They both opened their mouths at the same time, once again to try and speak over each other before Lily grabbed Dominique by her arm and dragged her forwards.

"Lily – we're not ten anymore!" Dominique grumbled as she got pinned to the sofa and Lily sat on her stomach, pinning her hands above her head.

"Shut up and listen!" Lily leant down and licked Dominique's forehead, smirking slightly when she saw her cousin squirm uncomfortably.

"That's disgusting –"

"Hush!" Lily sobered and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it when I said I didn't need you. I do need you, I need you more than I need anybody. I didn't mean it when I said you didn't have to keep my secret – you did. I understand that. I'm so, so, so, sorry." She spoke softly. "I'm sorry for everything you've had to go through these past two years . . . well, since we were in school. I'm sorry that you had to look after me. I'm sorry I put you in that position." Her voice turned into a whisper and she climbed off of Dominique.

Dom sat up so that they were facing each other; Lily's eyes were glassed over with tears. She could see her reflection in her eyes, they were so wide and so wet with tears. Like Lily, Dominique had bags under her eyes, her skin was a little pale.

"I love you." Lily whispered, reaching out to push a strand of Dominque's hair out of her face.

Dominique put her own hand on the top of Lily's and kept it at the side of her face.

"I love you too." Dominique whispered, using her other hand to wipe a tear away from Lily's face.

"This is getting weird, isn't it?" Lily laughed lightly.

"Nope." Dominque smiled and wiped her own tears away – she didn't even know she was crying. "We're not touching enough. Sit on me again, I promise I won't complain if you lick me this time." She teased Lily, making them both laugh lightly.

# # #

The Burrow was bursting with family; every single member of the family was here. Even Victoire.

Even Teddy.

Lily asked Dominique to explain what had happened during the last two years, all of the dodgy business, all of the illegal activity. All of the struggles.

Dominique said that she didn't want to explain herself more than once, so Lily summoned the entire family to The Burrow, where they were all squashed into the living room, all looking at Lily and Dominique who were sitting on one arm chair.

Bill and Fleur couldn't take their eyes off of their youngest daughter; they hadn't heard from her in weeks and the relief was evident on both of their faces. As soon as she walked through the door, they nearly broke her with one massive hug, promising her that no matter what was put into the papers it didn't matter; she was their daughter and they loved her more than anything. Louis hugged her too, he told her he loved her.

Victoire simply arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow at her.

"Talk." Harry sighed heavily when Hugo and Lucy arrived, completing the family set up. "Both of you." He pointed his wand at the fireplace, putting the small green fire out – stopping the Floo Network for the time being.

"I'm an addict." Lily began straight away, loud and clear. "I've been using drugs, alcohol and magical highs since I was around fourteen. I became an addict in my seventh year . . . I did anything and everything to get something into my system. Dominique tried to help me. She tried to slow me down but I went behind her back. She lived with me to keep me alive. She became my shadow for years – to keep me safe and alive. If things got too rough or extreme or I was overdoing it – she'd take me home and lock me in my room." Lily told the room in the same tone she would use if she was telling them a story from a book.

"She was there for me when I didn't want her there, when I felt like I didn't need her and when I didn't even know I needed her." She continued, her hand going to rest on Dominique's and grasping it strongly.

"This one time around two years ago. . . I took some muggle drugs that weren't cut right." Lily let out a deep, shaky breath. "I-I got rushed into a muggle hospital. Dominque forced this doctor to do whatever it took to save my life –"

"How?" Grandad Arthur asked sharply.

"The Imperious curse." Dominique stood up and whispered, walking over to the fireplace and standing in front of the dwindling fire; she felt cold, the coldest she had ever been and needed some warmth in her life. "The first – and only time I've cast an Unforgiveable." She muttered, turning her head in the direction of her aunts and uncles. Hermione, Ron, Percy and Harry. "It worked and I'd do it again."

"I begged Dominique for help." Lily continued after a seconds pause. "I begged her to help me get clean – she took me to Theresa's . . . and that's all I know so far." She sighed.

Dominique could feel everybody looking at her but she didn't look back.

She couldn't look back.

She needed to speak; to tell them the truth . . . and she couldn't look at her father, or her mother, or her grandmother as she told them everything.

