Marlene fucking McKinnon
“Dorcas Meadowes, Triwizard champion! I can’t believe it!” Pandora laughed, Once Dorcas had returned to the dorm after a brief champion meeting.
Dorcas laughed with her. She almost couldn’t believe it herself. A Triwizard champion! Her!
She spent a good twenty minutes sitting on the floor with her back up against Regulus’ bed, just repeating to herself that she was a Triwizard champion, it didn’t seem real at all.
While she did this she could vaguely hear her friends debating if they should go to the Gryffindor Halloween party. In the end they decided to stay in for Halloween.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Barty started to talk.
“I’m happy for you and all Cas but,” Barty groaned, “I wish I could compete.”
“Blame your father,” Evan chuckled.
“I blame my father for everything,” Barty replied, not sparing Evan a glance.
“Daddy issues.” Regulus muttered, turning the page of his book.
“Oh, you have something to say? Mister Can’t-do-anything-without-mummy’s-permission,” Barty quipped.
Regulus put his hands up in surrender, “In Barty’s defence, this is actually his dads fault this time.”
“Thank you Reggie, this is why you’re my favourite.”
Evan smacked him on the arm, “Oi!”
Barty cupped Evan’s face, “I love you and everything Rosey, but Reg is my favourite.”
“Oh piss off Crouch.”
Dorcas laughed along with the rest of her friends, the reality of the Tournament was coming down upon her. Three tasks. Three tasks that she had to work with Marlene McKinnon for.
Marlene McKinnon who despises her.
Marlene McKinnon who Dorcas may or may not have a low to mid level crush on.
“We need to talk about the more pressing issue at hand.” Pandora piped up.
Dorcas looked up at her from the floor, “And what would that be Dora?”
“Maybe the fact that the other Hogwarts champion is McKinnon? The same Marlene McKinnon who you have a crush on? The same McKinnon who hates you?”
Dorcas really hates how well her friends know her. She hates how well Pandora can read her. It makes her feel like a scrap of parchment with half finished notes written on it.
“Let me worry about that Dora.” Dorcas sighed.
Pandora and all of her friends could worry about her all they wanted. But it was now Dorcas’ job to worry about Marlene McKinnon.
———————————
The next morning Dorcas walked her friends to class. As a seventh year she was granted extra free class periods.
Was she supposed to use this time to study? Yes, yes she was.
Was Dorcas going to? Maybe but definitely not right now.
Dorcas was walking and chatting with Regulus when she was waved down by a teenager in a Beauxbatons uniform. As they got closer Dorcas realised two things.
The student was waving down Regulus, not Dorcas and that this particular Beauxbatons student just happened to be one of the champions for Beauxbatons. Dorcas knew her name was Cécile.
“Hé Regulus!” she called.
“Bonjour.” Regulus replied.
“Tu es Cécile, la Beauxbâtons championne, ouais?” Dorcas said.
“Ouais! Et tu es Dorcas?”
Regulus raised his eyebrows at her, “You speak French?” He asked.
“Ouais, je parle Français.” Dorcas replied.
“Nous devons partir maintenant,” Regulus said.
Cécile turned flipping her brown hair over her shoulder,”D'accord, à bientôt.”
They walked in silence for a couple minutes. Silence with Regulus was never uncomfortable, as a fellow introvert like Dorcas. So he knew that sometimes it was better not to talk.
Regulus and Dorcas could spend hours sitting in silence together and never get bored.
“So where did you learn French?” Regulus broke the silence.
“One summer when I was ten I got really bored and decided to take my boredom out on the family library,” Dorcas said, “where’d you learn?”
“C'est une tradition de ma famille.” He said grimly.
Dorcas laughed, “Right ‘Toujour Pur’ and all that bull.”
Regulus hummed, then he suddenly bristled, eyes going wide. He promptly turned on his heel
“Regulus?” Dorcas turned towards Regulus’ back.
He waved his hand, “I’m going to take the long way!” Regulus yelled over his shoulder.
Well that was weird, thought Dorcas until she turned to see what had gotten Regulus so riled.
Standing at the end of the corridor was Regulus’ brother Sirius, James Potter and fucking McKinnon.
Then Dorcas thought, that’s still weird, as far as Dorcas could tell Regulus and Sirius were okay. Well maybe okay wasn’t the right word, but they certainly weren’t fighting.
So what’s got Reg all riled?
Dorcas continued to walk down the corridor alone, she watched the group as she got closer.
Potter and McKinnon were dressed in their Hogwarts uniforms unlike Sirius who was dressed like a muggle, He had on a worn leather jacket along with flared jeans and a T-shirt with a muggle band Dorcas didn’t recognize on it.
