Inside On A Beautiful Day ((Anne))

[fallenangel]

Malcolm pushed his way through the corridors past the throngs of students. His day was not going as planned and he was about ready to hex the next person who got in his way. A first year kid was the one to meet the unfortunate hex that Malcolm had decided to use, which immediately caught the attention of a professor. Malcolm looked at the professor in annoyance, but quickly apologized and silently thanked the gods for not letting him lose house points. He continued on his way in a rush like normal, but with at least a more watchful eye for professors in case he wanted to hex another student. It seemed, however, that most of the students had caught his little display of power with his wand and had decided to stay away from him, save for the Slytherins who smiled and gave him an accepting gesture. He ignored them. There was no need for attention from those too scared to hex others. They were the weak ones and he didn't plan on conversing with people that were weak.

Malcolm continued on his path down the corridor. Creating a stream of emptiness behind him until students filled in the gaps left by him. Today had been bad. He had forgotten to write his Charms essay and now he was sure Professor Flitwick was going to give him a lower mark because of that. He couldn't afford a low mark in Charms right now. He needed the class and it would mess up his attempt to get perfect marks this year. He ran a hand through his hair in anger as he quickly continued down the steps and into the depths of the castle's dungeons. The dark hallways gave him a comforting feeling. There was nothing like the returning walk to the common room after a hard day at school. Hopefully if he was lucky the common room would be empty of students. It was a nice day out and they were probably be outside hanging out studying for end of year exams. At least he hoped that's where they were.

Malcolm ignored the thought as he stepped into the common room through the secret passageway and looked around the common room. It was almost completely empty, only one student sat looking into the fire. He tilted his head to the right to get a better look at the person. He recognized the face of a fellow 6th year. He approached the girl slowly, who seemed to have been oblivious to the fact that he was even there. He looked at the girl in silence for a few seconds. She had pale skin, brown hair bordering on red, and she was wearing a pale dress. She looked up at him with innocent brown eyes. He forced himself to smile as he fought for a name to put with the face. "Anne?" he asked in uncertainty. He wasn't sure if that was her name or not, but what was the harm in trying to figure it out. He wait patiently for her response.

[charrie]

Annie took the letter from the school owl and gave it a few pieces of food before it flew off leaving her to her solitude in the Great Hall. She looked at the letter and recognized the handwriting almost immediately. What? Annie thought to herself. She shook the thought from her mind as she turned back to her meal. She didn't want to open the letter in the Great Hall. She never did that. A person's mail was something private and she always found that people were sneaking glances at others mail to see what they got. She hated that and therefore had decided to not open any of her mail until she got back to the common room or to her own dormitory. She just lay the letter aside on the table underneath her cup of water. The question of why she had written to was ever present in her mind during the rest of her meal.

Before long Annie had finished. She stood from the table and grabbed the letter. She was going to head back to the common room. Most of the Slytherins were outside enjoying the beautiful day. She wasn't in the mood for it, she never was. She hated the sun and she hated being outside during daylight. She figured she would have made a great vampire if she had ever been bitten by one. However, she hadn't and she didn't really care to be bitten ever. It was just a peaceful questioning thought in her mind. She would just fit some of the lifestyle anyways. She didn't think she could handle the whole drinking blood thing. She would be too afraid of getting blood all over her clothes. It was definitely not the way to go about doing things that was for sure. She had to have her nice dresses perfect and unspoiled. Else wise, she felt like any common servant.

Annie reached the safety of the common room and smiled at the emptiness. She fingered the letter in her hand as she took a seat in a black leather chair in the space near the fireplace, but not close enough to actually get any heat from it. She opened the letter and took a deep breath before reading it:
Annie,
I just had to let you know that things didn't go so well between you know who and I. It seems that some things dealing with purity of blood can never be ignored. Anyway, I have met briefly you're future husband. Annie please don't worry about things with that. Just get through this school year and then you'll meet him and maybe even like him. However, now I have come to the real point of my message. Now that you are of age my services are no longer required. You parents have officially terminated my involvement in your life. I will be moving to London within the week. I thought it better to hear from me rather than your parents who I assume are going to try to involve themselves in your life now that you are 17. Just remember you can write me anytime and that I am always within distance if you need me.
With much love,
Alice

