Hey guys! Here is the latest chapter. I hope you like it, it is quite long! Since it is so close to christmas I will be working nearly everyday so I don't think the next update will be up for at least a week to two weeks. Really whenever I find time to work on it. It is a lot harder to write when I don't have my own laptop. It means that I need to wait for the computer to be free, I get distracted and annoyed by my siblings and other annoying things! But i will try to update soon. This chapter isn't exactly accurate by that I mean rememeber that I moved the timeline forward a few years for when Mina became sailor V and the otehrs sailor senshi. Also I am not sure if all the stuff about Mina's time as Sailor V. I don't really remember every detail so please dont get offended if it isn't all correct. I think that is all.
Thanks for the reviews they really help motivate me. So please enjoy and REVIEW.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
On Boxing day many of the students woke up late tired from the ball the night before. Mina and Ami were not included in that group, both of the girls woke up bright and early and started to do their own thing. They were both still upset over the events the night before.
Mina clearly didn't want to talk about anything that happened last night when Ami tried to talk to her about it. She instead headed off to the room of requirement to get in some training as Sailor Venus since she hadn't trained since arriving at Hogwarts, each time she had attempted to train somebody had always distracted her but she left early enough to not be seen by anyone that would care.
Ami on the other hand stayed inside their room to research spells and different ways they could help Harry. She did this so that she would be able to stay in their room all day and not have to see anyone that would ask questions.
Neither of the girls had to leave where they were because Mina could just get food to appear in the room of requirement and Ami had some of the treats that Mina received for Christmas. She knew that Mina wouldn't mind sharing, it may not have been the healthiest meals but she really didn't want to talk to anyone else that day.
Harry and Ron were two of the students that woke up late that day. The two got dressed slowly and headed down to the common room to find Hermione sitting in front of one of the fires with a huge smile on her face. She saw the two boys and smiled widely.
"Hello, wasn't the Yule Ball last night fantastic!"
Both Harry and Ron grunted in response they did not have a great time. It was torture to see the girls they liked dancing with others and getting into fights with them that they had yet to be forgiven for.
Harry smiled slightly trying to be at least civil. "It was fine Hermione. Do you know where Mina and Ami are?"
Hermione's smile dropped slightly before she answered. "I haven't seen them all day but somebody said that they saw Mina leave early in the morning and as for Ami nobody has seen her all day. I think she might still be up in her room."
The two boys nodded and made their way back upstairs content to wallow in their misery. Harry in particular was worried about everything. He tried to distract himself by trying to work out the egg. February the 24th was starting to look a lot closer than before but he had forgotten the clue Mina passed on from Cedric, since he was so pre-occupied wondering if Mina was going to ever forgive him for what had happened.
A week passed and the girls avoided the boys as much as possible and the boys were getting depressed without them in their lives. After the week classes were scheduled to start again and nobody was looking forward to it. Ron and Harry walked down to the Great Hall together and saw Mina and Ami already sitting down eating. Ami hid behind a mask of indifference only smiling occasionally and only at Mina. As for Mina she seemed like she was back to her bubbly self but Harry could tell that she was still hurt over the events of the Yule Ball. Her usual smile was just as bright but it never reached her eyes. Her eyes never lit up as they did before and that made Harry feel even worse.
Harry watched as Mina and Ami finished their breakfast not noticing the whispers and eyes that seemed to be following Mina. The two got up and started to walk out of the Great Hall only to run into a group of Slytherins led by no other than Malfoy.
Everyone in the Great Hall stared at the two and Harry's felt like punching Malfoy when he glared coldly at Mina before pushing her out of his way to make his way to the Slytherin table.
Mina's eyes filled with tears and but none fell, the whispers again started but Mina paid no attention to them. She kept her head held high before walking calmly out of the hall.
Harry decided that he was going to fix their friendship. He didn't care if she didn't feel more than friendship. He had gone a week without even a glance of her. She was extremely good at not being seen if she didn't want to be and he missed her.
He turned to Ron and whispered to him. "I am going to apologise to Mina. I just need her to be my friend again."
Ron nodded and Harry chased after Mina. He caught her standing just outside of the castle by herself. She looked over at him with tears in her eyes before she realised who it was and quickly wiped them away.
"Harry it's...umm...I... Hey."
Harry chuckled slightly before standing in front of her.
"Mina please stop avoiding me. I know that you are, I haven't seen you at all and I am sorry about everything that happened at the ball but I can't lose you. You are too important to me."
Mina sighed and thought about why she had avoided him all week. After what Yaten had said she had realised how happy she had been since being at Hogwarts. It was the happiest she had ever been in this life. The only other time she had been this happy was when she was with Kunzite back in the Silver Millenium before he betrayed her.
She wanted to tell him that she returned his feelings but she never knew exactly how to say that. They way she behaved on the night of the ball was terrible. She ran off with Yaten and told Harry to leave her alone. There was also the way the Draco was behaving towards her. She had only seen him twice since the ball, earlier that day and about two days after the ball. He had glared coldly and spat more words of hate at her. She also heard the way he was treating everyone else. He was behaving worse than he had before. Teasing and bullying everyone he could, mainly those from Gryffindor but even some from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. She just didn't want anyone else to suffer more if she became more than friends with Harry.
