Dorcas Meadows was in love with Sirius Black.
That was the only reasonable explanation as to why she was so obsessed with him.
If she really thought about it, it could be true. He was funny, outgoing, charming, and beautiful. So many people at Hogwarts liked him; it wouldn’t be strange for her to like him too.
What would be strange would be the idea that she liked one of his close friends, Marlene.
Marlene and Sirius were a lot alike but she didn’t see Marlene in that way. She just didn’t.
Dorcas and Marlene were friends. They would say hi to each other in the halls and maybe sit next to each other in class once and a while.
And the fluttery feeling Dorcas got in her stomach when that happened…totally didn’t mean anything.
So in conclusion, Dorcas was in love with Sirius Black, not Marlene McKinnon.
——
Dorcas was an observer. She noticed things. She liked to know things about people even if she didn’t talk to them.
Which explains why she knows everything about Marlene Mckinnon.
Everyone thinks she’s English, but she was actually born in Ireland. Anytime someone says they can’t understand her accent, she purposely makes it stronger just to piss them off.
She only tried out for Quidditch because James didn’t want to go alone, but then she fell in love with it. And, don’t tell James, but Marlene is definitely the best on the Gryffindor team.
She isn’t a natural blond, but don’t let her hear you say that.
Her favorite class is D.A.D.A. but she’s the best at potions.
She grew up being neighbors with James, and they’ve been best friends since the first time they met.
At first she hated Lily Evans. She thought she was too preppy and perfect. But she knew she was wrong when in first year she saw Lily punch a 5th year boy for calling her a mudblood. They’ve been best friends ever since.
She hates pumpkin juice and loves muggle music. She even has a poster of Stevie Nicks next to her bed.
She has 7 piercings in total. Three on her left ear. Two on her right. One nose and one belly button piercing.
Her and Sirius have matching leather jackets that they both hate taking off.
She tells everyone that favorite color is red (Gryffindor pride), but her real favorite color is dark blue. She once told James that it’s her good luck charm and that good things always happen when she wears dark blue clothing, but that’s not really true. Good things always happen when she wears it because dark blue is the color she feels most confident in. And if there’s one thing Dorcas is sure she knows about Marlene it’s that she is happiest when she feels confident. Which is why Dorcas loves when Marlene wears dark blue. Because she feels happy in it! It’s totally not because of how the color makes her eyes shine in the most enchanting way. Totally!
But Dorcas only knows these things because she's an observer. And ok, she doesn’t know this much detail about anyone except for Marlene, but it doesn’t mean anything.
Because they're just friends and Marlene is straight. She is!
——
Dorcas truly believed this. She did!
Up until 6th year when she saw Marlene making out with the Ravenclaw seeker.
The female Ravenclaw seeker.
A wave of emotions went through Dorcas. She just didn’t understand what was happening! Why did she feel jealous? She doesn’t like Marlene. And just because Marlene is not straight and is making out with a girl, doesn’t mean anything!
Dorcas paused, standing in an empty hallway.
Oh.
That’s when she finally figured it out. She wanted to be the girl Marlene was kissing, because she liked Marlene Mckinnon.
Shit.
——
It seems that ever since Dorcas realized she liked Marlene, they were always near each other.
Whenever Dorcas went to the dining hall, Marlene would be there.
Whenever Dorcas got to class early to make sure she got a seat away from the other Gryffindor’s, Marlene would abandon her normal group of friends and instead sit with Dorcas.
When they would pass each other in the halls, Marlene would always smirk and say ‘Hi Dorcas.’ This caused Dorcas to blush and mumble something under her breath while walking away.
She was everywhere. It’s like she somehow knew about Dorcas’s feelings. But she couldn’t! Dorcad was hiding her feelings so well.
——
“She has to know I know. She makes it so obvious!” Marlene said with her head in her hands.
“I mean, you're not subtle either, Marlene. Making out with the Ravenclaw seeker that happens to look exactly like Dorcas right in front of her? That’s a little sad.” Sirius said with a look of fake pity on his face.
“It’s more than a little sad.” Remus said not looking up from the book he was reading.
“Well, I’m sorry that not everyone has the same beautiful, romantic love story that you two have.” Marlene rolled her eyes.
“Oh but you could! If you would stop being such a coward and actually tell Dorcas about your feelings for her that you know she returns, you would be able to be in a relationship that is almost as good as mine and Mooney’s. I just don’t understand. You’ve never had this problem before, what’s different?”
“It’s Dorcas! She’s everything, and I can’t risk anything with her. She’s too important to me, and I don’t even know if she, like, knows about herself.” Marlene stuttered.