The trio seemed to be arguing about something. Sirius was holding a small piece of paper, McKinnon was pointing at it and saying something, Potter was shaking his head at her.
McKinnon snatched the parchment out of Sirius’ hands, Potter scrambled to get the paper from her.
Dorcas decided that this would be the best time to approach McKinnon with her plan on how they were going to do the tournament.
“Oi McKinnon!” Dorcas called as she reached the end of the corridor where the group was standing.
Marlene frowned at her, Dorcas’ stomach the little traitor tied itself into several knots.
“What do you want, Meadowes?”
“We need to talk about our plan for the first task.”
Potter tugged the parchment out of McKinnon's hands, He had his sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Dorcas noticed a tattoo on his wrist as he pulled the parchment out of McKinnon's hand. The tattoo was of antlers, it was a dark inky black against the rich brown of Potters skin, the tattoo circled his wrist like a bracelet.
I wonder what it means Dorcas thought as Potter and Sirius walked away, then she reminded herself that she doesn’t give a damn about McKinnon or her friends.
“We don’t know what the task is, Meadowes,” she said plainly.
Dorcas frowned, McKinnon rolled her eyes at her. Her eyeliner was smudged, as though she had slept in it.
“We could still study for it-“ Dorcas began.
McKinnon cut her off, “How? How do we study for something when we don’t know what it is?”
“Well, historically the first task of the Triwizard Tournament is a beast fight of some kind.” Dorcas said.
“So we’ll have to fight a dragon or something?” McKinnon scoffed.
“Maybe,” Dorcas said thoughtfully.
———————————
In the end McKinnon came with Dorcas to the library.
They sat in uncomfortable silence as Dorcas flipped through a book on past Triwizard Tournaments, McKinnon sat staring at Dorcas. It’s unclear if McKinnon is just trying to annoy her or if she actually wants to say something. It’s bothering her, it’s funny really Dorcas spent the whole of fifth year wishing McKinnon would look at her. Then most of sixth year wishing McKinnon would drop off the face of the earth.
Now Dorcas is unsure what she wants from McKinnon.
It can’t be good, whatever it is, she thought.
McKinnon broke the silence,”Why aren’t you in class?” She asked.
“Why aren’t you?” Dorcas retorted.
“I have a free period,” McKinnon replied.
“Then there’s your answer, McKinnon.”
More silence followed only broken by Dorcas flipping pages. She flat out refused to look at McKinnon, but Dorcas could feel McKinnon staring at her. McKinnon was staring at her with those huge brown eyes.
Dorcas couldn’t take it anymore, she brushed one of her braids out of her face then said, “spit it out McKinnon.”
“What do you call me that?” She asked.
“What, McKinnon?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s your name isn't it?” Dorcas drawled.
“My name is Marlene,” McKinnon said.
“Your name is also McKinnon,” she replied.
“Dorcas,” McKinnon whined, “I want you to call me Marlene.”
Dorcas felt her face heat. Oh, Dorcas hated that. She hated the way McKinnon said her name, she hated the way her mouth formed the word, She hated the tone she’d used.
If McKinnon kept this up Dorcas was going to lose it and do something stupid.
“No I don’t think I will,” Dorcas said.
Dorcas hated Marlene McKinnon, just like how McKinnon hated her.
Because if Dorcas didn’t hate her, if she didn’t hate Marlene fucking McKinnon She might just end up loving her.
———————————
Unsurprisingly Dorcas’ group and McKinnons group didn’t intersect often. With them being in different houses and most of Dorcas’ group being in sixth year. Especially now when Regulus seemed to be trying extra hard not to be near anyone remotely related to Sirius and where Regulus goes the rest of the group follows. This meant that most of the time Dorcas had to make an effort to see McKinnon. Not that she wanted to see McKinnon. Ever.
But it was annoying that Dorcas couldn’t slip the fact that they need to study for the tournament into conversation. Because she and McKinnon didn’t have conversations. Any time Dorcas wanted to study with McKinnon, she had to hunt her down and practically drag her to the library.
But one afternoon McKinnon was complaining about how she wanted to actually learn some spells that would help them in the task.
Her and Dorcas were bickering about this when someone whisper-yelled McKinnon's name.
They both looked up to see James Potter stood half behind a bookcase. He started to wave McKinnon over. She got up and went to join Potter by the bookcase.
They talked in low whispers just out of earshot.
After a few minutes McKinnon came back to the table.
“What was that about?” Asked Dorcas.
“I know what the first task is.”