Annie sat stunned at the words before her. She knew that she no longer required a nanny, but still Alice had become more than just a nanny to her. She was like her mother, her mentor, her best friend. She was the only one that truly understood Annie, other than her cousin. She crumpled the letter up and threw it into the fire. She watched the flames devour the letter until nothing was left of it, but ash. At that time the sound of her name sent her spiraling back into reality. She looked up to see a familiar face. She forced a brief smile. "Yeah, you're Malcolm Reynolds Jr., the one that plays the guitar all the time," Annie said more than she asked. She knew it was him. She had a knack for familiarizing herself with those in her year and house, even if she had never really conversed with them. Malcolm had been the easier one to figure out. He spent most of his time by himself with his guitar in a corner. He loved music the way she loved dance. Although she felt his obsession ran a little deeper than hers did.

[fallenangel]

Malcolm slightly smiled at the reference Anne made to him. "It seems that I'm well known around the school as the kid with the guitar aren't I? It's not something I can really hide though, not that I would want to. I enjoy playing my guitar. It's the only thing that was taken away from me as a kid," Malcolm said, but quickly shut his mouth afterward. He didn't know Anne very well at all and there was no reason to suddenly start talking about himself to others. He didn't do that for a good reason. You couldn't trust people. Sooner or later they would find something about you that they could hurt and tear apart. Everyone did it and Malcolm didn't like giving people a bit of foothold in his life. If he was going to get hurt by someone than he didn't want it to be due to something he told them before because he trusted them. No one held his trust in this school. He couldn't trust half the people in Slytherin, because they all had their own motives for things, and he definitely didn't trust anyone outside his house. That would be unthinkable! There was only two people he trusted. His uncle and his father. No one other than those two had be able to prove to him that they were trustworthy. Therefore he didn't talk to them about who he was.

"Mind if I ask why you're inside on such a beautiful day? You don't even seem to want to move from the seat," Malcolm asked as he himself took a seat in a black leather chair across from Anne. Malcolm was never quite so interested in people, but there was something about Anne that just peeked his interest. Maybe it was because she had such poise and grace. He remembered something about her being a dancer and he wondered if the information was correct. He figured it was, because she was just too reserved and elegant to not be a dancer. If she wasn't that meant she was just a stuck up rich girl with nothing else to do but play dress up and learn how to act like the queen they probably treated her as. He subconsciously made a face of disgust at the thought. Those kind of woman annoyed him so much. They felt they were so much better than everyone, even other purebloods. To Malcolm that was the biggest disgrace to purebloods. Only the traitors were looked down upon or should be looked down upon, not purebloods that held true to the belief that purebloods were better. They should be celebrated and feared, but no now it seemed the within the told pureblood families people were turning against each other. They were all on the same side, the Dark Lords. They should all be working together to rid the world of mudbloods and half-breeds instead of bickering among each other.

"I heard rumor that you were a dancer, is that correct? I dance a little myself. I had a class or two at your parents academy actually," Malcolm said casually. In most cases he wouldn't have let others know that, but since Anne's parents did own the academy and some day she would he didn't feel that it was too personal. Instead he felt that it was a perfect opening to get her to talk about herself. After all, if the rumor was true, then she could probably sit and talk about dance just like he could sit and talk about music. They both seemed to have one passion in life and both wanted to continue on in that passion after they left Hogwarts. He hoped she made it, because if she could make it as a dancer it would make him feel that he could become the musical he desperately wanted to be. He quieted his thoughts as he listened to Anne's response.

[charrie]

Annie finally looked up to meet his gaze as he said something about only having his guitar. It seemed that his childhood had been rough. Her curiosity was getting the best of her again. She turned her focus to Malcolm. She was just planning on ignoring him, but now she found him quite intriguing. She smiled slightly as she responded. "No you can't really hide your love for music. I must say though, it's not like it's a bad thing. I enjoy listening to you play and sing in a corner. It doesn't happen to often though as my cousin and I have noticed. You seem to only do it occasionally as if you're not sure you're songs are very good. You shouldn't be so shy. Your songs are actually pretty good," Annie said with a shrug. She broke eye contact with him and turned her gaze back to the flames of the fire.

