72 The Return of the Rose

// THIS IS AN OLD CHAPTER. THE NEW CHAPTERS ARE IN VOLUME 2. YOU CAN READ THESE CHAPTERS IF YOU WANT SOME INSIGHT ON WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN LATER BUT SOME EVENTS CAN BE DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW CHAPTERS.

It took a full month for Rose to be completely healed from the effects of the amortentia. Upon her return, I made sure everyone left her alone before she began to be questioned from all sides.

But I feel like she's been avoiding me since she came back, she no longer sits with me at the table and stays with her friends. We didn't have a date either, when I invited her to go to the Hogsmeade tea house, the place where all the girls want to go with their lovers, she politely refused. on the pretext that she had some catching up to do in her studies. When I offer to help her catch up at the library, she tells me that she concentrates better when she is alone. I don't know what to think anymore. I find her during breakfast.

"Rose, I would like us to talk please."

"Now? I was about to go to class." She just sat down.

"Yes, please, I would really like to know where we are exactly." She doesn't seem to really want to talk, but I need to know.

"Okay." She sighs but takes my hand for the first time since her return, I hope it's a good sign.

We are heading towards the tree under which we had our first meeting. We both sit in the moss still a little damp from the morning dew. We stay a few minutes like that until she decides to speak.

"When I was at Saint Mungo, I was so obsessed with Colin, his lips, his body, that I couldn't get him out of my head. Then when I started to get better, images of our dates and the kiss in the great hall started to mix with the other thoughts. "

"That's a good thing! It means you're healing, that's great!"

"Not that much, I can't tell if I love you or if I'm obsessed with you too. Healers say my brain can't tell the difference between love and obsession anymore, it's the same for him. "

"What?! But how is that possible? How long is it going to last?"

"They don't know. They've never seen someone as touched as me before. It could go on for a few more days or months or even years." I'm shocked, years?!

"Tell me what I can do to help you. Do you need us to take it slow or do you want me to hold you in my arms?"

"I think you don't understand Sean. At the moment, I don't know if I love you anymore." Her last words are pronounced almost like a whisper. "But we can be friends again if you want to, I'll try to stop avoiding you and we could keep seeing each other like we used to. I just need a little time."

"We can try." I can't believe I'm saying these words.

Rose returns to the castle leaving me alone at the foot of the tree, I can't even formulate thoughts. This is not the first time that I have been dumped, but it is the first time that I have been dumped for this reason. I get up and let all my rage explode, I uproot the tree I was sitting on, giving free rein to my power. The sound of my roar vibrates the ground nearby as the roots give way and the tree crashes hard on the ground.

I move away from this place to return to the castle when I run into Daphne. We haven't talked to each other for over a month, since she left crying during Saint-Valentine.

"Sean, are you OK? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"No not really but yes I have a minute. Do you need help with an assignment?"

"No, it's just that I really showed myself to be immature when Rose had the courage to confess her feelings to you. Deep down I think I was a little jealous, she is younger than me and yet she took initiative. I was angry but not against you, against me, because I didn't have the courage to tell you how I feel. I told you that I found you cute and several times at that, but you are kind of slow on the uptake. " She laughs, a little disappointed. "Do you feel something for me too?"

"The truth is, I have feelings for both of you, but there's this arranged marriage thing that just complicates everything. I hate being deprived of my liberty. Plus, there's this problem with Rose." I breathe a long sigh. "I'm not going to lie to you, if either of us had taken the first step, we might be together by now, but I didn't want to rush things because we are still young. "

"I see." She looks at me in the eye before letting a small smile escape. "At least I know I still have a chance. I'm going to ask my dad to cancel the engagement and maybe later we can try to be together."

"Maybe later." I return her smile "Friends ... for now"

"For now".