UNFINISHED VERSION

1.5

Violet spent the potions class barely listening to the professor and mostly taking quick glances at the Slytherin boy sitting next to her. She thought she was being subtle, Regulus thought the opposite.

He felt it every time her eyes landed on him. He knew what she was thinking about, and he could tell how badly Violet wanted to bring it up.

That's why the second the class was dismissed, Regulus quickly packed up his things and swiftly left the room. He only made it about five or six steps outside the classroom when he heard the sound of his name being called behind him. 

Quick footsteps slamming across the stone hall filled the air before the brunette popped up beside him. "Can I speak to you for a moment?" she sputtered, slightly out of breath from running.

'She's quite unfit for a quidditch player' He thought to himself, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at her, "Does it really matter? I imagine you'll still say whatever you want no matter what my answer is."

She nodded once, reaching out to grab his wrist and pulling him through the halls to find a private place to talk. Violet was so preoccupied with finding a place to go, she completely missed the boy's flinch at her action.

It was the same way, and the same spot in which his mother would grab him and drag him around like a puppet. It felt so familiar and so jarring in the moment.

He was transported back to his younger years. Back when he was looking at the peculiar muggle items in Diagon Alley, or sitting on the front lawn waving to a young muggle boy who was passing down the street on his tricycle. Wonder sparkled in the young boy's bright grey eyes as he looked upon things he had never seen before. They weren't magic, but may as well have been to him. All this quickly shattered by his mother's shrill voice and angry face flooding his vision, a vice grip on his arms, yanking him upward and dragging him away, yelling about how improper his behavior had been all the way back home before having him locked inside his bedroom.

Soon, Regulus snapped out of his memories, finding himself in a broom closet with the Gryffindor. He watched silently as she closed the door behind her, then turned around looking up at him expectantly, "If you think I'm going to snog you-"

Violet's eyes grew wide, "Merlin no!" she interrupted, shaking her head violently, "That's not what I wanted at all!"

"Then what do you want?" he crossed his arms leaning back against a shelf and sighing "Everyone always seems to want something."

She shook her head again, "I just wanted to check on you, that's all." She smiled at him, sympathy clear on her face, "Didn't think you'd want to talk about it in front of everyone-"

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you." the boy interrupted her, grey eyes turning more guarded than usual.

"You can't fool me Regulus, I know that's not true-"

"No you don't." he snapped, "You don't know me, I'm fine."

He looked seconds away from striking, saying something harsh that he would regret later that night as he sat in his bed in his dull, dark, and silent dorm room.

The brunette could see this, but it didn't stop her. She was horrible at holding her tongue in situations like these, too pure of a heart to stand by when she saw someone in trouble. She'd intervene and try to help no matter what. No matter how difficult or how standoffish the Slytherin boy was being, she was still going to try. It was just who she was.

But, she also wasn't one to have the most patience in the world, and it was quickly wearing thin.

"Fine!" she yelled throwing her arms up, "Fine, maybe I don't know you, but it's not like I don't try, you don't let me!" Regulus opened his mouth to speak, but Violet started again before he got the chance, "But don't you dare tell me you're fine because I know for a fact that's a complete and utter lie."

He scoffed, glaring down at her, "How do you know it's a lie? How can you tell when I'm lying if you don't know me."

"Because Regulus! Maybe I don't know you, but I know Sirius!" she yelled at him, "Sirius came to my house this summer after all!"

The girl had originally carted him away in hopes of having this conversation in private, but clearly, none of that mattered now that they were having a screaming match in the broom closet.

Hoping to avoid gathering a crowd outside the closet, assuming one wasn't already gathering there, she took a breath, lowering her voice back down to a normal volume. "He told me." she looked up into his eyes, and for once she wasn't blocked out by the walls he had oh so proudly built so terribly high around himself. She looked and saw nothing but horror and shock in his grey eyes at the revelation, "I know Regulus. I know everything."

The walls snapped back up. 

Hatred flooded back through his stormy eyes as he looked upon the girl, "You don't know everything." he spat, "Stop pretending you understand me because you know my- because you know Sirius. You don't know me just because you've been hounding me for the last four years. You don't know me just because you can't seem to spend a second without chasing me around insisting on meaningless one-sided conversation that I've despised more than anything. You will never, ever understand." He shoved her, moving to stand by the door, "This conversation is over. I've spent long enough talking to a blood traitor."

And then he was gone.

Violet decided, sitting shocked in the silence of the dark broom closet, that maybe she should stop. So, she started pulling back bit by bit over the next few weeks. She still tried to talk to him sometimes, but not quite as often. She would send him small smiles whenever she found his eyes across the great hall, or would spare a 'hello' when passing in the halls, but she rarely engaged in her normal rambles. After all, he wasn't exactly wrong, she could tell he was uncomfortable whenever she started speaking to him, and she had done it anyway for the past several years. 

So, she stopped it all. She was still present, but less active. There, just in case he decided to leave his high horse and accept her help, but not as much of a bold and obnoxious presence. 

She went on with her life as normal, just cutting down her stops to speak to the quiet dark-haired boy, since for right now, he didn't realize how much he needed her.