CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

It had been almost a week, and Jane continued to see remarkable differences in her mother. She was overly happy and seemed extraordinarily motivated to get things done around the house, putting everything in order. She would ring up old friends that she had not spoken to for a while. She even made amends with people whom she had had quarrels with. She was so full of energy that she went to bed very late at night and awoke very early; there were some nights that Jane wondered if her mother had slept at all.

Jane watched with much pleasure as her mother transformed into someone who seemed to have come to some kind of terms with herself. And she was now someone that Jane eagerly wanted to be around. Her mother would take her shopping and ask for her help in the kitchen. Sometimes they'd go into town and just walk about, enjoying the wonderful weather they had been having. It seemed that they were always doing something; there wasn't a dull moment.

It was currently Friday, exactly one week after Jane had arrived at Kings Cross; her father had left for a business trip just yesterday and wasn't due back until the following week. While Jane thought that this might deter her mum's new found happiness, her mother never faltered. And that small optimistic part of Jane grew in size every day since she had gotten home.

Jane walked into her mother's room that morning to see her going through her things. Jane jumped onto her parents' bed where her mum had clothes and jewellery sprawled out.

"What are you doing?" Jane asked, laughter in her voice as she watched her mother work.

"Oh, just sorting out my things. Going through some stuff that I don't need anymore," her mother said with a kind of resolve.

"Mum, you'll have no clothes left it you get rid of all these!" Jane teased, plucking a blue blouse of her mother's that she was quite fond of out of the pile. "I like this shirt."

Jane's mother smiled.

"It's yours then; you keep it. I've got tons of blouses," her mum said. "In fact, take anything out of this pile that you like."

"Really?" Jane asked as she began to sift through the pile. "What are you going to do with all the things you don't want?"

Her mother shrugged.

"I don't know. Sell it, give it away, something," she said, looking happy to be doing something which she obviously found productive.

"Mum, you just bought this Wednesday," Jane said, holding up a red dress shirt with the sales tags still attached.

"Ah, I decided I didn't want it," her mum said.

"But it looked so great on you," Jane argued.

Her mother smiled at her and took the shirt from her.

"I suppose I'll keep this one," she said, hanging it back up into her closet.

Jane returned to the pile, picking up shirts and necklaces that she liked and sitting them in her lap. Her mother watched her, and smiled a little smile which, had she saw it, Jane wouldn't have been able to read very well. Jane looked up to her mother and grinned. Her mother returned the grin and walked over to her dressing table.

"Come here, Janie," her mother said.

Jane jumped off of the bed and bounded over to her mother, happy and somewhat curious. Her mother pulled something out of her jewellery box and held it behind her back.

"Close your eyes," her mother said with the tone that an excited child might use.

Jane smiled and closed her eyes tight, wondering what the surprise was. She felt something cold and dainty being placed carefully around her neck. Jane held up her hair so her mother could fasten what she logically concluded was a necklace. Her mum put her hands on her shoulders when she was done.

"Open your eyes," she said to her daughter.

Jane opened her eyes, and she stared into the mirror. She touched a delicate finger to the diamond necklace that currently resided around her neck. She smiled a bit, but she was suddenly confused.

"Mum, Gran have you this," Jane said.

Her mother nodded.

"Passed down for generations between mothers and their daughters," her mother confirmed.

"Yeah, but on their wedding days," Jane said. "I'm only fifteen; I don't even have a boyfriend."

Her mother smiled and rested her chin on Jane's shoulder.

"I just thought it was time for you to have it," she said. "I don't really have much use for it anymore."

"You hardly ever let me touch it," Jane recalled aloud.

Her mother smiled again.

"I know, but you're older now, and you understand it's importance. And after all, it was going to be yours someday. So why not today?" her mum said, patting her on the shoulders.

Jane smiled, and she was confused about the sudden flash of uneasiness that came about her and then quickly left. She brushed it off, thinking that maybe she was about to start her period.

Jane turned to hug her mother, and grinned happily. She turned back to the bed and scooped up the things that she had picked out of the pile into her arms. She was headed back to her room to find a place for her new belongings when her mother spoke.

"I love you, Janie."

Jane turned in the doorway to look back at her mother. She gave her mum another smile, though this one was mixed a little with confusion. Her mum had been telling her this all week since she'd gotten home, and it was always at seemingly random moments. And there was something inside of Jane that noted how different her mother's voice sounded when she said it lately. However, she never thought too much of it; she was too happy about her mother's sudden transformation.

"I love you too, Mum," Jane said before walking to her room to put away her things.

The rest of their day was great, as all of their days had been in the past week. They talked and laughed with each other. They watched the telly together, and Jane told her mother stories of some of the good times she had had at Hogwarts that year. And Jane revelled in that fact that everything was, for once in the Hensworth household, going perfect. And she found herself thinking that even if James sent her a letter today begging her to come over for the summer, she would rather stay at home with her mum. Jane finally seemed to have everything that she had wished for for so long now.

That night while Jane was sitting comfortably in her bed and reading by the light of the bedside lamp before she went to sleep, her mother came in to say goodnight.

With a kiss on the forehead and a hug that was a little too tight and seemed to last just a little too long, her mum headed for the hallway. However, before she was out of Jane's room, she turned around.

"I really do love you, Janie."

Once again, Jane noted the difference of her mother's voice as she said this, and she took in an expression that she couldn't quite read on her mother's face. Jane almost, almost, asked her if she were okay, but the urge to do so subsided when Jane thought of the wonderful day they'd had together.

And so it was with a smile on her lips and a bit of playfulness in her voice, Jane replied:

"I love you too, Mum."

How was she supposed to know that everything from then on out would never be the same?