Marlene’s words might have pissed her off on a bad day, but Dorcas normally didn’t mind attitude. That was something she was familiar with handling, seeing as she had plenty herself. “Some of us would like to figure out why the fuck we’re alive, and the best way to do that is by spending time in these hallways. Good thing I did too, or we’d both be bored as hell today.” There was a bit of an edge to her words, with the weight of what they were about to attempt settling in her chest. If they were caught – No. Those thoughts would ensure they failed without a doubt, and Dorcas wasn’t one to ever accept failure.
“Ring leader?” She smirked before cracking the door, peeking to watch Snape get pulled from his office. It’d been too easy, really, to convince Jeffries there was a last-minute meeting at the farthest conference room from Snape’s office. Dorcas remembered him as lacking common sense from her many visits to St. Mungo’s as an Auror, and had been all too relieved to find out the fact remained the same. “It’s hard to call it a ring when there’s only two of us, and this is a one time ordeal.” Pulling the door open fully, she motioned for Marlene to follow. “C’mon.”
Her pace was normal, casual, as she lead the way down the corridor. Almost every employee was familiar with seeing her at all hours by now, making her damn near invisible as they bustled around them. Dorcas couldn’t have asked for a better blessing. “Don’t snap once the office is open,” she murmured to Marlene, her lips barely moving. “They’re used to me, but might not be to you. If you rush or go too slow, they’re going to stop and watch.” She figured Marlene would already know that, but it was better to be safe than locked up in the psych ward.
A few more paces and they had arrived, her heart racing. Resisting the urge to look around, Dorcas breathed in deeply and prayed to the gods that she had the right password. Her voice was low, curling her lips around the word as if it pained her to say it. “Always.” It was half a heartbeat before her ears caught the sound of the lock jumping free, and she instantly reached out to turn the knob. With a brief grin at Marlene, Dorcas pushed the door in, blood pounding with elation to the rhythm of her steps.
The door shut and locked behind them, the breath finally escaped her lungs, and relief was quickly replaced with their new purpose: reading the files as quickly as possible. “They’re somewhere in this corner, but I’m not exactly sure where,” Dorcas gestured to the area. “He’s hidden the cabinet as something else. Help me think.”
