Boyfriends
Dorcas Meadowes POV: Part Five
Dorcas had noticed when she stopped trying in class, it caused Marlene to be so flustered that she would try even more, and the one thing Dorcas couldn’t lie to herself about, was the fact she loved watching flustered Marlene McKinnon.
“Oh look who it is,” Dane pointed to James Potter, who for once was without Sirius Black. He sat down, a book in his hand; The Picture of Dorian Gray. It’s Regulus’ favourite book for some old reason. Regulus was obsessed with Oscar Wilde, Dorcas was more of a Jane Austen girl herself. “James Potter.”
“Hm,” she nods, smirking. “Shall we?”
“We shall,” he agrees, and they link arms heading over to him. He was cringing at the book, as if he wasn’t really interested, but he was trying to be interested. “Hello Potter, where’s your clone?”
“Oh, erm, not really sure,” he shrugs. “He might be off in the library with Moony, y’know what people do to get in other people’s pants.”
“Nah, I don’t,” Dane glances at Dorcas. “I don’t, let’s say, read a book because the person I want to shag likes it.”
James flushes, “ok, er, I am not going to lie, I am very scared of both of you, and you are very intimidating.”
“We know,” Dane drops into the seat beside James, and Dorcas places her hand on Dane’s shoulder.
“I have a question for Potter,” Dorcas smirks. James glances up for just a second, and then immediately turns away, avoiding meeting the eyes of either of them. “What are your intentions with our Regulus?”
“Erm,” James cringes. “I’d rather discuss it with him… If I’m honest.”
“Ok,” Dorcas nods. “I suppose that is fair enough.”
“Ok, thank you,” he closes the book, standing up. Snape is walking down the corridor. “Have you ever wondered what it’s like to play a prank on someone?”
“No, we like mind games instead,” Dane shrugs. “But what do you have in mind?”
“Now that you’ve said that, I’m scared.”
“You should be.”
“Hello McKinnon,” Snape says, before James can think quickly. Dorcas smiles, glancing at James; Snape had found a new obsession instead of Lily Evans, and now it was Dane. It was quite funny actually, especially that Dane had stooped that low because he was unable to find somebody to kiss him, other than Snape. “Would you like to walk with me?”
“Why would he want to walk with you, Snivellus?” James jumps up, folding his arms over his chest. “When he is already standing next to the best of the best.”
“He’s talking about me,” Dorcas adds on, leaning against the pillar, with one foot up. He grins at her.
“Y’know, Potter, it’s surprising seeing you act tough without Black,” Snape drawls. “It’s quite funny though, because Black isn’t really tough himself, getting himself disowned.”
“Shut up, Snivellus,” James clenched his fists, and looked so ready to punch Snape across the face. And so did Dane. He looked furious. Or embarrassed. Out of all the times Dane was so easy for her to read, she couldn’t at that moment.
Dorcas was pretty angry himself. Regulus became more quiet around the rest of them, and Dorcas had to sleep in his bed for a few nights before he felt ok to be by himself again. Sirius leaving the House of Black; Dorcas understood, because she would do anything to leave her own home, and Regulus understood, he said it himself, but it shattered him in indescribable ways.
“Hi everyone,” Reginald Cattermole; the Ravenclaw prefect comes out of nowhere. “Everyone looks a bit—er, tense, so I wanted to come and check up on you all.”
Dane lifted his gaze from the floor, to Reginald, along with Dorcas. He had dark brown hair, making the contrast between his hair and eyes very noticeable. And it was a pretty type of contrast as well. He stood awkwardly, with his hands rubbing against each other, and his teeth clenched, as he… grins?
Dorcas never thought he was one of the top students in their year, but his kindness was beyond the words of anybody, and his intelligence, beyond his intellect, he was very smart. And creative. And that’s why she was sure he got sorted into Ravenclaw. For those reasons.
“It’s—yeah—good, fine, great in fact,” Dane shook his head, instead of nodding. It was almost as if he was tongue tied. Completely. Like every single word he had once said in his life had run away from his memory. “Thanks, that is very kind of you.”
“It’s my job,” Reginald chuckled, showing his prefect pin on his robe.
“Oh.”
“We have Muggle Studies together, I’m not entirely sure you’ve noticed me, I’m not as clever as you,” he tells him, putting his hand in front of him, and bending his legs are bit. So awkward it made Dorcas uncomfortable. “You’re the best in the class.”
“Muggle Studies?” Snape cringes.
