Everyone But You Pt.2
If there was one thing Marlene hated, it was being left out. She would often hangout with the boys in her neighbourhood, not for any particular reason, but most of the children were boys. It was always fun, playing games and bickering with them, until they began to grow distant. Because when you were about to enter your teens and you were a boy, hanging out with a girl who wasn’t exactly popular, you got made fun of. And who would ever want that? Things changed when Marlene’s family moved to London. They’d always visited, and Marlene always hung out with James and Peter throughout her childhood, but now that would be permanent. She lived in London with the only two people who would never make her feel like an outsider. Yet, for some reason, that had all changed. Because James and Peter were going to a party and it wasn’t just some little party like they’d said it would be. It was the first ever Slytherin party to be held since the start of the year. And it was hosted by Dorcas Meadowes.
“Mary told you?” Peter asked.
“Yeah, while we were getting ready this morning, she asked me if I was going.”
Both James and Peter looked guilty, but James spoke up first. “It’s hosted by Dorcas, Marlene.”
“Exactly! This could be our chance to make up and team up against Rita!”
“I don’t think Dorcas wants to team up with you,” Peter said. “I think she wants to team up with Rita.”
Marlene’s face fell. “Why?” Was she really as unfriendly as people said she was?
“I’m not sure. But hey, if you’re not going, I’m not either.”
James sat up. “Same here.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh please, you were already planning to go. Besides, you have Regulus.”
“Reggie would much prefer to be in my dorm, anyway. It’s fine.”
Marlene thought. If she let the party happen without her, maybe the issue would pass and Dorcas would make an agreement with Rita to clear up both of their names. Or Dorcas would make an agreement with Rita to clear up her own name and taint Marlene’s even more. Besides, if the people of Hogwarts were so ready to believe Marlene was trouble, they would be ready for Marlene actually being trouble. People hate their own creations, Marlene thought with some spite.
She stood up on Peter’s bed, almost falling onto the tangle of sheets. “I’m going.”
“Are your feet even clean?” Peter asked with a sigh. She gave him a flat expression. “Sorry, sorry. Well, we’re going with you. And we won’t let anything ruin our fun.”
“Yep,” James agreed. “But are your feet clean, Marls?”
She jumped down from the bed, not because of the two boys, but because James had a hot mum who would hate it if Marlene stood on someone’s bed like that. She’d make sure to have fun at the party, and, even better, make sure everyone was on her side.
top tier Hogwarts students
bowie stan (realest of the realest of the real of the realer)
now now
ladies nd gents
friends and fies
outifit plkans?
dancing queen
ok so
I was thinking of either the red dress Marls gave me orrrr the sparkly dress my mum bought me
whuch oneeee
lebanese
spsrkle spardklw for sureeewee
red ress is more date nught
emolia bones
who’s going btw
bowie stan (realest of the realest of the real of the realer)
all of usd but you’re foing no matter what so stfu
emolia bones
oh but will I? Is it written in the stars?
swiftie no.2
What’s written in the stars is that we avenge Marls’s name
lebanese
crazy how you say tgat afrer not telling me
swiftie no.2
I’M SORRY YK HOW I AM ABT KEEPING PPL’S SECRETS
lebanese
dw abt it now
all we nesd to worry abt now is goving cunt at the party
peter piper has no peppers
what if I have no cunt to give ☹️
lebanese
dont be sillky, u have plenty
bowie stan (realest of the realest of the real of the realer)
uh guys
reggie the eggie texcted me
he asdked if marls is coming wgat do i do
swiftie no.2
WHY DIDN’T HE TEXT ME
bowie stan (realest of the realest of the real of the realer)
BECDAEUSE HE KNOEWSD HOE YOU ARE ABT PPL’S SECTETS
swiftie no.1
Genuine question
When are you ever going to stop it with the typos?
bowie stan (realest of the realest of the real of the realer)
idk i:m rlly strughling rn
swiftie no.1
Sending prayers 💞💞💞
bowie stan (realest of the realest of the real of the realer)
thx babe
lebanese
SIRIUS DO MIT TELL HER IM COMING
ISTGB SHE BETER BE SURPRISE PD AS HEKL
bowie stan (realest of the realest of the real of the realer)
YEAHS YEASH OKJAY THEB
swiftie no.1
Guys I think I’m running out of prayers
gays+a witch 🙂
no.1 basketball player
oh what’s that I hear?
my reputation can’t be fixed???
OBJECTION YOUR HONOUR
no.1 hozier fan
How I feel after watching Legally Blonde
no.1 curlyhead
I take it the party planning’s going well?
no.1 basketball player
Absolutely splendid
My life has reached its peak but this time I’m just gonna go in a straight line
Like
On the graph
Constant speed and I are inseparable
no.1 (bottle) blonde
I’MN SO PRUD
PIFD
PROIUD
PRID
I’ so sorfyr
no.1 basketball player
it’s okay
no.1 (bottle) blonde
k.
no.1 basketball player
<.
no.1 (bottle) blonde
petty 😭😭😭
i mesnt k!!!
no.1 basketball player
Mhm.
anyway!!!
Reggie
news on Mckinnon
no.1 curlyhead
As far as I know, she’s not coming
Heavy on that first part
no.1 basketball player
yeahyeah
who’s handling the drinks??? it’s the only part left unprepared
no.1 hozier fan
Why not let the partygoers handle it?
