CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTEEN
"Move. Move. Get out of my way! Jane! Jane!"
Jane leaned back in her seat at the Gryffindor table, trying desperately to choke back the toast and jam she'd just crammed into her mouth. She saw Lennox running down the Great Hall towards where she was sitting, pushing other students out of her way as she went.
"Did you get it? Have you gotten it yet?" she asked as she approached the table.
Jane swallowed her food.
"Get what?"
"A letter," Lennox said. "A notice of purchase. Has the mail come yet?"
She was talking really fast, looking around to see if anyone was holding envelopes or Daily Prophets yet.
"Lennox, what are you talking about?" Jane asked, getting more confused by the second.
"Somebody bought one of your paintings," Lennox told her. "I saw it; it's got a big 'Sold' sticker under it."
"What?"
About that time, hundreds of owls filled the Great Hall as they brought the morning post. Jane's owl, Asha, swooped down in front of them and dropped a letter in Jane's lap. She then proceeded to pick something off Remus' plate before flying away.
Remus scowled.
"Your bird is ill behaved," he told Jane, but she wasn't listening; she'd already torn into the envelope.
"Well, go on then," James said, with his mouth full of food. "Read it to us."
Grinning like a fool, Jane held the letter out in front of her.
"'To Miss Jane E. Hensworth,
"'We at the Art Department of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would like to first and foremost thank you for taking part in the 567th annual showcase. Furthermore, we would like to inform and congratulate you on the selling of one of your pieces for the grand total of– fifty Galleons!'"
Jane stared in shock at the paper. Fifty Galleons? Who on earth paid that much for a painting that some sixteen-year-old girl made? That was a lot of money.
"Keep going," said Will, who was sitting beside her and reading ahead of her anyway.
Jane cleared her throat and continued.
"'In accordance with the bylaws of the showcase, ten percent of your earnings have been charitably donated to the school for further improvement of the Art Department. The rest of your earnings have been deposited in your vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank in Diagon Alley. If you have any further questions, please contact your Art instructor.
"'We hope to be seeing you and your artwork again in the 568th showcase.
"'With kind regards,
"'Professor Amelia Kingston; Head of the Art Department.'"
Jane just stared happily at the letter before folding it back up.
"Wow," she said. "Fifty Galleons. Which one was it?"
"The one with tree and the dog," Lennox said. "They haven't shipped any of them off yet. I suppose they're waiting until next week when they take the exhibit down."
"Doesn't say who bought it?" Peter asked.
Jane unfolded the letter and looked at it again. She shook her head.
"No, it just says how much they paid for it," she said. "They must've hit their head or something!"
"It was a beautiful painting," Lennox argued.
"Not fifty whole Galleons beautiful," Jane said.
"Well, I'm happy for you," Will said.
"Yeah," James said, "we should all celebrate by going down to Hogsmeade after classes."
"We have Quidditch practice today," Will reminded him with a stern look, and James rolled his eyes after Will looked away.
"Fine, but we should still celebrate sometime this week."
"It's not that big of a deal," Jane said, putting the letter into her bag. "Can't we just celebrate next week when we go out for my birthday?"
"We could, but who passes up a chance to drink with their friends?" Sirius chimed in. "I, for one, am always in the mood for celebrating."
"What are we celebrating?" Mary asked as she and Marlene sat down beside the group.
"Nothing," Jane said, "I have too many things to do this week. I've got a three foot Healing Theory essay due by Friday and two tests to study for."
"Spoilsport," James mumbled under his breath.
Jane rolled her eyes as she picked up her goblet of pumpkin juice. However, as she raised it to her lips, she thought of something. She sat it back on the table and began to look around.
"Looking for someone?" Will asked.
"Yeah, has anyone seen Violet?"
"Maybe she's found someone cooler to follow around," Sirius teased.
Jane sneered at him.
"She's been sitting at the Hufflepuff table for about fifteen minutes now," Remus informed them as he ate. "She walked in holding hands with some boy."
