Chapter Four: Of Chasers and Seekers

Mina
She fell down wearily onto a couch in the common room. The ever volatile English climate had abruptly changed from snow to rain. The light rain had started to fall during the midafternoon; it was very cozy sitting by the fire, listening to the gentle patter of the drops on the window, while letting her mind wander. She stared into the fire; the book she had been reading was ignored on her lap, her fingers acting as a delicate bookmark.

She loved letting her mind wander, especially during these stressful and turbulent times. The silence was broken instantaneously by a soft tap, tap on the window. Mina looked across the now empty common room and saw, illuminated by the moonlight, a minute, grey owl (that very much resembled a feathery tennis ball) perched on the windowsill. She had seen that owl before but where? Suddenly it hit her.

"Mungojerrie!" she shouted, and she launched herself off of the couch and across the room to pull open the window.

Mungojerrie flew inside, soared across the room, and landed on the table, right on top of Mina's book.

"Remus sent you?" she asked the owl quizzically. Mungojerrie stuck out his leg to which was tied a grubby piece of parchment. Mina hastily untied it and sat back down on the couch prepared to read, whereupon Mungojerrie fluttered onto her knee, hooting softly.

The letter was very short, and looked as though it had been written with great care. Mina cooed the contents of the letter at Mungojerrie:


Mina,
I would be greatly pleased if we could reschedule our Quidditch practice.

Remus


Mina looked up at Mungojerrie perplexed, as the bird stared back at her, clicking his beak expectantly. She dug into her robes searching for the treat she knew was there. Well, what did she expect? It wasn't as if he was going to ask her to the Yuletide Ball or something...She chortled with a hollow laughter, blinking back tears, getting tangled in her robes, and accidently jolting Mungojerrie out of her lap as she did so. She thrust the treat at him indignantly as if he were the cause of all her anguish, and then realizing she was behaving this way towards an owl, softened up considerably. Patiently feeding Mungojerrie the aforementioned treat, she grabbed her nearby quill and parchment and hastily scribbled a reply:


Of course,
We can schedule it after the Yuletide Ball.

Mina


She gently tied the letter to Mungojerrie's leg, and carried him to the windowsill, perched on her finger. Mungojerrie then hooted softly in a reassuring way, as he spread his tiny little wings and took off into the light rain. Mina watched him fly out of sight with an unfamiliar feeling of unease settling into her stomach. Honestly, what did she expect the letter to say?

Remus
Not very much unlike a father pacing in a maternity ward, Remus paced nervously about the common room. He had no clue as to why he had worked himself into a tizzy over this simple request to reschedule a simple Quidditch session. Somewhere in the dark concavities of his mind he knew why he had gotten himself so worked up. To see her elegantly sophisticated longhand writing made his heart trill with anticipation, and read her luxuriant phrasing was almost more than he could bear. To Remus's great dismay, the Marauder's too, had noticed his bizarre behavior.

"Oi! Remus! Breathe mate, you look as if you're about to suffer from a cardiac arrest!" Sirius called jokingly. James, after downing several Butterbeers in his depression over Lily, joined in the banter.

"Relax old chum, it's not like you asked her to the ball!" James yelled rather loudly, which to Remus's chagrin, earned booming laughter from the Marauder's and several chuckles from other people scattered about the cozy common room.

"I'm just worried about Mungojerrie, that's all! Lord knows that bird could easily get lost in this tempest!" Remus hotly replied. Never mind that it was only drizzling outside, James was so drunk Remus was surprised he had not yet begun to see double, and Sirius's mental state was rapidly approaching that of James'.

He turned around to hear a barely audible tap! and saw the soaking feathery tennis ball that was Mungojerrie. "Mungojerrie!" he practically screeched, throwing open the window to the common room as the dripping tennis ball stepped in. He gently tore off the letter, and aware of the Marauder's drunken eyes on him, made a great show of Mungojerrie's safety. "Oh thank Merlin you're alright!" he said clutching the wet bundle of feathers to his chest, causing Mungojerrie to squeak at the injustice of it all. After letting the irate owl go, Remus slowly, but calmly walked past the Marauder's and into his dormitory room that he shared with the rest of his now drunken comrades.

Confident they were to past out in the common room, Remus tenderly laid the note containing Mina's answer, thus far unread, on his bedside table, while promptly dressing into his appropriate nighttime attire. When he did unfurl the rolled up parchment he was more than a bit surprised at what she wrote:


Of course,
We can schedule it after the Yuletide Ball.

Mina


He was not sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. Then what exactly was it? he asked himself irritably, now annoyed with his irrational behavior. Honestly, what did he expect her response to say? He lay awake almost all night long, not realizing she was doing the exact same thing, asking herself the exact same questions.

Mina
The dawn of Monday, December 19 started with snow falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds. Mina smiled when she noticed that Hagrid's cabin mirrored a picture of an iced gingerbread house and his adjoining pumpkin patch looked like something out of a holiday greeting card.

