If We Make It Through December [Rhys]

[rhys alexander greyback]

i'm gonna break my rusty cage

and run

December 21, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Despite his previous relationship situation, Reconnecting was far different this time. Had fatherhood changed his perspective? Or perhaps the foundation was simply different? There wasn’t grief around every corner they turned or lingering as a constant presence. While Rhys never forgot Saffron, he had long learned to live with the guilt on his shoulders to the point of feeling normal. Juniper had not re-entered his life because of a call from Gringotts and St. Mungo’s and the need for a shoulder to cry on. Rhys remembered when he woke up and saw her. Despite the physical pain, he had been torn because while his heart hadn’t let her go at the time—Rhys hadn’t wanted her pity either.

”I doubt it.” Rhys disagreed. He had high marks before their relationship began, including working around the full moon and constant detentions. However, her help in transfiguration had been invaluable, of course. It wasn’t as if they’d spent that much time finding a broom closet or empty classroom to snog in now and then. Rhys remembered the jittery feeling in his gut in those days, similar to what he felt now. The difference was they had his flat's privacy and not the heightened awareness of an unlocked classroom.

But Merlin, if that risk hadn’t been worth the fun. Rhys had pushed the boundaries of that risk as far as Juniper would let him. She had never shied from expressing her opinion, and Rhys had never wanted her to feel uncomfortable. Plus, he had learned quickly how to make her brain stop for the most part. Rhys leaned back in and deepened the kiss, determined to fully distract her from all her tasks at hand. That could wait—that was the power of being a professor now. Letting his hands roam a bit, Rhys kissed her neck, remembering a spot higher near her ear that often would make her stop mid-thought. Pulling back slowly, he kept his face near hers. It took quite a bit of his willpower not to throw her over his shoulder to his bedroom, but he spoke in a low voice instead. ”You need to grade those exams, right?” Rhys knew her well enough that there was always the probability she would actually start grading what she had to complete. In this case, Rhys was fully prepared to distract her. But after months of enjoying one another’s company, he knew better.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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”Hmm…” Juniper hummed. Rhys hadn’t been terrible in school, she just had unbelievably high standards compared to most. That was probably why she felt like she had been of more assistance than she actually was by the end of it. At the same time, she had definitely helped in Transfiguration. Getting top marks in their year and then going on to later teach definitely proved to everyone else that she knew what she was doing. It was honestly a strange field to be in, the practicality of that specific field of magic lessening as more magical items were invented. People had everything they needed these days and had instant access to anything that they didn’t have. Quickly transforming an object really didn’t come to mind first anymore. She was just as guilty with that as everyone else too. Still, it was a fascinating subject. If it wasn’t, her classes wouldn’t have been filled up for the past two years. That meant something at least.

She could already tell how the rest of the night was going to go as he leaned back in to kiss her again. The ultimate distraction. That was what she had dubbed him in her head. Every single time she wanted to forget about work or life outside of them, she gave in like this. It said a lot about why she kept returning, each time making it harder and harder to want to go separate ways. The amount of wondering she had put into about what may have been had things never ended the last time. Things worked out better this way though. Learning from all of those mistakes had been an integral part of growing up and figuring herself out.

Rhys said something about her having to do her grades as he pulled away, and she shook her head side to side. ”I'll do them tomorrow,” she said as she stared back at him. And honestly, why should she have to do them at this hour anyways?

rhys alexander greyback ● 333

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[rhys alexander greyback]

i'm gonna break my rusty cage

and run

December 21, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys knew that Suggesting Juni begin grading papers was a ridiculous idea. But he thought it would be funny to suggest it, perhaps to gauge her response. As he expected, she gave him a knowing look—it was a tomorrow problem. His alternate plan would have been to distract her further until he got his way. ”Okay.” They returned to what they were doing. It was predictable but fun and just the diversion Rhys needed from other things on his mind. The trouble seemingly brewing with Sage and the incident the other night.

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He couldn’t gauge the time from his room. The blinds were always drawn to avoid the sunlight if Rhys had to rest during odd hours. Returning from the living room, he checked the time on his phone. As of late, time hadn’t felt real to Rhys. Often, he’d linger on a few thoughts in his mind for what felt like minutes, only for longer than that to have passed. With Juni, however, the familiarity left him comfortable enough not to dwell on the time. Ultimately, he typically had to return to work, or she had something to do for her work, which would end their time.