“Yeah, he always gets the highest marks in our class,” Reginald doesn’t wait for Dane to reply before talking. He winks at him, and Dane shrugs it off—again; impossible to read at that moment. “Maybe we can partner up on the next assignment.”
“Yeah, Dane, you should,” James smirks.
“Unless you already have a partner, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” Reginald shakes his hand, running his hand through his hair, and his palms are obviously sweating.
“No!” Dane said, standing up straighter. “No, I don’t have a partner, I think it’d be fun to partner up with somebody else. Yeah, I can talk to you during class today,” he suggests.
“Yeah, cool,” he glances at his feet. “I like your shoes.”
“Or do you like the size of his shoes,” James points, smirking, and winking, and Dorcas wants to slap him in the arm. He’s such an asshole—just like McKinnon. That reminds Dorcas of her.
“His shoes, Potter,” Dorcas rolls her eyes. “Stop making everything weird.”
“Thank you,” Dane says, his eyes locked on Reginald. “I got them for Christmas, I’m not sure if you know her, but Mary told me about them.”
“Mary Macdonald?”
“Yeah, actually.”
“Yeah, she’s one of my best friends, I’ve seen her wearing some of those commerce ones as well,” Reginald looks oddly excited, and even more odd, Dane looks even more excited to be talking to him.
“They’re called Converse,” Dane smiles, lifting up his leg.
“Oh,” Reginald sinks slightly, embarrassed,
“It’s ok, it took me about a month after I got the actual shoes to get the name right.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Snape has his arms crossed, watching them with so much jealousy, as if he’s ready to tackle Reginald right then and there, and yet, Reginald is still so unbothered. He looks at Dane with a smile on his face, and as if no one else in this world existed. As if it was just them in the room.
“Anyways, I have to go bother some first years by complimenting their shoes,” Reginald points behind him, and starts walking backwards.
“Cattermole!” Dane says loudly.
“Yeah?” He turns around back to Dane hopefully,
“You came from that way,” Dane tells him.
Dorcas had to admit to herself, after watching both of them flirt with each other just then, it was painful, yes, but she was rooting for them now.
But she would always root for the option where Dane’s happiness was the name focus.
“Oh yeah, thanks,” Reginald says, stopping, and then turning around to go the other way. He waves to Dane one last time, before walking up to a group of third years with Jamie in the group.
“Wow,” James drawled. “I think I’m going to have to give you some lessons on flirting, because that was a mess.”
“Shut up, Potter,” Dane pushed him softly, too distracted at that moment, and overwhelmed with so many feelings, though none of them seemed to be negative.
“Yeah, shut up,” Snape said. “It was just that Cattermole guy, he was just being irritating, McKinnon would never flirt with him.”
“Either you were watching something completely different, or you’re just a blind asshole, the second option sounds more right,” James snaps. “Stop getting in the way of romance, Snivelly, just because you can’t get any.”
“Potter,” Lily addresses him, with Mary on one side of her smiling, and Marlene nervously walking up behind her. “I can’t remember the last time you’ve dated somebody, so can you really talk?”
“Oh Evans, I’m in it for the long game,” James grins, kind of bowing. “Romance is something worth waiting for, especially whilst waiting for the right person.”
“Yeah, ok,” Lily looks beside her, shooting a look at Mary, whilst Mary drags her along. She waves to Snape, and Marlene stays still, as if she’s completely disassociated from the world at that moment.
“McKinnon,” Dorcas says.
“Hm?” She turns quickly.
“Lily and Mary are walking away,” she points down to the two girls with their arms around each other, doing a dance together. They laugh, and Marlene turns back to Dorcas; and all Dorcas could do was hold onto this moment with everything she has.
“That’s your queue, Snivellus, fuck off,” James used his hands to gesture for Snape to go away, and Snape glances at Dane once again, but Dane was able to get over the moment from a few minutes ago.
Don’t go, McKinnon. Please never go.
“Oh, are they?” She says, cluelessly.
“Yep,” Dorcas nods. “Do you need me to show you how to turn around and walk away?”
“Yes please,” Marlene stands up straighter, finally getting her confidence back, and Dorcas didn’t know which one she preferred more. Flustered Marlene, or herself being flustered because she was so god forsaken in love with her.
“I don’t know who you’re trying to insult,” Dorcas frowns, rolling her shoulders back, and folding her arms over her chest. She squinted for a moment, but Marlene didn’t make any other movement; she was standing there, smirking at Dorcas.
“No one,” Marlene’s voice altered up to a pitch higher, but not in a nervous way, in a way that she was most definitely playing some sort of trick on her. But that was Dorcas’ thing; playing mind games on people, that was not Marlene’s job. “Why?”
