CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FIFTEEN

The Potters welcomed Jane into their family as though they'd been expecting her. It wasn't too much of a big change for them really, seeing as how she basically already had a room there. And as always, they were caring and loving and kind to her. Mrs. Potter was thrilled to have Jane there, and she was constantly asking her questions about Will, as apparently, James and Sirius had mentioned her relationship over the Christmas holidays.

Mr. Potter always talked about Quidditch. He'd have in-depth discussions with them about which teams he thought would qualify for the World Cup next year. He also questioned them about who they liked to be the Gryffindor Quidditch captain next term, as it surely had to be one of them.

"Oh, not me, sir," Jane had said. "Not a chance if I'm competing against these two for the spot."

Sirius had shrugged.

"My money's on James. I don't think Ole Minnie likes me well enough to pick me, and besides, I don't want the responsibility of picking new players anyway," he had said.

Even Sirius was being unfathomably kind to Jane. He had yet to make so much as a sarcastic remark in her direction. This probably had much to do with the fact that his room was adjacent to Jane's, and despite her telling everyone that she would be fine, he'd heard her through the wall as she cried herself to sleep the first night there.

They had waited two days before going back to get Jane's stuff. They had gone when Jane knew her father would be at work, so she didn't have to see him. When she had finished her packing, she went to say her goodbyes to Sammy and Sarah at the Charlton Lakes.

"So, you're really leaving, huh?" Sarah had asked.

Jane had just nodded, and Sammy had looked at the rather small suitcase at Jane's feet.

"With that small thing?"

Jane had looked down at the suitcase and smiled a bit because unbeknownst to Sammy, it had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it.

"I've got what I need," was all she'd said on the matter.

"Where you gonna go?" Sarah had asked.

"James'," Jane had replied, nodding her head in the direction of James and Sirius who were kicking stones into the lake.

"You'll visit, right?" Sarah had asked.

Jane had nodded, though she doubted she really ever would. Sammy had smiled as though she knew what Jane had been thinking.

"We're gonna miss you," Sarah had said.

"Next time we drink, we'll pour one out for you."

Jane had laughed at that.

"Geez, Sam, I'm not dying."

"I know," Sammy had said, "but the summers won't be the same without you here."

Jane had nodded.

"Give this stupid place hell for me when I'm gone," she had said.

Sarah had lit up a cigarette and took a long drag before replying:

"We always do."

That Saturday, as Jane took a small break from helping set up for the Easter party, she stood on her small balcony and pulled out her cigarettes. As she opened it, she smiled in a bittersweet way before taking two out and throwing them over the parapet.

"What was that for?"

Jane glanced over at Sirius who had just walked out onto his own balcony as she lit a cigarette for herself.

"Libations for Sammy and Sarah. I didn't have drinks to pour out," she explained.

She took a drag of the cigarette and exhaled. Looking back over at Sirius, she laughed.

"You're bow tie's a bit lopsided."

Sirius tried setting it straight, and Jane just shook her head and smiled.

"I think you actually made it worse," she told him.

Without saying a word, Sirius grabbed onto the lattice on the wall that was in between their balconies and casually swung himself over to where she was standing. Jane laughed a bit.

"You fix it then," he said, smirking as he flipped his hair out of his face.

"That lattice is made for flowers to grow on, not to hold your body weight," Jane said as she straightened his bow tie. "You're going to break it and get hurt if you keep doing that; we aren't twelve anymore."

"I think I'll be fine," he said, picking up Jane's pack of cigarettes from the railing and taking one. "Light?"

Jane sighed, digging her lighter out of the pocket of her dress.

"Where are your cigarettes?" she asked, flicking it and holding the flame up to him.

Sirius grabbed her wrist to steady the lighter as she lit his cigarette. He shrugged before taking a long drag.

"In my room I guess," he exhaled.

Jane dropped the lighter back into her pocket and leaned against the parapet, smoking her own cigarette. Sirius leaned on the railing beside her and they were quiet for a little while as they took turns blowing smoke rings into the air. Sirius finally looked down at Jane as she flicked the ash off of her cigarette.

"How's your hand?" he asked.

"It's good; scars are mostly faded. Give it another day, they'll probably be gone."

