CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
With the relief of knowing that she wasn't crazy, Jane was able to spend a lot more of her time on other things. She paid attention in class again. She focused on how great it'd be to take the Quidditch cup away from Aaron, who was in his last year and also the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain. She even taught Violet, who had become a sort of pet to her, a few good hexes that would send those Slytherin students running for the hills.
Quidditch practice was rough. Jane could see that Will was anxious. It was his first year as captain, and he wanted nothing more than to win the house cup. The only problem was that Ravenclaw was extremely good this year. And Gryffindor was going to have to beat them by three hundred points to win the cup because that was how badly Ravenclaw had crushed Slytherin and Hufflepuff.
After their last practice before the actual game, Jane had caught Will frantically going over game strategies and techniques in the locker room. He seemed really nervous. Jane had sighed and sat down beside him, pulling away the clipboard in his hands.
"Will, it's gonna be okay," she said. "We're gonna win; you'll see."
"I know. I just like to look over things," he said, grabbing for the clipboard which Jane held out of his reach.
"You're freaking out over nothing," she said.
"With all due respect, Jane, you are not the captain."
"You're right, I'm not. I'll probably never be captain, and I don't know what that pressure's like, but from a player's point of view, you are a great captain, possibly even better than Candice was," Jane told him.
"Really? Because, between you and me, I have no clue what I'm doing," Will said, and Jane chuckled at him.
"Well, you're doing a wonderful job regardless of that," she said.
Jane grabbed Will's hand and squeezed it lightly in a reassuring way.
"We're gonna win this. We won't let you down, Will."
Will hadn't heard what she said because he was too busy thinking about how her hand was on his, but he felt much better all the same.
The game itself had been one of the hardest games Jane had ever played in. Aaron, as much as Jane hated to admit it, seemed unstoppable once he got his hands on the Quaffle. Within the first twenty minutes of the game, the score was 30 to 10 with Ravenclaw in the lead.
However, Ravenclaw got cocky, and they started to play kind of sloppy, thinking they had already won the cup. And Gryffindor got better, fuelled by adrenaline and a strong desire to reclaim the cup that they had proudly held for so many years now.
It was one of the longest matches Hogwarts had seen in a while. Jane wasn't exactly sure how they'd done it. How they managed to get one hundred and fifty points ahead of Ravenclaw seems to allude her; the game was one big blur. However, as soon as they were up by that much, Brenton, who had done a great job at keeping the Ravenclaw Seeker off of the Snitch's trail, shot after the little golden ball.
Distracted by the chase that the two Seekers were giving way to, the Gryffindor Chasers lost the Quaffle to Aaron. And the crowd watched with baited breath as he shot towards the goal posts with the J-Team far behind him. If he managed to score before Brenton caught the Snitch, that would mean that Gryffindor would have won by two hundred and ninety points, ten less than what they needed. Gryffindor would lose the cup.
Jane chased after him helplessly, watching as he dodged Bludgers expertly. As he shot straight into the scoring area, Jane could tell that Will was becoming panicked.
"Come on, Will," she whispered.
It all seemed to happen in very slow motion despite so many things happening at once. A Bludger was shot towards the Seekers, hitting the Ravenclaw Seeker square in the face. Aaron was in the scoring area. He was rearing back to shoot the Quaffle. Brenton was so close to the Snitch now. Aaron threw the Quaffle as hard as he could. Brenton gave a burst of acceleration. And the crowd was silent.
By some miracle, some very glorious miracle, Will managed to just barely block the shot right before Brenton's hand closed around the Snitch.
Will looked down at the Quaffle in his hand, and Brenton looked down at the Snitch in his own. They both seemed shocked as they scanned the pitch with their eyes to find each other. Will slowly held up the Quaffle so Brenton could see that he had made the block. Brenton smiled and thrust his hand with the little golden ball up in the air. And the crowd erupted into screams.
Jane laughed and smiled and screamed in victory with her teammates as she made it safely to the ground. As soon as Will touched down, Quaffle still in his hands, Jane ran, full speed towards him. Will threw the Quaffle aside and caught her, picking her up and spinning her around as she screamed "We did it!" over and over again.
And caught up in the excitement of the moment, as the two stared into each other's smiling faces, Will crashed his lips against Jane's, and the crowd still watching erupted into even louder cheers.
Jane was confused. Why was he kissing her? Why was she kissing him back?
She pulled away very suddenly, and looked at him. Will, seeming very shocked that he'd kissed her, let her go, and they just continued to stare at each other, and the rest of the team watched awkwardly. Luckily, the crowd of students pouring out onto the field separated Jane from Will in a mad rush to congratulate the team members, and Jane ducked away, finding little Violet, and walking hurriedly back up to the castle with the third year right behind her.
"You're dating Will MacGregor? How come you haven't told anyone?" Violet asked.
"Because I'm not," Jane said.
"Well, then why'd you kiss him?"
"I didn't. He kissed me," Jane said.
"It looked pretty mutual—"
"Violet!" Jane snapped. "Hush for two seconds! I need to think."
Violet did as instructed and stayed silent all the way back up to the girls' dormitories, letting Jane mull over what had just happened.
Jane groaned, fell onto her bed, and looked up at the canopy. Violet just stood from a safe distance, watching Jane contemplate and looking around the fifth year girls' room.
What the hell? Jane thought. Did he really kiss me? In front of everyone? And I kissed him back!
He's a great kisser though, she thought afterwards, and she mentally scolded herself for it.
What do I do? Dear God! What do I tell him? Jane thought frantically. I can't just avoid him for the rest of the school year…or can I? I mean, Quidditch is done. Maybe I could—no. I can't just ignore him. That's not right.
Jane's thoughts went on like that for a while. It wasn't long before the dull roar of the victory party could be heard from the common room. And of course, her roommates came bursting through the door, startling Violet.
