The week flew by fast. Mina almost forgot to meet with Remus on Saturday. She waited in the hallway of Gryffindor Tower for somebody to exit the common room. Finally the portrait hole swung open and Lily steeped out.
"Lily, thank god it's you," Mina said.
"Hey. Wanna come in?" Lily asked.
"You know I can't," said Mina.
"Oh, by the way, Mina, Remus told me he'd meet you at the 3 Broomsticks. If you ask me, I'd say this was a date," Lily said.
"I'm not asking you and this is not a date. I'm just making sure everything is all right with Remus," Mina said.
"Whatever you say."
"Are you ready to go, Lily?" Mina asked in a slightly irritated tone. Lily nodded and they both left the castle, headed for Hogsmeade.
It was 11 AM and Mina hadn't had much time that morning to get ready. She wore an orange and red shirt representing her favorite quidditch team, the Flaming Hawks, and a pair of blue, bell-bottom jeans. Her hair was up in a ponytail. Lily, on the other hand, had plenty of time to get ready that morning, and she wore a cute pink blouse and matching skirt. She even had time to curl her hair.
When they got to Hogsmeade, they ran into Phoebe.
"Hey guys. Lily, you look exceptionally nice today," said Phoebe.
"Yeah, I just thought I would curl my hair for a change," Lily replied.
"What's the occasion?" Phoebe had an eyebrow raised.
"I'm trying to get Frank Longbottom to notice me. Surely he'd notice that I did something with my hair, right?" Lily asked.
"I guess so," or "Yeah sure, Lily," could be heard muttered by both Mina and Phoebe.
"Let's go to the 3 broomsticks. Maybe he's there," said Lily excitedly.
When they entered the 3 broomsticks, Lily spotted Frank right away and strolled over towards him.
"Hi Frank," Lily said, beaming.
"Oh, hi Lily. It's nice to see you," he said, returning her smile.
"Thanks. You too," Lily said.
Somebody called Frank's name and he turned to go talk to that person, leaving a blushing Lily behind.
"Uh...how'd it go?" Mina asked.
Lily sobbed. "He didn't notice my hair!"
"Aw, don't worry, Lily!" Phoebe said cheerily.
"Hey, Evans!" James had spotted Lily and walked towards her. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Evans, I like your hair like that. It's sexy," he said, twirling a finger in her hair.
"Why thank you, James. Can you please stop touching my hair?" Lily asked.
"Hey, Potter! Why don't you go do something with your hair! It's a mess!" Mina teased.
"Sod off, Gray!" James spat at her and stalked off.
"What's his problem?" Mina wondered.
"Mina." Mina felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around.
"Remus." He motioned for her to sit down at an empty table with him. (A/N: if she sits down at the table, how can the table be empty? Haha...)
She waved bye to Phoebe and Lily, and then took a seat.
"How are you?" she asked.
"Better," he said. His face seemed so expressionless, and yet so... tired. She saw weariness each time she looked into his deep black eyes.
"That's good-" Mina stopped talking, for Remus seemed upset. He was looking down at the table. He then looked up at her.
"I don't want you to take pity on me, Mina," he said.
"What?" Mina seemed confused.
"That's why you wanted to talk to me, wasn't it?" he asked.
"Not at all! I was just-"
"Worried?" he finished her sentence.
"Yes, worried."
"Don't be. Look, Mina, what you saw the other morning... I want you to forget it," he said.
"Why?" If there's something that you want to let me know, Remus-"
"No." Mina sighed.
"I guess I just can't beat it. Madam Pomfrey told me there were things I didn't know about you," she said.
"And I prefer if nobody knew those things. Nobody except Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, and-" he stopped.
"And who?" asked Mina. Remus didn't answer her.
"Can I get you guys anything?" One of the waitresses came their table.
"Yes; two butterbeers, please," Remus said, not taking his eyes off Mina.
The waitress walked off to prepare their order, and he looked away. Mina felt awkward. She looked at Remus and he met her gaze.
In his eyes she saw years of fear, worry, and pain. He was only 15, but she knew somehow he must have had a lot to endure in his life. She felt his pain; she shed his tears. Herslife wasn't so great, either. When she was little, Mina's mother used to drink, and she would beat her only daughter. Mina would spend the long, lonely nights crying in her room. Her father would come in to comfort her, hugging her and singing an Irish lullaby to make her fall asleep. (A/N: Mina is part Irish, as you can see) Her mother gave up alcohol when Mina was 9. Both of her parents began serving Voldemort soon after that, and she and her father began drifting apart.
Remus and Mina seemed to be staring into each other's eyes for ages. Their gaze was broken at the sound of the waitress's voice.
"Two butterbeers," she said, handing each of them their drinks and walking away.
Mina took a large swig of her butterbeer and almost choked. She wiped her mouth.
"Your eyes are really pretty," Remus said to her. Mina felt herself blush. Was he hitting on her?
"Thanks," she replied simply.
"You must be the prettiest girl in Hogwarts," he said.
"I dunno... people always say it comes close between Lily and me," Mina said, still blushing.
"Not at all. You and Miss Evans are both beautiful in your own separate ways. But I like you because you're beautiful on the inside, too," he said. Mina was beet red now.
"Um... w-well, a lot of girls are like that," she stuttered.
"Not Slytherins," said Remus, "You are a beautiful Slytherin."
Remus Lupin was quite the charming one. Mina decided that she liked him. He really seemed interested in her. He was someone she could talk to, and he was nothing at all like Snape.
"Snape!" Mina cried out.
Remus looked confused. Mina checked her watch. Noon.
"Oh god, I forgot about Snape! I have to meet him… I'm really sorry, Remus, I have to go!" Mina stood up and reached into her pocket for some money.
"That's okay, Mina, I'll pay for the butterbeer," he said.
She thanked him and headed off to the Hogstail.
A/N: this chapter was fun to write.However, somehow, this is starting to sound like a big sob story in Mina's case. Because her mom's an idiot.
Also, just to let you guys know, Frank Longbottom is really of no importance to this fanfic. Just some infatuation of Lily's until I can build up her and James' relationship.
To my reviewers:
Crazayladay- I'm glad you like my story. I'll keep updating, don't worry.
PaulC- Lily is only perfect from Mina's point of view, really. I will try to read your story when I can. It sounds interesting.
-Thanks all of you! I hope this story turns out to be a success. So far, it's starting to go somewhere. Well, ttfn!