"I had some savings." She started off slowly. "I had some savings to pay her admittance. I got her a nice room; her own bathroom and a nice view. They don't like anything of the old life in that hospital so I got her some new clothes, some books, things like that. I thought what I had in Gringott's would cover her fees until I graduated the Academy and became an active Auror." She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to keep herself warm. "It didn't even last a week. She smashed up her room, broke some windows, and attacked a few of the orderly's. She broke out of the hospital and escaped to the local village. It took three days to find her; she was hooked up with some small-town dealer, completely off her face. I had to pay for damages to the hospital – plus the little rampage she had went on in the village, cars had been damaged, more windows smashed, belongings stolen – I needed to find money. I needed to find money, fast." Dominique's eyes focused on this large log in the dwindling fire. It was putting up a good fight, trying to beat away the flames before they over took it.

"I sold my share of my grandpapa's business." She whispered, ignoring the stab of guilt that ran through her entire body at the mention of selling the business that had been in her mother's family for almost twelve generations. "That didn't last long. More episodes, more money. More treatment, more money. More relapses, more therapy. More therapy, more money. I needed to live too. Food, bills, general life . . . more money."

"Skip that part and get on to the part about you selling yourself –"

"I was at a bar one night, just trying to get out of my head. Away from the thoughts . . . and some guy asked me for a hook up. I turned him down, he joked and asked me how much and I said he couldn't afford me." Dominique swallowed the sick in her throat and carried on speaking. "Turns out he was being serious . . . and turns out he could afford me."

She could hear a few of the women sobbing behind her; no doubt it was her mother, Aunt Angelina, Molly and probably Roxanne.

"I only did that when I was desperate." She made that clear. "I only ever did that when I had no other choice." She spoke through gritted teeth. "I hate myself and I always will – I had no choice!" she grabbed hold of the fireplace to stop herself from buckling over and then let herself fall into the arms that had come to support her.

Her fathers.

"I didn't do it because I wanted to . . . I promise you daddy – I didn't!" she sobbed against her father's chest, clutching at the fabric of the grey jumper he was wearing.

Bill hugged his youngest daughter close to his chest and stroked her hair softly. "We know. I know, I know. I love you girl, I love you more than life itself. Don't you ever forget that!" he growled into her ear.

"I'm s-sorry, daddy!" Dominique moaned into his chest, feeling somebody else's arms wrap around her tightly; she recognised the perfume and shifted slightly so that she was hugging her mother too.

Other tell-tale signs let her know who she was being passes around; Hermione's sharply-pressed blazer jacket. Grandma Molly's strong hands. Grandpa Arthur's soft wool cardigan. James' aftershave. Roxanne's soothing voice. Angelina's thick, black hair. Louis' sobs.

Lily's touch.

"Where does Dexter Hazelle come into all of this?" uncle Ron asked slowly, once Grandma Molly had made sure Dominique had drank at least three strong cups of sugar with half a dozen sugars in all of them.

Dominique looked up from her mother's lap; Fleur was stroking Dom's hair softly and slowly, like she would a child, when Ron asked the question. Dom looked to her sister and quickly looked away when she saw Victoire glaring at her.

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly, licking her lips for something to do.

"He's missing!" Victoire said in a forced calm voice. "The last person he was known to have contact with . . . was you." She got up from her chair and looked over at her younger sister.

"He went to your flat the day your dirty little secret got out." She glared at Dominique, ignoring the disapproving looks that she was getting from her younger cousins and aunts and uncles.

"Victoire!" Bill hollered at his oldest child.

"What? Did what I just say, not happen? Am I lying?" she asked slowly. "Why was he at your apartment? Why –"

"Wait!" Lily caught everybody's attention; when Victoire had stood so quickly, her handbag had fallen to the ground and the content had spilled. Lily was holding a photograph of Victoire and Dexter. "I remember him! He was in the flat the day I got back – he . . . he was your boyfriend?" Lily scowled at the floor before glancing at Dominique and then looking at Victoire.

"Yes! Tell me the truth, please, Lily –"

"He had Dominique's underwear in his hand." Lily told Victoire bluntly. "He'd been . . ., um . . . you know, with them." She nodded her head slyly, blushing and not looking in anybody's direction.

"I don't believe you –"

"Here." Ron stood too, pulled out his wand and conjured up a small vial which he passed over to Lily. "Put your memories in there."

The entire room watched as Lily put her wand at her temple and pulled out the silvery gas like liquid that contained her recollection of what happened.

The idea of Dexter doing stuff over Dominque's underwear made her feel sick, but she was not surprised. Not one little bit; she had always had her suspicions that he broke into her flat sometimes. It was part of the reason she was glad that Blake and Scorpius were there with her for so long.

"I don't believe you!"