If he was being honest, agreeing the previous summer to keep it all simple had been the best decision they’d ever made. The minefield didn’t reappear, nor did the bitter resentments that eventually blew up into big fights. Merlin knew Rhys had enough on his plate right now, focusing on fatherhood, his work, and Sage. Maybe that was why he and Vasilia had not worked out—his plate had grown too full. In his other hand, he held Juni’s phone, which had buzzed on the table just as Rhys retrieved his phone. ”Your phone was buzzing.” The screen had not lit up, not that Rhys felt curious as to why. Well, if he didn’t linger on the thought, Rhys’s slight jealousy could be held at bay. Crawling back into his bed, he held her phone out as it buzzed again, the screen lighting up this time.

”You're popular tonight.” Rhys teased, an eyebrow slightly raised as he glanced at the screen. The downside of that summer conversation. They weren’t exclusive, they were not dating again, and Rhys had no logical reason to feel a slight jealousy if Juni was seeing someone else. She had every right and was a good catch. And he’d already told himself that it was easier this way: just sex, no drama or weight of the expectations from a commitment.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Juniper shivered as cool air found its way under the sheets. Rhys had left to find his phone amidst the dark apartment. Pulling the sheets up to her chin, she rolled them up into a cocoon to try and conserve body heat. Not that Rhys’s apartment was freezing by any means, but it was noticeable once she was on her own. Once he was back, she was probably going to try and catch some sleep. Even though she’d been fine with pushing off her grading until tomorrow, now that it was closer (or maybe it was the next day, that was unclear to her), she was starting to worry about it a little more. What she didn’t want was to be bombarded by Howlers from angry parents. The ironic part about that being that most of her students were technically adults in the eyes of the Ministry. Parents really had no say in it at this point in their children’s education.

Blinking back a brief dip into sleep, she heard footsteps returning to the bedroom. Rhys said something about her phone buzzing, and she reached up to take it. Almost blinding herself as the lock screen went to max brightness before adjusting, Juniper narrowed her eyes at the notification. A missed call from an unknown number. As she was about to put it down, a second bubble appeared, indicating that a voicemail had been left. Annoyed, she looked up at Rhys, ”I swear, if one of them got my number…” It wasn’t totally out of the realm of possibility. She had heard of strings being pulled within the Ministry to find these sorts of details on magi-phones and their owners. One pissed off parent with the right connections was all it took.

Unlocking her phone, she flicked over to her voicemails and clicked the message. Ten seconds of silence followed, and then a loud click. It was either the strangest intimidation tactic she’d ever seen, or someone did accidentally call her. ”Guess I’m safe,” she groaned as she put the phone on the nightstand.

rhys alexander greyback ● 344

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[rhys alexander greyback]

i'm gonna break my rusty cage

and run

December 21, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Juniper took the phone from Rhys, and he placed his own on the nightstand. Slipping back under the covers, he averted his gaze from the screen's brightness. It was far later in the evening than he had anticipated, but Rhys hardly focused on the time when they were together, or at least he had noted as much. It was the same when he had Amelia. The time always seemed to pass faster, if anything. ”One of who?” Rhys grumbled as he cozied up to Juniper. She was warm, and the familiarity provided comfort that Rhys didn’t know he needed.

She still messed with her phone. Rhys could hear the phone's small sounds when apps opened and closed, or letters were pressed. He had burrowed his face near her neck to avoid the bright screen and to distract her from whoever was trying to get ahold of her. It was a tactic Rhys knew would work because it was him, and he didn’t want to think about the possibility she might be talking to someone else. While nobody but himself had dropped that seed into his brain, Rhys found he had trouble shaking the thoughts at times.

Another click and then silence, followed by another loud click. She moved away to reach the nightstand. It hadn’t quite clicked for Rhys what she might be speaking of, so he looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. ”Safe? Need me to talk to someone?” Neither ever acknowledged the déjà vu of such moments. Rhys easily fell into protective boyfriend mode when she hadn’t asked, nor did either overthink his invitation to spend more time with Amelia. Rhys didn’t want to ask what it all meant because it was working right now, and he was happy without the drama, but at the same time, Rhys was never one to share.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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While Juniper enjoyed her position as a professor, she was coming to find out that there were only a few stretches throughout the year where she was truly free of it. The Christmas break was supposed to include a couple of days for that, but she had quickly found out that it wasn’t the case. At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter. The students were most likely all going to have passing marks on their papers and everything would be perfectly fine by the start of the next term. Parents didn’t need to be bothering her during her own vacation time.