Jane moved her cigarette to her left hand and looked at her knuckles before holding it out in front of Sirius. He gently grabbed her hand and ran his thumb over the tiny white scars on her knuckles. His eyes glanced to her forearm, and he let his fingers glide to where much larger white scars rested, embedded in her skin.

"It's a shame nobody could do anything about those, huh?" Sirius finally said.

Jane shrugged.

"They don't bother me."

"They bother me," Sirius replied with a frown on his face.

Jane looked up at him and smiled a sad kind of smile.

"That was ages ago, Sirius, and we've talked about this," she said. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me."

Sirius let go of her arm and sighed.

"Yeah, but I did. I put gashes in your arm so deep that magic couldn't fix all the scar tissue."

"You were protecting me," Jane reminded him, "and that shouldn't bother you."

Sirius looked down at her quietly, and when she smiled at him, his stomach felt like it was doing flips. He stared at her for the longest time as though trying to figure something out. When Jane realised just how intently he was studying her face, she furrowed her brow.

"What's wrong?" she asked, thinking that maybe he was still feeling guilty about the scars; he'd done that before when they were alone together; he'd go off on a tangent about how sorry he was about it.

"Nothing, it's just—"

"There you two are," interrupted James, who had wandered through Jane's room and onto her balcony. "Can I bum a smoke?"

Jane rolled her eyes before handing over her pack and lighter.

"Thanks. Mum's killing me with these parties," James said. "I swear, she's getting worse."

James lit up the cigarette and tossed the lighter back to Jane.

"Did I tell you she's invited the Head Healer from St. Mungo's?" he said to Jane.

Jane choked on her cigarette smoke. Sirius patted her on the back.

"What? Why would she do that?"

"Reckon it's because you told her you wanted to be a Healer," James said. "She's had Dad invite a ton of people from the Auror Office as well. She's convinced herself that since we're all seventeen now, this should be like a coming out party or something. She says we need to 'make strong connections that will help us with our plans later on in life' and blah blah blah."

Jane self-consciously checked her reflection in the window panes of one of the open French doors. She hadn't known that she was supposed to be meeting important people, one of them possibly being her future employer. She suddenly felt a lot of pressure. What was she even supposed to say?

"Oh, Merlin," Jane muttered. "Maybe I'll pretend to be ill."

James shook his head.

"Trust me, it doesn't work. If you think I haven't tried everything under the sun to get out of one of these parties, then you're sorely mistaken."

"I don't know what to say to these people," Jane told Sirius and James as the three of them stood in a corner of the room, observing the party.

"Mum's gone nuts," James muttered as he stared at all the guests.

James' mum had gone overboard on the invitations. Normally, she had a list of families she'd invite: Ashbys and Fawleys, the Hanson and Longbottoms, MacMillans and Prewetts, et cetera. However, she'd invited far more people this time in a great effort to move the three children living under her roof ahead in the Wizarding world. (An effort, so far, that was being wasted as none of them had actually spoken to anybody.)

"Hey, guys, look who's here," Sirius said, nudging Jane with his shoulder.

Sadie Selwyn, a Slytherin girl in their year, was leaned against the wall looking about as happy to be there as the three of them were. Sadie was one of the nicer Slytherins, meaning that in all the time Jane had been at school with her, she had never heard Sadie say a word. That was about as nice as a Slytherin could get to a Gryffindor (and vice versa if Jane were being honest), especially when one considered that her older brother had been a complete tosser when he'd been at Hogwarts.

Jane's eyes wandered to the couple not far from Sadie, and Jane assumed that these were her parents. Her father looked, quite frankly, like someone had shoved his wand way too far up his arse. Her mother, on the other hand, was smiling and talking away to James' mum.

That's when Jane screwed up. Before the party, the three of them had established Rule Number One: Avoid James' mum at all cost; this included eye contact. Just as Jane looked at Mrs. Potter, she suddenly turned and caught Jane's eye. Jane's eyes grew wide as Mrs. Potter enthusiastically waved her over and called for her.

Jane desperately turned to see if James or Sirius would help her somehow, but they had disappeared as fast as a Golden Snitch, thankful that it wasn't them. Jane cursed them under her breath. Apparently Rule Number Two (Help each other out of awkward situations) had flown straight out the window. They may have been in Gryffindor, but when it came to James' mum, those two were the most cowardly people Jane had ever had the misfortune to meet.

