The usual morning chatter filled the halls as Zoe's eyes slowly opened. Her head was pounding as if a sledgehammer had been dropped against it and afterwards her brain got whacked by the tail of a dragon.
The light slipping past the curtains was too bright, making Zoe groan loudly as she tried to pry the covers over her eyes.
"Z! You're awake!" Neo jumped from his seat, wrapping his older sister in a hug.
The girl groaned as she sat up, trying to return the hug even with her brain pulsating against her cranium.
"Yeah yeah, get off me you midget" Neo smirked, pushing Zoe back on her bed. His sister was back.
"I was just keeping up appearances you under-grown troll" Zoe ruffled his brown locks, swallowing the dizziness that threatened to show itself as she sat up.
"How long was I out for?" Neo shrugged, bookmarking the page where he had finished reading the book on his lap.
"Only for the night. If Madam Pomfrey comes by soon, you can probably make it to late breakfast" Zoe's stomach rumbled at the mention of food, her fingers twirling the piece of fabric that covered her lower half.
That's when she noticed the shiny black rose resting peacefully at the foot of her bed. The inky petals contrasting heavily against the bleach white blankets below.
"Neofart, when did you learn how to turn a rose black?" Neo shrugged.
"That wasn't me. It was here when I came. Ty said it might've been James', he spent the night here and left early morning" Zoe huffed, typical James Potter.
Every time Zoe got herself an injury that landed her in the hospital, James would stay by her side until she recovered. But the second she recovered, he would leave and not speak to her for days.
It was almost as if he had spilled his deepest darkest to her, and had to wait until he himself forgot about his actions to speak to her again.
Their friends had nicknamed the odd phenomenon "The James Potter sickness curse".
Frankly it was quite stupid in Zoe's opinion, but James Potter had alway been an enigma, even to himself.
Zoe turned the rose over, tracing the delicate paper tied against its stem. A symbol decorated one side, a lighting bolt. Behind it were two simple sentences that made her skin crawl. "Enjoy the beginning. Love lasts only but a mere second"
"Miss Wood, glad to see you awake" Her curious expression was replaced for that of a grin at the sight of the infamous Madam Pomfrey.
"Missed me already, Poppy?" Madam Pomfrey huffed, handing a tonic to Zoe of which she downed in a single gulp. The vile taste searing her throat.
"Hardly. Hello mister Wood"
"Hi Madam Pomfrey"
"If my knowledge colours me correctly, unless you are spitting out toads I won't be able to keep you in this bed for much longer" Zoe had come to the hospital wing one too many times, and those were the words she always used. She wasn't one to stay still.
"That should be correct" Madam Pomfrey sighed and handed her a much larger bottle of the same tonic she had just taken.
"Three times a day with food, half a cup. If you're dizzy come straight back. And don't exert yourself too much or-"
"-take any significant damage to the head. Thank you Poppy, I've had enough concussions to hear the speech"
"You Wood children are made of something else" Zoe shrugged, already slipping on her shoes next to her younger brother.
"Pure handsomeness and quidditch. See ya Poppy!"
"Bye Madam Pomfrey!"
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Once Zoe had changed into a clean set of robes, she hurried down to the great hall, hoping to catch some remains of breakfasts before she had to rush to her first lesson.
But she didn't even make it to the table before getting trampled in hugs by three different people.
"Cutting. Circulation. Help. Dying" The giggling figures let go of her, sitting back on the benches near the Slytherin table.
"We though you were a week-er after not waking up last night" Zoe scoffed, not wasting a single beat and stuffing her plate with food.
"Please. That wasn't as bad as the time I crashed straight into a wall after trying to transfigure the floor into ice. Now that concussion sure was evil" Quiet, relieved sighs came from both Theo and Leslie's lips. If Zoe managed to joke about her symptoms, it meant she was alright.
"By the way. Mel, you really need to practice your depulso, that form barely managed to knock me off my feet. You were lucky it was unexpected" Melody's eyes went wide, so wide her eyes might've popped out.
"Your not mad?! I thought you'd be fuming at me interfering with your love life with James. Especially if it involved you getting hurt" Zoe shrugged, calmly stirring her milky cereal.
"I'm not pissed because I know you're going to feel way worse when you realize how miserably your plan failed" A face of recognition replaced Melody's features.
"The James Potter sickness curse"
"The James Potter sickness curse" Melody's groan was so loud it could be heard across the hall.
"How could I be so daft and forget about the curse?! Now you won't speak to each other for a week or more!" Zoe shrugged, slurping the last of the milk in her bowl.
"Actually. I think I might need to break the curse today" Zoe reached into her pocket, pulling out the black rose still in perfect state as if it had just been picked.
Theo snatched the rose first, inspecting the flower carefully until his eyes landed on the note tied to the stem.
"Enjoy the beginning. Love lasts only but a mere second. Poetic or depressing? I can't really tell" Zoe shrugged as Theo handed off the rose to Leslie who held it up to the brilliant light streaming in from the windows.
"Where did you get it?" The rose was handed to Melody to inspect.
"It was at the foot of my bed when I woke up. According to Neo it was there when he arrived in the early morning, he thinks it was James who left it there" Melody handed the rose back to Zoe's mingle fingers.
"Isn't black a bit dramatic? I would think he'd give you a red rose, it's more your colour" Zoe shrugged, pocketing the rose into the depths of her robes.
"Y'know, red roses are commonly attributed to signifying passion and love. And although black roses don't grow naturally in the wild, they are still giving the meaning of..." Leslie seemed to freeze at the thought of the words that were about to slip past her lips.
Zoe groaned, rubbing her temples as a headache began to form. Wether it was from the concussion or the little flowery puzzle resting in her pocket, she did not know.
"Just spit it out Les" Leslie gulped, pushing away the last sip of coffee remaining at the bottom of her cup.
"Black roses mean hatred and death" Zoe huffed.
"Bloody cheerful, innit? I'm going to go ask that bastard what it's all about"
"Zoe you can't just walk up to James and demand to know what the black rose means! He might not be the person who even put the rose there!"
"You got one too?"
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a/n: Title reference oooOooooOoOOO also cliffhangers are back babyyyy heck yeah ;)
I don't like how wattpad calls me out every time I reply to a comment by saying I'm the author. I just wanna pretend I'm another reader judging her fellow friendos y u gotta call me out like that wattpad???
Theories on who gave Zoe the black rose? Or on who also got the black rose? Comment them and vote because clicking that little star thingy is fun :D
YOU ARE READING
Black Roses {James Potter x OC}
Fanfiction-"No wonder you don't have a girlfriend with your trollish manners" "I'd call it more of a tedious rom-com Lily has forced me to live"- Zoe Wood and James Potter had an odd relationship. They had known each other since the moment they came out of t...