They’ll prob bring drinks anyway
no.1 basketball player
no way
I have to be the perfect host
perfect hosts give perfect alcohol
EMPHASIS ON GIVE
no.1 curlyhead
I know a guy
no.1 hozier fan
Ofc you’d say that without giving any context
Are we planning a party or is this a Sherlock Holmes typa situation?
no.1 (bottle) blonde
BBC versdiond?
no.1 hozier fan
The only version in my eyes
no.1 curlyhead
Well your vision must be fucked bc the books are sm better
Gayer, too, if you can really read the subtext
no.1 hozier fan
🤓
All that aside tho
Context?
no.1 curlyhead
Oh yeah.
I know another Slytherin who’d be willing to bring the drinks for us
He’s coming to the party anyway
no.1 basketball player
no
no guests bringing anything!!!
we need to provide everything
no.1 (bottle) blonde
but the ppl aft the sypres alwaysd ask me for my id and i akways forget to bring it
no.1 basketball player
alralr
I’ll bring it myself
no.1 curlyhead
Don’t go shopping just yet
I have questions to ask
no.1 basketball player
Go on.
no.1 curlyhead
Not you.
historians will say they were roommates
Reg
Do you happen to know an Evan Rosier?
Barts
I DO YS
ROSYYYYYY
wair why
Reg
Ok so can you bring some alcohol to Cas’s party?
Barts
wtf
whst kjnd of a thoujght chain is rhat
but yes
Reg
Thanks
Oh and two more things
Barts
yesssss?
Reg
Stop being so loud in our dorm
I’m practically living in Ev’s dorm
Sorry
Rosy’s*
And change the chat name
James has been complaining
Barts
and what if i siad no to both 🤭
Reg
I won’t tell you when I’m not coming to either of our family gatherings
You’ll be stuck there all by yourself
Barts has changed the chat name to ‘roomies :(‘
gays+a witch 🙂
no.1 curlyhead
I’m back
Drinks can be handled
no.1 basketball player
NO GUESTS BRINGING ANYTHING REGGIE
COME ON
no.1 curlyhead
Then don’t make him a guest
He can be one of the party planners
no.1 hozier fan
He has a point
no.1 basketball player
Fine.
I’ll make another gc for the party
💕💕💕
Reggie
I’m a mastermind
Jamesie
I’m sure you are, love
Wait but what’s the context???
Reggie
Huh
Second time that’s happened to me today
How repetitive
Jamesie
I don’t want to be even more repetitive but-
More context pls?
Reggie
I am Cupid’s descendant
Barty was sure he’d fall asleep right then and there, which should’ve been impossible because he was walking. The only thing that made it possible was that he was walking to class. The only thing that prevented it from happening was the head of bouncy, blond curls that he recognised as Rosy. Regulus had asked about him just as Barty was getting ready for class, and he wondered why. Then again, Regulus and Evan came from rich, French families, so it was safe to say they were, at the very least, acquaintances. Probably friends, now, since apparently, Regulus was staying in Evan’s dorm a lot. Still, why did Regulus ask? He didn’t seem too curious about matters like that.
”Hi, Rosy,” Barty said as soon as he caught up with Evan. The boy walked fast, but Barty used to run really fast to try impress his middle school crushes. That, of course, never worked, but it was the thought that counted. At least, to Barty it did.
Evan did the worst possible thing he could have ever done, that damned angel. He nodded. And smiled. His nod pissed Barty off. All he had done was be nice, and he got a nod? His smile pissed Barty off even more, because it was so forced and Barty already knew what his real smile looked like. Barty saw it when Evan was with Emmeline Vance or Barty had done something good, like making a joke, but that always dissipated quickly. What had he done? What did he do wrong? Did he push too far? They barely even talked unless they were in class. How would that ever happen?
People often got tired of Barty. He’d had many Evan-like situations before. But Evan was one of the few people who seemed to be patient with him, and now that was gone for no particular reason.
“Walking to class?” Barty asked, rather pathetically because they were already entering the building their class was held in.
Evan let out a short laugh, not really showing much of his smile. “No, just a basketball tournament.”
Barty smiled. The first basketball tournament of the year was still days away. He would know, because he was on the boys' team. He wondered if Evan knew that. He wondered if Regulus told him that. He wondered how much it would take for Evan to know Barty for him to leave. Even now, it seemed like he already had one foot out the door.
Once the two of them got to class, they sat together as usual, but Barty noted that Evan’s body was slightly turned away from him. Huh.
Professor Slughorn kept droning on about the research done on the human brain, ‘the significance of it,’ he liked to say. Barty struggled to keep his eyes open. Evan, on the other hand, was hunched over his notebook. Barty leaned backward, expecting to only inspect the boy’s handwriting and see how much he’d written, but all he saw were a bunch of flowers. They weren’t too intricate, but they weren’t necessarily simple, either. The petals were definitely curved on purpose, the tips pointy. The same exact type of flower was drawn all over the page, only in different sizes. In fact, there were other things drawn there, too. A wonky-looking brain, a hat, clouds and suns. In the bottom left corner of the page, though, was a badly drawn Professor Slughorn, with the words ‘blah blah blah’ written next to him.
“A very accurate portrait, that,” he whispered.
Evan turned his head towards Barty. His real smile peaked through. “I try.”
“Hang that up in the Louvre and you won’t even need to be here.”
“Assuming the Louvre would let me.”
“That’s a minor detail. Sneak in if you have to.”
“I’m pinning the blame on you if we get caught.”
Barty smirked. He had never said he’d come with Evan, even though he definitely would. Who was he to turn down an adventure? “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Mr. Rosier, I asked a question,” Professor Slughorn’s voice suddenly boomed across the room.
Evan’s head darted up. His nervous gaze turned to Barty for a while, but he must have realised the two of them were equally as clueless, because he turned back to the professor. “Pardon?”
Professor Slughorn sighed. “I suggest you pay more attention from now on, Mr. Rosier.”
