"Life is not always black and white."
"The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters."
"We are Grey. We stand between the darkness and the light."
Shades of Grey
1. Worries
The bell rang loudly in her ears for the twelfth time. Noon. With a deep breath, Roselyn Martell put on the best smile she could muster as the doors in front of her swung open. The people around her stood in respect, waiting for her to enter. She felt like she was going to be sick. Roselyn gathered whatever ounce of dignity she had left, and took her first few steps down the aisle.
. . . . . . . . . .
"Rosie! Rosie, for Merlin's sake, wake up!"
"Go away," she groaned, flailing her arm behind her in an attempt to swat away her friend. "It's Saturday morning."
A sigh. "No, it's not. It's Tuesday. Honestly, you think every morning is Saturday."
"It should be," Rose whined, sitting up in bed. "Daph, you should really consider letting me sleep every now and again."
"Maybe if you weren't always up half the night, you wouldn't have this problem. Now get up. I want to get breakfast before class."
She didn't need telling twice. Once breakfast had been mentioned, nothing could keep Rose in bed. She dressed quickly into her robes, grabbed her school bag and ran to meet Daphne Greengrass in the Common Room. She, as always, tripped on the single step up into the Common Room, and nearly fell until someone caught her.
"Oh, good morning, Draco," she chirped.
"Pleasure as always, Roselyn," he replied formally. She rolled her eyes and continued off to breakfast with Daphne. They took the first two empty seats that they could spot.
"What's on the agenda for today?" Rose asked, stuffing a piece of toast into her mouth.
"As always, we have Advanced Potions first. Did you do your essay?"
"Not a chance."
"Of course not. Then, Double Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms," she finished.
"Did we have homework there?"
"Not tonight, lucky for you," she shook her head. "Would it kill you to do your homework?"
"Actually, it would. I would literally burst into flames and die. Do you want that for me? I didn't think so. Pass the eggs."
. . .
"Essay, Miss Martell?"
"Sorry, Professor, I left it in the Dormitory. Do you think I could get it to you by the end of the day?"
"Again?" Professor Slughorn asked. Rose grinned sheepishly. "Before dinner."
"Oh, thank you, sir! Thank you!" she said excitedly.
The moment he turned his back, Rose snatched the essay off the desk behind her, Confounding the Gryffindor boy that it belonged to. If she wasn't stuck sitting in the front and having her essay always checked first, she wouldn't have this problem.
. . .
Rose threw herself in front of Blaise Zabini, landing on the armchair before he could sit down. He stared down at her, forming a small 'o' with his lips.
"I was here first," she smiled. Blaise stood there a minute and then proceeded to sit down on top of her. "No! Get off!"
"You cheated," he replied. "This is my seat."
"Come on, Blaise, don't be such a git," Daphne sighed, taking a seat on the couch.
He stood up. "This isn't over, Martell," he threatened playfully. Rose rolled her eyes.
As the rain picked up on the lake above, everyone gathered in the Common Room, settling into their usual places on the couches and chairs. Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson sauntered in, flanked by Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.
"Move, Martell, I want to sit there," Pansy whined. Her voice sent a shrill of annoyance through Rose.
"I'm sorry, you what? I couldn't hear you over that high-pitched shrieking," she replied, pretending to clean her ear out with her finger.
"What shrieking?"
"Oh! There it is again! Jesus, Parkinson, is that your voice that's doing that?"
Pansy huffed angrily and went to sit in the chair opposite the table in front of the fire. Draco shot Rose a scolding look to which she replied by sticking out her tongue.
"One day, you'll push her too far," Daphne whispered.
"Relax, I'm just messing around."
Once everyone had settled in and calmed down, the conversation flowed more freely. At first, everyone talked amongst themselves. Rose with Daphne, Blaise with Draco while Pansy drew circles on his leg, and even Vincent and Gregory discussed trivial facts amongst themselves. But, eventually, the conversations all blended into one. It was innocent enough at first, but quickly turned to a subject that Rose had no intention of touching upon.
"So, Roselyn," Pansy sneered from Draco's lap, which she had so obnoxiously settled herself into. "Your seventeenth birthday is coming up, isn't it?"
"Yes, in a few months. So?" Rose replied acidly.
"Well, we all know what that means," she continued condescendingly. "And you don't seem to be making any effort to be ready for it."
"I don't need to make an effort. Unlike you, guys don't cringe away from me. It won't be a problem."
Just as the words left her mouth she knew that, yes, it will indeed be a problem. When she was a little girl, she dreamed for her seventeenth birthday because she had this silly notion in her head that she would be in love, and everything would be perfect. Of course, now she knew that it was just a fairytale dream and the real truth of it is, there's nothing perfect or romantic or ethical about any of it. Though she wouldn't know for sure until Christmas holiday, she had a pretty good idea of who her choices were, and frankly, she wasn't pleased about it.
"Any of you going to Slughorn's party on Friday?" Blaise chimed in, cutting the conversation short, much to Rose's relief.
"No, Blaise, no one is a suck-up enough to be in that ridiculous Slug Club," Daphne snorted.
