CHAPTER TWELVE

Jane promised to write to Sarah whenever she could. She'd informed her friend that once she got back to school, the professors would probably be loading them down with so much review work that it'd be next to impossible to do much of anything else.

Once again, Jane found herself on Platform 9¾ with her parents. She thought about how the next time she would stand on this platform would mark the end of her first year at Hogwarts. Time was flying by so fast, and she didn't quite know how to feel about that.

"Hi, Remus!" Jane called as she spotted her friend on the platform. Remus turned and waved as he walked over to Jane and her family, his mother and father following suit.

Remus' parents were not nearly as sociable as Mrs. Potter was. They seemed to keep to themselves, but they were friendly nonetheless.

"Enjoy the holidays?" Jane asked Remus as they boarded the train. Remus shrugged as he fell into a seat in an empty compartment.

"It was all right," he said. "And you?"

"Pretty good," Jane said as Peter found his way into the compartment.

After a while, James and Sirius found their way into the compartment as well, laughing about something that must have happened over the break. They all seemed to have had a pleasant holiday. They asked Jane about hers, and it was on the tip of her tongue to tell them about Sean, but because they were boys and had no interest in such things, she figured she'd save that bit of information for her roommates. Perhaps then she could giggle over the Muggle boy with someone besides Sarah, who had stopped bringing up Sean to her as often as she used to.

A long while later, Jane began to feel sick. Her stomach was killing her; she felt like someone was stabbing her. She tried, for a while, to sleep it off, but she was unable to get comfortable, and the pain kept her awake. In the end, she settled for pressing her face against the window, which was soothing and cool compared to her flushed and overheated face.

"You okay, Jane?" Remus asked when the boys finally noticed that she wasn't saying anything. Keeping her eyes closed, trying not to focus on the pain, Jane slowly shook her head.

James, being the older brother type that he was when it came to Jane, traded seats with Remus so that he could sit beside her.

"What is it, Jane?"

She shrugged.

"I don't feel so good."

"Well, we'll be at school soon. We'll take you to see Madam Pomfrey, okay?" James said. Jane only nodded. Then, Sirius got up to open the window a bit.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked.

"Well, she looks like she's about to die; I figure she might like some fresh air before she goes," Sirius said, joking as always. "Besides, it's a bit stuffy in here anyway."

"She does not look like she's about to die," Remus scolded. Jane ignored Sirius; she found it worked rather well when he teased her. She laid down over a couple of seats and rested her head in James' lap.

The pain in her stomach was worsening. What she really wanted to do was cry. But she couldn't cry in front of them. They were boys and wouldn't understand. They were tougher; they'd tell her to get over it; it was only stomach pain after all. Well, maybe Remus wouldn't, but if she cried now, it would be terribly embarrassing for her. But despite her best efforts, Jane, who after all was only a twelve-year-old girl, let a few tears spill down her cheeks. Luckily enough, this was only right before the train stopped at the station.

The friends headed straight for the hospital wing, and Jane felt vaguely embarrassed that all four of them were coming along with her. It was probably nothing anyway, though by the time she'd gotten to Madam Pomfrey, she was kind of clammy.

Madam Pomfrey didn't let the boys come in when she questioned Jane about her symptoms, which Jane would be very thankful for later. After a while of questions and weird wand waving, Madam Pomfrey looked as though she could laugh or roll her eyes; Jane didn't know which.

"I know what this is; you'll be fine."

Jane looked up at her, expecting to hear what it was, but Madam Pomfrey just turned to go get something out of her office. When she returned, she carried a small glass and some kind of potion that was purple and bubbly. She poured it into the glass.

"Drink up; it'll help with the cramps."

Jane drank it. She didn't know why she had expected it to taste good; maybe because it reminded her of soda, but it was disgustingly bitter. However, Madam Pomfrey had been right; almost immediately after drinking it, Jane felt much better.

"So, what was wrong with me?" Jane asked before she left.

"Nothing, you're about to start your menstrual cycle," Madam Pomfrey said, leaving to get something.

Jane, who up until this point thought that surely no one person besides herself had ever experienced such pain, was thoroughly embarrassed. She felt all of the blood rush to her face in embarrassment at the diagnosis, though she wasn't too sure why. Judging by Madam Pomfrey's reaction, she'd had a few other female students come to her with this sort of issue before.

Madam Pomfrey came out with some Lil-lets and sent Jane on her way. Jane managed to stuff them into her robe pockets, not wanting her friends to see them. She walked out to find James and Remus; Sirius and Peter had gotten tired of waiting. She found herself, if only for a moment, disliking the fact that only girls had to go through this.

"So, are you all right?" Remus asked when she didn't offer up any information on her situation.

"Yeah, it was just a stomach ache," she lied.

No way she was going to tell them. No matter how close she was to them, they were still boys. She would tell Lily and Alice and write to Sarah, but she'd die before she told a boy no matter if they were her best friends or not.