Roxanne Weasley, Often Overlooked

by cookiebook

Roxanne Weasley, Smart. Beautiful. Kind. Often Overlooked. As a Ravenclaw, Roxanne was never going to be in the limelight. She wanted to be different and she is. Bestfriends with Olivia Wood, this story begins in Roxanne's fourth year. It's a story about Roxanne's journey, growing up, learning, changing, and loving... And eventually how a certain Malfoy comes into it all.

14. Chapter 14

A/N:

Happy New Year Everyone!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break and a great new year.
I had hoped to update sooner but I had tests when I went back to school so had to revise, blame them. Sorry.

Thanks to you all for following and but especially to Plucie for the review;

I've taken quite a lot of time to think about what you've said, it's really helped thanks.
Funnily enough, I know a girl very like Roxanne, kind, pretty, crazy smart and atheletic too. She was the original basis for Roxanne and while she really is all those things, I can see why it's unrealistic. Though I wouldn't say Rox is perfect, she does have her flaws, mainly her self-confidence, self-belief and sensitivity. She's also overly harsh on herself but that's probably not clear yet. But I can see how she's come across and I agree. I do have plans to show Rox's imperfections and how she views herself, which is definitely far from perfect, so hopefully that'll add more dimension.
Also, I probably have used the word bitch a bit much. Sorry about that. Though, I didn't (conciously) intend for it to make Rox look better, there are female characters who aren't bitchy (Liv, Ari, Scarlett, Lena, Lucy and Dom etc...) , just as there are characters who are.
As for explaining why: Florence has her reasons, briefly touched upon by Scor but she has a moment coming soon where we'll see more of that. Rose (and to an extent, Lily) also have their reasons and we'll get round to them, its just hard to include everything. But I do have reasons for why they are the way they are.
Apart from the Slytherin ones, they have their own issues but, I won't be dealing much with them. They're just bitches as far as the story is concerned. Poor house stereotype I know.
Thanks for all the feedback, amazingly helpful review and I hope I've managed to explain well enough.
Hope you had a great holiday!
(The amount of times I've read that summary and not noticed the typo is quite embarrassing, thanks again, I'm off to change it now)
:) xx

Love to you all, Cookie x

This chap's got a lot of Rox's thoughts and is a bit long just because it was hard to find a stopping point, but hope you like it all the same!

Chapter 14- An Almost-Date

Roxanne sat in potions thinking about her friends and how perfect they were for each other. She just hoped they'd realise it too and soon. Sure friendship was nice, but when you were as well-matched as they were, why stop there?

Roxanne got to think about her own love life. Or more accurately, lack of. She'd written back to all her relatives thanking them for their gifts the day after she'd received them and in her letter to Dominique, she'd been sad to report no progress on the boy front. She didn't mind talking to Dom about it but it had gotten her thinking. The way she saw it, she was fifteen and average looking, with an okay body. She wasn't too shy or too loud. She wasn't dumb or openly bitchy. She wasn't a horrible person. At least she hoped she wasn't.
So why was no one interested in her?
There were some good looking boys in her year, and some okay ones, and although she wasn't best of friends with any of them, they definitely knew who she was, she'd talked to most of them at some point or another, some she spoke to quite regularly, mostly about Quidditch, but that didn't matter. The point was, it wasn't like she'd gone unnoticed, she knew it wouldn't suddenly dawn on them that she'd been there all along, like in those Muggle films.

The only conclusion for that had to be that nobody was interested. Plain and simple. But she didn't know why. When she was younger, and people had stared relationships, she'd thought it was funny, they were just children, barely teenagers, but now, most of her friends and people she knew had had multiple boyfriends or girlfriends.
She hadn't even had one. She hadn't even been kissed. This worried her; say someone did like her and asked her out, what then? She'd had no experience; she wouldn't know how to act in a relationship! She wouldn't even know how to kiss her boyfriend. That bothered her the most. He'd be experienced and she'd be this newbie not knowing what to do with her mouth, he'd probably laugh and dump her. Or worse, just pity her.
It was a vicious circle, relationships scared her because she'd never had one and wouldn't know what to do, but the longer she didn't have one, the less she felt like she'd know what to do and the more they scared her. She just wanted someone to genuinely like her and to understand she wouldn't be like other girls. She wanted someone who would be patient. But as Rox had already decided, no guy was interested in her, let alone a guy like that. She sighed.

