CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Almost four weeks had passed, and Jane was back to herself again. She had immersed herself in her schoolwork and Quidditch once more. She was currently trying, and failing, to stay awake in her History of Magic class. Peter kicked her seat for what seemed like the hundredth time; his foot was getting sore. Jane jolted awake.

"What?"

"You're falling asleep again," he said.

Jane sighed, and picked her quill back up. History of Magic had always been her least favourite class, but she still had to get good marks in there.

After class ended, Jane walked with the boys up to Gryffindor Tower to get ready for lunch. Jane ran up to her room, quickly dumped her Defence and History stuff on her bed, and replaced it with her Charms and Care of Magical Creatures books. Then, she headed down to the Great Hall for lunch.

Monday lunches were always the quietest it seemed. The first day of the week mixed in with a class like History, which drained a person of everything they had, made for very tired third years. They were just happy to get food into their systems.

Halfway through her lunch, Jane looked up at the Ravenclaw table, and she saw something that could liven up any Monday lunch. Aaron was looking at her. Her first instinct was to look away, but she stopped herself and decided on a braver course of action. She waved at him. Aaron smirked and waved back, causing Jane's stomach to do a little flip. Then, he nodded towards the door of the Great Hall with a look that obviously asked, "wanna walk with me?"

Jane smiled and nodded. She stood up, pushing her half-eaten plate away from her.

"Where are you off to?" Sirius asked.

She almost lied to them. She would've lied to them, but she saw that damned Transfiguration book in James' bag under the table. It reminded her that they were keeping something from her. So despite the fact that they were going to lecture her later, she figured she'd tell them something that they didn't want to hear: the truth.

"You know what," Jane said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I'm going to hang out with Aaron for a bit."

"Jane, I—"

"See you in Charms," Jane said, cutting James off before briskly walking away.

Aaron was already waiting for her at the entrance of the Great Hall.

"Well, here I am, gracing you with my presence," Jane stated boldly.

Aaron grinned and bowed a very low bow.

"How gracious of you, m'lady," he said over-dramatically.

Jane laughed, and Aaron spotted James, who was watching him with a scowl marking his features.

"It seems your Court Jesters are none too happy about you spending time with me," Aaron said, smirking.

"They never are," Jane said.

"Well, would you fancy a walk with me anyway?" Aaron asked.

"I would be delighted."

And the pair walked away.

"So that game against Slytherin was pretty rough last week," Jane said. "They almost had you beat."

"Almost being the key word," Aaron said. "It appears as though the only team that really stands in the way of Ravenclaws and the Cup is Gryffindor."

"We aren't just standing in the way, mate. The Cup is definitely ours," Jane said playfully.

"Oh, someone's Miss Confident all of the sudden. What happened to the girl that was scared speechless before her first match?" Aaron asked.

"She met an extraordinary boy that gave her some wonderful advice," Jane said, smiling.

"Well, he sounds like a troublemaker," Aaron jested. "You should watch yourself around him."

"So everyone keeps informing me," Jane said as she started to laugh.

They continued to walk and talk like that for a while, laughing and losing track of the time. Aaron, it seemed, was being exceptionally nice to Jane. He had complimented her four times (and she had blushed every time), and he laughed at all of her jokes, no matter how stupid they were. He even offered to carry her school bag.

After they had walked through the castle for a long while, they took to sitting on a staircase.

"So," Aaron said later on, "how badly do your friends hate me?"

Jane chuckled.

"Depends on which friends you ask. My roommates think you're amazing. Peter's intimidated by you; of course, he's intimidated by most. And Remus, well, he seems to be rather neutral," Jane said.

"I think we both know which friends I'm talking about," Aaron said, smirking.

Jane grinned.

"Oh, no. Those two still hate your guts," Jane said, referring to James and Sirius. "They like to lecture me about how you're this terrible person that's going to devour my soul or something."

"Ah, yes, that sounds like me. Aaron Phillip Ashby, the soul eating monster," Aaron said.

"You should sign your name like that," Jane joked.

"It'd be interesting on Christmas cards, wouldn't it?" he said, grinning.

Jane laughed, but her laugh quickly caught in her throat once she remembered something.

"Oh, my god, what time is it?" she asked, standing up frantically.

"About a quarter 'til two," Aaron said, looking at his watch.

"I'm half an hour late for Charms class!" Jane said, grabbing her bag.

"Oh," Aaron said. "I'm so sorry. I have a free period right now; I totally forgot that you had class."

"No, it's my fault. You shouldn't have to tell me to go to class," Jane said, looking up at him.

She looked into his eyes, and unsurprisingly, she didn't care that she was late anymore.

"You know, my class is halfway over by now. I should probably just not go," she said, sitting her bag back onto the steps.

"Are you sure?" Aaron asked.

"Of course," she said, smiling up at him.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful smile?" Aaron asked, looking down at her.

Jane blushed. Yes, it sounded like a really bad line. Yes, it was corny and trite and cliché. But Aaron had said it, and to Jane, that made all the difference.

Almost out of nowhere, his hand was brushing her cheek. Jane's stomach erupted with so many butterflies that she thought she might get sick. Thankfully, she didn't because in the next instant Aaron's lips were on hers.

Holy shit, Jane thought, he's kissing me! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! What do I do?

Jane just kissed him back to the best of her ability. She had once overheard this fifth year girl telling her friends that girls were natural kissers, and boy, did Jane hope that that was the truth right now, because this whole tongue thing was a lot weirder than she'd thought it'd be.

"Ahem."

Jane and Aaron immediately separated, and Jane, who was now running on pure hormones, was fully prepared to slap the person that had interrupted her very first (real) kiss. That was until she turned to see Professor McGonagall standing behind them.

"Miss Hensworth," McGonagall said, ignoring Aaron completely, "am I correct in assuming that you should be in class with the rest of your fellow Gryffindors?"

Jane took her punishment gladly. Who cared that she had gotten yet another detention? Aaron Ashby had kissed her. He had told her that her smile was beautiful and kissed her right on the lips. Tongue and all. She felt as though she could walk on water.

McGonagall had ordered Jane to her class, and Aaron walked with her, slipping his hand into hers. Jane had never paid so much attention to the sweatiness of her palms.

"Sorry for getting you a detention," Aaron said. "Again," he added as an afterthought.

"It's not your fault," Jane said, still blushing madly from the kiss. "In fact, it was worth it."

Aaron smirked.

"I'm glad you feel that way."

By the time Jane and Aaron got to the door of the Charms classroom, the class had around ten minutes left. So instead of walking into class and looking like a complete idiot, Jane elected to stand outside the doorway.

Right there in that very spot was where Aaron asked her out. Right there in that very spot was where Jane had said yes. Right there in that very spot was where she had experienced her first ever snogging session. And right there in that very spot, as the students left the Charms classroom, was where James Potter almost had a heart attack.