Hello Fanfic! This is my new story called 'Square One' obviously!
Originally I wasn't sure of what rating to put this under - so I have a warning about language - thats the only reason this story would be an M - but if you think I should change the rating, let me know!
Also, this might be kind of hard to follow . . . hope you can persevere!
Is there anybody out there who
is lost and hurt and lonely too.
Are you bleeding all your colours into one?
And if you come undone
As if you've been run through
some catapult it fired you
you wonder if your chance will ever come?
Or if you're stuck in square one
Square One
She would never know what made her do it. Perhaps she was sick of her friends who cared solely about popularity. Perhaps it was because she had never really talked to him before. Or perhaps it was because she had been fascinated by him since her father's introduction. But whatever it was, there was no stopping it now.
I.
"Oi! Dylan! Look – look-" began Connor Jackson who was always in the centre of the group. Rose rolled her eyes from her position beside him and squinted at what Connor was pointing at.
"Well, well, well!" scoffed Dylan also following Connor's gaze, "What have we here? Malfoy out in the sun? And I thought he was nocturnal!" said Dylan tauntingly as the rest of her group sniggered. She frowned as her eyes followed him. Dylan was right in the fact that she'd never seen him out in the sun, but as far as she knew he had done nothing to deserve the mocking and other remarks that followed. She watched his lone figure sit down opposite their group under a particularly shady tree. She wondered how he got away with wearing those boots, but then she suspected that most teachers were scared of him.
But she wasn't.
There was something about him, despite his intimidating nature and the fact that he was an outcast, rebelling against everything and everyone – that 'I don't give a damn' attitude that she thought she saw through.
"What are you staring at Rosie? You want a boyfriend? Ohh, but don't get too serious with him. Wouldn't want you to have to have to live in Azkaban as well…" Connor's voice became quieter and less focused as Rose felt herself stand up, ignoring the cries of 'Rose?' and 'I was kidding!'
Then she was standing in front of him, unsure of why and suddenly less confident.
His tie was loose, and his shirt was un-tucked, with the sleeves rolled up. She thought she spied something black on his left arm, before turning her attention to the rest of him. Part of his hair was in his face, the rest of it sticking out messily, but not unpleasantly.
He was sitting with his arms back – leaning on his hands, a silver ring glinted on one of them. But possibly the most striking thing about his appearance was that his eyes were closed. Peaceful, she thought. Then suddenly, as if he had sensed her presence, his eyes flew open. If he was surprised, he didn't show it. His deep grey eyes were like a storm, but the only emotion behind them was boredom. Apart from him blinking once and breathing heavily, Rose would've thought he was a statue.
Then suddenly he frowned and looked at her more intently. This seemed to register something inside of Rose, as she promptly realised that what she was doing standing there right in front of him, the closest she'd been to him before wasn't normal. And she felt uncomfortable under his gaze.
"What the hell do you want Weasley?"
Startled, Rose opened her mouth but was rendered speechless, and he sat forward crossing his arms, staring into her eyes as if trying to get an answer from her.
"Which one of your dick-wit friends dared you to come over here?" He drawled once again.
She frowned.
"I – I…" she swallowed as he flipped his hair back as she found herself staring at him once again.
"None of them." She finally uttered coherently.
He narrowed his eyes. "So you came here of your own accord did you?"He asked doubtfully, and she nodded, still rooted to the spot.
"Right…" he said distantly looking away, "I knew coming out here was a mistake."
He stood up slowly looking into her eyes briefly once he was at his full height, then he looked over his shoulder in the opposite direction. When his eyes met hers once again they were no longer blank – she squinted slightly as she saw a glimmer in them. He spoke again however, drawing her attention away from his eyes.
"Whatever it is you think you're doing here. Or whatever you're trying to prove. You're wrong." He said flatly.
Rose opened her mouth to speak once again, and suspected she looked quite ridiculous, but instead of stamping out whatever curiosity, fascination and interest she had that had caused her to stand before him, she only felt further compelled to understand hm. Her eyes followed his lone figure as he disappeared, and with a heavy heart she made her way back to the tree, sitting down quietly and ignoring Connor and Dylan's jibes.
II.
It had been a week since she saw him by the lake, and though he hadn't been the only thing on her mind, she had definitely thought about him in the last few days.
But as she sat down in the library she realised that this was the first time she had seen him since then, apart from in class – if he showed up, but that hardly counted as he always sat in the back of the room last to enter and first to leave.
She leant over sideways and reached into her satchel, pulling out her Arithmancy equations and quill, all the while watching him as he stood on the other side of the bookshelf to her left. She could see from his ankles to his feet under the bookshelf, a section of his torso through the middle of the shelf, and a small amount of his hair was visible above the next shelf.
She sat up and dipped her quill into the ink and began scribbling away on her parchment, pausing occasionally to look to the left and see that he was indeed still standing there.
Tap tap tap.
