Lily Evans scoured The Daily Prophet as she stuck a forkful of kippers into her mouth – her eyes flicking back and forth furiously. It was now her daily ritual to search for the latest attack and any news on You-Know-Who's whereabouts at the breakfast table.
"Put down the paper Lily," Annabelle rolled her eyes as she put her tea cup back on the table. "You'll find out about them all eventually anyway. Wouldn't you like to have a pleasant, non-death filled morning for once?"
"Honestly," Gwen piped in, reaching across the table to push the paper down and reveal Lily's engaged face. "Can't we just be 16 for once?"
"But this is important," Lily said, her expression changing.
"I know," Annabelle said, spinning her tea cup back and forth with her thumb and forefinger. "But we'll find out anyway. Probably even before anything's printed in here. The attack on Iris Graham's family wasn't covered until a week after she left, remember?"
Lily contemplated Annabelle's evidence, and finally folded up her paper, sticking it inside her black bag. "Fine," she said, taking a swig of orange juice. "What did you want to talk about?"
Gwen smirked and looked at Annabelle.
"You and a certain male person," Gwendolyn smiled conspiratorially.
Lily's face reddened, "I have told you two countless times, I will not go out with James Potter. I don't care if he's Quidditch captain or if every other girl in this school wants to shag him. He is a great arrogant bully with fewer good qualities than an acromantula; at least they have eight eyes."
Annabelle chuckled slightly and shook her head. "We weren't talking about James, though you seem awfully eager to shoot down any rumor about the two of you." She and Gwendolyn exchanged loaded glances and giggled.
"Well then," Lily gathered herself. "Who are you talking about?"
"Remus Lupin," Gwen said.
"Remus?" Lily was visibly surprised.
"Yeah," Annabelle nodded, an interested grin pulling at the side of her mouth. "Apparently the two of you are awfully cuddly in Arithmancy."
Lily laughed. "Who told you that?"
"Dorcas," Gwen shrugged.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Dorcas Meadowes is a bloody fabulous multi-tasker. Able to service Cade Bradley, spy on her fellow classmates, and complete Arithmancy number charts all at the same time. She should get some sort of award."
Annabelle and Gwen looked at each other again. This infuriated Lily.
"I hate it when you two do that. What is it?"
"Dorcas and Cade broke up," Gwen said delicately. "We thought you knew."
"When did that happen?"
"Tuesday," Annabelle said, taking a sip of her tea.
"How did I not notice that?" she shrugged. "I had Arithmancy with them yesterday."
"Too busy talking to Remus, I'd wager," Gwen suggested, a rather obnoxious smile on her face.
"Remus and I are just friends," Lily said, pushing her food around with her fork. "Besides, nothing could ever happen as long as he is friends with Potter."
"But you admit that you're cozy in Arithmancy?" Annabelle asked, a look of interest dominating her light green eyes.
"Hardly cozy," Lily scoffed, looking up. "Friendly, yes. As in friends who talk."
"We won't tell James," Gwen winked at Lily.
"Oh shut up Gwendolyn Abercrombie." Lily threw a piece of kipper at the blonde girl.
"Have you heard about why Cade and Dorcas broke up?" Annabelle whispered, leaning closer to the table. Then looking around, she added. "He cheated on her with Julia Connors."
"Really?" Gwen put a hand to her mouth and her huge blue eyes grew even bigger.
"Can you imagine how she reacted?" Annabelle smiled nervously.
"Knowing Dorcas Meadowes, she didn't," said Gwendolyn. "She probably looked at him and said, 'Okay, well I guess we're breaking up then,' and then shook his hand with that stupid smile on her face."
Annabelle laughed loudly.
Lily glanced down the table to where Dorcas was sitting by herself. She was pushing her eggs around her plate and occasionally taking a small bite or two. She wore an unreadable expression.
"That's probably why he cheated on her," Gwen sniggered. "He wanted to know if he was doing it right."
Annabelle and Gwen laughed.
"Let's change the subject girls," Lily said. "Just because Dorcas likes to remain mysterious doesn't make talking about her all that interesting."
Annabelle and Gwendolyn shrugged and went on to talk about the hottest professional Quidditch players. Lily looked back down the table at Dorcas.
That night in the common room, James was working on plays for the upcoming Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. He was determined to squash them royally since he had seen Lily laughing with William Seymour – the Ravenclaw chaser– in Transfiguration yesterday. Peter was excitedly watching James' notes and figures, commenting occasionally on the Quidditch captain's unsurpassed genius. Sirius was loafing about next to them, unabashedly staring at Veronica Smethley's rather ample chest as she read over her Muggle Studies notes. Veronica noticed, but didn't seem to be offended at all. In fact, she was relishing the glance of Sirius' deep gray eyes. Lupin was practicing the rather difficult spell McGonagall had given them for homework and having quite a time with it. His drawn face looked even more exhausted than usual.
Dorcas Meadowes watched the scene from the corner of the common room, where she had set herself up with her potions notes. Normally she studied in the library, but she knew Cade would be down there, probably with Julia. She glanced over at the other girls on the couch on the other side of the room: Lily with her nose in her Arithmancy book, Gwen and Annabelle giggling at the latest gossip, no doubt. Dorcas silently cursed. She had wanted to do this in a more private setting. Should she wait until tomorrow? No, this had to be dealt with now, before her reputation was damaged beyond repair. Dorcas placed the tall stack of parchment on the table next to her. She had suddenly taken to writing down everything every professor said to avoid any contact with Cade Bradley's bright blue eyes. She took a deep breath and pushed herself off of the armchair she was sitting in. Slowly, she walked towards the center of the room, passing Owen Towler, who was chewing furiously on the end of a quill with his head stuck in a book called Magical and Muggle Relations: A Survey.
