here's a secret (our innocence died screaming)
...
i. August 10, 1971
Smoke surrounds the Jones' house on the front page of the Prophet. Dorcas Meadowes traces the outline, watching the way the house is engulfed by uncontrollable flames.
The front page headline simply reads, Muggleborn Wizengamot lawyer and family dead in house fire.
"Father," Dorcas calls, her voice echoing through the silence of the dining room. The House-Elf looks up; Her father doesn't. "Why is his blood status mentioned? It was an accident, after all, I hardly see how that's important."
"For Merlin's sake, Dorcas, can we not have one meal in silence?" Arcturus Meadowes finally deigns to reply, a hint of anger coating his words. "I've had a long day at work without your contributions."
Dorcas doesn't ask what he's done at work. She knows, better than anyone, about the polished gentlemen and scruffy criminals her father deals with and the way both his status and wealth grow after it.
Partially, it is what fuels her. "Please answer my question, father," she repeats and he scowls, but opens his mouth to answer.
"Some families are better than others due to their blood status. It is what it is. Now, eat your dinner."
Dorcas thinks — of shadowy corners and bribes, of corruption and being a politician's daughter.
Debatable, she does not dare to say out loud.
…
ii. July 4, 1979
The first thing Marlene McKinnon notices when she walks into the room is a new face. Predictably, her family's antics have caused her to be the last one to arrive but the meeting of the Order of The Phoenix seems far from started.
Marlene watches the way the new girl flinches at the Prewetts' loud screams, the way she winces when Sirius Black tackles James Potter while Lily Evans and Peter Pettigrew cheer them on.
Marlene remembers the way her mother used to tell her You have a saving people thing and maybe that's the reason she approaches the girl. "It can be a little much to handle sometimes for me too," Marlene tells her. "I like to escape outside when it all gets too much."
The girl startles a little but forces a smile. "Oh, there's nothing wrong with sound… it's just at my childhood house, none of this would have ever been tolerated."
At that moment, it all clicks for Marlene. The way the girl's posture is too stiff, the way her smile is elegant but fake, the way her voice sounds almost musical. The girl is a pureblood — old money, if Marlene's hutch is right.
"Dorcas Meadowes, right?" Marlene offers, grinning at the way the girl looks off balance. "I remember you from those stuffy childhood parties. I have to say, I'm surprised to see you here."
"I'm surprised to be here, Marlene," Dorcas counters, and Marlene finds her lips quirking up in a smile back. "This wasn't the path I planned for myself."
"What, you didn't plan to be an outcast rebel fighting against your parent's Pureblood values?" Marlene widens her eyes in mock shock, letting her mouth fall open teasingly. "Well, embrace it. Two knock-off Pureblood heads are better than one, and all that jazz. You're one of the good guys now."
"I never said I was a good person, Marlene," Dorcas tells her lightly, as if letting her down gently.
Marlene winces a little. There is something genuine in those words, something torn and broken.
"You may not have said that, but I did. You're here, fighting the good fight, and that's enough for me," Marlene says, flipping her hair into Dorcas's face. The other girl laughs, startled, and despite the noise and chaos and people all around them, Marlene feels strangely serene.
...
iii. November 5, 1974
Hogwarts never feels as solemn as it does in winter. The air is frozen and Dorcas hates the way it chills her to the core, making her feel cold and alone.
"I cannot wait to be home for the holidays," Bellatrix Black announces, tossing her thick hair over her shoulders, grin wicked. "There's is so much potential out there, if you know what I mean."
Dorcas knows. She may only be a fourth year, but even she cannot look away from the evil that is growing in the shadows of their world — a world in which Dorcas's own Head Girl has ambitions to join a group of murders and killers.
"Potential to marry the love of your life?" Rabastan Lestrange teases her.
Bellatrix rolls her eyes, turning to face Dorcas herself. "Don't listen to him; Rabastan is an abomination, of course. There's no such thing as love, it's all a merely regurgitated fantasy. But you have the right blood for our cause, Dorcas. When you graduate, come find me — you know you can come to me with anything since we... understand each other."
Dorcas fingers her Slytherin scarf. Slytherin is the house of ambition, of cunning, but not of destruction. Not of evil, not the kind Bellatrix is planning.
"I'll find you, when I graduate," Dorcas tells Bellatrix. The girl smirks, victorious, and Dorcas notes the ambiguousness of her own words.
...
iv. August 3, 1979
Marlene is not surprised to see the showdown between Dorcas and the rest of the Order. In its own twisted way, it's almost fate.
