Among The Stars --- Remus Lupin

•twenty-six•

Thinking back to what Lily said, she automatically felt bad.

"Remus I'm so sorry about this week... really the past few weeks. I've just been so out of it--"

"Hey," he interrupted, "don't worry about it. I understand."

Ara nodded.

The game began. It wasn't a very exciting game, for Gryffindor crushed Ravenclaw. The poor team barely scored once. The red and gold clad players had definitely made a comeback since the beginning of the year.

However, the rest of the house was ecstatic about the win. Apparently Gryffindor hadn't won the House Cup for a while.

Lily jumped for joy and sprinted down to the pitch. From their place in the stands, Remus and Ara watched James pull Lily into his arms and kiss her. To everyone's surprise, his dear Lilypad kissed back.

Ara was so happy for them her anxious thoughts were momentarily gone. She turned to face her lovely boyfriend, finally rising from the stupor she had been in the past few weeks, and kissed him.

He automatically kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her to pull her against him. She put a hand against his cheek.

Remus pulled away after several moments, his cheeks were red.

"Wow, I kind of wish quidditch wasn't over if I get that kind of reaction from a win."

Ara gave him a genuine smile and took his hand, leading him down to the field to congratulate the team.

Jones ran over to Evans and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Lily!!!" Ara squealed.

"I know, I know."

Lily's grin was so wide it was a wonder her face didn't split in half.

It was nothing compared to James's though, who looked like he might explode. He had finally caught the girl he'd been chasing for 6 years and his team had just played a brilliant game.

Nothing could break Ara's good mood, in fact she was actually looking forward to the party that was already being set up in the common room. She hurried up to her dorm to change out of her school robes and found an envelope sitting on her bed.

And her stomach sunk.

She sat down and shakily pulled the yellow parchment from the envelope. She had a terrible feeling about what might be written inside. The happiness she had been feeling chipped away with each sentence she read.

Freak.

You thought you could come to Hogwarts with a fresh start? We know who you are and we know what you did at Beauxbatons.

You're a monster. Even a Slytherin wouldn't be cruel enough to insult someone as deeply as you did at the Slug Club dinner. We hope you're happy with yourself. The poor kid you attacked hasn't slept for weeks.

Who do you think you are invading someone's thoughts like that? How do you live with yourself? Go back to where you came from.

Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. What had she been thinking? Believing she could live a normal life with good people as her friends after learning what evil she was capable of.

Ara ripped the paper into tiny pieces, sobs wracking her body as she did so. She ran to the common room, where the party was just starting, and threw the pieces into the fireplace.

Sirius noticed her first and sprinted after her as she left the common room.

"Ara! Wait up! What's going on?"

She didn't slow her pace and he jogged up behind her and grabbed her wrist, tugging her into an empty classroom.

She didn't resist as he sat her in a chair and let her cry. She didn't resist when he bent down beside her and wiped her tears.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently.

"I-I'm a f-freak."

Sirius stood, directing her to stay there. He exited the classroom, muttering about how he'd heard those words before.

A few minutes later Remus appeared. He took one look at the sniffling mess in front of him and automatically saw the troubles he had faced.

"Oh, Ara," he said, hugging her.

"S-someone s-sent me a t-terrible note."

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"No," she said sternly, pulling away. "Can you just not be sorry? Be mad at me! I hate that you're so kind and accepting when I don't deserve it. I hurt someone, I've hurt multiple people. And don't try to act like you understand because you'd never cause harm on purpose."

"Ara I do understand--"

"No you don't!" she was yelling now, not able to control herself. "You don't, okay? You don't know what it's like to constantly be feeling what someone else is feeling. To never have your own thoughts because some other person is wearing their's on their sleeve. To not only have your own worry circling your mind, but everyone else's. For your mood to drastically change just because a group of people walked past you. To lose sleep wondering if you're a good person. So don't try that crap with me. You don't get it."

She stood and stormed out. Leaving a heartbroken Remus behind.

~~~~~

A/N: whOoPs

Thanks for reading! :)