"It's okay to be jealous, Daphne. But since you're being so rude about it, I'm not going to invite you to come with me."
"Right, as if I really would have said yes," she scoffed. "You know me better than that."
"Sure, whatever you say," he nodded, then turned to Rose. "Rose, you should come with me."
"No, thank you. It's just going to be a party with a bunch of Gryffindors. The last thing I want to do is be around Potter and his gang a second more than is necessary," she answered, distaste colouring her face.
"But it'll be fun. There'll be music and food and me, of course. No one can resist that."
"Oh, look, I'm resisting it."
"Great! So I'll meet you in the Common Room at eight, then?" he decided. Rose did a double take.
"What? No! Didn't you just hear me say no?"
"No," he replied and stood up. "I'm going to bed. Good night, mates."
With that, he left, winking at Rose as he passed. She gawked after him. Did he really think so highly of himself as to…ARGH.
"Rosie, are you feeling okay?" Daphne asked, worried.
"No. I'm going kill him. I swear it I will. He's so annoying! I could just—," she cut off as she made a wringing gesture with her hands. Everyone laughed, and the mood immediately lightened. That is, until Pansy decided to ruin it, again.
"Well, I'm not worried about my seventeenth birthday at all," she announced, then nuzzled Draco's neck. He sat still as a stone, dark purple shadows forming under his eyes.
Rose pretended to be oblivious. "Why is that, Parkinson?"
"Well, because I've got Draco, of course!" she squealed delightfully. "I mean, father says I can't officially choose until four months before my birthday like everyone else, but we all know it's going to be him."
Rose bit back a laugh. "Right, good luck with that."
Daphne wasn't so kind. She doubled up in hysterics. "Oh, that is too good," she gasped in short breaths.
Pansy crossed her arms. "It's not funny, Greengrass! I'm serious."
Daphne took deep, calming breaths. "Oh, I'm sure you are. I'm just saying, good luck with that. But, if I remember correctly, you're the youngest of all the girls in our year," she pointed out.
"So?"
"So, who's to say someone won't snatch Draco up before you?"
"That will never happen," she protested, but her face was panicked. This time, Rose had to cut in with a chuckle.
"Yeah, Parkinson, I'm going first. And, well, frankly, I think Draco is just damn sexy," she said, winking at him to show that she was just kidding.
"Don't you fucking dare!" she screamed, standing up in outrage. Rose reeled back, shock on her face.
"Whoa, relax! I was joking!" she cried, putting her hands up in front of her face. Draco, who had been quiet throughout the entire exchange, finally stepped in.
"Pansy, baby, relax. You know she just loves pissing you off. Don't let her get to you," he cooed, pulling her back onto his lap. "And, Roselyn, can you please stop being such a bitch?"
Rose glared at him.
"Okay! Well!" Daphne clapped her hands together. "This was fun. I'm going to bed. Coming, Rosie?"
"No, you go ahead," she said, still glaring at Draco. Daphne shook her head, and disappeared into the passageway leading to the Girls' Dormitory.
"It's probably time for us to go, too, Draco," Pansy whined, standing up to interrupt the eye-lock Rose and Draco had on each other.
"Sure," he nodded. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight," Pansy piped sweetly.
Rose wanted to gag. Draco kissed her cheek, and she disappeared after Daphne. He motioned for Crabbe and Goyle to leave, then took his seat back on the chair he had previously occupied.
"What the hell was that?" Rose asked, angry.
"What was what?"
"Don't you even try that with me, Draco Malfoy! Who do you think you are, putting me down like that?"
"Calm down, Martell," he rolled his eyes. All pretenses of formal addressing were gone now that they were alone.
"I'm so tired of this, Malfoy," she sighed. "It's every day with you."
"It's not my fault you act like bitch to her."
"She deserves it!" Rose defended.
"No, she doesn't. She's a pain in the ass, yes, but you're only provoking her further."
"Might as well have a little bit of fun with it," she mumbled.
He sighed impatiently, stood up and crossed the small area toward her. A few people walked past him, into the Dormitories, and they paused to look at the exchange before Draco shot them all scathing looks. The Common Room was mostly empty now except for 3 fourth years sitting together in the upper part of the split-level room. Draco took a seat at the edge of the couch, leaning toward Rose.
"Listen to me," he whispered in a low voice. "I'm not going to ask you again. Leave Pansy alone. I'm sick and tired of having to hold her back from ripping off your face every time you provoke her. I don't know what your problem is with her, but you're both Slytherins, for crying out loud. If you haven't noticed, not many people from the other Houses like us very much, so I suggest you take what you've got and appreciate it. If you pull something like this again, I won't hold her back, understand?"
"Go to hell, Malfoy," she spat, and stood up, leaving him in the Common Room alone.
Author's Note: To all of my new readers, welcome! And a very, very big 'Welcome back!' to my old readers. I have big plans in store for this story, so I beg you to give it a chance. The beginning was slow and short, I know. To be honest, it's mostly just character development and plot introduction. It gets better, I swear. :)
So, thank you for stopping by, and I hope to see you next week!