She felt terrible for alienating Harry but she was just trying to figure out whether or not to tell him how she felt. She had come to the conclusion that she should just tell him because clearly Draco was not going to change his opinion or apologise anytime soon.
Instead she smiled softly at Harry. "I am sorry for avoiding you Harry. It has just been so hard to deal with everything. I am so lucky I had Ami and Artemis though, they have been great. It isn't that I don't still care for you Harry, I..."
Harry cut off Mina grabbing her hands and pulling her into a hug. "Never avoid me again please, you are one of my best friends. We should just forget everything that happened on the night of the Yule Ball. I just want to return to the way we were before. What I said about loving you... it was just the moment. I love you as a friend. Can you forgive me?"
Tears returned to Mina's eyes. She was going to tell him that she liked him as more than a friend and he wants to pretend like it never happened, that he doesn't really love her. She couldn't help but wonder if that was the truth, that he didn't love her. Many people do get caught up in the moment and say things they don't mean.
Mina took a deep breath as one tear made it's way down her face. She smiled at him and nodded. " I would like us to become friends again. I missed you too."
Harry smiled widely and pulled her in tighter, trying to ignore the butterflies her felt at having her so close to him. He sighed thinking that having her friendship was enough, as long as she was in his life that was all that mattered.
Mina pulled back smiling brightly the smile only just reaching her eyes. She too was glad to have him back in her life even as friends but she couldn't help the small stab of pain.
"We should go to class, I can't believe we have to go to Care of Magical Creatures in this snow. Sometimes I hate the weather here!"
Harry laughed and the two fell back into their routine, both content to hide their true feelings for each other. They made their way down to Hagrid's cabin to see Ami standing off by herself and Ron standing with Dean and Seamus. They gave each other a look before walking over to Ami.
Harry smiled at Ami as she avoided the looks that Ron was giving her.
"Are you going to forgive Ron anytime soon Ami?"
Ami shrugged her shoulders. "I can't, not yet. He behaved like an idiot over an old friend. He has jealousy issues and I need some more time."
Harry nodded and Mina gave her a small hug as they walked out to the clearing near Hagrid's cabin and were greeted by an elderly witch with closely cropped grey hair and a very prominent chin.
"Hurry up, the bell rang five minutes ago!"
Harry glared at her slightly. "Who are you and where is Hagrid?"
She looked down at Harry. "My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank. I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."
Mina stood beside Harry and glared at her. "Where is Hagrid?"
Professor Grubbly- Plank sighed slightly. "He is indisposed right now."
Soft and unpleasant laughter reached their ears. They turned around to see Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins joining the class. All of them looked gleeful and none of them looked surprised to see Professor Grubbly-Plank.
Professor Grubbly-Plank ignored the Slytherins and strode off around the paddock indicating for them all to follow.
On the way to where she was taken them Harry was asking her about where Hagrid was but she was extremely good at ignoring him causing Harry to groan and step back to where Mina and Ami were whispering quietly.
Finally they arrived at the edge of the Forest, where a large and beautiful unicorn was tethered. The unicorn was trying to get away until its gaze landed on Mina and Ami. It stopped moving immediately and just stared at them.
Nobody else noticed as the girls were too busy cooing at the unicorn.
The unicorn was so brightly white that it made the snow around it look grey, it had golden hooves and had a horn on its head.
Professor Grubbly-Plank turned around to face the students. "Boys keep back. Unicorns prefer the woman's tough. Unicorns are very special creatures and have various magical properties, though a little known fact is that they can sense particularly strong magic and whether the person with that magic is going to use their gift for good or evil. They will start bucking, attack or run if they sense a strong dark magic but tend to be drawn towards those with strong pure magic. Girls to the front and approach with care."
Many of the girls walked forward to pat the unicorn as it stayed still staring at Mina and Ami. Mina lent over to Ami.
"Ami can it sense our magic, it seems to be staring at us."
Ami nodded as she made her way slowly towards it. "Of course it can. Our magic is extremely strong and comes directly from our planets and is one of the most pure types of magic. It would respond particular well to Usagi if she was here, due to the purity of the Silver Crystal."
The two made their way towards the unicorn, it noticed and walked away from the other girls and stopped straight in front of Mina and Ami. It bowed it's head and let the two girls pat it. The other girls began to again make its way towards it but the closer they got to it, the more restless it became.
At that point Professor Grubbly-Plank told everyone to step away from the Unicorn it was becoming agitated and she needed to calm it down.
Mina and Ami stepped away from it and back over to Harry who was chatting quietly with Ron. Ami stood off to the side a bit, being as far away from Ron as she could but still able to join in the discussion.
Mina smiled as she stood next to Harry. "What are you talking about?"
Harry returned the warm smile. "We are wondering where Hagrid is."
Ron nodded and added his part speaking louder than a whisper so that the four of them could hear clearly. "Maybe he has been attacked by a Skrewt or something?"
Malfoy smirked as he made his way over to the foursome. "He hasn't been attacked. He is just too ashamed to show his big ugly face. Oh and by the way Aino, there is probably something in there you should read. I never knew you could use people like that, so much for you being different than the others."
Mina looked at him with hurt clearly showing on her face. Malfoy just smirked as he pulled out the Daily Prophet and handed it over to Harry.
"There you go Potter. I hate to be the one to break it to you."
