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The air was sticky with the July heat, and the sheets were covered in sweat. Dorcas didn't mind though - summers in Africa visiting her grandparents had been even hotter, so she was used to hot climates.
Marlene, however, was only used to the Scottish chill and humidity, and she had been tossing and turning all night throughout the heatwave.
Now, though, Marls was laying peacefully in the soft golden haze of the dawn.
Dorcas leaned over and planted an affectionate kiss on Marls' forehead. She had never expected to experience this kind of domestic bliss, and now it came so naturally to her that she didn't remember what it was like before.
Marlene rolled over facing Dorcas and opened her eyes.
"Morning, babe," Mars mumbled, seemingly still half asleep.
"Good morning, sweetheart," Dorcas said, "Happy anniversary."
"Happy anniversary, Cas." Marls smiled at her. "You look beautiful."
Dorcas scoffed. "I just woke up, I'm sweaty, and my braids are all over the place. I do not."
"You do, though. You always look beautiful to me," insisted Marls, "In fact, you look so beautiful laying there that I'm forcing you to stay here while I make you a nice breakfast for being the prettiest, cleverest, most perfect girlfriend ever."
Dorcas rolled her eyes affectionately. “Well, if you insist."
A few minutes later, Marlene practically skipped in, holding two plates, a contagious grin across her face.
"Your breakfast, your Highness. I made your favourite." Marlene handed Dorcas a steaming plate, then got into bed with her own plate.
Dorcas took her plate gratefully, and gasped when saw what Marls had made for her.
"Marls..."
"Does it look okay?" Marlene asks, frowning, "I asked your grandmother for the recipe, but I wasn't sure I did it right, I can make something else if-"
"You made me mandazi."
"Well, you always talk about how much you miss your mum's cooking, and you've said it's your favourite. I wanted you to have a good morning," Marlene said, as if it wasn't a big deal.
Dorcas pulled her amazing girlfriend in for a kiss. "It's perfect, sweetheart. Thank you."
They spent the morning eating (the mandazi really was delicious), laughing, and missing, and then kissing some more (okay, maybe it was more than kissing, and maybe they definitely got distracted and arrived late to the order meeting.)
The meeting wasn't long. Dorcas was assigned some research, and Marlene was going with Peter to intercept a package of supplies that the Death Eaters needed. Tomorrow, Dorcas would be tailing Avery to try and find out some information.
They had hoped not to have any missions today, since it was their anniversary, but the Order didn't have many members as it was, and more than usual had been getting injured or killed on missions.
They didn't really mind being on missions today, though. Moody had promised that Marlene would be done in plenty of time for their anniversary dinner, and Dorcas would be home anyway.
"Hey, Pete," Dorcas called out, "Get my girl home in one piece for me, alright? Can't have her hurt on our anniversary, can we?"
"Don't worry, Dor, she'll be home safe tonight," Peter replied. He seemed... muted, or dulled.
"Pete, are you okay? You don't seem your normal self."
"Yeah, I'm fine, all good here. Just worried about the others, they've, um, they’ve all got field missions except Lily," he assured. Dorcas wasn't convinced, but there was no use trying to get him to tell her - if she had learned one thing from being friends with Peter, it was that he would never tell a secret, even his own.
"Okay, if you're sure. Stay safe on your mission, Marls isn't the only one I'll be stressing about."
Marls came over from the girls, said goodbye to Dorcas, and apparated away with Peter.
Dorcas went back to the flat alone, arms laden with books from Moody for research.
She got to work straight away - the sooner she started, the sooner she finished, and then she could start preparing the special anniversary dinner.
Dorcas’ plans got sidetracked a little. The research was a lot more in depth than she expected, and she couldn't ask her friends for help since they were on missions, and the research was confidential anyway - Dorcas could only directly report to Moody or Dumbledore.
This meant that the research took most of the day, so she started on dinner a little late - not that it mattered, since Marls hadn't arrived home yet.
Marls had treated Dorcas this morning, so it was Dorcas' turn to pamper Marls. She was making a full English roast, since Marls loved them so much.
Dorcas had just about finished with cooking dinner when she finally checked the time. It was almost 8pm, and Marls hadn't arrived home yet.
Dorcas frowned. She was meant to be back by now. Maybe Marls had been caught up talking with Peter? No, not on their anniversary. And if something had gone wrong with the mission, and Marlene was okay, she would've sent a Patronus message.
That only left one option, but Dorcas refused to consider it. Marlene was one of the strongest fighters Dorcas had ever seen, she wouldn't go down easily. She had to have faith that Marlene would come home safe soon.
