CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The next day, Jane was, once again, in the library, this time accompanied by Remus. Remus looked terrible; Jane was sure that he was falling ill again. He'd have to go to the Hospital Wing that night; Jane was certain of it.
The school year was so close to being over and done with. Jane could not wait to get exams out of the way. Then, she'd have a whole week to relax with her friends until she had to leave them behind and return to Stockbridge.
Some part of her didn't really want to go home, but the other part of her felt guilty for this because she really did miss her family and Sarah. Also, there was the added guilt of her letters; once she'd started to really study, her letters to Sarah were pushed to the end of her to do list. She promised herself that she would make time to write today.
"It's almost lunch," Remus said, stretching and yawning, causing Jane to yawn as well. She looked at her watch; lunch was in thirteen minutes. Remus was stacking up the books on the table. It was like clockwork the way James and Sirius strolled into the library with Peter tagging along behind them.
"Ready for lunch?" James asked, slinging an arm around Jane's shoulders. Jane just nodded. She wasn't really that hungry; exams had her feeling like she was going to puke up anything that went into her body that wasn't the school curriculum.
Nevertheless, the five of them walked through the corridors and into the Great Hall. Sirius smirked, noticing that Blake Hanson and his friends were already seated. There were also open seats next to them. Instead of leading them to their regular seats, Sirius took charge and walked along the table until he reached the seats beside Blake Hanson's group. James, not being aware of Sirius' plan, gave Sirius a weird look as they bypassed their usual spot. Sirius knew James would not have consented to this; James had made him swear to not even tease Jane about her crush, but this didn't matter to Sirius. Teasing Jane was way too much fun for him.
"Why are we sitting down here?" Remus asked. Sirius only shrugged.
"Just felt like it," he said casually.
Jane was already aware of the close proximity to Blake. She knew exactly how far down the table he usually sat from them—she'd spent many days sneaking glances at him from behind her pumpkin juice goblet when she was certain he wasn't looking in her direction. At the moment she saw Sirius walking closer to him and his friends, she felt both terrified and ecstatic. She had to remind herself to act cool as she took her seat beside Remus. Blake was only four seats down and across the table. As she sat down, Blake glanced over, and Jane managed a small smile. When he smiled back, Jane's stomach went into butterfly mode. There was definitely no way she could eat now.
"Janie, pass me a sandwich," Sirius said.
Normally, Jane would have found his request odd, as he usually just leaned over the table for things, but because she was so focused on not making a fool of herself, she thought nothing of it. As she reached for a sandwich, Sirius muttered something under his breath so low that no one, save for himself, could hear.
Jane's body suddenly lurched forward. She fell into the table, knocking over a bowl of pudding. When she sat back in her seat, trying to figure out what just happened, her whole arm was covered in pudding along with the table and part of her robes. There were a few giggles and laughs from Sirius and the group next to them. By this time, Jane was as red as Lily Evans' hair, and she didn't have the heart to see if Blake was one of the ones laughing.
"Are you okay?" asked James, who was trying not to laugh.
"Yeah, I-I don't know what happened; I just lost my balance or something," Jane mumbled, trying to wipe pudding off of her; luckily, Remus knew a spell that cleaned her up instantly.
A little while later, after Jane had almost forgotten about the incident, she went to take a sip of her pumpkin juice. It was Sirius' time to strike again. As soon as Jane had the goblet to her lips, Jane's juice spilled all down the front of her. This time, however, James heard Sirius mutter something and caught a glimpse of his wand under the table. James elbowed Sirius hard in the side and gave him a look that warned him to stop.
Sirius only smiled. There was only so much James could do to him; he was, after all, his best friend. But Sirius decided that the small stuff was over; time to really embarrass her.
At this point, Jane figured that she'd have to hide her face from Blake Hanson for the rest of her life. He probably thought that she was a major klutz. What kind of person doesn't even know how to drink juice without spilling it all over themselves?
After they went back to eating, Sirius waited a while before he started to talk.
"So," he started loudly—loudly enough for anyone sitting beside them to hear, "I hear you have a crush, Janie."
James let his fork clatter to his plate, and Jane looked mortified. Remus looked up at Sirius with wide eyes, wondering who'd given him such dangerous ammunition to add to his arsenal.
"Who was it again? You know I'm terrible with names."
James stepped on Sirius' foot under the table, but this did not seem to faze him; he was on a mission. Jane was sure Sirius was trying to ruin her life.
"Oh, yeah, that's right. Blake Hanson, wasn't it?" Sirius said maliciously.
Jane stood up so fast that she thought she might be sick. Nope. She was going to be sick. She rushed from the Great Hall not even daring to look at Blake or any of his friends, for she was sure that they had heard. By the time she reached the girls' bathroom, tears were already glistening on her cheeks. She locked herself in a stall and cried.
This was it. Her life was over. Sirius Black had ruined it. She could hear her father's voice in the back of her mind telling her to brush it off, that it wasn't the end of the world, as he had said to her all those times that she had come home with stories of how the other kids at school treated her.
And suddenly, it all turned to anger. She was mad at Sirius; she wanted nothing to do with him. She could handle him teasing her, that was almost harmless, but this time he had gone too far. And James, she'd never speak to him again. Had he not promised her that he wouldn't tell Sirius? A liar, that's what James Potter was.
Meanwhile, Remus and Peter had already gone after Jane. James and Sirius lagged behind.
"What the bloody hell was that about?" James demanded.
"Nothing. I was just having a bit of fun. I was only teasing her."
"You promised you'd keep it a secret," James said. "Why would you do that to her?"
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Oh, come off it, we do that stuff to everyone," he said, walking away. James pulled him back roughly.
"Not to her," he said angrily.
Sirius was taken aback by his tone. James had never actually been mad at him before.
"You're not really mad at me, are you?"
James didn't say anything.
"Why is she any different from anyone else?" Sirius asked.
"Because she's our friend, and she's like a sister to me," James said, "just like how I consider you a brother."
"Oh, come on, what I did wasn't that bad," Sirius said.
"You announced who her crush was in front of her crush," James said. "And it doesn't matter if you don't think it was a big deal; it hurt her."
"Oh, come on, I just—"
"Well, don't. Don't do it again. I don't care who you have a go at as long as it's not her, got it?"
Sirius had to really look at James to make sure he wasn't kidding, and he wasn't, which really threw Sirius for a loop because he'd never been mad at his teasing Jane before.
"Yeah, yeah, all right," Sirius said.
He didn't understand what the big deal was. Jane would get over it; he teased her all the time, and she always got over it. Why should this time be any different?
"I don't want to talk to you."
James was sitting with Jane in the library, trying to convince her to forgive him.
"I'm really sorry, Jane. I didn't know he was going to do that."
"It doesn't matter! I specifically told you not to tell him, and you did anyway after promising that you wouldn't! And now, Blake knows I like him, and he probably thinks I'm weird!" Jane shouted in a whisper—she had already been shushed twice by the librarian that day.
"I'm sure he doesn't think that," James said.
"Did you even see what happened at lunch today?" Jane asked incredulously.
"Come on, Jane. I'm sorry. Please, don't be mad at me," James begged.
"Leave me alone," Jane said, opening a book.
James groaned in frustration. He obviously wasn't going to get anywhere with her. He'd just have to wait until she decided to forgive him.
"Fine! I don't care! Be angry!"
He stormed from the library. This wasn't going to be fun at all.