Jane looked back at Mrs. Potter, who was still smiling at her expectantly. Jane took a deep breath and heaved a great sigh before reluctantly walking over to Mrs. Potter.

"This is Jane; she lives with us; she's like a daughter to me," Mrs. Potter said to Sadie's mother. "Jane, this is Leah Selwyn; she works on the committee at St. Mungo's that chooses the Healers."

Jane tried to force a genuine smile.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Oh, and you as well. Cassandra here tells me that you're interested in becoming a Healer?" Mrs. Selwyn said.

"Oh, yes ma'am," Jane said.

"That's wonderful. Not many people are choosing the healing field these days, in fact, applicants are at an all-time low. Have you thought of where you'll do your training?" Mrs. Selwyn asked.

"Oh, um, I hear there are some good training academies in France, but I was thinking of something a bit closer to home, like Essex or Pendle Hill."

"I personally trained in Ireland, but I hear Pendle Hill is wonderful; it's where most of our applicants come from. And it's not too far from here, just the next county town over."

"Next year, our Healing Theory class is going to visit the campus. I hear that it's really beautiful."

"Oh, yes. Lovely gardens. So, were either of your parents Healers?" Mrs. Selwyn asked.

"Um, no. My parents are both Muggles," she said, mentally kicking herself for saying "um."

Mrs. Selwyn nodded and opened her mouth to ask another question, but her husband butted in instead.

"And you think it wise, you being a Muggle-born and helping to heal injured people, putting their lives in your hands?" he asked.

Jane was taken aback by the question, not exactly sure what he meant by that. However, Mrs. Potter caught on quicker.

"With all due respect, Mr. Selwyn," Mrs. Potter said his name as though it left a bitter taste in her mouth, "Jane's had the same education as any other witch or wizard her age, and the same, if not slightly above average, amount of skill."

Mrs. Selwyn looked uncomfortable.

"I'm sure my husband didn't mean—"

"I meant what I said, Leah," Mr. Selwyn told her. "It's just, I've found that Muggle-borns do better in less pressuring, less important careers."

Jane scowled at the man who was looking at her as though she weren't exactly human. It was weird. She'd experienced the prejudice at school, but never outside of it and definitely never from an adult.

"Well, you may find, sir, that most of us Muggle-borns work twice as hard to get to those 'important careers,' because unlike some, who are less deserving, they are not just handed to us because of something so unimportant as our name," Jane said, never breaking eye contact with him.

He seemed outraged that Jane had dared to speak to him and in the tone that she had used.

"Donald, dear, maybe you should go get us some drinks, all right?" Mrs. Selwyn suggested, and Mr. Selwyn seemed almost happy to have an excuse to walk away.

Mrs. Potter narrowed her eyes at him ever so slightly.

"You'll have to excuse my husband. He's a bit—"

"Narrow minded?" Mrs. Potter suggested.

"Old fashioned," Mrs. Selwyn corrected.

"Mm, personally, I never had much time for old fashions that were of no value," Mrs. Potter said before smiling in a condescending sort of way. "Feel free to leave."

With that, Mrs. Potter promptly steered Jane away from Leah Selwyn, and they walked away. Jane had a sort of impressed smile on her face; she'd never seen Mrs. Potter be so blatantly rude to anyone, and she'd done it so nonchalantly.

"That was awesome," Jane said.

She turned her head to look back at the look on Mrs. Selwyn's face, but Mrs. Potter stopped her.

"Never look back when you're walking away. It lets them know they aren't worth even thinking about," she said.

"So much for making connections," Jane joked.

"Nonsense," Mrs. Potter said. "Leah Selwyn is only one on a committee of twenty, and there are plenty of other people for you to meet here."

Jane felt slightly more comfortable meeting everybody else knowing that Mrs. Potter was going to help her out of any situation she didn't want to be in. She even helped answer some questions that Jane hadn't quite figured out the answer to yet. And as the night went on, Jane actually found herself thanking Mrs. Potter for introducing her to everyone.

"It was no trouble, dear," she had said. "Now, if only I could get Sirius and James to take this seriously."