School started again! I was prevented from updating! It's a hassle, so cut me some slack, if you will. I'm trying my hardest to write as often as possible.

As of now, this fanfiction is my worst one. I'm always having trouble with writing it. I mean, I know what I want to write, but I can't get it to sound right. I hope this chapter does not leave anyone disappointed.

Chapter 18

Hogsmeade. Friday, December 1st, 1973.

-

Remus ran his hands through his shaggy brown hair. James and Sirius were chugging butterbeers and Peter was the judge to see who finished first.

At about the same time, James and Sirius slammed their bottles down on the table, indicating that they were finished.

"Close call," said Peter.

"It was definitely me!" James boasted.

"No way, Prongs! You spilled half the bottle down the front of your shirt!" Sirius aruged. James looked down at his shirt to see a large wet stain.

"Oh." He took out his wand and dried his shirt.

Remus slid his head down into his arms.

"Oy, Moony, what's wrong?" Peter asked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Oh, he's been like that since the night he got loose in the Forbidden Forest," James explained. Remus glared at him.

"You have been acting moody, Moony," Sirius said.

"I'm fine," Remus said calmly.

"Sure you are," James said with a smug look.

"Yeah. I'm going to go back to the castle, if you guys don't mind." Remus got up and walked out of the Three Broomsticks.

-

Inside a small shop in Hogsmeade, Mina browsed through various Christmas cards. She had just been shopping with her two best friends, (they'd actually managed to get Phoebe away from Sirius) and they'd gone their separate ways to pick out presents for each other. One of the cards caught her eye and she picked it up.

"See anything you like, Hobbit?" Sprint crept up behind her and snuck an arm around her waist.

"Not really," she said, looking at him. He removed his arm.

"Huh. So… Christmas shopping, I presume?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yup. You too?"

"Yeah. What do you want me to get you?" he asked.

"Wait a minute, Santa Claus. You're telling me that you're actually thinking about somebody besides yourself for once? Wow," Mina laughed.

"Hey! I can be generous when I want to be. But, seriously, what do you want for Christmas?" he asked.

"Hm… I'm not sure. Surprise me, okay?" she replied.

"I think I will. Until then, au revoir," he said, winking at her and walking away.

Mina took the card she'd been looking at and purchased it at the counter. Then she headed outside.

She stopped in front of a broom shop. The broom repair kit in the window caught her attention. Perfect for Jesse, she thought. She went inside the store and bought one. Then she headed back to the castle by herself.

Mina stopped short in her tracks when she noticed a familiar figure standing by the lake, all by himself…

"Rem…us…?" She said slowly and softly, not wanting to disturb his concentration. He turned his head and looked at her. She had a worried expression about her face. He sighed.

"What are you doing here, Ang- I mean, Mina."

"Talking to a friend," she said. She walked over towards him and stood next to him, staring out at the lake, and taking in its beauty. Remus stared at her, not sure what to say.

"I… well, um… that is, why?" he managed to say.

"I don't know," was the short response.

"Look, y-you don't have to… I mean, I don't need you to worry or to try and console me. I'm just fine without you," he said harshly.

"Are you? Oh. Okay," she said, turning away.

"No, wait. I didn't mean to sound so…. Please, Mina," he said.

"Please what?" she asked.

"Please… don't go."

"…" Mina stepped closer towards him and stood there, staring at him. He looked away.

"Nice day, huh?" he said, keeping his eyes on the lake.

"Yeah… pretty nice," she replied, keeping her gaze on him.

"Yeah. So, um… well, I uh…"

"Oh, cut the crap, Remus! Why can't we just have a normal, un-awkward conversation between two human beings, not two stuttering fools?" Mina exclaimed.

"…You're right."

"Aren't I?"

"Mina…" He turned and looked straight into her eyes this time.

"Yes?"

"I think I'm in love with you." That caught Mina way off guard.

"I-I'm sorry, w-what did you say?" she stuttered.

"I said I think I'm in love. I've never been in love, so I wouldn't know how it feels, or anything, but… I know that I care about you a lot more than I thought I did. You know the saying 'If you love something, let it go…' So I did let you go. But I don't think it worked. Because all I know is that you took it personally, and here I am, pouring my heart out to you."

"Remus… I don't know what to say…" Mina said. She juist stared at him, blankly, waiting for everything to make sense again.

"Mina, I do care about you. But I can't be with you," he said.

"Why not?" she asked calmly.

"I don't want you to get hurt," he replied.

"I'm already hurt, Remus!" she said. Remus looked down at the ground and shook his head.

"I'm sorry!" He looked deeply upset.

"Remus…"

"Look, something happened to you already… because of me," Remus replied.

