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Dominique leaned over her cauldron, carefully measuring exactly five drops of peppermint essence and letting them fall into it. The potion turned a delightful snow-white and she stirred it seven times clockwise, until it thickened into a soft cream. She sniffed the swirling puffs of smoke rising from her creation and smirked. It smelled heavenly.
She scooped up a healthy amount and filled the special jar she had prepared for it, before screwing the lid shut and tapping it with her wand, muttering a freezing charm. The cream cooled and she reached for the string, to which she had already attached the card, and tied it around the throat of the jar. Setting it on her desk, she admired her handiwork. Her dad was sure to love it.
For the last week or so, Dominique had struggled with what she wanted to get him for his birthday. When she was little, she and her siblings gave him the usual kid stuff – drawings, mugs they had scribbled all over, homemade cards and key chains made of macaroni. When they grew up a little, however, each sibling had started to save up money for something better, or just work their magic into the gift. And each year, Dominique had been overshadowed by her siblings. Like she was in everything else.
Louis was the baby of the family, as well as the only boy, so their parents naturally dotted on him. But Victoire always had to one-up her at everything. She was beautiful and smart, and everyone pretty much worshiped the ground she walked on. She even had a fanclub dedicated to her at Hogwarts last year. A fanclub! Full of shallow girls hoping to be as vapid as her, and drooling guys who stared at her like zombies every time she walked by! And of course, it wasn't much better at home. Victoire was Daddy's Little Princess, all she had to do was bat her eyelashes at him, and he let her get away with anything. She never missed an opportunity to show off and rub her talents in Dominique's face – whether it was some new, complicated spell she learned or the endless string of Os she got in every subject. No matter what Dominique did or how hard she tried, her sister always overshadowed her.
Well, no more! This time Dominique was determined to beat her at something. Last year Victoire somehow got her hands on an incredible dragon skin jacket, which their dad didn't take off for two whole weeks, while Dominique's gift (a personalized picture frame with little dragons flying along the edges) was left on the shelf, forgotten. The year before, she bought him Wasps VS Tornadoes tickets. The one prior to that, it was a bottle of rare Elderflower wine.
But this... this would be Dominique's year. This time, she would be the one that made her dad smile so brilliantly, his scars became almost invisible. She had poured her blood, sweat and tears into this recipe, and she had invented the perfect Rosemary Mint Shaving Cream! Her father liked being clean-shaven, and her mother loved mint, so it was an ideal gift!
With the cauldron cleaned and the jar in her hands, Dominique almost skipped down the stairs of Shell Cottage, intent on waiting for her dad to return from work and surprise him with her gift, before Victoire or Louis had the chance to overshadow her again. But before she could even reach the bottom of the stairs, she ran into her elder sister.
"Dominique!" Victoire gasped. "Is that my sweater?"
Dominique looked down at the periwinkle blue pullover she was wearing. "I'm just borrowing it. What's the big deal?"
"The big deal, you brat, is that you went in my room and just took my things without permission!" Victoire exploded. "How many times have I told you not to touch my stuff? Take it off!"
The older girl gripped the edge of the sweater and pulled, while Dominique struggled to keep her balance.
"Victoire, let go!"
"I said take it off, you thief!"
"Get your hands off me!"
"Give it back!"
"No, don't, you'll rip–"
CRASH!
The jar with shaving cream shattered as it hit the ground, tiny pieces of glass scattered to the floor and the white paste smeared on the carpet. The two sisters were momentarily frozen in place, and Dominique's eyes were wide with horror, as she watched the fruit of all of her hard labor stain her mother's rug.
"Dom, I'm so–"
But she didn't wait for her sister to finish, as anger flared up inside her and she drew her wand from the back pocket of her jeans. Suddenly, small green bats flew out of Victoire's nose, swarming around and attacking her. She shrieked like a banshee and waved her arms around frantically, trying to beat them away, but they just kept coming.
"What is going on 'ere?"
The bat-bogeys dissipated into gold dust and faded away, revealing the girls' very angry mother, eyes blazing and nostrils flaring.
