Stars and Ground

✩CHAPTER 5✩

If not all the Gryffindors were giving Aurora the cold shoulder, now they were. So were the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses. "I don't get it!" Sirius cried out. The Mauraders were in the Gryffindor Commons Room after all their classes. "Why would she go out with Lucius damn Malfoy?!" 

"I don't know! It's ridiculous!" James said. Remus agreed, and Peter said nothing like usual. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

"Maybe she really is a Slytherin...the hat could have been wrong," Remus suggested, shrugging.

"Yeah. It's okay, Sirius. It's not like we're friends with her anyway," James agreed. Sirius dropped the issue, but he wasn't giving up. He just knew that she wasn't like her family. She was like him. He knew she was. It wasn't anything his friends would understand; their families were nice and accepted them. Sirius knew what it was like to be Aurora. And, he knew something was going on with her. He wanted to be friends with her. He still does. 

Lucius was into a lot of PDA. Every chance he got, he'd kiss Aurora. Aurora knew this was for him to establish his dominance, and remind her what would happen if she didn't behave. He wouldn't leave her alone. He insisted that she hang out with his friends, so that's what she did. She didn't want Orion to suffer. She liked Narcissa. Bellatrix seemed...insane. Regulus was quiet. He didn't talk to her much. Crabbe and Goyle did whatever Lucius asked them to. They walked outside, acting like they ruled the school. Aurora despised it so much. 

Lucius took whatever chance he got to dock points from the other houses. Aurora just silently pursed her lips. It wasn't like she could say anything. Sometimes, she forgot that she wasn't a Slytherin. Everyone. Stared. They all thought that maybe Aurora was different once she got disowned. Now they were sure she wasn't different. Aurora hated it. She was different. She wanted to punch Lucius in the nose. They didn't do anything eventful that afternoon, except laze around and loiter. 

After dinner, Aurora managed to slip away from her 'boyfriend.' She went outside to take a deep breath. She knew she couldn't do this much longer. She had to find a way out of it that doesn't kill her brother. She was the only one outside. At least, that's what she thought until she saw a student sneaking into the Forbidden Forest. Why were they doing that? She ran after him. She wanted to figure out what he was doing. As she got closer, she saw that it was Remus. "Remus! What are you doing out here?!" She yelled. He froze and turned around.

"Uh, nothing! You?"

"Going inside," She said and turned around. Remus Lupin was hiding something, and she was going to figure it out. He was always disappearing off at this time of the month. He had been for the past 2 months. Aurora was getting suspicious. No one else asked where he was. She didn't think anyone else noticed. She could tell when someone was hiding a secret, though. She spent most of her life lying, after all.

Aurora skipped dinner that night. She wasn't in the mood for Lucius's antics. She wanted things to go back to normal again. Was that too much to ask? She knew Orion was locking himself in his room, beating himself up for getting her into this. She knew she should go tell him it wasn't his fault, but it was his fault. Why did he have to go and make friends with Lucius Malfoy of all people?  She knew it was selfish of her, but she wanted him to hurt just a little longer. 

***

Even Severus wasn't talking to her the next day. Aurora sighed. She knew he didn't approve. Lily Evans was sitting in her spot in Potions, which left her with the seat next to Sirius Black. She sighed and sat there. Sirius stared at her. Aurora stared at Severus. Severus and Lily were laughing at something. Aurora felt a pang of jealousy. Why was she jealous of Lily? She couldn't figure it out, but she wished she were Lily at that moment. Did she like Severus? 

Sirius watched Aurora watch Severus and Lily. Did she like him? Snivellus? Sirius scoffed at the thought. Why would she like Snivellus of all people? More importantly, why did Sirius care? Obviously she doesn't like him. She has a boyfriend. For the first time, Sirius was jealous of Snivellus. He couldn't believe it. He already knew that he had a crush on Aurora. He accepted that. Ever since he laid eyes on her in Madam Malkin's, he liked her. Instantaneously. He refused to believe that she was like the Cresswells. 

After her classes, Aurora darted to the Slytherin Commons room. She looked at the calendar. What was so special about this time of the month? Why was Remus disappearing off? She researched for hours. She even went to the library. She came up with almost nothing. The only thing that she found, was that was full moon days. Why was Remus disappearing at the Full moon? Aurora gasped, connecting the pieces. She checked out a book on werewolves. She spent the entire night studying them and it all made so much sense. Remus Lupin was a werewolf.