When she had finally awoke and dressed, she hurried out of her common room and into the corridor on her way to the Great Hall, but what she saw stunned her into a respectful silence. The Hogwarts staff seemed determined to show the castle at its best this particular Christmas, no doubt for the Yuletide Ball. When the decorations were put up, Mina noticed that they were the most stunning she had yet to see inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bededcked with everything from real, hooting, golden owls, to luminous red holly berries, and the suits of armor had been bewitched to sing a variety of Christmas carols whenever anything crossed their path. It was quite amusing to hear suits of armor sing full verses of "O Christmas Tree" and "O Come, Ye Merry Gentlemen" with orchestral interludes.

Smiling brilliantly and shaking her head at what appeared to be the folly of the Hogwarts staff, Mina happily strolled through the corridors as one might through the woods. She looked with awe at the picturesque decorations while waiting for the rest of the castle to rouse.

Remus
Remus was pleasantly surprised at the new Hogwarts decor, and strolled through the corridors and other points of interest throughout the castle with an appraising eye. He had almost begun to feel his heart lift slightly from the disappointment of last night, and made a vow to himself to ask Mina out before sunset of that very day. He smiled, feeling better, if not a tad bit more bold, already. He returned to the common room waiting for the Marauder's the rouse from their drunken stupor.

Mina
At a quarter past seven, she meet her friends outside the portrait to their common room, and she immediately found herself engaged in a lively converstation about the merits of silver and what color it was most likely to bring out about her person.

As the giggling gaggle of girls flocked to the Grand Hall, Mina couldn't help but feel a twinge of petulance owing to last night's events. Although more than half the Hogwarts population was gone, all fourteen Hufflepuff girls, fifth years and above included, all had dates or partners to the Yuletide Ball. Mina, feeling very much like the ugly duckling in the gala of swans, was feeling just a farthing worth of annoyance; it did not cross her mind that the Marauder's knew of Remus's infatuation with her and threated to hex anyone witless enough to ask her to the dance, and as a result, all probable suitors steered clear of Mina. She made an effort at small talk, but always found her gaze constantly drifting over to the Gryffindor table in the hopes that she might see a certain someone...

Remus
What was he playing at? The odds a girl like her would say yes to a bloke like himself was showing a level of obvious incompetence bordering on the imbecilic. He buried his head in his hands, not sure anymore what he was to do. Every time he glimpsed Mina that day she was surrounded by friends. Even when going to the lavatory Mina seemed to go there with an escort of four or five girls... Didn't the poor girl do anything alone? Did she even know what it truly meant? Remus felt a pang of pain caused by his own train of thought. Getting quickly back to the matter at hand, Remus tried, in vain, to plan an effective way to lure an unsuspecting Mina, devoid of friends, to him. He immediately thought of the Quidditch pitch, but somehow that didn't seem romanic enough, and he briefly remembered he had canceled the Quidditch practice until after the Yuletide Ball. After remembering this, he made a brusque mental note to curse himself once back in the saftey of his own common room. The Marauder's Lair perhaps? No, too risky as James or Sirius might walk in on something important. Yet if he didn't do it soon and kept rejecting various locations for whatever reason, she was bound to have been asked by somebody else.

This thought pushed all others out of poor Remus's love sick mind. He'd just ask Mina for a word with him, that was all...He ran with a new fervor, recklessly careening through various corridors hoping to catch a glimpse of his beloved. Thankfully, it worked. Remus saw the back of Mina's long, strawberry blonde hair done up in a clip and ran headlong to her retreating figure. After gaining considerable ground and trying to catch his breath, he politely tapped her shoulder, and as she spun around to confront him, he greeted her with a smile.

"Um...Mina? Could I have a word with you?" Remus blushed.

Snickering should be made punishable by magical law, Remus thought angrily, as all the girls surrounding Mina began to commence in this highly illegal activity. Mina looked curiously at Remus as he had never sought her out before, and wondered briefly to what she owed the pleasure. She followed him out of earshot of her friends.

"Okay, what's up?" she asked concerned.

Remus admired her. Always concerned about the welfare of others before her own; always there to lend a helping hand or offering a shoulder to cry on; always...He shook himself out of his silent stupor.

"Er," he mumbled intelligently. He couldn't ask her. He couldn't. But he had to, and he must. Mina stood there looking puzzled, watching him.

The words came out before Remus could stop them. "CanwedoQuidditchpracticeonthe27th?" he silently berated himself and if Mina hadn't been there, Remus would've taken the nearest sconce out of the wall and gladly beat himself to death with it.

"Sorry?" Mina asked, still wearing a puzzled expression.

Remus now muttered to the floor, "I was wondering how Quidditch practice on the 27th sounded to you?" he kept berating himself with each word. Quidditch practice? Pretty soon she'll think that's all I think about! he silently fumed. He was so busy damaging himself psychologically, he almost missed Mina's answer.

"Oh, that'll be fine." she replied with a (dare he think it?) crestfallen manner. "Is that all?" she asked, more hesitant this time. Remus noticed her friends behind her becoming more rowdy and quickly assured her, "Um, no, I'm good..." how he longed to tell her why he had really called her over! Every fiber in his being longed to hold her, but...He merely gave her a noncommital wave, while watching her rejoin her friends, and as she turned back one last time, he flashed her a calming smile while the rest of his insides were breaking into a million pieces.