CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Jane's summer was far from pleasant. While it seemed Sarah was off having fun with the many new friends she had made at Test Valley, Jane had nothing to do but stay at home, wishing that she were somewhere else. She had no one to talk to (save for her parents), she had nowhere to go, and she had nothing to do.

All she had were her records and her schoolwork (which she had already finished by mid-July). And later, there were the letters from her friends.

Even Remus, who came from a place just as boring as Stockbridge, was having a better summer than Jane. His family had gotten a Crup, and that was more excitement than Jane was getting.

That was until James had, in one of his letters, asked Jane to say "hello" to Lily for him yet again. Jane had told him that she wouldn't, having already done this the last two summers with Lily going off in her letters about what a terrible person James was. Then, Jane had jokingly suggested that he just write to Lily himself.

This had turned out to be a big mistake. James actually had written to Lily, for like a week straight. Lily was, to say the least, furious about it. She had written to Jane and asked her to get him to stop, and while that's what Jane had done (twice), James didn't cease in his letters.

By the end of the summer, Lily had written to all the friends, even Sirius (who all, in turn, had written to Jane, save Peter) and told them that if they didn't get James to stop, that she was going to send them all cursed letters. And while Jane was slightly amused about the whole ordeal, she didn't want to end up going to school with no hair or anything of the sorts. However, Jane wouldn't get James to stop until late August.

When Jane received her Hogwarts letter in early August, it didn't take long for her to receive a letter from James afterwards:

Dear Jane,

I appreciate the concern you have for this matter, but you are worrying for no reason. She will come around. She may make empty threats, but she won't do anything, I'm certain of it. In other news, I received my Hogwarts letter today. My family will be going to Diagon Alley next Friday at around noon. Also, after school shopping, Sirius is staying at my house for the rest of summer. You are also welcome to join. And by that I mean, you better have your suitcase packed and ready to go when I see you.

Sincerely,

James

Jane, who hadn't been to the Potters' since Easter her second year, was really happy to be invited. However, convincing her parents was going to be a completely different thing. She had stared at the letter for a while before running down the stairs to find her mother making lunch.

"Well, you seem excited," her mother had said.

Jane smiled. It had been over three months since her mother's last episode. And though she knew it was stupid to hope because she did this every time, Jane couldn't help but think that maybe this time, her mum was really getting better.

"I just got James' letter. We go to Diagon Alley next Friday," she said.

"As soon as you got your letter, I knew you'd be getting one from him. The Potters are nothing if not consistent," her mother said, smiling.

"Yeah, they sort of can't stand not having a plan for things," Jane said.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing."

"Yeah, but he, um, sort of invited me to come over to his place. After Diagon Alley, Sirius and I are invited to stay with them until school starts back," Jane said.

Jane's mum was silent for a moment.

"I don't know, Janie. Don't you have schoolwork to be doing?" she asked.

"I've already finished it," Jane said. "And James and Sirius are really smart; they could go over it for me."

This was a lie. They weren't going to look over her schoolwork; it took everything they had to actually start on their own.

"Well, wait until your dad gets home from work. Then, we can discuss this. I don't have a problem with it, but we'll just see what he has to say," was all her mum had said.

So, when Jane's father got home that afternoon, Jane hesitantly brought up the topic again.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Jane."

"Why not?" Jane asked, slightly crestfallen.

Jane's mum, upon seeing the disappointment in her daughter's face, quickly spoke up.

"Oh, Patrick. What could it hurt? It's only for a couple of weeks. And the Potters are really nice people. Cassandra—"

"I have no doubt that they're nice people, Mary, but I just don't think it's very becoming of a girl Jane's age to be staying at some boy's house."

"He's not 'some boy,'" Jane stated. "He's my friend."

"Friend or not, I just don't like the idea. You're a fourteen-year-old girl, and you shouldn't be staying overnight at a boy's house."

"I know what you're implying, and I'll have you know that I find it both offensive and repulsive," Jane said.

"Patrick, Janie is a good girl. She would never—"

"I still don't think it's appropriate," he said.

"Come on, Dad! James and Sirius and I are just friends! Don't you trust me?" Jane asked.

"Of course I trust you, it's just, well, I don't know anything about these boys. I've hardly met them, and boys at that age have…"

Please, Merlin, don't say 'urges,' Jane thought, staring up at the ceiling.

"…urges, and—"

"Dad!" Jane said.

"Well, it's true. I was that age once. I know what it's like."

"Dad!" Jane said again.

"Patrick, they're okay boys. Janie's been friends with them for years now. Can't you just let her go this once?" Jane's mum said.

"Yeah, come on, Dad. I haven't had anyone to hang out with all summer! I miss my friends," Jane begged, trying to make him feel bad for her. "And besides, James is like a brother to me. And Sirius is too in love with himself to like anyone else."

"I just—"

"Pleeease?"

Her father sighed.

"Come on, Patrick, just let her go," her mum said.

"Fine," he said in a curt voice.

"Thank you so much!" Jane said, getting up to hug him.

"But," he started, "we're going to talk about something. I know at this age, you've got all kinds of hormones and—"

"Dad! We are not about to have this talk," Jane said in a frightened tone, not really in the mood for a sex talk with her parents (nor would she ever be).

"Yes, young lady, we are. I know you think it's not important, but it is," he said.

"Yeah, but can't we just have this talk later? Like when I'm forty? Or dead?" Jane asked desperately, trying very hard to get out of this situation.

"We're talking about it right now," he said adamantly.

Jane groaned and hid her face in her hands, wishing she were dying a slow, painful death because that would be more pleasant than this.

After Jane was scarred for life, she wrote to James:

Dear James,

I really do wish that you would leave Lily alone. Not only have I received letters from her, but from our friends as well because they all seem to think it's my fault! And after being sufficiently traumatised, I finally managed to get my parents to agree to let me stay with you.

Love,

Jane

Jane read over the letter and sent it off with James' owl, which thankfully hadn't left yet.

I really need to get my own owl, Jane thought before turning on her record player and trying to forget the past thirty minutes of conversation with her parents.