Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored [Rhys]

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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She didn’t know why she felt guilty. There was nothing wrong with being involved with someone that wasn’t Rhys. Sure, her dalliances over the last several years had been brief and lacking. She had no idea where this current one would end up either. Would an attempt at taking it slower lead to something more substantial? Was she merely wasting her time, especially now knowing that she had a failsafe available to her once again. So many questions were bouncing around her head, and they all made her uneasy about the choices she was making in the moment. They both had to know what could happen if they tried it again. That was what Juniper was worried about. She did not want another couple of years of fun and feeling her best to go down the drain because of stupid career choices again. Even though she had tried to convince herself that she would be okay with it if this ever presented itself again. It was so frustrating.

Rhys changed the direction of the conversation though, and she felt the pang of guilt strike again. It probably felt like he was getting rejected left and right now. Her hand fell to her side when he let go and turned toward the tower railing. ”It is interesting…but not in the practical sense,” Juniper admitted as she joined him. She had always had a feeling that he knew she was bluffing her interest in the field. It had become somewhat useful to her during her animagus transformation, and obviously the moon cycle was important to Rhys’s own monthly turns. She supposed that the moon and the stars were far more integral to their past relationship than she had ever really contemplated before.

Despite the cool evening breeze brushing over them, the warmth charm was still enveloping her like a hug. Out of everything that had happened over the last couple of minutes, at least she still had this. But now she had a lot of thinking to do. What did she want? She knew Rhys. He wasn’t going to make any of this easy on her, and none of that was his fault. ”I didn’t not care about it,” she continued after a moment. Because he was the one that had been talking about it that entire time. Everything was so much easier back then when she had so many less things to worry about.

rhys alexander greyback ● 403

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[rhys alexander greyback]

Throw water on electricity

Just to see
if the sparkle'll make us feel

May 26, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

In another time, Rhys might have—no, he would have taken Juniper’s response personally as if she’d acted only to spite him. But now? Well, Rhys hadn’t expected anything. Had he thought about it? Naturally, she was present in his life, not to mention he still cared for her. Maybe fatherhood had shifted things for him more than he thought. Would Rhys have even considered teaching if not for Amelia? The thought of Juniper with someone else did stir something inside him, but not as it would have years ago. Or not even how Rhys could hardly stand how patrons flirted with Vasilia, and she let them.

Vasilia, repeatedly entering his mind that night, made his stomach sink. So, he brushed it off as best he could. Rhys shrugged. “I know.” Surprisingly, he had used that knowledge several times in his career. Otherwise, it wasn’t a required skill. “I think Flossie was one of the few others in the NEWT level.” Now that Rhys mentioned his old friend, the tower also reminded him of the times they would work on assignments together or otherwise just talk. The Fortescues really were easy to talk to, all of them apparently. They’d spent quite a bit of time together back in the day until they didn’t.

“I just—” Rhys was always a man of many thoughts. Often, many due to hindsight. “Juni, I’ve always wanted you to be happy. And I’m glad we can be friends.” He began, not looking at her yet or at least until he could get his thoughts out. “I’m not looking to complicate anything.“ Rhys supposed it was the least he could do—just not cause trouble where he usually might have picked a fight or something.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Like a few months back when she'd first seen Rhys walking with Vasilia and rightfully confused the younger Fortescue for her sister, Flossie had popped up again. Juniper had seen her around since then, mostly in Hogsmeade at Honeydukes. From their own conversations, she'd come back after he father passed and to purchase the candy shop. There was a whole lot of other stuff in there as well, specifically how her old classmate had apparently been married too and practically no one over here had known about it until she came back. That had been quite the shock.

So hearing Rhys bring her up now wasn't the strangest thing in the world. Juniper supposed he'd had some contact with her throughout his time with Vasilia, and the reminiscing of Astronomy helped too. "I always wondered how she managed to connect sweets to Astronomy. The two aren't really connected..." To her, everything needed some sort of connection. Juniper had tried to change her thoughts on that, but at NEWT-level classes, she felt that students had to have a reason to take them. Flippantly studying Astronomy or Herbology with no clear future confused her. Especially now that she was teaching.

The thought about their old classmate didn't last long, with Rhys switching gears back to where they'd been a few moments before that. "I know." Merlin, there was a whole lot of knowing today, wasn't there? The two of them were starting to sound like parrots. At least they weren't dancing around everything again. Stopping it short helped. She closed her eyes to think about what he was saying a little more. 'Not looking to complicate anything.' Once again, Juniper knew what he meant by that, or at least thought she did. They could keep going the way they were, and had been, until it eventually blew up and they were right back at it. There were several inevitabilities in her life and hanging around Rhys for too long always ended up the same way. "You're really not making this easy, Rhys."

rhys alexander greyback ● 341

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[rhys alexander greyback]

Throw water on electricity

Just to see
if the sparkle'll make us feel

May 26, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

”No…no, they’re not.” Rhys agreed. He took astronomy because he liked the subject, not necessarily because it was required. Juniper thought differently. The oldest Fortescue now worked in the candy business rather than the family’s ice cream business. Not that Astronomy played into that. Merlin knew Flossie always had candy in her pockets when Rhys would see her. ”It was nice to have a class that wasn’t required.” For fun, one might say. In the third year, Rhys heard astronomy students were allowed to be out after curfew, which played a role in choosing his electives.

But back to the matter at hand. Dating someone for seven years made it easy to see authenticity but also difficult to pretend. Rhys opened his mouth to respond but didn’t have anything. As much as he wanted to protest, he supposed she was right. That bit of tension might work with others, even Vasilia, but Juniper probably knew better by now. But it wasn’t just Rhys—it took two, didn’t it? ”Okay…what do you want me to do?” He looked back at Juni. It wasn’t entirely his fault. They always seemed to walk this path, right? Rhys was genuine in wanting their friendship, but ignoring a smoldering flame also spelled trouble.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Juniper still wasn't sure if she agreed on the idea of elective classes. The way Hogwarts was set up now definitely lent a better way of nailing the basics down over the first five years with little distraction. Still, it was too early to tell if this was an effective model or not. At the end of the day, none of what MAGIC did really mattered to her currently. If that changed in the future, maybe she'd have more opinions on it. As long as her students came in with a good grasp and understanding of Transfiguration, she was fine with how the rest of the years one through five were taught now.

The real matter at hand though...what did she want Rhys to do? That was such a hard question to answer when she didn't even know what she wanted right now. Could she have her cake and eat it too? Was that even allowed? There were parts that felt wrong, especially if she ghosted the poor girl she'd been having a great time with these last few weeks. Things were slowing down because Juniper had exams and papers to grade with the end of term, so now would be a good time to jump off if she decided to do so. A bit of reflection had never hurt her before.

"Is it okay if I ask you to wait?" she asked, tapping her nails on the railing nervously. Merlin this was starting to stress her out. "Until after exams are over and I can sit down and think over everything more clearly?" There was no half-asking this at this point. She was either in, or she wasn't. They hadn't spent all those years together for nothing, and Juniper knew exactly what she would get if she dove right back in again. The real question was whether she wanted that or not. So much time and anguish had accompanied the last two, the endings marring the otherwise fantastic relationship they'd had. If only the positives came out of a third attempt, she didn't see anything wrong with that.

rhys alexander greyback ● 350

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