"Hard to believe somebody could be unfaithful to you?" Lily quipped, tossing the vial to Ron who caught it easily and held it between two fingers. "Karma." She shrugged a shoulder and handed the photo back.

Victoire snatched it and then glared at Dominique. "You were fucking him, weren't you?" she ignored the shocked gasps and sounds of disapproval and stepped closer to her younger sister. "You bitch –"

"He was blackmailing her." A small voice piped up from near the kitchen door.

Blake had stood silent throughout the admissions for the past couple of hours; she had stood and listened as Lily and Dominique told their tale, keeping her thoughts to herself until this very moment.

"Don't –"

"He was blackmailing her . . . and forcing her to do things with her –"

"Blake!" Dominique begged her cousin quickly.

"Forced her to do, what, Blake?" Bill spoke quickly and quietly. Dominque glanced around the room and saw every single person looking at Blake with a mixture of disgust, fear and anger on their faces.

"Blake – please –"

"Blake!" Charlie, Ron, Harry, James, Bill, Hermione, both Molly's, Louis and Lily all shouted.

"Forced her to have sex with him!" Blake spat out, looking down at the ground, wiping at her eyes to rid herself of the tears.

Dominique closed her eyes quietly as she heard her family erupt from all around her.

"I'm going to kill the bastard!"

"Where is he?!"

"Oh Dominique!"

"Lies!"

"Oh Morgana!"

"Shit son!"

"He's fucking dead!"

She opened her eyes to see several mothers trying to contain their sons; Ginny had James by the hand, Molly had Charlie and George by their collars, Hermione had Hugo by her side.

Lily was standing in the middle of the room, looking only at Dominique.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Bill yelled, kicking an armchair out of his way. "I'm going to rip every single bone in his body apart –"

"My baby." Fleur kept whispering. Her hand stayed strong and still on Dominique's shoulder.

"I'm gonna murder him!" Louis was just as angry as his father. "I'll gladly do time for the bastard!" he pushed Lucy's hand away from him and headed to the door.

Dominique looked away from her heartbroken mother when she realised nobody was stopping him.

Freddie, George, Charlie, James, Albus and even Teddy had joined him in heading for the door. Percy and Bill were already at the door.

"Stop!" Harry pointed his wand at the front door, slamming it shut and locked with a silent spell. "Dexter Hazelle is a missing man! He's being searched for by Auror's at this very moment – I'll up the search to my full team if I have to – Dexter Hazelle –"

"Is already dead." Victoire's soft voice spoke above Harry's yell, the still angry calls from their cousins and pierced the room.

Victoire was looking solely at Dominique, her eyes trained and baring into Dominique's.

Without giving warning, without caring that what she was about to do wasn't completely legal – Victoire pointed her wand at her sister's head and called out loudly and clearly;

"LEGILIMENS!"

Flashes and snippets of memories came flooding into Victoire's mind.

Dominique and Scorpius, curled up with just a thin blanket covering their naked bodies in front of a large fire place, both of them giggling softly.

Dominique and Lily, sitting in some hospital room; Lily asleep in a hospital bed with Dominique sat crying quietly, her hands in her hair.

Dominique and Blake sitting at their kitchen table . . . Dominique on the lap of Dexter.

Dexter pinning Dominique to her bed as he reigned blow after blow on her before ripping her skirt from her body harshly.

Dominique crying as Dexter wrapped his hands around her neck.

Dominique bleeding from the nose and mouth as Dexter forced himself onto her.

Dominique being ridiculed in an elevator of snobby looking witches and wizards.

Scorpius slamming the door in Dominique's face.

Lily and the rest of the family kicking Dominique out.

Dominique, drinking bottle after bottle.

Dexter, above Dominique, blood coming from his entire torso as she screamed with fear as she stabbed at him.

Dexter lying dead in Dominique's living room, Dominique sat close to him bawling her eyes out and throwing up.

Victoire gasped and fell to her knees, not caring that she was throwing up in the middle of the living room.

Dominique watched as her sister was violently throwing up in front of everybody; only she and her sister had just witnessed the memories that Victoire had violated. Only the two of them knew what had happened.

"Victoire . . . please –,"

"She killed him!" Victoire gasped, getting to her feet and pointing a shaky finger at Dominique. "She – she killed him –,"

# # #

Harry looked up from the small note he had just received to see the entire family looking back at him curiously. Ron was the only exception, he was looking down at the identical note in his own hands. The two Ministry owls were fighting over a piece of bread that Molly gave them, the only thing she could see at hand at three o'clock in the morning.