Her partner tapped her on the shoulder, interrupting her self-deprecating thoughts.
"You okay Rox?"
"Yeah I'm good. Sorry, just in my own world"
"Uh huh, so what's going on in your world right now?"
Rox laughed.
Ha, if only he knew. He'd definitely think her pathetic.
"Nothing much actually, the usual. Older but don't feel it. Just me there really. What's going on in yours?"
"Just you huh? Sounds alright to me. Hmm, my world? In a word, boring. It's hanging on till the Hogsmead weekend I think."
"Ah, same here. You have plans?"
"No, but I should probably make some soon." He paused "Are you going with anyone?"
"Is that an offer or just a question?"
"Depends on your answer I guess" he smiled coyly. Rox melted. Or at least would have done if her anatomy would allow it. His smile was dazzling.
"I'd love to. But I already have plans."
"Sorry" she added quietly.
"No worries, just a question of course..." he flashed that smile again, "Though now I'll have to find someone less interesting to spend my time with" he mocked sadness and his puppy dog look nearly changed her mind.
She laughed, "Maybe some other time?"
"Sure" he replied, their conversation coming to a natural end as Professor Taylor began to talk again. A few minutes later, once they had been set a new task, Logan turned to Rox.
"Out of interest, what are these plans you have?"
"I usually meet my parents to get my presents around this time. Then my friend's taking me to get a piercing for my birthday. Don't ask how, he's arranged it apparently."
"Cool plans. Would this friend happen to be Scorpius Malfoy by any chance?"
"Yes why?"
"No reason" he shrugged, turning back to his work. He had obviously been thinking more than that.
"Logan" she began in the same tone she'd often use on the twins.
"Just my Ravenclaw friends told me about the whole Florence-Scorpius-You thing from last week"
"And?"
"And nothing" he muttered quickly, avoiding her eyes.
"You want to know if it's true, don't you?"
He remained silent.
"Well it's not." She whispered harshly, angered that he'd believe the gossip. "Did you honestly think that I'd do that, even to Florence?"
"No, Rox. I-"
"Just forget it Logan" she turned away from him and begin scribbling furiously. Eager to finish her work so she could leave directly at the end of class.~

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why did she have to overreact all the time?! A hot guy was actually speaking to her and she had to ruin it by getting annoyed at him! He'd just wanted to know, she'd probably be thinking the same if their positions were reversed. Merlin, this is why she was single. She just drove any potential guys away! ~

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why did he have to ask? Why not keep his mouth shut after she told him her plans?! He might as well have just asked her, 'Hey Rox, are you an affair-having, boyfriend-stealing kinda girl or not?'. Of course she wasn't! Roxanne was the smartest, most sensible girl he'd met in a while. He was tired of the Slytherin bimbos in his year. Even the smarter ones were boring. He needed someone more challenging. She was it. His new challenge, he'd finally managed to sort of ask her out and then he just pissed her off. What. An. Idiot.~

The rest of the lesson was a bit awkward to say the least. Rox wanted to apologise and so did Logan, yet neither did for fear the other would ignore them or worse be even more annoyed. They kept quiet to preserve any relationship they'd formed over the last few weeks. As the bell sounded, Roxanne began to hastily pack her bag, wanting to be out of the class as soon as possible. Logan looked over at her, internally cursing himself for angering the Ravenclaw. She left the classroom in a rush not even looking back as he stared at her retreating figure.~

Over the course of the day, Rox brooded about her encounter with Logan. She shouldn't have snapped at him, he actually seemed to care about her so why did she lash out? Thinking about the actual conversation before her outburst, Logan had asked her to Hogsmead. He'd been asking her to go with him. Roxanne Weasley had almost been asked on a date. An actual date. With a guy. A hot one. If she hadn't had birthday traditions and plans to uphold she'd probably have been spending her time with Logan. The thought made the little butterflies in her stomach fly around inside. Their wings creating little shivers in her as she imagined a date with the Slytherin, she imagined cosying up to his side by the fire somewhere. Or wearing his coat when she was cold. Or walking around holding his hand to keep the icy numbness away from her fingers. No. Stop. She shook her head. Not only were her thoughts presumptuous and unrealistic. Not only did she have plans, but she'd probably eliminated any future dates with him too by being stupid. In fact, he probably hadn't even meant it as a date, he said she was interesting he'd obviously just wanted to hang out. The butterflies died. Sinking to the bottom of her stomach and laying there, suddenly giving her a heavy, helpless, regretful feeling. ~

