A/n: School sucks. I thought I would share that wonderful piece of news
with you, in case any of you had forgotten. I have been completely hampered
down with end of the term homework and tests. I did manage to write
however, and this chapter is the result! I don't have time to do reviewer
notes this time, I'm sorry. But you guys know that I love you and that I'm
so glad that you review! I hope this isn't too bad. Thanks!
--
"Dorcas Meadowes!" Lily bellowed. "If you don't open this door right this minute I'll have James break through it."
"Yah!" James called at the look Lily flashed his way. "That's right! Don't think I won't."
Dorcas fell from her bed, staggered upright, and made her way to the door reluctantly. She cracked it open and leaped about a foot in the air when she saw James pointing his wand at the door. "Stop!" she cried. "I'm here."
James lowered his wand triumphantly and whispered to Lily out of the corner if his mouth. "See, told you she was scared of me."
Lily rolled her eyes and pushed herself to the door. "Open it all the way Dorcas."
"I don't feel like talking."
"Sirius told us what you said," Alice announced. Dorcas jumped again, wondering how many more people were outside her door. She couldn't see very much through the small crack she was allowing to converse with them.
"Did he now?" Dorcas asked angrily. "Well tell him I've just lost all trust in him."
"No need," Sirius called. "I can hear you just fine. And I did it for your own good."
"Really he did," Remus announced.
Next Dorcas heard Frank's voice. "You can't hide forever."
"Yes I can," Dorcas whispered. She shut the door and locked it, heading for her room. She stopped when her door blew off its hinges, smoking as it crashed to the floor. She shrieked and toppled over backward, staring at the faces of her friends who were letting themselves into her house.
"I warned you," James said shrugging.
Alice, Frank, James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius casually walked in single file, acting as though door's being forced open were an everyday occurrence.
"We've come to inform you that you are being stupid," Lily said simply. Dorcas noticed that her stomach, as well as Alice's, stretched beneath their robes in a small bump.
"Locking yourself up in here for four days is not heroic," Remus agreed.
"Well I feel better now," Dorcas replied dryly, making her way to her room. They could go ahead and stay in her house but she was going to go back to sleep. She suddenly crashed into an invisible wall and fell over backward.
"Sorry," Sirius said. "Can't let you do that."
Dorcas stood and spun angrily on her heel. "What do you want from me?" she yelled.
"To stop blaming yourself," Alice responded seriously.
"You don't have any idea how I feel," Dorcas hissed.
"We have a pretty good idea," Sirius said softly. His eyes were drooping and he looked sad.
"Dorcas, no one has a perfect past," Lily said quietly. Her hand moved to her stomach where she rubbed her belly lovingly. "Even this child that grows in me will do things he regrets. He will make mistakes that he will feel guilty about for the rest of his life."
"It may sound like we are condemning our son," James said, "But we are only voicing the flaws of every human being. No one is perfect Dorcas. Everyone makes mistakes that live with them forever. It's hard but it's the way the world works."
"He will not murder someone for the sheer purpose of murdering," Dorcas whispered, struggling to fight tears of defeat.
"Maybe he will, maybe he won't. We don't know that yet. No one knows the path that their lives will take. Sometimes we learn too late that we have taken the wrong path. But the wonderful thing about you, Dorcas, is that you realized this and turned to the right one. There is no point in dwelling in the past. You joined the wrong group in the beginning, became a Death Eater. It was your choice, your mistake. But now you are fighting for a greater cause and you can learn from your error. We need you Dorcas." James finished with a small bow of his head. Dorcas was not the only one amazed at his wise words. Lily's eyes were opened wide and were filled with tears. Dorcas saw undying, infinite, unstoppable love flashing inside of them.
"I'm sorry," Dorcas whispered. For the first time in four days, she felt hope. They were right. Though she had made a mistake, there was no use dwelling on it. She had drilled her crimes into her head for the past four days, but she couldn't do that forever, could she? She had a life, an important role in this game of war. How could she let her friends down again? Slowly she came back to herself realizing that she could only move on. She smiled faintly after a few minutes of thoughtful silence, "I guess I've been kind of stupid, haven't I?"
Sirius snorted. "Kind of?"
Dorcas pushed him lightly, then frowned. "Has anyone seen Gideon?"