Barty had to admit, Evan did a good job of keeping a straight, and possibly even happy face. But there was a slightly dimmed light in his eyes. Barty didn’t understand that. It was a little embarrassing, sure, but it wasn’t the end of the world.
Maybe he’s a scholarship student? Wait, no, he went to a boarding school.
Barty’s thoughts didn’t stop, but the two boys’ conversation certainly had.
“Would it kill you to hang the balloons just a little higher?” Evan asked James as Sirius jokingly wobbled the ladder he was on.
“If I fall off this ladder, it might.”
“You’ll be fine,” Sirius said with an eye roll.
“This is what happens when you get into a relationship before your brother,” Regulus sighed, shaking his head. “They always try to sabotage it.”
“Jealousy causes the greatest tragedies,” Dorcas joined in, carrying a box of things Evan was sure the party did not need. He wondered if Rita would even be impressed by all this.
“We should play Truth or Drink at the end of the party,” Emmeline suggested, squinting as she completely messed up her blue eyeshadow. If there was one thing Em struggled to do, it was eyeshadow.
“All the alcohol would be downed in the span of five seconds,” Evan scoffed, grinning with anticipation for the party as he scooted over to do Em’s eyeshadow for her. “If we have any left, that is.”
“Where is he, by the way?” Dorcas asked Regulus. “The alcohol guy?”
“Not sure,” Regulus shrugged. “I’ll check the group chat.”
“There’s a group chat?” Evan asked.
Everyone stared at him for a good minute. Pandora was the one who broke the silence.
“Ev, of course there’s a group chat. We already added you.”
Leave it him to never check his phone. He went on vacation one time and came back to more than a hundred messages and five people had been kicked out of the friend group. High school was harsh.
As he was stuck in his thoughts, a ping rang through the room from everyone’s phones.
Dorcas smiled. “Thank goodness.”
Evan had his phone on silent, but he assumed it was the alcohol guy’s text message in the group chat, which apparently, he was a part of. He opened the group chat which did in fact exist and looked at the newest messages.
Reginald
Are you coming?
Mf
Reginald
Dorcas just asked if you were coming
Where are you.
I will hunt you down.
I will find you.
I will gut you.
Bart Simpson
skrry
im omw
glt like ten pscks of beer
teqiila for gookd messure
all pscked up in the bsck
Reginald
The back?
Bart Simpson
of my sxcooter!!!
Bart. Where had Evan heard that name before? No, it wasn’t that name exactly. It was something similar. Barty. As if the universe had heard his thoughts and wanted to spite him, a knock came. James got up to open the door and there he was, in all his messy-hair-and-floppy-grin glory.
“I didn’t actually come here on a scooter, by the way,” he said with a short laugh.
“Must have been a bicycle, then,” Evan replied half-heartedly before the words could be shoved back down his throat.
Barty smiled, and Evan almost felt bad for having already planned to beat him to the top of their class.
“Marls, where’d my eyeliner go?” Mary questioned as she looked around frantically.
“I think I gave it to Sirius.” Mary glared. “To borrow, obviously. Don’t you have more?”
“Well, those aren’t exactly very special silver eyeliners, are they?”
Marlene rolled her eyes. “I have a red one you can borrow.” She bought it when she first found out she was in Gryffindor, but she rarely ever used it.
“Should I wear my red dress, then?” A nod. “Black or red heels?”
“Red.”
If only communication could be this easy with everyone. Then again, sometimes it was nice to storm into a party to cause trouble like the scorned bitch Marlene was. It’d be even better with Mary by her side, walking into the party wearing black heels, because the red ones were too worn down. If Dorcas Meadowes didn’t want to help each other, Marlene would just have to prioritise herself and leave her behind in the dust, along with Rita Skeeter. Marlene hoped the rumours disappeared along with them, fading into a cloud of debris as she drove away. Maybe if she drove fast enough, she could ignore the sting inside her chest every time she thought of the article. She’d cut corners and speed as much as she wished, but anyone who looked too closely would be able to notice her deflating tires. She didn’t belong. She needed to drive back to her house, even if it wasn’t home. Even if she thought Hogwarts would be the place she’d be able to fit in.
”What are you so in your head about?” Mary asked with a laugh. There was some concern stitched in the crook between her eyebrows, though, and Marlene appreciated it as much as she hated it.
She rolled her eyes. Annoyance often cleared out the sadness in her features. “Nothing. Don’t add too much blush. We’re going there to give cunt, not clown.”
That got a contour brush rightfully thrown at her back as she walked away to find her red eyeliner.
James and Peter came over a couple minutes later to help pick out Marlene’s outfit, the two of them bringing some of their own clothes just in case she liked any.
“No to the sun vest?” James asked with a frown.
Marlene shook her head in fake remorse. “No to the sun vest. Way too casual.”
Peter held out a tailored orange waistcoat. Marlene loved orange. “How about this?”
She thought. “Only problem is that it might be too big on me. Buttons, anyone?”
Mary raised her hand. “I’ve got buttons!”
A weird crowd of friends, they were.
The four of them spent half an hour sewing on extra buttons that were further to the side than the ones the waistcoat originally had, so the right side would be wrapping around the left instead of just connecting with it, making it tighter. By the end of the journey, Peter knew he wasn’t getting it back.
”Trousers or skirt?” Mary asked as James dug through Marlene’s closet for a long-sleeve shirt to wear underneath the waistcoat.
“Not sure. Peter? James?”
Peter said “trousers” the exact same time James said “skirt.” After five minutes of debating, Marlene settled on a skirt to make up for not choosing James’ sun vest. The boys were shooed out of the room, and when Marlene looked in the mirror after putting on the outfit, she knew she’d have the time of her life at the party. Because a good outfit should never be wasted on a bad night.
