CHAPTER TEN
Three days later, James, Jane, Peter, and Remus boarded the train for the Easter holidays, this time accompanied by Sirius, who would spend his break with the Potters. Jane said goodbye to her roommates as they all sat in different compartments on the train.
As close as Jane was with her roommates—Lily and her being the closest despite their arguments sometimes—it was an unspoken thing between them that they all had other friends with whom they were closer. They would spend some free time together, but for the most part, they went their separate ways. Lily would go off with Severus Snape. Alice had some good friends in Ravenclaw. Mary and Marlene spent their time flirting with older boys. And Jane, well, she had her four boys to keep up with.
"Wait until you fly it for the first time," James was telling Sirius about his Cleansweep Four, "it's absolutely amazing!"
"Oh, James," Jane said, digging around in her bag. "I've gotten you a birthday card and some money. I know your birthday's not until tomorrow, but seeing as how I won't see you…"
She pulled out the card and money and handed it to him.
James liked it well enough; he liked getting money, but after their gift to her—showing her Hogsmeade—her present felt inadequate. She could have went into Hogsmeade, gotten him something nice, but that would not have been fair to Sirius or Remus who had already received cards. She settled for buying real gifts next term.
Jane was nervous most of the ride home as she stared out over the Scottish landscape. A few weeks before, she had received a letter from Sarah about her mum. Jane didn't know if her mum was better by now or not; there was no telling how long one of her episodes might last.
Jane found herself wishing that she could go to James' like Sirius was doing. She found herself dreaming of soaring on the new Cleansweep, of practising her magic, having James and Sirius teach her Quidditch moves and jinxes. Then, she automatically felt terrible. She shouldn't want to spend her holidays with another family rather than her own. Her family wasn't like Sirius', who ridiculed and outcast him. Her family loved and cared for her every single day, regardless of their flaws, which in light of all that they had done for her, didn't seem so horrible.
"All right there, Janie?" Sirius asked. "You've been awfully quiet."
Jane turned to look at them and smiled.
"Yeah, I'm all right. Wait till ya meet James' mum. Lovely woman," Jane said, and though she truly meant it, she had only said it to see James roll his hazel eyes; she had grown fond of annoying James.
"If by 'lovely' you mean 'overbearing,' then yeah, she's very lovely," he said. Then, James smiled and turned to Sirius, determined that two could play at this game.
"You should see Jane's mum. She's hot."
Jane blushed furiously.
"Shut up, James," she said, aiming a playful kick at his foot.
They all laughed. Once conversation struck up again, Jane took to looking out of the window once more, laughing whenever something funny was said. She thought of how strange it was that just seven or eight months ago, she hadn't even known magic existed. But here she was on the Hogwarts Express. In a fortnight, she would be coming back and reviewing for her exams.
Time seemed to move so much more quickly now that she had more than one friend, and school was something that she looked forward to most days rather than not. She wondered if Sarah felt the same way. Surely, she too was making friends now that she was no longer hanging around with "that freak" Jane Hensworth.
Jane knew that the only reason she had managed her one friend was by the fortune of good timing. Had Sarah moved onto her street in the middle of a school year, the other children would have warned her to steer clear of Jane. But because Sarah had moved to Stockbridge over the summer, no one was there to tell her that Jane Hensworth was the weird girl without any friends, and for that one stroke of luck, Jane had been grateful. It had made home a lot less lonely.
Luckily, Jane's mum and dad were waiting for her just outside Platform 9¾ when she got off the train.
"Janie, darling!" her mother had exclaimed, and Jane couldn't help but smile and run into her open arms.
James was not wrong about Jane's mother; she was very beautiful. Her dark hair always seemed to frame her face perfectly no matter how she wore it, something Jane had never been able to accomplish. Her mum's eyes were big and bright blue as opposed to Jane's dull grey ones. And her smile, when she was happy, was unique in the way that it could look devious and reckless while at the same time looking kind and caring. Jane loved her mother's smile more than anything.
Jane often wondered what it was inside her mother that made her so prone to sadness, a sadness which Jane knew that she herself had never experienced and was glad for it. She wondered how this beautiful woman with her bright, blue eyes and mysterious smile could feel the way that she felt sometimes. Jane never understood how this woman—this strong, lively, happy woman—could be the same woman that shut herself up in her room for days at a time.
When Jane was younger, back before she knew of chemical imbalances and mental illness, and her mother was having an episode, she had asked her father why her mother was so sad.
"Most beautiful things in this world are very fragile and, therefore, easily broken. Your mother is no exception, Jane," had been his answer, and that answer had been stuck inside Jane's mind ever since.
