So invested was she in balancing the numerous books in her hands as she passed across the Gryffindor common room that Dorcas almost didn't hear Silver calling her name from behind her.
She turned and saw the now red haired girl looking at her miserably from one of the sofas, a book rested on her knee. She went over and dropped her books beside her, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Going to Juliet?" Silver asked quietly. Dorcas noticed her clutching a brown envelope tightly in her fingers. She nodded. "I wanted to tell you something. Do you have time?"
"Of course."
Silver sighed and turned to face her, bringing her knees up to her chest. "I got a job."
Dorcas didn't say anything for a moment. It wasn't a surprise to her – they had always known Silver would get a job even before leaving Hogwarts. But the way she delivered the news worried her. She didn't sound ecstatic, as she had expected, nor happy. She seemed morose, almost scared.
"I'm so happy for you, Silver." She smiled warmly, pressing her hand. "What's the job?"
Silver, however, didn't answer the question. Instead, she sighed and said, "I applied for the job in December, before the Christmas holiday. It's a competitive job. I had to sit for a lot of interviews and tests. Many people apply after Hogwarts, because they don't want to feel the pressure of the job and of NEWTs together. But I didn't want to wait; I was excited to follow my dreams. So I applied early, and I arranged with McGonagall so that I could sit for interviews and tests in her office. She had suggested doing it at Hogsmeade, but I didn't want anyone to find out."
She looked apologetically at Dorcas, biting her lips. It now became clear to her why she kept disappearing and why she had cancelled so many hangouts with them. But Dorcas wasn't mad. "Why not?" she asked.
"I didn't want to get my hopes up," she answered. "I wanted to tell you only after I got the job; if I did, that is. And well, I got it."
Dorcas smiled and hugged her. She was proud of Silver, and she knew she would go on to make everyone proud. "Have you told Maeve yet?"
Silver pursed her lips. "I wanted to tell you two together, but I was scared of her reaction. I mean, I did keep it from you for so long."
Dorcas laughed at her response. "Silver, you don't need to be so scared of her. She loves us, you know that. She'll be proud of you."
She didn't answer and instead stared down at the book in her lap, almost crushing the envelope that was in her hands. Dorcas felt bad. She had a job, and yet she wasn't as happy as she should be. "What's the job?" She prodded her knee.
Silver handed her the envelope, surprising her. "It came last week," she said. Dorcas recognised the seal on it. She had been receiving a lot of letters like this for the last many weeks, and she had refused to tell them who they were from. Now she knew.
Silver explained the job as she pulled out the letter and began to read it. "There's a research center in Dublin that studies runes and ancient artefacts. It has runologists from all over Britain working for them. Their job is primarily to decipher texts written in ancient languages, collect data from historic sites, and publish papers on the research work performed. The runologists travel to different places in the world and investigate different sites."
Dorcas finished reading the letter just when she had finished talking. She stared at her friend, trying to process the information in her mind.
You have been enrolled, the letter read at one point, into a team of highly talented runologists who will be travelling to Greece this summer.
"You are moving to Greece." she said in a whisper. It didn't sound like a question, it was a statement. Dorcas didn't know what to think of it. They had always talked about how Silver would be migrating from one country to another, but now that she actually had the opportunity to do so, Dorcas didn't know what to say.
"Well, I'm moving to Dublin," said Silver with a small smile. "Greece is my first trip for the job. We'll be staying there for around a month or two, as far as I know."
Dorcas returned the letter to her and remained silent, staring at her hands.
"Dorcas?" Silver placed a hand on her shoulder. "Aren't you happy for me?"
"I am," she said, smiling. "Of course I am. I'm so proud of you, Silver. It's just, it's so sudden. You are moving away this summer? We probably won't even get a week after graduation with you. It's a lot to process. But I am happy for you, Silver." She leaned over and hugged her, holding on a bit longer than usual. "You are following your dreams; I know you will make all of us proud."
"I'll tell Maeve tonight," she said as they pulled away from the hug. Silver put the envelop back in her pocket and closed her book. "And you'll be there in case she starts yelling at me."
"She won't," Dorcas said with a laugh.
At the library, Juliet was waiting for her, it seemed, quite impatiently, for she kept drumming her fingers on the tabletop. Her books lay closed on the side, untouched and abandoned. Dorcas suppressed a smile as she joined her.
