burning pile

“Hogwarts is a… train?”

Marlene snorted ever so slightly from where she was standing next to her on the seemingly empty train station, apart from their group, which was a relieving change from the previous sombre mood. Dorcas had actually fared much better with the teleportation this time, though she still felt a little woozy. 

“No, the train takes us to Hogwarts,” Lily replied politely, “it’s usually for the kids but it’s also the safest and quickest way at the moment. James needs to build up his energy again.”

Everyone piled onto the old train, settling in two carriages across from each other where they split up, leaving Dorcas in a silly little dilemma. You’d think with everything going on a decision of who to sit with would be absolutely nothing, wouldn’t you? 

In one there was James, Lily, Sirius and Remus, and in the other was Peter, Mary and Marlene. 

Lily was lovely and kind, and Remus seemed to understand the concept of just wanting to be left alone. Dorcas doubted Sirius and James understood. Plus she didn’t really want to be in a carriage with the two very obvious couples of the group. And so, after strategic evaluation, she followed Marlene into their carriage, taking a seat next to her reluctantly. 

“I feel special,” Marlene spoke with a smirk though it wasn’t entirely genuine it seemed, leaning casually in the corner so she could see everyone, though she was specifically looking at Dorcas. 

She waved her off with a small huff, “Don’t.” 

Marlene let out an amused snort, stretching out her arms and turning her attention to Mary and Peter. 

“Feels like it’s been years since we’ve been on the train,” 

“That’s because it has,” Peter said, "I've missed it, honestly.”

“Yeah and I miss the trolley,” Mary joined in, “I would kill for some Fizzing Whizbees right now,”

“Or a chocolate frog,” Marlene added,

“Cauldron cakes-”

“-pumpkin pastries,”

“You guys are killing me,” Peter groaned, causing the girls to laugh and coo at him teasingly, earning a very sarcastic eye roll though there was not a hint of malice behind it. Dorcas even found herself smiling gently. That was until Marlene caught her of course. 

“So you can smile, huh? I was honestly starting to think you were just permanently grumpy,” she commented. She was clearly trying to tease her, but there was something more behind the way Marlene was staring at her that made Dorcas’ face flush, only managing to turn away with a scowl. 

Dorcas could feel Marlene’s eyes still on her and so she spent the rest of the train ride staring at the ring on her finger, ignoring the conversations between the others and the fluttering in her stomach. 

_______

Hogwarts was definitely not a train. In fact, it was a gigantic fucking castle in the middle of nowhere. 

“Hurry up. Mcgonagall is expecting us,” Lily commanded, leading the way with James following her like an enamoured puppy despite his tired state. The rest of the group followed her lead, naturally, even if they weren’t in the greatest of spirits since the news. 

As they made their way through the corridors, Dorcas found herself strangely surprised at how many young children there were, running through the halls happily and carrying arrays of school books. Often it was easy to forget that the mutants that everybody hated were sometimes just kids, despised and persecuted before they even get the chance to become something special. It stirs something inside of her; a realisation of just how unfair the Mundanes’ goals and views are. It was not as if she hadn’t already come to terms with their damaging ignorance, but she was only just realising the true extent of how ridiculous it all was. 

After a while of wandering through corridors, some of the group split off to go and speak to the Headmaster, leaving Marlene, Remus, Sirius, Mary and Dorcas to talk with the woman Lily called Mcgonagall.

“It’ll be good to see Minnie. I bet she misses us,” Sirius nudged Remus with a grin causing the taller boy to let out a small huff of laughter. 

Marlene rolled her eyes, “clearly you still haven’t acknowledged the fact that I was totally her favourite.”

Sirius squawked in offence, “was not!”  

“Was too,” Marlene stuck out her tongue. 

“You’re both idiots.” Mary said with exasperation. Dorcas decided she liked Mary. 

After only one short knock on the office door from Remus, it swung open despite nobody being behind it. Following the others inside, Dorcas took in the scene in front of her. An older woman, hair pulled back into a tight bun, sat at a desk, surrounded by papers and books. The most surprising part, however, was that they were floating and moving around on their own, with the woman barely sparing each one a glance as notes were scribbled down on them with flying quills. Who the hell uses quills nowadays? 