She reached her destination faster than she had expected. Damning her long legs, she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned his head and glanced at her with deep gray eyes.
"I need to talk to you about something," she said. "Can you meet me somewhere?"
Sirius' face broke out into an amused half-smile and he nodded, raising his eyebrows. "Where?" he asked. Dorcas had, of course, expected this to happen.
"The prefect's bathroom," she said. "Meet me outside. Cade gave me the password."
He nodded again, the smirk growing into a sick smile. "Ten minutes," he said.
"Alright," she nodded.
Dorcas walked toward the portrait hole quickly, but caught Sirius giving a look and a thumbs-up to James. "Boys," she thought. As she climbed through the portrait, she heard The Fat Lady clucking in disapproval. Picking up the pace, she walked quickly and silently, praying that she wouldn't run into anyone and that the bathroom wasn't occupied. When she reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, she muttered the password, "bubble bath" and entered the room. Thankfully, it was empty and the mermaid was asleep. She exited the room immediately, and now began praying that Sirius would hurry up and that no prefect, especially Cade, would decide to use the bathroom in the next twenty minutes.
After what seemed like eons, Sirius showed up, the sick smile still plastered on his handsome face.
"Well, let's go," he said eagerly.
Dorcas muttered the password, and the bathroom opened. Sirius had, of course, been in here a million times (girls seemed to find it romantic), but it always made him want to be a prefect. Remus was damn lucky. The candle-filled chandelier cast a soft glow over the room that made the white marble glow ethereally. He supposed it was a bit romantic.
Dorcas was staring into the gigantic bathtub; deep in thought. Sirius noticed that she looked rather nervous. Deciding that the best thing to do was to just get things going, he walked towards where she was standing, wrapped his arms around her, and whispered suggestively in her ear. "Is this where you bring all your blokes?"
Dorcas shrugged him off. It wasn't violent, but one could tell what she wanted. Sirius, with a confused frown on his face, let go of her and backed up a little. Dorcas turned and smiled in apology at him.
"I know you think we're going to shag," she said sheepishly. "But we're not. I do actually want to talk to you."
Sirius gaped at her. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not really the talking kind."
Dorcas laughed quietly. "I've noticed. That's why I want to talk to you. I need your help."
"My help?"
Dorcas looked awfully uncomfortable. "Yeah, I kind of need you to………um…..well.."
"What?" Sirius was getting a little angry. He had come down here for a shag, a shag with a girl he'd never had, and now he was here getting asked for favors. The pent-up lust was beginning to transform into rage.
"Would it be too much to ask, that is…." She fumbled over her words. "I need you to shag Julia Connors."
"I already have," Sirius said flatly. "Plus then I'd have to deal with Cade Bradley." Then, as not to look weak, he added, "not that I couldn't, of course, I just don't really want to."
"Look," Dorcas shrugged. "This is really hard for me. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm pretty good at being independent. But, my reputation has been damaged. I have to play defense, and you're my best move."
"So this is about Bradley?" Sirius pushed a piece of hair out of his eyes. "You want me to ruin Julia's reputation and therefore, his?"
"Basically," she nodded. "Just prove that she's a dirty slag, and he can't hold on to her."
"Well, Miss Meadowes," he sighed. "Someone has some pride issues."
"Oh spare me," she rolled her eyes. "Will you do it?"
Sirius thought about what Dorcas had asked him. He wouldn't mind shagging Julia again, that was certain, but was he willing to put in the effort. Despite what Dorcas said, Julia Connors was not a slag. Ravenclaw girls were especially hard to catch, and Julia was no exception. He could do it, that was for sure, but why should he? What would he get out of it?
He posed this question to Dorcas. "What's in it for me?" he asked.
"Well, I'm not going to shag you," she said in a matter-of-fact voice.
Sirius considered demanding that in exchange for Julia Connors, but decided against it. He didn't need blackmail to get birds. He could have almost anyone he wanted. In fact, he had had almost every girl at Hogwarts in their year – including all the Hufflepuffs and most of the Gryffindors, minus Meadowes and …
"I've got it," he smirked. "If I shag Julia Connors for you, you have to find out everything you can about Lily Evans."
"Lily Evans hates me," Dorcas said flatly. "That's impossible."
"You live in the same room, take the same classes, have the same roommates," he said. "How hard could it be?"
"Pretty damn hard," she said, with an air of finality.
"Well, Miss Meadowes," Sirius shrugged. "Those are my terms. Take them or find someone else to shag Julia Connors." Then with a wink, he added, "Though I am the master."
Dorcas knew that. It was the reason she had asked him. But getting close to Lily Evans was a lot more than she had bargained for. What was she thinking? She was Dorcas Meadowes; she could do anything she wanted.
"Alright," she said, her head held arrogantly in the air. "I'll do it."
Sirius held out his large hand, Dorcas grabbed it, and they shook hard.
"Nice doing business with you, Mr. Black."