CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTEEN
The rest of the holidays were pretty good. Jane, James, and Sirius practised Quidditch together, smoked cigarettes by the pond, and explored the nearby Muggle town together, which Jane always found amusing because James would get excited over the littlest things, especially the electronic things.
They were currently on their way back to Hogwarts, and Jane was happy to be seeing Will again today. She also kept talking on and on with Peter about the Witches and Wizards she'd met at the Easter party, and she was oblivious to the fact that Peter was beginning to doze off. Remus had his nose in his Charms book, already getting a head start on studying for his exams. James was staring grumpily at Lily who, while sitting in the same compartment with them, was refusing to talk to him because of some stupid comment he'd made over half an hour ago.
Sirius was being unusually quiet. He was reading the sports section of Remus' Daily Prophet, which just so happened to be one of the only sections that Remus never read. One headline was sticking out to Sirius in particular:
Yorkshire Keeper Kicked out of League
Sirius read the article over and over again, occasionally peering over the paper at Jane. He looked back down at the paper and reread the paragraphs.
The Yorkshire team, who recently lost their previous Keeper, Kate Langdon, to a sudden retirement after she announced that she and her husband were expecting, was forced to use their reserve, Gage Thomason, as their main Keeper. Thomason's new career as Yorkshire's main Keeper, though quite short, earned him the title of one of the best Keepers the League has ever seen. Many fans from opposing teams have said that Thomason's performances were "too good to be true," while Yorkshire fans defended the Keeper, though some of them wondered why it took Yorkshire so long to play Thomason if he had been this spectacular all along.
As it turns out, Thomason was "too good to be true." In a recent and shocking investigation after weeks of accusations, it was discovered that Thomason had been using PEPs, or Performance-Enhancing Potions, to up his Keeping skills. Thomason faces heavy fines and has been kicked out of the Quidditch League.
Yorkshire fans everywhere are disappointed. The Yorkshire team manager, Harold Peterson, says, "We are very embarrassed that this has happened right under our noses. If we had known, I assure you, Thomason never would have made it onto the pitch."
When asked about the future of his team, Peterson said that they had already been searching for a new reserve for the team. Given the current circumstances, they are being forced to use the reserve that they have chosen as their new Keeper.
"We weren't supposed to choose a reserve until the end of May," says Darren Polkas, a recruiter for the Yorkshire Quidditch team. "However, given Thomason's idiotic mistakes, our hands have been forced to not only pick the reserve now, but also a new first line Keeper."
Not much has been said about this new Keeper. However, we do know that we won't be seeing his or her face until after the current school term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is over in June. We have learned that as Yorkshire waits for their new Keeper to finish up with his/her education, one of the reserve Beaters, Frederick Wilson, will be taking the place of Thomason.
"Right after they get off that train, we're shipping them straight to Spain for intensive training!" said a frantic Peterson about their new Keeper.
Thomason was not available for comments as he is currently in hiding from angry Yorkshire fans and former teammates. We did manage to get a quote from his mother, Melissa Thomason, who has been an avid Yorkshire fan her entire life.
"I don't care if he is my son! Once I find him, I'm going to hex him into next year!"
Sirius, once again, peered over the paper at Jane. He wasn't exactly sure how he should take this news, or if he should tell Jane. It didn't mention the new Keeper's name, but there were only four Keepers at Hogwarts for them to choose from, and only one of them were in their last year anyway.
Sirius had been listening to Jane talk excitedly about her summer plans with Will for most of the school year. Now, it seemed as though those plans were about to get thrown right out the window, and she was sitting there, oblivious to the whole thing. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. On one hand, listening to Jane go on and on about Will all the time seemed to make him want to rip his ears off. On the other hand, this could potentially ruin something that made Jane very happy, and thinking about how upset she was going to be made his stomach turn.
Jane loved Will, but the Quidditch League wasn't for people who wanted relationships. It took a lot of time and dedication. The Quidditch League caused some of the nastiest breakups and divorces that the Wizarding World had ever seen; Witch Weekly was filled with that kind of stuff. People like Kate Langdon, who actually managed to keep their relationship going, were very rare, and they usually ended up retiring rather early to start families or to just be with the person they loved. Usually, players in the League were married to the game, and they didn't have much time for anything else.
Sirius carefully folded the paper back up and tucked it beside him in the seat.
"Anything interesting?" James asked.
Sirius shook his head before leaning back in his seat with a sigh.
"No. Nothing."
"Will, you're being awfully quiet," Jane said as they all ate dinner in the Great Hall that afternoon. "Are you okay?"
Will looked up from his plate and glanced at Jane, giving her a small smile before nodding his head, which was all he could seem to manage. He had been in a kind of trance ever since he'd gotten the letter the previous day. Will had been dreaming of getting a letter just like that ever since he was a kid, but when he'd read it yesterday, after the initial shock, it felt as though someone had kicked him in the gut.
