all i wanted was you. // t.r

-11-

October 1945, Hogwarts

It started to get dark as Theo and Rebecca were deep in their conversation at the black lake. Sometimes they would talk for hours and hours about any topic and forget the time around them.

But Theo suddenly became quiet. They both looked out at the lake as they silently took in the view.

The sun was just beginning to set and the red-orange reflection was visible in the water of the lake.

But the idyll was interrupted when he started to speak.

"Do you have any plans for marriage? Have you met any potential husbands yet?" She was surprised by his sudden question. They had just been talking about the last few weeks, and suddenly he jumped to this topic.

She answered, taken aback, "No. Why are you asking?" He played with his hands in his lap, unsure of whether to ask the question that would change his life.

"You know why, Becca." Suddenly, she understood.

Their parents had been friends for centuries and had talked about marriage on one or two occasions. Of course, she had always thought it was nothing serious and had dismissed it as nonsense. But now that he was obviously preparing to ask her the question of all questions, she realized that there was more to it.

"What are you saying? What do you mean?" He sighed and looked at the lake, too shy to meet her eyes. "Don't play dumb, Rebecca. You know what I mean. Will you at least give me enough respect to ask you properly?"

She gulped. She was unsure—unsure if she would ever want to marry him. But she nodded anyway.

Theo stood up from the bench and took a deep breath before getting down on one knee in front of her. He pulled out a case. Inside was a beautiful diamond ring, simple enough not to show off too much. She loved it.

"Rebecca Taylor, will you do me the honor and become my wife?" The question pulled her out of her thoughts and brought her back to cold reality.

The reality where the man she saw as her best friend was kneeling in front of her, asking for her hand in marriage.

She didn't really know what to say. Yes? No?

As the minutes of silence passed, he became more and more nervous.

"I..." She mentally slapped herself for even saying a word, because now the man in front of her had a small glimmer of hope in his honey-colored eyes.

"I don't know what to say." As quickly as the glimmer of hope appeared, it vanished again. His hand with the ring sank a little lower as he tried, somewhat confused, to read something in her gaze.

"I don't quite understand. Are you saying yes or no?" he asked, biting his lower lip uncertainly.

Now she was completely overwhelmed. She knew she would have an easy life with him. But would she be happy? Could she ever convince herself to love him unconditionally?

"Rebecca, I need an answer, please. Spare me the embarrassment," he said gently, taking her hand in his. For the first time in this whole conversation, she forced herself to look him in the eyes. She had made her decision.

"Theo, I love you. You know that. You mean so much to me." He nodded as she spoke, still on the verge of fainting from anxiety.

"But I can't marry you."

His mouth fell partially open, and he was momentarily shocked by her response. All the months he had worked for this moment now felt like they were for nothing. It would be an understatement to say he wasn't hurt.

She could see the pain in his eyes. As soon as she had said the sentence, a wave of emotions flooded his gaze: hurt, betrayal, sadness—all of these within a second until his eyes cleared.

He tried to hide his emotional state.

"I am so tired." Now she was alert. What did he mean? "I don't understand."

"I'm so tired of all of this. The moment I need you, you respond. But the moment I want you? To make you happy? You ruin me. Then you leave me chasing after you all over again. Why do you hurt me like this?" Now she was offended. She had expected many reactions: that he would scream at her, cry, or just walk away and never speak to her again.

But this? This made her angry. That he accused her after he had asked for her hand in marriage randomly and without any context. What did he expect? That she would say yes without a thought?

"I thought better of you." He laughed melancholically. "How sad of you to never notice." Now she was annoyed.

"Stop speaking in riddles and tell me what you mean by that. It frustrates me, Theo." He got up from the ground and sat down next to her again. "You never wondered who sent you all the letters over the last year?"