Dominique and Victoire exchanged guilty looks. Victoire was sporting a few scratches and cuts on her face and hands, while Dominique's hair was like a bird's nest and the periwinkle sweater was twisted around and hung awkwardly from her frame. Then suddenly they both erupted with explanations.
"Mum, she went into my room–"
"–she pulled it right off and my jar–"
"–and then she hexed me and–"
"–I worked so hard, and she's so petty–"
"–I told her not to touch my things a thousand times–"
"Enough!" their mother shouted, silencing them both. "Victoire, explain."
"I was going up to my room and I saw she had stolen my sweater–"
"I was just borrowing it!" Dominique exclaimed. Her mother threw her a glare and she shut up.
"So then I tried to make her take it off and she hexed me!"
"She made me drop my jar of–"
"Dominique! Go to your room!"
"But Mum, she broke–"
"I said, room! Aller!" her mother snapped, and Dominique stared at her angrily for a few seconds, before turning on her heel and storming up the stairs, slamming the door to her room behind her.
oOo
Fifteen minutes later, Dominique lay on her stomach in her bed, head buried in the pillow. Why did it always happen to her? Why couldn't she do anything right? Why did Victoire have to be so petty? Why, why, why?
A soft knock brought her out of her thoughts, but she didn't respond. The door creaked and someone's footsteps echoed through the floor. The springs of her bed squeaked as that someone sat on it.
"I'm sorry, okay?" the rather annoyed voice of her sister sounded behind her. "I didn't mean to break your stupid jar."
Dominique snorted derisively without even bothering to look up.
"Would you stop being such a brat and just accept my apology already?" Victoire snapped, causing her to shoot up and cry in indignation,
"I'm the brat? You tried to literally take the clothes off my back!"
"Those clothes weren't yours to begin with!" her sister yelled back. "This wasn't all my fault, so grow up for once and admit you were to blame for it too!"
"Stop treating me like I'm inferior!" Dominique exploded. "I'm not a little kid anymore!"
"Then stop acting like one! You have no idea how exhausting it is to constantly clean up after you and Louis!"
"Oh, woe is you; it must be so hard being perfect all the time!" Dominique said scathingly. "I wonder what's worse, being a magical prodigy or having a bloody fanclub devoted to you."
"I am not effortlessly good at magic, you know!" Victoire puffed indignantly. "I have to work hard for every O I get! I'll have you know that I practiced the Veraverto spell until I couldn't see straight and Teddy had to take me back to the common room. I spend my time at Hogwarts in the Library, unlike you and Louis. How many parties did you have in Gryffindor instead of studying for your O.W.L.s next year?"
Dominique gaped at her sister, momentarily stunned to learn she wasn't just innately excellent at everything.
"And I never asked for that fanclub," Victoire continued, suddenly sounding quite glum and looking down at her hands. "I'm a little freaked out by them, if you want to know the truth. I can't... relax around strangers the way you can. And now they're calling me 'The Ravenclaw Ice Queen,' and honestly, it's beginning to affect me. I envy how carefree you are sometimes, how you don't let what other people say get to you, but I'm just... not like that."
Dominique's anger seeped away, and she unexpectedly felt like hugging her sister and comforting her. Her hand rose just a little, before she thought better of it and lowered it again.
"I envy you too," she said quietly. "You're just so damn amazing all the time, and when you constantly show off to mum and dad, it makes me feel like I'm nothing, compared to you. You're popular and smart, and I'm just... mediocre. At everything."
Victoire looked up and studied her for a long minute.
"When I show our parents a new spell, it's because I'm so happy to have finally mastered it," she said slowly. "I didn't realize it made you feel inferior. I'm sorry."
"... I'm sorry too. For taking your sweater. And for the Bat-Bogey Hex." Dominique smiled slightly. "And... I can help you be more... friendly. If you want."
Victoire returned the smile. "I think I'd like that. And I can help you with any schoolwork you have. Though judging by that hex, you're pretty good already."
The two girls chuckled, and after a bit of hesitation, Victoire drew her sister into a gentle hug. Dominique inhaled her sweet rose perfume, and her hand rose again, this time wrapping itself around the other girl's waist.