”Parents of my students,” she said sleepily as Rhys found his way up against her again. He hadn’t been out of the bed long but managed to cool off drastically. On one hand, the sudden chilliness of the dark apartment was welcomed. On the other, she wanted to stay curled up and act as her own personal space heater. One would have assumed that all werewolves exuded warmth, but apparently that wasn’t the case. ”No…that’ll just give the nastier ones a chance to go after you.” With all of the recent legislation discussion, she felt like Rhys and the other werewolves needed to be more careful with how they approached everything. There were those within the Ministry that were genuinely out to get them. Any slip-ups were bound to be highlighted and blasted out to the public.

”I appreciate the offer though,” Juniper said as she let out a sigh of content and pushed her head closer to his. She had missed this. It had been hard not to compare her extremely brief relationships over the years to this. Being with Rhys had taken up the majority of her adulthood. Slipping back into it was too easy, despite everything that had happened. ”I’m sure no one at Hogwarts has ever told them no in the same way I have. Most of my students are adults. They can ask for their own grades if they want them.”

rhys alexander greyback ● 340

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[rhys alexander greyback]

i'm gonna break my rusty cage

and run

December 21, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys hummed a response. She was right, and it annoyed him. Not for the fact she was right, but it brought HOWL and all things related to the forefront of his mind. While nothing was written in stone, there was a chance it could be. From what Rhys remembered of werewolves in history, things felt like they were regressing at an alarming rate. It didn’t feel like a good time to be a werewolf, let alone Fenrir Greyback’s son. ”They’ll find a reason regardless…” Rhys murmured. He felt if that were the case, might as well take his shots. No time like the present.

As Juni moved closer to him, Rhys felt nothing but content. Wrapping an arm around her waist, Rhys brought her close so he could nuzzle his face into her neck. ”You should stay here more often.” Juni didn’t always stay the night, or sometimes Rhys would pop over to her flat. But whenever he’d roll over and smell her on the pillows, it left his heart fluttering in a way he couldn’t ignore. And certainly different than earlier in the year when all this began once again.

Juniper always felt inevitable to him. He had to admit, at first, the flirting and companionship had been a comfortable distraction until it went further into a fun distraction. But this familiar routine had brought back old feelings along with new ones. Rhys was not the same man that Juni had dated twice before. Fatherhood had changed him, and he hoped for the better. That last conversation over the summer had shown Rhys that Juni held a similar fear in her eyes. When things had been good, it had been good, but the bad had felt brutal, including the breakups. There was enough drama in his life, but Rhys wanted Juni to be his.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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The hate towards werewolves was so old-school that if it wasn’t inherently dangerous and mob-inducing, she would have said it was comedic. There would always be dissenters, obviously, but it was almost 2030. Advancements had been made in the last few years to not only allow for a safer transformation for those that were lycanthropes but also make them milder under the moon if they happened to run into a human. Aside from a cure, what else did these people want? She knew the ostracization used to be far worse and that it was only in the last few decades that sentiments started to get better. Juniper scrunched her nose at his comment about that sort always finding a way to be against him. It wasn’t a healthy way for him to approach day to day life, but he also wasn’t wrong. That was the part that had always frustrated her a bit.

Rhys pulled her even closer in as she spoke, making it apparent that work talk was coming to an end. Normally she wouldn’t bring that sort of thing up at this hour and wouldn’t have if her phone hadn’t rung. She knew there was a point where what he said next would come up. She had been thinking about asking him herself after the holidays. About the extent of what they were currently doing. Because quite frankly, it had all the aspects of dating without actually calling it that. It felt more than just another ‘honeymoon period’ to her, though she also wanted to be cautious of that. Going for a third attempt and failing would only make both of them look like fools. To their group of friends, they probably already looked like it.

”I do stay most of the time,” she said quietly in response. While not true all of the time, it had been increasing in frequency over the last few months. Especially after his birthday in August. Juniper knew what he meant though. It was hard not to.

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