Empty Gold • d.meadowes

-24-

Dorcas was at the dormitory, gathering some books and parchment for her lessons with Juliet, when she noticed the pens in her bag. She had bought them during the Easter holiday, but with meeting Noel and fearing about the Slytherins cornering her in the train, she had completely forgotten about them. They were glitter pens, different colours, three for each of her friends. She hunted all of them out of her bag and placed them on the table. Then she fished out the journal that had buried itself underneath her clothes. This one was for Leigh.

The dormitory was currently empty except for her. She left the pens on her desk, deciding to give them to her friends later on, and pocketed the journal. Then she balanced her books on the crook of her elbow, and with the quills and parchment on her other hand, she left the dorms, heading for the library, where she would meet Juliet.

The Ravenclaw girl was waiting for her outside the library. She was in her school robes, which were covered in dirt, and there were spots of mud on her face. Her hair was pulled tightly into a plait. As Dorcas approached her to greet her, she noticed the exhaustion in her stark blue eyes.

"Are you skipping sleep again?" she asked with a smile.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered that I hadn't completed my Transfiguration homework," she remarked, laughing. "Excuse my look, I just came from Herbology, and I didn't feel like cleaning myself up. I'll go to Potions in an hour, and get dirty again anyway."

"Don't worry. Let's get in."

They found an empty table with four chairs around it, and sat down opposite each other. Dorcas arranged her books in front of her; although these lessons were to help Juliet with Potions, she also took advantage of the time to do her own work. As she took one of her quills and dipped it on her inkpot, Juliet dropped her head on the table with a thud.

"Are you okay?" she inquired.

Juliet groaned a little. "Mm. Just tired, is all."

"Alright, give me your essay."

Juliet fished out a scroll of parchment from her bag and handed it to her. Dorcas took it and began to untie the knot with magic, although she didn't use her wand. The former stared at the feat in amazement. "That's impressive."

Although she had been complimented for her skills in nonverbal and wandless magic before, by Professor Flitwick and by some of her classmates, she had never taken credit for it, knowing that it was a skill she had since birth. She didn't like being praised for something she had put little to no effort in.

But now that it was Juliet who praised her, Dorcas felt her face heating up, and was sure that she had turned red. She had the odd urge to levitate Juliet's book without uttering a word or lifting her wand, although she felt embarrassed a moment later. She was being foolish.

"Why don't you rest while I read your essay?" she suggested. "I don't think it will be healthy for you to cram your head right now."

Juliet seemed utterly relieved to hear her and immediately dropped her head on the desk, burying her face in her arms. Dorcas's heart went out to her. The words her mother had told her replayed in her mind – your health is more important than your grades. It was an idea that wasn't understood by a lot of people, certainly not by Juliet's family. Her older brother, Caradoc Dearborn was a highly successful Auror and skilled in various fields, and she was expected the same from her parents. There was no one to tell her that her grades didn't matter as much as her health, both mental and physical; no one to tell her that her love for singing was a valid passion, that if she didn't want to have a conventionally respected career, she absolutely didn't need to.