Barty felt in his element. The music was blaring and the lights were blinding, which was an obvious sign that life was good. He’d brought a ton of alcohol that James and Remus helped set up on the island of the kitchen. People were flooding in like ants, and after a bit of pre-gaming and way too many green lights, his head was a little numb. It was the most amazing feeling ever. He felt like he was on a cloud, floating through a sea of people. Assignments didn’t exist. University didn’t exist. His father didn’t exist. In fact, his father was buried deep in the ground, there for the insects to have him. The only victim of his venom were the plants soaking up his mistakes from the rotten soil, slowly killing themselves. In a perfect world, it’d all be true. In a perfect world, Barty Crouch Jr. was just Barty. Instead, the purest woman was in the place his father should have been. And how the flowers thrived off of it. Barty wanted to yank them out of the soil, to tell them to stop leeching off of her endless energy. She probably wouldn’t have liked that very much.
”Have you seen Rita?” Dorcas’s unusual voice woke him up from his daze. Most of the time, she sounded steady and calm. Like the still water of an untouched lake. Now, she sounded like the waves of the ocean crashing on a shore.
“Nope,” Barty replied, popping the ‘p’ sound. “Why?”
“I really need her help for something, that’s all. Tell her if you spot me, yeah?”
Dorcas dashed off as if she were on a mission, and Barty understood. He never really read the Hogwarts Newspaper, mainly because he thought it was lame, but a couple of his friends told him the drama of what happened. No wonder she was acting strange.
“You guys want anything?” Emmeline yelled over the music. Barty hadn’t seen much of her, but he knew she was close with Evan. In that moment, literally and figuratively; his arm was wrapped around her shoulders. “I’m gonna get another drink.”
“I’ll have the spiked punch,” Pandora yelled back, a little louder than necessary, which, normally, would have pissed Barty off, but it was okay because she was Pandora.
“Same here,” he said.
“Just some tequila,” Evan said before lifting his arm off of Emmeline to let her walk over to where the drinks were.
Pandora quickly left to sit next to Regulus, where James had been. The boy had run off to Sirius to try to convince him to play something ‘cute’ for him and Regulus to dance to. Barty wondered how he hadn’t been murdered yet.
“You’re a lightweight, aren’t you?” Evan asked as he tilted his head to the side. His curls were messy in a way that made Barty want to brush them off of his forehead. But that was likely the alcohol speaking.
“Definitely not.”
“Your cheeks are flushed, you liar.”
He grinned before his face fell. Emmeline had slid under Evan’s arm again, giving him a cup of tequila. Oh, and look at that, she had the punch for Barty, too. He looked over at where Pandora was, and she, too, had a cup. What a sweet girl. And Barty was far too petty to not take advantage of this opportunity - to see if he was really right.
“So, how long have you been together?” Barty asked in a sugary tone.
The two of them smirked, those bastards. They shared a look and Evan looked back at Barty. “Oh, for ages. It was love at first sight. We just clicked, y’know?”
Emmeline nodded frantically, her lips pouted. “We’re already talking about engagement, isn’t that exciting?! We wouldn’t have thought of it so quickly, except I got pregnant last month.” Evan shook his head in remorse. “It felt like such a shock, but this gentleman right here has been so helpful! I feel I can really focus on my education. My mum hates me for it, but can you blame me? Look at him. An absolute wonder. In bed, t-”
Evan nudged Emmeline. “I’m gay and she’s aroace. Don’t be so presumptuous. But, not to worry, we’ll be sure to name our baby after you.” He turned to Emmeline. “Barty Rosier sounds nice, don’t you think?”
Emmeline nodded. “A great name, honey. If it’s a girl, we’ll just stick to Dorcdora.”
Barty had to stop himself from spitting his punch out. “Dorcdora?”
“Well, you don’t expect us to pick between Dorcas and Pandora, now, do you?”
Barty sighed. This was what he got, he supposed. But, strangely, he was glad that Evan wasn’t with Emmeline. And he was especially glad that the girl was moving to the other side of the room to greet a curly-haired girl in a red dress.
“Are you a lightweight?” Barty asked, just to keep the conversation flowing.
“Nah,” Evan said with a laugh, sipping on his tequila. The night air did something to him. He looked less like a holy angel and more like a sinner. Interesting.
“Wanna go for a smoke?”
“You a frequent smoker?”
“Only at parties, why?”
Evan furrowed his eyebrows. “You should stop. It’s bad for you.”
“Strict. Come on, I’ll be your first time.” No, Barty had not worded it wrong accidentally.
“This will be my first time. You really are drunk, aren’t you?”
“Strict.”
”Tobacco has been scientifically proven to be harmful,” Evan said once they were outside and Barty took out his lighter. It was worn down and nasty but it was the first one he’d gotten and underneath all his silver chains and leather jackets, he was sentimental as hell.
“How nice. At least I know I’m hurting my lungs. I hate miscommunication.”
Evan scoffed, but he did pop the cigarette in his mouth when Barty handed it to him.
“Come over here.”
Evan furrowed his eyebrows again. “Why?”
“Let me light it for you. It’s actually scientifically proven that lighters need to save up their flames.”
“Mhm. The structure of lighters literally-”
Barty leaned over and quickly lit Evan’s cigarette with his. That sure shut him up.
”Why do you care so much about school?” Barty asked, not unkindly. And yet Evan’s regularly lukewarm eyes turned icy.
“I don’t.”
“Sure. Come on, tell me.”
Evan rolled his eyes. “Mr. Raw Talent wants to know?”
That caused Barty to grin. “You think I have raw talent?”
