Among The Stars --- Remus Lupin

•twenty-four•

Ara's first Legilimency lesson was rather boring. Professor Dumbledore wanted to 'take it slow' and make sure she had 'properly mastered the basics.' All Ara had to do was read a terribly boring chapter in a terribly boring book about a terribly boring Legilimens with a terribly boring name. Then Dumbledore had her try several 'mind exercises' like visualizing forests and stuff.

The lesson had felt like a waste of time, especially since she had lost an hour of homework time because of it.

When she got to the common room Lily informed her that there was a Slug Club dinner tomorrow and everyone was to attend.

"What about Remus?" Ara asked, quickly realizing her mistake.

"What about Remus?" Lily inquired, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Um, what if he's still sick?"

"Guess he won't be able to come."

Ara nodded and spread her books across the table, preparing for a night of studying.

~~~~~

After a long day of classes the next day, Lily and Ara prepared for dinner.

Jones was still feeling particularly irritable, especially since Mary was still in the hospital wing and Lily was still not her usual self.

They walked to Slughorn's room, neither bothering to start much of a conversation, and knocked on the door. The Potions Master greeted them with a large smile and eagerly welcomed them in.

"So glad you could make it Ms. Evans, Ms. Jones."

They smiled in response, exchanging the usual pleasantries. As they sat down at their usual spots (the chair next to Ara empty, for it belonged to Remus), Ara noticed Severus sitting at the end of the table with several fellow Slytherins.

"What's he doing here?" Lily fumed.

"Seems like Slughorn finally noticed his incredible knack for potion-making," Ara replied, quickly scanning Snape's mind.

There were several other Slytherin newcomers and Ara quickly discovered that Snape had helped them get in to the club. They had all cheated and Snape had only taken part in it to remain popular, and that set Ara on edge.

Slughorn began the dinner by introducing the new members of the Slug Club, urging everyone to give them a warm welcome. The professor was quick to begin his usual rounds of questioning, starting with the group of Slytherins.

One boy in particular was going on and on and on about his love for alchemy and it made Ara sick. A quick glance at his thoughts and she knew he was one of the boys who tortured muggle-borns.

And she snapped.

"You don't love Potions! You cheated on your O.W.L.s last year to be in Advanced Potion Making and you and your dumb friends use Severus as a way to keep getting good grades. You only need to be good at Potions so you can work in the ministry. But guess what? Daddy's money and bribes aren't going to get you anywhere," Ara spat.

"Ms. Jones, those are quite the accusations to be making. Where in the world could you be getting information like this?" Slughorn questioned, face red.

"She's making it up! She just wants attention because her boyfriend's not here to give her any," the boy grinned, but the look in his eyes told Ara that she had struck a nerve, and that seemed to start a fire within her.

"You're the one who wants attention. Having 3 older brothers must be hard, huh? Always fighting to be the best? Knowing that you'll never be perfect in you father's eyes. Knowing your mother is too depressed to notice any of you anyway. Thinking that following your father's prejudices will somehow make him notice you? Will somehow make him see you as more than a crumb on the floor?"

"That is quite enough!" Slughorn bellowed.

Ara blinked, and noticed that she had almost brought the poor kid to tears. She closed her eyes and seemed to come out of a trance.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"Yeah well it doesn't matter, because none of it's true." The boy objected, wiping his eyes.

What had she done? And why had she done it?

"Ms. Jones, I think you and I should take a quick trip up to the headmaster's office," Slughorn sighed.

Ara nodded, knowing that trying to explain herself wasn't worth it.

Ara had let the beast inside her win, but the problem was, she didn't yet know its reward.

~~~~~

A/N: short yes, but I wanted to publish it so yea

sorry if this made you sad or mad

whOoPs

Thanks for reading! (: