Okay, so now that I posted the last chapter, I really think this story is getting somewhere. I have a question though for my reviewers: Does Mina seem like a Mary Sue? Because I was hoping she wouldn't seem that way. I mean, when I created her, I thought her character was much more important to the Harry Potter world than just Remus Lupin's lover. . ugh. I mean, now that I look back, the first, like, 7 chapters were all concentrated on that, but… ugh. And she's obviously not perfect. Okay, I shouldn't get too paranoid about this, I know. But please tell me that Mina is NOT a Mary Sue!

Okay, with that said, on with the story!

Chapter 15

Hogwarts had just been attacked by death eaters, trying to get to Dumbledore. Luckily, members of the Order of the Phoenix were there to defend the school and it headmaster. They were able to fight off the death eaters and Hogwarts was safe once again. However, the death eaters had entered Hogwarts far too easily. So Dumbledore had to take safety provisions after this, to make sure there was no way anyone could enter Hogwarts uninvited. This calmed many worried parents who were thinking of taking their sons or daughters out of the school.

Monday was like any other school day, except for one thing: the first Slytherin quidditch practice of the year. Mina was excited and could not wait to be flying again. She and Lily sat by the lake during lunch, talking as usual.

"So the first game's on Saturday?" Lily asked.

"Yup. Slytherin vs. Gryffindor, as always. I'm gonna cream Potter!" Mina bragged.

"Huh. Well, just don't get a bigger head than Potter's head," Lily said.

"Is that even possible?" Mina asked. They laughed.

"But really, I want Gryffindor to win," Lily said.

"I know. That's fine with me. It's your house."

"I know. Hey, maybe Remus will cheer for you," Lily said. Mina laughed.

"Yeah right, only in my dreams," she said.

"Oh? So you're dreaming about him now?" Lily giggled.

"Well, daydreaming at least. Lily, I can't get my bloody thoughts off of him!" Mina exclaimed.

"Then you have to talk to him! Don't avoid him!" Lily reprimanded.

"I don't avoid him… well, maybe a little… but he avoids me too!"

"You two are so shy around each other! Why? It's not like you haven't already snogged each other!"

"That was different, Lily! I don't know how, but it was. We could never go back to that. I wish we could. He's so wonderful, and he's the nicest guy I've ever met! But even Remus said that he wasn't acting like himself when we were going out. Heck, I wasn't even acting like myself. And when we're around each other now, it's just awkward."

"Well, why wouldn't it be awkward? You two like each other!"

"Lil, what do you want me to do?"

"Talk to him. Invite him to come to the quidditch game on Saturday to see you play," Lily suggested.

"That's it? That's easy!" Mina said.

"Is it? There he is now, go talk to him," Lily said, pointing behind Mina. Mina spun around. Remus was coming out of the castle towards them. She got up and walked over to him.

"Hey, Remus," she said.

"Hi Mina," he greeted her with an awkward smile.

"Um… are you going to the quidditch game on Saturday? I'm playing," she said.

"Yeah, I'm going," he said. Mina turned and glanced at Lily, who mouthed the words: keep talking.

"So, Remus, I forgot to tell you that I can't go to tutoring on Friday because I have detention with Slughorn," she said.

"That's okay. We're pretty much done with tutoring," he said.

"What?"

"Your grades are improving," he explained.

"Oh. I hadn't realized… well, I guess there's no reason to keep tutoring me…"

"You seem a little upset."

"No… well, I just enjoyed spending time with you," she said. Remus looked at the ground.

"I'm glad… that you enjoyed spending time with me. I mean, I enjoyed spending time with you too, uh…"

"Thanks," Mina said. He looked up at her.

"Your welcome." The bell rang at that moment, and Remus waved goodbye and walked away, leaving Mina to go back to Lily.

"Well?" Lily asked.

"What? Oh… he's coming," Mina said.

"Good. Now let's get to Transfig. class. We don't want to be late," she said.

"Right." They grabbed their books and headed to class.

Mina went to quidditch practice early at the end of the day, excited and ready to fly. When she entered the pitch, she saw the Slytherin quidditch captain, Jesse Sprint, playing with the snitch. He was a chaser, but he'd started out as a seeker. He had dirty blond hair with long bangs that were pushed to the side, revealing a very handsome tanned face with gorgeous blue eyes. He was a 7th year, and they never really talked to each other outside of quidditch.

"Hey Sprint," she greeted merrily. He looked up at her, accidentally letting the snitch get away.

"Aw, damn. Oh well, I'll just make Regulus get it when he gets here," he said. Regulus was the seeker for the team. And just at that moment, he entered the pitch.

"Speak of the devil," Sprint said.

"Hey, sorry I'm late!" Regulus said.

"Actually, you're early," Mina said.

"Oh. Well, good," he said.

"Hey, Regulus, I just released the snitch. Go find it," Sprint said.

"Right." Regulus mounted his broom and took off in pursuit.

"So, what do you want me to do, captain?" Mina asked.

"Wait. It's still early and the rest of the team hasn't gotten here yet," he said.

"Okay."

"So, Mina… I heard you and Snape snuck off during that class trip. What were you two doing?" he asked. Mina just stared at him. Was he prying into her personal life now?

"Why do you want to know?" she asked.

"Just thought maybe you two were sneaking off to go shag each other or something. But if I'm wrong…" Mina smirked.

"Is that the rumor that's going around?" she asked.

"Actually, no. I mean, everyone thinks you two were just… being rebellious. But I think there's more to it," he grinned.