Sirius stiffened and didn't say anything but Lily grinned. "Your boyfriend has been guarding your door for the past four days. He finally had to go to work again today. He thinks you're mad at him."
James' eyes twinkled. "Apparently he thinks you're regretting something. . ."
"Don't say anymore," Dorcas warned. She was going to have to talk to Gideon later on, when he got back. She only hoped he would come visit her again.
Dorcas eyed the group and found that a familiar person was missing. "Where's Peter?" she asked. It wasn't a surprise that she didn't notice the small man. He had never developed the friendship with her like the others had. Dorcas had to admit that she didn't particularly like Peter. There was something about him that put Dorcas off, but that didn't quell her interest as to why he wasn't here.
Remus frowned. "That's a good question."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "No telling where that git got to."
"Yah, maybe he got lost in the bathroom," James offered seriously.
Dorcas shrugged then voiced the question that she really cared about. "What happened with-with Marlene and her family."
Lily sighed. "We had a funeral for them. Another loss."
"Another one?" Dorcas asked, confused.
"Yeah," Sirius said sadly. "You didn't think this was the first time in twelve years that we actually fought Voldemort, did you?"
Alice continued, "Only a few months before you changed sides, we'd been fighting, though not openly as an Order."
"Oh," Dorcas said numbly, ignoring the dark thoughts returning to her mind.
"What do you say if we all go have a drink somewhere?" Frank asked quickly, seeing the look on Dorcas' face. The angry looks that were flashed at him by two pregnant women made him take an involuntary step backward.
"I think that's a great idea!" James said brightly. "The women, aside from Dorcas, can have butterbeer or something. Leaky Cauldron sound good to everyone?"
"I was thinking we should go to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade," Sirius offered. "We haven't been there since we left Hogwarts."
"That's a great idea Sirius," Dorcas agreed. She was going to have to talk to Sirius about Gideon as soon as she had the chance. There was something that was bothering him but she couldn't figure out what it was.
--
"And then," James laughed, clutching his stomach. "Sirius goes up to her and has the nerve to comment on the boil rupturing on her nose!"
The table burst out laughing. Dorcas fell back, clutching her sides. James, Sirius, and Remus had been reminiscing on some of their moments at Hogwarts. She found it easy to believe they were the troublemakers they claimed to be. She remembered them at Hogwarts, even though she only spoke to them once or twice. They were the class clowns (more James and Sirius than Remus) and every Slytherin hated them. But Dorcas could remember that she found them secretly funny, though she never admitted it to any of her friends, least of all Bellatrix who despised her cousin.
"Those were the good old days," Sirius said lightly, leaning back against his chair.
"How did you guys meet?" Dorcas asked, interested.
"Hogwarts Express," Sirius said smiling, glancing at James.
James shook his head. "He tried to trip me when I was searching for a compartment. He raised his wand and created an invisible rope right in front of me. I saw him do it though and jinxed him with the Leg Locker curse."
Sirius sighed wistfully. "I had tripped every single person so far and when James played my game, I knew we were meant for each other."
Frank snorted. "I believe I was the victim of your first prank."
"I had forgotten that," Sirius said laughing. "Poor Frank. At least your hair isn't green anymore."
James clapped Sirius on the back. "After that, Sirius became my best mate. We were inseparable."
Sirius nodded, smiling at James. "He's more than a best mate. He's the brother that I never had."
James pretended to wipe away a tear and the two of them hugged each other, pretending to sob into each other's shoulder. "I love you man," they sniffled.
Dorcas rolled her eyes and took a long drink of her fire whiskey. She knew they intended it to look like a joke but they were being serious. She had never, in all her life, encountered such love and devotion between friends as she saw between them.
James and Sirius pulled away and gulped some more of their drinks. Lily's eyes narrowed dangerously but she didn't say anything.
"Remus joined our group soon after. He wasn't as close until after we discovered his secret and wouldn't let the bloke off the hook," James said.
Remus nodded with a half smile. "Too true. Though I owe them my life. I don't know where I would be today without them."
"Peter obviously came next. He relies on us. Used to envy us more than you can ever guess. Weird one he was. But a good friend," Sirius added.
"So where do you come in Lily?" Dorcas asked.
James stopped drinking and leaned back, folding his arms across his chest with a look of intense interest on his face.