Just as Dorcas was about to reach her breaking point, she heard the distinct crack of apparition.
"Cas? Cas, babe, I'm so sorry I'm late, the mission ran long."
"Marls?" Dorcas called, running into the other room, "Marls, thank God you're back, I was getting really worried."
Marlene wrapped her arms tightly around Dorcas. Dorcas could feel Marlene shaking.
"Cas, I was so scared. I thought that was it for me," Marlene whispered into Dorcas' shoulder.
"You're okay now, sweetheart, you're here now, you're with me," Dorcas reassured, "What happened? Are you hurt?"
Marls sat on the sofa, and Dorcas sat beside her.
"Peter and I went to the pickup point as planned, and everything seemed fine. We were about to grab the box and get out, when a bunch of fucking Death Eaters showed up. Pete and I had to hide quickly, and I honestly don't know how we didn't get found. Pete had such a small hiding spot, I don't think even I would've been able to get in there properly, I don’t know how he did. We were stuck there for hours. The Death Eaters just weren't leaving, as if they knew we would be there so they were waiting for us to arrive to kill us.
"After a while, most of them left, there were only about three left, and they hadn't taken the box yet. I wasn't going to let them get away with that box, we needed it. I stunned one of the Death Eaters, then Pete got another of them. We dueled the last one, and we beat him, so we grabbed the box and got the fuck out of dodge."
"Oh Merlin, Marls, that must've been so scary. I'm so glad you're okay."
"It was scary. But let's not talk about it anymore, babe. It's still our anniversary, so let's focus on that, okay?" Marls said.
"Okay, if you're sure," Dorcas replied, "I made dinner, by the way. Your favourite: roast dinner."
"You, Dorcas Meadows, are heaven sent. That sounds perfect," Marlene said, planting a kiss on Dorcas' lips.
They ate their dinner (it was a little cold, but nothing magic couldn't fix.), and they talked about anything other than the war. Once they'd run out of conversation, they kissed, and had sex, and cuddled, and Dorcas couldn't comprehend feeling any more loved than she did with Marlene. She was it for Dorcas. Marls was her endgame. There would be no second love-Marls was her one and only.
***
The next morning, the air was still sticky with heat, and the sheets were still sweaty. Dorcas woke up feeling happier than she had in weeks. Obviously Marls' mission yesterday had shaken her, and she had a mission herself later that day, but she couldn't help feeling content.
Marls was awake too, up early by choice, for once.
"What are you doing up so early, Mars? I never thought I'd see the day you'd willingly get up at this hour," Dorcas teased playfully.
"I'm going to visit my parents today. I'm still a bit off after my mission yesterday, and they've been asking for me to drop by for a while. I had planned to go in a few weeks, but I decided to speed up the timeline. You can come too, if you want, they're dying to see you."
"I'd love to come, sweetheart, but I've got a mission, so I'll be out most of the day. Give them my love, though, tell them I'll swing by soon."
"Crap, I forgot you were on a mission today. What is it again?" asked Marls.
"Just some surveillance. Gotta tail one of the Death Eaters for a bit, see if they spill any useful information. No real danger, so I'll be fine," Dorcas promised.
"Just be careful, okay? My mission wasn't meant to be any real danger, and look how that went. The Death Eaters knew we would be there, like someone tipped them off or something. Just keep an eye out in case they know you're there, okay? I need you to stay safe. I love you too much to mourn you."
"Don't worry, Marls, you know me. I'd never let some puny daddy's boy Death Eater kill me."
"I'll see you later, Cas. Love you," said Marlene, giving Dorcas a goodbye kiss then apparating away.
Dorcas left for her mission not long after that. She had to follow Avery around - he wasn't inner circle, but he wanted to be, which meant that he was sucking up to the higher ranked Death Eaters and would probably know a lot.
She found him in Diagon Alley, coming out of the Leaky Cauldron. Dorcas followed him to Knockturn Alley. Avery spent a while in Borgin and Burkes, seemingly picking up some kind of cursed item for Voldemort. She nearly lost him when he left the store, Borgin got in her way and tried to sell some amulet to her, but she got away in time to see where Avery went.
He stopped abruptly about halfway down the street, looked around furtively, then stepped covertly into a dark side street. Dorcas cast a disillusionment charm on herself and followed, sticking to the shadows.
Avery had walked to the far end of the street, and he was speaking with someone. Dorcas crept a little closer to hear what they were saying.
