UNDER THE MOON, Remus Lupin

liii.

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD...
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Sooner than Alice would've wished, she was back at Hogwarts, and back in class. It was nice to freely walk around hand-in-hand with Remus. They didn't have to worry about getting in trouble. A lot of great things had come of break. Alice found out who her dad was, and that resulted in her having a little brother. She also had a place to stay since her mum kicked her out. Sirius was great, just as Remus had told her.

Speaking of Remus, he was preparing an activity for the 7th years, trying to make their last few months fun. Maybe he'd done it mostly for Alice, but he wanted to go down in history as the greatest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher ever. According to the majority of his students, it was going pretty well.

Remus liked teaching. But even Alice had brought it to their attention... What to do with their relationship?

Alice was on her way to class, pondering that exact question. Months ago, it wasn't a big deal. Because they had a long time to figure it out. Now it was different. They didn't have so long. They had at least 1 month to maturely discuss it. Alice tried to bring it up. Remus didn't fully answer her. But... Alice wasn't sure she wanted him to anyway. Things were easier when she wasn't thinking about the waterfall at the end of the river.

"Charlie's excited to work with you," Fred joined Alice with a bounce in his step. He seemed to be in a good mood.

"Really? He's only met me a few times."

Fred shrugged with a smile. "He said he liked you. Besides, not many people want to work with dragons." Dragons were great, but they were dangerous. That's why people were so hesitant to give them the time of day.

"Dragons aren't the villains!" Alice said loudly. "People come at them with chains and weapons and expect them to be friendly!? They've got this mean mindset because everyone just assumes they're bad! Go back a couple hundred years and we were best friends with dragons. What changed?"

Fred was laughing. Not at her. But because she had a point. "I see you're very passionate about this. That's exactly why Charlie likes you." It's why Fred used to like her too.

"Well, they deserve better. I want to help them."

"You will, Ali. I promise," Fred said. He sounded a bit like he was giving an inspirational speech in a movie.

"So what's got you in such a good mood today? You're smiling a bunch." Alice grinned. It was good to see him happy.

Fred turned red and looked down. "Just a variety of things."

"Ohh, and what are these things?" She smirked.

"I met someone, actually. She's been real nice." Fred had considered not telling Alice, but what would the harm be? Alice was happy, so was he. They were friends, and they would remain that way.

"I'm so happy for you!" Alice jumped and put an arm around his shoulder. "Tell me about her."

It was a relief to know she wasn't upset, though he didn't assume she would be. "Well, she's friends with my brother," Alice was about to ask which one, but Fred kept going. "Speaks like a bunch of different languages, has good scores in her classes, and she really rambles when you get to know her. Then she gets all flustered about it and apologizes a bunch. She's real sweet, Ali."

"She sounds it, Fred. You should go for it."

Fred wanted to. He really did. But he was scared. "I don't know... last time I went for it, it didn't end well..." He was referring to him and Alice.