Screams
Dorcas was fuming with anger, and it was all because of that egotistical buffoon. When she heard from Pandora and Regulus that Sirius had talked to Regulus, despite her explicit instructions not to, she nearly stormed straight to Gryffindor Tower to murder him herself.
She was also mad at herself. She had an embarrassing crush on that stupid Gryffindor, Marlene McKinnon. But she simply couldn’t like any of Sirius' friends (even though Regulus repeatedly told her it was okay). It was the same with Pandora; she refused to like Lily, since she was friends with Sirius.
So, add Marlene McKinnon to the list of people she was mad/wanted to murder at today.
"Miss Meadowes, this is your third time being late to my class. You will have to receive detention tonight."
Professor Slughorn just made it onto her list.
Sitting in the back of the classroom, which fortunately wasn't with the Gryffindors—otherwise, she might have gotten way more than one detention— Dorcas absent-mindedly scribbled down notes. In the back of her mind, she reminded herself why she hated Sirius.
Sirius not only abandoned her best friend but also made Regulus so upset. The worst was last year when he said he wanted to—
Nope, not going to think about that.
The rest of the day went by as per usual: boring, boring, and more boring. Well, up until lunch.
Dorcas had made the executive decision to leave the Great Hall after a delightful conversation with the boys. Pandora wasn't there at the moment, so it was just Dorcas and, as she liked to call them, the crazy one, the emo one, and the forgettable one. They were talking about the guys they have snogged (she was surprised that Regulus actually participated in that conversation). Yeah, she was too sober for those three idiots.
Walking out of the hall, she felt herself calm down a bit.
That calm disappeared the minute she saw Sirius and his friends. Marlene was there too, which was just great. So were Mary, Lily, James, Peter, and Remus. But Dorcas didn't have them on her hatred list right now, so they didn't matter.
What mattered now was how her anger returned and she was about to do something stupid.
Before she could register what she was doing, she pulled out her wand and charged towards the group.
Immediately, she put her wand to a stunned Sirius Black’s throat.
"What—"
"I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM HIM."
She didn't care that his entire friend group was staring at her rage. She didn't care that if Regulus found out she was yelling at Sirius, he would be upset. She didn't care that she was lowering her chances with Marlene. She just cared about how this man hurt her best friend.
"Meadowes, maybe you shouldn't—" Lily Evans tried to speak, but Dorcas cut her off.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO HURT HIM, OR ARE YOU JUST REALLY IGNORANT?" shouted Dorcas. She could see the hurt in Sirius' face, which made her feel much better.
"I'm sorry, but he's my brother and I—I want to make amends," Sirius' voice was small and weak.
"I'M GOING TO SAY THIS ONE LAST TIME. STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM HIM." Dorcas saw the faces of the group. She was never good at reading expressions, but she could clearly see the shock in them. She lowered her wand and glared at Sirius intensely.
"You can't make decisions for Regulus," Remus said, glaring at Dorcas. She scoffed, ready to shout again.
Then Dorcas felt a hand on her shoulder. She was about to scream at the person touching her too, but she turned her head to see it was her blonde best friend. Pandora's presence made her calm down instantly, nobody could yell at or around Pandora, she was the embodiment of happiness.
"Pan—I was just—"
"I know, I heard."
Pandora turned towards the group and gave them a kind smile.
"I was defending Regulus," Dorcas felt the need to defend her actions. Even though it was clear that Sirius deserved to be yelled at.
"Regulus wouldn't be very happy if he found out about this," Pandora muttered, and Dorcas rolled her eyes.
"Regulus is never happy," she retorted, and Pandora sighed.
"I'm sorry about the shouting, but please just stay away from Reg." Pandora's voice was kind and earnest. It was truthful and honest—one that they were more likely to listen to, more than the shouting at least.
Sirius looked hurt, confused, and stunned, like his best friend had just stabbed him in the back.
"Farewell," Pandora smiled and grabbed Dorcas' hand lightly, guiding her away from the others.
The two walked in silence for a while, occasionally glancing at one another until they made it to an empty hallway.
"Dorcas—"
"Pandora, I'm sorry, I had to. You know what he did to Re—"
Her words were cut off when she was pulled into a hug. "Stop worrying so much," she heard Pandora whisper. Dorcas reciprocated and hugged her back, a tear falling from her eye.
---
Dorcas had calmed down after her little "Hulk moment." Unfortunately, the universe still found that her debt wasn't paid off enough because when she showed up to detention that night, she saw the four people she wanted to see the least.
They barely glanced at one another as she waited for the professor to come and save her from this awkward silence.
She wondered for a moment about what her friends would be doing right now. Wait, weren't Regulus and Barty supposed to be working on their project with Sirius and James?
She looked at the two boys and was secretly grateful, seeing as though this meant Regulus didn't have to see his brother.
His brother, who by the way, looked awfully upset. Dorcas shouldn't be happy to see this, but maybe she kind of was. Sirius hurt Regulus, and Dorcas hated that. Hated him.
Even if Sirius might be, as he said, "trying to make amends," he still hurt Regulus.
Speaking of Regulus, the grumpy little man just walked into the room with Professor Slughorn.
"Oh, Mr. Black, you are truly a delight," Slughorn smiled fondly. It was so painfully obvious that Regulus (and Lily Evans, for that matter) was his favorite student. "You better come to the next Slug Club meeting, my dear boy," he added, and Regulus gave him a nod and a clearly fake smile.
"You two can make up detention another time. For now, you need to do your potions project," he pointed towards Sirius and James. Dorcas was somehow both impressed and offended.
Regulus' eyes landed on Dorcas, and he gave her a small smile and a nod. She smiled back, however fakely.
Barty and Evan found out what Dorcas did; Regulus, however, had no clue. He was in the dark, and she intended to keep it that way.