UNDER THE MOON, Remus Lupin

lxx.

SLIPPING THROUGH HIS CLAWS
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"Would you do anything to get over him?" Jacques asked suddenly. A moment of silence became a serious moment of contemplation.

Alice considered that question from the bottom of her heart. Remus roamed her mind every day like a cat roams the house, believing in its heart of hearts it owns the house. Her stomach churned at the thought of getting over him. But if she managed to leave him in her past, she might have a better future. For weeks she'd been looking for a solution, a cure. And instead, it had been looking for her. "What did you have in mind?"

Months ago, Alice met Sage Juniper. He spoke of the grime of the world. The part that Alice had not yet been introduced to. Alice pondered the many possibilities of what this grime could be. It could have been the people, the things these people did, the setting. Whatever it was, Alice wanted to know, but she wasn't sure she wanted to experience it. Then she met Jacques. Who was willingly going to show her the grime of the world, whether it be good or bad for her.

Finding herself relentlessly following him, Alice felt light-headed as the setting grew familiar then all too unfamiliar. What had been the beautiful streets of Diagon Alley, turned into a dark and twisting alleyway that felt like a million miles long. Every step she took seemed to take her back two steps. Somehow it was like she still moved forward. Jacques smirked at as she glanced to him with furrowed eyebrows. He didn't seem at all perplexed about the weird and winding path. Obviously, he'd been here before.

There are some parts of the wizarding world that aren't so bright. The parts where it's not quite good magic that makes the place lively. How can a place be so dull and lively simultaneously? And more importantly, how can someone so young and full of potential like Alice be found in a place like this?

"This is an opium den?" Alice swallowed nervously, glancing around. People were smoking opium wherever she looked. Taking long drags, holding intense contact, looking as though they were having the times of their lives in a state of euphoria. Addiction. Sweet, relaxation.

"Oui," Jacques put his arm around her shoulder. "I've been coming here since I was 15."

Alice cleared her throat as a woman passing by blew smoke into her face. "How old are you now?"

"I'm 24." That was a long time to be doing drugs. Especially illegal ones. And in an opium den? Most people who went to opium dens went to do more than to get high. A lot of them came to fuck.

"I don't know if this is such a good idea..." Alice began to wonder how a harmless date had turned into an introduction to opium.

"Come on, Alice. You said you wanted to get over this man. This is how. It worked for me." Jacques was very encouraging. He had this tactic of looking into your eyes until it made you so uncomfortable that you just wanted to say 'yes.'

Everything was so dark. The smell was like a dying flame, burning against glass. Everyone was either checking Alice out or glaring at her. She has mixed emotions. While the mystery of it all intrigued her, she knew that this would not have a positive outcome. How could it... it was dangerous. In danger, there was often fun.

"I just don't think-,"

"Exactly!" Jacques exclaimed, causing her to jump. "Do not think. Just do. That's the best way to live. On wonderful impulse."

Alice took another look at everything around her. People were happy, or at least satisfied with their lives. Although the surroundings were probably from the 1800s, it was beautiful. Smoke filled the room, drifting mesmerizingly through the air. These people looked like they were high enough to feel not a single thing except bliss. Alice wanted to experience that because it had been so long since she felt anything but pain. Pain was a story of its own. It'll get you high, it'll give you a rush. But it comes with a price, an overdose. Obviously, so do drugs. Alice realised, however, that if she were careful enough... she could again feel something. She could feel good, without paying the hefty price of risking her life.