CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWLEVE

"Will, you need to stop worrying about it. It's been a whole month, and it's still all you think about."

Will sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Jane scowled and immediately went to fix his hair as he'd just messed it up.

"I let three shots get by me, Jane, and we were playing Hufflepuff!" Will exclaimed.

"Well, Hufflepuff has gotten better this year. And I think you're forgetting that you had a lot more saves than those three misses, and we still won. So, be happy," she said as she straightened his bow tie.

Will smiled a bit and pulled Jane closer to him.

"I'm sorry. This is your night, and I'm making it all about me," he said.

Jane let out a soft laugh.

"It's hardly 'my night,'" she said. "It's an art showcase that I was required to enter along with every other N.E.W.T. student that takes Art."

"Nope, I officially declare it Jane Hensworth Night."

Jane laughed.

"You can't just do that."

Will grinned and shrugged.

"I already did."

Jane shook her head before standing on her toes to kiss him.

"Jane Hensworth Night. Kinda has a ring to it. I can shout it from the roof of the school if you'd like," Will said.

"Oh, Merlin, please don't," Jane said before he kissed her again.

"Get a room!" Jarod teased as he walked in the dorm.

"This is my room," Will reminded him.

"Well, it's about time to go anyway," Jane said.

"You gonna put your shoes on?"

Jane groaned as she slid her feet into the black shoes.

"I hate heels. They hurt my toes."

"Yeah," Will leaned down so that his mouth was near Jane's ear and whispered, "but they make your arse look great."

Jane let out a laugh and playfully hit him on the arm.

"Come on. I have to be there early with all the other artists," she said, placing a sarcastic emphasis on the last word.

"Mm, I never thought I'd date an artist," Will said.

"It's not as prestigious as it sounds," Jane assured him.

As they walked past the sixth year boys' dorm, Jane banged on the door.

"Showcase starts in forty-five minutes. Try not to be too late!" she said before she and Will disappeared down the staircase.

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Why do we have to dress up for this thing?" Peter asked.

"Did you even read the invitation?" Remus asked.

"I figured you would, so I wouldn't have to."

"It's a semi-formal affair, Wormtail," Sirius said as he fixed the collar on his shirt. "Of course, the reason as to why is still unclear to me."

"The art showcase might not be a big deal around the school, but art critics come out of the woodwork for opening night," James said.

"Why would art critics care about a stupid school showcase?" Peter asked.

"Because they're all looking for who's going to be the 'next big thing,'" Remus said. "Where better to look for them than at a showcase displaying the work of students that'll be graduating soon?"

"Do you think there'll be anything to snack on? I'm starved," Peter said.

Remus shrugged.

"Finger foods maybe."

"Wow, even the food sounds unfulfilling," Sirius said.

"Jane's invited us, so we're going," James said.

"Yeah, it'll be kind of fun," Remus told them.

"Moony, staring at art isn't 'fun,'" Sirius said, "it's something you do to make people think you're cultured. Besides, everyone knows the real reason you wanna go anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Remus asked.

"It means that, while you may be going because Jane invited you, you're more excited about it because Sterling will be there," Sirius said.

"How many times do I have to tell you guys that Lennox and I are just friends? Not even really considered friends actually, more like really good acquaintances."

"Really good acquaintances on a first name basis," Peter noted.

"Really good acquaintances with a thing for each other," James continued, smirking.

"Oh, shut up," Remus said as he pulled his shoes on.

"They've really had this showcase for hundreds of years, and this is the first time I've heard about it?" Will asked as he looked at the sign that read: Welcome to the 567th Hogwarts Annual Art Showcase.

"I told you it wasn't a big thing," Jane said, laughing a bit.

The showcase was beautiful. The amount of detail put into every painting, every sculpture, every piece, was amazing. There was a white fountain whose water not only changed colour, but was suspended in spirals around it as though it were flowing through invisible pipes around the air and then back into the fountain. Far off by itself, so that it didn't destroy anything, was a four foot tall sculpture of the Whomping Willow, which Jane was sure Remus would find amusing. There were paintings of Hogsmeade and the school and abstract art whose movement was mesmerising to watch. There was one particular painting of a tree that was on a continuous loop, repeating all the seasons of winter, spring, summer, and autumn.

Jane watched it for a while as it sprouted buds then blossoms only to have its leaves change colour and fall away before a blanket of white snow covered it. Then, it would melt away, and it'd start all over again.

There were shimmering light fixtures that floated around the showcase, and they were so beautiful that they could've been considered art in themselves. Lennox's fawn, as it walked around on its spindly, wobbly legs, was being watched curiously by a small sculpture of an Antipodean Opaleye dragon that, while it could fly and emit smoke, could not actually breath fire. Apparently, the showcase had a bad history with pieces that involved fire, so it was banned as a medium over forty years ago.

Jane spotted one of her paintings and smiled, pulling Will towards it.

"That's your mum, isn't it?" Will asked.

"Yes," Jane said, smiling at the painting.

Will stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"You look like her," he said. "You have her smile."

Jane looked at him.

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

Some sort of overwhelming happiness built up inside of Jane at the compliment. She smiled and placed a small kiss on Will's cheek.

"What was that for?"

Jane shrugged.

"Just felt like it. Come on, let's go find my other painting."

