UNDER THE MOON, Remus Lupin

lxv.

CRACK IN THE PAINT
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Needless to say... Alice's lack of motivation lost her and her team the game. Again, Slytherin had come in second place to Gryffindor. Alice was too flooded with other worries to care about it, but her teammates were crushed. Except for Blaise, because Alice told him he'd be the captain next year. He planned to turn things around and win.

Sirius had written back. He must've reassured Alice 80 times in a 5 page letter that she was still warmly accepted into his home. And then he proceeded to pour his heart out to her about how sorry he was about Remus. Alice had stopped reading halfway through and skipped to the end, just to find out that Sirius was already scheming to get Remus to apolgise. Alice didn't want Remus to apologise. She just wanted to be able to think about him and feel nothing.

Today was the last day.

In all of their classes, nobody did any work. The teacher let the kids roughhouse and goof off. Alice would've loved to join in on the fun, but she didn't want to. The desperate adolescent roaming inside her broken heart wanted to break free, but she had her guard completely up and still hadn't smiled once since Remus dumped her.

Paper airplanes glided by her head delicately; some were even turned into butterflies midair. This was Alice's last day at school and she was spending it feeling like a popsicle melting sadly in the blazing sun. And then getting stepped on by some stupid child who wasn't watching where they were going.

It was nice that Zephyr was able to have fun at least. He was laughing with people he didn't even know, rekindling a friendship with Clint, and trying his very best to make Alice smile. Or even just crack the slightest bit of a smirk. He didn't prevail, of course. Alice wasn't smiling for anyone today, unless she managed to see Remus trip and fall over his own feet.

The day passed slowly, but it was still too fast. Alice was dizzy from all the excitement around her, and her lack thereof. She held her head in her hands as she sat slumped in a cabin on the Hogwarts express. This would be her last train ride on this damned thing. Zephyr and Clint were inside with her, tussling and laughing.

Alice wanted to cry again.

When the train had finally left the station, Zeph and Clint were seated across from Alice, wondering how to make her feel better. She'd graduated and it was still like she wasn't even there.

"I was thinking we could all go camping?" Clint asked, though it felt like more of statement.

"Yeah, that sounds great." Zephyr agreed with that big, goofy grin of his.

Alice nodded gently. "Sure thing."

Clint frowned. "Alice... you know you can talk to us."

"I don't want to," she said with a hint of irritation in her quiet tone. They didn't respond. "Whatever, I'll be back." Her voice broke before she could stop it. She got up quickly and slipped out the cabin door, eyes already pricking with tears.

The boys protested her leave, but she ignored them anyway.

Considering that she was on a train, she didn't know where to go. She just wanted to be anywhere they weren't. Neither Zeph nor Clint had seen her like this before, so they didn't fully understand how to handle it. It wasn't their problem to handle anyway. Alice wiped her eyes again and sniffled. When does it fucking end?

Alice continued walking down the train car, looking for something to distract her. All the cabins were filled with either young kids, or people she just didn't know. She waited in front of the washroom until the person who was occupying it would come out. Whoever it was, they were taking a long time washing their hands because the sink wouldn't stop running.