“That, if nothing else.” The words came out as a mumble, but Barty heard them loud and clear. Evan thought he was lazy. Evan (Rosy) Rosier thought Barty was lazy. As if he didn’t work hard. As if all his successes came from his daddy’s money and the brain he was given. Well, fuck that.
“I’m sure you couldn’t relate,” Barty scoffed.
“Well, there’s your answer.” Evan dropped his cigarette and stomped it out. “May the best man win, yeah?”
Barty was sure his eye was twitching. “Fuck you.”
That earned him nothing but a laugh from Evan. “How articulate.”
Evan walked away, leaving Barty confused, dazed, and furious. Evan and Barty Crouch Sr. - they were all the same. Everyone was. Barty could get anything as long he lived, right? Barty could pass a test without even studying, right? Barty was a useless little brat, right? It was annoying. All of it was just background noise, but he couldn’t turn it down. He couldn’t do anything about it. He would always be listening to it. Unless, of course, he returned to the party inside, got hammered, and listened to the noise of good music, instead. That seemed like a much better option. A much, much better one.
Dorcas wanted to drown. She wanted to drown and disappear and burn up into ashes and do anything else that would permanently rid her of this horrible life. Marlene McKinnon was at the party, in a way-too-pretty outfit that was obviously planned just to be petty towards Dorcas. By her side was Mary Macdonald, already greeting a group of girls even Dorcas barely knew. How did she know so many people? If those girls were close to Mary, they’d be on Marlene’s side, right? Were there even sides? Was Dorcas being immature? Or was it normal to want to win something started by an idiot with a pen?
“Marlene! It’s such a nice surprise to see you here!” Dorcas greeted her with as much excitement as she could muster. “Oh, and Mary’s over there, too! I thought you guys didn’t enjoy Slytherin parties, though?”
Marlene’s eyes flashed with a tiny bit of anger. Her smile turned venomous. “Well, I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been to one until now.”
“Well, I’m honoured to be the host of your first ever Slytherin party. Want a drink?”
“Sure.” Marlene turned around to tell Mary she was going to get drinks, and Mary asked for some punch. “Let’s go.”
Dorcas walked Marlene over to where the drinks were. She watched the blonde girl observe her surroundings, grimacing slightly at the big Slytherin banner. As if they don’t show even more house pride. Dorcas, too, scanned her surroundings, but for a different reason. She needed to find Regulus and Pandora. Luckily, it was fairly easy. They were together on the couch, James and Emmeline sitting on the floor next to them. Dorcas widened her eyes as soon as Regulus caught her gaze - a call for help. She pointed at James, mouthed ‘distract’, and pointed at Marlene. Regulus whispered something to James, to which he responded with a head shake and what must have been some rant about friendship and betrayal. No use. Dorcas moved on to Pandora, who was too distracted with trying to get Emmeline to dance. Dorcas was on her own. Unless…
“Y’know, I’m really excited to beat you at the tournament next week,” Marlene said with a grin after filling up one cup with punch. She didn’t seem to have noticed anything suspicious about what Dorcas was trying to do before.
“I’m sure you are. I hope that dream is really vivid. Try not to wake up before the ending. Don’t you hate when that happens?”
Marlene gave a short, humourless laugh. “I didn’t know you had a sense of humour. Rita must be so entertained with you.”
“I try. And Rita and I are…” Dorcas knew they weren’t exactly friends, but she needed to make Marlene feel inferior. She needed to make sure she thought that Dorcas and Rita were closer than they really were. “…friends.”
Yet another one of those laughs. Dorcas wanted to put in some of those noise-cancelling earplugs.
Now, for Dorcas’s plan to start. “I should look my very best as a party host, don’t you think?” Marlene’s eyebrows pinched together, but she nodded. “Maybe I’ll just put some lipstick on. Do you have a tissue? I need to see if the lipstick I brought is a good shade.”
Marlene looked at Dorcas like she was an idiot. It was a bit of a slap to her pride, but she could take it. Just as long as she got what she needed. The other girl turned around and grabbed a tissue from the stack that was right behind her. Of course, Dorcas could plan out a way to fix her reputation and still not be able to find anything. Marlene gave the tissue to her, and their fingers brushed. A light static was between their fingertips before Dorcas snatched the tissue away. That certainly wasn’t part of the plan.
Dorcas began writing with her lipstick. She had just finished the letters ‘G’ and ‘E’ when she realised Marlene was looking at the tissue from over her shoulder. The gears in her brain felt like they needed some major oiling.
“I’ve got to give Dora a message, too,” Dorcas explained with a voice that hopefully wasn’t too nervous. “You should try multi-tasking sometime, McKinnon. It’s very efficient.”
It was obvious that Marlene was losing her patience. That was good, wasn’t it? “You couldn’t have used a pen for that?”
“But then I wouldn’t know if the lipstick was the perfect shade. It is, by the way. I’m obsessed with maroon shades, I swear.”
Once Dorcas had finished writing the message, she spoke up again. “I should give Dora a drink, too. The poor girl has been wanting some tequila for a while and she looks parched.”
Marlene looked amused, but she did turn around, trying to look for Mary.
Dorcas walked up to Pandora with a glass of tequila wrapped in a lipstick-covered tissue.
“Oh, I don’t-”
She winked at the girl, who shut up immediately and looked at the tissue. Emmeline leaned back to see the message, too. James and Regulus were probably somewhere else. Dorcas did not want to think about that. At all.
Dorcas walked towards an area closer to the door of the common room. She opened her phone to see if Rita had said anything. Yesyesyesyes. She’d be there in five minutes. And Dorcas would be waiting close, but not too close, near the door for her. Everything was going according to plan.