Frank and Alice grinned from their seats. Frank was holding Alice's hand and listening to the couple talk. They had been friends at Hogwarts and knew all the stories but they loved to hear them anyway.
Lily's eyes lit up. "It's no secret that I despised James."
Dorcas laughed. "No secret indeed. I still remember all the rows you two had. It would give us Slytherin's something to look forward to."
James sighed. "I loved Lily Evans the moment I saw her. From year one and up."
"He's not kidding," Sirius agreed. "You have no idea how boring it was to hear about Lily all the time, no offense," he added, looking a bit scared as Lily's eyes narrowed again.
"Shut up! I didn't talk about her that much," James said indignantly.
"Yah, only once," Remus said.
"Or twice," Alice added.
"A minute," Sirius finished.
James reddened and slumped in his chair. "Okay, so maybe I did."
Lily snorted. "I knew he liked me but I couldn't stand him. Did you see how arrogant he was? His head was so inflated I doubted whether he would ever sink to the ground again."
"My loving wife," James muttered sarcastically.
"From fourth year on, he asked me out whenever he felt I'd forgotten."
"I told him to give it up," Sirius said dramatically sad. "But he wouldn't listen."
Remus shook his head. "I tried to impart my wise wisdom upon him. No luck."
Dorcas was smiling as she watched her friends recount their memories. She liked hearing about their pasts because they were happy and funny.
"But eventually I did," James said sadly. "I came back seventh year, defeated."
"He grew up that summer," Sirius said proudly.
"And that," Lily said, grinning. "Was when I fell in love with James Potter."
James leaned forward and kissed his wife.
"Eurgh," Sirius grumbled. "Enough, enough. This was how she got pregnant, remember?"
Dorcas laughed as the couple broke apart, glaring at Sirius.
"Did I ask you to remind me?" Lily asked angrily. Dorcas cast Sirius a sympathetic look. She could feel another one of Lily's awful mood swings coming on.
"N-no," Sirius said nervously.
"Then why did you?" she said dangerously low.
"I um. . .well. . .I don't. . ."
Dorcas would have laughed but she knew that would only set Lily on her. So she struggled to keep a straight face as Sirius quailed beneath his best friends' wife.
"Aw come on Lily," James said, taking a long drink. "He was only kidding."
Dorcas knew immediately he had said the wrong thing. Her eyes flashed angrily and she stood up. "Oh! Go ahead and side with him like always!"
"I wasn't siding with him-"
"And now you are going to lie to me!"
Heads turned toward the beautiful red head. Dorcas had to admit that Lily was a very scary sight when she was angry.
"I wasn't going to lie," James protested nervously.
"You disgust me!" Lily screeched. In the blink of an eye, she Disapparated.
James groaned. "Not again!"
Alice bit her lip. "Ah, don't worry James. She's going through mood swings. I go through it too."
"Oh yes, believe me. She does," Frank agreed.
"She doesn't know how much I love her," James said sadly.
Dorcas almost burst out laughing. "Everyone knows how much you love her."
"Even me," a voice agreed. Dorcas looked up to see Hagrid standing above her.
Everyone greeted the giant of a man and invited him to sit with them. After ordering an enormous tankard of some odd drink Dorcas had never heard of, Hagrid began regaling his own tales of Sirius and James. James soon forgot his worry of Lily and was joining in on the laughter.
"You two're the wors' troublemakers 'Ogwarts has ever seen," Hagrid said. "I chased after yeh more'n anyone I've ever met. Can't say I was sad when yeh left."
Dorcas listened to some of Hagrid's tales until she thought she would get sick from all the laughing. Her stomach hurt and she was just about to announce that she was going to retire when Dumbledore himself walked into the pub.
"Dumbledore!" Hagrid called, waving him over.
"Hello," Dumbledore said, the familiar twinkle shining in his eye.
"What're you doin' here at this hour?" Hagrid asked, sipping from his tankard.
"Still searching for a Divination teacher I'm afraid."
"Old Professor Dawsny finally kicked the bucket?" James asked lightly, barely able to contain his joy.
"Regrettably so. I've been attending a few meetings but no luck so far."
Dorcas stood up, swaying slightly. "I think it's time I head home." She finished off her cup and bade them all goodnight. "Good luck finding a teacher," she said to Dumbledore.
"I won't be worried about it until summer," Dumbledore said smiling.