"Hi," she said quietly, opening her books. "How confident are you for the NEWTs?"
The blonde shrugged nonchalantly, as though she cared nothing of her grades. "Moderately confident. I'd be surprised if I manage to get some E's though." Before Dorcas could say anything, Juliet had pulled her books closer to her and shut them. Then she began to pack her own books into her bag. "You know what, let's take a break today. We've been working too hard these past couple of days –"
"Have we?"
"– and we deserve some free time. Let's go take a walk."
Dorcas wanted to stop her – she really needed to catch up on her revision. But how could she say no when Juliet herself was asking her to hang out? Wasn't this what she had sought for such a long time?
And thus she obeyed, leaving her books with the librarian to be picked up later as she had not brought her bag.
"What do you plan to do after leaving Hogwarts?" asked Dorcas.
They were walking slowly, close to the walls of the corridor. Large tapestries hung at regular intervals, and a suit of armour stood at the other end. People walked quietly around them. With a jolt, she realised how much Hogwarts has changed. How lively and noisy it used to be – now it seemed to be just a shell, housing miserable souls trying to ignore the inevitability of the war.
"To be honest, I haven't really planned anything," answered Juliet, surprising her. "I don't really like planning my life. I just follow whatever road I am on, and see where it takes me."
"I imagine your family isn't really fond of that strategy?" Dorcas teased, shoving her lightly with her elbow.
"Oh, Caradoc sent me a letter the other day," she said like she has suddenly remembered it. "He asked me to apply for a job at the Ministry. Right now! he said." She was laughing now, and Dorcas stared at her, mesmerised. "But I don't want a job at the Ministry. Ministry folks are boring …"
She trailed off and looked cautiously at Dorcas, who understood. "Don't worry. I don't plan on working at the Ministry."
"Oh, thank Merlin," she sighed and continued. "Ministry work is boring. Not always, of course. I mean, Caradoc is an Auror and his job is full of excitement. But the stability of a career in the Ministry, the certainty – it's too monotonous for me. Besides, the Ministry is corrupt. I prefer doing things my own way. And at the Ministry, I won't be able to do that."
"It's nice to be so confident in yourself," said Dorcas. She found herself admiring the girl more and more. "I'd never have the guts to leave things to chance."
"Well, it's scary of course. I might just end up face down in a ditch, starving and thirsty. But I want to see the fun in life, I want to take chances and risks, I want to meet new people, learn new things. I've learned a lot of things at Hogwarts, but it's not enough. I want to go out there and learn what life has in store for me."
Dorcas wished they were sitting down, preferably face to face, so that she would be able to look at Juliet as she spoke. But this wasn't all that bad – walking side by side, hands almost touching. It was a lovely feeling, listening to her talk about her life, her ambitions. She decided to remain quiet most of the time so that Juliet would do the talking. She could listen to her voice all day.
When Juliet asked her what she planned to do with her future, Dorcas almost told her about the job offer she had got. But she held herself back at the last moment. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want to tell her about it. Perhaps it was because Juliet deserved the job more than she did. Although she knew she would never be jealous of her for the job, it just didn't feel right to her.
"Oh, look there's Cillian," said Juliet suddenly, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Let's go say hi to him."
But Dorcas abruptly grabbed her hands, holding her back. Juliet frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Let's get back."
"Don't you want to say hi to him?" she asked suggestively. "Come on, no need to be shy, I've seen how close you two are."
Dorcas felt her mood drop suddenly. She couldn't talk to the two of them together, not when she knew what Cillian possibly felt for her. She couldn't take it.
"Please, Juliet," she pleaded. "I don't feel so good. Can we go back to the library? I need some quiet."
Juliet pursed her lips, but nodded and followed her as she made her way to the library. They didn't talk for a long time, but Juliet didn't seem like she was about to let the matter go. "Did you two have a fight?"
"No, Juliet," she said stiffly. "It's not what you think. There's nothing going on between us."
"Oh, come on. You don't have to keep it from me. You are –"
"Oh, for Christ's sake!" Dorcas snapped finally, startling her. "Just stop. Cillian is my friend, that's all. There's nothing between us, and there never will be."
Ignoring the bewildered look on Juliet's face, she stalked past her and into the library, where she collected her books from the librarian and without thanking her, left the library and trudged across the hallway, shoving Juliet in passing.