The black lake shimmered under the sun, as if the water itself had diamonds floating along the surface.
Its coast was a popular date spot, both romantically and platonically. Wether it was under the scorching heat of the summer, or freezing temperatures in the winter. People were always found there, sometimes scarce, but still there.
Yet in all its glory, Zoe Wood was completely and utterly terrified of it.
She had grown up hearing stories of her parents' encounters at a certain tree facing the lake. It should've been a spot to treasure, where love seemed to bloom. But behind every rainbow there was rain.
She had also heard the stories of her mother nearly drowning twice in the marvellous waters below, both times saved by her father. She heard stories of the creatures living below, how more than one would want to tear her apart.
Ever since she heard those stories, she had been terrified of any pit of water that she could not see the depths of, fearing that she would die to such things.
And as much as she wasn't a Gryffindor, Zoe was forced to be brave and face her fears to encounter James Potter by the lake, all alone.
"Where's Leslie?" Not even a hello, James Potter was seriously hoping he didn't have to face the quidditch obsessed beauty on his own.
Zoe huffed, rubbing her arms as goosebumps rose across them from the mere sight of the black lake. They were meters away, yet it still seemed too close for her.
"Had a previous 'appointment' with one of your cousins" James looked at her, begging for more information.
"You do realize that description is a tad vague" Zoe huffed, her foot tapping against the soft grass, trying to calm the building anxiety in her chest.
"Fred, I think" James nodded slowly, his eyes peeling away from the glossy surface of the lake to finally look at the girl.
Her hair shined against the pounding noon sun, cascading around her face like a beautiful brown waterfall. But that wasn't the thing that caught his attention, it was her hands.
They were picking at her robes, the fabric being tussled between her fingers, her other hand nervously picking at the nail of her thumb. Each movement wasn't entirely voluntary, it was her release of a sudden burst of emotions.
"Are you okay?" Zoe quickly nodded, a little too quickly.
"Yeah. What did you learn 'bout the roses?" Her foot tapped even quicker, bits of dirt flying around her shoe.
That's when James realized where he had asked her, and what her biggest fear was.
He quickly rose to his feet, grabbing onto Zoe's shoulders and turning her around back to the castle.
"Shit. I forgot. I'm sorry, let's go" Zoe didn't even have the energy to protest, and she would be lying if she said it didn't relieve her once they were closer to the castle than the water.
"Just... what did you learn or know?" James sighed, pulling the two roses out from his pocket.
They were still in perfect condition, it didn't look as if they had been in the pocket of someone for hours, every single petal was still in place.
"This lighting bolt, doesn't it remind you of something a certain someone has on their forehead?" Zoe's eyes widened in realization, flashes of Harry Potter whizzing through her mind.
"Your Dad. The scar. You think it's another rebel group trying to get rid of him?" James shrugged, twirling the rose with his fingers.
"I don't know, I wanted to corner my dad today when he went on a walk along the black lake. But apparently he got swamped with work, so my plan is completely destroyed" Zoe had gone inside her mind, reality around her becoming a blur as she only focused on the black flower in James Potter's hand.
"If this is about your dad, why give the roses to me and Scorpious? Why not you, Albus or Lily?" James shrugged once more.
"I don't know, the only connection I can think of is that both Lily and I have..." He stopped. He knew exactly why they had been targeted, but refused to tell the girl in front of him.
"A great friendship with you both" James tried covering his sentence with a smile and a complete lie. Zoe didn't buy it, but wasn't in the mood to question the boy.
"I'd hardly call what we have a 'great friendship' Potter" James' usual smirk came back to his face, his free hand going into his other pocket.
"Right. I'd call it more of a tedious rom-com Lily has forced me to live" Zoe scoffed, trying to mask the slight grin that made her mouth itch.
"Whatever you say Potter. I'll be heading off to my next class" Zoe began to leave, but James caught her by the sleeve.
"Wait" Out of his second pocket, James pulled out a small bright red rose.
He carefully cupped Zoe's cheek, making her breath hitch. His fingers were quick as they stuck the rose behind her ear and between the strands of her hair. The bright red highly contrasting against her murky brown hair.
"Since I didn't have the pleasure of giving you the intriguing black rose, I thought I'd give you something more personal" Zoe rolled her eyes in attempt to hide the blush that was slowly creeping up her neck.
"I don't take flowers from just anyone, Potter" James only smirked in reply, kissing the top of her hand as he slowly backed away.
"Good, because I don't give flowers to just anyone" For once Zoe was at a loss of remarks, her heartbeat was too loud for her to focus on anything other that didn't involve rushing into James Potter's arms and kissing him. Instead she opted for just running away to her next class.
James watched her leave. His thoughts swirling back to the dark roses. He knew why they picked Scorpious and Zoe. It was because both him and Lily were mad in love with the people who received them. The message was clear: investigate or the people you love suffer. And even though he didn't want to go on a wild goose chase, he wasn't ready to let go just yet...
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a/n: And IIIII cantttt helllppp falliinnn in looooveee withhhh uuuuuu. Zoe and James are so cute- I want what they have :')
I am not looking forward to summer, snow days were they cancel school and u can't even leave ur house (like today) are literally sm fun-
Anyways ppl are gonna suffer if James doesn't go on a wild goose chase. Sounds fun! Seen some interesting theories about who gave the roses and how they look as if they got red hair, who knows if you vote and comment you might be able to see a clue I hid in this author's note
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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...
