CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Since Jane was an alternate, she got to practise with the team whether she'd actually play that year or not. She'd just do flying drills or laps, stuff to keep her sharp in case she did have to play. Usually when the Quaffle and Bludgers got involved, she sat in the stands with the other alternates, but sometimes she got to fly around with them. Apparently, James and Sirius, who were determined that Jane would make first line the next year, did not think that this was enough practice. So, one Sunday night in October, Jane was awoken from her slumber by harsh voices coming from the window.

"If you don't leave right now, I'm going to get Professor McGonagall!" Lily was saying to the open window.

"Could you just wake her up for us?" Jane heard James' voice say.

Jane crawled out of bed and walked slowly over to the window.

"What's going on?" she asked Lily quietly.

Jane looked out the window to find James and Sirius sitting on their broomsticks.

"What are you doing?" Jane asked.

"Getting you. Go on and get dressed and grab your broom," Sirius said.

"Are you mental?" she whispered, careful not to wake the others. "For what?" she added curiously as an afterthought.

"Practice," James said excitedly.

"You do realise it's the middle of the night," Lily said.

Jane had to agree with Lily on this one. Why on earth did they think that Quidditch practice in the middle of the night was a good idea? Why not during the day like sane people?

"Just come on," Sirius said, as though that would get Jane to agree.

And he was right.

"All right. Hold on just a mo," Jane said. Lily gave her an incredulous look.

"You're not really doing this right now, are you?"

Jane shrugged.

"Why not?"

"Because it's against the rules!" Lily exclaimed.

"Well, we won't get caught if you keep your trap shut," Sirius said.

"Look, he's right. The teachers walk around the castle. They won't be anywhere near the Quidditch pitch." Jane looked at Lily. "You aren't going to tell on us, are you?"

"No, but—"

"Thanks," Jane said, grabbing her broomstick. "Leave the window unlocked, yeah?"

Lily mumbled something under her breath, but Jane knew that she would, so Jane flew away down to the Quidditch pitch with the two boys. The cool night air felt great against her face along with the added adrenaline rush of breaking curfew.

When they landed on the Quidditch pitch and walked to where the team meetings were held, Jane asked:

"So, why are we doing this in the middle of the night?"

"Because technically, we aren't supposed to touch the Quaffle unless we're in a game or at a real practice," James said.

"Yeah, and your flying skills are great, but you never really get to practise with the Quaffle. And if you have no hand-eye coordination, then there's no way you'll make the team next year," Sirius said. Jane nodded. True enough.

"Alohomora!" James said when he reached the box where the balls were held.

The lock on the box clicked, and he opened it. He threw the Quaffle to Jane really fast, and it hit her in the face.

"Hey!"

"See? This is why you need to practise," Sirius teased.

Jane didn't think that that was a really fair assessment of her skills. She hadn't been ready.

"Okay, well why are we doing this on a Sunday night? We have classes tomorrow. Why didn't we do this last night or the night before?" Jane asked.

"Full moon tonight," James said. "Need to see the Quaffle, don't we?"

Jane nodded. True again.

She picked the Quaffle up and tossed it to Sirius.

"All right, let's have a go," she said.

They walked back out to the pitch and flew up into the night air. Excitement welled up inside of Jane again. This was nice. The pitch was pretty when it was lit up by moonlight; everything always looked better by moonlight. And practice was a lot more thrilling when you were breaking rules. She raced James around the posts a few times, laughing.

This wasn't the first time Jane had broken a school rule; obviously Hogsmeade trips were not permitted to her by the school yet. But this was better. She didn't know why; it just was.

As it turns out, practice with James was not that fun at first. He was a perfectionist. He'd make Jane repeat the same drill, pass, shot, move, etc. over and over again until she got it perfect. Not good, not great, not exceptional. Perfect. Plus, it was the only time he had ever yelled at Jane. Arse or not when it came to Quidditch, however, James was a great coach. He pushed Jane to her limits, limits she didn't even know she had. And she liked it. She could feel herself getting better with every catch, every goal, every sharp turn. If they kept this up, she'd without a shadow of a doubt make first string next year.

After they were done, and had put the Quaffle back where it belonged, Jane lay down on the pitch.

"What're you doing?" James asked.

"I'm tired."

"Well, we were about to go back to—"

"I don't wanna go back to the castle yet," Jane said. "I wanna stay here for a little while."

It was one of those nights when there were no clouds in the sky. The stars could be seen perfectly, and though it was a bit cold outside, it was still bearable. The boys looked at her. Jane flashed them a brilliant smile, the moonlight dancing in her eyes. They lay down beside her. She and Sarah did this all the time during the summer in the fields behind their houses. It was just a nice way to relax and forget.

Jane felt a small pit form in the middle of her stomach. In a little over a week, Jane would've been at Hogwarts for two months, and so far, she had only written to Sarah three times in total. Between practice, schoolwork, and sneaking off to Hogsmeade, Jane had, admittedly, forgotten about Sarah many, many times over.

Jane made a silent promise to write Sarah sometime next week, and she pushed the thought to the back of her head, the pit in her stomach subsiding for the time being. After all, there was nothing to be done about it right now; she'd just have to do better.

In the distance, on the outskirts of the little town of Hogsmeade, an awful howling could be heard. Jane had heard stories about the Shrieking Shack from some of the older students. It was supposedly haunted, but she had never actually heard any of the noises for herself until then. They sounded almost animalistic. It kind of gave her the creeps. So, after a while of laying and talking, Jane stood up, and they all flew back to their dorms. Jane shut the window tight and locked it before curling up in her bed.