Harry snatched the paper and read the page that it was open to. Ron, Mina and Ami were reading over his shoulder. It was an article topped with a picture of Hagrid looking extremely shifty.
DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE
Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointements. Writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody, the notoriously kinx-happy ex-Auror to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody'e well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody however looks responsible and kindly when sat beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures.
Rubeus Hagrid who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of games-keeper at the school ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the Headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better qualified candidates.
An alarmingly large and ferocious looking man, Hagrid has been using his new found authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrifying creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons which many admit to be 'ver frightening'.
'I was attacked by a Hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a Flobberworm.' Says Draco Malfoy a fourth-year student. 'We all hate Hagrid but we're just too scared to say anything.'
Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation however in a conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed 'Blast-Ended Skrewts', highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creatures is of course an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid it seems, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions.
'I was just having some fun,' he says before hastily changing the subject.
As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not – as he has always pretended – a pure blood wizard. He is not in face even pure human. His mother we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
Bloodthirsty and brutal the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring among themselves during the last century. The hanful of those that remained joined the ranks of He Who Must Not Be Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle-killings of his reign of terror.
While Many of the giants who seved He Who Must Not Be Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark side, Fridwulfa was not amont them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature.
In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought about You-Know-Who's fall from power – thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supports into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of the unpleasant truth about his large friend – but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants.
Harry finished reading and looked up at the others whose mouths had all dropped open. Harry was furious he turned towards Malfoy.
"What do you mean we all hate Hagrid? What is the rubbish about Crabbe getting a bad bite off a Flobberworm? They haven't even got teeth!"
Malfoy sniggered at Harry. "Well I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career. None of the mummies and daddies are going to like this at all..."
Harry was just about to lunge towards him before a sob reached his ears. He turned around to see tears running down Mina's face. She was staring at the paper in front of her with a look of anguish on her face.
Malfoy smirked at Mina and Harry. "Looks like she figured out the other article I was going to tell you to read. I can't believe I fell for your act. You should really stop it you know. You are so young and could definitely find a better career."
Mina's face hardened and before anyone knew what was happening Mina dropped the paper and walked up to Malfoy and slapped him hard, leaving a giant red mark across his face. Malfoy stared at her in shock as she turned away falling into Ami's embrace.
Harry looked at Ron with confusion showing on his face. Ron sighed and picked up the paper handing it to him.
"It was on the page after Hagrid's story. It is not very nice, I guess you should read it too."
Harry opened the paper to see the headline.
GRYFFINDOR'S GOLDEN GIRL, A GOLD DIGGER? OR WORSE?
Another scandal at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was been brought to light. Nobody would expect the scandal to come from such an innocent source, a fourth year student. She was beautiful, well liked and kind according to those that knew her but how wrong they all were about her.
It seems that Minako Aino has a thing for the rich and famous. She pulls them into her innocent act until they fall for her, thriving on the drama it brings to her life. She set her sights on not only Harry Potter one of the most famous wizards of all time but also Draco Malfoy, a handsome wizard from one of the most respected and rich families known in the wizarding world.
The two got into the fight over the beautiful Gryffindor fourth year during the Yule Ball held in honour of the Triwizard Tournament.
Eye witness Pansy Parkinson, a beautiful fourth year claims. 'She seemed so lovely to all the students even the Slytherins. Everyone seemed to like her but we all saw her true colours during the Yule Ball. I heard she only went to the ball with Malfoy to make Potter jealous because the two don't get along. It didn't work as Potter just went with a different girl. I think that was when she started to crack. She was so used to having boys do exactly what she wanted that she had to step it up a notch. At the ball she flirted with as many boys as she could. She danced with as many boys as she could always making sure that both Malfoy and Potter could see. She eventually succeeded in manipulating the two boys into thinking they loved her. The argued with her egging them on from the sidelines, the two started fist fighting and that was when she was finally happy. She laughed at them both and ended up walking out with one of the band members following her outside, leaving the boys to their heartache.'
Draco Malfoy was the only one out of the two willingly to give an interview, Harry Potter was still too broken hearted.
'I thought she was different you know, she just seemed so much nicer, more honest than all the other girls. I know now that it was all just an act. Her beauty gets you interested and her kindness keeps you following her around. I truly thought she was different but I should have known when she kept asking about my family's money and connections. I guess she loves the drama and attention. I was too blinded by love to see the truth about her but I guess that I should thank her. I mean now I will be more careful when it comes to love.'
Malfoy shows that even something good can come from her horrible treatment but we were curious to see who the band member was that left with her. Was he her secret lover or another broken hearted ex?
The Daily Prophet found out that he was another broken hearted male, Yaten Kou a member of the band the Three Lights, making him yet another rich and famous wizard. He confronted her admitting his love for her. Things looked up for Yaten, she didn't just leave him like she did with Harry and Draco instead the two shared a passionate kiss (as pictured).
Unfortunately things never got further than that. Yaten hasn't been seen since his time with Minako. Nobody knows what happened to him, the general consensus is she again broke his heart and he hid away from the world giving up on love forever. Though here at the Daily Prophet we beg to differ.
Minako Aino started young with her fixation on the rich and famous. Her first victim was muggle actor Ace Saijou. Who disappeared soon before Minako's family moved to Japan. He has never been heard from again.
