"Rowan, how nice it is to see you!" Rowan's father smiled down at her, taking her into a large bear hug. His voice was oddly comforting as Rowan leaned into the embrace. Her father leaned back and held onto her shoulders, seeming to look her over. "You look so grown up!" He exclaimed with a bright smile. Rowan chuckled as she could feel her face begin to heat up.
"Dad, where are we?" Rowan asked as she looked around at the bright white room. It was a place that seemed familiar but strange. Almost as if she had been here before but hadn't remembered it. "Take a seat," Her father said, completely ignoring her question. He gestured to a seat at a small table that appeared to be a children's toy with a set of teacups spread around. Rowan, still confused, simply did as she was told and sat across from her father.
"Dad, I'm twenty years old! Why are we having a tea party?" Rowan asked as she slightly rolled her eyes. Her dad only chuckled in response before nodding at an empty pink bowl. "Pass the sugar, my princess," He asked, his eyes gleaming with pride as he looked upon his only daughter. Rowan shook her head, trying not to let her smile falter. Something was wrong and she needed to know exactly what it was.
Standing up from the table, Rowan looked around once more. This room was too tidy; too clean. There was something terribly offputting about the way the room was arranged; as if it had been made for her to stay in forever. The children's toys were adult-sized, along with most of the furniture. Seeming to get a bit frustrated, her father reached over the table and snatched up the bowl. "Dad, what is this place?" She tried once more, causing her father to sigh and place down the toy.
He stood up as well, leaving the children's play set unnaturally still. "The real question you should be asking is why am I here?" Her father said as he grabbed her hand and led her to a bed where they both took a seat. Rowan chuckled uncomfortably, shrugging her shoulders. "Dad, I already told you I have no idea where this is," She tried to explain.
Suddenly, Rowan caught a glimpse of her wrist. There was not a scratch, or a gash, or anything on them. They were clean and unharmed as if nothing had happened to them before. "Keep thinking, dear," Her father encouraged with a small smile. Memories flooded back and Rowan finally understood why she had been so uncomfortable in this room. "We're back in the house that we lived in. The one in America," Rowan whispered to herself as her eyes widened.
Jumping away from her father, Rowan remembered flashes of the last time she had seen him. His head hitting the table, killed by her own magic. "Y-you're dead. I-I killed you," She stood up and backed away from him, but he didn't seem phased by the news. He just kept sitting there, a smile plastered on his face. "This is all true. So, why are you here Rowan?" He asked.
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"Come on, my love. Come back to me,"
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A loud voice rang throughout the room, causing the lights to flash and the walls to shake. Rowan held onto everything she could to stay on her own feet until the shaking had stopped. "What was that?" Rowan cried out, her hands wandering up to her own head. "Focus, daughter. Why are you here?"
Rowan thought and thought but she couldn't figure it out. Her father was dead and she was in Scotland, being held in her evil mother's basement with Gilderoy Lockhart. None of this made sense- unless-
"Am I dead?" Rowan cried out, her voice full of fear. Expecting an answer, Rowan turned to her father who had stayed silent. He simply chuckled and shook his head. "No. At least, not yet. It appears you have a choice to make," His vagueness made no sense, but neither did any of this. "Okay, I'm dying," Rowan gulped, nodding her head in disbelief.
Her father stood up and walked over to a light pink dresser in the corner of her room, picking up a small wooden frame. Smiling, he turned it around so that Rowan could see what was in the picture. Much to her surprise, it was a framed photograph of Rowan and Severus during the yule ball dance. It danced within the frame, indicating it was magic. "You looked beautiful. I wish I could have seen you grow up," He said solemnly as he placed the frame back in its place.
"Dad- I'm so sorry," Rowan whispered as she walked over to join by her father's side. That night she had cast the spell that had killed her father had haunted her since it happened. It was only fitting that now, as she was dying, he would be here."Sorry? Rowan, you freed me," Her father stated, placing a hand on her shoulder lovingly. Before Rowan could speak, her father began to explain. It was almost as if he could read her mind. "Your mother cast a spell on me. I was trapped in my own mind and couldn't control my actions,"
Rowan suddenly remembered the look she had seen in her father's eyes; Lucius Malfoy had the same look when he had been under the Imperius curse. But- that couldn't have been true. Rowan watched as her father fell into alcoholism and slowly became abusive; didn't she? "Mom is evil, but she wouldn't do that to you. Right?" Rowan quickly turned away, not sure what to believe anymore. "I would love to debate all the things your mother was, but that isn't why we're here. You have a choice to make," Her father stated as he walked around her so that they were face to face.
"Choice? Dad, you say I'm dying. There is no choice to make! I'm dead," Rowan was starting to get annoyed. All the new information she was given was just too much to handle. The vagueness of her father's words reminded her of Severus. The way he would dodge any questions about Lily or his involvement with the death eaters. He was always so vague about his past; for good reason. Shaking her head, Rowan returned to her bed and sat down on the very edge.
