UNDER THE MOON, Remus Lupin

xxxi.

END TO A MEANS

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

Why did Clint allow himself to fall in love with Alice? His feelings for her had been the whole reason he broke it off with Angie. Feelings for someone else. He hadn't elaborated much past that for anyone. Now the only person who knew about his feelings for Alice was Zephyr. Well... Fred knew. Fred had always known deep down. That's why he pranked him in the first place. To annoy him so badly that he didn't even want to be around Alice anymore. Unfortunately for Fred, it didn't work.

After that, Fred didn't try again. He would've liked to. But Clint was still Alice's friend. She needed him just as much as she needed Fred, Zephyr, and Aria. They all played important roles in her life. So Fred knew he couldn't just force Clint out of her life. Clint tried to persuade Alice to dump Fred numerous times. Yet at the same time, he hated when she even thought of leaving Fred.

Clint had his way when Alice was with Fred. Now that she was with Remus, he didn't. When she was with Fred, Clint could control his time with her. He couldn't control her time with Remus. He had never seen her so over the moon in love with someone as she was with Remus.

Fucking Remus. Clint wanted to beat himself up for being so jealous. Alice deserved the fine treatment Remus gave her. Clint just couldn't stand to watch her love someone else. Again. He'd dealt with Alice being with other people for years. As her relationship became more and more serious, so did his feelings for her. His jealousy became a key issue in their friendship. It tore them apart on more than one account.

Sometimes he had to ask himself what he saw in Alice. Was it her stunning good looks? Curious nature? Or just the fact that she's the only girl who never made him feel bad about himself? He could ask these questions over and over again and be presented with the same answer each time:

She was just Alice. And that was enough.

"I still can't bend it back all the way, but I can use it now. It just feels weird," Alice said, flexing her wrist back and forth as far as it would allow her.

Fred winced and looked away. "I'm really sorry about that. When will you be able to play again?"

Alice put her chin down on the table. "If only I knew."

She and Fred had gone to Hogsmeade on spur of the moment. Boredom had encased them in a chokehold, so they decided to get a bite to eat. That's how they landed at Willow's Wonky Wildcat. A restaurant where the owner, Willow, lived with their tiger named Cupcake. Cupcake had been domesticated since he was a baby due to his missing leg. That defined him as the wonky wildcat that Willow referred to in the restaurant name.

"Well, it's a good thing Slytherin hasn't had another game scheduled yet anyway."

Willow came over with two plates full of food, setting them down. Cupcake was following her, dressed in a green sweater. "Here you two go! Enjoy, lovebirds!" She winked at them, quickly scrambling away.

Fred blushed and looked down at his plate. Alice uncomfortably cleared her throat. "Anyway... how's George?"

"Uhh... he's living."

"No shit," Alice rolled her eyes. "What about Ginny? The last time we talked I heard she was having boy problems."

"She's after Harry's heart. Believe it or not, it's working. You're friends with Harry too, yeah?" Fred had recalled seeing them eat lunch together once or twice.

Alice nodded. "Yeah, he's a great kid. In some ways reminds me a lot of myself," she snickered. Fred didn't quite understand.

"You know... I don't mean to snoop on your life or anything... but are you seeing Professor Lupin? Like romantically?" Fred feared the answer but still asked.