Who is to say that Minako doesn't get rid of her victims when they find out her true character? Ace and Yaten have both disappeared and not a trace of them has been found since their time with Minako. Should Draco and Harry be thanking their lucky stars that they got away before the same thing happened to them. We say they should, nobody knows what happened to the two famous boys, all that is known is that Minako Aino was the last person to see them alive.
It is not too bold to say that this once golden girl is a gold-digger, preying on the hearts of the rich and famous and maybe even preying on them for more than their money.
It is a sad day when such a seemingly innocent girl can so callously break the hearts of young gentlemen that do nothing wrong but fall for her charms. Boys beware of the girl, you could be next.
Harry looked up at Malfoy and growled softly, "How could you say that? You know Mina is nothing like the person they are describing."
Malfoy laughed coldly. "How do you know? We know nothing about her. She just appeared at this school this year. You can continue falling for her act Potter but don't blame me when you mysteriously go missing and are never heard from again, like poor Ace Saijou and Yaten Kou."
Mina couldn't handle the talking anymore and pulled away from Ami and ran inside the building. Harry gave one last look to Malfoy before chasing after her hearing Ami yell loudly at Malfoy for being a jerk. That made him laugh a little hearing quite non-confrontational Ami lay into Malfoy.
Harry kept chasing after Mina only ever just seeing her hair flying around a corner; he was surprised at how fast she could move. Finally he caught up to her to see her enter a room he had never seen before. He followed her inside quietly and was shocked at what he saw.
Mina walked into the room and felt around in her pocket for something she always kept near her. She pulled out her old transformation pen the one that she had as Sailor V. She held it up in the air and whispered her old transformation. "Moon Power Make Up"
She hadn't transformed into Sailor V in a long time. Since Ace had died, she hated to remember her time in England. Most of it was full of pain and brought back his words of her love fortune. She tried to forget about him but at this time she needed to remember him.
She never thought that others would find out about her past with Ace and put together that he had disappeared. Many forgot about him soon after he disappeared but not Mina, no matter how hard she tried to forget he was still in the back of her mind taunting her.
When the light died down she was standing there in her old Sailor V uniform. She stared at herself in the mirror before firing off a few attacks, without knowing that Harry was in the room watching her.
She eventually stopped and stared at the mirror in front of her and fired off her crescent beam attack straight into it making it shatter and glass fly everywhere. She fell to the ground and wrapped her hands around her legs.
Any anger Harry felt at Mina for not telling him about her kiss with Yaten or her being Sailor V disappeared as soon as he saw her fall to the ground with tears running down her face. He walked up to her and knelt beside her.
Mina jumped up when she felt him next to her. "Harry, how did you get in here?"
Harry stared at her. "I just saw you transform into Sailor V, fire off some attacks and break a mirror. Shouldn't I be the one asking the questions? Please just talk to me Mina, you never let the things in the paper about us before get to you. Why does this effect you so much. Why are you Sailor V and where is Ace Saijou?"
More tears fell down her face and she shook her head no and slid back to the floor. Harry saw that she was hysterical and she wasn't going to tell him anything unless he calmed her down. He decided that a way to get her to tell him about her life was if her told her about his.
"Let me tell you some things I kept from you Mina. As you know my parents were killed, many thought they were betrayed by one of their best friends Sirius Black but that was all a lie. They were betrayed by another friend of theirs Peter Pettigrew. He was a horrible man and framed Sirius. Last year Sirius broke out of Azkaban the wizard prison and came looking for me. Everyone was scared but it turned out he was a good guy. He never did anything wrong and had to suffer for what Pettigrew did. He is my god father and I help him escape and still write to him. He is the only family I have that I actually like."
He was about to continue on with some more stories when Mina began to talk, though she left out some things that would lead to him figuring out she was Sailor Venus.
"I became Sailor V when I was 10. A friend told me I had to help fight against this organisation called the Dark Agency. I fought against them and clearly I won but what I didn't know was that my partner and the guy I had a crush on was working for them. The guy was Ace Saijou, known as Danubrite in the Dark Agency and Kaitou Ace my sort of Partner. He helped me fight the Dark Agency until he revealed to me that he was also Danubrite. I didn't know this until I defeated pretty much everyone in the Dark Agency. Then he told me who he was but he told me he has always loved me. He never really made much sense.
I fought against him and I won. He died during our fight. After that I got my parents to move to Japan and I started a new life, I pretended that Sailor V never existed. Since I left England I have never transformed into Sailor V, it was like it never happened. I still feel terrible about it all; I had to kill a guy I really liked maybe even loved. When that article came out and made me seem like a bad person it made me snap. They made Ace out to be innocent and he isn't he is the bad guy."
Harry pulled Mina towards him pulling her onto his lap and in a tight embrace. The two sat there for a few minutes. Mina's tears stopped and Harry stared down at her as she stared back. The two leaned in closer but both stopped at the same time. They couldn't go back on the agreement to forget everything happened and remain friends. The two sighed and pulled back.
Mina stood up and held her hand out for Harry to grab. She pulled him up and she de-transformed back into Mina.
"I know I saw you transform but it is still hard to believe."
Mina giggled slightly as the two made their way back to the Gryffindor tower.
When the two reached the tower Ami and Artemis rushed over to her to make sure she was okay. She gave picked up Artemis and whispered to him.
"I am fine Artie, there was just some horrible stuff written to me about Ace but I am okay now. We can talk more later."