She immediately looked to her left, jumping slightly as she saw he had bent down and was now casually leaning through the gap in the shelves that she had spied him through earlier. His arms were extended in front of him, one hand was gripping the edge of the shelf closest to her, the other resting on his arm casually. But what had really given her a fright was the fact that despite his casual and relaxed stance his eyes were intense and staring directly at her.
"I know you've been looking at me Weasley."
Her eyes widened and she cleared her throat slightly.
"And?" She replied, impressing herself.
"And I was wondering what you wanted, or what you're on." He said pushing off the shelf and stepping back to walk away.
"Wait!" She said standing up and knocking over her ink.
She saw him stop, but couldn't see his face as she approached the shelf, only having to duck slightly to peer through it.
"I just want to know you."
He turned to face her.
"You don't really Weasley – I'll put it plainly. You've got some idea of how I am in that bushy head of yours, don't you? Well here's me telling you, that that idea is a load of shit."
For the second time he left her with her mouth open wide in shock.
III.
"Oi – Rose!"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you sitting back there?" Asked Connor, as Professor Wildershins handed out their essays.
She shrugged and opened her mouth to reply just as the door opened.
"And here's Mr Malfoy," sighed Professor Wildershins, looking down at her watch,
"Five points from Slytherin."
He merely nodded , then turned to take his usual seat, his eyebrows shooting up slightly as he stared at Rose, looking unimpressed.
"Please take a seat Mr Malfoy, you have held up my class enough already."
He nodded again and with a quick sideways glance he slid into the chair next to Rose.
"Today will be primarily a theoretical class, so wands away!"
The majority of the class groaned as Professor Wildershins began to talk about animagi.
Rose listened carefully to the Professor and began to make notes, all the while watching him discreetly out of the corner of her eye, to see him staring blankly at the parchment in front of him, paying absolutely no attention to the Professor at all.
She frowned as he began to tap his fingers, stared at his hand momentarily, then back to the blackboard.
Tap tap tap.
Tap tap tap.
She dotted her 'i' violently and he stopped.
"Why are you . . . stalking me?"
"What?" She whispered confused, "I'm not – st – no." She shook her head confidently.
"You always stare at me, say you 'want to know me', and now you're sitting next to me." He whispered simply.
" . . .Though unregistered Animagi are illegal, there have been several famous witches and wizards you could say who have indeed been unregistered . . ."
Rose returned to taking notes ignoring him.
"Stalker." He repeated.
"Shh, I'm trying to concentrate."
"Don't give me that crap – Sirius Black was an unregistered Animagi, I'm sure you know all about the other 'famous' ones as well."
She put down her quill.
"Stalker."
"You didn't consider that I genuinely wanted to know you as a person?"
"That is Bull-shit! And I'm not buying it, not for one second alright Miss Prissy?"
She smiled to herself and returned once again to the notes, her hand shooting up to answer the Professors question.
They sat in silence for the rest of the lesson, she looked at him a few times.
The bell went and, as per usual he made it out the door first. Leaving her to stand up, shrug half heartedly at Connor's questions and smile at the small picture at the bottom of his parchment he left behind.
It was a feather.
IV.
"I see your persistent Weasley, you gonna be hanging around a lot?"
"I see you're outside again, considering getting a tan?"
He glanced at her his lip twitching slightly, then he turned back to looking out onto the grounds.
"We aren't technically outside."
She nodded as she too leant on the balcony. There was hardly anyone around, they were all out the other side of the castle, near the lake side, soaking up the sun on the lazy Sunday afternoon.
"I thought you actually had friends?" He asked her, sounding slightly curious.
"You could say that."
"Then why don't you harass them then?"
She looked down and leant forward a bit further. "I just – well, you interest me really, an I, well. . ."
"Yeah – I get it, you want to know me. Very heart warming, but I'm not what you think, okay?"
She looked back at him, "Can't I find that out for myself?"
"Disappointments a bitch."
"So am I." She said smiling.
V.
"Here's the pureblood boys – bow down – it's best to do what he says."
"Shut the Hell up Jackson, I was just walking around the corner – didn't realise that was so offensive to you."
"Anything you do is offensive you worthless twat - where are you going Rosie?" Asked Connor as Rose stood up from their small group that included Connor, Dylan, Albus and Lana.
But she was already on her feet following him.
"Hi." She said quietly as he slid down the railing of the balcony.
"Hi." He said, rolling up his sleeves slightly revealing the blackness she had spotted earlier. Something clicked in her head, it was a tattoo.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out to her surprise, a Muggle packet of cigarettes. She crinkled her nose.
"What? Do you want one?"
"No – I'm good." She said as he lit it and began to smoke.
She rested her head back on the railing. Absorbing the quiet atmosphere away from the noise and gossip she was used to. Apart from the smoke which was making her cough a little, she was peaceful.
So this was the first chapter (: I hope you like it, please R & R. If you didn't understand something - feel free to ask me in a review!
Love, Potty.
BTW - song = Coldplay - Square One