Work Text:
Dorcas’s favorite scent had always been lavender.
Ever since she was little, she had been spraying herself with her mom’s lavender perfume for as long as she could remember. All the candles in her dorm room were lavender, and even her friends knew about her obsession with the scent.
You see, normally witches and wizards don’t actually use perfume. Some used scent hexes, but most just used an anti-smell spell to prevent them from smelling bad. Dorcas was a half-witch but had grown up in the wizarding community with her mother. She hadn’t even seen her muggle father since she was six years old, he had left when he realized what his daughter and wife were.
That being said, her mother was one of the few witches who actually used perfume, she loved scented candles and she loved being able to spray on a quick scent when going out. Dorcas had gotten the obsession from her, even learning how to make her own perfume from her, by hand. Dorcas never used any of her magic for the process.
Some people in the wizard community would certainly look down on her for this but it was something sacred to her. Something small to help her calm down from her stress and something that connected her with her mother. She also found that the perfume smelled so much better when making it by hand than it did when using magic or even buying it from a muggle store. And although some people wouldn’t appreciate her ritual, her friends don’t have a problem with it.
When Regulus found out he merely shrugged and moved on, Barty found it a bit weird at first and teased her a little but he definitely wasn’t in a place to judge her for being different than society wanted her to be, so on one hand he even gained respect for her after finding out.
Evan was the person who found out first though, and weirdly enough it was because he recognized it. “Panda used to make perfume all the time. My favorite was vanilla, but lavender is certainly not a bad choice.” He had said, not bothered by his sister's antics and then he hadn’t mentioned it after.
Pandora on the other hand, absolutely couldn’t shut up about it. Not in a bad way, of course, Dorcas was glad that her friend got so excited to see someone with the same interests, and she loved it when Pandora rambled to her about the things she loved. And, to be entirely honest, Dorcas was excited too! She and Pandora had a lot of conversations after that, from their favorite smells to the concentration and ingredients of the liquid itself.
This led to Dorcas inviting the other girl when she made her next bottle of perfume. She made her usual lavender-scented bottle, while Pandora experimented with different smells and techniques. This quickly became tradition for the two girls, they decided to ask for access to a potion classroom at least once a month to make their perfumes. Professor Slughorn wasn’t so convinced in the beginning but after explaining, he happily gave them access.
Dorcas’s favorite subject had always been Potions, she loved learning the techniques in class and later applying them to her own potions, or even to her perfume. Their Potions class was shared with the Gryffindor house. She was the top of their potions class in her year, only beaten by Severus Snape from her own house and closely followed by Lilly Evans from Gryffindor.
So imagine her excitement when Professor Slughorn announced that the potion they would be brewing was all about smell . She looked at Pandora and they quickly made eye contact and moved to their usual shared workbench with a newfound readiness to do well in this assignment.
“The potion that we will brew today is called Amortentia. Now, the first thing you need to know about Amortentia is that it is super dangerous. Amortentia is also known as the most powerful love potion known to this day. It has the unique effect of smelling different to everyone based on what that person likes or finds attractive. This is also why we will only brew it once, document the smell, and then immediately terminate it, just so no one is in danger of drinking it.”
After their Professor had explained the basics about the potion, all the students grabbed their books as he wrote the needed ingredients on the chalkboard. Dorcas heard excited whispers from the other side of the classroom, and not so surprisingly she knew who was talking without even having to look.
Marlene McKinnon was everything Dorcas wasn’t, and that was partly why Dorcas was so fascinated by the blond Gryffindor. Marlene wasn’t incredibly book-smart like Lilly, and she normally didn’t really try her best like Dorcas. However, Marlene was unbelievably competitive . She was a star Quidditch player, starting in her third year as a Beater but now shining as a Chaser on her house team. She never backed out of a challenge or bet, and always put everything on the line just to win.
She also may be the reason why Dorcas had given herself up as a Reserve Chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch team this year when frankly she didn’t even really like the game. Marlene made it fun though, the few but tiring practices were worth it when the limited games she actually had to play were filled with banter and smiles from the pretty girl.
Oh yeah, that was also a reason Dorcas was fascinated by her. Marlene was insanely beautiful. She was confident and wasn’t afraid to wear bold muggle clothes which made her stand out. She also regularly wore thick, black eyeliner, making the blue orbs stand out even more. It also made Dorcas contemplate her existence.
It took Dorcas a moment and a firm tap on the shoulder from Pandora to realize that she had been staring… again. She zoned back into reality and saw Marlene move to a table with Mary, her best friend. The two girls went to grab the ingredients for the potion and Pandora stood up to do the same. Dorcas followed her friend and listened closely as she took the ingredients back to their desk, making sure to be careful with the rose thorns.
After having gathered everything, Dorcas and Pandora started to brew the complex potion with practiced ease. They had a particular talent for it. While taking turns stirring the soft pink liquid they started talking about what they thought they were going to smell.
“Well I feel like it’s pretty obvious what you are going to smell, miss ‘I use the same perfume my whole life.’” Pandora laughed.
“Okay- true, but still you didn’t have to call me out like that! What do you think you’re going to smell?”
Pandora shrugged at the question, she had always been really open-minded and Dorcas envied her for that.
“I don’t know what I will get, but whatever it is I’m sure it will suit me splendidly!” She cheered happily.
Dorcas smiled and went back to stirring the potion, they were almost done. Looking at the color in her classmates' potions, it seemed like most of them were. Her eyes drifted back to Marlene, who was now excitedly talking to her classmates seated next to her while Mary was stirring the potion. A smile reached Dorcas’ face unconsciously at the scene.
After about a good 5 minutes of stirring, Pandora let her do the honors of adding the rose petals. The moment the petal touched the liquid, Dorcas was overwhelmed by the amount of smell that attacked her nose.
Broom polish. Cigarettes. Sunflowers. Warmth.
Her eyes widened at the familiar but unexpected smells. She had been so sure that she would smell lavender that smelling something else hadn’t even a consideration in her head. She hadn’t even considered the deeper implications this would have. There was a smell that she loved more than lavender perfume, someone she loved more.
Besides her, Pandora had a soft smile on her face, seemingly entranced with whatever she smelled. At the table next to her, Barty and Evan’s eyes had both widened (much like her own), and their faces were both decorated with a deep flush at which Dorcas could roll her eyes. That had been a long time coming.
As the smell filled the classroom multiple people gasped, and many jaws dropped, although some didn’t look even remotely surprised. Dorcas automatically set her gaze on a familiar blond girl, who looked at her friends with confusion in her eyes. After a couple of moments, the emotion changed to something more like understanding. Dorcas could see someone ask her a question and her whole world stopped the moment she heard that one word come out of the Gryffindor’s mouth.
“Lavander.”
Their eyes found each other, and Dorcas could only stare.
“Did she just say-?” “Shh!”
She ignored the voices in the background and kept looking into those bright blue eyes. Marlene smiled at her with a question in her eye. Dorcas nodded quietly as she returned the smile.
There was indeed something she loved more than lavender perfume.