The very first time I played her in Quidditch; she tore me apart, and spread me out across the pitch. Twice. And the entire time, she laughed like a maniac, her flaming curls streaming out behind her. I remember first kicking off the hard September ground and feeling the cool breeze whip at my face for about 7 seconds before she shoved me off my broom. I fell about 10 feet the first time and I remember spraining my wrist. But I was a stubborn-ass kid, so I got right back on, and challenged her to a race; which, also turned out to be a terrible idea, ending with me sprawled on my back for a second time. It had hurt like hell, but the look on her face made it all worth it somehow. The expression of glee as she soared past me made me forget all about myself. And that was the first time I realized that I would be willing to suffer through any kind of pain for this girl. Even the worst types.
Being as stubborn as I was, and hell, still am, I wouldn't give up. I made her promise to meet me every day at the pitch and practice with me. Every day, she would finish her homework and come out to meet me, never failing to be there. She'd say with a wink" I'll be the one in red." And I'd laugh. Our little catchphrase was the highlight of every day. It was special because she shared it with only me. She'd knock me off my broom at least twice a day, but at least I was learning. And her smile always made it worth it. I couldn't understand the power she had over me, but it was so undeniably strong, that I never questioned it. She made the Gryffindor team her first year, beating out seventh years for her position, so I felt the tiniest bit less terrible about losing to a girl… Over, and over. But in truth, she wasn't just any girl. She was Rose Weasley, the fastest, smartest, cutest and most bad-ass girl in our year. Rose Weasley didn't take shit from anyone, especially me.
"Scorpius Malfoy! You blithering idiot! If you don't try to stay on your broom, what am I supposed to do with you?! You FLY with it, not FALL." She rolled her eyes, but there was no real annoyance in her words. There was a devilish grin hidden under her false irritation at me. I grinned back.
"Again?" I asked hopefully, and she smiled, ready to go again already. I remember that specific day, it was the first time I had ever beaten her in a race. I had expected her to be furious with me, but she had smiled proudly at my success, and we had dived into even more complex and tricky maneuvers. She had taught me how to dive, dodge, and weave inconspicuously through all the other players. But eventually even Rose had to admit that I was just as good as she was, and there wasn't much more she could teach me. My second year, I became the Slytherin seeker, and the competition between the two of us started in earnest.
But that never changed anything. Every day, she would still meet me at the pitch. Sometimes we'd practice diving, or we'd race, but other times, we wouldn't. We would lie in the soft grass of the pitch, our feet in opposite directions, but our heads together. We'd talk about our days, and she'd tell me about her family. She'd tell me how she hated being the oldest, but she hated how her cousins treated her like a child. Sometimes she would ask about my family, and I would tell her how lonely I was when I was at home. I would talk to her about the way my father was always disappointed in me, no matter what I did, and my mother never cared enough to do anything for me. We could talk for hours, but sometimes we didn't. Sometimes we would lay there in silence, just thinking. Just the two of us.
My first years at Hogwarts were better than I could have ever imagined. I grew incredibly close not just to Rose, but to Albus too. We'd study together, eat meals together, and explore together. With as much trouble we caused, we earned the nickname "the Second Golden Trio". I had always thought it was ironic. A Malfoy in the Second Golden Trio? It was pretty high praise if you asked me. Rose was the most outgoing person I'd ever known, and honestly, I'd follow her to the ends of the earth if that was what she wanted. We broke into so many off-limits classrooms and forbidden corridors that we discovered more about the old school than we thought was possible. Together, we ended up in hundreds of "sticky" predicaments like the time in our fourth year that Rose had convinced us to sneak into the newest addition to the castle, Greenhouse Four in the middle of the night. Ignoring the "CAUTION: NO STUDENTS ALLOWED" sign, Rose had bewitched the lock and marched right in.
"Holy shit. Look at this!" She whispered, and I had to hand it to her, this place was incredible. Enormous sleeping plants lined the pale green glass walls. Rose had taken off running through the maze of exotic foliage, her small feet barely making a sound against the hard concrete floor of the building. Albus and I had stumbled after her, clambering around without half the grace she possessed. We found her towards the back of the suddenly frightening place. It's beauty abruptly replaced with terror. She was seriously entangled in a series of purple vines. We stepped forward to pull her out, but felt ourselves yanked roughly into the grasps of the incredibly strong plant appendages instead. I yanked against my bonds, but to no avail. We both were barely able to crane our heads to look at Rose, but we managed.
