She fumed as she turned a corner in the castle and found herself standing face to face with Viktor Krum. "What do you want?" she asked calmly as he said with a slight grin, " You've been avoiding me." while looking at her. Her eyes darted around, desperate to be away from him as she really disliked the guy to be frank, but he laughed a little and then asked, "I just wanted to know why?"
"I thought I made it crystal clear when you came to the house over summer break for that infernal tea date from hell." Rosalia muttered as she raked her hands through her hair and tried moving past him. "Why don't you like me?"
"Because, Viktor.. I just don't. Because you are you. We have nothing in common and I don't want to discuss this farther." Rosalia muttered as she side stepped him and started to walk away, him calling out casually, "You'll regret it."
"Somehow, Krum, I sincerely doubt I'll ever regret the decision not to like you." she murmured as she darted into her Potions class and sat down, feigning interest in the lesson they'd be having for the day while listening to the whispers about the tournament, about Dumbledore's decision to leave Harry Potter in as a champion.
A decision that frankly, had her questioning the man's overall sanity, but she kept quiet. After all, it wasn't her business. She was, however, glad the stupid Goblet hadn't allowed the twins to enter because the very thought of Fred even possibly being a champion would have had her on pins and needles and knee deep in a bottle of firewhiskey with worry before the tournament was over.
"I shouldn't give a damn about him." she reminded herself as she heard her friend Melody calling her name.
She turned and glared as Melody passed her a note. Opening it, she scanned over it and rolled her eyes, not bothering to write back. The less she had to do with the annoying older Slytherin girl, the better, at least with her current mood.
Fred sauntered in and took a seat and they were all paired off to work on a potion together.. Only for some reason or another, the teacher paired them with members of the opposite house. Which would have been fine if she hadn't wound up paired with Fred, of course.
She moved her books and belongings to the vacant seat next to his and sat down, staring intently at her parchment. "Bloody brilliant." she muttered mostly to herself as he looked at her, brow raised before shaking his head at her.
Neither spoke, instead, Rosalia began portioning off ingredients for the potion they were learning, and Fred worked on mixing them together. She gasped as the insturment she'd been holding, using to cut one of the leaves necessary into bits slipped and cut her finger.
She raised her finger to her mouth, sucking on the small cut and he coughed and said "That was disgusting."
"Did I ask you to look at me?" she asked him as he glared a moment then said "Let me see... Your finger I mean."
She looked at him a moment and mumbled "It doesn't matter. It's fine." as he snatched her hand, looked at the almost microscopic cut and then at her before laughing a little and muttering, "Overdramatic."
"Not when it could have slit open my entire damn finger." she shot back as she rolled her eyes in anger. After that, she pouted, of course, he noticed she did that a lot when he said things to her in anger, and she turned away from him, scribbling something on her parchment but keeping it carefully hidden from his line of sight.
Which naturally, only made the rather nosy ginger male curious, so he peered over her shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of what she was hiding.
"Can you stop watching me? Just finish the potion." she snapped as she continued to concentrate on her sketch of him, hiding it as best as she could. She liked sketching people, and she liked watching him when he was in deep thought. She'd gotten inspired to sketch that moment, and she'd been doing it for a few minutes now.
"I'm not some servant or something." he snapped as he looked at her, glaring a little and said "Would you just turn around, bloody hell.."
"I am not turning around because I do not want to spend the entire class time being angered or annoyed by you." she muttered quietly as she kept her eyes trained out the window now, her parchment sketch of him put away to finish later, when she had total privacy and he wasn't irritating the piss out of her trying to see it.
She just didn't want to actually hear him say how pathetic she was or something, given the fact that he hated her, she couldn't stop herself from wanting or actually falling for second the bell to dismiss class sounded, she tore out of her seat, and then out of the room as if she was being chased by the very hounds of hell or something. He shook his head and then muttered "As I said before. Barmy one, that one is." before being joined by his twin who nudged him and said calmly, "Just leave her alone, Gred. She's only after you to make a fool of you somehow.. She is in Slytherin."
Fred studied his twin a moment then said quietly, "Yeah, you're probably right." as he tore his eyes from the door, then shoved any thoughts of her to the backburner in his mind. When he'd given her the rosary back after having it for nearly a year, it'd mostly been to rid himself of the feelings she gave him.