Like Roxanne, and unbeknownst to her; Logan had also been thinking about their would-be date. He'd also been annoyed at himself for ruining the chances of it and had been thinking of ways to make it up to Roxanne ever since. He figured the sooner he apologised he better, Logan had learnt that the longer girls were left to stew, the worse they were when you had to face them. Logan had discovered a quick, honest approach was best. He had learned how girls worked, how to best get around them. he prided himself on his skills with them.
But how would he get to her?
They didn't have any lessons together till the following day and even then in DADA, when they did, if they weren't duelling, there would be little chance of the close interaction necessary to apologise. He'd have to speak to her before then. He'd try to speak to her tonight. ~

Roxanne sat next to Ly in the Great Hall. They were early for dinner with the intention of studying after eating. Rox needed to go over her Care Of Magical Creatures essay with him and as he was listed as a tutor, she asked him straight away. She'd also agreed to show him her Parva egg again which had still yet to hatch. They sat, talking about the beginning of the Quidditch season and when was best to have the first official training session of the year, with their new member. Rox suggested a nice morning time slot to begin with so the team could get used to working together again before moving onto more challenging weather and visibility conditions. He agreed and they set the date for the following Saturday, a week before the Hogsmead weekend.
Roxanne was so engrossed in Quidditch conversation with Ly that she didn't notice the hall slowly fill up around her. Liv and Lorcan sat opposite Ly and Rox, held in a conversation of their own, Scarlett and Ari, next to them, a space remained on the other side of Rox.~

Scorpius entered the Hall and scanned along the Ravenclaw table, to decide which side of the table to walk up. He noticed a space next to Roxanne so began up the right side. As he walked towards her, he noticed another person coming from the opposite end of the hall, also seeming to walk towards her, the boy would reach the space first as the group were closest to the far end of the Hall. Scorpius slowed his pace to watch the boy approach. It was Williams, the Slytherin beater Rox had mentioned. He slipped in beside her and tapped her softly on the shoulder.~

Rox turned at the feeling of being tapped. She swivelled and almost gasped at the boy next to her, she hoped she had kept a blank face but he may have been able to read the surprise mixed with excitement at his presence.
"Roxanne, I er-" Logan paused, looking past Rox to her friends who had all stopped to watch their interaction. The couple received smug looks from Liv, curious ones from Ari and Scarlett, a confused look from Lorcan and Logan received an unrepentant glare from Ly. He cleared his throat and Rox shot a warning look at her friends before turning back at him. They went back to their conversations, still watching out of the corner of their eyes, more subtly.
"Yes?" She prompted.
"Well, I wanted to apologise really. For earlier" he scratched the back of his neck, Roxanne smiled. She wasn't used to seeing him so... unsure of himself. Logan usually held an air of confidence that bordered on arrogance she found this side of him was endearing, he obviously didn't apologise much. Apologise. Roxanne realised that he thought he had been in the wrong today, he was bothering to say sorry. She could at least do the same.
"No, Logan. It's fine, I over reacted. I'm sorry"
"Yeah but it was me wh-" Logan tried to counter, he hadn't realised he'd be let off so easily.
"Don't worry about it, okay?" Roxanne placed her hand on his arm reassuringly. He looked down at it, and up at her. She felt suddenly worried. Should she not have done that? He smiled, partly to reassure her, partly because he could see the pink tinge to her ears as her hair was tied up.
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Sure."
He smiled at her before standing to turn away.~

