The end of the year dance ended with a bang. 

Literally. 

You can thank Sirius Black and James Potter for that. 

As soon as the dance was announced the previous month, Frank Longbottom, the non Marauder but fifth boy living with the four Gryffindor Pranksters, asked Alice Fortescue, the fifth girl in our dorm. They'd been a couple since 5th year and were probably going to get awarded cutest couple in our 7th year. Peter Pettigrew sucked up the courage to ask Mary McDonald after Lily Evans rejected James the first time. Mary, being the sweetest thing in existence, accepted with a smile brighter than a thousand suns. Two weeks before the dance, Sirius walked past Marlene McKinnon (aka my crush walked past my best friend (aka my best friend's crush walked past my best friend)) and yelled his invitation, to which she yelled her response, which was a very loud 'YES'. Remus Lupin asked a girl from Ravenclaw that he spoke about during our study sessions. I had never met her but I didn't like her by default. And lastly, Lily accepted James' invitation, which was cause for celebration. 

You must be thinking: '5 guys and 5 girls all have dates. Why, Dorcas! You must have some other friends who you could go with.' 

Well, that's not entirely true. I don't really have any other friends outside of my four girls and my boys. I never really needed anyone else...until the ball. 

So I, Dorcas Meadowes, was forced to walk the long hallway of shame as not the third, not the fifth, and not even the seventh wheel, but the eleventh. Sad, I know. 

The girls and I spent the night before giggling and dreaming and being stereotypical girls. 

"Now see, what I can't believe is that you actually said 'yes' to James Potter," I said, my face red from laughing. Lily flushed. 

"I just said it so he would stop bothering me," she said, not meeting my eyes. That caused the girls and I to go into another fit of laughter. Her cheeks were flushed almost as red as her hair. 

"Shut up!" Lily threw a pillow at me and buried her face into another. 

"Remind me again who you're going with, Dorc," Alice said, touching my hand as the laughter died down. My smile fell and I looked down at the pillow that Lily threw. 

"I'm going alone." 

A cacophony of 'aww's came from the four girls. 

"You're not going alone," Mary piped up, smiling widely. "You're going with us." 

I laughed. 

"Sure, Mary, I'm just going to 11th wheel the entire night." 

Lily was the only one who laughed. 

"I don't get it," Marlene said. I rolled my eyes at her. 

"I guess it's just a muggle thing." 

Marlene rolled her own eyes in response. 

"You're not even a muggle-born, Dorc," Mary said, tilting her head to the side, not understanding. "How would you know?" 

"It's because she 'reads' actual 'books', Mare," Marlene said, kicking back on her bed despite her dress. I scoffed at my best friend and tapped her boots with the tip of my black heel. Marlene smirked at me and threw out a wink. 

Desiring to speak of something else, I changed the subject. 

"I think we should do a fashion show." 

The idea was instantly accepted and all five of us rolled from our beds and jumped to get our dresses that were hanging from random places in the room. 

Lily was dressed first, donning her sky blue dress and white shoes, strutting down the center of their dorm room before flipping her hair dramatically and falling to the nearest bed in a fit of laughter. Mary was next, not so much flaunting as shuffling across the room in her mint green outfit and her favorite fluffy, pig-shaped slippers. She joined Lily on the bed, who threw her arms around Mary's slender shoulders. 

Alice was next. She didn't need the dramatics like Lily chose to use. Instead, she let the dress speak for itself. Marlene howled out her positive response and I clapped and cheered along with the other girls. She wore something so boldly red you wouldn't believe her if she told you under Veriteserum that she was from another house. 

Marlene was quick to change, wearing the shortest dress of them all, her dress pitch black and her boots a shade darker. I felt my face go red as Marlene pulled me to my feet. 

"Your turn," the blonde whispered in my year, causing a shiver to run up my spine. I smiled and nodded before running off to change. My hands trembled as I pulled the deep purple dress over my legs. I had loved it when Mum first sent it to me, but after seeing the other girls in their outfits, I was beginning to worry it wouldn't live up to them. 

Still, I managed to emerge from the bathroom, all the same, wearing my glittery black heels under the dress. 

"Come on, girl, strut!" Marlene demanded, hands cupped over her mouth. 

"Oh, shut it, Marli," I hissed, my face heating again. I stepped into the middle of the dorm and did a more than uncomfortable twirl. 

"That just won't do," Lily said with a pout. My heart plummeted. They really hated the dress. I knew I was stupid, thinking I could even live up to what they expected. "How can you be expected to steal everyone's dates if you won't even dance here with us?" 

"You've got the look, Dorc," Alice mused, picking up a lock of my hair and letting it fall back to my shoulders. "You just need to get the moves on." 

I let out a laugh and, just as I did so, Marlene approached me from behind. She spun me around to face her and grabbed my hands, forcing me to follow along as she danced to a silent band playing in her head. The other three girls joined in with us, dancing in our heels and boots, laughing cramps into our sides before the dance even started. 

I couldn't help but notice that, even when I was wearing heels and Marlene was wearing only boots, I was barely as tall as she was. Annoying as it was, it still made me smile. 

"Alright, ladies," Mary said, snatching up her clutch. "I am ready for some audible music and some punch. Let's go to the dance, shall we?" 

"Yes, please, I'm starved!" Alice groaned. 

"Wait for me!" Lily called after them, hobbling on her heels. 

"Don't wait up for us," Marlene said. "Dorc and I intend on being fashionably late." 

