Moon and Stars

fourty three

As happy as she was when she started working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, it was mainly from the awe of the extravagant products, and being able to communicate with so many people throughout the day. In Astronomy, she was lifted off of her own two feet by the orbital patterns, the elements brought by constellations, all of it, and she got to interact with hundreds of students, a set of fresh faces every year; it was perfect.

It was so perfect, she almost didn't want to go back.

The only thing pulling her back home was Fred Weasley. That boy was everything to her, and even if he was angry at her, and even if she messed up more than anyone could imagine, he was everything to her. As much as she loved Astronomy, he was her moon and stars, and she couldn't give that up.

She couldn't give up on it so easily. She needed to make things right. She needed to make things right with a lot of Weasley's right now, and that was intimidating to her, but she knows the family. She's apart of the family, always has been, and she has a feeling that they wouldn't give up on her so easily, either. She had hope, and that's what was bringing her back home in a week.

And she was mentally begging for him to have hope, as well.

Once the first class was finished, the students filed out, and Aurora helped clean up and prepare for the next batch, ready to do it all over again. She thoroughly enjoyed shadowing Professor Sinistra while she worked, and was anticipating the day when she would be able to do it herself.

Even with Fred flooding her thoughts, she was still able to maintain focus on the students and the professor. Professor Sinistra was the only person allowed to do magic in the room, so the students watched as she enchanted model planets to orbit as they actually would, and Aurora couldn't help but smile at the students who seemed more into it than the other kids were, because that was her.

She was always the girl who raised her hand as soon as the question was asked, desperately trying to get her name called, so she could show off her knowledge of the subject. If it hadn't been for her spot on the quidditch team, and her well known friend group, she would've been a complete outcast, but she wasn't. Her life was simple, besides the major Wizarding War that was approaching. She had it simple back then.

Now, in the present tense, she dealt with struggles on the daily, struggles that she was growing used to as time went on. She worried about her boyfriend back at home, and if he still loved her, or wanted anything to do with her. She was nervous about the girl living with him, and how she didn't trust any of her actions that she couldn't see. She was preparing to make a career choice of a lifetime, and though she knew it was the right choice, it was a lot of pressure to put on a girl who was barely 20 years old.

As the classes went on, lunch time was approaching quickly, and Aurora would get to speak to her mother face-to-face, something she hadn't been able to do since the war. She wasn't nervous to see her again, but she worried Minnie would be angry at her for waiting so long.

The chiming of the bells indicated that class was finally over, and students piled out of the room towards the Great Hall, but Aurora stayed behind with the professor to straighten things up. Professor Sinistra knew she needed to speak to her mother, so she let her out a little earlier than she normally would have, and Aurora began to head to the Great Hall with a few stragglers who were late to leave class, or who just came from the dorms.

The sounds of hundreds of students chattering among themselves filled her ears as she entered the large dining hall, and her eyes were automatically drawn up to the ceiling once again. She smiled at the enchanted sky before walking down the middle isle, heading for the table at the front.

Aurora knew that nobody but the professors were allowed at the table, so she stopped before getting too close, and her and her mother made eye contact simultaneously. She hadn't told Minnie that she was coming, so her reaction was genuine when a big smile came to her face, and she left her seat, coming down to give her daughter a hug.