The last thing Dorcas expected on her day off from school was to be stuck in a hospital bed. She had been planning to spend the day at Hogsmeade, specifically at the Three Broomsticks, celebrating the Slytherin team's victory over the Ravenclaws. But instead, here she was, trying not to snap over Madam Pomfrey’s unyielding bed rest orders.
Dorcas was in the middle of trying to keep down the vile skele-gro potion the elder witch had forced into her mouth when she heard her.
“Oops! Sorry! When did that wall get there?” Marlene shouted as she failed to slow down in time, body-checking a student trying to leave the wing.
“Can I help you, Miss McKinnon?” Madam Pomfrey asked, rolling her eyes as she pulled back the curtain around the dark haired girls bed.
“Nope! Just here to see the little klutz,” Marlene grinned, taking the seat beside you.
“You’re one to talk,” Dorcas muttered, nodding toward the scene she’d just caused.
Madam Pomfrey corked the potion bottle with a strict look at Marlene. “Keep an eye on her. Make sure she rests.”
As soon as the curtain fell closed, Marlene leaned over, brushing a gentle kiss against the corner of the slytherins mouth. The action left a flush creeping up her neck.
“How are you feeling?” she asked softly, her voice teasing but concerned.
“Horrible, obviously.”
Marlene laughed at Dorcas’ dramatic response, her fingers tightening around hers. “Right, of course. My bad.”
A shift in Dorcas’ mood suddenly came, and she glanced down at the pairs intertwined hands. “I suck,” she whispered.
“What?” Marlene asked, her voice soft and confused, Dorcas wasn’t one to get emotional, but it didn’t make her feel weak with Marlene. The blonde tilted her head to meet her eyes. “You just had a little slip up, everyone does you don’t suck!”
“I’m the reason we lost the match. We worked so hard all season for this game, and I messed it all up.”
Marlene’s expression softened, and she shook her head, her smile reassuring. “Hey, it’s not your fault. It’s that Ravenclaw chaser’s fault for throwing that Quaffle at you!”
Dorcas shifted in the bed, making room for Marlene, patting the spot beside her.
“And, it’s not like you look like a Quidditch hoop or anything,” Marlene teased, helping Dorcas settle into her chest, being careful with her injured slowly mending leg.
“Well, maybe you do a little bit, but still—”
Before she could finish her playful jab, Dorcas broke into her first laugh since the injury, the sound pure and unguarded.
Marlene grinned at the sound, her eyes lighting up. She couldn’t get enough of it. Or her.
The two girls spent the rest of the evening wrapped up in each other, falling deeper into the warmth of each other’s presence, completely lost in the moment.