Dorcas nodded and Disapparated, her thoughts traveling to the comfort of her bed.
--
A/n: Wow, that was long, eh? Aw well, it was a fun one to write. Heh! Please review! PLEASE! Thanks for reading!
--
"Dorcas Meadowes!" Lily bellowed. "If you don't open this door right this minute I'll have James break through it."
"Yah!" James called at the look Lily flashed his way. "That's right! Don't think I won't."
Dorcas fell from her bed, staggered upright, and made her way to the door reluctantly. She cracked it open and leaped about a foot in the air when she saw James pointing his wand at the door. "Stop!" she cried. "I'm here."
James lowered his wand triumphantly and whispered to Lily out of the corner if his mouth. "See, told you she was scared of me."
Lily rolled her eyes and pushed herself to the door. "Open it all the way Dorcas."
"I don't feel like talking."
"Sirius told us what you said," Alice announced. Dorcas jumped again, wondering how many more people were outside her door. She couldn't see very much through the small crack she was allowing to converse with them.
"Did he now?" Dorcas asked angrily. "Well tell him I've just lost all trust in him."
"No need," Sirius called. "I can hear you just fine. And I did it for your own good."
"Really he did," Remus announced.
Next Dorcas heard Frank's voice. "You can't hide forever."
"Yes I can," Dorcas whispered. She shut the door and locked it, heading for her room. She stopped when her door blew off its hinges, smoking as it crashed to the floor. She shrieked and toppled over backward, staring at the faces of her friends who were letting themselves into her house.
"I warned you," James said shrugging.
Alice, Frank, James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius casually walked in single file, acting as though door's being forced open were an everyday occurrence.
"We've come to inform you that you are being stupid," Lily said simply. Dorcas noticed that her stomach, as well as Alice's, stretched beneath their robes in a small bump.
"Locking yourself up in here for four days is not heroic," Remus agreed.
"Well I feel better now," Dorcas replied dryly, making her way to her room. They could go ahead and stay in her house but she was going to go back to sleep. She suddenly crashed into an invisible wall and fell over backward.
"Sorry," Sirius said. "Can't let you do that."
Dorcas stood and spun angrily on her heel. "What do you want from me?" she yelled.
"To stop blaming yourself," Alice responded seriously.
"You don't have any idea how I feel," Dorcas hissed.
"We have a pretty good idea," Sirius said softly. His eyes were drooping and he looked sad.
"Dorcas, no one has a perfect past," Lily said quietly. Her hand moved to her stomach where she rubbed her belly lovingly. "Even this child that grows in me will do things he regrets. He will make mistakes that he will feel guilty about for the rest of his life."
"It may sound like we are condemning our son," James said, "But we are only voicing the flaws of every human being. No one is perfect Dorcas. Everyone makes mistakes that live with them forever. It's hard but it's the way the world works."
"He will not murder someone for the sheer purpose of murdering," Dorcas whispered, struggling to fight tears of defeat.
"Maybe he will, maybe he won't. We don't know that yet. No one knows the path that their lives will take. Sometimes we learn too late that we have taken the wrong path. But the wonderful thing about you, Dorcas, is that you realized this and turned to the right one. There is no point in dwelling in the past. You joined the wrong group in the beginning, became a Death Eater. It was your choice, your mistake. But now you are fighting for a greater cause and you can learn from your error. We need you Dorcas." James finished with a small bow of his head. Dorcas was not the only one amazed at his wise words. Lily's eyes were opened wide and were filled with tears. Dorcas saw undying, infinite, unstoppable love flashing inside of them.
"I'm sorry," Dorcas whispered. For the first time in four days, she felt hope. They were right. Though she had made a mistake, there was no use dwelling on it. She had drilled her crimes into her head for the past four days, but she couldn't do that forever, could she? She had a life, an important role in this game of war. How could she let her friends down again? Slowly she came back to herself realizing that she could only move on. She smiled faintly after a few minutes of thoughtful silence, "I guess I've been kind of stupid, haven't I?"
Sirius snorted. "Kind of?"
Dorcas pushed him lightly, then frowned. "Has anyone seen Gideon?"
Sirius stiffened and didn't say anything but Lily grinned. "Your boyfriend has been guarding your door for the past four days. He finally had to go to work again today. He thinks you're mad at him."
James' eyes twinkled. "Apparently he thinks you're regretting something. . ."