"... big blow to the Order, she's well liked and a damn good fighter. Good thing we could get rid of her and her family," said Avery.
"She wasn't meant to be there though, it was just meant to be a warning to the Order."
Dorcas couldn't tell who Avery was speaking to, but they were obviously speaking about an attack. They'd attacked a female Order member and her family. It had to have been very recent, the latest deaths had mostly been men.
"Still, it's good to get rid of her. She was a fucking menace, and after yesterday, she had to go," replied Avery, "I hear the Dark Lord made you do it yourself. Glad you could prove your loyalty to us, even if you are a bit shit."
"The Dark Lord requested I kill the family, so I did. Anything for the cause. My relationship with the family... it doesn't matter. I-I had to do it," said the spy. Their voice was masked using magic, but Dorcas could nearly tell who it was, if she could just get a little closer-
"Shit," she whispered subconsciously as she stumbled over something.
Dorcas held her breath and silently cursed herself.
"Did you hear that?" asked the spy.
"It's probably just a rat or some stray cat. Still, we shouldn't stay here much longer. Go give the Dark Lord your report on the attack on the Mckinnons, tell him no survivors, then go lie your arse off to your fucking blood traiter friends. Now go, you little rat, there's work to be done, and I don't want your stink of death and fire on me anymore."
Attack on the McKinnons.
"Yes, o-okay, right, of course," stuttered the traitor.
They both apparated away, leaving Dorcas alone in the dark alley.
No.
No, please not her.
Not Marlene.
I love her, she can't be gone.
Dorcas was dazed. She couldn't move, could barely think.
She blinked and found herself in front of the McKinnon's house. She had apparated subconsciously, but she barely thought about it. The house was on fire.
There were muggle firefighters trying to put out the fire, but Dorcas just pushed past them towards the house.
"Hey, you can't go in there, it's too dangerous!" one of them shouted out.
Dorcas ignored them, and stormed into the house. She knew what she was going to find, but she refused to believe it was true until she saw proof with her own eyes.
Well, she had to believe it now.
It was in front of her. It didn't feel right to say "she" anymore. It was just a body. No heartbeat, no light behind the eyes, no soul.
Marlene was dead. And Dorcas was alone.
***
"Please, no more, stop!" the scumbag begged.
Dorcas scoffed. "I've told you how to make it stop, you murderous piece of shit. Either you die now, or you tell me who fucking killed Marlene Mckinnon and... well, you'll probably still die, but it'll be quicker."
"I told you, I don't know. The Dark Lord doesn't tell us who he sends on missions like that attack. Please, mercy. I have a family, a wife and daughter, let me go back to them," he pleaded.
Dorcas considered for a moment. "Okay, I'll show you some mercy, shit bag."
The Death Eater sighed in relief. "Thank you so much, you won't regret-"
"Avada Kedavra."
Clearly we have different ideas of mercy , thought Dorcas as it crumpled to the floor lifelessly.
Since that day, Dorcas hadn't been able to think of bodies as anything other than that - empty sacks of flesh, nothing other than a bunch of cells. They weren't people anymore - there had been nothing left of Marlene in that body.
It had been a week and Dorcas hadn't stopped for a moment. She'd gone straight from the house to hunt down the bastard who had killed the love of her life. She'd gone for Avery first - she knew he knew who the traitor was, but she'd lost control and killed him before he could tell her.
That was her first murder. She'd killed before, obviously, it was a bloody war, she had to - but this was the first murder.
And it felt good. It was the one thing that gave Dorcas any relief from her pain and grief, and as long as she was avenging Marlene and her parents, she didn't have to hurt.
The man today was the fifth Death Eater she'd tortured for information, and he was the fifth dead end. None of these people were important enough to know anything useful. Dorcas needed to find someone in the inner circle.
She saw a silvery light in the corner of her eye. A doe Patronus, Lily's. Everyone had been trying to get to her since that day, but she'd stayed away.
“Dorcas, please come home. We miss you, and we love you. It’s been a week since we heard from you, and we’re worried. It’s Harry’s birthday tomorrow, please just come home. Just for a day, even, so that we know you’re okay. Marlene wouldn’t want you to be alone. We can fix this, I know we can. Come to us and we can mourn together.”
No, no, Dorcas couldn’t go to see them, she wouldn't burden them with her rage-induced revenge plan - they had their own grief. She would stay away. She would miss Harry’s birthday, she might even miss his whole life, and she might miss all of her friends’ futures, but she would make it worth it. She would avenge Marlene.