She then lent over to Ami and gave her a hug, when she pulled back Ami gave her a questioning look.
"Mina, who is Ace? You have never mentioned that name to me before. "
Mina looked down at Artemis who just shrugged. Mina hadn't told anybody but Usagi and Rei about Ace. Makoto, Ami and the outers except of course Setsuna, didn't know everything about her past. She decided that she and Ami have become close and she deserved to know the truth.
Mina looked up and smiled at Ami. "I will tell you later Ami, if that is okay?"
Ami nodded and quickly realised the time. "Oh my! We are going to be late to class. You guys are so lucky we had a break then!"
The others laughed softly at Ami's commitment to school before Harry, Ron and Mina headed off to Divination and Hermione and Ami left to go to Arithmancy.
Before the five split off to go to their different classes, Harry turned to the group. "We should go see Hagrid tonight after Divination. Tell him we want him back... You do all want him back right?"
Mina, Ron and Ami all nodded enthusiastically they loved the friendly giant. Hermione on the other hand took her time until Ron and Harry glared at her.
"I – Well, I'm not going to pretend it didn't make a nice change having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once – but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!"
Everyone nodded and agreed to go after dinner.
After dinner the five of them left the castle and went down through the frozen grounds to Hagrid's cabin in silence. Ron and Ami still weren't taking, Hermione was still slightly suspicious of the girls but decided to lay off them for a bit after seeing how upset Mina was about the article written about her, Harry was curious to find out more about Mina's powers and Mina was still thinking about Ace.
When they finally reached Hagrid's door Harry knocked loudly.
"Hagrid it's us! Open up!"
Hagrid didn't answer. They could hear Fang scratching at the door whining but it didn't open. They hammered on it for ten more minutes, Ron even went and banged on one of the windows but there was still no response. The five sighed lightly before leaving, feeling defeated.
On the walk back to the castle Harry pulled Mina slightly away from the others to ask her a favour.
Mina looked at him curiously before he spoke.
"Mina, I was wondering if you could possibly help me train more?"
Mina smiled widely and laughed. "I already am Harry!"
Harry shook his head and lowered his voice. "No I mean as Sailor V. You can teach me some techniques that best utilise fighting the muggle way and also combining it with magic. You would be great for teaching that. You would show me how to dodge attacks and fire off some spells at the same time. How to best utilise the best of both of the styles."
Mina looked at him strangely before shaking her head. "I really don't think I can help with that I mean, I didn't really use a wand for attacks and I really only had a few attacks. I mainly fought the muggle way."
Harry nodded eagerly. "I know but Sailor V's fighting techniques were fantastic. She knew what her strengths were and utilised it. She only had a few attacks but they were effective. Imagine if I lose my wand in a fight, then what would I do? I would be dead meat, but if you taught me some moves I can fight back and regain my wand. Please Mina? I will also teach you how to fly a broomstick in exchange."
Mina stared at him and realised how desperately he wanted to learn how to best combine the two styles of combat. She sighed before reluctantly nodding her head.
"Fine but you might need a bit more power and I know how I can help with that. We will train about 3 times a week okay?
Harry smiled widely before sweeping her up in his arms and thanking her profusely. Mina giggled before she broke away from him and ran to Ami who was looking very uncomfortable with Ron and Hermione.
The rest of the way to the tower was spent in relative silence. When they reached the Gryffindor Tower they all said their goodbyes and Mina and Ami headed up to their room.
As soon as they entered Artemis rushed up to Mina. She picked him up and sat down on her bed, patting the spot beside her to indicate to Ami to sit down. Ami followed the instructions and sat down beside her.
"Ami, you asked earlier about Ace and I thought you should know the truth about my time as Sailor V. How much do you know?"
Ami shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know much, I only know that you fought there for about a year and then when that was finished you joined us."
Mina sighed and started to stoke Artemis lightly before speaking.
"Okay well let's see, where do I start. Artemis found me when I was 10 and told me that I was Sailor V and needed to protect the world. At first I was like a vigilante defending the city of London from criminals but then the Youma were starting to appear and Artie told me I had to fight them.
Artie trained me up and for a while I fought alone until Ace came along. He disguised himself as Kaitou Ace and was sort of like my Tuxedo Kamen. He helped me fight and protected me. When we were fighting the Dark Agency I discovered that a man named Danubrite was the sort of head of the Dark Agency. I didn't know who Danubrite was until he revealed himself to me. Danubrite was Ace, and I was shocked.
He then told me that the only reason he worked for the Shitennou was because he was alive during the time of the Silver Millennium. He was just a lowly Venusian foot soldier that I never noticed. He said that he loved me from the moment he first saw me and that the only way I would notice him was if he became stronger or something. I didn't fully understand, all my memories were still coming back so I didn't know if what he was saying was true. We fought because he was evil and it was my duty to stop him. As he was dying he gave me my final love fortune. It was that my love life will remain forever hopeless, that I would never truly find love. I was devastated and he could tell. He smirked and said one final thing. He said why wasn't I happy I would never have to choose between duty and love. Duty would always win out.
He then died, I was so crushed. I then saw Alan and Katarina together and realised that maybe he was right that I would never find love. I faked my death and moved to Japan to be with you all.
