Work Text:
The party had long dissolved into smaller conversations.
There were some nights where the war forgot to exist.
What began as an Order gathering, a celebration of another mission survived, had turned into Lily and Mary arguing in the sitting room, Sirius and Peter trying to convince James that dancing on the coffee table was a brilliant idea while Remus sighed in resignation, and Frank quietly confiscating Fire whiskey from anyone who looked even remotely unsteady.
The flat buzzed with warmth and laughter.
Alice stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the sitting room, holding a cup of tea she'd forgotten to drink.
Her eyes wandered without purpose.
Until they landed on them.
Across the room, tucked into the corner of the worn sofa beneath the window, Marlene and Dorcas had disappeared into their own little world.
Marlene was talking animatedly with her hands, as always.
Dorcas was watching her with a fond smile..
Marlene was telling a story, struggling to get the words out through her own laughter.
Neither of them seemed to notice how close they'd drifted together.
Their knees brushed.
Neither moved away.
The conversation around them faded under shared laughter.
Then Dorcas noticed something.
She reached out without thinking.
"You've done it again."
Marlene frowned.
"What?"
"Hold still."
Her fingers caught the knot of Marlene's tie.
It had slipped sideways, loosened after hours of laughing and moving around.
With practiced ease, Dorcas straightened it, tightening the knot before smoothing the front of her shirt with the flat of her hand.
"There."
Marlene glanced down.
"I genuinely cannot tell the difference."
"I know."
"Then why bother?"
Dorcas smiled.
"So you stop looking like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards."
"I have never looked like that in my life."
"You looked worse in fifth year."
"Rude."
"You'll survive."
Their eyes met.
It didn't last long.
Barely a heartbeat.
Just enough for something warm and unspoken to settle between them before Marlene smiled first.
Small and soft.
Alice's fingers tightened around her mug.
She remembered long, pale fingers fixing her tie outside the charms classroom.
For a moment she could almost hear her voice.
Narcissa Black.
"You've tied it wrong again."
"I've done no such thing."
“It’s all wonky.”
Alice looked down, It was indeed all wonky.
Narcissa had sighed with theatrical disappointment before fixing it herself.
"There."
"What would I ever do without you?" The words had escaped before Alice could stop them.
Narcissa's hands had frozen.
Only for a second.
Then she smiled softly. "I suppose you'll never have to find out."
The memory dissolved.
Alice blinked as tears filled the corners of her eyes.
Someone had turned the record over.
Music filled the room again.
Frank appeared beside her carrying two fresh mugs of tea.
"You've gone somewhere."
She forced a smile.
"I'm here."
"Liar."
He took a sip of tea and handed her the other cup. "The first one's gone cold."
She looked down.
He was right.
She hadn't taken a single sip.
Frank followed her gaze across the room.
It didn't take him long to join two and two.
"...Ah." he started after a pause. "They remind you of someone."
Alice laughed quietly, It surprised even her.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Only to me. You alright?"
"No. Not really."
Frank said nothing.
He simply stood beside her.
Across the room, Dorcas said something that made Marlene burst into a fit of laughter so violent she nearly dropped her plate.
Without thinking, Dorcas steadied it.
Without thinking, Marlene leaned briefly against her shoulder as she laughed.
Neither of them were aware they did anything.
Alice's breath caught.
She had seen this before.
Not the people.
The pattern.
The way love disguised itself as habit.
The way two people can become so accustomed to caring for each other that they stop noticing where one ended and the other began.
It wasn't dramatic.
It wasn't stolen kisses or declarations.
It was ordinary.
That was the dangerous part.
Because the ordinary felt endless.
It convinced you that forever looked exactly like today.
Another walk.
Another cup of tea.
Another chance to say the things that mattered.
Alice had believed that once.
She wasn't foolish enough to believe it anymore.
She set her untouched mug on the counter.
"I'm going to get some air."
Frank reached for her wrist.