"Why are you even here?" Gideon Prewett hisses, wand drawn. "I remember you from Hogwarts, all cozy with Bellatrix Lestrange. Her own little prodigy."
"I remember you from Hogwarts too," Dorcas shoots back. Her own wand is drawn too, but it hangs by her side. "A prankster, always in detention. And yet, here we are, both in the Order. Times do change. Why do you hate me so much?"
Gideon opens his mouth to respond, but Marlene takes it upon herself to volunteer her own answer. "Because it's so fun for him, of course. Why, what could be more entertaining than making a stranger into a rival because you can't get your own head out of your ass?"
Fabian Prewett opens his mouth to defend his brother, and Remus Lupin opens his mouth to no doubt intervene, but Marlene has no time for either of them. They're only heroes when it benefits them, and she has no time for the fickle games of lesser people.
Marlene grabs Dorcas and pushes through the crowd. "She's only going to get you killed, McKinnon," Gideon yells and Marlene shoots the Pimple Jinx back at him with no regrets.
As soon as they're far enough, Dorcas catches Marlene's shoulder. "You didn't have to do that. It takes guts to be as gentle and kind as you are."
Marlene snorts, pulling Dorcas into a hug. Dorcas's neat, cream blazer crinkles against Marlene's Gryffindor scarf, but Dorcas's smile lights up the room. "You're so weird, of course I had to. We're friends now, this is just what friends do. It's nothing special."
Dorcas's smile comes back wistful. "I've never had a friend do that before."
Marlene winks back at her. "Well, what can I say? You inspire me."
"I'm scared to ask what I inspire in you as a runaway blood traitor." Dorcas laughs back, but she grabs Marlene's hand in her own and holds so tight it's as if the world is ending around them, and Marlene is sure they're going to be late to the meeting, but it's so worth it.
...
v. December 28, 1978
"Father," Dorcas says hesitantly, leaning against the doorframe of her father's office. "May I come in?"
In a rare occasion, her father beams back at her. In his hand, a glass of wine sloshes a little bit, spilling on the cream-coloured couch. "Yes, come sit. We have so much to discuss."
Smoothing down her robes, Dorcas sits at the corner of the couch across from him, crossing her ankles over each other the way she was taught. "Father, we have our last interviews this year. I know it is my last year at Hogwarts, but last year I had no answer when asked about my post-school ambitions, and I would like to discuss — "
"You joining the Death Eaters?" Her father finishes, delighted. "Your friendship with Bellatrix is well known and I'm aware that you kept in touch after her graduation. I assume the two of you are still in touch. Dorcas, my dearest daughter, I've always wanted a son to pass on the family name, but this will make me just as proud."
It feels like the carpet has been pulled from under her feet. Dorcas clings to the side of the couch, her feet digging into the floor as if to keep her from collapsing. She had known her father would not have been supportive, but this — this is not the way she wanted her goodbye to go.
"That's not what I meant father." Dorcas takes a deep breath. "I am not joining the Death Eaters."
Her father's face falls, but he waits, temporarily patient, and it hits Dorcas at once that this is her last chance — she may not join the Death Eaters, but she can continue her father's legacy of corruption and hatred. There is more than one way to make the world burn.
This is who she is — the only daughter of a cruel man presiding over silent meals, a motherless girl learning to do her hair herself, a Slytherin listening silently to the propaganda spat in her common room, a girl making her own fate.
"I'm joining the Order of the Phoenix," Dorcas says and listens to the stunned silence of her past crash and burn.
...
vi. September 10th, 1980
Despite all the missions she has gone on before, armed with only her wand and fellow Phoenixes, there is a feeling of dread from the second Dumbledore catches their attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he says, voice heavy. "We have been notified by an acquaintance of mine that our services are in need. The Abbott family will be attacked tonight. Is there anybody available to ensure this won't happen?"
Marlene looks around — Mundungus is still limping, reeling from a battle earlier that week, and James and Lily Potter are hiding with their son. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are busy, off to places Marlene can only wish she can follow them to. Peter Pettigrew is sick, Fabian and Gideon are just tallies in a growing body count (they were arrogant and trouble but she still misses them to death), the Bones are gone (third in this month alone).
It's written all over her face, and Marlene feels the exact moment Dorcas notices because her face softens and her hand slips to the small of Marlene's back as if to keep her steady.
"Marlene and I can do it," Dorcas volunteers. Marlene nods silently, not trusting her voice. Dumbledore goes through the procedures, but Marlene is only half-listening. They've done this so many times before.
When he's finished, Dorcas grabs her hand and pulls her to the end of the anti-apparition wards.