Ami the only people that know this apart from you are Usagi, Rei, Artemis and Setsuna. You can't tell anyone else. Please?"
Ami nodded at Mina with tears in her eyes. "You honestly believe what he said about your love life? You are always so positive when it comes to relationships."
Mina shrugged as she wiped her eyes. "Yes I believe that stupid fortune. Artie says I shouldn't but it is always in the back of my mind."
Ami leant over and pulled her in a gigantic hug. Mina smiled softly as she returned the hug before pulling back and stating that they should sleep.
Ami agreed and smiled at Mina. "Thank you for trusting me with this Mina. It means a lot."
Mina smiled as she got in to bed and quickly fell to sleep. Ami watched her silently from her bed and whispered to herself before she fell to sleep.
"Mina you have been through so much pain that your love fortune can't be true. You more than anyone deserves love and I am sure you will find it."
The next couple of weeks the girls had grown closer thanks to Mina's admission and luckily most forgot about Mina's article except for a few comments from some of the Slytherins. Ami was still avoiding Ron though and worst of all was the fact that Hagrid still was nowhere to be found.
Harry and Mina had also commenced their training. Each lesson Mina would transform into Sailor V and started off the lesson by channelling some of her power from her Venus Crystal to him. She explained that it would make him stronger especially with things like charms, light spells and anything to do with love.
Harry was still fascinated with her powers and her ability to do spells without a wand. Mina told him that if he keeps training hard and she keeps transferring some of her power to him that he should be able to do the spells that have to do with her power without a wand.
Through the lessons Harry's spells had gotten more powerful and it required less of his energy. The two focused on mainly defensive spells and were trying to make the spell Protego work but unfortunately the stronger spells of Mina's were still getting through the blocking spell. The two hoped to make it powerful enough to block the strongest spells maybe even the unforgivable curses.
By the time of the Hogsmeade weekend about half way through January, Harry was able to do a few low powered spells without his wand, became the third best student in charms thanks to Mina's powers and was particularly good at conjuring a ball of light in his hands. Mina helped him to do that by telling him to channel his magical energy through his body and to his hands. She further explained that the wand works because it attracts his magical energy to it and without it he needs to concentrate more on focusing his magical energy to one particular spot.
The night before the Hogsmeade weekend Harry told Mina that he would finally teach her how to fly the next morning. They would wake up bright and early and use the Quidditch Pitch before heading to Hogsmeade to meet up with the others.
The next morning Mina woke up excited and quickly got ready, she was finally going to get to ride her broomstick! Mina dressed in a pair of black tracksuit pants, black and white runners, a long sleeve yellow shirt with black sleeves and L'amour written on the chest and finally tied her hair into a high ponytail to keep it off her face.
Mina turned to Ami as she was leaving. "Are you going to meet us later at Hogsmeade?"
Ami shook her head and smiled slightly "No I am still not comfortable around Ron yet, we haven't sorted out problems out and now its just awkward. "
Mina nodded as she gave Ami a hug. "Okay Ami well I will see you later okay. "
She practically bounced all the way downstairs and smiled widely when she saw Harry waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.
"Harry, I am so excited! Where are our broomsticks?"
Harry chuckled as he started to lead her to the Quidditch Pitch. "Mina our broomsticks are at the Quidditch Pitch. Dumbledore is waiting down there to make sure they are safe and to make sure nobody else will tell us off for using the pitch."
Mina smiled and ran all the way down with Harry chasing after he yelling for her to slow down. Her only response was to giggle and run faster.
Mina reached the pitch a few minutes before Harry it turned out she was a lot fitter than he was. Dumbledore greeted her warmly and handed her Honoo, her broomstick.
"Thanks professor for letting Harry teach me how to fly. It has been a dream of mine since we learnt about this world."
"No problem Minako, just be careful we don't want any injuries."
Mina smiled widely and nodded in response as Harry finally appeared puffing loudly. "Jeez you are fast Mina and so fit!"
Mina just giggled and handed him his firebolt. "Come on Harry I'm ready to learn"
Dumbledore chuckled and nodded at Harry before walking away.
Harry put the two broomsticks down on the ground and stared his lesson. He told her everything he learnt from his first flying lesson and was surprised to see how fast she was learning. As soon as she said 'up' the broomstick started to levitate. She was soon flying a few inches off the ground around the pitch. Mina was naturally an athletic person and excelled at pretty much every sport she tried. She may not be the smartest person but she was certainly good at sports.
"Harry can I go higher? I am sure I can handle it."
Harry nodded reluctantly and she took off fast. She zoomed all over the pitch flying up and down and turning skilfully. Harry soon joined her on his broomstick and was still stunned when he thought back to how this was her first lesson. She was almost as good as he was when he first flew.
When it reached around 10am Harry called a quit to the lesson. Mina graefully landed and ran over to Harry giving him a hug.
"That was so much fun! Teach me how to play Quidditch please Harry!"
Harry smiled and shook his head. "Maybe some other time we need to get back to the tower to meet Ron and Hermione before we go to Hogsmeade.
Mina nodded reluctantly and followed him up to the Gryffindor Tower. When she got there she decided that she needed to get changed. She quickly grabbed out a new outfit consisting of blue skinny leg jeans, a black slightly off the shoulder long sleeved woollen jumper that covered her butt slighty and black knee high boots. She brushed her hair to get rid of the windswept look and tied it half up and half down like her old style sans red bow. On the way out of the door she grabbed her big black trenchcoat to keep her warm.
