Another Chapter! Yay for me! I'm making progress, I think. I love this story, but I'm not sure if I even know where it is going. Don't worry, of course I know where it's going. But every once in a while I think about going back and changing something that I didn't like. But it's too late for those things.

Chapter 11

"He kissed me."

Mina's eyes searched for some sign of falseness in Lily's face. But she only saw sincerity in those emerald eyes.

"When? Where? How?" Mina asked. They were sitting by the lake with Phoebe at lunchtime.

"When James cut in on my dance, and we got lost in the crowd. I was too dizzy to realize what was happening. He just kissed me," Lily said.

"On the lips?" Phoebe asked.

"On the cheek," Lily said.

"Oh," Phoebe replied.

"Anyway, even if it was only on the cheek, it's still more action than I got with Frank," Lily sighed.

"Hey, at least you didn't get kissed by Snape on the lips when you were half asleep," Mina said.

"What? He kissed you!"

"Yeah… That's the last thing I remember before I fell asleep on the common room couch," said Mina.

"Hey, that's not so bad. At least it wasn't your first kiss," said Lily.

"Oh my gosh!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"No way! Lily, that was your first kiss? You're kidding me!" Mina almost laughed.

"Go ahead and laugh, Mina. I don't care. You've dated more than one guy before, and you've kissed guys before. But not me. Not everyone has that luxury, you know," said Lily.

"I'm sorry, Lil. And here I am, moping over Remus Lupin," Mina apologized.

"What about Remus Lupin?" James had overheard Mina as he passed by. Okay, actually, he was following Lily, not passing by.

"Stop stalking me," Lily replied.

"Stalking? So quick to jump to accusations, aren't we, Evans?" James defended himself.

"Well, what are you doing here?" Lily asked.

"Stalking you," he grinned as he put an arm around her. She shrugged it off.

"We were having a private conversation here, Potter. Please leave," Mina said.

"I'm leaving," he said, and then he did leave.

"Isn't that slightly creepy to you?" Phoebe asked.

"Of course it is. But I'm used to it. Just pray that it stops soon," said Lily.

"I wouldn't worry for long. He's going to get over you soon, Lily," Mina reassured.

"I don't know, Mina. He's been after me for almost two years now," Lily frowned.

"Oh ye of little faithe," Mina said, "Hey, do you think Snape will leave me alone, too?"

"Snape? Are you kidding me?" Phoebe said.

"You never know," said Lily.

"True."

"Phoebs, you never told us what happened with Sirius," Lily said.

"Oh. Well, the bell's about to ring, so I'll tell you in class," Phoebe said.

"Oh, stop it! You're ignoring that question for a reason, aren't you?" Mina accused.

The bell rang, declaring it time for the next class, which meant Potions for Slytherins and Gryffindors.

"Sorry, but I've got to get to the Astronomy tower," Phoebe said, grabbing her books and running off. Mina and Lily did the same, heading for the Dungeons.

They filed into the classroom, where they sat next to each other at a table. The table next to theirs was occupied by the 'Marauders'.

Mina stared at Remus, not realizing it, until the bell rang for class to begin. The teacher now grabbed everyone's attention.

"Good afternoon, class. I have just spoken to Professor Dumbledore about going on a class field trip in November, and he thinks it would be a good idea. We will be going to a potions factory in Hogsmeade on the 17th. The owner of this factory, Dr. Julian Gray is actually the father of your classmate, Mina Gray," as the teacher said this, Mina sunk down in her chair, "You all need to sign permission slips." With a wave of his wand, permission slips flew off of his desk, and landed onto each of the students' tables.

"Professor, where's my permission slip?" Mina asked, seeing as she was the only student without one.

"Oh, Mina, I already spoke with your father, and he signed your permission slip for you," the teacher replied. Mina rested her head in her hands.

"Mina, what's wrong?" Lily nudged her.

"Nothing. I just don't want to go to my father's factory," she answered.

"Well why not? Don't you want to see your father?" Mina hesitated.

"No, I don't."

"Is this because of the, er," Lily lowered her voice to a whisper, "deatheater thing?"

"What? No... That's not it. It's... Well, it's embarrassing, really."

