ALICE IN LOVE
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"I don't mean to rush... but what now?" Alice asked as she and Remus walked back to his living quarters, hand-in-hand. They'd returned their proper wands to each other. It was a good thing they were still there on the ground in the first place. Otherwise, they would have had big problems.
Remus quickly swooped down and kissed Alice on the cheek. "What do you mean?"
Alice didn't want to push Remus into anything. But she also wanted to know where they stood. Remus opened the door to his quarters and pressed Alice against the door when it had closed. "We'll worry about it later."
"Whatever you want." Remus admired her smile that absolutely lit up like a fireplace when she looked at him.
"It's snowing!" Alice accidentally pushed Remus off her and stood at the window. Small flurries fell deliberately to the ground and window sills of Hogwarts. Everything outside was green(from the trees) and white. Remus appeared behind Alice and wrapped his arms around her waist, firmly pulling her against him and burying his face in her neck. "Everything looks so... pure. And fluffy!"
With an amused eye roll, Remus stared at Alice's reflection in the window. "The view's gorgeous from where I'm standing."
Alice turned her head to see Remus. Her eyes followed his stare to her in the window. "Looks like a fool to me."
"Yeah, looks the same to me too." He teased her.
"I hate you." Her head wavered disapprovingly at his joking. Everything she'd waited for had proved to be worth the wait. Remus had his arms around her. And she didn't have to be scared to kiss him anymore, even in their own confinement.
"That's not what you said half an hour ago," Remus reminded her of her pathetic declaration of love.
Alice winced theatrically. "Well... I can both love and hate you. Especially since I don't really hate you at all."
"Are you sure?" Remus' hand began sneaking its way up her shirt as they both watched the snowfall.
"I love you, Remus." Her insides jumped telling him those three words. Alice never would've thought she could feel so profoundly about someone. Remus made her feel like a flower blooming in the middle of winter. Special.
"I love you, Alice." And there go her insides again. Remus chuckled watching her lean back into him. It winded him, knowing that she was comfortable around him. The fact that she didn't care he was a werewolf meant the world to him. He began to think that being a werewolf wasn't so bad. If Alice could love him, just maybe Remus could learn to love himself.
There was a day- yesterday actually- that Alice wouldn't have believed you if you'd told her that Remus loved her. Despite his lycanthropy, Alice cared more about him than she cared about her silly childhood fear. Remus couldn't hurt her if he tried. His lycanthropy would never come between them.
"Can I stay here? With you?" Alice asked him hopefully. If she had to leave, she wasn't sure she could do it.
Remus spun her around and squinted his eyes at her. Which was clearly a mistake, she began pouting. Even if Remus was the wolf, she had some very convincing puppy-dog eyes. "Yes," Remus glanced at the clock. 12:01. "And Happy Christmas, love."
Alice was reminded of the gift she had for him, still in her pocket. She pulled it out, forcing Remus to remove his arms for a moment. The second he did her body felt cold again. "I have this... for you."
"You shouldn't have gotten me anything." He reluctantly took it. Remus hated receiving gifts, but the look on her face coerced him to accept it just this once.
"Wait!" Alice put out her hands up before he opened it. "I can't watch, I hate it when people open their gifts." She covered her face and looked back out the window.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Can I open it now?"
"I don't know, can you?" She crossed her arms. Being difficult with him was going to be one of her most treasured pastimes.
His fingers pulled on the snowman wrapping paper that was done neatly. Remus had always struggled wrapping gifts. Which is why he either didn't buy them or put them in bags. It was a box. The kind of box used for jewelry. Expensive jewelry. He glared at the back of Alice's head through his eyelashes. Perhaps it was just a box. Remus open the box and immediately groaned. "Alice..."
She didn't turn around, but she did manage to shut him up. "Don't hate me! It has a deeper meaning than being just a chain! Besides, it was only like... 100 galleons..." she trailed off.
Remus rubbed his face in a defeated manner. That was too much. She shouldn't be spending any money on him. "I can't accept this, Alice. I'd be horrible to."
Alice took a deep breath and spun on her heels, taking the golden chain out of the box and holding it to Remus' neck. "You'd be doing me a favor! I had it custom-made. If you'll actually look at it, you can see 'Remus' carved into the little gaps," She winked at him, though she was in no way helping her situation. "Put it on."
"Thank you. But you're killing me."
"We all die one day. May as well get killed." She kissed his cheek and opened the clasp. Remus was sobbing internally, feeling like an idiot for letting her talk him into accepting an expensive gift.
The cold chain contacted his skin and Alice leaned up, closing the clasps. She took her hands off the necklace but remained on her toes to be as close to Remus as possible. "Happy Christmas, Wolfie." She snickered.