By this time, Scorpius had almost reached his spot at the table. It still held the Slytherin and Scorpius was annoyed, he watched as Roxanne placed her hand on his arm and was annoyed even more. Why was he there? Why was he annoying to him? Scor looked at the faces of his friends, the girls looked as though they wanted to swoon and Lorcan looked on, mildly interested while Lysander's face mirrored Scor's own. Annoyance. At least he wasn't the only one.
Scorpius reached his spot in time for him to hear the two exchange goodbyes. Thank Merlin, he was already leaving. As Logan stood he came face to face with Scorpius. The Eagle towered slightly above the snake but not by much. Scor didn't even keep the glare out of his eyes at the Slytherin, instead of looking away, as most people did when the Malfoy heir glared at them, Logan stood a little taller and smirked, raising an eyebrow before turning back to Roxanne.
"Oh and Rox, shame about the plans, we'll have to meet up another time." He placed a hand on her shoulder as he spoke and leaned in towards her.~

Roxanne had turned back to Lysander by then so had missed the initial interaction between the two boys and so was confused when Logan called for her attention again,
"Oh yeah, sure".
Now, Roxanne looked up and noticed the tension and the glare Scor was sending. She couldn't help but compare the two boys as they stood so close. Scorpius stood taller than Logan, though Logan, being a beater was more well-built, his body shape closer to that of the twins. She knew Scor was toned and that his body was capable of power too, it just consisted of less bulk. Their hair both brown yet so different. Logan's was light brown, the colour a leaf caught in the sun; light and inviting. While Scor's was darker and softer, the brown of hot chocolate on a cold day; warm and familiar. Logan's face was softer, more of a pretty-boy's, she could see the marks on his face from the dimples he got when he smiled. Scor's held sharper lines, making him look more regal. Both startlingly handsome, in different ways. She looked at their eyes, Logan's grey green coloured ones held amusement, shining more green with mischief. While Scor's usually soft grey-blue orbs were narrowed even further into dangerous slits, his eyes were cold, an expression they very rarely held. Roxanne felt as though he was on the verge of something so reached out and grabbed Scor's clenched fist. She pulled him over to her and directed him to his seat. Despite this, Roxanne was unable to break the eye contact and animosity in his eyes. The fifth year returned the look with a hint of mocking amusement, and walked away. Rox had been about to turn to Scor and demand to know what that had been about, but her attention was captured almost immediately by Liv who proceeded with 'i told you so's and a list of evidence to support her claim that Logan liked her until Roxanne shut her up. By then, the boys were engaged in conversation and the moment was gone.~

Ly and Roxanne left the Hall early to go over her essay as promised. On the way there Rox noticed Ly's face seemed annoyed. Once they reached their area of the common room, Ly cast a silencing charm around the area and summoned a table in front of them. She assumed it was because he wanted the comfort of the common room with the silence of the library but then he turned to her seriously.
"What's going on with you and Williams, Rox?"
"What, Logan? Nothing. He's my potions partner" Roxanne was confused by the sudden question; it seemed Scor wasn't the only one to have a problem with him.
"You agreed to go out with him, didn't you?"
"To Hogsmead yeah, so? That doesn't mean there's anything going on. He wasn't even talking about a date" She paused, trying to read his face. "Why? What's up, Ly?"
"I just don't trust him that's all. And I definitely don't like the idea of you two"
"Because he's older?"
"No, I'm over the age thing. But there's just something about him..."
"Well, I'm not dating him so you're fine" Rox answered, slight regret in her voice than didn't go unnoticed by Ly.
"You'd tell me though, wouldn't you? If you started to date him?"
"Yes, of course Ly. I'll even tell you if I go to Hogsmead with him. Though, I doubt I'll need to. He doesn't like me like that."
"Please do Rox, I don't know what it'd accomplish but it makes me feel better to know what's going on. And trust me; he does like you like that. That's what worries me. I just care about you, that's all"
"I disagree on that but thanks Ly, I appreciate it" she leaned into his shoulder and he placed an arm round her, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze before levitating her books out of her bag.
"How about we do some work now then?"
"Great idea" ~

Once they had finished their essay, Rox went to retrieve her bag containing the Parva egg. She had it slung over her shoulder as she walked into the common room to find Ly. Suddenly, she felt the bag move, and vibrations travelled up the straps to her shoulder, the egg had hatched. She walked over more quickly to the group who now consisted of Ly, Scor, Liv and Ari.