Dorcas cleared her throat, “no—no reason,” she murmurs, shaking her head.
“It’s all about the mind games, is it not?” Marlene winked before walking away, and James glanced before running off with her, swinging his arm around her—James Potter; Dorcas had made many observations on him.
He was only loud when his friends were around him. If they weren’t, he would be so quiet no one ever noticed that he was around. Except the many people who had a crush on him obviously, and were too obsessed with his every movement to realise that he didn’t want to be followed around when was alone.
He was a very touchy person; she once saw him kiss every single quidditch teammate on the lips when they had won their game. He is always touching somebody, whether he has his arm around them, or he’s linking arms with them, or he’s just on Sirius Black’s back, because that’s how those two are.
“Merlin, I hate Potter,” Snape said, and Dorcas didn’t know what made him think that he was really that welcome around them. Apart from the fact Dane kisses him in secret, only because he is so desperately scared of being lonely, he always has a warm mouth waiting on him, she didn’t see why he felt comfortable being there.
“He’s alright,” Dane shrugs. “He’s a good mate.”
“Yeah,” Dorcas agrees. “If he can stand McKinnon, then he must be a saint.”
“Who is?” Regulus asks, Pandora and Evan shortly following behind him. Barty and Benjy were walking beside each other, laughing at whatever it was; none of them really bothered to ask what it was that they were cackling at anymore. When the two tried to explain it, they sounded like they were speaking gibberish.
The two boys swing their arms whilst they walk, letting their hands brush against each other’s. Their laughing fits would worsen, because the single touch of each other made each other go absolutely mental.
“James,” Dane told him.
“Oh,” Regulus murmurs, tilting his hand in agreement, only so slightly that Dorcas noticed.
“Isn’t he a poof?” Snape asked, and Dane turned his head to him.
“Fuck you, Snape,” Benjy said, his smile had disappeared from his face. He stared, as the muscles in his jaw tightened.
“What are you going to do?” Snape laughed. So evil. “Twink.”
Benjy looked shocked. So did Dane. As if they’d never heard that one before. Benjy began to step back from Snape, with his shoulders slouched over, and his arms wiping his face. He wanted to cry; Dorcas knew the body language of someone who was going to cry.
But before Benjy had walked away, Barty had jumped at Snape, swinging his arm across his face, to which Snape fell to the floor, with a bloody nose. Dorcas’ head snapped from Benjy, to Snape, and finally to Barty, who stood above Snape, shaking the hand he had once punched him with.
“No one ever tells you how much it hurts to punch someone across the face,” Barty groans, taking the chance to place his hand behind Benjy’s neck, and kiss him on the cheek whilst no one was watching.
McGonagall, and Slughorn had come running up to them, and Regulus rolled his eyes, leaning over to Dorcas, “such a fucking drama queen,” he scoffed. “He had it coming to him.”
“That’s what you get, Snape, when you pull shit like that,” Pandora glares. “Now is it my turn?”
“No, Miss, it most certainly is not,” McGonagall says, as she glances behind her, watching as Pomfrey and Slughorn rush Snape away from the rest of them. “Now, I will give you only one detention with me, first for punching somebody across the face, and indulging the behaviour. I understand why you did, but others like Professor Slughorn will not. I will see you all next week on Monday.”
“Ok, thank you, professor,” Benjy says, and only he would ever say thank you to a detention. The rest of them mumbled under their breath.
The following day was the day of Lily Evans’ birthday. Of course on Friday, the first class they had was Potions, to which she saw Lily Evans sitting at the front with their entire friend group wearing party hats, and Mary smiling at Lily.
That’s all Dorcas saw Mary doing lately, staring at Lily Evans, as if she was in love with her. And if she was, Dorcas had to say she wouldn’t be entirely surprised by it; they wouldn’t make a bad pair.
That afternoon, Pandora and Dorcas agreed to get ready for the party together, rushing around the room. Dorcas stares in front of her closet, her eyes running across each inch of it.
“Should I pick your outfit for you?” Pandora asks, doing her eyeliner; something that Dorcas wasn’t very talented at. Not the way Pandora was good at it.
“I know how to dress myself,” Dorcas snaps, glaring at her from across the room.
“Do you, though?” She asks in a high pitched voice. Dorcas shoots a glare at her, and she shrugs her shoulders. “Can you believe Barty, though? I can’t believe he punched Snape, before I got to! What an asshole.”
Dorcas chuckles, “I know, I think him and Benjy make quite a pair though.”
