Among The Stars --- Remus Lupin

•four•

Ara was getting a lot of unwanted attention lately, and she didn't quite know how to handle it. Once word had got out that she was a drop out from Beauxbatons, well...

It started with a few Slytherin boys whistling at her during Herbology, her first mixed class.

"This is normal," Lily said seriously, "They whistle at me, too."

But that wasn't it. Boys from Ravenclaw would come up and ask her what they were thinking. When she tried to answer honestly, they would claim she was incorrect (which she wasn't)  and say, "I was thinking about the beautiful girl in front of me."

Even a few of the Hufflepuff boys would smile and wave at her, but then look down in a blush. She didn't understand the sudden interest, these boys didn't even know her.

Although, this was nothing compared to the girls. They would whisper in the corridors about how Ara was expelled for not being pretty enough. Lily and Mary would take her arm and tell her to shrug it off, not that Ara was bothered. In fact, she could care less what other girls thought of her. There were much more important things for her to worry about.

For example: Ancient Runes.

Ara had eagerly signed up for Ancient Runes because it was something she desperately wanted to lean. Unfortunately, the class was impossibly hard; and it didn't help that everyone else in the class had already been taking it for a year. Luckily, Remus had taken it last year and was happy to help.

One night, as Ara was fuming over her homework; Remus was patiently trying to explain that a bird with an open beak meant silence, and a bird with a closed mouth meant chatter (which hardly made any sense), James decided to interrupt them.

"What're you up to?" he asked, sitting across from them.

Ara and Remus sat on the floor with her papers sprawled out across the coffee table. Ara was gripping her quill so hard that Remus was worried it would snap in half.

"Ancient Runes," Remus answered.

"Oh, that class? Why? It seems so complicated."

"Trust me, I'm beginning to regret taking it myself," Ara seethed.

"It'll start to make sense, just give it some time," Remus soothed.

"So, that Sheperd's Pie at dinner tonight was pretty good, huh?" James asked.

"Don't you have someone else you can go bother?" Remus inquired, obviously annoyed.

James sighed heavily, "Peter is in detention with McGonagall and Sirius is out with some girl. Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair once quidditch starts."

"When does that start again?" Ara questioned sarcastically, James had only been talking about it for the last week.

James sat up excitedly, "Next Monday. Did I tell you I'm captain?"

"You might've mentioned it," Remus grumbled, rolling his eyes. Ara giggled.

Eventually James got bored of them and left. Ara finished her Ancient Runes homework, thanks to Remus, and she was happy to say she kind of understood it.

-----

The day of Gryffindor tryouts was a busy one. James stomped into breakfast and took the whole bowl of scrambled eggs as his own.

"Gotta have plenty of protein," he said through a full mouth.

Sirius approached the matter differently. A Hufflepuff girl had joined us for breakfast and was practically sitting on top of Sirius.

"It's so brave of you to try out. I bet you're so strong," she cooed.

"Yeah, being a Beater takes a lot of upper body strength," he said, casually flexing his arms. The Hufflepuff girl fell into a fit of giggles.

"That is, if you make the team," James slurred through a sip of juice.

Remus and I shared a look, trying to contain our laughter.

After a difficult Transfiguration lesson (McGonagall was teaching them how to turn a pillow into a pigeon), the Gryffindor crew walked down to the Quidditch pitch. Ara, Remus, Lily, and Peter stood in the stands, watching a group of students listen to James' commands.

James was a Chaser and Sirius was a Beater. Mary was trying out for Seeker, and Lily had informed Ara that she was quite good.

James had students who were trying out for Chaser try and get the ball past their team's Keeper.

"We don't need a new Keeper this year. Samuel was on the team last year and James decided to keep him," Peter said admiringly.

Sirius and two others tried out for the position of Beater. They hit the Bludger at floating targets while James studied their form.

Finally, James released the Snitch and Mary and one other girl flew around the pitch; diving and swerving to catch the speedy golden ball. Mary made a spectacular dive and thrust her fist in the air, the tiny ball clasped in her hand.

Sirius and Mary both made the team, and James dismissed the players he found not good enough. Ara encouraged them as they walked off the pitch, telling them they played really well.

All James could talk about at dinner was his new team. He blabbered on and on about how great they were going to do this year.

Ara kept a book hidden under the table and she read while pretending to be listening. Remus, who was sitting across from her, was doing the same thing; and he playfully bumped his book against hers. She looked up at him and smiled. He brought a finger to his lips, silently motioning for her not to tell.

-----

Things were going well for Ara. She was doing well in all of her classes and was even offered to join something called the "Slug Club" by her Potions Master.

Lily was very excited when Ara was accepted.

"It's loads of fun," she chattered. "Slughorn hosts dinners every month and during the holiday's he has a magnificent party."

Everything seemed to be looking up until James fell back into an old habit. Bullying Severus Snape.

Severus was sitting under a tree, playing a game of Exploding Snaps with Lily and Ara. Aside from Severus' sometimes prejudice remarks, he was fine company.

James walked up with Peter and Sirius, Remus lollygagging far behind. They sneered at Snape.

"What're you doing playing cards with someone like him, Lily? And getting poor Ara involved in his life, too?"James taunted.

"He's my friend, James." Lily bit back, a warning tone in her voice.

"Yeah right, like anyone could be friends with him," Sirius snickered.

"I think Severus is nice," Ara offered. She hadn't yet witnessed one of James' bullying sessions, and was rather taken aback by his attitude.

"Come on Lilypad,  why hang out with him when you could be with me?" James whined.

"Because you're an arrogant git and I'd like you to leave."

Ara was shocked. What had happened to the flirty nature of these two?

James bent down low and leaned his face in close to Severus'.

"What kind of Dark Magic have you done to make her believe you're better than me?" Potter accused.

"I haven't done anything to her. Maybe she doesn't like you because you won't respect her wishes for you to go away," Snape whispered harshly.

James turned red in the face with anger. Ara was about to intervene, but Remus stepped in.

"Alright, James. That's enough."

James let Remus lead him away, but not before sending a backwards glance at Severus.

~~~~~

A/N: Hope this isn't too boring. I'm just trying to build up some conflict.

Thanks for reading! (: