As always, thank you for reading hippiechick! ;)

Chapter 5

"Remus? It's late. We can stop now, don't you think?" Aurora asked two hour later.

He glanced at his watch and saw it was well after 1 in the morning.

"Merlin, where did the time go? We better stop now. Get some sleep for the mornings classes." He agreed.

"Yeah. It's going to be a short night." She said.

"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts together tomorrow right?" He asked.

"Mmmhmm. Last class of the day again." She answered.

"Well, I'll see you then."

"See you." She said in her soft voice. She remained sitting on the ground staring at the lake.

"Can I walk you to your common room?" He asked politely.

"Thank you. But I think I'm going to stay out here for a few more minutes."

"Oh. Ok then. Good night." He said.

"Good night Remus." She replied and stared upward again.

Remus walked away back toward the castle feeling confused. He didn't want to like her but found he couldn't help himself. She was smart, sweet and had an intensity about her that he found captivating.

He could hear her humming mellifluously and turned around so his sharpened eyes could seek her in the dark. She had shed her robes and had drawn her knees up to her chest to rest her chin atop them as she rocked slowly to the music.

Remus felt an unknown tugging in his chest as he watched her for a few minutes, completely entranced. Then his feet, by their own accord, began walking back to her.

Aurora heard the footsteps and turned around to find Remus making his way back toward her. When he stopped a few feet beside her she stared up at him, puzzled.

"Feel like some company?" He asked quietly.

She nodded to the empty patch of grass beside her and continued rocking.

"Soo..." He said nervously. Now that he was here he didn't know what to say. "Do you enjoy Hogwarts Aurora?"

"Very much so. You?"

"Absolutely. It's my home." He answered. "It's kind of chilly out here. Are you alright?"

"Perfect. I just can't get over what a lovely night it is." She said dreamily.

"I guess." He said as he looked up to find what she was gazing at.

"Do you ever just look at the stars Remus?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you ever just look without being assigned to look?"

Remus considered the night time one of his worst enemies and wasn't really sure what she was getting at. Did he ever gaze? Maybe long ago.

"Not really." He answered honestly.

"The night tells a story you know." She said as she lay down on her back and propped her head up on her hands.

He followed suit and began gazing at the stars with her. "What kind of story?"

"All kinds of stories. Tales of sailors, wars, disaster, cheating lovers, vanity." She replied quietly as she turned her head to meet his eyes. "And love."

"From stars?" He said skeptically.

"Yes. Just from stars."

"Will you tell me?" He asked.

"If you look you can find them on your own." She said mistily.

They fell silent again. Each lost in their own thoughts until Remus was unable to hold the question that was ready to burst from his lips.

"Were you about to kiss me?" He demanded.

Aurora turned to him with surprise showing on her face before answering.

"I was."

"Why?" He asked.

"I don't know. It just felt right at the time." She explained.

Remus felt a happiness rush through his veins at those words but quickly tamped it down.

"Well you can't just go around kissing people Aurora. Especially me." He said sternly.

"Especially you?" She inquired.

"No. I'm not interested. In anyone. I haven't the time nor inclination to get involved with you." He said with false confidence.

Aurora felt the words pricking her and struggled not to let it show. He wasn't obligated to be interested in her. This was obviously a one sided attraction. But he was still her study partner so she'd have to deal with him for the rest of the year. Might as well make it tolerable.

Remus watched her get up and felt as if he had insulted her, making him feel guilty. "I've upset you." He stated at the flash of hurt in her eyes. "Listen, it's not because I don't think you're pretty or nice. You are. But my life is full of complications. There's just not room for more."

"You haven't upset me and I do see. That's fine. Because I'm not interested in you either Remus. Not like that. I was carried away by the night. Moonlight does funny things to people, you'll find out." She said as she pulled herself off the ground. "And being as we're going to be study partners all year, I think it's best if we don't get involved anyway. Although could we be friends?"

Now it was Remus' turn to be surprised. That was easier than he expected.

"I'd like that." He answered as he stood.

"Good." She replied as she held out her hand.

Remus looked at her momentarily before shaking it but the instant he touched her he felt the electric shock running through his veins, though he did his best to remain unruffled.

"Well...erm...it's very late Aurora. We've been out here for over an hour. Let me at least walk you up to the castle." He said as he looked at his watch.

"I suppose you're right." She said as she bent to pick up her robes, wand and book bag.

