「THE DOE AND STAG 」
• Synopsis •
Doe Evergreen and James Potter met when they were kids. The pair despised each other until they both began their time at Hogwarts. As years went by, Doe realized her feelings for James a little too late, as he fell f...
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Doe abruptly pushed Sirius away and speedily altered her attire. Upon observing her hasty movement to mend her appearance, Sirius merely laughed. He gazed to the side, in the direction of the Marauder's Map, where he perceived the reason for Doe's urgency in rectifying her state.
The said map was the one that the duo always possessed when they arranged to meet one another, in order to prevent themselves from being detected by their friends.
Once Sirius had begun to tend to his own appearance, he noticed that Doe had inadvertently left behind her robe, tie and sweater, but it happened to be too late for him to come outside and return her possessions, since James and Doe had already stood opposite one another.
...
Initially, James gave no consideration to the fact that his friend smiled at him in the hallway, for it was as if she was aware of his impending arrival—though, he did not ponder it any further, since it seemed highly unlikely for Doe to recognise the existence of the map that he shared with his male closest companions.
Sirius had refrained from providing Doe with any knowledge about the map, although the latter came across it on their second meetup. However, she was not one to cast any allegations with regards to the map when she eventually learned of its existence, since she could recognise the benefits associated with the object in connection with their scenario.
As Doe was still making an effort to organise her breathing, she turned to her companion who was situated in front of her and inquired, "James, did you need something?"
James tilted his head momentarily and slowly processed the situation, until he finally managed to ascertain, "Doe, where are your robes?"
Doe's eyes widened as she glanced down at the reality of her attire, which happened to consist solely of her uniform trousers and the white shirt. She muttered a curse to herself and immediately came up with a half-truth in order to justify her circumstances.
"I spilt a potion on my robes and I was on my way to be issued fresh ones," she uttered, extending her hand in a dismissive gesture.
James maintained a level of suspicion. His friend possessed a significant degree of caution surrounding potions, and he was aware of how cautious she was in her approach.
Initially, during their time prior to Hogwarts, they had been rather inquisitively minded and had once even caused a chemical reaction that resulted in Doe sustaining an injury—the kind which later developed into a scar that was situated on both her arm and legs.
No magic whatsoever could heal them. Leaving her traumatized of potions.
The moment they learned Leviosa, Doe consistently employed spellcasting to manipulate potions that were within her immediate surroundings, whereas in the past, prior to being adequately proficient with the artful practice, James—whom she always shared a partnership with in potion—was the one who would hold the objects on her behalf. No one could comprehend the reasons for this, since Doe felt hesitant and shameful in the recognition of the fact that even the gentlest potions were able to instil terror into her heart, despite her nature as a witch.
"All right Doe, that's not even an excuse that would work on me" James broke out into a pleasant laugh and proceeded to playfully tap Doe's forehead.
Doe internally condemned herself and started to panic, considering the realisation that she was conversing with the individual in question, as she was aware that the particular excuse she had given would not be deemed appropriate by him.
Sirius, as he was sympathetic toward her, entered the area and invented something suitable in order to deliver her from her predicament.
"No, she isn't exactly wrong," Sirius then proceeded to grasp her robes within his control, although prior to departing the room, he had taken the liberty to dribble a potion onto her attire," I was the one who spilt it on her when I was rushing down the hall."
Sirius presented Doe with a fleeting glare that indicated 'You owe me an big time' as the potion that he had dribbled on her attire happened to be a significant constituent of their class results.
Doe relieved the strain of her larynx and successfully implemented her fabricated tale, in spite of James being unable to shake his level of suspicion. Nevertheless, the young man remained unable to extend the scrutiny any further, since Sirius had placed his arm around his close male companion, before pulling him away.
"Alright James, so how about we go find Remus?" Sirius declared as he grasped his best mate by his arm and dragged him along, while simultaneously striving to maintain his composure in order to keep James from becoming excessively suspicious, as he was well-aware of the Potter's keen intuition.
"Well, he's currently meeting with Professor Binns, um anyway's Doe—" James directed his gaze upon Doe, who had been fortunate enough to slip away unnoticed. He furrowed his brows, although he refrained from uttering any words, before catching a sniff of a distinctive aroma that so happened to be Doe's own perfume on Sirius.
He realised that there was no fallacy, considering that he was the one to provide her with the specific perfume in question as a Christmas gift previously.
James had quite a lot of questions on his mind after this series of events, but among all of the inquiries, he was mainly pondering one singular issue: 'why Doe?'—there was no intention of humour connected to this query; instead, it had been a completely genuine inquiry.
What had prompted her to depart so swiftly in such a discrete manner, and why on the behalf of Merlin did the scent of Doe's perfume continue to linger about Sirius?
