Lover // Remus Lupin

Chapter V

Sometimes your mind conflicts with your heart. It could be a person that catches your eye that perhaps you had not noticed before. A moral conflict could occur, and what your heart knows is right will be different from what your mind thinks. It all depends on where your loyalties lie within your mind. People unsure of themselves are more likely to experience this self-conflict. Those who are more confident or sure of themselves are not as likely to encounter it.

Insecurities are a notable factor adding to the idea of internal conflict or a personal perplexity. Not having a proper support group around oneself is another factor that contributes to cognitive dissonance and commonly stems from rough home life. Every tiny aspect in a person's life and attributes to these various internal conflicts or what is known as man versus self. Some people are unlucky and experience it at a more intense level, such as those who perhaps are forced into a world of their disliking or pressured to conform to the norms of their family. Everyone has a different reason for the actions they choose to take in their lifetime.

Some are justified; others are not.

In love, the idea of head versus heart is something that is typically used to justify the act of infidelity or to engage in adultery. In other cases, under the same umbrella, it can be thrusted upon someone who was forced into something not of their choosing. In arranged marriages, this is something that can commonly occur. You may be betrothed to another by the wishes of those above you, but have your heart yearn for another's touch. Circumstances vary and can destroy or liberate a person when they want something other than what they are forced into.

But sometimes, your heart wants something your mind knows is unobtainable.

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"You'd always be welcome here in Gryffindor."

Cassie lifted her eyes from the moving lips of the lycanthrope to meet those ever-lovely eyes she had become enamoured with. The name 'whiskey eyes' had become something that the youngest Black daughter used to describe Remus Lupin. He was strong to the taste but left a warm feeling in her chest when she was done. It just so happened his eyes matched the description perfectly, reflecting the glass of the alcoholic beverage. She could get lost in them and swim around in the amber liquid until her body gave out, and she drowned in his wake.

"I wish it were that simple, Whiskey Eyes."

The look that appeared across Remus's face made Cassie wonder what was going on inside his head. He seemed confused, yet knowing at the same time. Perhaps she wasn't the first person to use the metaphor, comparing his eyes to the harsh alcohol. Or maybe one of her new friends let it slip that this was how she commonly referred to him. The brunette girl shifted her feet, wondering if perhaps she overstepped whatever boundaries there were between the two of them. As far as she knew, they were becoming friends, and don't friends give nicknames? After all, the Marauders each had a nickname for one another.

"Whiskey Eyes," he repeated, a smirk tugging at his lips, "You know, a friend of mine called me that earlier. Though, I'd never heard her say it before."

Cassie felt her cheeks warm up before she could will them to stop. He spoke with a very intoxicated Zhen Huang earlier, one of the before-mentioned friends she was sure had let it slip. The girl turned her face away from the taller Gryffindor, not wanting him to see the heated red that matched her dress flood across her face. She was supposed to be Cassiopeia Black, never flustered, always on her best behaviour. However, something about Remus Lupin managed to strip her naked and leave her utterly vulnerable to the world.

"Not sure where she would have gotten it from," Cassie hummed, pursing her lips in an attempt to keep her composure and not burst into flames of embarrassment, "Whoever came up with it is extremely clever, though."