"Alice." His expression was unbearably gentle. "Talk to her."
Alice followed his gaze.
Marlene.
Still laughing.
Still standing on the edge of a cliff she couldn't even see.
Alice looked at Frank for a long moment before nodding once.
"Yeah." she whispered. "I think I have to."
Later she cornered Marlene in the living room while everyone else was busy.
"Can we talk?"
"Now?"
"Now."
They went out to the balcony.
The city stretched endlessly below, thousands of tiny lights blinking against the darkness.
Behind them, the party continued.
"How long?"
Marlene frowned.
"How long what?"
"You and Dorcas."
Marlene barked out a laugh. "Merlin, It isn't like that."
Alice looked at her again with a pointed look.
Marlene rubbed a hand over the back of her neck. "...Is it that obvious?"
Silence took over them as Marlene sighed and stared out across London.
"I don't know when it happened."
Alice didn't interrupt.
"I just..." she started, smiling slightly. "One day I realised she's the first person I look for when I walk into a room."
"The first person I want to tell when something happens."
"You love her." Alice stated simply.
Marlene's smile disappeared.
Very slowly, she nodded. "...Yeah."
"So tell her."
"No." The answer came immediately.
Alice had expected that.
"Why?"
Marlene laughed without humour.
"Because she's my friend."
"So?"
"So if she doesn't feel the same..." She shrugged. "I lose her."
"You don't know that."
"I know enough."
"You don't."
"I do."
"You don't." Marlene finally turned towards her. "You don't understand."
Alice laughed then… a small, broken sound.
"Oh, Marls."
Her voice was almost impossibly gentle.
"I understand more than you could possibly imagine."
Marlene frowned.
Another long silence settled between them.
"Can I tell you about someone?" Alice asked quietly.
Marlene looked over.
"Someone I haven't spoken about in years."
"...Of course."
Alice rested both hands on the cold railing.
"When I was eleven, I met a girl on the Hogwarts Express."
"She was wearing expensive robes and looked terribly proper. And she informed me, within five minutes, that I talked too loudly."
Marlene smiled, despite herself.
"I told her she looked like she'd swallowed a broomstick."
"And?"
"And she laughed."
Alice's own smile was distant now.
“I think I fell a little bit in love with that laugh before I even knew her name."
"Her name was Narcissa Black."
The night seemed to grow quieter.
"I don't think anyone ever really knew our story." she said, taking a slow breath. "Not even the two people living it."
Marlene didn't interrupt.
She simply leaned her forearms against the railing beside Alice and waited.
"Frank thought we'd end up being enemies."
Marlene smiled faintly. "Hufflepuff and Slytherin yeah?"
Alice nodded.
"She thought I was reckless."
"Were you?"
"I climbed onto the roof of the Greenhouse because someone told me the sunset looked prettier from up there."
"...Did it?"
"It did."
"And Narcissa?"
"Marched all the way up after me just to tell me how irresponsible I was."
Marlene laughed.
"Did she make you come down?"
"No." Alice's lips curved. "She sat beside me."
The memory warmed her voice before breaking it.
"She complained the entire time. 'This is dangerous.' 'You're impossible.' 'If we die, I'm blaming you.' But she never left."
Alice looked out across the city.
"We became... us."
"What does that mean?"
Alice searched for the words.
"I stopped thinking of plans as mine. They became ours."
"If there was a Hogsmeade weekend, We were going."
"If there was an essay, we would complain about it together."
"If something wonderful happened, She was the first person I wanted to tell."
She laughed softly.
"It wasn't even a decision. It just... happened."
Marlene's expression had changed.
She wasn't smiling anymore.
"So..." she asked carefully, "...when did you know?"
Alice frowned.
"Know what?"
"That you loved her."
Alice opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
She had expected the answer to come easily.
"I..." She stopped. "I don't know."
The confession surprised them both.
"I've spent years trying to find a moment… A lightning strike, you know?"
"There wasn't one."
