Chapter 3
Past- 1974, Year 4
I've never understood it but Mina was always able to make a friend out of everyone she met. It didn't matter that she was in Ravenclaw. She had an undeniable charm around her, everyone wanted to be associated with her. Everyone was a person to her. Hufflepuffs weren't pathetic, Gryffindor's weren't reckless idiots, and Slytherin's weren't...well, you know the stigma. There were no social and political barriers. Something I've never been able to get past.
It was October, the autumn foliage had just finished turning their brilliant colors and were beginning to fall. The sweeping lawns of Hogwarts were speckled with oranges, reds, and yellows of varying hue. The castle only looked more enchanting in the winter. Mina constantly had a wonderful urge to go out and admire the exquisite beauty of fall. Which was what she was doing at the moment. Oddly enough, she had even convinced Sirius to leave off his pranks and accompany her. He watched, amused and with a quirked eyebrow as she swept up handfuls of leaves and tossed them to the wind. It was one of her many whims, and Sirius found himself growing more fond of them everyday.
They were interrupted however, when Mina pointed out a lone figure on the opposite side of the lake.
"I wonder who that is." Mina said, not noticing the recognition on Sirius's face and the replacement of it with unaffected scorn.
"Snivellus." He muttered before clearing his throat. "Severus Snape, Mina. You don't want to get friendly towards him, he's a..." Sirius trailed off, gesturing wildly to find a word he could use to describe Snape.
"A what?" Mina asked, a frown now marring her features.
"A git, he dabbles in dark magic and he treats muggleborns like scum."
"Don't all Slytherins?" She questioned lightly. Sirius didn't seem to have an answer for this, so she dragged him back inside; resolving that next time, she would meet this Severus Snape. After all, Mina knew what it was like to be feared and detested due to rumors, but she was slowly turning that all around. She was confident in her belief that there was good in everyone.
Her opportunity came on Halloween. It fell on a Hogsmeade weekend and Mina had feigned illness to stay at the castle. So, wandering the halls seemed to be the interesting thing to do with her time. As luck would have it, Mina happened to stumble right into the aforementioned Snape.
"Watch were you're going, mudblood." He muttered angrily, not looking to see who she was.
"Actually my name is Mina, not mudblood and if you're referring to my bloodlines with that comment, they are what you call pure." She paused, frowning. She hadn't expected him to be like that. "You're Severus, aren't you?"
"Aren't you the daughter of that French Ambassador?" He had stopped walking and was now surveying Mina with suspicion as he tucked a worn book under his arm. Mina now had a better view of him. The boy was incredibly pale, his dark hair fell in curtains around his face.
"Quite to the point, aren't you?" She murmured, she was curious now.
"You didn't answer my question. Do you always make it a habit to engage random people in conversation?" Severus asked, his voice laced with ice and annoyance.
"Perhaps. Do you always answer a question with another question?" She replied smartly with an amused smile that Severus was beginning to find infuriating. Before he could make a snide retort she was already walking away.
"See you around, Severus." He walked back toward the Slytherin Common Room, now insulting her under his breath. She was a female. Ergo, she was a nuisance. Definitely not what he wanted to deal with- ever.
Over a month later and Mina was still going over her encounter. It was odd, but it seemed as if she had managed to see the civil side of Snape. And from what she had witnessed with other students, she was the only one who had.
It was now December, the snow covered the grounds in thick blankets, promising that winter would last a long while. Mina stood outside the Gryffindor portrait hole waiting for Remus to come out. When the painting at last swung aside, Mina was surprised to find Sirius emerging from behind the canvas.
"Where's Remus? He was supposed to go to Hogsmeade with me..." She trailed off. Sirius was looking much too innocent.
"He wasn't feeling well. What're you doing? It's cold out- there's snow and everything!" Sirius exclaimed. Mina rolled her eyes in amusement and pushed Sirius down to the Great Hall.
"I'll be fine." She replied distractedly and cut off further protests with a wave of her hand.
