The pink artificial petals (which really were just pieces of parchment cleverly transfigured) circulated above her head like a halo as Dorcas walked down the corridors, hands stuffed in her pockets and her bag swinging by her elbows, a letter held loosely in her hand. Her frizzy hair danced around her, repeatedly falling on her face and clouding her vision, but she didn't bother to clip it up, for her hands were too comfortable in the woollen warmth of her coat.

Outside the castle, she could see the snow melting away in places, revealing grass that had started to grow early in the season, and several students were outside, running around, trying to make use of the remaining winter. Dorcas wished she could go and join them, but the humongous amount of studies that she had to do kept her from enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

When she was only about one corridor away from the library, someone placed a hand on her shoulder behind her to stop her. She jumped slightly, and turned around. A Slytherin from her year stood before her, brows furrowed as he stared up at the floating petals above her head. "Yes? Can I help you?" she asked. The petals faltered in their track for a moment, before dropping limply to the ground, her concentration having been interrupted.

"How are you doing that?" he demanded in a tone that would have made Silver or Maeve punch him in the face. But Dorcas merely smiled and said, bringing a mysterious tone to her voice, "Magic."

He scowled in annoyance. "How are you so good at wandless and nonverbal magic?" he asked, rather impatiently. Dorcas shrugged.

"I don't know, it's a natural talent, I guess."

He kept scrutinising her thoughtfully, as though trying to figure something out. A small frown crept up to her face as she realised that something was wrong, but before she could open her mouth, someone arrived and stood before her.

"What's happening?" Leigh demanded at the Slytherin, whose eyes snapped to look at him. He sneered.

"Nothing," he stated curtly and turned on his heels to leave.

"Well, that was odd," Dorcas said nonchalantly, looking up at the younger boy with an amused smile on her face. "And look at you, Leigh. Protecting me like an older brother."

He grinned at her, before his eyes dropped down to her bag. "Are you going to library? I wanted to talk to you."

She shrugged. "Oh, I think homework can wait. Let's go."

She held him by the arm and guided him away from the intersection that led to the library. The corridors were mysteriously deserted, and she presumed it was due to the students trying to enjoy the comfortable weather out in the grounds – not too cold, and not too hot. They came upon a wide balcony on the third floor, and went up to the edge, placing their hands on the railing and looking outside.

"What was he asking you?" Leigh asked as soon as they had stopped. Dorcas let out a laugh.

"Stop being so skeptical, Leigh. He was just asking me how I was able to make the petals float without using my wand."

"And you told him?" he exclaimed, sounding like he couldn't fathom why anyone would want to converse with a Slytherin.

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked in surprise. "He asked me –"

"He's a Slytherin!" he turned to her. "You can't trust him."

She rolled her eyes. "It's just wandless magic, what's there to hide about it?"

"Dorcas," he said in frustration, sounding much like a parent trying to convince a stubborn child. "Don't you see what's going on around us? He may as well be a death eater, we can't trust him."

She faced him with her hands on her hips. "Leigh Marsh," she said in a playfully strict tone. "He asked me a simple question and I gave him a simple answer. Now let's drop it. I'm taking this is not what you came to talk to me about?"

He sighed in defeat and turned to look outside again, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "I actually came to apologise to you."

"Why?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"About what I said the other day," he continued, shuffling his feet on the ground. "About you and – uh – Juliet. I shouldn't have intruded in your personal life, that was rude of me. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, and I'll never bring it up again. I promise."

Dorcas laughed lightly, before bumping him with her shoulder. "I'm the one who should be apologising to you. I realise that I had overreacted. I wasn't – I wasn't thinking. And you can talk about anything with me, you know? I'm your big sister."

Leigh's eyebrows rose in mild surprise, but he smiled eventually, saying, "I'll miss you when you graduate."

Dorcas let out a long sigh, keeping her silence. The mere topic of graduation brought goosebumps under her skin and made her heart twist painfully. She was no longer the bubbly eleven year old who had dragged her hesitant and fearful mother through the crowds at King's Cross Station excitedly, nor was she the girl who had burst into tears when she was unable to perform in a muggle singing show due to sore throat. She was an adult, and she was going to commence a new life the moment she would step out of the Hogwarts Express for the last time.

She felt like she wasn't ready.

"I find it silly, you know?" Leigh's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she blinked several times to bring her eyes into focus. "Becoming an adult at seventeen. We're still so young till twenty, and we're forced to show adult responsibilities when we turn seventeen. What if I don't want to be an adult? Why can't we choose to become adults when we feel ready? That way we'd be able to leave our childhood behind without regretting it."

Dorcas laughed, patting him lightly on the back. "As much as I love the idea, I'm afraid we don't have any other choice."

He continued to stare outside at the large oak tree by the Black Lake, his eyes holding such fire that Dorcas felt the tree might succumb to ashes at any moment. She turned so that she was facing the inside of the castle, and looked down at the letter in her hands. It was sent by her mother – long and full of so much emotions that it made Dorcas's insides wrench painfully. Jenna had said in the letter more or less the same thing that Leigh had just spoken about – about becoming an adult at seventeen, which was so so so ridiculous in her opinion and that Dorcas had the right to follow the muggle rule because her mother was a muggle, so that she could have a year with her child – a year with no school, just the two of them at home – and that would allow her to spend enough time with her daughter before she would have to let her go.

Dorcas could feel tears peeking out of her eyes, and she blinked to stop them from pouring out. Sounds of laughter reached her ears, and she turned her head to find two people emerging from around a corner, the two people being Silver and Benjy. Their hands were locked and it seemed like they were running away from something, but their faces were bright with happy laughter and their eyes glistening with happy tears. Benjy pushed her against the wall before locking themselves into a passionate kiss.

Leigh gave a low whistle from beside her. "Look at them. They're going to traumatise some eleven year old if they're not careful enough."

Dorcas laughed, but her face held a fond and loving smile as she looked at her best friend. After graduation, after precisely six months, they'd no longer be living under the same roof. Hell, they would probably not be living under the same sky. Silver would leave, visiting different countries around the world, collecting artifacts, studying them, discovering lost civilisations from a thousand years ago. Living her dream. Dorcas would remain here, doing Merlin knows what.

"I wouldn't be surprised," she answered. "Benjy still has one year left to graduate. It's normal they'd want to spend as much time as possible together."

"If she spends more time with him, she might fail her NEWTs and then can have another year with him at Hogwarts."

Dorcas snorted. "If you knew Silver, you wouldn't say that." She paused and looked at him. "Do you think your parents will let you spend a few days at our place during summer?"

"I can convince them," he answered promptly. "But won't you be busy? You'll start working, won't you?"

"I hardly think my mum will let me leave the house until she's convinced that she's spent enough time with me."

In the end, it was sorted, and Leigh had agreed to spend some of the summer holiday with her. Dorcas felt that she needed it. She truly believed that she wouldn't be able to leave just yet, and she had no desire to either. She was planning to catch up with her stepbrother, who, if he ended up inheriting his father's magic, would be starting Hogwarts coming September, and Dorcas wanted to go to Diagon Alley to shop with him. They had visited each other only a few times, and she was determined to spend more time with him.

The bell rang to signify the end of a period, and Dorcas pulled herself out of her thoughts and smiled at Leigh. Saying their goodbyes, they both headed to their own classes, Dorcas making a mental note to apologise to her friends for being neglectful of them.

---

i feel like writing a story about benjy that would form, like sort of a companion book to empty gold. would anyone be interested?