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The Potters house was big. Like, really big. This Dorcas’ first thought walking up the front steps of the Potters Manor, along with the Rosier twins and Barty Crouch Jr. They had been invited over for a Christmas party by Euphemia Potter, as friends of Regulus.
Dorcas was beyond happy when she head that Regulus had left the Blacks. Now even more if they’re gonna get invites to parties like this.
Pandora, who was ahead of the group knocked on the door. James Potter, decked out in a full Christmas get-up, opened it.
“Oh, hey guys! Come in! I’ll get Reggie.” He proclaimed, then proceeded to run somewhere up stairs. A few moments later Regulus appeared at the door. He was wearing his usual clothes, except for a very ugly Christmas sweater that looked as if it had been forced upon him. Honestly it probably was.
“Alright bastards, stop standing at the door, come in.” Regulus demanded.
They followed him into what seemed like the living room. It was large with three large sofas at each side of the room, facing a wide coffee table. There was a grand brick fireplace on the wall with a tv resting on top and multiple flower arrangements. The ceiling was low at this part of the house with dark brown wooden beams running through it. The lights were a slight orange-yellowish. There was a Christmas tree in the corner beautifully decorated, with a few random ornaments that were probably James’.
It seemed like they were of the first to arrive. The only other people were Remus and Peter. Sirius (who was there by default) was seemingly trying to convince Remus to wear an ugly sweater as well. Remus did not seem interested.
Regulus sat down on one of the sofas with Pandora, Barty and Evan following suit. Dorcas sat beside Pandora, not wanting to interfere with Barty and Evans relentless flirting and/or bickering. Regulus and Pandora seemed to be in a deep discussion about the correct use of the word “whom”. Dorcas tried to listen but she was completely lost.
Around twenty minutes later there was a know on the door. James rushed over from his spot next to Peter to open it. Outside the door was Mary and Lily (who Pandora rushed to greet), Emmeline Vance, and Marlene fucking McKinnon. She was wearing a dark red sweater with a white messy looking skirt. She had on fish nets and combat boots with little ornaments taped to them. Merlin, why’d she have to look so good?
The girls who just came in and Pandora walked over to the corner and started updating each other on their daily lives. That when Marlene finally noticed Dorcas. Her face lit up into that Marlene McKinnon smirkᵗᵐ, and she waved Dorcas over.
So since Marlene asked, Dorcas got up and walked over to the girls. They seemed to be talking about something Emmeline did. Or at least Dorcas assumed they were considering how red Emmeline was.
“Hey y’all. What’s up?” Dorcas asked.
Lily smiled and looked at Emmeline. Pandora giggled and looked at Dorcas.
“Emmelines got a girlfriend.”
Dorcas’ head snapped back to Emmeline. “What?” She asked surprised, a slight smile playing at her lips. “Who?”
Marlene answered for her, “Amelia Bones.”
“Amelia fucking Bones?” Dorcas rightfully questioned.
Emmeline quickly explained that they had been assigned partners for a project a while back and quickly become close.
“I’m honestly shocked. Congratulations Emmey!” Dorcas proceeded to listen to the rest of the drama with the Gryffindors (which mostly consisted of who they were planning to curse).
Around an hour later Effie called for dinner. Everyone gather at a huge dining table in an ever bigger dining room.
Dorcas sat beside Evan and James, Regulus to James left, and Barty to Evan’s right. In front of James was Pandora, and beside Pandora, was Marlene. Therefore leaving her directly in front of Dorcas. The universe just hates her tonight. Or loves her. She hasn’t decided.
Effie, who was at the head of the table (fuck gender roles), gave a speech on family and friends. At the end of her beautiful declaration, they began eating. The food was absolutely marvelous. They had at least three different turkeys and two hams. There were about as many side dishes as you could imagine.
About halfway through the dinner, Marlene for some reason decided to turn her attention towards Dorcas.
“So Meadows, how have you been?” She asked.
“Fine really, spend most of my time in the library round this time of year.” Dorcas replied. End of semester tests were no joke.
“Studying?” Marlene questioned.
Dorcas smiled a bit. “Yeah, I mean, that is what you go to the library for. Well, unless you’re James, trying to bother Regulus.”
James looked up from whatever the hell he was doing at the mention of his name. Dorcas waved a dismissive hand.
Marlene chuckled, a light pink dusting her cheeks. “Yeah, I suppose so.” She looked down at her plate and an awkward silence settled between the two. McKinnon looked almost… nervous? That was oddly out of character for her. Dorcas found it slightly endearing. To break the silence Dorcas spoke up.
“So, how’s your brother been? Still playing well?” She asked.
Marlene looked relieved for an actual topic to discuss. “Oh yeah he’s doing great…”
The rest of the dinner brought friendly conversation. Dorcas loved it when her Marlene spoke. It happened quite more often than most would think, though Dorcas counted every encounter as a special moment, each cherished. She held her feeling close to heart, and for now, those feeling longed for Marlene McKinnon. So every word the other girl spoke, Dorcas clung to, as if it were water and she was dying of thirst.