“You’re all late.” 

“We were just enjoying the scenery,” Sirius responded, flashing a wide smile. Mcgonagall (Dorcas assumed it was her) gave him a disgruntled look, though her lips twitched ever so slightly at the corners. 

“Yes well I'm not sure the scenery particularly enjoys you Sirius. Lets get onto business shall we? I’m sure Albus will fill me in later on the details, but right now I want to talk about you.” 

Her hard gaze settled on Dorcas, giving her the urge to shift and fidget. She resisted. Barely. 

“I’m Dorcas Meadowes.”

“Yes. I know exactly who you are. Apologies that your stay at Grimmauld Place was so brief. I understand this may all be very confusing and overwhelming for you.”

“I’m perfectly fine, thank you.” 

Mcgonagall nodded slowly and Dorcas could tell she was being scrutinised and judged, straightening her posture reflexively, feeling as though she could see right through her. 

“Well that’s nice,” she said, not so cheerily but with a welcome warmth to her tone that put Docas significantly more at ease, “I don’t want to rush you but if you’re quite content I will have Mary show you to your room and once you’re settled you can all meet me for training after dinner.”

“I- my room?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You’re all dismissed until then.”

The group began to make their way to the door to leave, stopping when she called out once more, sounding fond.

“Oh and boys, try not to cause too much trouble.” 

Remus and Sirius both smiled at her sweetly, turning to each other afterwards with matching mischievous glints in their eyes as they all left. 

Once again, the group split off; Remus and Sirius off to find Peter and James no doubt, Mary sticking with Dorcas and Marlene off who knows where. Dorcas was more focused on the short, longing look she seemed to send her way, wondering whether it was a figment of her imagination or truly there. She was an enigma, really, and it pained Dorcas to admit to herself that she was quite inclined to solve it. Her. 

“Come on Cas, let’s get you settled in,” Mary said kindly, pulling her out of her momentary daydream.

“Cas?” she asked, furrowing her brows as she began to walk with her. 

“Mhm,” she hummed contemplatively, “trying out the nickname thing the boys are so obsessed with. What do you think?”

“Uhm. I don’t mind it, I guess?” she responded, “It’s not the worst I’ve had.”

“Oh yeah? What’s the worst then?”

She let a small smile creep its way onto her mouth, “One of my old friends used to call me Dorky.”

Mary let out a laugh, “Oh come on! Dorky isn’t horrible, I kind of like it.”

“Oh don’t even start- it was absolutely insufferable at the time.”

“...Was?” she asked, softly. 

Dorcas nodded, keeping her head held high and her gaze forward, locking herself away yet again. 

“He went missing along with his sister. Final year of school.” 

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.”

The rest of the walk was painfully awkward and Dorcas sighed internally in relief when they made it to the dorm rooms. Apparently the students have dorm rooms based on their houses, but the ones who have left but remain in the Order have their very own area. Meaning, Dorcas was going to be staying right next to Marlene, Mary and Lily. She wasn’t entirely sure if this was a good thing yet.

“We do share a bathroom for showers and such which is at the end of the hall,  but everything else is yours- we also have meals in the great hall but if you don’t want to be around all the kids we can arrange for food to be brought to you here if you want,” Mary explained as she opened the door to Dorcas’ room. 

There wasn’t much in it and it wasn’t massive but it felt comfortable. The double bed had deep red curtains surrounding it and a small set of drawers at the side with a single lamp set on top. There was a wardrobe and a small door leading to the bathroom with just a sink and toilet inside, but it would do. 

“Thanks… Will there be a chance for me to go out and get some clothes soon?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that issue, sorry. Uhm,” she paused, “I don't know if it would be safe for you to go out but we can send someone else for you and you can tell them what sort of thing you like? In the meantime I’m sure any of the girls and I would be happy lending you some things.”

She looked her up and down, humming contemplatively.