And naturally, it wasn't working all that well so far. They passed by her with a group of her friends in the hallway, talking, and for a moment their eyes met. He rolled his eyes dismissively, and quickly dropped eye contact as did she.
Rosalia sighed as she continued to explain to Melody why she wasn't concerned about Viktor Krum's being there, how she didn't like him, and she wasn't about to pretend to, just to satisfy a mother who'd only find something else, some other fault within her, to complain about.
She'd never be the daughter her mother wanted, she was pretty much done trying at this point.
"If you don't make a move, Rosalia, he'll set his sights on someone else." Melody whined insistently as Rosalia said aloud, "Here's an idea, Mel.. If you like the guy so damn much.. Why don't you go after him?"
Melody stared after her speechless and Rosalia, who'd finally snapped and had finally made the split second decision to be brave, cut all ties with everything about her life she hated, if for nothing more than finally having peace, finally be left alone, well.. she smirked as she shoved out of the group and started to walk away.
"Your mum will hear about this! I'm going to owl her as soon as I'm in my dorm." Melody said aloud, satisfied smirk. This approach often quelled any rebellious spirit within the girl.
She was nothing if not terrified of her mother.
"Tell her, Mel. I really don't give a flying fuck in space anymore. Here's another idea.. Since you love my mum and my life so much.. Take my place.. Hell, you're already far more involved in it than just a casual accquaintance should be." Rosalia muttered making Melody stammer a few moments.
"Fine! Maybe I'll do that. At least I'd appreciate all I had instead of being an ungrateful little bitch about it." Melody said as Rosalia looked at her and then doubled over, gripping her sides in laughter.
She shoved through a crowd of students, tearing out onto the lawns, shedding her heels as she ran to the Black Lake.
"Merlin.. I've never felt that good or this free before. Nothing I've ever done has made me feel this way." she muttered, silly smile on her face as she flopped down onto the grass, for once not caring if she ruined the designer uniform skirt she wore.
A voice spoke up from beside her and she looked at Draco Malfoy with a raised brow as he said "That was brave just now.. Bloody stupid as all hell, but brave." while skipping a rock lazily across the surface of the lake.
"Malfoy.. Bugger off already. I want to revel in my freedom."
"You're not really free.. You'll never be free. I thought I'd be able to get out of this, all of it.. Won't happen. Father would have me beheaded I think sometimes." Draco mused aloud as he looked at her and then said with a slight smirk, "And no matter what you do Rosalia.. You'll always be judged. We are, after all, Slytherins."
He stood, smirking, satisfied that he'd killed her rebellious streak once and for all, took off for the castle again. After all, if he was going to be stuck on the side he really didn't believe in, and have to fight in a war he could personally give two shits less about (from the side he'd be stuck on at least), then he wasn't about to let someone else get free.
Rosalia hummed under her breath and stood, stretching. Bored, she sort of started dancing around a little, her adrenaline from the very public scene she'd created in the hallway with Melody stil flowing through her veins. When she flopped down again, breathless, lying on her back and looking up at the sky, Viktor spoke up and said calmly, "I come in peace."
"And I still wish you'd leave me be." Rosalia muttered in a bored tone, yawning. Viktor, however, made no move to leave and flopped down, sitting beside her. "I wish I could do that."
"And why on Earth would you wish to do what I did? It's not like you're unhappy."
"Ahh, but I am, actually.. See, I do have a physical attraction to you.. But my heart.. Well, let's just say there's this pretty girl I've met recently who's captured that.. But my parents.. They'd probably never allow it." Viktor muttered, a goofy half smile as he thought about the busy haired Gryffindor he just couldn't stop staring at for one reason or another.
Rosalia sat up, intrigued look on her face as she said quietly, "Oh? And why not?"
"Because she's a Mudblood.. And though they wouldn't mind her so much.. I highly doubt they'd give me peace to see her." Viktor admitted as he looked at Rosalia for a few moments.
Rosalia skipped a smooth black stone across the surface of the lake and then said casually, "I could help you.. If I had a name."
"Hermione Granger." Viktor said as Rosalia stared at him a moment, then burst into laughter, only stopping to mutter quietly as she said "I just.. I never pictured you falling for her.."
"And I never pictured you falling for a Weasley either." Viktor teased with an amused smirk as she stammered for a few moments then asked, "How did you know?"