"Oh, come on, Mina! Embarrassing? It's your dad. It can't be that bad," said Lily.

"I just don't want everybody to meet him. But, I guess it's not worse than having everybody meet my mom. That would be a disaster," said Mina.

"Especially after what happened when Remus met your mom," Lily added.

"Oh, don't bring that up again," Mina said.

"Sorry. But promise me that you'll come on the field trip. Please," Lily pleaded.

"Okay, okay, I'll go."

"Good."

The next Friday, Mina had her tutoring session with Remus in the library. She didn't know what she should say to him. She wasn't sure if she should say anything at all. Lily told her she should talk to him, or at least try to talk to him. Lily had said, "Why should you be the unhappy one?" She was right. And so Mina did talk to him.

"So do you understand chapter 4?" Remus asked.

"Huh? Oh... yes. Remus, can we talk?"

"Are you sure you understand it?" Remus ignored her.

"Yes! We really need to talk," she said.

Remus sighed and looked at her.

"Alright, we'll talk. What is it?" He said.

"Well... What do you think it is?" Suddenly Mina felt very angry. And well, why shouldn't she be angry?

"Oh. That," Remus looked away, "I guess we should clear some things up."

"Yes, we should. I've been so upset this past week, you know, and..."

"I'm sorry," said Remus, "and the feeling is mutual. I'm upset at myself for letting a good thing go. But... the truth is, I don't deserve you, Mina. That's why I broke up with you."

"What? But, Remus, I don't deserve you! You're such a nice guy! And guys like you only come around once in a lifetime!"

"I wish I could say the same for you, Mina. You see, when I first asked you out, I just did it because I was jealous of Sirius. He was always popular with girls, and I thought if I went out with you, I could be more like him. But I felt so guilty... I started to really like you, Mina. And I couldn't stay with you, so I broke up with you," Remus confessed.

"You wanted to be like Sirius? That's ridiculous! Why would you- oh, nevermind. The important thing is, you were honest with me. But I'm the guilty one. When we were going out, I didn't want anybody to know about it. I wanted to keep you a secret from my friends and family. That was selfish of me," Mina said.

"Wow. I didn't even think about that. You know, I think we're both guilty. We were just using each other. We didn't really like each other, did we?" Remus asked.

"No... I suppose not," Mina said. But I do like you, Remus. I just can't tell you.

"Can we be friends, then?" Remus held out his hand with a big smile on his face.

"Okay," Mina shook his hand. Maybe things are better this way. She smiled back at him.

"Now, are you sure you understand the chapter?" Remus asked.

"I told you, yes!"

"I was just kidding, Mina!"

"Oh. Well... where has that sense of humor been hiding all this time?" she laughed. Remus laughed, too. Mina, he thought, I love you, but I can't tell you.

"What are you so happy about?" Lily asked when she saw Mina that night.

"It's the weekend. Why wouldn't I be happy?" Mina said.

"Something definitely happened. You talked to Remus, didn't you? I told you it would work!"

"Yes, okay, I admit you were right. Let's go sit by the lake and I'll tell you all about it," Mina said.

"Okay." They went out by the lake, where they found Phoebe sitting by herself.

"Hey! Phoebe, you've been ignoring us for the past week!" Lily said.

"Huh? Oh... yeah, about that..." Phoebe began to get up.

"No! Sit down!" Mina said. She didn't listen.

"We'll give you detention if you don't sit down!" Lily threatened.

"That's abusing privilege!" Phoebe said.

"Phoebe! We're your best friends! Why can't you tell us what happened at that dance?" Mina asked.

"Because... I don't know. I felt bad since the both of you had a terrible time, and," Phoebe said, "I had the best time of my life!"

"What? Really? What happened?" Mina and Lily wanted to know.

"Well, I too got kissed. By Sirius, of course. And... we've been hanging out a lot... and I really like him, and..."

"So, are you going out?" Lily asked.

"I don't know. He hasn't asked me yet," said Phoebe.

"Well, if he breaks your heart, I'll pummel him for you, okay?" Mina said.

"You know, Phoebe, you could have told us this before," said Lily.

"You're right. I wanted to keep it a secret, but that's stupid," said Phoebe.

