The Rise And Fall Of The Stag And The Doe

young and beautiful

The door rang as the three of them walked in. James was the first; he immediately stripped off his gloves and slipped them into his pocket before holding the door open for Dorcas and Marlene lazily.

"So what's the deal with you and Dirk?" Dorcas wanted to know, her hands moving in vain to fix the gold and crimson hat on her head.

"Absolutely nothing," Marlene replied with a scoff, her nose still bright red from the howling wind outside. "He just sits next to me in Arthimancy."

"And walks you to class," James joined in, sharing a smirk with Dorcas. "And sits with you every chance he gets."

"He walks WITH me. Not every male I come into contact with is trying to get into my knickers. You two are like a pair of gossiping old ladies." Marlene said dryly.

James dragged her into his side, his arm snaking around her shoulders. "You can't blame us for being curious."

"I'm not dating him. We are not romantically involved."

"Why not?" Dorcas quipped. "He's cute, you're available. What's the problem?"

Marlene smiled at her, laughing under her breath. "I'm not dating anyone right now."

"Why is that again?"

"Because I need to be by myself for a while."

"Why?"

Marlene glared at her. "Because I clearly don't make the best choices when it comes to choosing men. So I feel like I should just be on my own for a while."

Dorcas considered that. "That's nice and all, but ...the boy is a Hufflepuff. How harmful could he be?"

"I agree with the commander on this one," James mentioned, guiding them into a nearby shop. "You should live a little Mar."

"Yeah whatever," Marlene snorted, "Let's focus on the task at hand. So who has who?"

Dorcas said, "I've got Lil."

"I've got Pete." James said, glancing around the shop.

"Yeah, and I've got Sirius," Marlene grumbled ripping her scarf off her neck.

"You could not sound more excited about that." Dorcas chuckled sarcastically.

"Can I just get him a jumbo box of condoms and call it a day?"

James smirked, "As thoughtful and useful as that gift would be I'm going to go with no."

"If I had you I'd get you a vat of that potion," Dorcas declared pointing at the anti-conception potion to the left of him.

"I don't know what you're talking about Meadowes." James said examining a brand of chocolate, his smirk growing.

Dorcas peered at what he was looking at. "For starters, you and Lily can barely keep your hands off of each other so you know exactly what I'm so-subtly implying. Second Remus doesn't like that brand anymore, they changed the packaging and he felt personally betrayed by that... This one is his favorite."

James put the box back and grabbed the one she suggested. "What else should I get him?"

"I dunno...I'm knitting him a blanket."

"You knit?"

"Lily taught her," Marlene answered from a few aisles over as she examined a book on defensive spells.

James said, "Mar, I don't know why you are by the books if you have Sirius..."

"I had an idea. Just shut up and worry about Lily, Remus and Peter."