After the diner concluded, everyone mingled around some more. Dorcas was sitting by Evan, James, and Mary, listening to a discussion about something one of the Pruitts had done, when someone tapped her shoulder.
Dorcas turned to see Marlene sitting beside her. She looked at Dorcas with those dark grey eyes, and stupidly perfect face. “Wanna get out of here?” She asked. Dorcas shrugged.
“Sure.”
They walked outside to the backyard in the midnight air. The stars were very bright tonight, casting a cool glow on everything, illuminating beauty in everything that is touches. She closed her eyes and let the cool air breeze around her. When she opened her eyes and turned she found Marlene staring at her, her eyes with an unrecognizable expression and a small smile dancing across her lips.
“What?” Dorcas asked confused.
Marlene seemed to snap out of a trance. “Oh nothing, uhm, why don’t we sit?”
The grass was a dark green, almost turquoise, in the nights aura. They sat down, and stared ahead the darkening horizon. Dorcas leaned back and rested her head on the soft ground, Marlene doing the same.
They both turned to each other at the same time, resolving in small fits of laughter. When they calmed down they looked at each other again. Marlene eyes drifted across Dorcases face, pausing momentarily, unbeknownst to Dorcas, on her lips.
Marlene then looked back to her eyes and Dorcas savored every moment. The entire scene was beautiful, the night sky, the soft grass, Marlene beside her. Heaven can’t be much better than this, she thought.
Dorcas wanted to fill the silence so she asked a simple question: “So, How have you been lately?”
They talked for what seemed like hours, about anything, everything. It was times like these, when Dorcas remembered how kind and calm Marlene could be, which was sometimes hard to remember with how energetic this girl is. They had a slight pause in conversation, while Dorcas looked at the sky, the stars, the moon. Dorcas looked back to find Marlene’s eyes on her for the second time that night. Only this time Marlene spoke.
“The stars light up your face perfectly, Dorc.”
Dorcas honestly thought she had misheard. “Thank you, Marlene.” She replied meaning to compliment her back, when she realized how close they were. She sucked in her breath at the proximity.
Marlene reached a hand up to Dorcas’ face. “For once, I can understand the difference between ‘pretty’ and ‘beautiful’.”
Slowly their faces drifted closer, noses brushing. Marlene’s lips ghosted over Dorcas’, nearing a meet. Both of their eyes drifted close. Their lips almost touching-
“Marlene! Dorcas! Come back inside, Effie made cookies!” Pandoras voice rang out.
The girl jumped apart quickly, and awkwardly brushed the grass off of themselves. Their eyes locked and for a moment Dorcas felt a sizzle of emotions, mutually shared. She liked away and cleared her through.
“We should…”
“Yeah. Uhm, yeah.” Marlene agreed. They headed back inside.
Effie’s cookies were amazing, though hard to enjoy after that. This would ruin their friendship, she knew for sure. They had been caught up in the moment, certainly. Though Dorcas would forever treasure the feeling of joy she had felt in that moment.
Beside her, Lily was eating a cookie and going on abt a new book she read. Dorcas really did try to listen but honestly, her mind was elsewhere. She excused herself from Lily and got up to grab another cookie, when she bumped into someone. She quickly began to apologize, when she realized who she was speaking to. Of course, it was McKinnon. Now she had decided, the universe hated her.
Dorcas was about to say something when someone gasped. She looked over to see Lily gaping at something above their heads. This seemed to catch Evans attention, who proceeded to laugh in surprise. Now many people were looking over, most with mischievous looks on their faces.
“What are they on abo-“ Marlene began, but cut herself off. Dorcas looked over at her, to see the girl looking up.
“What?” She looked aswell. “Oh. Well.”
Right above them was mistletoe.
“Looks like you stumbled under one of the mistletoe pieces dad set up.” James called from the other side of the room.
“You know the rules, girls” Mary chimed in. She looked far too pleased with this for Dorcas’ comfort.
Dorcas looked back at Marlene who looked like a frightened dog. “You don’t have to-“
“Oh, shut up, Meadows.” Marlene interrupted, taking Dorcas by surprise. “Can I kiss you?”
Dorcas stuttered out a surprised “yes”. Soon after Marlene’s lips came crashing into hers. The other snaked her hands down to Dorcas’ waist. Dorcas wrapped her arms around Marlene’s neck. The people around them whooped and hollered.
When they finally broke apart they kept their faces together. “So is this gonna be something or are we just following the tradition of mistletoe?” Dorcas quietly asked.
“This can be whatever you want Meadows. All I know is I am head over heels for you.” Marlene replied.
Dorcas chuckled. She was definitely labeling this as one of her favorite memories.