Ly reached out for the bag with the intent of levitating the egg out himself. Rox held it back, not wanting to let loose a miniature dragon in the common room full of unsuspecting Ravenclaws. As Lorcan wasn't with them, the group ended up in the boy's dormitory as they couldn't all get into the girl's. Rox sat on the bed closest to her, not even bothering to look at whose it might be. Scor sat next to her cross-legged, peering at the bag over her shoulder, Ly on her other side and Liv behind her on her knees using Rox as support. Ari had stayed behind to wait for Lena and Scarlett so it was just the four of them.

Slowly, Rox unzipped the bag on her lap, moments later from out of the abyss that was the extended accessory, came the small pale head of her pet dragon. She watched as its eyes surveyed it surroundings and came to a rest on Rox. Uncle Charlie hadn't been exaggerating when he said it was a beauty. Its pearly scales shone up at her and its eyes bored unblinking into her own. They were multi-coloured and had no pupils, just pure coloured orbs against a white background. The middle parts of the eyes were shimmering purple, pink, blue, green and yellow. After a few moments of staring, the tiny dragon emerged more fully. It really was small, as Uncle Charlie had said, about the size of her hand.

"Hey, little one" Roxanne cooed softly, holding her palm out for the dragon. She had removed some meat from another pocket in the bag, she'd put it in there yesterday under a preservation spell, for when the egg hatched. It tentatively sniffed her palm and crawled on, making short work of the small amount of chicken. With the other hand, Roxanne slowly held out another finger, hoping the dragon wouldn't confuse it with more food and bite her. It looked up at her, its tiny eyes flickering with colour and she tried to smile reassuringly, hoping the dragon would recognise her expression as safe. After another moment of staring, the dragon seemed to trust her and nuzzled its head against her forefinger, much like a cat would against a leg. Roxanne turned to her friends who were looking on in absolute awe as she now stroked the dragon's head and back like it was in fact, a cat. As she had read in the book accompanying the egg, food was the key for a dragon's trust.~

The rest of the week seemed to melt away, Rox's time was spread pretty thin. Her lessons and work took up the majority of her time, but she still had to train her Parva, a male dragon she'd named Iridis, for his eyes, as it was Latin for rainbow. She spent time with him each night, letting him grow accustomed to her and her voice. She'd give him commands and treats when he followed them. According to her book, training a dragon was like training a dog, but slightly more dangerous, still repetition was key. Thankfully for her, Opaleye's can't breathe fire until they are a six months old, or fly until a year, so by then, she hoped, her dragon would be trained well enough to obey her and would behave.

By the time Friday night arrived, Roxanne was exhausted. She still had a few essays she wanted to complete by the end of the night so she could relax on the weekend. She had convinced her friends to do the same so they all sat at a table in the Ravenclaw library and worked together. After an hour and a half of her Potions and Charms essay, Roxanne was ready to sleep. But she kept herself awake. She needed to finish her essay on the theory of duelling. She'd come to realise, while she was good at hexes and defensive spells individually, stringing them together in an actual duel was challenging for her. As she worked, she had failed to notice her friends wave goodnight and leave. She looked up properly and realised she was alone, she wasn't counting the other Ravenclaw's in the library, mostly because she knew them by face only. Moments later, Scorpius returned to his seat with a pile of books and she smiled. She wasn't the only one still working. They both continued with their work, content in each other's silent company.

Half an hour later, Rox noticed writing appear on her parchment.

'How are you not tired yet?'

She was confused and looked up and around. Scorpius smirked at his page but didn't look up. He had charmed their parchment's to be linked so when he wrote something on his, it would appear on hers then disappear. She hadn't come across the charm before so watched in amazement as his elegant writing vanished. She added a drop of ink to where his script had been and waited to see if it stayed. It didn't. It was safe to write back.

