The one with the sisters - Year three [COMPLETED]

Chapter 12 - The one with the invitation

With her vision blurred by the tears and the sound of her own sobs echoing in her ears, she wasn't really listening to Dorcas' warm voice trying to calm her down and wasn't really paying attention to where her best friend was taking her. She missed the brunette knocking at the right bricks on the wall so they could enter the Hufflepuff common room, she missed her assuring the other girls that "Iris' fine, don't worry", she missed her pulling her toward their dorm and pushing the red haired girl on her own bed. But she didn't miss Dorcas sitting beside her and looking over at her with nothing but sorrow in her eyes.

"Severus is a git." She said. "He didn't have the right to say what he said."

"He did." Iris whispered, wiping her tears away with her fingers. "He did have the right. He was defending Lily. She is his best friend."

"Still... He couldn't have humiliated you like that."

"Couldn't he?" Iris looked away, not being able to meet Dorcas' worried glance just yet. "What if I told you that someone hurt me? Wouldn't you go and do something about it?"

"Well, of course!"

"That's just what he's done, Dorky... He defended his best friend. Like I would've done for you and how you would've done for me."

Not knowing what to say, Dorcas fell silent. Iris sighed as she finally lifted her eyes to meet her best friend's.

"You've heard everything, didn't you?" She asked. Dorcas nodded slowly, as if ashamed of admitting it. "And how much of a bitch you think I am now?"

"Iris..."

"He's right!" The girl yelled, getting up to her feet and starting to pace around the room. "He's right! I did leave her alone. How could I've been so... So selfish? I allowed her to go home alone! I shouldn't have! And then... Then I go and... Oh, I don't even know." She sat back on the bed and looked at Dorcas, who just listened, afraid that if she said anything, Iris would stop talking. "What do you think?"

"Iris, listen to me." The brunette demanded. "I wouldn't have let you go back to your parent's house for Christmas even if you wanted to. I mean... Look what happened to you last time you were there. Petunia pushed you down the stairs. You could've died! I know Lily wouldn't have let you go home either. To be fair... I don't even know why she went. I don't thinks she's mad at you because of that."

"You reckon she's mad because... Because I'm hanging out with the boys?"

"Particularly with James and Sirius. She doesn't seem to have a problem with Remus and Peter, but yes... I think that's why she's mad at you."

"But... They're actually nice. I mean... once you get to know them."

Dorcas frowned a bit, but said nothing. Iris knew she didn't really like them either. And she couldn't blame her. They were loud and obnoxious. They were incredibly troublemakers and were more often than not they ended up in detention. But once you got past Sirius' flirtatious nature, James' usual smugness, Peter's shyness and Remus' sarcasm, you got to the real them. The funny, playful and actually caring them. The them only Iris seemed able to see.

"I don't know, Irie..." Dorcas sighed, unsure of with which sister she agreed more.

"But I mean... She can't pick my friends for me, can she? She's best friends with Severus even if I don't like him and I don't say a thing about it. She's being unfair to me." Iris said, before staring at Dorcas. "Isn't she?"

"Well, hum..." She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Thinking like that, I mean..." She sighed as she noticed Iris' frown. "I'm not that into those boys, you know that, but you seem to like them and they seem to like you too. So if you want to hang out with them, do it. But please... Don't get too involved, Irie, I'm saying this for your own good. You can end up in more detentions than you already get, your grades can go down, and worst... If you end up helping them with one of their usual pranks in Severus, you can hurt Lily in a way that you won't be able to fix it anymore."

Iris sighed yet again and, frustrated, she threw her head back, falling against the soft mattress of her own bed.

"Still... You're my best friend, and I want you to be happy. So... I'm inviting you to stay at my house for the summer." She said. Iris looked at her, auite surprised. "I mean... You never want to go home for summer and you say the only reason you do it it's because of Lily, but now she's mad at you... I don't know."

"Are you serious?" Iris gasped.

"Course I'm serious. I've been serious about it since our first year, but you always rejected my offer."

She laid down beside her best friend and Iris turned her face around so she could stare at her in the eyes. She smiled.

"Thank you, Dorky. I don't know what'd do without you."

"Yeah." Dorcas nodded, sending her an amused smirk. "Neither do I."