CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
After the holidays, and after promising that she would be a lot more consistent in her letters to Sarah, Jane met up with James and Sirius on Platform 9¾. They both always looked so happy when they came back from James' house. Jane silently wished that she could've gone with them, wondering what kind of fun they'd gotten into without her. Of course, this just led to her feeling guilty again.
Once they were on the train, Jane had a few new pictures to show them; they mostly were of Max, but James seemed to enjoy looking at them anyway. Jane had even gotten her own camera for Christmas. It wasn't a Polaroid like Sarah's; it was a new KMZ Zorki 4, and she absolutely loved it. Once Remus and Peter walked into the compartment, Jane snapped a picture of the four boys.
"What I don't understand is how to make the pictures move whenever I decide to develop them," Jane said, looking at the camera, wondering if she were supposed to cast some sort of spell on it.
"You have to develop them in a special potion," Remus informed her.
"Well, I don't know how to do that," she said.
"I think there's a place in Hogsmeade that develops pictures. I know there's a place in Diagon Alley that does," James said, flipping through Jane's photo album again.
"That's good because I'm going to be taking lots of pictures," she said, smiling down at the camera in her hands.
"You're not going to follow us around all the time with that thing, are you?" Sirius asked. "That could get annoying."
"He's just upset that you might not always catch his good side," Remus teased, smirking a bit. Sirius looked offended at this,
"All my sides are good," he stated arrogantly. Jane rolled her eyes at him.
"Why would I want to take pictures of you anyway?" she said. "This camera is new! My parents would be awfully mad at me if I broke it."
For once, Sirius had no smart remark or witty comeback for her. Jane smirked at him triumphantly, receiving a high-five from Remus, who'd laughed aloud at the remark.
"Good one, Jane," he said, earning a glare from Sirius.
"No! No pictures!" Marlene said as they were getting ready for bed. Jane stood before her, camera in hands, finger hovering over the shutter button
"Why not? Everyone else has taken one!" Jane said.
"I look terrible right now! Did you not notice the zit on my face?"
Marlene pointed to a tiny pimple on her left cheek. Alice walked over and squinted her eyes to look at it.
"Oh, is that what that is? I thought you were growing another head," Alice teased. Marlene gasped and ran to the bathroom mirror to examine her face. Jane snapped a picture of Marlene anyway when she wasn't looking.
"Lemme see that," Alice said making grabby hands at the device. Jane handed over the camera.
"Smile!" Alice said, snapping a picture of Jane, the flash momentarily blinding her. Jane laughed as Alice went on a picture snapping frenzy, much to Marlene's dismay. Jane couldn't wait to get them developed and start a scrapbook.
"Aw! Whose puppy?" said Mary, who sprawled out on her bed and looking through Jane's photo album with Lily.
"Oh, that's Sarah's new puppy. His name's Max," Jane said, sitting down on her bed.
After a while, Alice came back with Jane's camera.
"I'll pay you to send me the one of Marlene tripping over her suitcase when you get them developed," Alice said, laughing, and Jane heard Marlene audibly scoff from across the room. Now, Jane really couldn't wait to get them developed.
"I'll have to make multiple copies of that one," Jane teased. "One for everybody in second year!" she added loud enough for Marlene to hear.
"Ha ha, very funny," Marlene said sarcastically. "I'll have you know, Alice, that I could easily ruin your life."
"Oh, yeah? How so?" Alice challenged.
"I happen to know who it is you've been crushing on for the past month and a half now; it would be a shame if someone let it slip to him."
"Who is it?" Jane said, interested at this point.
"Frank Longbottom," Marlene said without hesitation. Alice rolled her eyes.
"He's kinda cute," Mary noted, joining in on the conversation.
"So?" Alice said. "Tell him. What do I care? It's your word against mine."
Alice, unlike the rest of them, didn't seem to let stuff like that bother her very much. She could let even the worst rumours roll right off her as though she weren't privy to them at all. If Marlene really told all of Hogwarts that Alice liked Frank, Alice wouldn't so much as bat an eyelash; what did she care if people knew? Jane wished she could be like that.
"No more pictures of me until I say so!" Marlene said before stalking off to her bed. Jane and Alice sniggered at her dramatic nature. Marlene could be quite full of herself at times, but it was always funny.
Jane had missed this over the holidays. She had missed Marlene's dramatic tendencies. She had missed laughing at Marlene's dramatic tendencies. She had missed talking to her friends. She had missed having Henry jump into her lap so that she would pet him, despite the plethora of white fur he left behind. She had missed all of it.
Even more, she had missed the magic. She had missed Quidditch practices with the team. She missed her midnight practices with James and Sirius on the full moons. She had missed complaining about homework with Remus in the library as he not-so-secretly rolled his eyes at her. She had missed her discussions with Peter about how Peeves the Poltergeist had come to be and why he chose to stay at Hogwarts. She had missed her trips to Hogsmeade. She had even missed having Sirius tease her.
How was she supposed to like going home, where nothing exciting ever happened? Home was feeling guilty every time she saw Sarah, the pit in her stomach growing with every time Sarah talked of how she'd missed Jane. Home was wanting to yell at her parents for no good reason. Home was listening to her mum try and justify why she wouldn't get help and listening to her dad let her win arguments without that much of a fight. Home was wishing that she was back at Hogwarts. Home wasn't home anymore. Hogwarts was home, and Jane wasn't quite sure how to feel about that revelation.