CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Jane endured four weeks of Sarah following her like a lost puppy before her Hogwarts letter and Hogsmeade permission slip came for her. It was getting really annoying and, not to mention, tiring. Jane had to do her summer work late at night when Sarah wasn't there; it was the only way she'd ever get it done before school started back. On top of that, Jane had to practise her flying skills in the dead of night. This resulted in her being very tired and irritable when Sarah came over to wake her up at nine in the morning like she usually did.
The week after she'd received her letter, Jane was off to Diagon Alley to see her friends. She had been able to avoid Sarah by getting her mother up early so that they could leave before Sarah came over. She kind of felt bad about it, but honestly, with how things were going, Sarah would've tried to come with her. How was she supposed to tell Sarah that she couldn't come school shopping with her?
So, on the third Friday of August, Jane and her mum drove to London. Jane was doing a little bit better with the whole not disrespecting her parents thing. Mainly, it was because her mum had been doing so well. Of course, they still got on Jane's nerves, but they had let her go to France, and Jane really didn't want to start anything that might cause her mother to spiral downwards again.
As Jane walked into Diagon Alley, she smiled and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the fresh aroma of a bakery to her left.
"Jane."
Jane turned around to see Remus and his parents coming out of Madam Malkin's Robes, and she could see why. He had gotten really tall; he was probably even taller than James and Sirius now. Jane, too, had grown a couple of inches over summer, and much to her happiness, gotten boobs. Of course, they were only an A cup, but she got to wear a bra now, and boobs were boobs. Her mother had assured her that they would get bigger.
"Remus!" Jane said, hugging him. "You've gotten so tall!"
"I know," Remus said. "I just had to get new robes. I outgrew my old ones."
"I've missed you so much. I feel like I haven't seen you for a lifetime," Jane said.
"Jane, dear, I think you might need to get new robes too," her mother said.
Jane looked around. James and Sirius were nowhere in sight, but then again, she had gotten there rather early.
"Want to come keep me company?" she asked Remus, who agreed; his dad had to go back to Gringotts anyway.
Jane stood on the little platform in Madam Malkin's with the tape measure spinning all around her body, measuring every inch of her. Remus sat and talked to her while she waited for Madam Malkin. Jane's mum was looking for a new pair of black shoes for Jane at the other side of the store.
"I'm getting an owl today," Jane told Remus excitedly. "I've been thinking of names all summer."
"I'd love an owl of my own. I mean, the family owl's great and all, but having one of your own is way better," Remus said.
"Hey, at least you've got an owl at home that you can use. It's so frustrating to not be able to send letters whenever you want. It's so—"
Jane stopped talking once she looked in the mirror to see none other than Aaron Ashby walking through the shop doors with his mother and little sister. He had gotten even more handsome over summer break.
"Hello?" Remus said. "Earth to Jane!"
He waved his hands at her. Jane blushed and looked away from the mirror, but kept glancing back up at it to see where Aaron was.
"What's wrong with you?" Remus asked.
"Nothing," Jane said, but she was smiling a bit.
Remus shook his head at her, but she didn't notice, because Jemma Ashby was walking straight towards her, Aaron following behind her.
"Oh my, you're the sweet little darling that was with Cassandra over Easter," Mrs. Ashby said. "Forgive me, I've forgotten your name."
"Jane Hensworth," Jane replied.
Jane's eyes quickly flashed to her mother at the other side of the store who was holding up two, almost identical pairs of shoes and examining them. Jane did not want her mum to hear Mrs. Ashby talking about Easter.
"Oh, that's right. I don't know if you've met Lydia or not. It'll be her first year. She's so excited."
Jane stared at the bored face of the younger girl standing beside Mrs. Ashby.
"It shows," Jane said, hiding the sarcastic tone that she so eagerly wanted to use.
"Well, it was nice to see you again, darling. I need to go get Lydia some robes."
With that, Mrs. Ashby and Lydia walked away. Aaron, however, stayed.
"You're one of Potter's friends, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," Jane replied with a goofy grin on her face.
"I'm Aaron, if you don't remember," he said, smirking at her expression.
"I remember," Jane said. "I also remember that you and James didn't seem to like each other very much."
He chuckled, causing Jane to smile even more.
"Yeah, Potter's never really liked me," Aaron admitted.
"Hmm, and why is that?" Jane asked, not really looking for an answer; he was talking to her, and that was all that mattered.
"I'm not really sure," Aaron said. "I was actually hoping that you could enlighten me on that one."
Jane smirked at him and shrugged.
"James can be a bit judgemental sometimes. He just doesn't like some people," Jane said.
Aaron laughed again and then continued to smirk at her. Jane felt like her heart was melting into her stomach.
"Well, it was good to see you again. Maybe I'll see you around school," he said.
"Yeah, maybe," Jane replied.
Jane smiled as Aaron walked away.
"Well," Remus said awkwardly, "that was painful to watch."
Jane rolled her eyes.
"Oh, shut up," she said, but she was still smiling.
"And James can be a bit judgemental, but when he doesn't like someone, it's usually for a good reason. Did you think about that?" Remus said.
"Oh, please. Just because James doesn't like him doesn't mean he's a bad person," Jane said.
"I don't know, Jane. He does seem kind of—I don't know. Besides, he's two years older than us," Remus said.
"So? That's not that big of an age difference," Jane said, though the reminder that he was in his fifth year and she was only in third did make her a little unhopeful; he wouldn't like her.
"All right, let's see, now," Madam Malkin said as she appeared in front of Jane with some fabric in her hands.
After Jane got her robes, they walked out of the store and saw James, Sirius, and Peter already waiting for them.
"There you two are," Sirius said. "I think my hair was turning grey just waiting for you."
"Shut up," Jane said, pushing him a little before he smirked and gave her a hug.
"Thank you for your usual one letter over summer. It was really great," Jane said.
"Just be happy I wrote to you at all," he said.
"And how is our little traveller? Going off, seeing the world without us," James said.
"I hardly saw the world," Jane said, hugging him. "Besides, you've already been to Paris before."
"That didn't count; I was six," James said.
After that, Jane's mum left with Mrs. Potter and Jane and the boys walked about Diagon Alley. She left her camera film to get developed and they were on their way.
As usual, they walked into Quality Quidditch Supplies just to look around and see if there was anything new. Jane smiled when she saw Aaron at the register buying broom polisher with his friends.
Aaron turned and saw Jane. She smiled and waved, and to her surprise, he waved back, with that same heart-melting smirk on his face.
"Hey," he said to Jane as he and his friends walked past.
James looked at Jane as she watched Aaron walk out of the shop.
"No," James said. "No. No. No."
"What are you on about?" Jane asked.
"You like him, don't you?"
"What if I do?" Jane replied boldly.
"Why'd he say hey to you?" James asked.
"It's what normal, nice people do," Jane said.
"He's not a nice guy, Jane," James said.
"What's your problem?" Jane asked. "You just don't like him because you think that I like him."
"That's not true. I didn't like him before I even knew you," James said.
"Whatever," Jane said, waving the subject away.
"Listen, Jane, just be careful around him, okay?" James said on a much more serious note that took Jane off guard.
"I can take care of myself, James," Jane assured him.
After a fun-filled day in Diagon Alley, Jane was ready to get her owl. She found her mother, who looked almost mad.
Jane's mum took her to the side.
"I had the most interesting conversation with Mrs. Potter," Mrs. Hensworth said.
Jane just looked at her.
"For some reason, she was under the impression that you stayed at her house over the Easter holidays. Now, do you have any reason as to why she would say something like that?"