Evan had wrecked the party for himself, just like he did with most things. How could he be expected to have fun when he had perhaps hurt someone who could have been a friend? He had wanted to apologise. He had wanted to do something to make Barty feel better. But Evan had always approached every mistake with the mindset of ‘it’s too late to fix it,’ and he would think about it for the rest of his life without doing a single thing about it. It’s for the better, he told himself. If he had tried to apologise, Barty would have just told him to piss off. Evan knew what it was like to try to comfort an angry person. It was terrifying. Fire spreads. And Evan would much rather be called a coward for running away than an idiot for staying. Besides, it was easy for other people to speak. They had enough humility to run to someone for help if they were hurt.
An early childhood memory Evan had was when he had gotten tripped by an older boy on his first day of Year 2. His knees stung and there were dots of blood on his skin, but he told no one what had happened. Pandora was the first to find out.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Pandora asked as she tried her best to clean the wound. Evan had begged her not to tell their parents, so she didn’t. He loved that about her. “You could have gone to the nurse’s office, at least.”
“It doesn’t hurt that bad, anyway. I didn’t want to bother you.” That day was the very first time Evan had lied to his sister. It was the first time she had called him out for it, too.
She frowned deeply. She was always very expressive. “That’s a lie. I could never be bothered by you.”
“Okay, fine. I don’t know why.”
The frown only deepened, but this time she didn’t say anything.
Evan believed they both knew the truth, and it was slightly humiliating, this understanding between them of why it happened. Because Pandora got bullied frequently for her dreamy nature and ‘weird’ habits. The most minor reason Evan hid his scratched knees was because he wanted to be the strong, older (by ten seconds) brother. Pandora always looked up to him, and if she knew he had been down on his knees, fighting tears because of some random bully, who would she be able to look up to? The most major reason was why Evan hated himself. It was the first time he despised himself so greatly. It was why Pandora looked at him with a scolding look in her eyes. It was why Evan blamed Pandora and then felt guilty for it.
He wanted to be better. At the very start, he blamed Pandora. It was her fault for always complimenting him. It was her fault for always telling him he was so much more social than she was. But that wore away as he appreciated the warmth of her hands as she laid down a Band-aid on his knee, and knew that he could never blame her without some guilt. Evan had always had an issue where, if someone complimented him on something, he had to continue doing it or they’d think differently of him. One time, his English teacher told him he was particularly good at spelling, and then he cried when he saw the red mark of a pen correcting his spelling of some word he couldn’t even remember. He had removed it from his memory. Evan’s biggest fear was being admired. What if he couldn’t maintain that image? Would they lose interest in him? Pandora had once told him he had a lot of friends and she only had one, which was him. He knew that, and he was grateful for his friends. But Evan had always wondered when they would leave him. Because he was always the shiny new trophy people stared at until some dust settled and they realised he was exactly like them. He was human, and Evan knew, as his sister told him not to keep things from her again, that that would be his greatest crime.
“Ev, look,” Pandora interrupted his train of thought, having suddenly appeared in the room. He hadn’t even noticed her. She handed him a tissue with a message written in lipstick. Get rosé.
“Does Dorcas want me to get rosé?” Evan asked, confused. Wait a minute. He looked at Pandora’s drink. It was tequila. She never drank tequila. Ever. But Evan Rosier did.
“She’s insane, isn’t she?” Evan muttered with a laugh. Pandora grinned.
“A silly idiot, but we love her,” Pandora said lovingly. “Anyway, I think she wants us to distract Marlene. She was making weird hand gestures at Regulus before.”
Evan rolled his eyes. “Well then. Come on. We have a Gryffindor to go bother.”
Out of all the people Marlene wanted to be bothered by, Evan and Pandora were probably in the top ten. Pandora was giving some very interesting facts about astrological signs. Marlene was surprisingly interested, and thought the girl would make a good teacher. If she could make Marlene properly focus on something, she could make anyone focus. Still, there were times Marlene’s eyes drifted off to try to search for Rita Skeeter. She didn’t have a plan, exactly, but she knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to make Hogwarts regret ever publishing that article. She wanted it removed. She wanted a fresh start instead of all the girls in the Gryffindor basketball team eyeing her carefully. She wanted to be able to do what she loved without having to fight tears all the time, without being left out whenever hangouts were planned. The how wasn’t really important to her.
“Uh, I think I’m going to go find Mary,” Marlene tried to excuse herself as Pandora began to switch to ranting about chemistry. “I still need to give her this punch.”
“Oh, we’ll come with you!” Pandora said enthusiastically. Marlene winced. “Won’t we, Evan?”
The boy looked distracted, but he perked up at the sound of his name. “Yep. I’d love to see what show-stopping outfit she has tonight.”
Marlene forced a laugh out. “Actually, she’s just wearing a very basic dress. Our laundry machine is shit, so, you know. No crazy outfit today.”
“Well, we’d still love to talk to her,” Pandora responded. Now, it wasn’t that Marlene was so mean that she wanted to run away. It was just that she needed to discuss her game plan with Mary, because, so far, all that was in her head was ‘slap Rita Skeeter,’ and the better half of her had decided on not doing that. It was too late, though, because Pandora had spotted Mary and was walking towards her, dragging Marlene along with her.
“Oh, hey Marls,” Mary said as she walked away from some girl she’d been greeting. Her gaze turned to the Rosiers. “Hey, you guys. Y’know, no one informed Marls about the party. Tragic, isn’t it? Do you know why?”
“Well, we just assumed everyone knew,” Evan replied. There was a strategic look in his eyes, not too different from Dorcas’s, but his look had some nervousness underneath. “We weren’t exactly sending separate invitations. Maybe she just wasn’t in that line of information?” That was false. Marlene was immensely close with James and Peter, and even they didn’t tell her anything. Dorcas likely told them not to say much about it.