The cobbled streets of Hogsmeade were unusually empty that day; everyone seemed to share the universal notion of wanting to be indoors where it was warm. Everyone except Mina, that is. The snow had begun to fall again, large flakes now that fell into her hair as she twirled around delighting in the cold weather. Sirius stopped her with the suggestion of getting butterbeers.
"Don't you ever go to the Quidditch games, Mina?" Sirius asked once they had settled at a table with their drinks.
"No, I'm not overly fond of it. Flying, I'm ashamed to say, frightens me. Therefore, Quidditch holds no interest for me."
"It's not so bad, you should go flying with me sometime." Mina raised an eyebrow as if to say 'yeah right'.
"Are you going home fore Christmas, Sirius?" Mina asked wanting to discourage him from the subject of brooms and also out of curiosity. Almost everyone knew of Sirius's familial issues. And of course, James and Peter were going home. Sirius would be left with Remus, who spent most of his time buried in a book.
"No, Regulus will be though." Although his face remained impassive and his stance acted as though he didn't care, Mina caught the bitterness and hint of anger in his voice.
"Well, that's great then! You can keep me company. My mother's off on one of her drunken escapades again somewhere in the Bahamas, Christian- my older brother- is at the estate in France, and my father has business to attend to in Belgium." Sirius did seem genuinely cheered by the thought of having someone to spend the holidays with.
The sky was darkening outside, the early nightfall beginning. The pair walked in silence for a while, until Sirius began to notice a slightly blue tinge to Mina's pale face.
"You are freezing aren't you?" He asked, concerned for his friend. "You'll catch your death out here. C'mon, let's get you a bit warmer." Sirius had pulled off his fine velvet cloak and fumbled to secure the fastenings embossed with the Black family crest.
"There you are." He told her, rubbing her arms to make her warmer. Mina gave him an amused smile, surprisingly touched that he cared about her well-being. The smile left her face as Sirius leaned closer to her. The dominoes he had set up that day -starting with Remus's absence- fell one by one into place. He leaned down to kiss her, pressing his lips swiftly and sweetly against her own.
"So," Sirius said after he let her go, "do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend, and the weekend after that...and the weekend after that?" He grinned when she actually nodded in response. In a short time they reached the castle and approaching the doors, Sirius turned with a fiendish grin in place.
I guess I'll see you around then?" Sirius asked. "I've got a date with the Hufflepuff prefect in an hour." Mina immediately regained her senses and before Sirius could get inside, a snowball had slammed into the back of his neck. Shivering he turned, and lunged for Mina. Mina started to run but was grabbed around the waist. She was lifted into the air and Sirius turned her to face him and then proceeded to spin wildly with her in his arms. The cloak swirled our behind her and Sirius thought she had never looked lovelier than in that moment. He stole another kiss from her before setting her down. Mina looked around spotting the cloak now lying in the snow. Frowning in dismay, Mina swept it off the ground.
"I'm so sorry, I'm afraid I've ruined your lovely cloak."
"Don't worry about it. And I was joking about the Hufflepuff thing. I was just being a git."
"That you are, Sirius." She retorted with a half-smile.
Christmas morning came. Sirius awoke to find at the foot of his bed, a large box amongst all the others. Opening it, he found black cloth. This confused Sirius. Flipping over the box, a note was revealed.
'Once again, I'm truly sorry about your old cloak. Maybe when you wear this one, you'll think of me.' He picked up the soft material, discovering that this gift was much better and much more expensive than the old cloak. Sirius couldn't believe she would pay such a price for a simple cloak.
Something was glittering out of the corner of her eye. Mina turned to find a box wrapped in gold paper tied with a red ribbon. She knew immediately of it's origins. Carefully slipping the box out of its wrappings, Mina opened it to find a golden rose attached to a fine gold chain, underneath lay a sprig of mistletoe. Fastening it about her neck, Mina stuck the mistletoe in her pocket and hurried off to find Sirius. And so their strange affair continued.