"Sort of hard not to know when you won't stop staring at him for even a few seconds.. Plus, the way you two fight."
Rosalia sighed as she raked her hands through her hair and said quietly, "Well that doesn't matter anymore because I'm giving up. He hates me, I don't have the energy or the patience to change the way he sees me. And it probably wouldn't ever go in my favor, if I were to, because he'd still think I was trying to trick him." before looking at Viktor and admitting quietly, "You know she'll never actually love you.. Right?"
"Why the hell not?" Viktor demanded as Rosalia said with a slight smile, "Speaking from experience, as a girl in love with a boy who's too damn obtuse to know.. She's in love with Ron Weasley. Always has been I think. For the life of me, I've no idea why. He hardly notices her, and if you ask me, he uses her."
"You notice a lot for someone who pretends not to care about anyone but herself." Viktor said as he looked at his hands and said "Either way.. Even if she doesn't love me.. I at least want to find out if I really love her, or if this is just some phase. So you give up if you like. But me? I fully intend to go after what I want."
"Good luck with that. If you're not Ron or a centuries old book, I highly doubt she'll even notice you. She's a nice enough girl.. Merlin don't tell her I said that.. It's just that she's sort of oblivious to any male who's not Ron or that Potter boy.." Rosalia muttered as she watched him walking back inside before folding her arms gracefully around her knees, sitting there, just staring out at the lake, watching the afternoon sun sinking lower and lower in the sky.
She might have to push down any feelings she has for Fred, she might have to pretend that it didn't bother her when he said the hurtful things he did, or judged her based solely on the rest of her friends, but one way or another, she was getting herself out of the world she lived in when she finished school.
"Maybe I'll go to America, become a famous dancer or model or something. To hell with everything else. If I can't have the boy I love, if I can't have the life I'd really rather have, then I'll just do something else. But I will not be stuck here, stuck in this prison I call a life, listening to my mum dictate my every move, telling me what to say, do and think or when I can and can't breathe." she muttered as she stood, walking into the castle, just in time for the evening meal.
She slid into her seat at the Slytherin table, eyes intently on her plate, chewing her food, hurrying through her meal. Instead of lingering in the commons room once she was back in the Slytherin house, she sought out the solace of her room, flopping onto the bed, arms crossed behind her head.
Her roommate asked casually, "So.. Did your dress robes come yet?"
"They did, actually.. I'm not going to wear it. If you want it.." Rosalia gestured to the closet door, summoning the dress, letting it land on her roommate's bed. "It's yours."
"You really are losing your mind." the roommate muttered as she smirked and said "But I won't complain."
"The shoes are in my closet, top shelf. I'm wearing my own dress.. That I'll be buying when we're out at Hogsmeade." Rosalia stated as she rolled over, muttering Nox, cloaking her side of the room at least, in darkness.
Today had been a draining day. She'd won one battle, she was giving up on another.
Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor commons room, Fred sat staring into the fire, debating on the mixed feelings the Slytherin girl gave him. Parts of the male insisted that it had to be a game of some sort, she was bored, or she was rebelling against her parents, or society, or something.. But then other parts of him would call forth all the odd things, the little things she'd done or said, or ways she'd looked at him since he'd met her in their second year at Hogwarts.
"Let's do something." George insisted impatiently and Fred shrugged, having not been paying attention to anything his brother, or Harry and the others had been saying for at least ten minutes now. He stood and said casually, "Going for a walk."
Wandering around the darkened hallways of the castle at night sometimes gave him the most clarity, the most time to think. And he couldn't think with everyone in his head telling him how 'bad' what he felt for the girl was, or how 'wrong' he most likely was about her. He always trusted his gut instinct, this time, his gut instinct wasn't agreeing with his family or his friends and he just wasn't sure if he liked that or not. He sighed as he stood on the bridge of the Astronomy Tower, looking out a window.
"Just let it go, Fred. They're probably all right about her and there are loads more girls here. But I just.. If I give up, then I'm going to wonder.." he muttered aloud as he raked his hands through his hair, laughed aloud at himself. "She did challenge me.. And maybe I can sort of play along with her games." not realizing that the girl was giving up now, there would be no more games to play along with when he muttered his statement.
Satisfied that he'd come up with his answer, at least for the moment, he walked back into the commons room and flopped down on the couch, getting back into the discussion with Harry and the others about the first task in the tournament.