Chapter 9

When Monday rolled around Aurora anxiously waited for Remus to show up for Defense Against the Dark Arts but when the last bell rang and still the chair next to her was empty she had to tamp down her disappointment.

She hated to admit to herself that the thought of seeing him today had kept her excited all weekend.

Well, it looks like another lonely night studying the Astronomy alone, she thought sulkily as she dug for a quill to take notes from Professor Lachlan.

I should make him a copy of the notes. He would probably appreciate that so he can keep up. Yes, I think I will.

I hope his mum is ok, she thought suddenly.

Here I am feeling sorry for myself when I should be worried about him. How considerate of you. What if something went wrong in her surgery, she worried as she forced her self to pay attention.

Remus crossed the grounds slowly and silently and found that Aurora was already by the lake working. He watched her observingly for a few minutes. She had taken her robes off and was wearing a yellow sweater and jeans. She was engrossed in the stars above, scribbling on their chart as she hummed and swayed softly.

It was easy to see why she was in Ravenclaw. She's exceptionally bright and very witty, he thought. Even as she bent over the telescope she exuded intelligence. And face it, she's practically carried you through Astronomy so far. What kind of help have you been? None, he scolded himself.

Remus forced himself to move where she stood and beamed a smile at her.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late." He said startling her.

"Remus! You scared me." She answered with her hand over her heart.

"Sorry about that."

"That's ok. I just didn't expect you, that's all." She said.

"Yeah, things ran a little later than expected, so I missed classes." He explained.

"I took notes for you in DDAD." She smiled as she stooped to get them from her bag.

"Thanks. Did I miss anything important?" He asked as he pushed her gently away from the telescope so he could look through it.

"Not really." She replied as she sat down to work on the chart.

They were silent for a few minutes as he gazed and she waited for him to tell her the latitudes.

"How did everything go?" She finally asked.

"Go?" He said in confusion.

"With your mother."

"Oh. Fine. She's going to be ok." He said quickly and she didn't press. Obviously he wasn't comfortable talking about it.

"I'm glad to hear it. I was worried." She shared.

Remus felt very touched that she cared and turned around to give her a smile but it quickly dropped when he saw the shocked look on her face.

"What?" He said as he spun around, looking behind him to see what she was looking at.

"Remus, what happened to your face?" She asked with concern.

The moon had finally illuminated his face enough for her to see him clearly. He had scratches and bruises all over him.

He turned back around and thought as fast as he could.

"Oh. My cat was playing and attacked me in my sleep, so that's how I got the scratches. And the bruises are from falling out of bed. I was dreaming then fell and hit my head on my night stand." He said smoothly.

"Merlin, you had a rough week then didn't you." She replied sympathetically.

I'm getting too good at this lying thing and I don't like it, he thought guiltily.

"Not too bad." He said honestly.

"I have some aloe in my bag to help with those scratches." She told him.

"That would be nice. You like to take care of people don't you?" He asked.

"It's an instinct but yes I do like it." She answered as she rummaged through her bag and pulled the tube out.

"What do you use this stuff for?" He asked curiously.

"Lotion. Can you come stand over here? I think there's more light." She said as she grabbed his arm and positioned him so the moon hit him squarely in the face.

"Damn. That cat really got you." She said as she placed a hand on his shoulder and stood on tiptoe to begin dabbing the aloe on his cuts.

"You did clean these, didn't you?"

Her close proximity was making him fuzzy headed and it seemed that her voice was a mile away. He closed his eyes against her tender ministrations, her feather light touch stroking his face had his blood roaring in his ears.

"Remus?" She said a little louder.

He popped his eyes open and met her gaze as he willed himself to calm down.

"What?" He asked.

"I asked if you cleaned your cuts."

"Pomfrey did." He answered without thinking.

"You went to the hospital wing?" She inquired.

"What? No. Not voluntarily. I was coming back from home, she saw me and insisted she clean them." He lied.

"Oh." Was all she said though she felt he wasn't telling her something.

Blue eyes met gray ones as she proceeded treating his scratches until she was no longer using the aloe but stroking his cheek instead.

He reached up and stilled her hand as he continued to stare at her. He cleared his throat and forced his voice to work.

"I think that got them. Thanks." He said gently, continuing to hold her hand.

"Sure. Here, you keep the tube. I have another one. Make sure you put some on in the morning." She said, feeling very flustered.

"I will." He assured her.

"Erm, I better get going. I have a lot of homework to do." She said as she pulled her tingling hand free.

"Ok, yeah. I'll work on this some more." He said as she gathered up her stuff.

"Good night Remus."

"Night." He said as he pressed his eye back to the telescope.

"Hey Aurora." He called after she'd walked a couple of steps.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to go to the quidditch match together Saturday?" He asked shyly.

"I'd like that." She answered with a smile.

"Meet me in the Great Hall at six?" He said.

"I'll be there. See you."

"Good night." He said and watched her walk back up to the castle, leaving him pondering in the darkness.