Jane's head whipped around so fast that everyone sitting around her heard her neck pop.
"What boy?" she asked, quickly scanning the Hufflepuff table.
Sure enough, Violet was there, sitting beside some kid named Jeffery Nelson that Jane had heard her talk about frequently. Jane narrowed her eyes at the boy as though he'd just personally insulted her.
"Sounds like she's found herself a boyfriend," Will said.
"No, she hasn't. She's fourteen," Jane exclaimed.
"I don't think there's an age requirement for that sort of thing," Sirius informed her.
"Well, there should be," she said.
"She's in her fourth year," Sirius said. "That's the same year I lost my virginity."
If looks could kill, Sirius would've dropped dead as Jane glared at him.
"You're not helping the situation," Remus told him.
Sirius shook his head.
"All I'm saying is, she's old enough."
"Weren't you, like, thirteen when you started dating Ashby?" James asked.
"And look at how that turned out," Jane said.
"We did warn you not to date him," Sirius reminded her.
"Yeah, and you also told me not to date Will. I just thought you were being a prat."
Sirius mumbled something about that being for "different reasons," and while Jane was too busy worrying about Violet to be paying attention, Will overheard him and frowned, instinctively wrapping his arm around Jane. Sirius noticed the sudden shift in Will's demeanour, and they both just stared each other down for a brief moment.
"I don't know anything about this kid," Jane continued. "He could be a complete arse for all I know."
"Or he could be like Sirius. You know, just have sex with everything in sight," Will commented, still eyeing Sirius.
Sirius clicked his tongue in an annoyed way, and Remus, who notices everything, became aware of the sudden tension between the two.
"Or," Marlene suggested, noticing how the glare Jane was giving the Hufflepuff boy was becoming more intense as she automatically thought the worst about him, "he could be a nice kid."
James smiled a bit as he realised what was going on.
"Is Jane Hensworth being overprotective?" he teased.
"I'm not 'overprotective;' I'm reasonably suspicious," she said.
Will turned to look at the boy.
"Jane, he looks like Violet could beat him up if she wanted," he said.
"Well, I know she could," Jane said "but he could still be an arse."
James chuckled a bit, and Jane shot an angry look at him.
"I'm just going to sit back and enjoy how much this is bothering you," he said. "It's about time you know how it feels."
All day, Jane was trying to catch glimpses of the two fourth years in the corridors in between classes. However, because of their conflicting schedules, Jane never got a chance to talk to Violet. She had hoped to catch her at lunch, but once again, she was sitting at the Hufflepuff table, and no matter how "reasonably suspicious" Jane might've been, she had to admit that they looked kind of cute together. Plus, she remembered how morbidly embarrassed and angry she was whenever James butted into her own relationships and started interrogating everybody.
After her double period of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Jane walked with the boys up to the Gryffindor common room.
"Maybe since I've started dating Will, I just haven't made enough time for her," Jane was saying as they made their way to the portrait of the Fat Lady.
Remus sighed.
"When are you going to be over it? You've literally talked about nothing else all day. My ears need a break."
Jane shrugged as she climbed through the portrait hole.
"It's just—I mean, I'm wondering why she wouldn't tell me that's she's dating someone."
"Well, here's your chance to ask her yourself," Sirius said, nodding his head in the direction of a table at the left side of the common room where Violet was doing Transfiguration homework.
And as if the universe was trying its hardest to push a wedge in between Jane and Violet, Will came down from the boys' dormitories already dressed in his practice robes.
"Okay, practice starts in fifteen minutes. You three cannot be late this time, okay?"
"What's so special about today?" Sirius asked.
"Well, that's for me to know and you to find out later," Will said before sweeping past them and giving Jane a swift kiss on her forehead. "Fifteen minutes. I'm serious this time guys."
"Yeah, all right," James said, waving Will off.
Jane looked at Violet and then back to the boys. James shook his head.
"Just two minutes, I promise," she said, already making her way towards the table Violet was at.