Sirius and Remus both look up.
“What?”
Marlene groans.
“Uhh. I don’t know! Like, what if she’s not ready. What if she doesn’t want to hold hands or kiss or do other couple stuff in public? I don’t want to rush her when I don’t even know if she’s out yet.”
Sirius and Remus’s looks of confusion turn into ones of understanding. This is one thing only they can understand.
“Marlene, your worries are totally valid, but they could be completely wrong. You don’t know how Dorcas feels because you haven’t talked to her yet. You don’t need to rush her, just talk.” Remus says with a smile.
“Yeah, and if you think she’s getting overwhelmed or anything, just pause the conversation and talk about quidditch or something. There’s no rush. Just get the conversation started, you’ll feel a lot better.”
“Ugh. You’re right.” Marlene rolled her head back. Already thinking about the best time to talk to Dorcas.
“We always are.” Sirius said, planting a longer than necessary kiss on his boyfriend's lips.
“Nevermind, you two suck.”
“Well, I certainly do. Remus, on the other hand, has been lacking recently.” Sirius said with a pointed look towards his boyfriend.
“Do you want to go change that?” Remus smirked.
“Please stop.” Marlene said with a disgusted look on her face.
“Bye Marlene!” Sirius pulled Remus away with a smirk.
“Why am I friends with them?” Marlene muttered.
——
Dorcas was sitting by the black lake sketching in her notebook when said person she was sketching sat down next to her.
“Marlene, hi!” Dorcas quickly closed her notebook and shoved it under her legs.
“Hi, Dorcas! I didn’t interrupt, did I? I can come back later if nows not a good time?”
“No! No, now’s a good time. What’s up?”
“Oh, well, I just wanted to talk.” Marlene cleared her throat and fiddled with her hands.
In all the observing Dorcas did of Marlene, she rarely saw her nervous.
“Ok! Uh, about what?” Dorcas smiled, hoping to ease Marlene. She wasn’t used to Marlene being the nervous one of the two of them.
“Us.” Dorcas froze.
“Or well, a future us. Like a future us together. But only if you want, I mean I don’t want to assume anything. And if anything, this could totally be me projecting my feelings onto you, but I think maybe you like me back, and I figured, if there’s even a chance I should take it and I just really, really like you but I don’t want to push you into something you don’t want or aren’t ready for so please don’t hesitate to be completely honest with me. And, oh my god, I’m still talking. I’m sorry, I’m just gonna shut up now.” Marlene panted, out of breath from her speech.
“It’s fine.” Was the only thing Dorcas could stagger out, her mind swirling.
“No it’s not. No one wants to hear me talk that much.” Marlene tried to joke.
“I do. I, um, really like your voice and just hearing you talk.”
Both Dorcas and Marlene blushed.
“And, I like you two. If you didn’t already get that.”
“Good. I mean more than good actually. That’s amazing.” Marlene smiled. Not a small smile, no, it was one of those smiles that took up someone’s whole face. The kind that brightened up an entire room.
“So do you want to go on a date sometime?” Dorcas asked.
“Yes! Yes! Is tomorrow too soon? We could go to Hogsmeade together, if you want?
“That sounds perfect! If I'm going to be honest, I’ve never really been on a date before, so I might not be the best planner.”
“Oh that’s fine I have it all planned out already.” Marlene didn’t stop smiling.
“Really, already?” Dorcas asked, surprised.
“Oh well, oh my god this is so embarrassing, but I’ve been planning dates with you since like 4th year. I just think about you all the time really, and I always end up daydreaming about what kind of dates we would go on and whatnot. It’s stupid.” Marlene said sheepishly.
Dorcas didn’t think she could fall more in love than she did at that moment.
“It’s not stupid. Actually, I would love to hear about what we’d do, if you want to tell me.”
“Oh well to start off I would pick you up at the Ravenclaw dorms and we’d walk down to Hogsmeade, holding hands the whole way. Then, we’d go to Tomes and Scrolls because you're almost out of pages in your notebook, so I’d buy you a new one and any other books you’d like. Then we’d go to Zonko's, cause it’s just across the street, and set off all the Dungbombs before running out. It's a little childish, but I’m a firm believer that everyone has to do it at least once. Oh! And then…”
As Marlene went on about the date she had planned out for them, Dorcas could feel herself relaxing and simply enjoying Marlene’s presence.
As she was laying in bed that night, Dorcas couldn’t stop thinking about the next day, when she and Marlene could actually do all of these things Marlene planned.
Especially the very last thing…the goodbye kiss.