Remus would've been more frustrated if Alice hadn't used that stupid, cheesy nickname. Though it was lame and seemingly annoying, Remus loved to hear her say it. Because it made her happy. And maybe it was kind of cute... Endearing. It made Remus feel appreciated, though Alice didn't need to give him a nickname to make him feel that way.
Ever since the first time he caught wind of her perfume, met her deer-in-headlights blue eyes with his own, and heard her quiet, calm voice that was like a river flowing downstream with not a single rock or dam in the way, Remus had been smitten. Yet it was so much more than that. He used to think that Alice would only make keeping this job harder. But it gave him a reason to keep it. So he could be with her almost all the time.
On the first day of school, Alice hadn't expected some attractive professor to waltz into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Truthfully, she assumed he must've mistaken Hogwarts for a model agency of sorts. At the time she had a boyfriend, but that did not stop the intruding thoughts and feelings she gained for Remus. Those thoughts and feelings were quickly proven to be a lot different than she thought. Now she was in love with him.
And he with her. Still, she couldn't help but remain confused about the relationship aspect of their loving each other.
They went to bed. His bed. Alice still had that same question repeating itself in her head. What were they? For now, Alice would be fine without defining what they had. Remus wrapped his arms around Alice's abdomen and grazed his lips against her shoulders. "Sweet dreams."
"Only if they're of you," Alice responded, moving herself backward to brush against his pelvis.
He grunted. "Bad girl."
This was why Alice wasn't worried about putting a label on their relationship. Whatever they had was more than enough. That's why it was so easy to fall asleep in his arms, completely and totally happy for the first time this year. Maybe the bed had a hand in it. Teachers' beds were far more comfortable than the dormitory beds that have likely been there longer than Alice has been alive.
And now that she and Remus were on the same page, who's to say she had to sleep in her dorm?
Not even Alice could've possibly slept better than Remus did. It felt unnatural to have someone else in his bed, but Remus felt safe for once. He felt loved. And holding the reason for those feelings in his arms soothed him into a deeper slumber than he'd experienced in years. He could relax. His body wasn't on guard, and his mind wasn't overwhelmed with his tempered judgment.
Before falling completely asleep... Remus realized he didn't have one single bad thought about himself as he drifted into sleep.
Alice woke up before Remus, sitting at the edge of the bed. She scratched the end of her nose and realized she was still wearing yesterday's clothes. It was Christmas Day. A small smile grew on her face when she looked behind her and saw Remus passed out. She pulled the covers over him and walked to the window. It must've been late considering some of the students were outside and throwing snowballs at each other.
Remus stirred in the bed, clutching the pillow. Alice crawled back into the bed and kissed his cheek. He was reluctant to wake up, fearing last night had been some beautiful dream. Sure enough, Alice was sitting in his bed, running her hands through his hair. At first, he didn't say anything. Just wrapped his arms around her hips and laid his head down on her thighs. Then he squeezed her tightly. "Did you sleep well?"
"I slept excellently. And from the looks of it, so did you."
He peppered kisses on her stomach, refusing to let go of her. If he had the opportunity, he'd have them stay like this forever. "Answer me a question, darling. Do you have plans?"
"Not sure. I sometimes think I want to be an artist and paint or be a dragonologist, but other times I have no clue what I want to do with life," Alice said, knowing very well that wasn't what he meant.
"I meant for today, Alice." He chuckled.
"Depends on if you decide we have plans." Alice proceeded to play with Remus' hair, brushing it over his eyes so that he couldn't see her.
Remus released a long sigh. "How about we stay here for the rest of the day?"
"All day, Remus? I don't think so. We should go for a walk." Alice slipped out of his grasp and raised her hands in the air, stretching out her back.
Remus was still sore. But he'd keep that information to himself since he wanted to do something nice with Alice. "Hey, come here a moment," Remus waved her over, using his fingers as he sat up on the bed. His hair became messy when he roughly shook his head.
Alice stood in front of Remus now, hands on both sides of his face. "Yes, love?"
He melted. "I'm going to be honest with you, I have no idea what I was going to say."
Alice laughed silently at him. "So, shall we go on that walk?"
"Would you like to change into warmer attire?" He looked her up and down, referring to her skirt and tight, but thin shirt.
"You make a fine point, hence why I'll be back in a few!" Alice attached their lips for a brisk moment, then snuck out of his quarters to go and put on clothes suitable for a walk in the snow.
Remus took these minutes without her to take a quick shower and get dressed himself. They'd had a rough night in the softest of ways. He never wanted her to cry because of him ever again. If he had anything to do about it, she would never cry again anyway. Seeing as Remus had put her through enough turmoil and chaos over the past few months, he was making a personal vow to love her in complete. Without hesitance.
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