The next couple of days passed without incident. Ron, Hermione, and Harry were always together (except when Harry had Quidditch practice) while Jane was rarely seen without Fred and George and never missed a Quidditch practice. Jane still didn't talk to Cedric and since she was never alone he couldn't talk to her. People still treated Harry, Jane, Hermione, and Neville coldly and it wasn't just the Gryffindors, the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws too glared at them every chance they got since because of them Slytherin was in first place.
"Man, I'm tired of the glares" Harry said the saturday morning of the second Quidditch match
"Don't worry mate if we win the game we can gain some points" Ron said trying to cheer him up.
"Yeah, and the game is against Hufflepuff so it will be easy" Fred said from beside Jane.
"Okay Gryffindor lets go to the locker rooms!" Oliver said to the team
"But there is still hours for the game" George complained.
"Move it" Oliver said ignoring the complaints and moving out of the Great Hall in the direction of the Quidditch pitch.
"Good luck" Jane called out to the team, but it turned out to be a bad idea since everyone that heard her turned to glare at her. She turned red and her hair started changing colors as she looked around nervously at her fellow students. She couldn't take it anymore and ran out of the Great Hall to the Quidditch pitch before anyone else. While she ran she didn't notice the figure in front of her until she felt it grab her shoulders.
"What is wrong, Jane?" Serious asked his voice full of concern. Jane didn't answer she just buried her face in his chest wrapping her arms around him and crying her eyes out. Sirius didn't hesitate to put his arm around her shoulders trying to sooth her. When he felt her calm down a bit he tried asking her what was wrong again and this time she answered.
"Well I'm sure you got the letter about us being out after curfew" Jane started
"Yes, I got it, but that was ages ago. Why are you crying now?"
"Well I think is because I've been trying to hold it in but I'm tired of people glaring at me and ignoring me and well I just lost it" Jane said tears falling down her face again.
"That can't be the worst thing somebody has done in all this time" Sirius said
"Well apparently it is because people haven't forgotten and they definitely are not being forgiving"
"Forget them" Sirius said. "And nobody is going to bother you today or have you forgotten who I am in the wizarding world" Sirius said smiling and leading her to the Quidditch pitch which was still empty.
"Right you are the infamous Sirius Black" Jane laughed feeling extremely better now that Sirius was with her.
"Well glad it amuses you" Sirius said smiling at her. She was so much like Lily but at the same time so much like James that it was like looking at them at the same time in the same person. They talked for awhile until the stands started to fill with students. Jane notice how people stayed away from them because of Sirius and she felt the need to start crying again but for a different reason than before. Sirius noticed her face and put an arm around his shoulder squeezing it gently.
"Don't worry Jane, it will pass" Sirius said referring to everything that was happening around them.
"I know" Jane said smiling at him. The game soon started. The Hufflepuff weren't the best team but with Snape being refere they got most of the penalties for stupid things they were in for a good game. Sirius was raging at every penalty Snape gave them. But even with all thouse penalties the Gryffindor team won in a matter of minutes thanks to Harry who broke the school record for being the fastest seeker to catch the snitch. The Gryffindors broke down in cheers and Jane and Sirius were not an exception. Jane ran down the stands and threw herself at Harry who stumbled a little and laughed catching his exited sister.
"Oh Harry I'm so proud of you!" Jane said
"So am I" Sirius said hugging them both since Jane was still clinging to him. The Gryffindor team took no notice of her because when they raised him they took her with him, although that could have been the Weasley twins idea since they were the ones holding her up. She really didn't mind she was having a lot of fun. Sirius watched this with an amused smile on his face. He was really glad neither Jane nor Harry were alone. The team didn't let go of Harry but Oliver told the Twins to let go of Jane and they did reluctantly hugging her before following her team. Jane stayed with Sirius for a moment before he said he had to go. She then found Hermione and Ron who had a black eye.
"What happened?" Jane asked Hermione
"Malfoy" Hermione said not needing to give more explanation.
"Oh, well I expect he got a black eye too" Jane said looking at Ron expectantly.
"Hell yeah, Neville tried to take Crabbe and Goyle single handed... The poor guy is in the hospital wing unconscious but Crabbe and Goyle received black eyes two."
"Great! Now let's go to the party that is surely happening now" Jane said.
