Mina woke up that morning at 6. She found she could not get back to sleep, so she quietly crept down to the common room, careful not to disturb her roommates.
Mina sat down on a comfy green chair. As always, there was a fire in the fireplace. Mina had her potions book with her, so she opened it; but as she began to read, the words started to blur together. Mina looked at her watch. She had less than two hours before classes started, so why was she stressing? Because although her father owned a potions factory, and although she was great at making potions, Mina sucked at memorizing who invented what potion and when.
Mina strode back to her dormitory to put away her book. Her eyes then fell to a nearby window. It was facing the Forbidden Forest, which, despite its name, was beautiful; especially at this time of the year, when all the leaves were turning colors and gently floating to the ground.
At that moment, Mina saw a figure running out of the forest and towards the castle. He- or she- seemed to be limping as well. Mina ran all the way downstairs to see who it was.
A boy Mina's age burst through the front doors. His clothes were torn and he was bruised and bleeding all over.
"Oh my god!" Mina ran to him as he fell. He looked up at her.
"I'm fine; don't worry about me," he said.
"You're hurt. You need to go to the hospital wing!" wing said. She helped the boy to his feet and led him all the way to Madam Pomfrey's. He didn't' say a word.
"Back again, Remus?" Madam Pomfrey asked the boy.
"Ray-mus?" I know you. You're the Gryffindor prefect. Aren't you friends with my cousin?" Mina asked. Remus nodded slowly. Madam Pomfrey handed him a potion.
"Rub this over your wounds and they'll heal instantly," she said. He took the potion from her.
"You may go," she said. Remus got up and limped out of the room.
"Are you sure he's all right?" asked Mina.
"There are a lot of things you do not know about that boy, Ms. Gray. He'll be just fine," Madam Pomfrey assured her.
Mina left the room and headed for Gryffindor tower to find Remus. She caught up with him in the hallway.
"Hey," she said. He didn't answer her, but he stopped walking.
"Why are you so beat up? Did somebody try to hurt you?" she asked. He turned to look at her. There were tears forming in his eyes.
"If I were you, I wouldn't worry about me," he said. A cut above his right eye was bleeding. Mina put her finger on his brow and wiped away the blood.
"I don't know you that well, but if you ever need someone to talk to, let me know." She walked away.
At breakfast, Remus Lupin could not keep his thoughts off the Slytherin prefect who helped him that morning. She was too kind, and didn't know what she was doing, but he thought about taking her offer to talk to her.
"Something wrong, Moony? You seem distracted today," said James.
"I'm fine, really. Rough night, you know? So... has Peter figured out how to transform into an animal yet?" Lupin asked.
"He's getting there. I wonder what animal he'll become?" James said.
"Probably a worm," Sirius joked.
Remus couldn't help from letting his eyes wander over to the Slytherin table. He couldn't spot Mina, though. His eyes scanned across the entire room until he caught sight of her at the Ravenclaw table. Lily was there too and they seemed to be chatting with an Asian girl who must've been a Ravenclaw.
"What are a Gryffindor and a Slytherin doing here?" asked a Ravenclaw 4th year. She had curly red hair, big blue eyes shielded by wide-rimmed glasses, and freckles all over her nose and pink cheeks.
"They're my guests for today, Lana," said Phoebe.
"Anyway, as I was saying-" Mina began.
"Go back to your own tables," Lana cut her off.
"No need to be prejudice," Lily argued.
"All I'm saying is there are different houses for a reason," Lana continued.
"Forget this. I'm out of here. I knew this was a bad idea from the start," Mina said. She left for the Slytherin table, but on her way somebody tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around to see who it was.
"Hi."
"Oh. Hi, Remus," Mina was relieved to see it was not Snape.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to... talk... over a cup of butterbeer this weekend," he said.
"Uh... sure. That'd be fine," said Mina.
"Good. See you then," he turned around and went back to his table.
"Mina, what was that all about? What did Remus say?" Lily asked.
"Butterbeer. He wants to go get a bottle of butterbeer with me at Hogsmeade this weekend," Mina replied.
"Why?" asked Lily.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. He said we could talk.... This morning... I saw him come in the castle, bleeding and hurt, so I asked if he wanted to talk about it," Mina explained.
"This morning? He doesn't look hurt," said Lily.
"He went to the hospital wing," Mina said.
Lily looked at Remus, who was sitting with Sirius, James, and Peter again, laughing and talking.
"It's so odd. He seems like such a normal person," she said.