"Don't say anymore," Dorcas warned. She was going to have to talk to Gideon later on, when he got back. She only hoped he would come visit her again.
Dorcas eyed the group and found that a familiar person was missing. "Where's Peter?" she asked. It wasn't a surprise that she didn't notice the small man. He had never developed the friendship with her like the others had. Dorcas had to admit that she didn't particularly like Peter. There was something about him that put Dorcas off, but that didn't quell her interest as to why he wasn't here.
Remus frowned. "That's a good question."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "No telling where that git got to."
"Yah, maybe he got lost in the bathroom," James offered seriously.
Dorcas shrugged then voiced the question that she really cared about. "What happened with-with Marlene and her family."
Lily sighed. "We had a funeral for them. Another loss."
"Another one?" Dorcas asked, confused.
"Yeah," Sirius said sadly. "You didn't think this was the first time in twelve years that we actually fought Voldemort, did you?"
Alice continued, "Only a few months before you changed sides, we'd been fighting, though not openly as an Order."
"Oh," Dorcas said numbly, ignoring the dark thoughts returning to her mind.
"What do you say if we all go have a drink somewhere?" Frank asked quickly, seeing the look on Dorcas' face. The angry looks that were flashed at him by two pregnant women made him take an involuntary step backward.
"I think that's a great idea!" James said brightly. "The women, aside from Dorcas, can have butterbeer or something. Leaky Cauldron sound good to everyone?"
"I was thinking we should go to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade," Sirius offered. "We haven't been there since we left Hogwarts."
"That's a great idea Sirius," Dorcas agreed. She was going to have to talk to Sirius about Gideon as soon as she had the chance. There was something that was bothering him but she couldn't figure out what it was.
--
"And then," James laughed, clutching his stomach. "Sirius goes up to her and has the nerve to comment on the boil rupturing on her nose!"
The table burst out laughing. Dorcas fell back, clutching her sides. James, Sirius, and Remus had been reminiscing on some of their moments at Hogwarts. She found it easy to believe they were the troublemakers they claimed to be. She remembered them at Hogwarts, even though she only spoke to them once or twice. They were the class clowns (more James and Sirius than Remus) and every Slytherin hated them. But Dorcas could remember that she found them secretly funny, though she never admitted it to any of her friends, least of all Bellatrix who despised her cousin.
"Those were the good old days," Sirius said lightly, leaning back against his chair.
"How did you guys meet?" Dorcas asked, interested.
"Hogwarts Express," Sirius said smiling, glancing at James.
James shook his head. "He tried to trip me when I was searching for a compartment. He raised his wand and created an invisible rope right in front of me. I saw him do it though and jinxed him with the Leg Locker curse."
Sirius sighed wistfully. "I had tripped every single person so far and when James played my game, I knew we were meant for each other."
Frank snorted. "I believe I was the victim of your first prank."
"I had forgotten that," Sirius said laughing. "Poor Frank. At least your hair isn't green anymore."
James clapped Sirius on the back. "After that, Sirius became my best mate. We were inseparable."
Sirius nodded, smiling at James. "He's more than a best mate. He's the brother that I never had."
James pretended to wipe away a tear and the two of them hugged each other, pretending to sob into each other's shoulder. "I love you man," they sniffled.
Dorcas rolled her eyes and took a long drink of her fire whiskey. She knew they intended it to look like a joke but they were being serious. She had never, in all her life, encountered such love and devotion between friends as she saw between them.
James and Sirius pulled away and gulped some more of their drinks. Lily's eyes narrowed dangerously but she didn't say anything.
"Remus joined our group soon after. He wasn't as close until after we discovered his secret and wouldn't let the bloke off the hook," James said.
Remus nodded with a half smile. "Too true. Though I owe them my life. I don't know where I would be today without them."
"Peter obviously came next. He relies on us. Used to envy us more than you can ever guess. Weird one he was. But a good friend," Sirius added.
"So where do you come in Lily?" Dorcas asked.
James stopped drinking and leaned back, folding his arms across his chest with a look of intense interest on his face.
Frank and Alice grinned from their seats. Frank was holding Alice's hand and listening to the couple talk. They had been friends at Hogwarts and knew all the stories but they loved to hear them anyway.
Lily's eyes lit up. "It's no secret that I despised James."