“We didn’t withhold information from her,” Pandora said with a tilt of her head. “She just didn’t know this party was held by Dorcas. Not much trouble in that.” There was a lot of trouble in that, because Marlene had originally planned to work with Dorcas to do something about the article, and if Dorcas wasn’t on her side and communicated with Rita before she did, she’d be dead. So yes. There was a lot of trouble.
Mary nodded, her eyes squinting at them slightly. She turned to Marlene. “Come to the loo with me?”
Marlene knew what that meant. Ever since high school, they’d be been going there, even skipping classes, to gossip and discuss plans. “Sure.”
“Oh, this is surreal,” Pandora laughed. Her eyes glistened with those happy tears someone got when that happened and she seemed genuine. The girl confused Marlene. Was she being real or not? “I’ve got to go, too!”
“But then who will hold my drink?” Mary asked. If she didn’t want to be a model, she could try being an actress instead.
Evan raised his hand slightly. “I could.”
Mary smiled sweetly and looked at Marlene. She pretended to whisper, but, let’s be honest, she was definitely making sure Evan heard. “I don’t know if I trust a man with my drink. I mean, sure, he’s a friend, but you know how men are. Don’t want my punch getting overly spiked, y’know?”
“You can always just throw out your drink and refill it,” Pandora suggested.
“But that’s such a waste,” Mary argued.
It was clear both Pandora and Evan were losing patience. “Look just-”
Evan stopped speaking as he stood there in shock, watching as Mary’s drink spilled all over her dress. Someone had bumped into him and that happened. “I am so sorry.” At least that was genuine.
“Meet me at the loo, I’ll grab some tissues,” Marlene told Mary as the stunned girl turned around and walked away as if she were on autopilot.
Mary’s dress could not be saved. It had been an expensive dress, too - Marlene saved up for ages to get it for her for her birthday. Dress be damned, Mary was the one Marlene had to worry about. She looked like she was about to cry.
“You okay?”
“Still in shock.” Three beats passed. “Fuck. Fuckity fuck.”
“Yeah. There are so many risks at parties. Can people not watch where they’re going?”
Mary inhaled and exhaled. “I know I’m being dramatic but-” Marlene shook her head. She cried over a deflated basketball once because she thought it meant that it was dead. Said basketball was ripped and worn, too. “-I think something in me has died.”
“We can get it washed properly. For now, though…I’m not sure. Wanna go home?”
“No. Absolutely not. We came here for a reason, remember? I’ll just see if anyone wants to lend me a jacket while you rain hell on Rita and Dorcas.”
“Where is Rita, anyway? We better not have come to this party for nothing.”
Marlene began thinking. Was Rita late? Completely absent? Where was she? Dorcas probably had contact with her, but Marlene would have rather jumped into a volcano than ask her. Then again, Rita could have already arrived. Maybe Marlene just hadn’t seen her. Besides, Dorcas was pretty attentive, so she probably spotted her before Marlene could, especially since she was busy with helping Mary save her dress. Shit, her thoughts came uneven and broken up. Me, busy. Dorcas, attentive. Dorcas, free. Dorcas and Rita. Fuck.
“Mary, I’ve got to go,” Marlene sputtered.
“Sure thing. Good luck. Oh, and try not to get into some brawl, yeah?”
“No promises.”
Marlene had been right. There they were. Rita and Dorcas Skeeter. An abominable couple, really. She marched right up to them, her head held high, though her heart was beating. Drive fast enough and they won’t see your worn down tires.
“Hey there, Rita,” Marlene said first. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”
“She got invited,” Dorcas said. Then under her breath, she muttered, “Dumbass.”
“You invited the woman that ruined our reputations?” Marlene turned to Rita. “Don’t you feel bad for yourself? For acting like a sleaze just for a job opportunity? Has it gotten you far, Assistant Editor?”
“Leave her alone.”
“And you. Do you not have any pride? You’ll do anything just to be Hogwarts's golden child, won’t you? You and your little plans to succeed. What kind of selfish heart do you have?” Again, back to Rita, who was staying particularly quiet. “You don’t know a single thing about either of us. What kind of bullshit is that article? God, you’re both such bitches.” Back to Dorcas. “We could have done this together. We could have made this right. But no. You’d prefer to be the obedient student who quietly fixes every fucking thing. I’m not letting it happen, Meadowes. I’m not letting you get ahead with your little self-righteous attitude and make sure I get put down.”
Rita pushed her glasses up. She seemed hurt, but Marlene liked it a little. She deserved it. “Continue. I’d really appreciate a more open approach, compared to Dorcas’s precision.”
Marlene wanted to set herself on fire. It was like all of her words had been ignored. “Here’s my approach. Both of your ignorant asses can go to hell.”
“Well, that was very-”
“And tell whoever the fuck wrote that article that their homophobia is embarrassing for them.”
“Oh, well-”
“Rita,” Dorcas said, her usually calm voice trembling. “Please leave.”
Rita scoffed. “Yes, yes. I thought I was here for a peace treaty, no? Don’t think of it anymore. I’m done.”
As soon as Rita left, Dorcas grabbed Marlene’s wrist and brought her to Dorcas and Pandora’s dorm. Marlene had been there a few times, but only when the other girl wasn’t there. With her in it, it made more sense how the dorm was hers. There were crystals everywhere, and some tapestries, too. A stack of books and some reading glasses were on her night shelf.
”Who the fuck do you think you are?” Dorcas began to yell. Her eyes had widened and her eyebrows were pinched.
“Oh, I’m the problem?” Marlene yelled back. “You’re the one who decided to suck up to some classist, homophobic idiots like you were some doormat! Where’s your self-respect?”