"It was..." Her voice faltered. "It was every morning she sat beside me."
"Every time she fixed my tie because she'd convinced herself I couldn't do it properly."
"Every letter."
"Every argument."
"Every goodbye at King's Cross."
Alice closed her eyes.
"I don't think I fell in love with her."
A tear escaped before she noticed.
"I think I looked at her one day and realised I'd been in love for years."
Marlene's throat tightened.
"And did she..."
Alice smiled but there was no happiness in it.
"That's the question, isn't it?"
"I've asked myself that almost every day."
She drew in a slow breath.
"There were moments."
"The way she'd look at me when she thought I wasn't paying attention."
"The way she'd remember things I'd forgotten I'd ever told her."
"The way she'd always find me in a crowded room."
Alice's fingers curled around the railing.
"And every single time… I convinced myself I was imagining it."
"Because if I wasn't..." She laughed weakly. "...then it became real."
The words shattered something inside her.
"I never even gave her the chance to know how i felt."
The balcony fell silent.
Inside, another burst of laughter drifted through the open window.
Alice looked through the glass.
Dorcas had unconsciously looked up.
Not to speak.
Not because she needed anything.
Just wondering where Marlene was.
Her eyes immediately found her.
The worry in her face disappeared and instead got replaced with a smile
Then she went back to the conversation as if nothing happened.
Alice watched all of it.
Every unconscious movement.
Every instinct.
Then she whispered, "That's what love looks like."
Marlene followed her gaze.
Neither of them spoke for a long time.
Finally, Alice turned to her.
"When Narcissa's engagement to Lucius was announced..."
Her voice barely carried above the wind. "...I smiled and hugged her. Told her i was happy for her."
Marlene stared.
"Why?"
"Because I thought loving someone meant just wanting them to be happy."
Alice's eyes filled with tears.
"I didn't understand that sometimes loving someone also means giving them the truth."
She reached over and took Marlene's hand.
"I will never know if Narcissa loved me."
"I've spent longer wondering if she loved me than I ever got to love her."
Her grip tightened, ever so slightly.
"I don't want you to regret not telling Dorcas all your life like I regret not telling Cissa."
“Staying friends is safe.” Alice smiled sadly. "But safe isn't always worth choosing."
She squeezed Marlene's hand one last time.
"Ruin the friendship. It's better than spending your life wondering about the what if’s."
For a long time, Marlene didn't move.
The city glittered below them.
Life continued, blissfully unaware of the two people standing on that balcony trying to change the ending of a story.
Finally, Marlene laughed quietly.
"I hate it when you're right."
Alice just smiled.
Marlene wiped hastily at her eyes.
"I'm terrified."
"I know."
"What if I ruin everything?"
Alice looked at her for a long moment.
"What if you don't?"
Silence.
Then, slowly...
Marlene nodded, just once. As though making peace with something she'd been fighting for years.
She let out one long breath.
"Wish me luck."
Alice's smile was impossibly soft.
"I don't think you'll need it."
Marlene laughed again.
She reached for the balcony door, and stopped.
Without a word, she turned around and pulled Alice into a soft hug.
When she stepped away, she looked lighter somehow.
Alice watched as Marlene disappeared back inside.
The noise of the party rushed out for a moment before the door clicked shut again.
Through the glass, she saw Marlene hesitate.
Across the room, Dorcas looked up.
Their eyes met.
Dorcas smiled.
Marlene smiled back and walked towards her.
Alice didn't watch what happened next.
Some moments belonged only to the people living them.
Instead, she lifted her eyes to the night sky.
The stars were faint above London's haze.
She wondered, not for the first time, where Narcissa was.
Whether she still fixed crooked ties without thinking.
Whether, every now and then, she looked up at the same sky and remembered a reckless Hufflepuff girl who climbed rooftops just to watch the sunset.
Alice smiled.
Small.
Bittersweet.
"I should've kissed you anyway." she whispered into the night.
They were years too late.
But they were finally true.