The back door of Shell Cottage closed with a snap as Dominique Weasley emerged from her house and made her way to the edge of the sloping cliff that supported it. The cliff’s base led to a beach where the ocean continued into the horizon, this was where Dominique was headed.
When she reached the edge she sat down and gazed up at the full moon hovering above the water. Dominique sighed in relief; it was peaceful up here; the air was clear. She drew her knees up to her chest and breathed in deeply. Here she always felt good. There was silence for a few seconds then she heard it. A low rumbling growl, Dominique stood up cautiously and looked around. She didn’t see anything except for the glowing orange-yellow light from inside of Shell Cottage. She heard it again, a bit louder this time.
Dominique realized the sound was coming from below. She lay on her stomach and
carefully leaned over the edge and looked down. What she saw nearly made her fall forward. There was a large cluster, a mass of black; in the moonlight Dominique could make out their figures. She could see their snouts, hear the growling. At first she thought it was a pack of wolves, but on closer inspection she realized what they really were was much worse: there was a pack of werewolves at base of her home.
Dominique backed away from the cliff edge and ran back to her house to warn her parents. She went to the back door panting out of breath and clutching a stitch at her side, disregarding this she yanked the door open and raced inside. Her thirteen year old brother, Louis was sitting at the kitchen table reading a Quidditch magazine; he looked up when she entered the house. He instantly realized something was wrong.
“What’s happened?” he asked concernedly.
“Werewolves…beach…problem…help!” Dominique cried out, gasping for breath. Louis stood up immediately and came around the table to where Dominique stood shaking.
“Calm down. What happened, tell me,” He hugged her as if comforting a small child.
Dominique took a deep breath then burst into speech, “I was out on the edge of the cliff and I heard a noise, like growling…” Dominique began, she was surprised with how calm and level her voice sounded “I looked down at the beach and noticed a gathering of werewolves. Werewolves, Louis, not regular wolves” Dominique emphasized.
Louis looked stunned “y--you sure,” he stammered.
“Why would I lie about it?” she exclaimed.
Louis gave a small nod then grabbed Dominique’s upper arm and led her to the sitting room where he called out for their father. Their father came up to them, looking worried at the expressions on his youngest children’s faces. “What’s wrong?” he asked, cautiously, preparing for the worst. Dominique retold the information she had told Louis, all about the gathering on the beach. As she spoke her father’s face drained of color, making the scars that were across it more prominent. Bill gathered his composure and said “both of you get your sister and go to the safe house…” Dominique and Louis stood in almost a daze. “Now!” Bill snapped when they hadn’t moved. Without waiting for a response he went to the kitchen, grabbed a quill and a sheet of parchment from a nearby drawer and began scribbling furiously.
Louis and Dominique left the kitchen and came to the base of the stairs. “Come on Dom we’ve got to go,” said Louis.
“Wait a minute. Don’t you think we should stay? Shouldn’t we help?”
“Dominique we don’t have time to argue. Dad told us we have to leave, so that’s what we’re going to do,” replied Louis in an authoritative tone. Dominique nodded and followed her brother up the steps to her older sister’s bedroom.
Dominique knocked on the door as she heard her mother exclaiming loudly in French “qu’est - Ce que?!” from the kitchen, evidently her father had told her what was happening on the beach.
Louis and Dominique’s sister, Victoires’ bedroom door opened suddenly revealing Victoire staring at her siblings. “Why is Mum upset?” she asked. Before either of them could respond their mother called all three of them to the sitting room.
When all three of them entered the sitting room their parents wasted no time in telling them the seriousness of the situation. “Oo need to leeve for ze safe’ouse immediately,” said their mother, Fleur. She held out a bag of what the children assumed was floo powder for Victoire to take.
“What about you?” asked Dominique, her fear evident in every word she spoke.
