Aurelia never felt more down. Lily's words pierced her heart like a dagger, as if they were shredding her insides. What James and Sirius did was uncalled for. Their actions were vile and cruel, and Remus, Peter, and Aurelia weren't any better. Remus acted as if nothing was happening, despite having the privilege of being a prefect. Peter laughed — watching hungrily at the ordeal. Aurelia said stop, nothing else, nothing more. She wasn't any better; she could have easily prevented everything in the first place.
She was useless.
She was cruel.
At least that's what she thought.
What Lily said wasn't hurtful really — all she did was blatantly state the obvious — but it hurt Aurelia nonetheless.
"They're bullies."
Aurelia never saw the group of boys as anything but kind. They were sweet and caring; they brought a smile to her face and would all laugh at their memories, their adventures, their experiences.
But what Aurelia had seen definitely wasn't kind. Still, Aurelia felt a strong desire to punch Snape so hard after he had called Lily a Mudblood. Snape deserved what he got. He was practically asking for it.
Aurelia never felt more disgusted with herself in her life.
She was huddled up in her common room, looking out of one of the arched windows next to a midnight blue carpet that was covered in small, luminous stars. She simply stared out the window, her mind blank, vacant.
She never felt so lonely.
Deciding that what she was doing was pointless, Aurelia slipped on a burgundy sweater and headed out of the common room. It wasn't past curfew yet, so when she bumped into the Grey Lady she did nothing but give her a reproving glare; some sort of reminder to not stay up too late. Aurelia sighed, wrapping her arms around herself — all of a sudden feeling deeply self-conscious. She hadn't even realized where she was going until she reached the Astronomy Tower. It was tall enough to have a superlative view of the starry night sky, and extremely airy, giving itself a serene feeling, reminding Aurelia of the Ravenclaw common room.
Someone was already there though.
Aurelia could distinctly make out the figure of Regulus Black — his perfectly wavy hair and ice cold eyes giving it a dead give away. He seemed to have noticed her, as he pat the spot right beside him. Not wanting to embarrass herself even more than she had already, Aurelia made her way over. They sat in complete silence, no words spoken between the two, simply enjoying being in each other's presence.
Finally Regulus looked to Aurelia, a look of curiosity taking over his features. "Aren't your feet cold?" he asked softly.
Aurelia looked down, just then noticing that she had neglected putting on any shoes. She shrugged carelessly. "A bit. But all my shoes have mysteriously disappeared."
"How come?" Regulus questioned.
"My friend Xenophilius says they're such thing as Nargles. I suspect they're behind it."
"'Nargles'?" Regulus asked. "What are 'Nargles'?"
"Magical creatures that typically manifest mistletoe," Aurelia said knowledgeably. "They are mischievous and they can quite possibly have potent capabilities."
Regulus chuckled slightly. "You never fail to amuse me."
"I could say the same."
"I amuse you?"
Aurelia shot Regulus a deadpanned look. "No, I meant to say I amuse myself."
Regulus reddened, but said nothing, continuing to watch the stars.
"Do you know which one is Regulus?" he finally asked.
"I've never been good at Astrology," Aurelia admitted. "Are you?"
"It's my favorite subject," Regulus said. He then guided Aurelia's finger so it was pointing at one. "That's mine."
"It's pretty," Aurelia said quietly, gazing at it for a few seconds. "What's that big bright one?"
Regulus stilled for a second. "Sirius."
"His name is named after a star also? I thought your parents just named him that for entertainment purposes."
"I suppose it could work both ways."
"Personally," Aurelia said, "I think the Regulus star is the most beautiful."
"You do?" asked Regulus, looking temporarily in shock.
"It's the brightest star in the Leo constellation. It also means prince, which I suppose suits you. I mean, you are basically the Slytherin prince." Aurelia laughed ever so slightly, her twinkling eyes gazing at the star, before settling her eyes on the one next to it. "Sirius means glowing, which I suppose suits the star's name, but it's funny really. I can't even hear the word 'serious' before making a pun. You, however, are lucky in that regard."
"I thought you didn't know anything about Astrology," Regulus said, grinning briefly.
"I lied," Aurelia simply replied, before diverting her attention back to the night sky.