CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
The days passed, and luckily, the Restorative Draught had worked; Mary was back to normal, if not a bit jumpy. However, much to everyone's chagrin, Mulciber never got expelled because Mary's memory of the attack was blurry and confused, and she couldn't really remember what had happened. And despite Marlene trying desperately to convince the teachers that Mulciber had done it, she had no real proof in the end.
However, almost everyone else at school had been convinced that Mulciber had been behind the attack. Jane was mostly convinced by the smug look he seemed to have on his face every time he passed Mary on their way to classes. Jane had even passed Lily and Snape in the courtyard, and they seemed to be arguing about something. Jane had a feeling it was about the people he chose to hang around with because she had heard Lily mention Avery and Mulciber's names.
A couple of days after Mary was back to normal, Alice, Marlene, and Jane earned a week's worth of detention for using an Orbis Jinx on Mulciber.
"That won't kill him, will it?" Jane had asked after Mulciber had been sucked into the earth.
"Unfortunately, no," Marlene had said as they began to walk away. "There's an orb around him."
"I expect he'll finally claw himself out in a few hours' time," Alice had said.
The three girls had gotten stuck with various rigorous tasks throughout the week as their punishments, but they all agreed that it had been worth it to see Mulciber running into the Great Hall at dinner, covered from head to toe in dirt; Marlene swore she saw him crying. The school had had a good laugh at Mulciber's expense, and James and Sirius had been very proud of Jane's involvement with the whole thing.
A couple months later, on the last Saturday in May, Gryffindor won the match against Ravenclaw. However, it wasn't one of Jane's better games. She hadn't even scored a goal, which she mentally kicked herself for later. She equated it to the stress that exams put on her, plus the added anxiety she felt as the school year came to an end. She really didn't want to go home (especially not after she'd received a week's worth of detention).
Of course, after exams were over and had been graded, and after the end-of-term feast in the Great Hall, and after packing up her things, Jane and the rest of the students at Hogwarts boarded the train at Hogsmeade Station and headed off to Kings Cross.
Jane was kind of quiet on the ride home. She took to staring out of the window mostly and watching the vast landscape. The feeling that this summer was going to go dreadfully wrong would not go away no matter how hard Jane tried to have an optimistic outlook. She could not shake the feeling that some dark cloud was looming ever closer, waiting to engulf her in some kind of metaphorical storm, and she hated it.
Jane's stomach began to lurch as she felt the train slowing. She looked at Sirius, who was smiling and laughing and having an all-around great time. She didn't understand how he did it. How can someone be so happy when they knew that just moments away, all fun would more than likely be sucked from their life?
After she got off the train, Jane spent as much time as she could saying goodbye to her friends. She talked to James' parents for a good bit, trying to delay the start of summer. However, Jane couldn't pause, rewind, or fast forward through time, and so it was with a reluctant countenance that she walked through the barrier.
A small, involuntary smile crept onto her face when she saw her mother. However, she mentally stopped herself from getting too excited about it, remembering what had happened back at Christmas.
"Hi, Janie," her mother said, a happy smile on her face.
"Hi," Jane said, taking in her mum's new haircut.
"Your hair's so short," Jane said.
"Do you like it?" her mother asked. "I thought I'd change it up a little. I've been wearing it the same way for years."
"Yeah, it looks good," Jane said truthfully, and her mother grinned in a pleased way.
"Hi, Dad," Jane said.
He nodded to her, but didn't say anything, and they all walked to the car. Jane's mum relayed any news or rumours that had been going around Stockbridge. And while Jane didn't really care about the happenings of Stockbridge, she was glad to listen to her mother talk so enthusiastically about it. This meant that her mum was actually getting out of the house and socialising with people other than Jane's father.
Jane and her mother talked the entire ride home while Jane's father remained silent. Jane had forgotten to not let herself get swept away in excitement. And the dreadful feeling that she had been having was long gone.
When they finally pulled into their driveway, Jane's father held her back to talk to her before she could enter the house. She stared at him anxiously.
"So, you've gotten another detention," he said.
Jane opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off.
"I don't—I don't care. Am I disappointed? Yes. But I'm not going to stand here and yell at you about it," he said.
Jane just stared at him in a confused manner. If he wasn't yelling at her for getting a detention, then what was he about to say?
"Jane, your mother has been doing really well as of late," he said. "She's been exceptionally happy."
"Okay?" Jane said; she could see her mum was happy without him telling her all this. "How long has she been like this?"
"A couple of weeks now," he said.
Jane fought back the urge to roll her eyes.
"Dad, in case you're forgetting, that's not an exceedingly long time, considering she's gone months without an episode before," Jane pointed out.
"You can't stand there and tell me that you don't see some sort of difference in her," her father said. "She's happier than I've seen her in years, Jane."
Jane thought about her mum's enthusiastic voice and genuine smile and how incredibly normal and happy she seemed. Jane had to admit that this kind of happiness was a different kind. Her mum was calm and seemed totally in control of her own life again. Jane couldn't remember the last time her mum had been interested in the town gossip of all things. However, Jane had been let down enough times to know that believing her mother was magically cured was nothing more than wishful thinking.
Yet, that tiny part of Jane that was forever the optimist was somewhere buried deep inside of her, screaming:
She's getting better! She's finally getting better!
"Jane, I know that this has all been hard on you. And I understand the frustration you feel sometimes, but please, try and be nice. There's something different about the way she is right now. I don't know what that's supposed to mean exactly, but—"
"Dad," Jane interrupted, "I'm not stupid. I know I've been kind of a brat lately, and I'm sorry. But I wouldn't do anything to make her worse."
"Patrick! Janie!" called Jane's mum from inside the house. "Do you need some help with the luggage?"
Jane carried Asha and her broomstick inside, leaving her father to deal with the suitcase.
"No, we've got it," Jane said, smiling at her seemingly happy mother.