The next day, Dorcas hid by the Lestrange home. One of the Death Eaters had let slip that there was a meeting there today, so she knew she could find someone inner circle here.
There. Rabastan Lestrange. Perfect.
Dorcas stunned him, then levitated him towards her, out of sight of the house. She used a binding charm on his wrists and took his wand - standard procedure by now.
"Rennervate."
Rabastan woke up confused, then evidently realised what had happened, because he started thrashing around. He opened his mouth to yell but Dorcas silenced him.
"Shh... You stay quiet unless I ask you something, okay? I have a few questions for you, Rabastan, and you're going to answer me with the truth. Understood?"
"No, you filthy blood traitor. I would die before giving up our secrets to you, tainted bitch," Rabastan spat.
"Rabastan, do you remember at school when I would hex you for being a bigoted prick?" asked Dorcas, "Well, I've killed a lot more people since then. I'm getting quite good at it, actually. But I could always use more practice, which will happen if you don't tell me what I ask."
"Ask away, Meadowes. I'm loyal to the Dark Lord."
"Well, in that case, you won't mind it if I tell Voldemort that you're fucking a muggle woman. Ella, right? Pretty, blonde hair, lovely green eyes. It sure would be a shame if she died..." Dorcas trailed off.
Rabastan went white, and Dorcas knew she had found the right thing to make him talk.
"Right, let's start then," began Dorcas, "Why was Marlene Mckinnon killed?"
"You know, Meadowes, I thought you were smarter. The Mckinnons were targeted to send a message. It was a warning. The daughter wasn't meant to be there, but it was good anyway, because she was fucking annoying. Kept fucking up our plans. Her getting away with that box last week was the last straw."
"Who did Voldemort send to kill the Mckinnons?"
"His precious little spy. Don't bother asking me who, I haven't got a fucking clue."
"How did Avery know and not you?" questioned Dorcas, "You're inner circle, he was just a suck up without any real status."
"Avery knew? Fuck's sake, he’s taking the piss now," cursed Rabastan.
"What do you mean?" Dorcas furrowed her brow in confusion.
"My stupid brother, Rodolphus. He's a huge dick and keeps telling Avery stuff instead of me to piss me off."
"Not a huge challenge, and it's clearly working. Well, worked, now, I guess."
"What?"
"Doesn't matter. Look, you're not very useful to me anymore, Rabastan. I'm done asking you shit."
"I'd say it's been a pleasure, Meadowes, but it never is with you. See you when I'm killing you in battle."
"Avada Kedavra,” Dorcas cast.
Finally, that whiny son of a bitch was quiet. God, rich boys were annoying. No offence to Sirius, James, and Peter. They were annoying too, but a good kind. Mostly. Dorcas heard something behind her and spun around, wand raised.
"Who's there?"
Suddenly, a cold hand wrapped around her wand arm from behind her, hard fingernails digging into the flesh of her wrist.
When she looked back, Dorcas was staring into the lifeless eyes of Lord Voldemort.
"Hello, Miss Meadowes. We meet at last."
God, even just the sound of his voice sent shivers down her spine.
"Fuck you. Who killed Marlene McKinnon?" she demanded. Dorcas may be held against her will by the most powerful, evil wizard... well, ever, but she had her priorities straight.
"It's a shame you didn't join me, Miss Meadowes. You're very fierce."
Dorcas squirmed in revulsion, but stood her ground. She would not back down.
"Who killed Marlene Mckinnon?" she repeated.
"You're persistent, too. An admirable trait in a soldier," said Voldemort, "I have to say, I would have preferred you over Pettigrew as my informant. You'd be able to get the job done without crying like a blubbering child."
"Peter motherfucking Pettigrew? He killed my Marlene?" Dorcas spat.
"Yes, he's been useful to me these last few months. He has many connections, he feels slighted by those he calls friends, and he has... unique abilities that I make use of," Voldemort said, "But there is nothing you can do to him, Miss Meadowes, because you won't make it past this morning. You really shouldn't have kept Rabastan so close to our meeting. A deadly mistake."
Voldemort raised his wand to Dorcas' face. He had taken her wand, she couldn't fight back with magic, but she could still do something.
Dorcas looked Voldemort in the eye, and slammed her head into his nose.
"Ow, you muggle-loving bitch!" he cursed.
Dorcas smiled - she had made the Dark Lord, Lord fucking Voldemort, lose his composure. Sure, she was definitely about to die, but that was a hell of a way to go out.
Dorcas closed her eyes - she was ready to see Marlene again. Ready to be reunited forever.
She braced herself for the darkness, and stepped into the light.