Together Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mina went to Hogsmeade and soon arrived at the Three Broomsticks. They had a great time only having a small problem with Ludo Bagman but after he left the relaxed for a little while.
Just as they were about to leave none other than Rita Skeeter walked in. The four of them glared at her as she made her way inside. Harry's hands clenched as he stood up and made his way over to him. Mina followed him.
"Harry don't she isn't worth it."
Harry shook his head. "No, what she wrote about you and Hagrid was just wrong."
He finally made it to her and yelled to get her attention. "What are you doing here? Trying to ruin someone else's life?"
Rita turned around and beamed at Harry. "How lovely to see you Harry. Why don't you come and join..."
"I wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot broomstick. Why did you do that to Hagrid and Mina for?"
Rita raise her eyebrows at Harry. "Our readers have the right to know the truth Harry about lying teachers and conniving little girls."
"Everything you said about Mina was a huge lie and who cares if Hagrid is a half giant! There is nothing wrong with him."
Rita's smile flickered slightly before a smirk spread across her face. "How about giving me an interview Harry about the Mina and Hagrid you know? The truth about them both, is Hagrid just a replacement father for you?"
Harry was about to yell some more when Mina calmly walked in front of him and turned to Rita. "You horrible woman, you don't care about anyone but yourself do you. You don't care about how many lives you ruin with your false stories and exaggerated truths, as long as you get a story right?"
Rita cut in and looked down on Mina. "Sit down you silly little girl and don't talk about things you don't understand."
Mina's glared at Rita her voice slowly getting louder. "Things I don't understand, are you kidding me? You wrote an article about me that was full of lies and tarnished my good name. You know nothing of my life and what I have had to go through. You took everything out of proportion and you are so goddamn lucky I am a bigger person than you because trust me, if I wanted you to suffer I would find a way to do it."
Rita stared at Mina with her eyebrows raised. "Really little girl, you want me to suffer is that a threat."
Hermione knew that Rita was probably going to take anything Mina said and turn it around to make Mina look bad, so she quickly stepped in.
"Miss Skeeter just go and stop harassing people. Just leave everyone alone. You are like a parasite so just back off. Come on guys lets go."
They left with many people staring at them. When Mina glanced back she noticed that Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quote Quill was out and zooming over the parchement.
"She will be after you again for all that Mina and Hermione you shouldn't have said anything she may start on you next." Ron stated looking fearfully behind him.
The two girls glared at Ron.
"Ron, she has already said horrible things about me and I moved on from it. Let her try to hurt me again."
Hermione nodded in agreement. "let her try. I'll show her, first Harry, then Hagrid and Mina."
Mina turned to Hermione and nodded. "Little girl, I'll show her. God I can't believe her and neither should others. Hagrid needs to come out of hiding. He should never have let that excuse for a human being upset him come on!"
The others followed Mina quietly as she strode up to Hagrid's door and slammed her fists on the door. "Hagrid! That is enough! We know you are in there and you can't keep hiding! We know your mother was a giantess and we don't give a damn! You can't let that stupid Skeeter woman do this to you! Get out here! You are being utterly..."
The door opened and Mina was about to continue her rant when they all realised that it was Dumbledore standing in the door. He smiled pleasantly at them.
Mina smiled sheepily at Dumbledore. "Oh... Hello Professor we wanted to see Hagrid."
Dumbledore chuckled slightly as he opened the door wider. "Yes I surmised as much. Come in."
The five of them entered the cabin and looked around. Hagrid was sitting at his table and looked like an absolute mess. His face was blotchy, his eyes swollen and his hair was atrocious.
The five of them chorused a single hello making Hagrid look up slightly and nod in recognition.
Dumbledore whipped out his wand and made more tea appear as everybody sat down, making the small table quite crowded.
Dumbledore smiled fondly at the four-some as he turned to Hagrid. "Did you happen to hear what Miss Aino was yelling Hagrid?"
Mina went slightly pink as Dumbledore continued on. "Harry, Ron, Hermione and Minako all seem to want to know you Hagrid, judging by the way they wanted to break down the door."
All four of them nodded smiling warmly at Hagrid.
Dumbledore smiled and finished his little lecture. "They are living proof of what I have been telling you Hagrid. I have shown you the letters from countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you they would have something to say about it..."
Hagrid interrupted shaking his head. "Not all of 'em. Not all of 'em wan' me ter stay."
Dumbledore scoffed before answering. "Really Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I am afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time. Not a week has passed since I became head-master when I haven't had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it."
Hagrid sighed and croaked out. "Yeh bu' yeh're not half-giant."
Harry was furious and burst out. "Hagrid look at what I have for relatives! Look at the Dursleys!"
Dumbledore nodded. " An excellent point. My own brother Aberforth was prosecuted for practising inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers but did he hide? No he did not! He hed his head high and went about his business as usual! Of course I am not enitirely sure he can read so that may not have been bravery..."
Hermione gave Dumbledore a weird look as she interrupted. "Come back and teach Hagrid, we miss you."
Ron nodded and added his part. "It hasn't been the same without you Hagrid."
Finally what made Hagrid change his mind was Mina. She walked up to him and grabbed his hand smiling warmly.
