faced the fire fearlessly

“Go–ober!” Edith sang as she pulled back Dorcas’s hair. She knew that Dorcas couldn’t see the dumb shit-eating grin but she didn’t doubt her cousin knew it was there. “You eat impossible for breakfast, goob. You’re overthinking it. Just pick one apple. Don’t worry about the ones in the middle, stick to the sides, chase them over and go for a bite at the angle. Clear your head. It’s just a new challenge, you’re great at those.”

–

dorcas hefted out a sigh. “you’re a traitor to the cause. quit calling me a goober.” she half-grumbled, half-whined, feeling a bit like she just crawled out of the black lake. “I’m great at puzzles and fighting and tests. this is just testing my fucking patience! the apples in the middle look so much more gettable than the corners! why is it a lie?! alright.” dorcas stretched her neck back and forth. she reached out her fingers in front of her and cracked the knuckles. “let’s try again. we’re going to do this! failure is not an option!”

“You underestimate my idiocy” he spluttered, acting offended as he attempted to drag her towards Rosewood. When Dorcas realised what he was doing, he was forced to stop and reconsider his options. “I am forcing you to do what you really want to do” he explained, as though the answer was obvious. Even as she crossed her arms and stood stubbornly on the spot, he refused to give up. Moving behind her, he put her hands on her back and pushed. “You know, approaching her like this will embarrass you more, and for the record, only I find you annoying. She will love you” he assured her. “That’s not exactly a brag”.

-

“oh, I am well-acquainted with the bounds of your idiocy, and I’m think I’ve correctly assessed- stop pushing me over there! I’m going to freak out!” dorcas ran an obviously nervous hand through her hair. she felt stupid. this was stupid. it was stupid to care so much about what one woman thought of you. honestly, dorcas meadowes had never cared so much about what someone thought about her. it was so out of her comfort zone that she didn’t even know where to begin feeling about it. sure, she’d wanted mcgonagall and dumbledore to like her when she started school, but this felt so much more than that. you could impress a couple teachers by being good at school (and dorcas was good at school). how did you impress someone who knew how to lead and fight and save other people? “no. m’not good enough yet.” she shook her head and bit down on the inside of her cheek. “being able to survive in the forbidden forest is definitely a brag. you’d probably pester a centaur into scalping you before the first night was over.”

[ dorcas moodboard ?/?? ]

[ dorcas moodboard ?/?? ]

[ dorcas moodboard ?/?? ]

[ dorcas moodboard ?/?? ]

“Do- Doe!” Mary reached into the water and tugged at the back of her best friend’s shirt, pulling her out of the water. “Doe, you’re gonna bloody drown yourself all for a dumb apple - let’s go buy one, or five. My treat. You can even get the caramel or chocolate ones.”

-

dorcas spat out the rest of the water in her mouth as mary yanked her upright. “hey!” she protested weakly and wiped her face with her arm. it was cold. “c’mon mac, you know that’s not the point. a bought apple, even with caramel or chocolate, wouldn’t taste as good because my mouth will be full of defeat! I simply can’t allow that. although... don’t count it out. I do really want a candy apple too. are my teeth too small? what am I doing wrong?”

“How many of these do you think are safe to light at once?” Arthur pondered rhetorically, knowing full well he was going to try to light all of the sparklers in his hand at once. “Hey, what do you call a duck that likes watching fireworks? A firequacker.” He chuckled at his own joke, hoping the person next to him would find it funny as well.

-

dorcas mused over the amount of sparklers for a moment before nodding decisively. “I’d wager you could do at least a baker’s dozen more.” she loved a bad idea. her eyes cut over to him quickly. to her credit, dorcas didn’t laugh, but she couldn’t help the small smile that crept up over her lips. arthur was too damn likeable. “firequacker? really? that’s the best you’ve got?”

“I’m aware of that, Meadowes. Walden’s sister made that…. face she makes. Would you like to share some more stellar facts? Do you want to tell me that the sky is blue? Oh, is rain made of water?” Dam’s lip curled into a sneer, eyes rolling as he moved to shove past the girl. “Don’t you have some trouble to get in? This seems like a vast underachievment, even for the likes of you.”

-

dorcas grinned. he looked unhappy as hell. that was the shit she liked to see. “the sky isn’t actually blue given that it’s a refraction of the light in the atmosphere and changes daily given the sunrise, sunset, clouds, and what have you, nor is rain actually made of water. it can be water, but that is akin to saying water is made of water. it’s not. it is water. although some philosopher might argue that. it is, point of fact, made of hydrogen and oxygen. at least that’s the prevailing theory. the cycle of precipitation is a bit more complicated. did you want to throw some more non-facts at me or is that facetious douche-baggery waning at all yet?” her brow quirked up. “see normally I would agree as the likes of you isn’t really worth these delightful quips, however, you’ve managed to catch my particular interest belby. happy new year. you better get fucking used to me now.”

