CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
As summer came to an end at the Potters', Jane forgot all about the article she had read in the Daily Prophet, and she went back to her daily routines. She began to worry about the small things again, like her appearance, while the rest of the magical community was worrying about the attacks and disappearances that continued to happen all throughout Europe.
Mrs. Potter, who had overheard Jane and James talking about the article, had taken to hiding their copies of the newspaper to where the three teenagers wouldn't find them. In her opinion, they were too young to worry about such dreadful things. They deserved to be children while they still could. She still remembered very clearly the fear the world had when Grindelwald was at large. So, the three friends went about the rest of their summer as normal children would have, and all was well with the world in their minds.
While Jane was, once again, reluctant to leave the Potters', she was happy to be going back to Hogwarts to start her fourth year. She couldn't believe three years had already passed. Three years since she first started at Hogwarts. Three years since she met the people that were now her best friends.
Jane smiled, remembering how scared and nervous she had been when she had first met the boys.
The first of September was a bright and beautiful Sunday, the perfect day to kickstart the school year as they boarded the Hogwarts Express. As usual, Jane needed help dragging her suitcase on board. And as usual, Remus was already in a compartment with his nose stuck in a book.
"Do you ever put those down, Moony?" Sirius asked.
Jane cast a quizzical look at Sirius and then to Remus, and the compartment got really quiet.
"Did you just called him 'Moony?'" she asked curiously.
"I, um, no," Sirius spat out. "I called him moody. See he can get those really bad mood swings. Puberty and all that."
Jane cringed at the word "puberty" just like Sirius knew she would.
"All right, it is time to change the topic!" Jane said, not noticing as Remus hit Sirius with his book.
"Sorry," Sirius mumbled to Remus. "Slipped out."
Jane looked out the window as the train started to move. Oh, how she had missed Hogwarts, and she couldn't wait to start Quidditch again. This was the first year she was not nervous about anything, and it felt great. Maybe it was James' confidence in her, or maybe it was just Sirius' abnormally large ego rubbing off on her, but her self-esteem had definitely been boosted. It hadn't been boosted to the point of James' and Sirius' dangerously high self-esteems, but Jane was definitely feeling better about herself than she had in a long time.
"So, what do you think the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is going to be like?" James asked.
Remus shrugged.
"I don't know, but I know it's another woman," Remus said. "Her picture was in the Prophet last week. Her name's Clara something."
"I hope this one knows what she's doing. Old Twiggy had absolutely no clue what she was even teaching us half the time," James said.
"And she was dreadfully ugly," Sirius remarked.
"Oh, please, it's not like you'd have a chance with a teacher if they looked good," Jane said. "Or with anyone that looks good for that matter."
"No, but I sure would've paid more attention to what she was saying," Sirius said, disregarding Jane's last remark.
"Though you might have paid more attention to her, I highly doubt that would've heard a word she said," Remus said, not looking up from his book.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"I think he means that you would've been too busy daydreaming about her rather than actually learning something," James explained.
"In other words, your brain is about as developed as an ape's," Jane said.
"Also in the news of the highly obvious, the sun came up today," Peter continued after Jane.
They all laughed, save for Sirius who was sulking.
"What is this? National Pick-On-Sirius Day?" he asked.
"Don't be silly," Jane said. "It's a local holiday, not national."
Sirius scowled at her.
"Don't be surprised that if at Quidditch practice you're sent to the Hospital Wing because of a rogue Bludger," he said.
Jane stopped laughing abruptly.
"Okay, I'm done," she said, settling back into her seat. "But I'll have you know that James would never let you hurt me."
"That's right," James said, draping an arm around Jane's shoulders. "Not too badly anyway."
Jane scoffed and pushed his arm off of her.
He just shrugged and pulled a large book out of his bag. Jane read the title.
Unleashing the Inner Animal: An Advanced Transfiguration Guide
Jane raised an eyebrow and shook her head.
And they make fun of the books I read, she thought.