CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

As the days passed by, Jane didn't see very much of Sirius. They ate lunch together a few times, but other than that, he seemed to keep to his word and not follow her around. Jane had seen him a couple of times talking to Lena Howard, a Ravenclaw girl that was in Jane's Ancient Runes class.

Jane spent her days in Hogsmeade. She saw the black dog again on many occasions, and she'd always sit and talk to it. It wasn't exactly therapy, but it made her feel better.

However, on the night before Christmas Eve, Jane awoke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, crying. For the first time in months, she had had a nightmare about the night her mother had died. For a while, she lay in her bed, keeping her eyes open. But as she lay there, she could feel the overwhelming emptiness of the room pressing in around her, and for the first time all holiday, she didn't want to be alone.

Jane looked at her clock. It was one in the morning. She contemplated going up to the boys' dorm and staying there. Finally, she decided that she'd just stay put. But as she closed her eyes, the picture of her dead mother came rushing back to her, and she started to cry again.

After Jane calmed herself down, she got out of bed. She figured she didn't have to even wake Sirius up; she'd just quietly walk in and sleep in James' bed. It'd make her feel a lot better knowing that someone else was in the room with her, even if that person was Sirius.

However, if Jane had a Galleon for every time something she planned went wrong, then she'd need a second vault at Gringotts.

Jane had walked up to the door, her arms wrapped around herself protectively. She reached out a hand and opened the door carefully, trying to be quiet so as to not wake Sirius. However, as she walked in there was a little squeal of "Oh my god!" from Sirius' bed.

"Holy shit!" Jane said, averting her eyes away from the half-naked Lena Howard and Sirius.

Sirius grabbed his wand and flicked it, washing light over all three of them.

"Janie?" he said, in a somewhat confused, somewhat concerned tone.

Jane was still not looking at them.

"I am so sorry," she said, starting to back out of the room. "Holy shit, I'm so sorry," she repeated.

Sirius stood up, and Jane thanked God that he at least still had his boxers on as he started to tug on some pants. She backed out into the hallway, trying to un-see what she had just saw. At least she had walked in when she did and not a few minutes later. She shuddered at the thought of walking in on Sirius shagging some girl, and was happy that that wasn't what had happened.

"Janie, wait," Sirius said, standing in the doorway, looking kind of concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jane lied. "It's nothing; I-I'm just gonna go now. I'm so sorry."

"No, it's fine, really. Lena was just leaving," he told Jane.

Jane heard a scoff from inside the room.

"Are you kidding me?!" Lena exclaimed.

Sirius turned to look at her with a cold expression.

"Did I stutter?" he asked harshly. "You can leave now."

Jane stood rooted to the spot with her eyes locked on the floor as Lena got dressed and grumbled things under her breath. As Lena made her way past Sirius, he caught the words "psycho bitch." Sirius grabbed Lena's arm roughly and spun her around to face him.

"Don't talk about her like that," he said, his words venomous with anger.

All the colour drained from Lena's face as Sirius' eyes bore into hers. He let her go, and she walked away as quickly as she could. Jane still had her arms wrapped around herself and was staring at the floor.

"You didn't have to do that," Jane said quietly.

Sirius shrugged.

"I heard she's a bad shag anyway," he said. "What's the matter?"

Jane looked up at him and silently wished that he'd put a shirt on because she didn't care to see all the love bites Lena had given him. She remained silent and looked at the floor again.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sirius asked again, walking closer to her and lifting her chin up a bit with his thumb.

Jane sighed.

"I, um, had a nightmare," she said, and she immediately kicked herself for it. "I'm sorry. That sounds stupid. I-I, um, I had a dream about my mum, and it scared me. I didn't want to be alone, so I-I was just going to see if I could sleep here tonight."

Sirius gave her a small, sad smile.

"I just don't—I don't want to see her like that anymore," Jane whispered.

Sirius pulled her into a hug, and Jane readily accepted it, even though she still wished he'd put on a shirt. He rubbed her back a little, and somewhere in the back of Jane's mind, she wondered why he was being so nice. After all, she had hardly spoken three words to him all holiday, and suddenly, she walks in on him and Lena, and he just doesn't care that she ruined his good time?

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Jane asked, her voice muffled by his chest.

Sirius chuckled and pulled away from her.

"Would you like for me to be mean? Because I can," he said.

Jane smiled a little and shook her head.

Sirius let her sleep in his bed, and they just talked for a long time, mostly it was about nothing. Jane debated on whether or not she should tell him about the dog, but she decided to keep it to herself; she didn't think he'd really be interested in it. Though, he noted a few times that she seemed a lot happier, and she agreed that she was.

"I just found a way to vent my feelings, I guess," was all Jane had said.

Sirius just smirked, though she couldn't see it.

"So, what have you been doing all holiday?" Jane asked.

"Talking to a girl," he replied, and Jane assumed that he meant Lena.

"Sorry about barging in like that," she said. "You looked like you two were, for the lack of better words, having fun."

"Actually, you walked in before the real fun could start," he teased.

"And thank God for that!" Jane exclaimed, laughing.

Jane rolled over onto her side and looked at Sirius curiously.

"Do you ever feel bad about it?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow.

"What? About shagging? No, that part feels pretty great actually."

Jane slapped her hand to her face.

"Too much information!" she said, and Sirius just chuckled. "I meant, do you ever feel bad about going through so many girls?"

"Not really," he said, and Jane didn't press the matter any further.

"I bet this is the first time you've had a girl in your bed and you haven't so much as kissed her," Jane teased.

"You don't count," he said, and Jane laughed.

"Glad to know I'm not on your radar," she said.

"James would kill me before you got near my radar," Sirius teased.

"Good," she said, smiling. "Your radar seems like a scary place to be."

Sirius scoffed.

"I'll have you know, it is a wonderful place to be!"

Jane rolled her eyes at him.

"You're a pig."

"I prefer the term 'sex god,'" he said.

"Don't count on me ever calling you that."

They talked for a little while longer before Jane fell asleep. Sirius, who wasn't tired in the slightest, just lay there with his hands propped behind his head, seeing as how Jane was hogging the pillow. Around half an hour later, just as Sirius was starting to close his eyes, Jane shifted in her sleep.

Sirius looked at her when she shifted for the second time. He reached across her, grabbing his wand from the nightstand. He flicked it, filling the area around him in a pale blue light. If he hadn't known any better, he would've thought she was sick. Her hair was sticking to her face as small beads of sweat lined her brow. Her eyes seemed to squeeze together tighter and her breathing quickened.

It was weird. Sirius had never watched someone dream before, let alone have a nightmare. He pushed away some of her hair from her face and debated on whether or not he should wake her up. However, Jane's body seemed to relax, and she was peaceful again, so he just let her be.

Sirius tugged hopelessly on the corner of his pillow, trying to take just enough from Jane so that he could have something to rest his head on. However, Jane didn't budge and neither did the pillow. So, he rolled over to his side and fell asleep with his arm placed uncomfortably under his head.