Among The Stars --- Remus Lupin

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A/N: Today is my birthday so I wanted to do what makes me happy and write. I've switched back to gifs of Ara because I think it fits this chapter better. Hope you enjoy!

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Christmas break ended much too soon for Ara, and before she knew it she was back at Hogwarts. Things were going well, though. She was acing all of her classes and hanging out with friends. Ara even had time to sneak away with Remus for some alone time.

About three weeks after break, things started to change.

Ara was sitting in Transfiguration, taking notes on wand movements, when Professor Trelawney knocked on the door.

"Is Ara Jones in here?" Trelawney asked.

McGonagall, slightly annoyed, nodded her head towards Ara's desk. Trelawney stepped over to the Transfiguration teacher and whispered something in her ear. McGonagall's face turned white, as she said, "Ms. Jones, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office."

Ara tried to read her professor, but it was almost as if a wall had been put up between them. It was almost as if Minerva was using Occlumency.

The blonde witch packed her things and met Remus' eye before following Trelawney out the door. He gave her a kind smile, but worry was hidden in his eyes. Lily caught her attention too and she raised an eyebrow in question.

A word wasn't spoken on the way to Dumbledore's office, and when they arrived Ara was shocked to see her parents sitting in front of the Headmaster's large wooden desk.

"Mum? Dad? What're you doing here?"

"Sit down, please, Ms. Jones," Dumbledore said kindly.

Ara sat on the edge of the seat next to her parents.

Dumbledore pushed his glasses up on his nose, before slowly folding his long fingers in front of him.

"Sybill tells me that you have been doing quite well in Divination," he started.

Ara looked at Trelawney, she was nervously pulling at her many shawls.

"It's one of my favorite classes," Ara responded, turning her attention towards the Headmaster.

"Why is that? If you don't mind me asking."

"It comes naturally, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

Ara was beyond confused. Why was she here? What did they want from her? And what in the world were her parents doing here?

"I've just always had a knack for reading people. I like learning about people just from observing them," she answered finally.

"How, exactly do you 'read people'?"

Ara would've broken down if it hadn't been for Dumbledore's encouraging stare and slight smile.

"I don't know."

Professor Dumbledore unfolded his hands and twirled a quill around.

"Ms. Jones, we believe that you might be a Legilimens."

Her mind went blank. It was like her thoughts had turned to static.

"What?" she mustered.

"Do you know what that is, honey?" Mrs. Jones asked.

"Yes, but..."

Of course she knew what a Legilimens was, but they went through years and years of practice to learn the skill of uncovering the layers in people's minds. It was very rare that someone was born with the talent.

"But what?" Her mum coaxed.

"But, it's so rare for people to be born as one. And I don't read minds, I-I read people."

Ara looked desperately to Trelawney to back her up.

"Your work in Divination has been extraordinary, like nothing I've ever seen," Sybill complimented.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Now your talents need to be disciplined. Someone as gifted as you needs to be trained correctly, and there's multiple ways we can accomplish that."

Ara still couldn't wrap her head around what was happening, she wasn't a Legilimens. Right?

"There are special schools that you can apply for---"

"I'm not leaving Hogwarts," she interrupted. How could she leave her friends?

"Now Ara we need to talk about this, if special training is what you need then a different school might be the way to go." Mr. Jones explained.

Dumbledore smiled, "We'd also be happy to help Ms. Jones here. I have been trained in the art of Legilimency and so has Sybill. It would not cause any problems to schedule Ms. Jones some extra lessons."

"Please Mum and Dad. I can't leave my friends."

Her parents exchanged looks.

"We can try it out," Mrs. Jones offered.

"Wonderful," the Headmaster explained. "Let's go ahead and look at your schedule. We can figure out what days you can attend Legilimency lessons."

The rest of the meeting was spent redoing Ara's now very busy schedule. She said goodbye to her parents and met her friends in the common room. They had all been anxiously awaiting the reason for her absence in class.

"Is everything okay?" Lily asked.

Ara sat down on the couch and Remus took her hand, rubbing his thumb across her's gently.

"I'm a Legilimens," Ara whispered, the words didn't feel real.

"Like, you can read minds?" Peter inquired curiously.

"But isn't it super rare for witches and wizards to be born a Legilimens?" James questioned.

She nodded.

"Do you have to change schools?" Lily worriedly asked.

"No, I have extra classes with Dumbledore and Trelawney."

"How do you feel?"

This question came from Remus, and the sympathy in his eyes was enough to make her melt.

"I don't know. Scared, maybe?"

Remus pulled her into a hug and she sunk into his arms. Maybe she could just disappear.

"What're are you scared of?" Sirius asked.

"People are afraid of Legilimens. They think they'll discover their greatest secrets and some argue that it's unethical. I don't want to be hated," Ara said anxiously.

Remus pulled her closer, "Nobody could hate you."

Lily stood up and put her arms around her, and soon everyone was part of a group hug.

"Thanks guys," Jones laughed.

"It's actually pretty cool," James reasoned.

"You're, like, crazy talented," Lily added.

"We'll love you know matter what," Sirius teased.

"I can't believe I know someone who has such cool powers!" Peter exclaimed.

"You'll be great at it, you already are," Remus smiled.

Ara thanked them all again and excused herself to bed. She didn't sleep well that night, there was too much to think about.

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A/N: Is this chapter short? Yes.

It it cheesy? Yes.

Is it late and my writing is probably horrific? Yes and probably.

Ughh I hope you liked it. I really like the Ara is a Legilimens and I kind of wanted it to be a bitter-sweet thing if ya know what I mean.

Thanks for reading! :)