"It is stupid," said Mina, "Especially considering that that's how Remus and I broke up."

"Oh yeah, you were going to tell us what happened. So?" Lily said. Mina explained how her and Remus' conversation went, and how they're just friends, even though she still likes him.

"So you're content with just being friends with Remus?" Lily asked.

"Yes," Mina replied.

"I knew it!" James Potter seemed to pop up from out of nowhere.

"James! Stop following me!" Lily screamed.

"But Evans, I wasn't following you! I was just listening in on your conversation!"

"Potter, go away!" Mina said.

"Why should I? We're all friends here, right? You said it yourself: you and Remus are friends. I knew something was up since I kept seeing him stare at you all the time," said James.

"What? He stares at me? Since when?" Mina found herself turning red.

"Theses past few days he hasn't been able to keep his eyes off of you. He's like a lovestruck fool," said James.

"Really? Ohmygosh…"

"Well, it's been a nice chat, but I've got to go…" He turned to leave.

"Potter, wait. Did Remus say anything about me?" Mina asked. James smiled.

"No, but he doesn't need to say anything to prove that he's crazy about you. Now, if you'll excuse me…" He went to leave.

"Potter, wait," Mina said.

"What is it now?"

"Thanks," Mina said.

"No problem." He left.

There was silence for a while, until Phoebe said, "That James Potter is a nice guy, if you look past all the joking and pranks."

"Whatever. I still think he's a big git," said Lily.

"Mina!" Mina looked up towards the castle, where Severus was calling her.

"Oh god, it's the biggest git of all," Mina said, "I'll be right back, guys." She followed Snape into the castle. He didn't look very pleased.

"Mina, do you remember when the field trip to Hogsmeade is?" he asked.

"Yes… wasn't it on the 17th?" Mina said.

"Well, that's the same day the Dark Lord plans to attack Hogsmeade!" he said.

"Oh my gosh. Does Dumbledore know about this?" Mina asked.

"Not yet. I wanted you to know first, because… I think your father might have something to do with this. He knows the trip and the attack are on the same day!"

"Oh my gosh. How could he do this?" Mina held her hand to her stomach, feeling sick.

"The question is, does he plan to take any students' lives? And I know that's what the Dark Lord has planned. So we have to make sure that trip is cancelled. I'm going to tell Dumbledore."

"No! Don't do that. I don't want to cancel this trip. I want to confront my father about this. He would never put my life in danger," Mina said.

"Of course he wouldn't put your life in danger. The Dark Lord wouldn't do that either. Mina, you are a pureblood wizard. The death eaters are going to attack the muggleborns," said Snape.

"No! What about Lily? She's my best friend! No… I have to confront my father about this. He wouldn't do this. I have to get him to stop the Dark Lord," Mina said.

"You think he's going to listen?"

"He has to listen. I'm his only child. But… for my mother, that's a different story. She never listens to me. She's so hardhearted. So, I have to try and talk my father out of this," Mina said.

"But even if your father does listen to you, what about the other deatheaters, and you mother? They're not going to defy the Dark Lord. How will you stop them?"

"I can't. But we can. You and I, and whoever will join us, are going to fight Voldemort's deatheaters!"

"You sound so confident. You don't expect this to work, do you? And what do you mean by, 'whoever will join us?'"

"I mean, we're going to warn all the students, and we'll form a team of young wizards to fight," said Mina. Snape shook his head.

"That will never work. I'm going to tell Dumbledore," said Snape.

"Don't! He'll cancel the trip!"

"He's going to find out sooner or later," said Snape.

"Fine. Tell him. But if he cancels the trip, I'm going to go with you to Hogsmeade," said Mina.

"You can't! It's too dangerous!"

"I don't care. I'm going, and you can't stop me!" Mina shouted. She walked away from him, angry, and returned to the lake.

"What did Snape want to talk to you about?" Phoebe asked.

"Nothing," Mina replied.

"So what do you guys want to do this weekend?" Lily asked.

"Oh, I have plans," said Phoebe.

"Oh? With who? Sirius?" Lily asked.

"Yup."

"Don't waste your time," said Mina.

"Hey, at least I'm not spending my time with Snape," said Phoebe.

