Watching You Walk Away

This bit is an extra, not part of the first chapter for the challenge. It's the first part of the story from Lorcan's point of view. Enjoy!

(This was not written for the challenge)

The first time he saw her, he was six years old.

His mother was dragging them to some summer party at her friend's parents' house. He wasn't looking forward to it. He didn't know any of these people.

The door opened and a kind looking lady with graying ginger hair greeted them. Then a young lady around his mother's age appeared holding a screaming little girl with the same ginger hair. His mum reached out and picked up the toddler, lifting her into the air. The girl stopped screaming instantly.

Beyond the people standing in front of him, he could see a lot of others in the house. Most of them had the same ginger hair. They were all talking and laughing and having fun. There was no way he could fit in here! He exchanged a bewildered look with Lysander and held tightly to his twin brother's hand.

Suddenly, they were being led to a corner of the room where a young girl stood with a stony expression. She had bushy dark hair and coffee colored skin. Her eyes were the color of chocolate.

"Roxy, this is my friend Luna and her husband Rolf," the young lady - whose name was Ginny, he'd learned - said when they got close enough.

"Hello," the girl said, politely offering her hand to shake. His parents shook it.

"And these are her boys, Lorcan and Lysander. They're the same age as you!" the Ginny lady continued.

She stared at them.

"Boys, this is Roxanne," his dad said.

They stared at her.

"Have fun," his mum told them with a dreamy tone, patting them on the head. She tickled the toddler, making her laugh, and they walked away.

As soon as the adults were out of ear shot, she said, "Don't call me Roxanne."

Lorcan pushed his eyebrows together with confusion. "Then what will we call you?"

"Roxy," she said firmly, holding her hand out.

He smiled and figured that she must not like her name. He took her hand and shook it. "I'm Lorcan."

Roxy then turned to Lysander, but all his brother did was stand there staring at her extended hand. Lorcan was about to nudge him when he turned and ran back to their mother. He sighed. Lysander always shied away from meeting new people. He looked at Roxy and noticed that she was gaping.

"Lysander's just shy," he said comfortingly.

She shook her head a bit and faced him. "What do you want to do?"

He shrugged and said, "I don't know."

Roxy looked around at everyone that was in the house. He'd heard his mum say that she had a really big family, so he figured that most of the people were relatives, and most of the kids were probably her cousins.

He watched her quietly and noticed how pretty her eyes were. They were dark and deep, like a pond you couldn't see the bottom of.

"Want to play Quidditch with James?" she asked him, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Quidditch. That was the sport played on brooms. He was terrified of heights, and the only time he'd been on a broomstick he'd fallen off and sprained his ankle. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of all these people, and he didn't know who James was. "No."

She frowned, which made him worry that he'd upset her. "Want to play Exploding Snap?"

Was that a game? Did you snap your fingers and things exploded? It didn't sound very fun. "No."

"Want to hear Teddy talk about his first year at Hogwarts?"

He figured that Teddy was the eldest boy with the hair that was changing color. He seemed overly confident and was being stared at by a pretty girl with silvery blonde hair. They seemed so much older, and that made him feel uncomfortable. "No."

Roxy huffed and put her hands on her hips. Her eyes became hard. He blinked. Was she mad at him? Why?

"Well, what do you want to do?" she asked with what he thought was impatience.

He looked around the house with uncertainty. He didn't live here, he didn't know anyone, why should he choose? Everyone looked really busy and he didn't want to disturb them. A loud shout of joy from behind him made him turn. He saw two men - one with messy black hair and glasses, and the other with ginger hair - playing wizard's chess.

"D'you want to watch them play chess?" he asked, pointing at the two.

She said nothing and stared at him for a moment, and then she shook her head. Then she turned around and started to walk away.

He frowned. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go play Gobstones with Freddie," she replied.

Gobstones? Freddie? He'd never heard of a game like that and he didn't know who Freddie was, but he didn't want to be left alone. He wanted to fit in, or at least try to. "Can I come?"

"No," she replied quickly.

He felt confused inside. Did she figure out he knew nothing about playing Gobstones? "Why not?"

"Because you're boring."

The statement was said with such a matter of fact tone that, for a moment, all he could do was stare. "Am not!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, you are," she said turning around and disappearing into the crowd.

He stared after her sadly and mumbled to himself, "I can be fun." But she didn't hear, and she didn't come back. Something inside him told him she never would.

There's the extra! Poor Lorcan!

~Ki