'Who says I'm not?'
'Then can we leave?'
'You can, I've still got this DADA essay to finish'
'That'd be ungentlemanly of me. I'm obliged to stay.'
'Since when are you gentlemanly?'
'Me? Always, Mother Malfoy made sure of it. Anyway, need any help?'
'Albus is my tutor. I'm meant to go to him'
'So is Rose, I doubt you'd go to her. Anyway, third best in the class isn't too bad. I could help'
'Hm. I'm not sure third place is good enough…'
'Maybe you just have to lower your standards then, Miss Weasley'
'Ugh. Fine, but only because I'm tired'
'Of course'

Scorpius removed the charm and came to the other side of the table to sit next to her. He cast a silencing charm around them because while there weren't many people left, late night workers, especially Ravenclaw ones could be really sensitive about noise.
"You have to teach me that charm sometime"
"Why, planning secret notes in class are we?"
"No, why, is that what you use it for?"
"Ah, that'd be telling. My father taught it to me, great for picking up girls apparently."
His voice held humour, though beneath it, Rox could hear the distance, the detachment his voice held whenever he talked about his dad. She smiled at him, wishing she could do something that would stop the pain in his voice when he mentioned him. At least he mentioned him, she supposed that fact, was a good sign.
"And is it?"
"Oh, I wouldn't know, not into that kind of thing"
She laughed, "Are you so brilliant that you don't even have to try to pick them up?"
"Basically yeah, they just follow me around, falling at my feet"
"And where are these girls now then?"
"Well there's one that fell for me a little while ago right here"
"Ugh. You have got to stop using that joke!"
"Oh but it's wonderful, because you walk right into it"
"Shut up and just help me with this"

She pushed her essay towards him for him to read over. She needed a foot and a half and had a few paragraphs worth of space left to fill. He directed her with the ending and soon, with the help of the third best in sixth year DADA, Rox had finished the essay. Rox was so grateful for his direction and so relieved to have finished the essay that had been bugging her for the night that she turned and squeezed Scorpius into a hug, automatically kissing him on the cheek as if it were Liv who had just found her lost tie (as she had done that morning). Less than a moment later, as Rox was still in his arms, she went rigid, realising she had just kissed Scorpius on the cheek. It wasn't an unusual thing for her to do, especially in thanks or celebration, but never before had she done it to anyone other than her female friends or family members. She had gone into a slight form of shock, suddenly wishing she hadn't even asked for his help.

Scorpius could feel her tense up at her realisation she'd just kissed him on the cheek and thrown her arms around him. It had shocked him too, but he hadn't had time to process the action, much less react to it because he'd noticed her reaction first. Somewhere at the back of his mind, her reaction saddened him, because from it, it was obvious she hadn't meant to kiss him and that she regretted it almost instantly. But that was a thought he barely had, much less one he'd take notice of. Instead his reaction to her reaction was to chuckle, he could practically feel her ears heat up with embarrassment. He imagined her face now, eyes probably squeezed shut as if she could erase her actions with concentration, a slight grimace accompanying it, ears tinged pink, possibly a light blush on her soft cheeks.

Roxanne could hear and feel Scorpius chuckle at her. Her ears reddened even more. He'd noticed, of course he had. If she'd just hugged him normally after realising her mistake she'd have gotten away with it. But no, she'd messed up again, she made it completely obvious that she hadn't meant to and now, if he was laughing, he knew she was embarrassed.
Well done, Rox. You genius. She thought sarcastically at herself. She felt herself being pulled back and almost held on to his shoulders, not wanting to see his knowing smirk, the cheeky glint his eyes would hold as he teased her about the kiss. But she didn't because knowing him, there'd be a whole line of jokes to follow about her not being able to let him go, or something stupid like that. As she was pulled back, she looked down at her hands that had fallen to her lap. She could feel the warmth spreading through his fingers to her shoulders as he held her to face him. She could feel his smirk. She didn't have to look up to know what Scor's face looked like. He crooked his forefinger under her chin and guided it upwards to look at him. Merlin, she hated it when he did that. There was something about it…
Her thoughts trailed off and she focused on his shining grey eyes and predictable smirk. He reached forwards and brushed her hair behind her ear. The contact sent shivers down her spine. It was so soft, so caring.
He moved his face towards her slowly, tilting it ever-so-slightly, Roxanne was suddenly aware how empty the library was, now,just the two of them and the books, in the now dimmed light of the lamps. A soft glow reflected off his face, it was so inviting, she closed her eyes in anticipation, not entirely sure why, as his face neared hers, almost moving in slow motion.

A/N:

Call me evil but I'm leaving it there. Hopefully, I'll be able to update again soon, maybe within the next week or so but no promises. I'd love to hear what you think!

Hope you enjoyed it, and thanks again for sticking with me.

Love Cookie xx