"I don't spend my time with Snape! I try to avoid him, in fact," said Mina.

"Just like you avoid Remus?"

"I do not! I see Remus every Friday," said Mina.

"Oh, right, for tutoring. By the way, how is that going? You know, tutoring is a great way to get closer to someone," said Phoebe.

"Oh, shut up! For your information, Remus and I are getting a lot closer," Mina declared.

"No you're not! All you two ever do is sit around, staring at each other, but yet you never speak to each other!"

"That is not true!"

"Phoebe's right, Mina. You do stare at Remus a lot. And you love him, but you won't admit it to him. I think he feels the same way, since James mentioned it," said Lily.

"Really? No… that can't be. He said he didn't like me."

"And you told him that you didn't like him! So you both lied! You love each other!"

"I wouldn't say 'love'…" Mina said.

"You do love him! Admit it!"

"So… how's the weather?" Mina asked.

"Don't change the subject!" Phoebe and Lily both said.

"I can if I want to!" Mina said. She took out her wand and pointed it at them, muttering a jinx.

"Hey!" What'd you do that for?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, and… what exactly did that do?" Lily added. She and Phoebe then looked at each other.

"Oh my gosh!" They both said.

People walking by began to point and laugh at them. Lily took a mirror out of her bag and examined herself.

"My nose! It's huge! Mina, fix it!"

"Let me see that," Phoebe took the mirror out of Lily's hands and looked at herself.

"Mina! Fix my nose!" she said.

"No way, you guys! This is too funny!" said Mina, laughing, "Wait here a minute. I'll be right back." She ran into the castle and came out a few minutes later with the Marauders.

Sirius, James, and Peter all began laughing their asses off. Remus just shook his head.

"Mina!" Phoebe shouted at her, embarrassed to be seen like that in front of Sirius.

"Stop laughing!" Lily shouted at the Marauders. They all stopped laughing, except for James.

"James, stop it!" Lily said. She pulled out her wand at cursed him so that his mouth would stay shut. He stopped laughing and tried to speak, but his mouth would not open.

"Mmmnnnnnnn!" was all he could say.

"That's enough," said Remus, "I can put you all in detention for this."

"Remus, come on, live a little," said Mina.

"Mina, just fix Lily and Phoebe's noses," he said.

"Fine." She unjinxed Lily and Phoebe.

"That's better," said Remus.

"You're no fun, you know that?"

"Yes I am. That's just not my idea of fun."

"Come on, Moony! You're a Marauder! That sort of thing is what Marauders do for fun," said Sirius.

"For once, I have to agree with Sirius," Mina said.

"Mmmmnnnnnnnn!" James said.

"Oh, right," Lily unjinxed James.

"Yes, well, like I was trying to say, Sirius is right," he said.

"Okay. Why is everybody mad at me? What did I do?" Remus defended himself.

"Nothing," Mina sighed.

"Let's go, mates," Sirius said. The Marauders left, but Remus stayed behind.

"Hey, Moony! Come on!" Sirius called.

"I want to talk to Mina, if you don't mind," Remus said.

"Why?"

"Haven't you heard? They're friends now," said James.

"You're kidding me. Remus, why would you want to hang out with my loser-for-a-cousin?"

"She's not a loser! She's a nice person if you get to know her," said Remus.

"Whatever." Sirius left.

"Thanks, Remus, for defending me," Mina said.

"Well, I meant what I said. And Sirius is a nice person too. So you should think about treating him with a little more respect," said Remus.

"I've tried that already, but Sirius and I are almost like rivals. There's no way we can get along with each other," said Mina.

"Nobody's asking you to do that," Remus said.

"I know… so, did you want to talk to me about something?"

"Oh… Well, I was talking to James before, and… Well, I know he can make up stories sometimes, but… He said that you still liked me. Is it true?"

'What? I thought we were just going to be friends from now on…"

"We are. But I just want to know if you have any feelings for me. It's okay to be honest about it. I don't care. Just tell me," Remus said.

"I…" Mina hesitated. She couldn't tell Remus the truth. She was too afraid to be heartbroken again…

"No. I don't," she said.

Well, it turned out okay. The next chapter will be longer, and I shall work very hard on it. Until then,

FullMoon-Insanity