“We’re staying to wait for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and if we have to fight we will. But you have to be safe, so you will wait at the safe house,” replied Bill. At that moment three things happened at the same time that cut off further discussion of the topic of who was staying and leaving. First, several cracks were heard from outside the house, second, a bolt of lightning flashed through the sky illuminating the outside, revealing a line of indistinct figures, and third, a howl was heard outside throwing out all previous thoughts from inside Shell Cottage.
“No arguing. Victoire you’re in charge of your brother and sister until we come to fetch you. Understood?” asked Bill turning to his eldest child, Victoire nodded and grabbed the floo powder from her mother whose beautiful face was etched with worry.
“Wait Dad, you don’t need to stay,” Louis tried to convince his father.
“My priority at the moment is getting you three to safety, we’ll follow along behind,” answered Bill. He had barely finished saying this before the air was cut through with the sounds of shouts, screams, and howls and growls. The werewolves were getting restless and hungry for flesh.
“’urry, into ze fireplace,” said Fleur in an anxious, urgent whisper.
Rather reluctantly Victoire took a pinch of the glittery powder from the bag her mother gave her and threw it into the fireplace while shouting out the address to the safe house “Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place!” Victoire stepped into the now emerald green flames of the fireplace and was gone in a swirl of flames and ashes. Louis followed with Dominique next to him. Just before the green flames whisked her and her brother away to safety, Dominique saw the kitchen window break and the snout of a werewolf forcing his way into her house. Then the flames obscured her vision and the next second she was spinning out of control, travelling through the floo network and seeing flashes of other people’s sitting rooms.
When the spinning stopped Dominique and Louis found themselves in the kitchen fireplace of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place also known as the safe house. Victoire, who was already there, rushed forward helped Louis and Dominique out of the fireplace, and began brushing of soot and ashes from them as they stumbled out,. “Come on, upstairs; the Drawing Room,” said Victoire leading the way out of the kitchen, up the stairs, past the stuffed elf heads along the hallway, and finally into the Drawing Room.
“How long will it be until mum and dad join us then?” asked Louis.
“Shouldn’t be long now,” replied Victoire. She looked especially strained with her reddish blonde hair coming out of its ponytail. She walked over to the coffee table that was in the center of the room and placed the floo powder bag on top of it; Dominique stared at it for a fraction of a second then turned away. The three of them chose one of the many armchairs in the room and curled up on them, not speaking. All thinking the same thing, what was taking their parents’ so long?
Dominique remembered the werewolf forcing its way into her house and realized her parents wouldn’t be joining her and her siblings anytime soon. An idea, a crazy one came into her head. But she had seen the amount of werewolves on the beach and knew roughly the size of the Department fighting them. They didn’t stand much of a chance. They needed help, maybe she could help, she shook her head, that’s ridiculous, and I’m ten years old. But I just want to know if they’re alright. They’re my parents. Coming to a decision, Dominique stood up and grabbed the floo powder bag from the coffee table.
“Dom, what are you doing?” Victoire and Louis asked in unison, both getting up, concerned. Without answering them Dominique left the room and broke into a run. She heard her brother and sister behind her, jumping the last three steps of the staircase she ran into Grimmauld Places’ kitchen.
Victoire was just opening the door with Louis right on her heels when Dominique opened the velvet bag and took pinch of the powder inside. Realizing what her sister was doing Victoire rushed forward.
“Dominique don’t--“
She started but was cut off when Dominique tossed the powder into the fireplace and shouted “SHELL COTTAGE!”
Louis moved forward hoping to grab her arm before she stepped into the fireplace, Victorie lunged forward as well.
Dominique jumped into the fireplace and both siblings were too late, she vanished in a swirl of ash.
“She took the floo powder with her. What are we supposed to do now?” asked Victoire, sounding desperate and out of options.
Howls were heard everywhere as the attack continued. Many people were bitten. The Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures trying their best to control the werewolves, but their attempts were futile.
“Dad?!” cried Dominique, “Where are you? Maman!? ” She called out again. She was scared to death, this was a werewolf battle and she was in the middle of it. Why did she leave the protection of the safe house? I shouldn’t be here she thought as she ran back into the house toward the fire place with the floo powder bag in hand.
