SECURE | REMUS LUPIN

18 ; alice and miss grinch

SECURE — CHAPTER 18

[ "Hold up a 'GO POTTER' flag at the game then I'll be happy." Katie's eyes sparkled, just narrowly ducking from the pillow Lily attempted to hit her with. "Oy! Violence is not the answer Miss Evans!" ]

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The girls' dormitory was decently quiet when Katie had finally made it up the long trudge up the stairs. Her legs ached with each push upwards, her body far more fatigued than she thought it was. She had the fleeting thought to just collapse on her bed and possibly miss the game, but James' scolding face appeared at the forefront of her mind before she could even entertain the thought.

She made little to no noise pushing open the door and was immediately welcomed with the familiar scent of roses, mint, and oranges. As much as she loved to spend time with the boys, spending time in their dormitory was among the very top of the list of things she despised doing. She would gladly never step foot in that room if she could.

Well, it wasn't entirely too horrendous, she mused as she let her fingertips touch the pleasant feeling fabric of the sweater. It took all her self restraint not to take hold of the collar and push it flush against her nostrils just so that she could commit all the intricate scents that were interwoven in the sweater to memory.

She blinked, attempting to quell whatever desire had overcome her, refusing to think much about it. Not today, she told herself, Not when there's a game today. You've got to stay focused.

But that statement had played itself in her head so many times that the meaning of the words had lost its meaning. It would always go like that. A thought that shouldn't have been thought about her best friend and the excuse that she'd finally dwell on why the thoughts were there in the first place when she had the time. But she'd been using that excuse for the past two years, and even now it was still the constant mantra of 'Not today.'

Even on days where their lips would come so close that all her brain could think about was what it would be like to just take one step closer, that mantra didn't change. It didn't change because for as much talk as she was, she'd step back before her mind went into overdrive.

Because if she didn't, she wasn't too sure she had enough restraint to quell her natural impulsiveness when it was paired with desire.

Katherine Hart was a creature of habit, and that meant that she didn't easily welcome change. So it was always 'Not today' because who needed change when life flowed smoothly?

Her thoughts were broken when her mind was vaguely made aware of the sound of running water shutting off. The sound gently reminded her that she was merely standing in the middle of the room, doing nothing but holding onto the sleeve of Remus' sweater.