To make matters worse, Jane didn't know. He could tell she hadn't seen the paper; she would've said something by now. Thinking about telling her made him nauseous. In fact, it was making the room spin; he'd never been so stressed about anything in his life.
Will dropped his fork and it clattered against his plate. Jane gave him a concerned look before grabbing his hand, which felt a bit clammy.
"Will, are you sure you're all right? You're not looking so good," she said.
Will stood up from the table.
"I, um, I think I might be sick," he said, "I-I'll be right back."
Jane furrowed her brow as she watched him leave the Great Hall.
"Is he all right?" Lily asked when Jane turned back around.
"I don't know," she said. "Maybe one of you guys should go check on him?"
"I'll do it."
Jane had pointed this more towards Remus or James, but she assumed Sirius was still trying to be nice to her.
"Um, okay?" Jane said, trying not to sound too surprised. "Thanks."
Lily raised a brow as they watched Sirius leave.
"MacGregor's not the only one acting strange today," she commented. "Black's being less obnoxious than usual."
Jane rolled her eyes.
"For your information, he's been really nice all holiday. I've told you he's not a bad guy," Jane defended.
"Maybe he's finally growing up," Peter suggested with his mouth full of food.
"Or maybe the last of his brain cells have died, and he's forgotten how to be a prat," Lily said.
"Hey, he hasn't done anything to you," Jane said.
"You're right," Lily said. "I can still be mean to Potter though, right?"
Jane shrugged as she took a bite of potatoes.
"I don't care."
James scoffed.
"Geez, thanks, Jane."
"What? She's gonna be mean to you anyway. It's nothing out of the ordinary."
Meanwhile, Will was leaning over one of the sinks in the boys' bathroom, splashing cold water on his face and trying to get his stomach to stop twisting itself into a knot. He looked up at the mirror when he heard the door open. When he saw who it was, he frowned and shook his head.
"What do you want, Black?"
Sirius just leaned against the wall and stuck his hands in his pockets.
"I saw the paper," he said casually. "I suppose I should congratulate you."
Will narrowed his eyes.
"What, and you didn't tell Jane?" Will asked rhetorically. "I would think that you'd love an opportunity like this."
Sirius furrowed his brow.
"I'm not sure what you've heard, or why you think—"
"Oh, come off it," Will said, whipping around to face him. "I know. You think I don't notice? You're her best friend. You're always with her; you're always there."
"So are James and Remus and Peter," Sirius pointed out. "It doesn't mean anything."
"Yeah," Will said quietly, "but they don't look at her the way you do."
Sirius didn't say anything.
"None of them have a problem with me like you do—a problem, if I'm not mistaken, that didn't exist until this school year. What a coincidence," Will said sarcastically.
"Maybe I just don't like you," Sirius said.
"You know what, Black, just piss off," Will told him. "I have bigger things to worry about right now. Like…how I'm gonna tell my girlfriend that in two months I'm gonna be gone, and that I won't be able to see her again until god knows when. And then, I have to sit down and write a letter to the Yorkshire manager about how fucking happy I am about all of this—a letter that I haven't written yet because I'm honestly contemplating on whether or not I'm even going to accept this offer, which no one is gonna understand because this should've been the greatest thing that ever happened to me, but it's just one big fucking nightmare.
"And on top of that, I'm having to worry about the Ravenclaw match next month and about passing my N.E.W.T.s, so excuse me if I don't have time for you and your bullshit right now," Will said before sinking to the ground and running his hand through his hair.
Sirius was silent for a while before saying quietly:
"I'm sorry."
Will let out a small, humourless laugh as he rested his head against the wall and stared up at the ceiling.
"No, you're not. Why would you be? Everything works out for you, doesn't it? I'm gonna be gone, and you're gonna be here with her—with my girl. You get exactly what you really want: me out of the way."
"I didn't want this," Sirius said truthfully. "I don't want Janie to get hurt."
Will closed his eyes and took in a kind of shaky breath before looking at Sirius with a worn expression.
"What do you want, Black? Why are you even here?"
"I wanted to ask you a favour," Sirius said after a moment of thought.
Will made a disparaging noise and rested his head back on the wall.
"Don't tell her tonight," Sirius said. "She's been so happy today, and it'd just be nice if that could last a little longer, you know?"
Will shook his head.
"I get what you're saying, but I can't do that," he said. "I've gotta tell her tonight."
"No, you don't," Sirius said. "You can literally wait until tomorrow."
Will finally got up from the floor and brushed himself off.
"Look, Black, if I don't tell her tonight, then tomorrow, I'm gonna make up some excuse not to tell her. And then, it'll be the same with next day and next day and the next day until finally she finds out from someone else, and then not only will she be upset, she'll be angry with me for not telling her. Besides, what's the point in dragging it out anyway?"
"The point," Sirius said, his voice a little louder now, "is that maybe she won't cry herself to sleep tonight."
"Yeah, well, she deserves to know," Will said, walking towards Sirius. "And don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Stand there and think that you're the only person that cares about her," Will said. "Because I can assure you that you're not."