“Perfect couple,” she nods. “I think you and Marlene would make one as well.”
“We would, wouldn’t we?” She grins; only ever allowing herself to do so in front of Pandora and Dane, to let herself admit she was smitten over somebody. Pandora smiles back, crossing her arm over her chest, grabbing onto her other arm.
“Xeno and I would make a good one as well,” Pandora says. “But it’s a shame, because neither one of us will ever like the other in that way.”
“Can you do my makeup?” Dorcas asks, admitting her defeat. She was never really that talented at makeup, but she remembered when she was younger, and she didn’t want to stay at home anymore, the McKinnons allowed her to stay there, and Dorcas would let Marlene do her makeup. “I’m not really that good at it.”
“Yeah, ‘course, Cassie,” Pandora smiles, picking up Dorcas’ makeup bag on her way over, and throwing it, to which Dorcas catches quickly. “No wonder you play Quidditch, when’s your next game?”
“Sunday. Against Ravenclaw.”
“Sit,” Pandora tells her, and she does. “Too bad it’s against Ravenclaw, I’d love to see you and McKinnon almost break each other’s heads off.”
Dorcas laughs. “Who wouldn’t? It’s very entertaining to watch people kill each other.”
“Yes it is,” Pandora reaches for one of her makeup brushes. “Blood and gore beats sappy love confessions any day.”
“Yep,” Dorcas murmurs. “You’re such a weirdo, Dora, but I love you for it.”
“Eugh, do not do that,” Pandora groans, but Dorcas can hear her smile in her voice. She winks up at Pandora, slightly pissing her off as her face twitches in the middle of Pandora trying to do her makeup.
“I find it so funny how everyone thinks your head is always in the clouds, but in the clouds are the most bloody images, and shit,” Dorcas tells her.
“Well, I only let people I truly care about see what I’m really like, and I guess one of those people is you.”
“Ah,” Dorcas smiles, as Pandora goes to pick up another thing. They share eye contact, and Dorcas remembers the first day she saw her and Regulus were walking through the hallways together; only a year younger, but they looked tiny, and she and Dane took them under their wing, along with Barty, and Evan. People think they’re all up-themselves, blood supremacists, really they just got thrown together by fate. And Dorcas wouldn’t have it any other way. “So sweet of you, Lestrange, I think I may faint. Or maybe I’m just dreaming.”
“You must be dreaming, love,” Pandora laughs, crossing her arms over her chest, rolling her eyes. “We shall never speak of it again, Meadowes. Never.”
“What are we talking about again?” Dorcas makes a face, and Pandora smiles, and winks.
A knock. Both of their heads turn.
“Hello ladies,” Dane says, as he opens the door. “I think that the castle has a mind of its own, because Evan got thrown across the room, but here I am; they must judge the person we are, though Ev would never do anything to either of you.”
“Eugh,” Pandora groans. “Here comes the man, ready to ruin our happiness?”
“Panda, Merlin, I love how upbeat you sound all the time, truly, you’re making my heart ache, sometimes I wish I liked women because of you.”
“Thank fuck I like women,” Dorcas winks at Pandora standing up from the bed.
“Whoa!” Dane throws his arms up. “Meadowes?!”
“I do good,” she bows, and spins around.
“Yes you do, and all because of me,” Pandora motions her hands around herself, smirking as she takes all the credit for Dorcas looking half decent. And Dorcas had to give her the credit; This was Pandora’s doing.
“So humble,” Dorcas chucks her head back.
“Why be humble when you can let every single man in the world know that you’re just better than them?”
“Ah,” Dorcas nods. “Touché.”
“Getting dressed up for my sister?” Dane sits on the bed, smiling up at her, and she pushes him on his head. He falls back as a joke, resting his hands on the back of his head.
“Getting dressed up for Cattermole?” Pandora says, from across the room.
“No,” he says quickly. Too quickly for it to even be half believable. “No, no, no no—I—no—why—nah, no.”
“Wow, that desperate, eh?” Pandora chuckles under her breath, hiding her face from Dane. She found that hilarious.
“Ha ha,” Dane drawls, sarcastically, but then his face settles into a dazy sort of grin, and he rests his chin on his hand dreamily staring into one spot. “He talked to me today in class. He said hi.”
“Oh wow,” Dorcas laughs. “Did he really say all that?”
“He said more,” Dane shot a glare at her, crossing his arms. Dorcas picks some jeans from her wardrobe. Pandora chucks one of her shirts at her from across the room, grinning as Dorcas rolls her eyes. “He asked me how my day was, and he just talked to me, it was really nice.”