"Ready?" Dorcas says, so warm it heats Marlene up like fire.
"Thank you," Marlene says instead. "I didn't want to do this alone."
Dorcas looks at her strangely. "What we have is beyond friendship," she says, trailing her hand along the side of Marlene's face unconsciously. "It's like you said — this is just what we do."
...
vii. December 29, 1998
The fall of her empire is swift. With seconds, her father's hand is in the air and his face is pressed into a scowl that makes Dorcas want to hide in a corner and never come out.
"If you do that, you are no longer my daughter," he warns. Dorcas digs her nails into her palms and tries to steady her breathing. "I wanted the world for you and you betray me like this! You're no Meadowes. Your mother would be rolling in her grave if she heard you speaking like this."
Dorcas lets out a choked sob. "Mother was never meant for a world as cruel as this one. She loved peace. She was kind."
"And you think you're honouring her like this? You're a fool, not a visionary," he mocks, turning his face into a caricature of her horrified look.
"I know I'm not visionary," Dorcas gets out and barely blinks before her father's palm connects with the side of her face. His wand is in air within seconds as she reels from the impact. Struggling to her feet, Dorcas gasps in a poor attempt to get the world steady.
"Get out," her father says, and she runs out of the manor with nothing but the clothes on her back. The cold air stings at her swollen cheek, a haunting reminder. Her own father has kicked her out, has let his only child go without a second thought.
Dorcas passes through the manor gates, knowing she is welcome here no longer.
The outside of the manor lets out into a small Muggle town full of laughing children and their tired but loving parents. An ice cream shop is open and Dorcas breathes in the sweet smell and the way it seems like a picture-perfect scene in the background of her misery.
"Are you okay, love?" a woman's voice asks her, and Dorcas whirls around to meet the pitying face of an older women wearing faded jeans and holding a little boy's hand. "You seemed a little lost, do you need directions? Is there anything I can do to help?"
Dorcas almost breaks down in tears. This is who the world wants her to hate — a mother, a kind soul. She refuses to let the world turn her cold.
"I'm not okay right now," Dorcas tells her. "But I will be. Thank you for asking."
…
vii. September 10th, 1980
"Bombarda," Marlene screams, watching as bright rays of light fly over her head, turning the sky into an array of colours. Beside her, Dorcas's shoulder hits her own as they go back-to-back in a last-defense.
"Marlene, we aren't going to make it like this —" Dorcas begins to say and Marlene barely has time to nod before the figures they have been fighting come closer, pushing their hoods down. Marlene doesn't recognize the black-haired man or the blond man, but the women beside him has black curls and grey eyes.
"Bellatrix Black," Marlene hisses, tightening her grip on her wand.
Bellatrix throws her head back in mocking laughter. "Lestrange now. Dorcas, I wish I could say I was surprised, but your prowess was always evident. Sadly, you'll have to meet your end today for your misplaced faith."
Dorcas stands proud. "Do your worst, Bellatrix. Voldemort will have to kill me personally. I refuse to be afraid."
Within seconds, three lays of light connect with Dorcas's body and Marlene barely grabs her and apparates before they're both hit. Still, Dorcas's words chill her even as she lands in a safehouse — they sound like a warning. They sound like a future up in smoke.
…
ix. December 30, 1998
It's strange, being at Hogwarts during winter break. The world is softer, snow falling and coating the ground like a blanket.
"Ms. Meadowes," Dumbledore says cautiously. "Your name was not on the list of students staying for winter break, and your arrival, I admit, has surprised me. I did not think Hogwarts would be a place you would enjoy staying at, given your... affiliations."
Dorcas forces a smile, trying not to cry or be bitter. "I know, but I was… I was disowned, Headmaster. My father wanted me to join the Death Eaters, but I disappointed him, as I have other... ambitions."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkle behind his glasses as he peers down at her. "And what are these ambitions of yours, if I may ask?"
Dorcas takes a deep breath. "I want to join the Order of the Phoenix, and I know you're who I needed to talk to. I am aware of both my reputation and history, but I… I want to do good in this world."
Dumbledore leans forward, satisfied, and Dorcas finally understands the Chessmaster aura people claim he has, but she doesn't care. Not when she finally has a chance to save the world.
…
vii. September 10th, 1980
"Dorcas, can you hear me? Dorcas?" Marlene screams, lowering her to the floor. "I need you to wake up — I can't do this alone. This — this is what we do."
Marlene wipes bitterly at her tears. Not only have the Abbotts died — they had never had odds against the Death Eaters — but now Dorcas was unconscious. Pure, clever, kind Dorcas, who only wants to save people and the entire damn world.
