Empty Gold • d.meadowes

-23-

At dinner, Dorcas and Maeve sat together as they always did, except Silver wasn't with them – she was at the Hufflepuff table with her boyfriend, Benjy Fenwick, and her other friends. Dorcas noticed how Maeve purposefully chose a seat so that she wouldn't be facing the Hufflepuff table.

The food appeared on the plates after Dumbledore gave a short speech to welcome the ones who had gone home for Easter, and Dorcas immediately dug in. She had missed the sumptuous meals that Hogwarts provided. Maeve watched her with a smile as she piled up her plate with more food than she could possibly eat.

"Are you going to finish all of that?" asked Maeve, laughing.

"Watch me."

Leigh appeared at the Gryffindor table when she had almost emptied her plate, giving her a quick hug from behind. They exchanged greetings, asked about how the one week holiday went, although Dorcas wasn't paying much attention. Her eyes scanned the Great Hall to look for Juliet, and she found her easily – seated at the Ravenclaw table, laughing at something, looking as stunning as ever, with the lights of the hundred candles shining over her face. She looked away.

After she felt like she had eaten enough to last her a week, Dorcas rose to her feet. "Are you coming?" she asked Maeve, who shook her head.

"I need to look after the first years, make sure they don't run astray. And then patrol the corridors. You go on, I'll meet you in the common room."

With a nod, Dorcas turned and left, ducking below the crowd to leave the Great Hall as quickly as possible. She realised she was avoiding Juliet again, though she couldn't tell why.

Her attempts to make it to the Gryffindor tower unnoticed was foiled as she heard Juliet's voice calling her name. She stopped, bit her lips, then turned slowly. Juliet said goodbye to her friends before running over to her.

"Hey, Dorcas," she greeted. "You didn't tell me you were going home. I was looking for you, and Burton said that you had left."

She lowered her head, unable to meet her eyes. "Yes, I'm sorry. I was occupied, and it kind of skipped my mind."

She took two steps back, wanting to get away, but a frown weaved along Juliet's eyes, and she stepped forward, grabbing her arms. "You are avoiding me," she stated. "Have I done something to offend you?"

Dorcas sighed. Juliet didn't look like she was about to let her go easily.

"I'm not avoiding you, Juliet," she answered. Her voice came out small and shaky. She has always been nervous around the Ravenclaw girl, but it wasn't nervousness now that made her feel so detached. It was tiredness. She was tired. Tired of nurturing her feelings for Juliet, tired of staring at her discretely during choir practices or during dinner, tired of letting her feelings run wild in the hopes that Juliet would see her one day, actually see her, and perhaps reciprocate her feelings. Maybe Maeve was right. Maybe she should just let her go.

"But you are," Juliet insisted. "You have been avoiding me since before Easter. Is it because of the way I acted in the library? I know I shouldn't have yelled at the librarian, I was awful, but I have a short temper, and I usually can't control it. If you're mad at me, then I'm sorry. I even went to the library after I found out you have left, and apologised to her. You're such a nice person, Dorcas. And I feel awful about how I acted."

Dorcas was stunned. Whatever she had expected their conversation to be about, it certainly wasn't this. The picture she had painted of Juliet in her head has been slashed once, and she had hidden it safely in the confines of her mind in fear that it would eventually be destroyed and would crumble to pieces. She wasn't sure she could take that.