“I didn’t fucking read your part, you imbecile!” Marlene was surprised with how much she swore. She didn’t deserve to swear at Marlene, though.
“So you had no problem with what they said about you? Really?”
“There are times when you have to shut the fuck up and get what you want!”
“Fine! You can do that, but that means I have the right to stop you. You were trying to fix your reputation and let mine stay the way it was! I wanted to help you, Meadowes, you know that? I thought we could team up and fix this together!”
“You thought I was going to leave you out of the agreement? I was trying to help you, too!”
Marlene scoffed. What a lie. “You didn’t let me in on any of this! I wasn’t a part of the conversation!”
Dorcas let out a cold, bitter laugh. It was an ugly, raw sound. Tears had started forming in her eyes. “And look at what happened when you were let in on the conversation, hm? You ruined it. You ruined both of our chances. Now the only reason for Hogwarts to keep us is our basketball skills, and come on. We both know the truth. The dirt we have on our names is heavier than our talent. They’ll find better options. We’ll be forced to go back.”
It all dawned on Marlene, all of her words at once. Fuck. Why couldn’t Marlene just think? Why did she never think of that? Why was she so blinded as soon as she got pissed off? Whywhywhywhy. Hot tears fell from her eyes and onto the floor as she looked down. She couldn’t look at Dorcas in this state. It was humiliating. “Can-can I do something? Anything? To fix this?”
“Don’t bother. It might turn out like this again.”
Dorcas had been kind enough to not say what Marlene knew what she meant. She hadn’t said the exact words, but Marlene was good at reading between the lines. Don’t bother. Whenever you try to help, you mess it up. You ruin everything. And the fact that she knew this despite Dorcas not saying it, said everything. Marlene started full-on sobbing, and it made everything worse, because then she felt even more terrible. She had ruined everything. Dorcas should have been the one crying. It made her feel as if she’d committed the greatest sin. As if she had stolen both a moment of success from Dorcas and couldn’t even let her get her moment of open sadness. What kind of a thief was Marlene?
“You should go,” Dorcas said, her voice empty and slightly hoarse. She cleared her throat. “Now.”
Marlene nodded and wiped her eyes. She kept her head down until she had closed the dorm door. There was no way she was letting Dorcas see her like this. Or anyone. She continued to duck her head and ignore people’s calls (Were they her friends? Just acquaintances? Did she even care?) as she walked to the loo. Mary was no longer there. Marlene wanted to punch something. Calmcalmcalm. She locked herself in a stall and called her. Mary picked up within seconds.
“Yep?” Mary greeted her. “You okay? How’d it go?”
“Not so great,” Marlene answered shakily. “I think I really messed it up. Let’s just go home, please.”
“Okay, don’t worry. Where are you?”
Marlene sniffled. “In a stall. I’m sitting on a toilet and I think my skirt has bacteria on it now.”
There was a gentle laugh before Mary said, “I’ll come get you. We can get a taxi home.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course. Hang in there.”
A beep. And Marlene had never felt worse.
Barty had nothing but a sliver of anger towards Evan for what he said. That was, of course, because he had shoved it away with drinks and meaningless kisses. But hey, at least it got the job done. At least he didn’t have to get reminded of his future waiting right there for him that he was ignoring in favour of some dancing. You only live once, he told himself, but he questioned whether this could be considered making the most of his life. Still, he sat down quicker than anyone when Emmeline called everyone together for Truth or Drink.
Rounds came and went quickly. Until some Hufflepuff girl called on Evan. Amelia Bones? Barty wasn't sure.
“Who would you rather kiss; Regulus or Barty?”
Evan frowned. The bastard didn’t even look at Barty once before saying, “Regulus.”
“Even despite James?”
“He’ll understand.”
Both James and Regulus were missing, but Peter muttered a ‘No, he wouldn’t,’ under his breath. Everyone heard, though, and broke into laughter. Except for Barty, who wondered why Evan would prefer to kiss a taken man than Barty.
Some more rounds passed, full of drunken words that would be sober regrets. Then, another girl.
“Barty.”
“Right here, darl.”
She giggled. “What’s your type?”
Barty smirked. Of course. He then remembered Evan’s response, and decided to tease him. Not that the boy would even care. He was heartless. “Brown hair.” That wasn’t a strong start. Evan dyed his hair blonde. “Fun, not super strict. Sweet. I’m pretty open.”
The girl nodded enthusiastically, and Evan was busy talking to Emmeline. Goddamn Evan Rosier.
When it was Barty’s turn, he chose Remus, mostly because the man was handsome as hell and Barty knew nothing about him except that he was a friend of Regulus, who had returned to the common room along with James. “Remus, who in this room would you most like to snog?”
A couple of ‘ooooohs’ and ‘aaaaahs’ filled the room. Remus did not look as amused as them. He thought. “Lily Evans, the goddess, of course.”
“Oh, come on. That’s an easy way out.”
“I think we all know-”
“Do. Not.” Regulus interrupted a Gryffindor boy’s sentence. His glare could have cut through all the tension in the room.
Barty looked around to see everyone else’s tense expressions, and then landed on Sirius Black, slightly side-eyeing Lily. That was strange. Sirius and Lily had always seemed close, so- Oh. The realisation hit Barty like a truck. Everyone looked uncomfortable with the silence, especially Remus, so Barty took pity on him.
“I mean, I’d kiss…Lily…too?” Barty broke the silence with some uncertainty.
Lily raised her eyebrows in amusement and sent him a look that seemed to say ‘I see what you did.’ Barty winked back, and the idiots around him took it as him flirting with her. This party’s shit, he thought.