"What?"

"James told me what happened that night on the full moon," he said.

"Oh. My. God. You were the werewolf! I knew it! Remus…Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…just… Remus, why didn't you tell me?"

Remus hung his head deeper, ashamed of himself. Mina wrapped her arms around him, afraid that if she said anything else, she'd make a fool of herself even more.

Remus cried… he actually cried. No one had ever cried on Mina's shoulder before. It was the first time she felt wanted, needed.

"Remus… thank you…" she whisepered softly.

"Angel," he sighed.

They embraced for a long while before they broke apart and just stared at each other, wondering if that had actually just happened, or it was just a dream.

"I… do love you," Remus broke the silence.

"It's okay. You don't have to love me, Remus." Mina said.

"Liar. Of course I do," Remus said, hugging her.

"Then… in that case, I love you too," Mina said with a laugh. He kissed her lightly, but intimately. Mina pulled away.

"We're… together again, right? I mean… we're not just going to keep it a secret. We're not going to lie about anything, right? Because… I'm tired of lying," Mina said. Remus smiled.

"Okay. No lies. Let's just… not move too fast, alright?" he said.

"Right." She hugged him again, afraid that if she let go, she would never have another chance to be this close to him. It was almost as if what she was doing right now was illegal.

What would your mother say, Mina?

A voice that she always hated to hear entered into her mind once again. It was the voice of reason; the voice of doubt. She hated it, and yet, it was always right.

You're disgracing your family.

Shut up, Mina told the voice. And it did.

"So, where do you want to go from here?" Remus asked her. She looked at him and smiled.

"We'll take it slow, like we said. And let's just be ourselves. Because, I don't know about you, but that's what I do best." He grinned and kissed her cheek.

"Why are you so beautiful?" he asked.

"Because I have you," she replied. He laughed. "Are you laughing at me?"

"No… Being with you makes me so happy that I just have to laugh," he said. She studied him, trying to see if he was serious, before laughing a little herself.

"Now you're laughing at me," he said.

"No… Okay, yes I am. Sorry," she said.

"That's okay. Hey, do you want to some with me to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" he asked.

"Sure. You don't have any plans with your friends?"

"We Marauders never make plans. We just do whatever sounds good at the moment," he said with a proud grin.

"Spontaneous. I like that," Mina said.

"Heh. Well, I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to head inside for now." He kissed her forehead and went inside the castle. Mina just sat there, as content as could be. She had nothing to worry about now…

"Mina!" Lily and Phoebe ran towards the lake and greeted their friend. They had just come from Hogsmeade and had bags in their hands. Both of them dropped their bags by the edge of the lake and rushed over to Mina.

Mina hugged her friends, happy to see them and overjoyed from everything that had happened that day. Phoebe was a little oblivious, but Lily knew something was different.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Mina said with a wide grin. Lily playfully pushed her friend, who almost fell off of the rock she was sitting on and let out a tiny shriek.

"Tell us!" Phoebe chimed in.

"Oh, it's nothing really… Remus and I just got back together," she said.

"Nothing! But that's great!" Phoebe said.

"Oh my god! Really?" Lily exclaimed. She hugged Mina and said, "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thank you, both of you. You guys rock. I could not have better friends in this world than you," Mina said."And I'm so in love that I think I'm going to burst! It's weird, but it's like this huge overflowing of happiness just came over me!"

"Seriously, I think Remus has a good influence on you. You're never this giddy. You're acting like me on sugar-overdose," Phoebe said. Mina laughed in spite of herself. Then she took a few deep breaths. Lily shook her head.

"Let's go inside. We can hang out in… well, forget the whole common room thing, because that's just never going to work. We can hang out in…"

"The Room of Requirement!" Phoebe finished the sentence.

"Where?" Mina and Lily both asked.

"The Room of Requirement. You've never been there? It's not hard to find, you just have to be in the hallway, think of a place you need to be, and pop! The door appears, and inside is everything you need," Phoebe explained.

"Everything you need? Sounds like fun," Mina said.

"Let's go," Lily said. They made their way towards the castle and went inside, letting Phoebe lead the way towards the hallway that contained the Room of Requirement.

When they got to the hallway, Phoebe told the girls to close their eyes and think of a place they could go to hang out. A sort of common room, for any house. When the three opened their eyes, there was a door where there hadn't been before. Phoebe took a deep breath and grabbed the knob, pulling it open.

I'm evil, aren't I? I take all that time to update, and then end the chapter here. Okay, so it's not a huge cliffie, but it does sort of leave you wanting to know what's inside the room. You can just imagine for now. Haha. Don't forget to review, folks.