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"Don't leave me now. You can't,"
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The walls shook once more, the lights flickering violently. "Rowan, I never said you were dead," Her father said, choosing to stay standing at the other side of the room. He seemed unphased by the shaking. Rowan furrowed her brow as her eyes met those of her father. "You said I'm dying," Rowan stated, shaking her head in confusion. "You have a choice. You can stay here with me, or you can return to your life," Her father said with his usual quirky smile. In her youth, that smile made her so happy. Now, it only made her conflicted.
She had to choose between spending the rest of- well, forever- with her father who she hadn't ever really known, or to go back and spend her life with her friends and Severus. Rowan could vividly remember all of the father-daughter dances she had missed. All of it had been her fault; at least back then it was. Now that the truth had been revealed, Rowan understood the blame was on her mother.
"Rowan, I would love to have my little girl back. We could catch up and talk about the good times! All you would have to do is stay here; give in to the light," Rowan's father said as he pulled her into a tight hug. "Dad..." Rowan whispered as a single tear began to fall down her cheek. As she accepted the long-needed embrace, Rowan could feel the room begin to shake again.
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"My love, please. I can't go on without you,"
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"Dad, that's Severus! Can't you hear him?! Severus?!" Rowan broke free from her father's arms and began to look wildly around the room. Out of windows and under her furniture. "Rowan, he isn't here. He's out there," Her father explained as he watched the small glint in his daughter's eyes fade. "That means I'm not with Lockhart in that dingy old basement anymore. He found me," Rowan mumbled, a strange pain starting from somewhere deep within her. It was a pain she hadn't felt before, something she had yet to find the words to describe.
She yearned to be there with him. To be there when he gets frustrated with the students; Rowan always adored how flustered he got when they asked about his relationship status. She wanted to be there for his birthday when the whole staff celebrates. She needed to remind him to have fun; to enjoy life. She wanted to be there when he woke up from a nightmare and grabbed her around the waist. He always was a bit shaken up after a particularly horrific dream. Rowan wanted; no needed, to be there for him.
That being said, she had missed her dad so much. There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't regret ever casting that damned spell. So much time had passed, and she wanted nothing more than to be able to make up that time. She finally had a chance to do what she had wanted ever since she was young. "You're going to make yourself sick with all that thinking. Just stay here with me and we can wait for Severus to get here!" Her father's cheery voice was starting to seem more desperate; lonely even.
Rowan furrowed her brow in confusion, shaking her head. "You've been gone for so long, dad. Have you seen what I have become?" She asked with desperation in her voice. "You can tell me all about it. We'll have eternity to talk," He responded, taking her hands into his. Rowan, with tears forming in the corner of her eyes, shook her head.
She had realized what the pain she was feeling was. She was dying and didn't have much time left to decide. The pain she was feeling was coming from her own body fighting against her. "I missed you, but-"
"You don't need to explain it to me. I know that pain you're feeling right now. It's a dull fire, starting from your heart and slowly slithering its way onto your limbs. Your body aching for more time," Her father started, releasing her hands from his. He had begun to silently cry as he took another look at his daughter. "It's time to make a decision, Rowan. It's all on you,"
Nodding, Rowan looked around at the room she was in. So many memories had been made in these four walls. From her first steps to her first accidental spell. These four walls had watched her grow from an infant to a child. To be here forever was a comforting thought. To give the room the honor of seeing what she had become.
What a funny thing life is. You grow up in a world with no walls and no barriers. Told only to become anything and everything you could ever dream of. You want to be a princess? Here is your crown. How about an adventurer? The world is yours to explore and take over. Endless options, all given to you by your own imagination. The world will nourish you every single need. It will grow you from a small and tiny seed in the wet ground to a blooming flower. Bursting with color and life.
You see, the world never wants you to fail. Rowan had always believed that the world had set her up for failure. She could have been a normal child and gone to a normal school. Instead, she was born a half-blood wizard who would go to both the worst and the best wizarding schools in the world. Many would say Rowan was simply being punished for destroying one of the world's beautiful flowers. For everyone, in their own sense, is a flower of the world. Yet, that was not how it was seen.
The death of her father was not a failure to the world. Trapped in a cage, a shell of what he once was, Rowan had set her father free. She had sent her father back from where he had come, once again was he a tiny seed ready to be grown into a blooming flower with colors that danced with the wind. The truth, the real truth, was that Rowan was never set up for failure. She was set up to be anything and everything she could ever dream of.
"I choose," Rowan began as a bright light began to blind her. She reached up to shield her eyes, trying her best to choose correctly. "I choose," She stuttered again, gulping at the biggest decision she would ever make. Time had run out, and she had made her decision. It was almost as if the world smiled upon her, knowing she had made the right one.