The rest of the week was slightly better, with the points won in the Quidditch match Gryffindor was more hopeful about winning at least the Quidditch cup so they spent less time glaring at the four first years. But on the other hand exams were coming and all the students were on edge and everyone could be seen studying.
"Jane you should study" Hermione said like for the million time
"Hermione you are wasting your time, she probably knows everything already" Harry said tired of hearing his friend telling Jane what to do. It was just a matter of time before she snapped. But Jane just ignored her and stood up.
"Where are you going?" Ron asked desperate for a distraction.
"Out" Jane said going out of the library where they spent most of their days. She walked for awhile letting her feet take her and she ended up in front of the lake staring at Cedric's back.
"Um, hi" Jane said hesitantly. Cedric turned fast surprised that she was talking to her.
"Jane" He said his voice full of relief
"Um, sorry for running away before" She said
"No, I shouldn't have pushed" Cedric said
"Can I sit down?"
"Sure you can" Both of them sat down in silence.
"How come you are not studying?" Cedric asked breaking the silence.
"Already know the stuff... What is your excuse?" Jane said smiling at him.
"Same thing, of course" Cedric said grinning when Jane laughed. Jane felt so much better after taking that much needed break of studying and laughing a little.
The exams passed quickly but Jane and Harry didn't relax like the others, feeling as if they were missing something about the stone. They knew that whoever wanted to steal (since Jane didn't believe it was Snape) the stone most want it for Voldemort but they didn't know if he already knew how to pass Fluffy. So after the exams Jane, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were sitting by the lake (not the same place Cedric and Jane sit) trying to relax when suddenly Harry jumped up "Of course, why didn't I see it before" He yelled before running off. the other three followed him trying to catch him when they did he was questioning Hagrid.
"But didn't you see his face?" Harry was saying.
"No he never put his hood down" Hagrid said confused
"But you must have talked, didn't you?"
"Well yeah, he seemed interested in what kind of animals I had dealt with, I reckon he didn't want to give the dragon just to anyone, but I told him that after Fluffy a dragon wouldn't be any problem"
"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Jane asked catching with what Harry was doing
"Of course he was interested when was the last time you saw a three headed dog, so I told him that the trick with every creature was knowing how to calm them, take Fluffy for instant play a little music and he will fall asleep..." Hagrid said before he noticed what he had said. "I shouldn't have said that... Hey where are you going?!" He yelled but the first years were already running to the castle.
"We need to talk to Dumbledore" Harry said.
"I don't suppose you know where his office is do you?" Jane asked but before he could respond McGonagall found them.
"What are you four doing inside" McGonagall asked
"Um well we need to see Professor Dumbledore" Harry said
"It's urgent" Jane added.
"Well whatever it is I'm sure it can wait since professor Dumbledore was called by the ministry and he is not here at the moment"
"He is gone?" Jane asked
"Certainly, he is after all a very busy man"
"But, professor you don't understand" Jane started
"We know about the sorcerer's stone" Harry continued
"And we are sure someone is out to steal it" Jane finished.
"I have no idea how you know about the but I assure it is perfectly safe. Now run along" McGonagall said before leaving them. The four of them went to the common room passing Snape as they went.
"Today, whoever it is, is likely to act" Jane said when they got to the common room.
"Oh come off it, we all know it is Snape" Ron said irritated that Jane still didn't agree with them.
"Where is the evidence"Jane said turning to Ron and glared at him.
"Okay fighting won't solve anything. We are going to act today too" Harry said.
"Right, so what is the plan?" Hermione said trying to ease the tension between Jane and Ron. The students stayed in the common room until the last person went up to sleep.
"Now is our chance" Ron said but before they could move further they saw a toad on and arm chair.
"Trevor you shouldn't be here" Hermione whispered to the toad.
"Neither should you" Neville answered standing in front of them
"Neville you don't understand"Harry started but neville interrupted him
"You are leaving again, aren't you? Well I won't let you" He said, " I'll fight you" He added raising his fist as if to fight.
"Neville, I really am sorry for this" Hermione said. "Petrificus totalus" Neville fell to the floor with a thud.
"What the hell was that?!" Jane said losing it. "What did you do to him?"
"Calm down Jane it was only the full body bind, he'll be fine." Hermione said and passing him added, "Sorry Neville, it's for your own good."
"Yeah, sorry" Harry and Ron said at the same time when they passed him. Jane didn't say anything, she seriously doubted he would feel reassured by anything.