UNDER THE MOON, Remus Lupin

xxix.

JEALOUSY AND HATE

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"Remus," Alice gasped, tearing her lips from his. "I need to- I need to go. Game. 5 minutes. Jersey." She stretched her arm out. Her jersey was laying on a bench about 6 feet away from her in the locker room. Remus was leaving kisses all over her neck. Her gasping didn't help the cause, he just wanted to go further.

"Who cares if you're a little late, they'll wait," He snickered, running his hand up the back of her neck and through her hair. It tangled around his fingers and he pulled her head back. "You told me once that you like a little hair-pulling."

Alice closer her mouth shut and groaned. "Fuck, Remus. I... I have to go," she breathed out.

Remus licked his lips after pulling away from her. "Alright, alright. If quidditch means that much to you."

Quickly running to the bench, Alice picked her jersey up, trying to tie her hair up in the midst. Remus came up behind her and took the hair-tie from her. "Relax, my love. You'll be on time, I promise you." He pressed a kiss to the back of her neck.

For a moment, Alice forgot about why she was rushing. All she could think about was how much she loved Remus. And that she wouldn't trade him for anything in the entire world. "Why are you so sweet to me?"

"I'm not the sweet one. You're a very sweet person, Alice."

"I'm not as sweet as you think." Alice turned around and kissed Remus in a slow, soothing manner. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

He hummed in satisfaction. Remus, too, wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. "I hope to figure out just how not-sweet you are."

"You will," Alice raised her height by leaning up on her toes. "I'll see you after my game, Wolfie."

"See you from the stands, Wonderland."

The Slytherin team was all huddled outside the locker rooms, looking around aimlessly for their captain. A few moments later, she came trotting toward them, flustered and out of it. Zephyr rolled his eyes with an open-mouthed, distraught grunt. Adrian did the same, excluding the grunt.

"Okay! We've got a game to win. With a reserve chaser, things might be a little off. But we've gone over these plays, and for the most part, we'll do it all the same as in practice. We got this! It'll be a cakewalk," Alice said with a sigh. And a smile. It was a good today.

Zephyr rubbed his face. "This is going to be terrible."

Alice gaped at him and smacked his stomach with the back of her hand. "No negative attitude! Smile!" She poked both sides of his cheeks and pulled the skin up. "Like that."

He held the pose to humour her. "How's this?"

"Perfect!" She grinned, turning toward the rest of the team. They immediately smiled. With sarcasm. Much sarcasm.

The next few minutes flew by, with brooms flying in different directions at the sound of the whistle. Fred found it impossible to take his eyes off Alice. At a pause in the game, she met his eyes. He did that smile. The one that's genuine in the way where it hurts more than anything else. Yet somehow, Alice found herself ashamed. Because she also found herself with butterflies.

Fred knew that look. When she looked away with a smile twitching. His mood had increased greatly at entirely new numbers. Until a few seconds later he saw Alice's prolonged eye contact with Remus. And the wink that Remus sent her. The anger that struck him across the face was harsher than that of being hit in the head with a shovel. How could his emotions change so greatly in the span of 30 seconds?