“What are you doing?” Dorcas asked accusingly. 

Mary was not thrown off by her tone, “Calculating.”

“And what are you calculating?”

She took a few seconds to respond, looking up at her with a smile.

“I think the closest you’ll get is Marls, though you are very tall but she wears oversized things if you’re more comfortable with that.”

“Being tall isn’t a bad thing,” she crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

“Oh love, I know. Men cower at tall women. Masculinity is pathetically fragile,” she cocked her head to the side with a smile. 

Dorcas couldn’t stop the grin that took over her face, “I most certainly agree.” 

“Well then, it’s safe to say that we’re going to be very good friends, Dorcas.”

Surprisingly, the thought of this didn’t make Dorcas’ stomach twist itself into knots. Maybe having a friend would be nice now that she didn’t have anyone else. Mary was a force to be reckoned with too so it wouldn’t hurt to be on her good side.

“Agreed.”

“Wonderful. Well, I’ll let you get comfortable and talk to Marlene about letting you borrow some clothes before training starts.”

Dorcas nodded, lying down on the bed when the door shut. 

Luckily she didn’t have a lot of time to allow her thoughts to catch up to her as she got a knock on her door about 10 minutes later. 

With a small groan, she got up and opened the door, expecting Mary to be back with some clothes. It wasn’t.

“Well don’t look too happy to see me,” Marlene smirked, holding a pile of clothes. 

Dorcas rolled her eyes, “I’m absolutely ecstatic,” she deadpanned. 

“You should be. Everybody loves my company,” she responded, pushing past Dorcas and heading into her room, dropping the pile of clothes on her bed, “Merlin I forgot how boring these rooms are to start off.’

Dorcas shut the door, “Why yes, of course you can come into my room. Thank you so very much for asking.”

“You’re welcome,” she grinned at her, leaning against the bedpost. 

“Do you know how insufferable you are?”

Marlene put a hand over her chest, “you wound me Cas,”

“Don’t call me that,”

“Why not? Mary did-”

“You’re not Mary though, are you?”

She scowled at her and the corners of Dorcas’ mouth twitched, “that’s what I thought.”

“Shut up or else I’m taking these back and you’ll have to walk around naked,” she huffed out, sitting down on her bed next to the pile of clothes. 

“Yes well I’m sure you’d love that,” she responded dryly and Marlene glared up at her though Dorcas didn’t miss how her cheeks glowed pink. 

She began to look through the clothes with a warm sense of smug satisfaction in her chest- riling her up was incredibly fun. 

After a few minutes, feeling Marlene’s gaze burning into her, she pulled out a deep purple t-shirt and plain black sports leggings. 

“Fancy not staring at me whilst I change?”

Marlene rolled her eyes but turned away nonetheless, allowing Dorcas to pull off the plain hoodie and joggers she had been given back at Grimmauld Place. 

“So… how long have you known you were a mutant?” Marlene asked, still facing the wall. 

“How long has it been since you guys picked me up?”

“Uhm like- a day?”

“There’s your answer.”

Silence followed for a minute or so and Dorcas tried not to let it bother her as she pulled on the clothes. What was she thinking?

“That must’ve been difficult. Finding out so suddenly, I mean,” Marlene offered, picking at a speck of paint on the wall.

“Yes well, I'm not getting into that with you right now.”

“..Right. Can I turn around now?”

“Yes.”

“Please don’t burn my clothes during training,” she commented as her eyes struggled to find their way to Dorcas’ eyes, instead looking her up and down several times. 

“Your clothes aren’t what you should be worrying about,” she replied, arching her eyebrow at her. 

Marlene just grinned as she stood up, standing so their faces were only inches away from each other. Dorcas refused to back away. 

“You couldn’t burn me even if you tried, Princess.”

After that she simply made her way to the door, turning back to Dorcas with a satisfied smirk, “Come on then, don’t want to be late, do we?”

Letting out the small breath she had been holding, Dorcas followed her, knocking her shoulder lightly on the way past. 

Marlene Mckinnon was going to be the death of her.