“So have you planned the wedding yet?” Pandora leaned on the wall.
He scoffed.
“I haven’t, believe it or not,” he says, grinning. “I actually—really like him. I don’t want to mess our friendship up by planning an imaginary wedding.”
“Does he like you?”
“Well yeah, I think we’re friends now.”
“That’s not what she meant, love,” Dorcas smirks, and Dane falls back, smacking a pillow to his face, screaming, and kicking his feet in the air. Dorcas and Pandora shoot worried glances toward each other, but Dorcas can see the small grin in Pandora’s worried expression.
“That’s how he makes me feel,” he turns his hand, looking at the two girls. “His stupid grin, and the way he runs his hand through his hair, and the way he laughs at everything for no reason because he’s such a nervous wreck all the time, and I have no idea how he got prefect, he is always so unorganised, he broke his quill twice during the lesson, and his handwriting. It’s awful. He’s just so…” and he screams into the pillow again.
“Wow,” Pandora grunts, staring. Dorcas slaps her on her arm, as she walks past her, dropping beside Dane. “Ow, Dorcas.”
“He’s obviously going through something.”
“He has a crush,” Pandora invites herself to take a seat beside Dane. “I have no sympathy.”
“Merlin, you’re brutal.”
“Ok, er,” she taps him on his shoulder softly.
“He’s not a dog,” Dorcas cringes.
“Well I don’t know what to fucking do with him. He’s calling Reginald a wreck, but look at him.”
“I am right here!” Dane throws his arms up.
“Oh, sorry,” Pandora says, showing the first sympathetic look for the first time Dorcas has ever witnessed. “I thought you were running through a field full of flowers, in a wedding dress, holding hands with Cattermole.”
“Dora!” Dorcas says, sighing and throwing her head back again.
“I can’t stop!” Pandora throws her hands up, laughing nervously as she drops them back down. Dorcas hears the smallest chuckle leave Dane’s mouth. “What?!”
“It’s just so funny.”
“What’s funny?” Pandora glares.
“Dane, do not say another word,” Dorcas warns him, and he stays silent, throwing his hands up, and leaving the room; winking before he disappears as the door shuts. “It is embarrassing how much he likes him and doesn’t actually realise.”
“Oh his stupid hair, his stupid smile that as soon as I see it, I’m already eye-fucking him, and planning our wedding,” Pandora places her hand on her chest, staring into the distance in a high pitched voice mocking Dane. “Poor Dane, such a hopeless romantic.”
“Yep,” she nods. “At least we’re above that.”
“You are not,” Pandora laughs. “You never shut up about your McKinnon, and how she’s so infuriating all of the time, but then you kissed her on Christmas. You’re not a romantic, but you are most definitely hopeless if you don’t know you’re obsessed with her.”
“Ok!” Dorcas groans. “I might be, but I’m in denial.”
“A lot of people don’t admit they’re in denial,” Pandora scrunched her eyebrows, hands on her hips.
“I’m not a lot of people,” Dorcas shrugs.
“Right, you are, Meadowes. One of a kind,” Pandora winks, pointing a finger at her, as she heads closer, kissing Dorcas on the top of her head. “I know I’m not nice a lot, but I’m really rooting for your happiness, Cassie, don’t ever let yourself run away from happiness because you’re scared of the pain that may follow. Or I’ll have to kill you.”
Dorcas laughs, tilting her head onto Pandora’s shoulders, to which Pandora places her hand on Dorcas’ cheek, “the second option sounds pretty nice.”
“Yeah it does,” Pandora nods as a joke, smiling. “But I’m saving that shit for Snape.”
She smiles, rolling her eyes, as she stands up, walking away from Pandora, “are you ready?”
“I am,” she says, jumping up from the bed. Dorcas places her arm out, and Pandora links her arm with Dorcas’.
She remembers the first time she ever really bonded with Pandora. And she had to admit that a lot of good things happened because of men. Their friendship being the evidence of it; the boys started this friendship, but they would keep it for the rest of their lives, because it was them, against the rest of the world.
Pandora, Regulus and Dane were the three people she believed were going to be her best friends for her entire life. Barty would become successful, and he and Benjy would move away to some country like France, and they would be known as each other’s long time friend life partner. Evan would do Merlin knows what. He always says how sure that he would die very young. But, and she will take this to her grave, hopes he lives a life that is so full of happiness and love.
But no matter what would happen with Pandora, Regulus and Dane; their friendship could last lifetimes, and in Dorcas’ heart, she is so absolutely sure of that.