Annie didn't really want to reply to Malcolm's question. "Look Mr. Reynolds. I don't know you really at all. We may be the same age and in the same house and all, but that doesn't make us friends okay. I mean don't take this the wrong way, but I know nothing about you and I'm not in a habit to just share my entire life story with a complete stranger," Annie said a bit more harsh than she had intended. She sighed as she looked down at her hands. She had sounded like the ice queen that she was. No feelings for anyone else. She just said whatever came out of her mouth, not even bothering to think about what she said. She took a deep breath and looked back up at Malcolm. "Look, I'm sorry, but you have to understand that I'm just not like that at all. If we become friends than I would be willing to share things with you, but until then I prefer that my personal business remains my own."

Annie's jaw dropped slightly at Malcolm's next topic of conversation. She smiled lightly. Whether he knew it or not he had just said the magic word. He knew that she was a dancer and he had danced to. Annie fought the odd feeling inside her. Malcolm was different than the other people she had met that knew how to dance. He seemed to actually enjoy it. Most of the other pure-bloods had been forced to learn ballroom and other forms of dance, because they were pure-bloods, but Malcolm seemed to be different. She looked down at her hands and studied them for a what seemed like a minute before she responded. "Yes, I am a dancer. I love it. It's the one good thing about being a Bradshaw. I don't have to pay to go to my parent's academy," she smiled as she looked back up at Malcolm. "There's not much else to do when you're a Bradshaw and so I guess it was a good thing that I fell in love with dance, because it would have been rather awkward for me if I hated dance. I don't think my parents would appreciate me, not that they do now." Annie's voice turned harsh at the last 5 words. She realized it quickly though and smiled at Malcolm. "Anyway, what dance classes did you take?"

[fallenangel]

Malcolm looked down hesitantly at Anne's comment. She didn't know how right she was. Malcolm had loved some of his songs, but singing them and playing them in front of others was completely different than playing them in the solitude of the forest, or a classroom, or empty room. In an empty space you weren't forced to think about the reality of what you were doing or the criticism you could be receiving. You just play your heart out and you just go with the flow. How he wished he could be that way when he played in front of others. Even in front of his uncle and dad he would choke. Something would happen and he would end up losing his voice briefly or he would snap one of his guitar strings so he would have to get out his wand to fix it. The thing was that he wasn't shy, he was just apprehensive about performing his songs in front of others. "Thank you, but I feel I never will get over how uncomfortable I feel in front of my peers," he said with a shrug of his shoulder and a brief smile.

However, the smile faded quickly as Anne gave him a piece of her mind. Malcolm sat staring at her more out of shock than out of interest now. He couldn't believe she was closing herself off so completely. She had been fine a few moments ago and now it was like she was nothing, but ice. It was strange and he wondered what he had said to make her get so defensive so quickly. Maybe she had been offended about the part about being inside, although Malcolm couldn't understand why that would offend her. She just seemed to not want to talk about what was bothering her. It was all right with Malcolm. He didn't really want to know anyway. It would just be something else on his mind and it would eventually annoy him so much that he would go crazy.

Then again, maybe Anne as going to open up after all. Malcolm smiled as he realized he changed the conversation to the perfect thought. It seemed that Anne was going to enjoy the next part of the conversation for she already started talking about how she was a dancer and how much she loved it. He couldn't help but chuckle silently to himself. She was the same way about dance that he was about music. She loved it so much and it just lit up her entire face when she talked about it. It was an amazing thing to see. Malcolm wondered if his face came alive when he talked about music. "I took some ballroom lessons. A few stints of ballet, but I wasn't very good at that. It seems that my balance is a little off and so trying to stand on one foot would cause me to start a domino effect in the room," He smiled at the memory. There had only been two other guys in the room and they had all three cracked up when Malcolm started the dominoes. "What ones are you interested in?"