"We aren't waiting on you," Sirius informed her as she left.
Jane slid into a seat across from Violet and tapped her fingers on the table to get her attention. Violet looked up and smiled a very big smile.
"Jane, I have so much to tell you," she said, snapping her book shut and pushing it aside.
"I'll say," Jane said. "What's with this Nelson kid, huh?"
"I was gonna tell you, I swear," Violet explained, "but you always seemed busy with homework and practice and Will, and I didn't want to intrude or anything."
"Violet, if you ever have something to tell me, you just run up and tell me; it doesn't matter what I'm doing."
Violet smiled.
"He asked me out after History of Magic yesterday."
Jane listened as Violet talked and talked about her new boyfriend and how excited she was. Jane's conscious was eased a little bit about this kid, but she still wanted to meet him. Before she knew it, two minutes turned into three. Four. Five.
The truth was, Jane had felt really bad. When she started dating Will, it really had cut into her time with Violet. Jane missed Violet; she liked having her around.
By the time she made it to the pitch, she was about ten minutes late. Will was torn between being really angry and not actually wanting to be mad at her, which just left this confusing, kind of mad, look on his face.
"Will, I'm sorry. I know I'm late…I just got caught up talking to Violet about something. I'm really sorry."
Will stood there quietly, clenching his jaw, causing the muscles there to tic. If she thought it would've made him any less angry at her, Jane would've told him how unbelievably hot he looked when he did that, but she decided that she should probably just keep her mouth shut. Will seemed torn between what to do next. He looked at Jane before glancing up to the stands in a semi-nervous way.
Jane saw Justin O'Connell looking at her. He scratched the back of his neck, giving her a look that said, "I'm glad I'm not you." He nonchalantly pointed to the stands with his beater's bat. Jane looked up to the stands to see two older men watching them.
"It won't happen again; I promise," Jane said.
"Five laps," Will told her, and getting a vague since of who the men were, Jane didn't argue; she just dropped her broom and started to jog.
After practice was over, Jane waited in the locker room for Will as he talked to the recruiters that had come to watch them that day. When he walked into the locker room, he discarded his broom and started ripping off his Quidditch gloves. Jane stood from where she was sitting.
"You couldn't be on time once?" Will asked. "Even Potter and Black were on time."
"I know, Will, I'm so sorry. I didn't—"
"I specifically asked you to be on time!" he exclaimed.
"I know, and I didn't mean to make you look bad. I'm so sorry."
Will looked at Jane's concerned face and sighed.
"Stop looking so damn cute; I'm trying to be mad at you," he said, throwing his gloves on the ground.
Jane's lips twitched upwards a bit as Will sat down on a bench and ran a hand through his sandy hair.
"I mean, I love you, Jane, but you can't be doing things like this. I mean, this is my future we're talking about; it's been my dream to be on the Yorkshire Quidditch team since I could fly a broomstick. And—Why are you smiling?" he asked, looking up at her.
"You love me?" she asked, still grinning idiotically.
Will clicked his tongue and stood back up.
"Well…yeah," he said in a pouting sort of way as Jane walked over to him. "I love your stupid, cute face and your dorky laugh and your dumb Muggle jokes."
Jane kept smiling as she wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head on his chest. Will sighed in a defeated sort of way and wrapped his arms around her as well.
"I love your eyes and your smile and that irritating way you snore when you sleep," Will continued.
"I don't snore," Jane said.
"Yeah, you do. You also try and kick me off the bed half the times you fall asleep in my dorm," he said, smiling a bit.
Jane let out a soft laugh.
"I didn't wanna give you laps," Will said, "but those damn recruiters were here, and they were waiting to see if I was gonna let you get away with breaking the rules when I'm supposed to enforce them, so—"
"It's all right, I deserved it."
"Yeah, you did."
Jane scoffed playfully and pulled away from him, but he pulled her right back, chuckling a little as he did. Jane sighed.
"Will?"
"Mm?"
"I love you too."