"Hagrid you can't let what Skeeter said effect you so much. She wrote absolutely horrible things about me aswell but do you see me hiding away for god knows how long. I faced it Hagrid and believe it or not most people have completely forgot about the article.
I know it isn't exactly the same situation as it was about your family but why does it matter? Yes your mother was a giantess and she may have hurt people before but we all know the truth about you and accept it. We know you would never hurt us or anybody you are much too sweet.
Hagrid it isn't blood that makes someone your family it is those that love you. I don't believe my parents are my real family. They ignore me and treat me like I don't exist unless it benefits them. You want to know who my real family is. My real family are my friends back in Japan and all of you. You are all the people that accept me for who I am and love me for it. You all care more than my parents ever could. I don't need my parents as long as I have Artemis, my friends in Japan and you guys, that is all I need. My blood doesn't matter. They aren't important.
Hogwarts is your home Hagrid and has been for years. Everyone here is your family and you are a part of ours. Anyone elses opinion doesn't matter. We trust you and believe in you Hagrid so who cares about your mother. You are nothing like her.
Hagrid we miss you and want you to teach again. We don't want Professor Grubbly-Plank, her lessons are so boring! She teaches about things we already know, like Unicorns! We want something with a little edge."
Everybody laughed at Mina's last comment and her attempt at humour and were glad to see Hagrid smile too.
He smiled at Mina and gave her a bone crushing hug.
Dumbledore smiled and stood up. "That was a lovely speech Mina. Hagrid I refuse to accept your resignation and I expect you back at work on Monday. You will join me for breakfast in the Great Hall. Good afternoon to you all. "
Hagrid sniffed to get rid of his tears until he heared a small muffle from his arms. It was Mina.
"Ah Hagrid, I kind of need to breathe."
Hagrid chuckled and let go. "Sorry."
Mina laughed and smiled. "It's okay Hagrid. I am just glad to see you happy again."
Hagrid smiled and went on a rant about his mother and father, showing them a picture of him and his father. They watched fondly as he talked to himself. Finally he looked up and addressed Harry.
"Yeh know wha' Harry? When I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' dad gone an' you was feeliin' like yeh wouldn' fit in. Now look at yeh, school champion! Yeh know i'd love yeh ter win, show 'em all. How you doin' with that egg?"
Harry smiled tightly hating having to lie to Hagrid. "Really great Hagrid."
Hagrid smiled and Harry felt horrible. Lying to Hagrid wasn't quite like lying to anyone else. It was then he remembered the clue Cedric gave him and decided he would take his advice. He subtley pulled Mina aside.
"Mina I haven't worked out the secret of the egg yet and I am going to use Cedric's advice. The only problem is I forgot the password to the prefects bathroom. What was it again?"
Mina smiled, "Harry I will tell you if you take me with you. I want to help. We can get swimsuits from the room of requirement before heading there and maybe together it will be easier to work out the clue."
Harry sighed out loud but was happy that she wanted to help him. He smiled and nodded as the two finally made it up to the Gryffindor Tower.
Mina already knew that the second task had something to do with the lake and mermaids thanks to what Setsuna had told her but she had no idea what the actual task was. With that said she knew she could help Harry if she heard the clue.
Mina made her way into her room to see Ami sitting at the desk staring at the rose she wore to the Yule Ball.
"Ami are you okay?"
Ami shot up in her chair and looked at Mina. "I didn't realise you were back Mina, how was your day?"
Mina shrugged slightly as she was more worried about Ami. Lately Ami had been distracted easily and barely come out of the room except for class and to eat.
"Ami, please be honest with me, what is bothering you? You have been distracted all week and you haven't been doing your homework weeks in advance. Something is wrong."
Ami sighed as she got out of her chair and flopped down one her bed.
"I just really miss everyone in Japan and Taiki. I really miss Taiki. Knowing that I will probably never see him again and if I do it wont be for a long time really hurts. I might have loved him you know? The worst thing though is that even though I want to hate Ron for being a stupid jealous idiot, I just can't. I miss him and I have feelings for him, strong ones. I just don't know what to do, I have never fell for a guy that doesn't know I am Sailor Mercury. I don't know what to do."
Mina sighed as she lay down on her bed thinking of the right words. "I'm not sure what to tell you Ami. It sucks not being able to tell him the truth about who we are and I know how important trust and honesty is in relationships but if he doesn't understand he isn't the right person. We have to live with our secret and decide who is worthy of knowing the truth. It is definitely the simpler and easier way to go, being with someone who knows the truth about us but maybe you should take a chance. Either way don't cut him completely from your life. You both miss each others company even just as friends. That is what Harry and I are now, just friends and even though I like him more than that I can't lose the friendship."
Ami nodded, "I think you are right Mina, Ron and I need to fix our friendship before we develop anything else. Thanks for your help Mina."
Mina smiled and tucked herself into bed. "Who better to ask for love advice than the Goddess of Love herself."
Ami laughed and got into bed. "Too right Mina, goodnight."
There I hoped people got that I am trying to slowly make Hermione realise that even if the girls are hiding something they are still nice and can become friends. There are only small indications of that though. Also with the article about Mina, I am not very good at journalism type writing so I hope it sounded like it came from a trashy tabloid magazine. I also hoped that it showed how Ami and Mina's friendship is developing.
Thanks for reading and REVIEW