Sometimes, Jane was angry with her mother. Sometimes, when she was little and couldn't sleep late at night, she would hear her parents arguing in their room just down the hall. Her father would sometimes beg for her mother to seek out help, but her mother, whether refusing to see a problem or being very proud (Jane would never know which), would simply refuse any kind of "help." And sometimes Jane thought that this was incredibly selfish of her mum.
But as far as mothers went, Jane didn't think that her mother was so bad. She loved her like a mother was supposed to and took care of her for the most part. What more do you ask of a parent?
"We've got your birthday present at the house, dear. Now hurry along. Give your trunk to your father, Janie. Let's go!"
Jane loved when her mother was like this, bubbling over with energy. That's how Jane wanted to be when she was older, no bad spells like her mum, just energetic and happy all the time.
When they finally pulled onto South Side Cottages and passed the Camden house, Jane saw Sarah peeking out of her bedroom window. She smiled, and as they pulled into their driveway, Sarah was already running down the street to welcome Jane back home.
"I've gotten loads to tell you!" Sarah said as she hugged her best friend.
"Oh, hello, Sarah."
"Hi, Mrs. Hensworth."
"Oh, darling. How many times have I asked you to call me Mary? Now come inside you two. Looks like it's about to rain."
Sarah and Jane ran inside, both of them racing to Jane's room to see what Jane's mum and dad had gotten her. Sarah, being lithe and fast, burst through the door first. There, on Jane's bed was a small red box with gold ribbon. Jane smiled at the choice of colours.
"Open it!" squealed Sarah. "Oh, shoot!"
"What is it?" Jane asked as she reached for the box.
"I left your gift at my house! Hold on just a mo!"
Jane laughed as she watched Sarah dash out of her room. Then, her mother and father walked in.
"Where's Sarah going?"
"She left my present at her house," Jane explained, sitting there with her unopened box, waiting for Sarah to return.
"Well, before she gets back, your father and I have gotten you another little present besides that one."
Jane watched as her father pulled out a small, golden key from his coat pocket and handed it to her.
"You are now the owner of Vault 657 at Gringotts bank," her father said. "We figured you didn't have a need for the kind of money in your savings, so we had it converted and put it all in Gringotts."
Jane smiled, looking down at the little key in her palm. She had a wizarding bank account. How cool was that?
"Now, don't lose that," her father said, pointing to the key. "Put it somewhere safe. From what I understand, it'll be a real hassle to get that replaced. So, just put it somewhere you can find it."
Jane closed her fist around the key and smiled. She jumped up from her bed to hug her mother and father.
"Thank you so much," she said.
"You're welcome, darling," her mother replied.
Jane slipped the key into her pocket when she heard someone on the stairs. She smiled as Sarah stormed into her room, breathing heavily. Jane noticed small, wet dots on Sarah's blue shirt; the foreshadowed rain must have only just begun.
"Here—you go—" Sarah said, trying to catch her breath; Jane supposed she had sprinted all the way to and from her house. Sarah placed a slim, blue package in Jane's hands. She grinned.
"Well, go on then. Open it!"
Jane tore through the blue wrappings to reveal a Thin Lizzy record called Shades of a Blue Orphanage. Jane smiled. Thin Lizzy might not have been especially popular, but she loved them and was convinced that they were going to be a hit one day.
"Oh, Sarah! It's perfect! This is their new one, yeah?"
"Just came out a couple of weeks ago," Sarah said, smiling. "There's a song called Sarah on it. I thought that was cool, and I know how you like 'em and all."
Jane smiled, placed the record on her bed, and hugged Sarah.
"Thank you," she said.
"You're welcome."
"Open ours now, Janie," Jane's mother said.
Jane opened the little red box and pulled out a golden necklace with a small lion charm on it. She smiled.
"It's beautiful," Jane said. "Thank you so much."
She hugged both of her parents again.
"You're welcome, darling," her mother said, hugging her tightly. She pulled away from the hug and held Jane at arm's length. She sighed and brushed some of Jane's hair out of her face.
"Just yesterday you were seven," her mum said. "Oh, where does the time go?"
Jane laughed.
"Well, supper will be done in a few. I'll call you when it's ready."
"Here. Help me put it on," Jane said, handing Sarah the necklace as her parents disappeared down the hallway.
Jane lifted her hair, and Sarah hooked the necklace in place. Jane examined it in the mirror and smiled. Then, she opened her record player and put on the Thin Lizzy record until supper was ready.