CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

On the twenty-fifth of March, Jane and the boys boarded the Hogwarts Express and headed off to London. Jane was, of course, excited to be going back to the Potters'. However, there was this little nagging sensation in the far back of her mind. When she had written her father to tell him that she'd be spending Easter at James', he hadn't protested. He had not tried to get her to come home at all.

In Jane's mind, she took this to mean either a) he suddenly didn't care what she did (which was highly unlikely) or b) her mum was having yet another episode. Jane couldn't help but think the latter was the reason, and somewhere in her mind she thought:

What if she's getting worse?

Jane couldn't help but feel guilty if that really was the case. Had she pushed her mum over some kind of edge back at Christmas when she had yelled at her for being an inadequate mother?

Jane had shared this dismal theory with Remus, but he had assured her that, if her mother was having an episode, it surely was because she was sick and had nothing to do with Jane. At the time, his reassurance had made Jane feel better, but now, she couldn't help but feel as though he might be wrong.

But Jane decided that she could dwell on it when she got back from the break. She was determined to have a good holiday even if it killed her. So she allowed herself to forget about it, and she actually enjoyed the train ride to London. Well, she had enjoyed it up until they decided to play Exploding Snap.

"I hate this game!" she had said, throwing down her cards, two of which exploded. "It's stupid."

Remus had grinned at her.

"Don't be mad at the game because you can't win it," he said.

That was easy for him to say. He almost always won. He was an Exploding Snap champion. Jane, however, had never won a game in her life, even Peter was better than her at it. And of course, it didn't help that Sirius taunted her almost every time she lost. She had grown to despise the game, and decided that being a bystander and just watching was way more fun than playing and losing all the time.

When they got to the station, Jane was the first one off the train. She looked around eagerly for one of James' parents, and she smiled when she caught a glimpse of Mrs. Potter talking to a stout woman in green robes.

Jane walked over to her, a stupid little grin plastered on her face. When Mrs. Potter spotted Jane, she smiled. Jane vaguely noted that while Mrs. Potter's smile was kind and warm and beautiful, it was nothing compared to her own mum's smile. However, seeing as how Jane didn't want to think about her mother, she decided to forget that as well.

"Jane, darling!" Mrs. Potter said, wrapping her in a tight hug. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Jane answered happily.

"I have my little girl. Now, where are my boys?" Mrs. Potter said, looking through the crowd of people.

Jane couldn't stop smiling after Mrs. Potter called her "her little girl." Mrs. Potter had always been a good motherly figure to Jane.

"Oh, there they are," Mrs. Potter said as James and Sirius walked up to them.

"Did you know," James said, "that my birthday is in two days?"

"Of course, I'm your mother," Mrs. Potter said.

"And you know what I would really love?" he continued.

Mrs. Potter just looked at him.

"To not be dragged to another one of your parties this Easter," James said; while Jane was looking forward to it, James still hated the idea.

"Don't be silly, James. You're not being dragged anywhere. We're hosting the party this year," Mrs. Potter said.

James groaned, and Jane smiled happily. And off they went to Diagon Alley to buy dress robes.

"You would think," Sirius said, "that after the first thirty minutes, you'd get tired of staring at that thing."

Jane turned to see Sirius standing in the doorway of her room with a bored expression on his face. She rolled her eyes and went back to staring at the dress robes she'd lain carefully on her bed, along with various necklaces.

"I'm trying to think of what necklace to wear with it," she said.

"Merlin, you're such a girl, Janie," Sirius said.

"You know, seeing as how I am a girl, I hardly count that as insulting."

"I'm bored," Sirius said, pushing away from the doorframe, obviously itching to do something other than stand there.

"Where's James?" Jane questioned.

"Being held against his will in the parlour while his mother hems his dress robes," Sirius said.

"Madam Malkin hemmed his robes," Jane pointed out.

"Yes, but this is James' mum we're talking about. Everything has to be done her way," Sirius teased.

Jane smiled.

"I think she's a wonderful person," Jane said, finally picking out a pearl necklace she'd gotten last year.

"Oh, no doubt," Sirius said, smiling. "Kinda makes up for our families, huh?"

Jane thought briefly about her mum, but her smile never faltered.

"She more than compensates for them," Jane agreed.

"James! Hold still for two seconds!" came Mrs. Potter's voice from the lower level.

Jane and Sirius both sniggered and ran downstairs to see James in his dress robes. His facial expression looked fit to kill, as he finally stood still for his mother.

After Mrs. Potter finished up with James' robes, and Sirius and Jane had had a good laugh at his frustration, the three friends busied themselves with Quidditch practice until dinner was served. And Jane was happy at the prospect of having her first entirely enjoyable holiday in years.