Chapter 38
James dried his hair quickly with his sopped and beat up Quidditch shirt. He couldn't believe Sirius had shoved him off his broom like that. He laughed now at the memory, glad he had taken his best mate down with him.
"Charlus, think about this. It's their world he's trying to shatter, why shouldn't they know about it?" James instantly went silent, pressing his ear against the closed door to hear better. It was his dad and…Moody. Talking about what?
"Alastor, they're still children. Children who already have it in their heads that this mad man will blow over whenever they join the Aurors. You know how Jane is." Charlus sighed, scooting a chair back. "I'm getting far too old for this." He said. James frowned at the sound in his voice. His father sounded much older, and far too tired. It worried James.
"James!" Jane called from the top of the stairs.
"Shh!" He hissed, jumping.
"Don't worry, we're done." Mad-Eye smirked, opening the door. James laughed nervously, moving out of the way. "Hello, Jane." He nodded to her as they passed by each other.
"Hey, Mad-Eye." She nodded back to him, skipping to her brother and father. "Hey, Daddy. How are you?" She asked smiling.
"I'm…tired." He laughed gently. "You two behave, I'm going to take a nap." He patted Jane's shoulder lightly as he followed after Mad-Eye down the stairs.
"Is Dad okay?" Jane frowned, turning to James. She had the exact same look on her face as her brother had had the moment he first heard his father's sigh.
"Yeah." James nodded, forcing a smile. "He's just working too hard. You know how Dad is."
Jane nodded, though she didn't fully believe her brother. "So, know if RJ's home?"
"I think so. Padfoot and I were thinking about going over and making him swim in that pond out in the field, but we remembered it's only a few days after so he probably wouldn't be up for anything like that." James smiled honestly as he explained.
"So that's why you and your clothes smell like muddy water. Go shower, prat." She laughed, shoving him in the chest.
"I will, just one question. Evans' okay, right?" He asked, his smile still obvious but at the same time Jane saw the worry clearly exposed.
"She's holding up. It's kind of hard for her to be stuck with her sister and her boyfriend all summer, but she says 'that's just how life is'. You feel really bad for pranking Severus like that don't you?" Jane smiled slightly.
"Pranking him, no. Making him call her a…you-know-what. I ruined their friendship, and yeah. I feel bad for it. Sick even." He sighed.
"That knock you're feeling in your stomach, Mr. Potter, is called guilt. You shouldn't be feeling it for this. You should feel it for everything else you've done, but not this. Severus changed after we broke up. He didn't do it because of me, it just happened then. He was probably different even when we were dating, I was just too blind to see it." His sister ruffled his damp hair, "She'll be okay, and back to hating you before we both know it."
"Don't laugh, but I don't really like her hating me. I like her, really like her." James said quietly.
Jane smiled, leaning close to him. "I know. The entire school knows. It's bloody obvious."
"Then why doesn't Lily?" He groaned.
"She does, she just thinks you're being your typical player self. You have a tendency to flirt with girls and make them like you and drop 'em like cheap meat."
"So does Sirius!"
"Yeah, and people hate that about him too." She snapped, rolling her eyes.
"Hasn't stopped Robin from owling him like crazy since we left the train." He shrugged.
"What?" Jane stared at him shocked. Of course some girl had been owling him, he was fucking Sirius Black. "That's her problem."
"Sure, it is. I'm gonna go wash up. You staying for dinner?" James raised an eyebrow, figuring it better to not question her attitude toward Sirius.
"I might be back. I have to stop by RJ's for a bit and talk to him, but I'll try to come back here before I head home." Jane said, heading down the stairs quickly.
James shook his head, Maybe all Potters have trouble with love.