dorcas meadowes

“Nope, not at all,” once again Sirius shrugged, continuing to feign nonchalance. “Just curious is all. I need to find this antidote before we leave.” Although he made no effort to move away, Sirius once more began to idly look through the large text in front of him, “Now I can’t help but be worried for our safety.” 

Dorcas felt distracted by his presence, especially when he had been practically leaning over her, fingers wandering. Again, she shifted further away from him -- but it wasn’t much distance though, otherwise she should’ve fallen off her chair. Dipping her quill in more ink, the Ravenclaw teased, “.. oh my, Sirius Black worrying about safety? What has the world come too.” 

“I’d like to think that I don’t, but I’m afraid most of the Snake’s may be out to get me.” Although he teased, it certainly didn’t help that the house of green had been subject to another of the Marauder’s pranks the day before. Hand now resting idly along her inner thigh, Sirius leaned over to sneak a glimpse at her work, “How much do you have left?”

“In that case, you’re not the only one on a hit list -- I’m sure the entirety of Slytherin’s quidditch team would love to spike my drink,” Dorcas admitted, knowing how deep rivalries ran in this school. When he leaned over, his shoulder brushed against hers, his fingers inching closer. Dorcas blinked, “.. uh - two questions left. Why? Are you - in a hurry?”

“It is venomous, so that’s not too surprising. I feel as though I should be looking for an antidote here,” he flipped through the pages, all while his free hand continued. It was amusing, truly; watching as they both pretended his finders weren’t inching further up her hemline. “Knowing my luck, someone’ll slip a few drops into my pumpkin juice.”

“Better watch your back if you have that many enemies,” Dorcas mused, writing away. Three more questions, and then she’ll be done with History. Granted, there was nothing wrong in trying to read ahead .. it would make taking notes during class much easier, especially if she had a hunch about what professor Binns would lecture over. It would also be easier to push his hands away, granted they weren’t too invasive, even if she felt her skirt shift higher. Dorcas feigned a look of normalcy, as if nothing had been wrong; even if she was tempted to drop her quill. 

“What am I…?” Feigning ignorance, Sirius continued reading over the passage. Fingers tracing random figures along her skin, he ran his other hand through his hair, sighing in apparent boredom. “Fun fact,” he read from the page, “Tentacula are not only known for their medicinal properties, but can be used for protection and weaponry. Apparently this shite is highly leathal and they’ve got us dealing with it in class.”

Dorcas opted not to answer, again. As long as his hand didn’t sink any lower, there shouldn’t be a problem... granted, it had been distracting. Nonetheless, she continued on with her assignment, trying her best to ignore the patterns that were tickling her skin. 

“Of course not, sorry. I forgot that the experiences are quite unremarkable.” Shrugging, Sirius settled back into his seat. “As was I by the offer. Apparently I’ve been shocked into coming in here, haven’t otherwise in ages.” Flipping through the tome opened in front of him, boredom was apparent on the Gryffindor’s face. With one hand following the text, Sirius’ free arm remained underneath the table, fingers landing on her thigh.

Dorcas smirked, focusing her eyes on her paper instead. If anything, engaging in a conversation with him would only fuel his complaining; and there was no way she was leaving before finishing her homework. Dipping her quill in ink again, she attempted to answer the next question, adding, “the library isn’t so bad, you’ve just been missing out all these years by fooling--”

“You’re never one to play stupid, Doe. You know exactly what I meant,” Sirius rolled his eyes. “Besides, I’ve done some of my work.” He glanced at his own pile of books. Reports on herbology and history of magic were due in three days time and Sirius had managed to finish most of his work before the duo had entered the library. However, he wasn’t too keen on informing his study partner of that. “And I work better outside the library. S’far too stuffy in here.” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Dorcas simply replied, smiling to herself. While she didn’t hate their rendezvouses, everything had a time and place. And right now, her time was being spent finishing her assignment for history -- a class she actually enjoyed. Looking over at his pile, the Ravenclaw sighed, “you could’ve told me before we came here; granted, I’m surprised you even accepted the offer to study.” 

“Come on, Meadowes,” he sighed once more, practically pouting. Strategy quickly changing, the Gryffindor waggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, “This is the perfect opportunity to sneak away, you know. No one’s mental enough to bother you while studying’s in session.” Except him, of course.

“I told you, I’m not sneaking away anywhere. Especially when I have work to finish which, by the way, did you even look at your assignments?” Not that she had been sparing him glances, but the Gryffindor clearly didn’t seem to be making any progress on his own work during this study session. 

“I said,” Sirius sighed dramatically, as though repetition of the simple question took far too much effort. “That I’m bloody tired of studying. Can we please leave now?”

“You can leave if you want, I still have two more chapters to read and a homework assignment to finish,” Dorcas argued, not willing to budge. She had limited time during the day, and every spare minute she had left, the Ravenclaw preferred getting things like, homework or assignments out of the way. 

“Why focus on failures when I can think about all the success? They’re more common, anyways.”

“Because you should learn from your mistakes.” 

“By choosing to ignore all the perfectly crafted scenarios and focus solely on the shite ones.”

“Well, someone has too. Since you’re clearly not recognizing your failed attempts.” 

“Then you haven’t seen enough — or maybe just not the right things.”

“I’ve seen many pranks of yours backfire, if that counts.”

“My judgement is brilliant, thanks much.”

“Not from what I’ve seen.” 

“Why should I? Don’t think you deserve it.”

“No offense, but you don’t really make the best judgement calls.”

“I have plenty of prizes, I’m a creative individual.”

“Prove it.”

“I don’t think those are prize-worthy actions.”

“Or maybe you just don’t have any prizes.”