Out of the corner of his Bill Weasley saw the silvery blonde head of his youngest daughter from inside the house. With the flick of his wand he stunned the werewolf in front of him and raced towards the house, firing jinxes like a madman at everyone in his way; thinking only of Dominique and how he needed to make sure she was unharmed.
“Boom!” the fireplace exploded, sending debris everywhere. Dominique ducked just in time, her heart sinking as she did so -- her only means of escape from the war zone gone right before her eyes. She started to cry don’t do this to yourself, dad or mum or someone will get you. You’re a Weasley, come on she thought to herself as she pulled herself off the ground and started to run out the front door as two werewolves rounded the corner. Thankfully they didn’t see her … yet. They caught up to her as she neared the sloped cliff that led to the beach. One erupted in flames as it came out of the house. The other continued the “hunt”. Dominique was two feet from the cliff when she heard a scream behind her. She just had enough time to turn around before a blur of black and red hit her.
It was pain beyond anything imaginable as the werewolf’s jaws tore into her shoulder. As the attack continued, she attempted to push her hands at the wolf’s muzzle to keep him away but it was a useless attempt. There was puddle of her blood surrounding her, her blonde hair matted in it. This is it, she thought, I’m going to die.
“DOMINIQUE!” someone screamed, but it sounded faint and distant to Dominique, almost like a whisper that could be easily forgotten. There was a burst of red light. Another shout rang through the night, just before it faded into blackness.
“She’s lost a lot of blood, we need replenishing potion quick!” said an unfamiliar voice. Lights flashed overhead as Dominique drifted in and out of consciousness trying to make sense of her surroundings. I’m dead, that’s for sure, so why’s everyone making such a fuss? She thought as she went out of consciousness again.
“Dominique,” whispered Fleur to her youngest daughter, “wake up”. Bill, her husband had gotten the werewolf off of her just as she blacked out.
“It’s a miracle that she even survived, you’ve got yourselves a fighter here,” the Healer had said.
“Anything?” asked Bill.
“Nothing,” replied Fleur sadly. Bill put his face in his hands trying to staunch the flow of tears that were seeping from behind his eyelids.
“Mr. and Mrs. Weasley?” said a voice. They turned around to see a Healer opening the door of the room. Bill quickly wiped his eyes and stood to greet the healer, Fleur right behind him. “This is rather hard to say,” the Healer said. Fleur gripped Bill’s hand and in a vice-like grip as the healer said her next words. “I’m afraid that there was nothing we could do to stop the effects of the bite,” she paused as the color from Bill and Fleur’s face drained from them. “Your daughter, I’m sorry to say has Lycanthropy. It’s quite tre--“
“I know,” said Bill rather desperately, “Can’t there be a mistake?”
“I’m sorry sir, but no”
“YOU’RE LYING,” bellowed Bill. The Healer jumped back in alarm. “I--I’m sorry,” he muttered.
“I think you’d like to--to tell h--her,” stuttered the Healer, and then hurried from the room.
Dominique started to open her eyes at the sound of shouting; she heard hurried footsteps then a door closing. “Dominique…. Dominique,” said a voice, vaguely familiar… my dad! She thought. Her eyes snapped open.
“You’re awake,” breathed Bill with mirth and…. a hint of apprehension.
“D--dad, what happened?” A long silence followed the question.
Finally Fleur spoke “Sweetie ‘oo vere attacked vy a verevolf, ze ‘ealers said zat,” she paused; tears began to form in her eyes as she struggled to pursue telling the story “Dominique ze ‘ealers said zat--“
“No d--don’t say it, I--I’m one of them right, I’m a--a werewolf.” said Dominique with a quiver in her voice. Her parents could only nod. She pressed her eyes together, willing this to be over, this nightmare. Then the tears came, along with the horrible visions of what was to come.