"What was that?" Alice asked, a smile playing at her lips.
Jane groaned and rolled over to her stomach, burying her face in her pillow, slightly embarrassed.
"Why did he do that?" Jane asked, her words muffled by the pillow.
"I didn't see too much protesting on your behalf," Marlene teased, jabbing Jane in the side playfully.
"Yeah! Come on, tell us. Is he a good kisser?" Mary asked.
"Yes," Jane whined into her pillow, and the other girls just laughed. "It's not funny!" Jane said. "I don't know what to do!"
"Well, do you like him?" Lily asked.
"I-I don't know," Jane stammered. "I mean, he's really sweet and kind and handsome—"
"I don't get what the problem is," Violet finally piped in.
Jane's roommates looked around, not having noticed Violet before.
"The kid has a point," Alice said. "If he's so great, then why aren't you happy right now?"
Jane mumbled something into her pillow that the others couldn't hear.
"What?" Lily asked.
Jane propped herself up a little and said:
"I don't think I want a boyfriend right now."
"Blasphemy!" Mary cried.
"Why not?" Marlene asked.
"I just don't think that, with everything that's been going on in my life, I should be adding a boyfriend to the mix. I mean, it may not seem like it, but I've had a lot to deal with lately," Jane explained.
The girls just nodded along as she spoke, and Jane thought of something that made her feel a lot better. Just because Will kissed her didn't exactly mean that he wanted to date her or anything.
"I'm overreacting, right? I mean, it was just a spur-of-the-moment kiss. It didn't really mean anything; he was just happy that we won. It doesn't mean he actually likes me like that, right?" Jane asked hopefully.
"Um, no, that boy likes you," Alice said. "He's only made it painfully obvious for the entire school year."
"You can't honestly tell me that you haven't noticed," Marlene said.
"Well, Sirius and James said something about it once, but that was three months ago, and they were kind of drunk," Jane said.
"Yeah, but even I could've told you that he liked you," Violet said.
Alice pointed to Violet.
"See! Even this kid knew it!" she said to Jane, and then she turned to Violet. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"Violet Vickerman," Violet replied, and Alice just nodded.
Jane buried her face back into her pillow.
"What do I do?" she whined. "Will's a great guy. I don't want to hurt his feelings."
"Well, first, you have to get up and go downstairs," Mary said, tugging on Jane's Quidditch robes. "You can't ignore him."
Jane whined as Mary and Marlene pulled her from her bed. Her roommates and Violet walked her down the stairs as she protested the whole way. Lily peered around the common room first.
"Quit your whining. He's not even down here," she said to Jane. "Uh oh. Quick! Back up the stairs!"
Before the rest of the girls had time to register what Lily was saying, someone from the common room placed their foot on the bottom of the staircase. The stairs beneath them automatically disappeared into a slide, and the group of girls tumbled out into the common room on top of each other.
Jane looked up to see James and Sirius peering down at her. She grinned up at them sheepishly.
"Will?"
Jane knocked on the half-open door of the sixth year boys' dorm and walked inside. Will stood up from his bed very quickly.
"Jane, I am so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking…Well, I do, but it was really stupid to act on," he said immediately.
"It's okay, Will," Jane said.
"It is?" Will asked. "You aren't here to kill me?"
"Well, I did kind of kiss you back, so no," Jane said, unable to stop herself from smiling at how nervous he was.
"Merlin, I thought I imagined that," he said, running his hands through his hair. "So, if you aren't killing me, James definitely is."
"Actually, I just had a very long conversation with him, and I think he sort of gave his blessing?" Jane said, still really confused by the talk she'd had with James and Sirius.
"What?" Will asked.
"I was surprised too," Jane said. "He's under the impression that you're a good person. However, displays of affection in front of him aren't a good idea because just because he likes you now doesn't mean he won't change his mind."
Will just stood there with a look of shock on his face. James didn't want to throttle him? Then, a slight smile tugged at Will's lips. James thought he was good enough for Jane.
"Sirius, however, seems to think I'm—What did he say again? 'Treading all over the integrity of the team,'" Jane continued.
"Bollocks to what he thinks," Will said, becoming a bit bolder. "Jane, I really like you," he admitted.
"I know," Jane said, "but, Will, I'm not ready for a relationship or anything like that; not right now."
Will seemed a bit crestfallen at that, and it pained Jane a little to see him that way. She hastened to explain.
"You're a really great guy, Will," she said. "You're funny, clever, good-looking, and you always know how to put a smile on someone's face. Any girl would be lucky to have you."
"'But…'" Will continued for her.
"But ever since my mum, my life has been hectic. I thought it would've calmed down by now, but it's just been one thing after another that I've had to deal with, and I've still got my O.W.L.s to worry about. Believe me when I say that my life is crazy. I don't want to drag you into it."
Will just nodded, as though he thought Jane was only making excuses to not have to date him.
"Will, I do like you," Jane said, and Will looked at her. "I don't want to ruin my relationship with you because I jumped into something that I wasn't ready for. Do you understand?"
"So, what you're saying is, I've still got a chance, just not right now?" Will asked.
Jane smiled warmly.
"You've got more than a chance, just not right now," she told him.
Will grinned at her happily.
"Then I, William MacGregor, do solemnly swear to wait until I have that chance," he said dramatically, making Jane laugh. "Until such time, I will be content with being just friends."
Jane hugged him.
"You are one of the most kind and understanding people that I've ever met," she said.
Will just smiled and hugged her back. Jane lifted herself onto her tiptoes to place a quick, innocent kiss on Will's cheek, and she walked down to the victory party, leaving Will all alone with a goofy little grin on his face.
"She likes me," he said to himself happily before going downstairs to join the party as well.