The entire family had sat and came up with half-brained solutions to the problem that Dominique had found herself in. Not a single person had had the courage or the determination to mutter the word 'murder.'

Bill and Fleur hadn't spoken much at all, Arthur had said even less, and Victoire had done nothing but cry in Teddy's arms. Dominque was more surprised at that than she was at the thought of the entire family trying to come up with a solution to get her out of a murder inquiry.

Albus suggested destroying her wand and sending her to live in the muggle world.

Lily suggested pretending it never happened.

James suggested the same.

Charlie suggested Dominique going to live in Romania with him for the rest of her life.

Percy was in the middle of explaining his idea of claiming self-defence when the two owls scratched at the window.

"The . . . the team we sent to investigate Hazell's disappearance . . . they found a secret room at his house – it has your pictures and some belongings all over it." Harry cleared his throat and tossed the note into the fire. "There's also this device there. Kind of like a remembrall. Only, the smoke vanishes when . . . when the owner dies." He twirled a finger round in a spherical shape, signalling the shape of the device.

Dominique felt the colour drain from her face as she – and the entire family, her sister included – understood the silent message in his words.

"First thing this morning, they're applying for a warrant for your arrest of the murder of Dexter Hazell." Ron whispered, tossing his own letter into the fire.

"Fuck." Lily let out a sharp breath.

Dominique just focused on the two small scrunches of paper in the fireplace, watching as they both burned down to a crisp.

# # #

Scorpius let out a deep sigh as he recognised Dominique's photo on the front page of his morning paper; for the first time in weeks, he had agreed to join his parents for breakfast. His father had passed him the newspaper as soon as his mother started discussing the latest gossip in her social circle.

Nobody had paid any attention to the Daily Prophet until Draco passed his son it; Draco was reading some report, Astoria was reading last week's issue of Witch Weekly – she hadn't picked up a copy in a while and had a large pile to catch up on, and Scorpius had skipped the morning news in favour of more bacon – so nobody had saw the headline that dominated the front page.

A large portrait of Dominique, one taken at the weekend in Ireland, was in the centre of the page. She looked amazing, Scorpius had to admit. He knew that he was cropped out of the photograph because Dominique kept looking to her left and smiling brilliantly before looking up at him.

"NIECE OF CHOSEN ONE, SUSPECT IN AUROR MURDER MYSTERY!"

"Son?"

"Scorpius?"

His parents' voices fell upon deaf ears because Scorpius kept a tight hold on the newspaper and ran towards the nearest fireplace.

He screamed the address of Dominque's parents and dived headfirst into the green flames. Scorpius wasn't really bothered about tucking his arms and legs in as he sped past thousands of families sitting at their breakfast tables eating breakfast; he was certain he may have broken a few toes but he didn't care, he simply jumped out when he recognised the small kitchen of Shell Cottage.

"Anybody home?" he yelled at the top of his voice. When nobody answered, he grabbed some Floo powder and dived back into the green flames, yelling the address of Dominique's grandparents' place.

Once again, he cared not for the aches and pains his arms and legs suffered, he only took notice of the fireplaces and dived out when he saw most of the family surrounding an ancient looking kitchen table.

"Dominique -!" he got everybody's attention but he only looked at Dominique.

"Dominique Weasley; I am officially charging you with the murder of Auror Dexter Hazelle –" A middle aged female Auror had old of Dominique's shoulder and tapped her arms with her wand once, causing chains to bind her arms together. "You have the right to request for a representative from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement –"

"Aunt Hermione? Please?" Dominique looked from Scorpius briefly to glance at Hermione.

Dominique's aunt was already on her feet, her wand out and in her hand ready to apparate away.

"Scorpius – my . . . . my family will explain!" Dominique yelled as the middle aged Auror led her out of the kitchen, followed by half a dozen other Auror's he hadn't recognised before.

"Dominique!" Scorpius yelled, pushing past several of her cousins. He reached the back door just as Dominique was taken away from him.

# # #

A/N – I have no words that can justify or explain the disgustingly long gap between updates. Honestly, I'm ashamed of myself, I honestly am. I have no actual reason for leaving it for so long. I've been writing this chapter for so long now, word by word it feels like. I've had a hectic few months, a hectic year really, but that's still no reason. I just want to take a moment to thank you all, I've noticed my hits are still going up and to the new readers, the old, and the impatient I truly am sorry! I hope you guys still read this and enjoy it! This story isn't over yet – no matter how long I leave between updates!

Once again, hope you've enjoyed this.