"Well, there is more to it. But it has nothing to do with shagging. I don't fancy Snape that way," she said.

"Well that's good to know," he said, "but… it's also a little suspicious how you two ran off, and then when everyone got back to Hogwarts, it was under attack."

"We didn't do anything to cause it, if that's what you're getting at," she said.

"Okay. I believe you," he said.

"Good."

"So, you're really not seeing Snape?" he asked after a pause.

"I told you, I don't fancy him that way!"

"Okay, okay," Sprint said, putting his hands up in defense.

"But why did you want to know? Are you interested or something?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe," he said, grinning at her. Mina didn't know exactly what to say. She hadn't expected the incredibly hot and popular Jesse Sprint to be interested in her. Not when she was so occupied with Remus Lupin.

Just then, the rest of the Slytherin quidditch team entered the pitch, broomsticks in hand, ready for their first practice of the year.

"Alright, boys, let's begin," Sprint said, getting up. Jessica Colman, a chaser and the only other girl on the team, folded her arms at hearing the word 'boys.' Sprint didn't seem to notice this.

"Everyone get on your brooms, fly off towards the goal posts over there, and I'll release the quaffle and bludgers," he said.

Mina got on her broom and flew towards the goal posts as was instructed, followed by the rest of the team. Regulus had caught the snitch by now, and was playing around with it like Sprint had just been doing. A second later, the quaffle was being tossed around by the three chasers, and Mina had to protect the goals.

Sprint grabbed the quaffle and headed toward the middle goal post, where Mina was hovering. He was fast, and Mina didn't take her eyes off the red ball in his hands. He threw it towards the right goal post and she went to catch it, but it went through.

"Goal!" he shouted, "Haha! I'm the best! Oh, and by the way, Mina, you suck! Haha!" He didn't really think she sucked at the game, he was just getting a big head. Otherwise, he wouldn't have let her on the team.

Mina grabbed the quaffle and tossed it to Jessica, who flew towards her with it. Mina flew back and forth, in and out of the goal posts, eyes on the quaffle at all times. Jessica threw it up in the air, hoping to throw Mina off, and leaned her arms on her broom so that she could get a good shot at kicking the quaffle. Her right leg swung around, kicking the ball towards the left goal. But Mina was already there, and she caught it just in time. She then threw it to the third chaser, Trevor Dein.

Trevor looked nervous. He was a good chaser, but not as good as Jessica. He gripped the quaffle tightly and flew as quick as he could towards the right goal post. He shut his eyes tight and threw it in, not wanting to look. Mina caught the quaffle and threw it back to him.

"It's okay, Trevor, just try again," she said, "and open your eyes this time." He nodded.

Trevor did the exact same thing with his eyes open this time, but just when Mina was about to grab the ball, she was hit in the stomach by a bludger. The quaffle went in.

"YES!" Trevor shouted.

Mina squealed in pain, unable to keep her balance on the broom. She fell over to her left, quickly heading towards the ground. Sprint flew after her and caught her in his arms before she could hit the ground.

Mina held her stomach with her right hand. It felt like she couldn't breathe, but she looked up at Sprint and managed to say 'thanks' before passing out.

When she woke up, Mina was in the hospital wing. Sprint was by her side, clutching her hand.

"I am so sorry," he said. She smiled weakly.

"It wasn't your fault,"she said softly.

"Actually, it sort of was. Merrick hit the bludger towards me as a joke, and I moved out of the way, and… it hit you instead," he explained.

"As long as it didn't happen on purpose. So… how long was I out?" she asked.

"Not very long. A half hour, maybe more. You didn't suffer any real damage, thank God," he said.

"She's awake!" Madam Pomfrey said, entering the room. She looked at Sprint and said, "You, out!" He sighed, and walked towards the door, but he did not leave the room.

"Now, my dear, does it still hurt?" Pomfrey asked sweetly.

"Like hell," Mina responded.

"Well, that's okay, as long as there's no damage. Here, take this for the pain," she said, holding out a glass of orange liquid. Mina took it and swallowed it all. After a while, she felt a tingling in her stomach.

"Well?" Madam Pomfrey said.

"The pain's gone," Mina said.

"Good. You can go, but don't play any more quidditch for the rest of the day. And get plenty of rest," she said. Mina got up and exited the room with Sprint.

"She's right. You should get some rest. May I escort you back to the common room?" he asked, holding out his arm. Mina smiled politely and wrapped her arm around his, then walked back to the common room with him.

Snape was sitting in the common room, looking at his Potions book, and glanced up. He grimaced when he saw Mina walking in, her arm linked with the quidditch captain's.

Mina let go of Sprint's arm and looked at Snape, who was giving her a questioning look. She smiled at him. Snape shook his head and returned his attention to his book.

"Thanks for eveything, Sprint," she said, turning back to him.

"Call me Jesse," he said.

"Jesse," she said, and found that she liked hearing herself say his name. She walked off towards the girl's dorms and headed up the stairs. Then she got into bed and closed her eyes and slept.

I know I said more Remus in this chapter, but I didn't lie! Remus is in this chapter, just not too much. He will definitely be in the next two chapters a lot more. And in chapter 18… well, you'll see. This chapter certainly changed the story a lot. Now we have Jesse Sprint, the hot quidditch captain. He wasn't originally planned to be in this story at all, but I love his character so much! Don't worry, he's not going to replace Remus or anything. But tell me what you think of him so far.