Secret Message
Regulus sighed heavily as he finished packing up his belongings to go home for winter break. There wasn't much he had to pack. Regulus knew that he couldn't bring most of his stuff home with him since even daring to bring home something that reminded his mother and father of Sirius would end in said item being used as kindling for the fireplace. Because of this Regulus only packed a small bag with a few books to read (only classics that were written by pure blood wizards other wise the books would meet a fiery demise the moment he stepped through the threshold of the house), his wand though he knew it wouldn't do him any good where he was going, and a few plain T-shirts to wear. Regulus took a deep breath in as he fixed his hair and the collar of his shirt. After fixing his collar his hand traced the chain he had around his neck and he gently grasped the necklace James had given him as something to remember him by. It was a simple necklace, in fact it wasn't much of a necklace at all. It was simply a guitar pick that James had punched a hole into and put on a chain, but it held a great deal of sentimental value to Regulus. I was a guitar pick with the word ABBA scrawled across it. James had chosen it not only because of his infatuation with a band but also because of the song that was playing when they had shared their first kiss. Regulus closed his eyes and thought back to that moment. He remembered how James had played the song for him and how he wasn't scared to sing along to every word even though he was a really shitty singer just to try to make Regulus smile. He remembered how James agreed to keep it a secret from Sirius even though not telling him was killing him.
Suddenly the door swung open, snapping Regulus out of his trance-like state. "Come on mate, the train's gonna leave without you if you don't hurry up." Barty said softly. Regulus looked at Barty and then back at the necklace. "I know it's hard Reggie but if you don't go home you may not ever be allowed back here." Barty said in a somber tone, stepping towards Regulus slowly. Regulus smiled at the necklace softly before reaching around his neck and taking it off, gently laying it down on top of his dresser. "Come on, let's not be late." Regulus said to Barty, giving him a fake smile. "Are you sure you wanna leave that here?" Barty asked. "Ya, If I take it with it'll just end up in the fireplace." Regulus said simply as he threw his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the dorm room.
-A few minutes later, on the train-
Since Regulus had received the letter from his parents all communication between Regulus and James or Regulus and Sirius was pasted in the form of letters through Dorcas and Marlene. Using them as the go betweens was perfect because not only did the pair talk all the time making it appear normal that they would be passing notes to each other but it also came with the added bonus of forcing the pair to hang out more so that hopefully they would finally realize their feelings for one another which were apparently obvious to everyone but them. Regulus handed Dorcas two letters underneath the table so that no one would see. Regulus didn't want to take any unnecessary risks, he knew that his parents probably had a few people watching him to make sure he wasn't talking to Sirius or James. Walburga and Orion didn't make threats they couldn't follow through on. After a few minutes Dorcas stood up and left the train car to go deliver the notes to Marlene.
Dorcas quickly made her way to the cabin that Marlene, Mary, and Lily had settled into. Dorcas slid the door open and gave Marlene a look that let her know that she had another letter for her to deliver. "Can I steal Marls for a second?" Dorcas asked with a small smirk on her face. Lily looked between the two with a knowing look before saying "I guess you can steal her." "I'll be back in a few minutes." Marlene said as she stood up and began walking to the door of the train car. "A few minutes?! What do you need all that time for? Aren't you just gonna talk to her?" Lily said in a suggestive tone. Marlene simply rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her.
Dorcas and Marlene began walking down the hallway talking as they walked. Eventually the pair made it to the end hall where there was a small wooden door leading to the ladies bathroom. "We should probably hand it off in there just to make sure no one sees." Dorcas whispered. "Ya, that's a good idea." Marlene whispered back as Dorcas opened the door and walked into the bathroom without anyone seeing her. Marlene quickly followed suit.
"Here you go." Dorcas said, handing the letters to Marlene. "Thanks, I'll go give these to him." Marlene said, reaching for the door. "Wait," Dorcas said, grabbing Marlene by the wrist before her hand made it to the door knob. "Sorry," she said, letting go of Marlene's wrist, "It's just... I want to hang out with you more. I mean we do talk sometimes but I feel like we never get the chance to just hang out together." Dorcas said nervously. "That does kinda make sense, I mean we are in different houses and we don't really have any classes together, but ya I wish we could hang out more too." Marlene said with a small smile on her face. "Ok, I'll let you deliver that letter now." Dorcas said, reaching for the door knob. Marlene felt a sense of frustration wash over her. She didn't quite know why. All she knew was that she didn't want Dorcas to leave. Without thinking Marlene grabbed Dorcas's face and kissed her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I don't know what came over me." Marlene said frantically. "I'm so so sorry!" Marlene said. "Don't be." Dorcas said simply before kissing Marlene.
A few minutes later the pair exited the bathroom and parted ways. Marlene quickly made he way to the train car that James, Peter, Remus, and Sirius had claimed and slid the door open closing it behind her and closing the blinds to the glass door. "Here are your letters." Marlene said as she handed the letters to James and Sirius. "Did Dorcas just give these to you?" Sirius asked. "Ya, why?" Marlene said with a confused look on her face. "And you two just exchanged the letters, you didn't do anything else?" Sirius asked suggestively. "What? Of course we didn't do anything else! We just handed off the letters." Marlene said firmly. "Alright! Fine I totally believe you." Sirius said with a smirk on his face. Marlene rolled her eyes at that comment. "It's none of your business anyway. You guys are lucky I'm even doing this for you in the first place!" Marlene said in an angry tone. "You're right Marlene. Thank you." James said sincerely. "Well, you're welcome!" Marlene said before storming out of the train car and walking back to hers.
When she sat down next to Lily she could tell that Lily was about to start giving her a hard time just like Sirius did. "So, how was your talk with Dorcas?" Lily asked with a sly smile on her face. "Oh My God! Why do you have to make everything romantic?! Me and Dorcas are just friends, strictly platonic friends! Why can't you get that through your thick skull?!" Marlene yelled. "Jesus Christ! So hostile! Hey Mary, what color lipstick was Dorcas wearing when she came in here?" Lily asked. "Black." Mary said happily knowing exactly where this conversation was going. "Why are you so interested in her lipstick?" Marlene asked. "Oh, no reason. On a completely unrelated note would you mind looking into this mirror for me?" Lily said, pulling out a small compact mirror from her purse and holding it up to Marlene's face. When Marlene looked into the mirror she saw Dorcas's black lipstick all over her mouth.