"There you are, Mina! I've been looking all over for you!" Lily said, catching up with Mina in the hall.
"Hey." Mina smiled. She only ever smiled for real when Lily was around.
"I don't know about you, but if I study anymore, my brain will explode, so let's take a walk outside," Lily suggested.
"You always seem to be reading my mind, Lil,"
Lily shrugged. "Whatever. Let's just go." She led the way outside to the Hogwarts Lake. They always sat there and talked.
Mina sat on a rock by the water's edge. She let her fingers gently touch the surface of the water. It was relaxing.
Lily took off her shoes and put her feet in the water. Her hair was being blown violently by the wind.
"Hey, Lil, what do you see yourself doing after you graduate?" Mina asked.
Lily turned and looked at Mina.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well, we've always decided that we would get married young, live next door to each other, do everything together... you know. But, I mean, we planned it all out when we were 12 years old. Now, things are... different," said Mina.
"How so?"
"Look at us. We're obviously not getting married right away. We're both single. My family expects so much from me, but your family will let you do anything you want to do. We both have different paths," said Mina.
"Mina, we have two years before we graduate. I wouldn't worry about boys. And my family is different from yours, but since when do you do what your parents tell you?" Lily asked.
"Since the day I was born. That's my problem. My life is horrible! Lily, you're going to be so successful in life, you know that?"
"My life isn't any better than yours! I'm not perfect..." she sighed.
Lily looked up and, to her dismay, noticed Sirius, James, and Peter coming their way.
"Oh, look. It's the 3 musketeers," Mina said.
"Actually, we'd like to be called 'the Marauders' from now on," Sirius said proudly.
"Doesn't' the word 'marauder' mean someone who steals, curses and is a troublemaker? Somebody who's looking for detention? And what with Mina and I being prefects and all..." Lily said.
"Ah, but a friend of ours is also a prefect, so you can't give us detentions," James said.
"I don't see him," Mina said, looking around.
"He's busy, for your information," said Peter.
"Mina, let's go. It's getting dark, and there's no use fighting with them," Lily said.
It was indeed dusk, Mina's favorite time of day. Everything glowed a deep, midnight blue. It would all last for no more than a few minutes. Soon the moon would be out. It was a full moon tonight, and Mina had been waiting for it for a whole month. Everything to do with the sky and the moon and stars intrigued Mina.
"Don't be in such a rush to go, Evans," James said.
"Yeah, Lily. The boys are just screaming for detentions tonight. So let's give it to them," said Mina. Lily turned around.
"Fine," she said, smiling.
"Wait a minute. You're not giving me a detention without putting up a fight," said Sirius.
"That's ridiculous-" Lily began.
"No, Lily. If Sirius wants a fight, we'll give it to him and his little followers," Mina said.
"Excuse me, but I am not a follower!" James argued.
"Shut up," Mina said. She pointed her wand at James, who found he now was unable to open his mouth.
Sirius had his wand out already.
"Expeliarmus!" he shouted. Mina's wand flew into his hands.
"Hey!" Mina shouted.
Lily muttered a charm at Sirius. Mina, Lily, Peter, and James all began laughing hysterically at him. His hair had turned hot pink.
"Bravo," came the voice of Snape. He walked over towards the girls.
"Uh...thanks," said Lily.
Sirius was infuriated. He pointed his wand at Snape.
Now the Marauders were laughing. Snape's pants had fallen down, revealing green boxers with little golden snitches flying around on them. He quickly pulled his pants up, cursing Sirius under his breath. He looked up and caught Mina staring at him with her eyebrow raised. She laughed.
"Expeliarmus!" Snape shouted once his pants were on. Mina's wand flew out of Sirius' hands and into his own. He tossed Mina her wand.
"Ridio!" Mina said, her wand pointed at Sirius.
Suddenly Sirius went into huge laughing fits. He felt like somebody was tickling him.
Peter realized he had to help his friends at this point. He cured Sirius and James, and turned Sirius's hair back to its original, dark colour.
James pointed his wand at Mina. "Petrificus Totalus!"
The curse did not hit Mina. It hit Lily, instead.
Lily's entire body was paralyzed. She stood there, unable to move.
"Whoops. That'll only last a few minutes. Don't worry," James said. He came over and put his arm around Lily. "I like you better when you're not moving," he said to her.
"That's enough!" Mina grabbed James off of Lily and pushed him into Sirius.
"All of you! Just get out of here!" she said.
Sirius muttered something like you started it, and walked away, James and Peter following.
Snape took the curse off of Lily.
"There. I did you a favor, mudblood, so you owe me," he said. Mina smacked him in the back of his head.
"Don't use that word!" she said. He smirked and walked away.
"He thinks he did you a favor. He's a loser," Mina said.
"So is James," Lily agreed.
The two of them walked back to the castle.
"What time is it?" Mina asked once they were inside. It was freezing and she was hugging herself and shaking.
"6:45," Lily said, looking at her watch.
"We're missing dinner! I'm starved!" said Mina. They headed to the Great Hall and parted as Lily made her way to the Gryffindor table; Mina to the Slytherin table.
Snape was sitting next to the only available seat at the table. Mina sighed and reluctantly sat next to him.
"Oh good. I saved a seat for you," he told her.
"I see," said Mina, frowning.
"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Snape asked.
"No," Mina lied.
"Well, those losers shoudn't have messed with you," Snape said, referring to the Marauders.
"No, they shouldn't have. I guess I'm lucky you stepped in to help," Mina lied again, trying to boost Snape's self-esteem.
Snape smiled proudly. "So what are you doing this weekend?" he asked.
"Um... Isn't there a Hogsmeade trip this weekend?" Mina said, taking a bite of her macaroni.
"That's why I asked," said Snape.
"Oh. Well, I suppose I haven't made any plans yet, and I'm guessing you want to go with me, right?" Mina asked.
"I thought you might want to hang out," Snape replied.
"Well, what did you have in mind?" Mina asked while swishing the noodles on her plate around with her fork.
"I don't know. We could go to the 3 broomsticks," he suggested.
"Everybody goes there, Snape. Howabout somewhere more... quiet? Just you and me?" Mina asked. Was she leading him on? She certainly didn't want Snape to take this the wrong way.
Snape's smile widened. "That'd be lovely," he said, "we can meet at the Hogstail at noon."
The Hogstail was a small little restaurant in the back of Hogsmeade that not too many students knew about. Mina would go there with Lily sometimes to buy gelato.
Mina forced a smile at Snape. He was rude to Lily, so why was she being nice to him?
The rest of their dinner was spent in silence. Mina found she didn't have much of an appetite. She didn't want anyone to bother her, so she left for the dorms. Once she was alone in her room, she picked up her potions textbook and began to study once again.