Dorcas laughed. "No secret indeed. I still remember all the rows you two had. It would give us Slytherin's something to look forward to."
James sighed. "I loved Lily Evans the moment I saw her. From year one and up."
"He's not kidding," Sirius agreed. "You have no idea how boring it was to hear about Lily all the time, no offense," he added, looking a bit scared as Lily's eyes narrowed again.
"Shut up! I didn't talk about her that much," James said indignantly.
"Yah, only once," Remus said.
"Or twice," Alice added.
"A minute," Sirius finished.
James reddened and slumped in his chair. "Okay, so maybe I did."
Lily snorted. "I knew he liked me but I couldn't stand him. Did you see how arrogant he was? His head was so inflated I doubted whether he would ever sink to the ground again."
"My loving wife," James muttered sarcastically.
"From fourth year on, he asked me out whenever he felt I'd forgotten."
"I told him to give it up," Sirius said dramatically sad. "But he wouldn't listen."
Remus shook his head. "I tried to impart my wise wisdom upon him. No luck."
Dorcas was smiling as she watched her friends recount their memories. She liked hearing about their pasts because they were happy and funny.
"But eventually I did," James said sadly. "I came back seventh year, defeated."
"He grew up that summer," Sirius said proudly.
"And that," Lily said, grinning. "Was when I fell in love with James Potter."
James leaned forward and kissed his wife.
"Eurgh," Sirius grumbled. "Enough, enough. This was how she got pregnant, remember?"
Dorcas laughed as the couple broke apart, glaring at Sirius.
"Did I ask you to remind me?" Lily asked angrily. Dorcas cast Sirius a sympathetic look. She could feel another one of Lily's awful mood swings coming on.
"N-no," Sirius said nervously.
"Then why did you?" she said dangerously low.
"I um. . .well. . .I don't. . ."
Dorcas would have laughed but she knew that would only set Lily on her. So she struggled to keep a straight face as Sirius quailed beneath his best friends' wife.
"Aw come on Lily," James said, taking a long drink. "He was only kidding."
Dorcas knew immediately he had said the wrong thing. Her eyes flashed angrily and she stood up. "Oh! Go ahead and side with him like always!"
"I wasn't siding with him-"
"And now you are going to lie to me!"
Heads turned toward the beautiful red head. Dorcas had to admit that Lily was a very scary sight when she was angry.
"I wasn't going to lie," James protested nervously.
"You disgust me!" Lily screeched. In the blink of an eye, she Disapparated.
James groaned. "Not again!"
Alice bit her lip. "Ah, don't worry James. She's going through mood swings. I go through it too."
"Oh yes, believe me. She does," Frank agreed.
"She doesn't know how much I love her," James said sadly.
Dorcas almost burst out laughing. "Everyone knows how much you love her."
"Even me," a voice agreed. Dorcas looked up to see Hagrid standing above her.
Everyone greeted the giant of a man and invited him to sit with them. After ordering an enormous tankard of some odd drink Dorcas had never heard of, Hagrid began regaling his own tales of Sirius and James. James soon forgot his worry of Lily and was joining in on the laughter.
"You two're the wors' troublemakers 'Ogwarts has ever seen," Hagrid said. "I chased after yeh more'n anyone I've ever met. Can't say I was sad when yeh left."
Dorcas listened to some of Hagrid's tales until she thought she would get sick from all the laughing. Her stomach hurt and she was just about to announce that she was going to retire when Dumbledore himself walked into the pub.
"Dumbledore!" Hagrid called, waving him over.
"Hello," Dumbledore said, the familiar twinkle shining in his eye.
"What're you doin' here at this hour?" Hagrid asked, sipping from his tankard.
"Still searching for a Divination teacher I'm afraid."
"Old Professor Dawsny finally kicked the bucket?" James asked lightly, barely able to contain his joy.
"Regrettably so. I've been attending a few meetings but no luck so far."
Dorcas stood up, swaying slightly. "I think it's time I head home." She finished off her cup and bade them all goodnight. "Good luck finding a teacher," she said to Dumbledore.
"I won't be worried about it until summer," Dumbledore said smiling.
Dorcas nodded and Disapparated, her thoughts traveling to the comfort of her bed.
--
A/n: Wow, that was long, eh? Aw well, it was a fun one to write. Heh! Please review! PLEASE! Thanks for reading!