Remus couldn't help noticing how nicely her butt filled out her jeans but quickly chided himself. Friends do not check out each others ass in the moonlight, he told himself.

"So are you a half blood?" He asked as they began to walk.

"Yes. You?" She asked.

"Me too. How old are you Aurora?"

"Sixteen. How about you?"

"The same. When is your birthday?" He quizzed.

"November 2nd. When's yours?" She asked.

"March 10th. I'm older than you." He teased.

"Barely. So what do you like to do Remus?" She inquired curiously.

"I like to read and I play chess."

"Ahh, a smartie eh?" She teased.

"I guess you could say that. How about you?" He asked interestedly.

"I like to read too. I like to talk...obviously. And I like being outside."

"A sporty girl. I see. Do you like Quidditch?"

"Love it! Do you?" She asked.

"Ahh, a girl after my own heart." He said thoughtlessly and immediately snapped his mouth shut.

Aurora didn't answer him as she decided it was best to ignore his little flub. So they walked the rest of the way in awkward silence. They entered the castle and stopped at the Great Hall.

"What time should we get together tomorrow?" Aurora asked.

"Pardon?" Remus replied, bewildered.

"For Astronomy. It's not on our schedule for tomorrow so we're going to have to make our own time." She said looking at him oddly. "What did you think I meant?"

"Oh." He said choosing to ignore her last question. "How about 10:30."

"Fine. Good night Remus." She said.

"Good night Aurora." He said as she turned and sauntered off in the opposite direction of the Gryffindor common room.

"Where the hell have you been mate?" James demanded when Remus finally crawled through the portrait hole and into the common room.

James, Sirius and Peter were all sitting there waiting on him. Well Peter it appeared had dozed off in front of the fire but the other two were watching him expectantly.

"We lost track of time." Remus said simply. "Why? What time did you guys get back?"

"I've been back for two hours. Padfoot on the other hand..." James began but was cutoff by Sirius.

"I just got back about thirty minutes ago. I was working on...some extra credit, if you know what I mean." Sirius said slyly.

"You didn't!" Remus exclaimed.

"What? Like your any better? You expect us to believe that you were out studying until 2:30? With that gorgeous slice of heaven. Come on Moony!"

Remus felt something akin to jealousy clutch his stomach but tried to ignore it. Why should he care if Sirius, a renowned ladies man, noticed if Aurora was hot or not?

"We studied until about 1. And then we talked until about 2, ok. Nothing happened. It took thirty minutes to get back from the lake to here."

"Talked? If that's what you want to call it." Sirius heckled.

"I'm calling it talking because that's what it was!" Remus replied with frustration.

"Anyway. I'm tired. I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." Sirius said standing, apparently done with the conversation.

"Take Wormtail with you." James urged.

Sirius levitated Peter in front of him and guided him up the stairs leaving Remus alone with James.

"What was your partners name? I know I've talked to him before but I didn't know his name." Remus said trying to change subjects.

"Donaghan Trimble." James said. "What was your's name?"

"Aurora Moon."

"That's right! Aurora. I knew I knew her name. So, how did it go?" James asked.

Remus stared at him and decided how much he wanted to share.

"She was going to kiss me." Remus said.

"Going to? What happened?" James asked interestedly.

"Sinistra came."

"Damn teachers and their timing. Then what happened."

"Long version or short version?" Remus asked.

"Lets go short for now. It is really late Moony." James said.

"Yeah, I know. Ok, first she almost kisses me when we get to the lake, then Sinistra comes, we study for about two and half hours. I leave and she stays at the lake. I go back to see if she wants company. We look at the stars. I tell her I'm not interested a girlfriend, she blames the almost kiss on the moonlight and asks if we can be friends. Then we go up to the castle and go our separate ways." Remus explained.

"You told her you weren't interested in her?" James asked incredulously.

"I was just being honest Prongs. I'm not interested her." Remus said.

"That's bullshit and you know it Moony. You've been thinking about her since you met her." James accused.

"So what if I have? It's not like I can do anything about it! Once she found out what I am she'd take off faster than a Cleansweep 4. People like me don't deserve people like her." Remus defended.

"When are you going to start not thinking the worst of people? Or yourself for that matter. If you believe that then maybe you're right. You don't deserve someone like her. Or maybe you do and you're just to afraid to find out." James said cryptically as he rose.

"Good night mate." He said before disappearing upstairs leaving Remus alone to work out his friends harsh but true and well meaning words.