CHAPTER THREE

After Potions, Jane gathered her stuff and followed her classmates to Transfiguration. She walked with Marlene, but when the students from Hufflepuff joined them, Marlene seemed to know one of the boys and decided to sit with him instead.

This didn't bother Jane. In fact, if possible, she'd rather sit with someone different in every class. Not only to get to know more people, but also to not feel like she was replacing Sarah with any one person. In public school, Jane and Sarah always sat together and were always partnered together on projects. She didn't want that with anyone else because she was certain that it would feel like a betrayal.

Jane sat at a table at the front, partially because she was short and partially because James and Sirius were at the table behind it. She smiled as Lily sat down next to her.

"What'd you think about Potions?" Lily asked eagerly as she sat down.

Jane could tell that Lily was excited to compare thoughts with another Muggle-born student. Jane smiled.

"I thought it was great. I'm a little scared that I won't be good at it though," Jane admitted. "I was never good at science."

Lily laughed.

"Yeah, it seems like a challenge. Sev said that he's pretty good at Potions though, so I think I'll be fine as long as he's my partner."

Jane nodded. She didn't know if Marlene was any good at Potions and wondered if their grades would suffer too much if neither of them proved to be academically inclined in the subject.

"Oooo," came the jeering voice of Sirius. "Snivellus is good at something? I find that hard to believe."

Jane watched as Lily went red in the face.

"Stop calling him that!" she demanded. James and Sirius laughed from behind them.

"I saw that you and he are Potions partners. Hasn't anyone told you that Slytherins and Gryffindors aren't supposed to be friends? It's like an unspoken rule," James informed her.

"Well, it's a stupid rule," Lily said, "and I can be friends with who I want."

Jane chuckled a little because Lily's face now matched the colour of her vibrant hair. Lily took the chuckle the wrong way, and Jane stopped abruptly.

"Guys, don't be so mean," Jane said over her shoulder to them, hoping to appease her roommate.

"We're not being mean, Janie," Sirius said.

"Yeah, we're only having a bit of fun," James assured her.

"My mum's the only one that calls me Janie," Jane stated randomly.

Sirius pulled a piece of lent off the shoulder of his robes and shrugged.

"Well, now I do too," he said casually, and that was the end of that conversation.

By the end of that class, Jane had learned almost absolutely nothing. How was she supposed to concentrate when she had just watched her instructor turn into a cat and then back into a person?

"That was incredible!" Jane told Lily as they packed up their things and headed back to the common room.

"I know!" Lily exclaimed. "I can't wait to start using magic."

"Me either," Jane said, daydreaming about all the things they would learn.

At lunch, Jane was still impressed. She couldn't stop asking questions as she sat with the boys. After all, they'd all had the advantage of growing up in magical houselholds.

"I'm sorry," she said after a while. "I'm probably getting on your nerves with all these questions."

"A little," Sirius said truthfully from across the table. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Nah, you're Muggle-born. You're expected to ask a lot of questions, especially on your first day."

Jane smiled and then playfully stuck her tongue out at Sirius, who only returned the gesture.

"What class do we have next?" Jane asked. Peter pulled his folded schedule from his pocket.

"Double Charms with Ravenclaw," he answered.

"I wonder what that class is like," Jane thought aloud.

"Well, we're about to find out," Remus said, checking his watch. Jane pushed her half-eaten plate away from her. She was far too excited to eat.

"Well, I'm ready!" she said happily.

James pulled Remus' arm across the table and read the watch.

"Class doesn't start for fifteen minutes," he said.

"So?" Jane said.

"I'll walk you," Remus said, just as eager about the class, but unwilling to admit it aloud. He stood from his seat. "I'm done eating anyway."

"See ya in a few minutes," Sirius said to the two as they walked out of the Great Hall together.

"You know what's weird?" Jane said as they walked down the corridors.

"What?" Remus asked.

"At my old school, I only had, like, one friend, but here, it's just so easy to make new friends. I don't understand why I couldn't do that at my old school," Jane said.

"Well, sometimes it's easier to start over. New school, new people, new opportunities," Remus said.

"I wish Sarah could've come here," Jane said.

"Sarah's your best friend, right?" Remus asked, trying to remember all the things she'd told them about her life back home.

"Yep, ever since we were seven," Jane said proudly.

"It must suck having to keep this all a secret from her," Remus said.

Jane nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well, I can still tell her the truth about some things. Like how it's a boarding school, or about the people I meet, or if the classes are hard or not. So, I don't really have to lie about much unless she asks specific questions like the name and why I have to go," Jane explained.

"It would be nice to be able to tell her everything though," Jane added as an afterthought. "I don't think friends should keep secrets from each other."

Jane looked over at Remus.

"Are you okay, Remus?" she inquired.

"Yeah, why?"

Jane shrugged.

"You just look a bit peaky is all."

The rest of that day was kind of a blur. Remus had sat beside her in Charms, and he went to the library with her afterwards, and when they got back to the dorm, they helped each other on their Potions homework. And that night, Jane and Lily stayed up a little late, talking about what they liked best and what they liked least (least being having homework on the first day). And they talked about just how exciting everything was. And Jane had never been so happy in her life.