About thirty minutes later, the boys showed up. Peter went straight for the hors d'oeuvres. Remus found some lame excuse to separate from them, and they all knew he was going to see if he could 'accidentally' run into Lennox. Sirius pretended to be thoroughly unimpressed with everything. And James, well, he surprisingly walked around and actually looked at the art.

James was looking at the fountain when Jane and Will spotted him. He was about to poke at the water that was floating through the air in front of him when Jane snuck up behind him.

"You're not supposed to touch the art."

James jumped, and Jane laughed. He shook his head before giving her a hug. Jane pulled away and looked at him.

"You look very nice," she said as she plucked a fuzz off of his shoulder.

"So do you," he said, looking at her necklace. "I've never seen this before."

Jane gently touched the diamond necklace her mother had given her.

"That's because I've never worn it before," she said. "I've also never worn this dress before, but I think I kinda look good in black."

Jane did a little twirl and James laughed at her.

"So, where's the rest of your group?" Will asked causing Jane to look around for them.

"They're around here somewhere," James said. "So, have any fancy art collectors bought any of your artwork?"

Jane rolled her eyes.

"Please, with all the amazing pieces here, no one's even gonna look twice at mine. But that's fine with me. I'm not looking to make my money from art, and besides, I kinda wanna keep mine."

"Well," James said, holding out his arm, "show me these paintings you've been talking about."

"I'm gonna see if I can find something to drink," Will said, giving Jane a quick kiss on the cheek before they went their separate ways.

For the next half hour, Jane took turns finding each boy and showing them her paintings, but she couldn't seem to find Sirius. She shrugged it off. He was around somewhere; she'd find him at some point.

She finally spotted him leaning against the wall near the sculpture of the Whomping Willow.

"I'll be back in a just a mo," she said, giving Will a small peck on the cheek and leaving him with the rest of the boys and Lennox as she explained the sculpting process for animals, to which only Remus seemed to actually be paying attention.

"There you are," Jane said as she approached Sirius. "You're being antisocial, which is very unlike you. Where've you been?"

"First, I don't really like discussing art, which is all anybody here seems to want to do. And secondly, I stepped outside for a smoke," he said as he pushed off the wall.

"Oh, so you're too cool for the art scene, is that it?" Jane teased.

"So, you understand," Sirius replied with a smirk, and Jane rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless.

"So, have you guessed which ones are mine?" Jane asked as she lead him towards the paintings.

"I haven't looked at any paintings to be quite honest," he said, ducking as the small dragon swooped down at him a bit.

"Well, go on, guess," she said as they stood in front of the wall of paintings.

Sirius stuck his hands in his pockets and walked along the wall, scanning over the pictures as he went. Jane walked quietly alongside him, her heels clicking and clacking on the floor.

"Well, this is the one I caught a glimpse of in your art class. I recognise your mother from all your pictures." He smirked at the painting. "Aw, look how cute you used to be. What happened?"

Jane hit him on his arm.

"Shut up, I'm still cute," she argued, and Sirius just laughed and shook his head.

"Do you see the other one?" Jane asked.

"Did you make everybody else do this little search?" he asked.

"Nope," Jane said.

"Then, why don't you just show me which one it is?"

Jane smiled.

"Because I know that you'll figure it out without my help."

Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes before continuing to walk and scan, fiddling with the lighter inside his pocket. When he finally stopped, his eyes gazing over the canvas in front of him, a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Jane stood beside him and looked up at her painting.

It wasn't anything too special. It was a winter scene with a large beech tree. Sitting in the snow, leaning against the tree was a girl. Her face couldn't be seen from the way she had it turned, but her dark hair fluttered in the wind; snow clung to her knit cap as it fell. One of her gloves lay discarded on the ground beside her as her fingers combed through the black fur of the dog whose head rested in her lap.

Jane looked up at Sirius and smiled at the look on his face.

"I thought you'd like it," she said.

Sirius let out a soft laugh and nodded.

"After the disastrous holiday I had, I realised that I never thanked you."

"For what?"

"For making sure I wasn't all alone when I kept pushing everybody away," she said. "For following me to Hogsmeade when I told you not to. For listening to me talk about all my problems. For making me feel better. I could really go on for hours if you let me."

Sirius smiled and looked down at her.

"I thought you were mad at me for doing all that," he teased. "I specifically remember a lot of yelling about 'invasion of privacy,' and…didn't you slap me?"

Jane nudged her shoulder against his arm playfully.

"Well, I did have a right to be angry," she said. "However, you did help me get through a lot after my mum died. And I wanted to tell you that—when you're not being an arrogant prat—you're actually a really great friend, one that I'm lucky to have."

Sirius pulled her into a kind of side hug.

"I know that you're lucky to have me," he said, smirking.

"No, see, right now, this qualifies as you being arrogant," Jane said.

Sirius just laughed before pulling her into a full hug. Jane sighed in a tired way against his chest, and Sirius rested his cheek on the top of her head, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he looked back up at the painting.

Sirius smiled as he stared at it, and for a fleeting second, he almost wished he could go back; that had been a good holiday, possibly one of his favourites, not that he'd tell Jane that—or anyone. He closed his eyes again, hugging Jane a bit tighter before letting her go.

Jane pulled away and smiled up at him before walking back to the group. Sirius put his hands back in his pockets and watched her walk away. Jane stumbled a bit over her own feet due to not really having much practise in heels. Sirius laughed a little. Jane turned back around and opened her mouth as though she were going to tell him to shut up, but she just shook her head and laughed as well before continuing to walk away.