Dorcas coughs suddenly, and Marlene falls to her knees in shocked hope. "Dorcas?"
"Marlene," Dorcas breathes and Marlene gasps. "Marlene, you're okay — "
Marlene cuts her off, kissing Dorcas fiercely and protectively, cradling her best friend's head in her palms. "I'm so glad you're alive. I couldn't have done this alone. You mean so much to me."
Dorcas strokes her cheek fondly. "This is what we do… Phoenixes rise. Marlene, had I died, you would have been my biggest almost and only regret. I love you. Forever. We're going to save the world together. I believe in us."
Right there and then, Marlene believes in them too.
…
x. July 4, 1979
Dorcas leans against the wall, wishing she can disappear. Despite Dumbledore's testimony about her, the Phoenixes were still — and rightfully — suspicious of her. Dorcas can't blame them — in their position, she would be too. Still, it feels lonely, nothing like she had thought being a saviour would be like.
In front of her, the room is in delighted chaos, but Dorcas just feels trapped and a little scared.
"It can be a little much to handle sometimes for me too," a voice says from her side and Dorcas whirls around to see a red-head girl standing and grinning at her. "I like to escape outside when it all gets too much."
Despite her fear, something about the girl feels familiar and Dorcas answers.
(And that's how it begins.)
...
Written for :
Wordcount: 3000 words
QLFC, Keeper: Write about a character joining a group (such as The Death Eaters, Order of the Phoenix, Marauders, etc.)
Arts & Crafts: Task 4 - Write about an outdated tradition, belief, etc.
Tv Addicts: 11. A Series of Unfortunate Events: After the loss of their parents in a mysterious fire, the three Baudelaire children face trials and tribulations attempting to uncover dark family secrets.
(scenario) A house on fire
(word) Volunteer
(dialogue) "Why do you hate me so much? / "Because it's fun!"
Character Appreciation: (word) Rival
Disney Challenge: Let It Go - Write about someone letting go of a negative emotion.
Creature Feature: Hydra: (dialogue) "Two heads are better than one," Chimera: (word) ember
Book Club: Julian - (colour) crimson, (word) liar, (dialogue) "I never said I was a good person, [name].",
Showtime: Sex Is In the Heel - (dialogue) "Embrace it."
Amber's Attic: 9. Walk These Shoes: Write about people of different social classes trying to understand one another.
Count Your Buttons: (song) "From Eden" by Hozier, (object) Scarf, (dialogue) "[character] of course is an abomination," (character) Bellatrix Lestrange, (word) Serenity
Lyric Alley: I couldn't ignore the faint possibility
Ami's Audio Admiration: #GetAnnaOnTwitter — Write about someone who doesn't follow trends.
Sophie's Shelf: 6. Klaus Baudelaire - Write about someone showing a lot of intelligence from an early age.
Em's Emporium: Theodore Tonks/Andromeda Tonks: write about someone unlearning toxic ideology.
Liza's Loves: Runaway!AU
Lo's Lowdown: Spock - write about someone caught between two worlds.
Hot Air Balloon: (Drink) wine
Days Of The Year: Disobedience Day: Write about someone being disobedient.
Summer Prompts: (dialogue) "There's no such thing as love. It's a fantasy."
Seasonal Colour Prompts: Cream
Seasonal Birthstones: Ruby - (dialogue) "It takes guts to be as gentle and kind as you are."
Seasonal Flowers: Hydrangea - (phrase) 'Old Money'
Elemental: (word) Blaze
Shay's Musical Challenge: Hamilton: write about someone fighting for what they believe in. alt, write about someone who won't give up
Gryffindor Challenge: Albus Dumbledore, (trait) Heroic, (colour) Scarlet
Star Chart: August 12 2018 - Perseids Meteor Shower: (word) Rescue
Gobstones: Orange Stone - Rebellion, (dialogue) "Why are you like this?", (song) "From Eden" by Hozier, (dialogue) "You inspire me." / "I'm scared to ask what I inspire in you."
Film Festival: Dialogue - "What we have is beyond friendship."
Fantastic Beasts: Henry Shaw Jr, (location) Hogwarts, (trope) Corrupt Politician, (spell) Bombarda, (word) immolate
Eagle Day: Marietta Edgecombe: (word) defend, (spell) Pimple Jinx (bonus), (relationship) best friends (emotion) fear
Who's Your Daddy: (quote) "You know you can come to me with anything."
Fairie Day: Fire Faerie — Flame, Burn, Fire, Kindle, Ablaze, Inferno, Anger, Fuel, Wild, Uncontrollable