"Oh, we are?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. She grinned at me, one arm still slung around my waist. 

"Sirius would expect nothing less."

Those words were enough to shatter my smile. I had been avoiding the fact that I would have to see Marlene and Sirius dance together tonight. I didn't want either of them dancing together. I wanted to be dancing with my best friend most of the night, to allow Sirius to pine after me until the last dance or so, when I would finally allow him my hand after much pressuring from Marlene to leave her side and dance with him instead.

But I knew that wasn't going to happen. I was still going to dance with Marlene most of the night, but Sirius would be right there, right where I should be. 

I breathed deeply, telling myself that it was just this night. I just had to get through this night. Then summer came in a week and we'd be on to 7th year and this night could be behind us completely. 

That thought put a smile back on my face. 

"Here, I want to talk to you," Marlene said, pulling me to a bed. I followed her and sat cross-legged in front of her. "Turn around. I want to do your hair."

I complied and spun around. Marlene ran her fingers through my dark hair a few times before she started to braid. My eyes fluttered closed as her long fingernails grazed over my scalp, prickling my skin with goosebumps. 

"You know that Sirius and I are getting a little more, er, serious." I hummed my response, not trusting my words. "Well, I want you to know that he won't ever replace you, no matter how close he and I get. You are my best friend and you always will be. No one could ever get in the way of that, guy or otherwise. You know that, right?"

"Sure I do," I said, but my heart wasn't really in it. It had always been a fear that Marlene would meet someone better than me, someone more like her, more like Sirius, and move on. I liked to read and tend to my tiny garden and paint and all the things that Marlene found boring, while she preferred to run around and pull pranks and play Quidditch. I had never felt enough to be her friend, never worth it. And this last year, she and Sirius had grown so close and they were so similar, so easy together. 

I was happy for her, beyond happy, but the sting was still there. It didn't help that Dorcas hadn't been honest about her feelings to Marlene a single time in the past year. 

"Good, because I don't want you to feel like the 11th wheel. You're my date, I don't care what Sirius thinks. It's always been you." 

A true smile spread across my face. As Marlene finished off the braid, she gave me a quick peck on the cheek before clambering out of the bed. 

"Alright, I'm ready. Let's go." 

"What happened to fashionably late?" I chuckled, smiling after her. Her grin lit up the darkened room. 

"Oh, whatever. I can't bear it anymore. Besides, I need some food."

We left a trail of laughter behind us as we ran to the Great Hall, hands clasped tight together. 

Upon arriving, I couldn't help but gasp. The Great Hall was nothing like it usually was. The long tables and benches had all been removed, leaving a bunch of empty space for dancing. Rooms outside were left from resting as well. Everything was decorated in sunflowers and daisies and bright, summery colors. A warm, mystical breeze blew through the hall. Where it should have been cold from the night outside, it was pleasantly warm instead. Above, the night sky floated peacefully, the half-moon peeking out from among the clouds. 

"We should stargaze later," Marlene said, in just as much awe as I was. I nodded numbly, mouth agape. "You could tell me all about those constellations you read about." 

"Sounds like a plan." 

"Mar!" The voice of Sirius Black snapped both Marlene and me out of our trance. I had never expected that Sirius could dress up the way he did, what with his parents refusing to support him and all. Either James bought him the dress clothes he was wearing or Sirius stole them. The latter wouldn't have shocked me at all. 

"Siri," Marlene said, her awe-inspired voice replace with an almost sultry slur. "Don't you look good?" 

"I imagine I pale in the light of you." 

My stomach flipped and I turned my head away, attempting to pull my hand from Marlene's, but she held tight. 

"You sound like you've been spending too much time with Remus and Peter? Didn't James tell you that those lines didn't work on Gryffindor girls?" 

Sirius raised an eyebrow. 

"Coulda fooled me." He turned around toward the dance floor, drawing both my and Marlene's attention to where our best red-haired friend was dancing in James Potter's arms. Marlene huffed out an irritated breath. Lily had her arms tight around James' neck and was laughing about something as he whispered it in her ear. 

"We had a deal, Evans," Marlene growled under her breath. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Lily caught us watching and mouthed a quick 'I'm sorry' to Marlene before turning her attention back to James. 

"So much for playing hard to get tonight, huh?" I whispered to Marlene, who shoved me playfully. 

"Now I have to use you as my excuse," she mumbled. 

"Wow," I said sarcastically. "I'm so flattered." 

"Shut it, Meadowes and come dance provocatively with me." 

I huffed as we passed Sirius and tossed him a "what do you do?" kind of look, to which he laughed. 

Marlene and I weren't dancing long before Sirius returned. He touched her wrist, pulling her entire attention away from me and toward him. The movement from the lively beat faded from my body and I stilled, watching them interact. He brushed back her hair and whispered something gently in her ear. For the first time in the six years I had known Marlene, her face turned a light shade of pink. She met his gaze and nodded, letting her arms snake around his neck as he pulled her into his arms. 

The overwhelming urge to cry filled me so I turned away quickly and pushed my way off the dance floor and to one of the side rooms. My heart pounded yet skipped at the same time, the warm breeze that once felt pleasant now sticky and sophisticating. I forced myself into a corner, where I hoped no one would bother looking to see if I was laughing or crying. I just needed to let it out once, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to enjoy the rest of the night at all. 

Three minutes into the dance and nothing had even blown up, yet there I was, crying. 

It was going to be a long night. 

;)