“You’re such a goober.” She laughed, pulling a hair tie off her wrist to pull back her cousin’s hair. “It’s all about strategy. Come on, you’re great at stuff like this. It’s all physics. It’s force. Try going in from a side the apple isn’t, trying to get against the wall. It’s all water displacement and stuff.”

–

“you take that back!” dorcas sighed. she did not want to be a goober for not being able to get a fucking apple. this was a nightmare. she'd been able to cast a patronus, she could brew felix felicis, she’d been able to expel any duelist’s wand for years, but she was being beaten by a damn fruit. dorcas let edi pull her hair back with a soft thanks. “it’s fucking impossible. I swear. the second I’m in the water I have no idea what’s going on anymore.”

“I assure you that you won’t look like an idiot, because you’ll be standing next to me and I have the monopoly on that in social situations” he pointed out, his lips twitching slightly. He understood that Rosewood was Dorcas’s hero, but he had never seen Dorcas make a fool of herself before, unless trees were involved. “I’m sure she won’t mind if you do, she might even find it flattering” he suggested, shrugging his shoulder and taking her hand, pulling her in the direction of Rosewood. “And the forest, really?”

-

“I don’t even think your idiocy has the capability to cancel out mine in this situation. what are you doing?” dorcas asked, realizing suddenly that mason slowly managing to drag her precisely in the direction that she’d been too frozen solid to step a moment ago. “she’s going to find me annoying.” dorcas slipped her hand out of mason’s and petulantly crossed her arms over her chest. try to make her move. “yes, I know the forest well enough to survive. I’ve done enough detentions in there.”

Bilius let out a huff, that soon turned into a laugh. “You got me there, Doe,” he replied. He was tempted to stop then and there, take her words to heart and not see through on the rest of her present. But… She was right, Dorcas always seemed to be right and instead of infuriating him, it just made him smile. “Maybe I just need to take classes from the master, then,” he said. Bilius let out a little chuckle, rolling his eyes playfully. “And when have I ever been anything but slightly rude?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. He was about to make a quick witty remark, how did the Dorcas Meadowes not know how a spell went wrong? But her words seemed to take the breath away from him. Bilius stared at her, eyes wide and mouth unflatteringly open. He grasped the air for something to say. “A song? You wrote… Okay, yeah,” he nodded, heat rising to his cheeks at his stumbling. “Let’s hear it, then,” he added, features going a bit soft. 

“well I’ve been trying to teach you for years. some people just won’t learn.” the smile remaining on her face until she took a seat at the scarlet piano. she ran an anxious hand through her mess of curly hair, pulling it back out of her face before resting her fingers gently on the keys. she quickly pulled her hands away. “so I only started working on it recently. it’s not perfect or anything, but- yeah.” she shook her head again and readied her fingers to play. dorcas inhaled deeply and then the melody began. it began soft and measured. almost reserved in a way, but soon enough it open up to the harmony and lilted playfully into it’s contrasting rhythm. there was the long, reliable notes supporting the scales that complicated it all. dorcas’s original nerves fading into a soft smile as she played. in another life where there was not so much at risk if she did not fight, she could have played music like this forever. finally, she finished and lifted her hands from the keys, looking at him expectantly. “-so?”

Frank had been watching her with slight amusement for a few minutes, waving aside a few students who had protested that they wanted to have their turn, even though there were several barrels on offer. “I’m not sure now whether you want the prize, or just to win the apple” he smirked, shaking his head. “Do you need me to hold your hair back? Just one more try. I’m sure you’ve almost got it by now”.

-

dorcas shook her head, letting the water spray out a bit like a dog and sighed. “I want the apple!” the words were shouted in a complete unrepressed passion. she just wanted to be able to do it! it was a fucking challenge. dorcas always rose to the occasion. she wasn’t about to get bested by fucking fruit! “no, I don’t need you to hold my hair back. well-” she paused. was her hair throwing her off? it was definitely starting to weight her down. her hair was thick. “do you think it would actually help?”

James offered Alanis another big grin, pocketing the word urchin to use in later insults around the castle. His head turned towards Dorcas’s voice, giving a hearty nod to agree with her. “You wouldn’t wanna know, gran. It’d make even you, blush,” he grinned, stepping through the threshold and making his way up the staircase. He took his coat off as he went, tossing it somewhere as if he had lived here his whole life. All part of the potter charm, he would say if confronted. James let out a scoff, shaking his head, “Mrs. Grandma? No, couldn’t have been me. I was nothing but poised and controlled,” he grinned. 

dorcas’s snort could be heard all the way up the stairs. “whatever you say, mrs. grandma’s boy.” she laughed again as she headed into her bedroom. it was a surprisingly large room covered in warm colors and wild textures. an old iron bed set in the middle next to a large industrial window that looked out to the street. “and to what to I owe the honor of such a prestigious visit? I can’t imagine you came just to flirt with my gran, right? you know what. I take that back. I wouldn’t put it past you.”