CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Luckily, Aaron had seemed to mean what he had said to Jane. He didn't seem to be mad at her, and he didn't push her to do anything else. Jane had told Lily about it, but nobody else. She couldn't risk it getting back to James; he'd likely end up ripping Aaron's hands off.

Jane's fourteenth birthday was luckily on a Hogsmeade weekend, and she and Aaron enjoyed a nice date and he bought her a pretty, little silver bracelet that she absolutely adored.

On the eighth of April, Jane left for the Easter holidays. Aaron had stayed at Hogwarts, and she wished that she could've stayed with him, but after last Easter, her parents were not about to let her stay anywhere but home this year. So, she said her goodbyes to him, and boarded the train with her friends.

"How are you ever going to survive without him?" Sirius teased her as they walked into a compartment together.

"Shut up," she said.

"No, seriously, you two haven't been apart for more than a day. You're not going to go through some kind of withdrawal, are you?"

"No, but James might once I kill you," she said threateningly.

"Fair enough," Sirius said, taking a seat and shutting up as Jane had asked.

Suddenly, Jane remembered the detention she had gotten back in January. She groaned, hoping that her parents had forgotten about it already. A detention for skipping class would surely have them thinking that something was wrong with her. She really didn't want her parents to fight this whole holiday like they had at Christmas.

In fact, Jane had planned for a peaceful holiday. She'd get to tell her mum about Aaron. She didn't write them and tell them that she had a boyfriend; she wanted to do it in person. That news was just too exciting to put in a letter. Her mother would be so happy for her. And she'd tell them about the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, and her father would be so proud of her.

Jane smiled just thinking about it. She wasn't going to be bratty or bitchy this holiday. She would hold her tongue, and they would all get along, like they used to. She was going to have a good holiday. By the time the train started to move, she was actually looking forward to going home. It was going to be great.

Jane immersed herself in conversation with the boys. Well, she talked mostly to Peter. James, Sirius, and Remus were arguing over something about Transfiguration. She even told him how excited she was about going home. She knew Peter wouldn't ask her why she'd be anything other than excited. That was the great thing that she loved about Peter: he didn't ask a whole bunch of questions; he just listened.

Hours later, when they stopped at Kings Cross, Jane hopped off of the train excitedly. Jane said very quick goodbyes to the boys and happily raced through the barrier. For the first time in a long time, she couldn't wait to see her parents.

Jane should've known better. She should've known better than to hope for anything when it came to her family. She should've expected some sort of disappointment by now. It was like the time her mother had slept straight through her tenth birthday or when she had slept through Christmas back in Jane's first year at Hogwarts. She should've known better than to think she was going to have this fantastic holiday.

Jane had frowned when she saw only her father at the station. Her mother couldn't be having an episode. Not now. Not when she had already been planning this great holiday in her mind.

Some part of Jane was in denial. Whilst in the car with her father, she talked about her Quidditch game, never once having the courage to ask about her mum. Maybe she had been out shopping. Maybe she was cooking. Maybe there was some other reason that she didn't come to the station. Maybe, just maybe, Jane could still have her perfect holiday. After all, her father had yet to bring up her latest detention.

Jane could've punched herself in the face for believing for a second that her mother wasn't having an episode. Once she walked through the threshold of the house, she could feel it. That sad energy filling up the home. It was all she could do to not scream or cry at her mother when she went into her parents' bedroom to say hello.

Jane didn't eat dinner with her father; she wasn't hungry. She just locked herself away in her room and fiddled with the silver bracelet on her wrist.

It wasn't fair. She was supposed to be laughing around the dinner table with her mum and dad. She was supposed to be talking about schoolwork and Quidditch and Aaron. She was supposed to be having a good time.

She wrapped her arms around herself as she lay down on her bed. She hadn't even noticed that she had started to cry.

So much for the perfect holiday.