"Rose. Ginevra. Weasley. If we ever get out of here alive, I'm taking my broomstick and beating you upside the head with it, do you understand?" She just barely managed to shift enough to stick her tongue out at me before the plant constricted painfully against her body. I was abruptly hit by how beautiful she had become. The carroty curls that cascaded down her back had tamed over the years, slowing growing out of its frizz and changing to a softer, beautiful red. The round face I knew so well had lost its baby fat, highlighting her high cheekbones and soft pink pout. Her slender petite frame had been filled out over time, making her curvy in all the right places, but all the Quidditch she played made her lean and fit. The one thing that hadn't changed at all was her eyes. They still glinted fiercely with the same determination they always had, and they were still round and wide with rebellion, the gold chips shining out with defiance.
"SCORP? SCORP? SCOPIUS MALFOY! Pay attention to me!" Her voice shocked me out of my thoughts, and I looked at her guiltily, thinking of all the attention I had already been paying to her. "I know how to get out of here." I rolled my eyes. Some twisted combination of her mother's brains and her father's oddness gave consistently gave her wild plans to escape from our predicaments.
"You better. This is an awful situation." Albus butted in.
"Awful? I wouldn't say so." She contradicted thoughtfully.
"Okay then. What do you call 'AWFUL'?" He asked, raising one eyebrow.
"I like to save the word awful for when things get really bad. Like, 'Oh my god, how will we ever escape this terrible nasty trap we have twisted ourselves into' That sort of stuff."
"I kinda thought we were there…" I mumbled, exchanging a knowing glance with Albus, but Rose was beyond listening to us. She was calculating in her head, and I could practically see the gears shifting in her mind. I was about to ask for a free pass into her head when she stretched out her neck, biting down hard on one of the vines constricting her. It made a screeching noise as it retreated, and I felt the vines holding me relax, so I leapt out of their grasp, breathing hard. Albus jumped down beside me, and we waited for Rose to follow, but some venom in the plant was having an effect on her, and she barely managed to take a step into nothingness before passing out and falling into my arms. Me and Albus started to drag her out of the Greenhouse when a tall and slender looking figure blocked our path.
"Proffesor Davis." I heard Albus breathe from behind me, and Rose's eyelids fluttered open for a mere second before she mumbled,
"Now this, is a situation." And I felt her go entirely limp.
We didn't explore for a while after that.
Albus and I were best mates, but nothing compared to me and Rose. When she was with me, she became a different person. A different person than the cocky girl she was around her cousins. When I asked her why that was, she had looked at me thoughtfully, and said "Because I never have to pretend with you, Scorp." And I was suddenly struck by the truth of her words. She didn't have to be anything for me, and I never had to be anything for her. But I learned from her tough shell. To the world, we became a bad-ass couple that could tear the world apart at its seams with the flick of a finger if we wanted to. She was clever and funny, the first one to a laugh. She could be sarcastic and cruel, and could ruin your self-image with 10 words if she wanted to. She wasn't physical, but she wasn't the type of girl you wanted to screw with. And honestly, I took after her. I was transformed from the quiet innocent boy to a sharp, sadistic young man. I was charming, in the most deadly way possible.
Over the summers, I was never permitted to see Rose. I was beaten almost daily for my excursions during school, as it was impossible for them to go unnoticed. My father described them as "inappropriate midnight excursions with the Weasley slut". I had hit him back for that one, but paid dearly for it. Sometimes Rose's owl Baltimore would tap lightly on my window in the middle of the night and leave small candies or notes. They got me through the nightmarish way I spent my summers. Every year when my letter came in the mail, it was like a salvation. It felt as if I was being released from prison. Every time that letter came, I believed in God a little bit more, even though I was raised strictly antireligious. The summer before my seventh year, my letter had come with a special note in it. When I opened the soft piece of parchment with trembling hands, I automatically recognized the scrawling handwriting. It only had six words on it, and a date, 9/15. The date marked the day of the very first Quidditch match of the year: Gryffindor vs Slytherin. I grinned, as I read the words she had written so carefully, I could practically feel the eagerness dripping from her voice as I looked over the six simple words again and again. I'll be the one in red.
Chapter two. I hope you enjoy:) More to come as soon as I can, keep reviewing and thanks so much for your support!:)
