A/N: Some of this chapter has to do with events that took place before and after James and Sirius' motorbike chase from the 800 word prequel by the original author of Harry Potter.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE

"Don't talk to me; I'm mad at you."

Sirius rolled his eyes as he sat down beside Jane in the library. James was currently on his date with Lily in Hogsmeade, and Sirius had managed to sneak away from Peter and Remus as they played a game of wizard's chess (though, unbeknownst to him, they had both noticed and were currently talking about how he'd chickened out the night before).

"Come on, Janie," Sirius said, "you should've seen his face. He was so happy!"

"That would've been the best time to tell him!" Jane exclaimed, earning a shush from Madam Pince.

"I wasn't going to ruin the best day of his life," Sirius whispered to her.

"It wouldn't have ruined it," Jane whispered back, but she only halfway believed what she was saying.

Sirius gave her a look which obviously said that he didn't believe her either. Jane shook her head at him.

"You said that you would, and you didn't. So, I'm mad at you."

"You try looking into his stupid, happy face and telling him," Sirius said. "It's nearly impossible."

Jane rubbed at her temples and closed her eyes. Sirius slid his chair closer to hers and looked around before putting his arm around her.

"Still mad at you," she said, opening her eyes and turning the page of the transfiguration book in front of her.

Sirius smirked. Leaning towards her, he nuzzled his face into her hair. Jane rolled her eyes.

"Still mad at you," she repeated.

Sirius moved his face, his nose just barely grazing along Jane's jawline.

Jane clenched her jaw and took a deep breath before saying:

"It's not working. I'm still angry."

Sirius then attacked her neck with an array of kisses. Jane closed her eyes and sighed a little in defeat.

"I hate you," she breathed, and Sirius grinned widely before pulling away from her.

Madam Pince cleared her throat at the two teens. It was obvious that she was less than enthused at Sirius' public display of affection.

"The library is a place for studying, not a place for you to be so obscenely perverse; get out."

Jane glared at Sirius, who only shrugged, before they both stood from their seats and walked out of the library.

"We have to tell him eventually," Jane said.

"Well, I agree," Sirius told her. "But can't we just wait a little while? Like until after we don't live with him anymore?"

Jane let out a laugh and shook her head. Sirius gently grabbed her by the waist and spun her around to face him. Jane pulled away slightly as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Do you constantly have to be kissing me?" she asked in an amused sort of way.

"Well, it's not like I'm getting anything else," he said.

Jane scoffed and immediately pushed him off of her. Sirius sighed, instantly knowing that he'd messed up by saying that.

"Oh, I'm definitely still mad at you," Jane said, walking away from him.

Sirius mentally kicked himself and followed after her.

"I didn't mean anything by it."

Jane let out a bitter laugh.

"Of course you didn't," she said, her voice practically dripping with sarcasm. "I'm so sorry that I haven't put out for you yet. Why don't we just go up to dorms right now, and I'll rip my clothes off for you; it's not as if we've only been together for two weeks or anything!"

"Janie, I—"

"But of course, I forget that it must be torture for you because you're accustomed to one night stands and—"

"Janie!"

Jane stopped talking and looked at Sirius coldly.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he said, holding up his hands in surrender.

Jane pursed her lips and shook her head, looking away from him.

"Look, I'm not good at this," Sirius admitted. "I've never been in a real relationship before. It's…different to me. I'm still learning, Janie."

Jane let out a small laugh in spite of herself.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing. It's just—I think that's the first time I've ever heard you say you weren't good at something," she said.

"Well, it's the first time it's ever been true, so…"

Jane laughed again, and Sirius smiled at her.

"Forgiven?" he asked, reaching up to fiddle with a lock of her hair that was resting on her shoulder.

Jane rolled her eyes.

"I suppose. But for the record, you're still a prick—"

"No, let me help you there," Sirius interrupted. "I'm an arse. I'm an idiot. I'm the worst person in the world."

"I've never called you the worst person in the world," Jane defended.

Sirius shrugged.

"Well, not yet, but I figured since we're dating now, it's bound to happen," he joked.

Jane chuckled, playfully hitting him on the shoulder. Sirius grinned and pulled her back to him. Once again, she pulled away as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Wait," she said, looking him in the eyes. "You have to promise you'll tell him tonight."

"Tonight?" Sirius half-whined. "Can't I wait till tomorrow? I mean—"

"Oh, forget it; I'll tell him," Jane said in a determined voice, finally deciding that she'd had enough.

Once again, she pushed Sirius away from her, leaving him without a kiss.

Jane never did tell James that night. She had waited in the common room for him to get back from his date. But then, he had looked at her with this dreamy look and said:

"She kissed me on the cheek."

Sirius had been right. It was nearly impossible to look into James' stupid, happy face and tell him. So much so that by the time the Christmas holidays came around, they still hadn't told. By this point, Remus and Peter had put wagers on when James would find out.

Jane sat by the window, bored of hearing James and Lily bicker over something trivial. By now, they were sort of exclusive, but they still argued. Jane figured they secretly liked to get on each other's nerves; it did seem to come rather naturally to them.

Jane was worried about the Christmas holidays. At Hogwarts, there were tons of places for her and Sirius to sneak off to, and Lily was there to distract James. At the Potters', things weren't exactly going to be like that. She just hoped that Sirius would be able to keep his hands to himself for a while.

However, there was one little gleam of hope for them to spend some time alone. Lily's horrible sister was getting married over the holidays. Lily, who was already upset about being just another name on the guest list, did not want to go through that whole evening alone. After days of Lily complaining about it to her friends, Jane had finally taken James off to the side and told him that maybe he should see if Lily wanted him to go with her. Of course, it was what Lily had been hinting at all along, and when James finally offered, she seemed overjoyed at the prospect of not having to sit alone through a boring wedding ceremony and reception.

As Jane watched the light snow falling onto the passing landscape, it came to her attention that this was going to be her very first Christmas at the Potters'. She imagined that there were usually lavish decorations and wonderful food and, of course, one of Mrs. Potter's extravagant parties. Though Jane figured that this year might be a little different. After the attack on Diagon Alley, Jane had noticed that Mrs. Potter seemed a bit more paranoid and a little less sociable. Jane didn't expect a big Christmas party this year.

Jane suddenly thought of her father. She wondered how he was doing, if he was still drinking. She wondered if he ever missed her, ever wanted her back home. She remembered how he used to be when she was younger. He was so fun to talk to; he always had all the answers. He was her friend. And now, she hardly knew him.

Jane closed her eyes and thought back eight years.

"Dad, where's the new Christmas tree ornaments?" Jane asked, looking around the sitting room for the box.

"Right here, darling."

Jane turned to see her father holding the box of blue and silver ornaments and grinned before taking them from him.

"You can help put some near the top of the tree," Jane told him as she grabbed one of the shiny balls out of the box and attached a hook to it.

Her father leaned down to grab one as well as she wondered where the perfect place to hang the first ornament was.

"Were you on the telephone with someone a moment ago?" her father asked.

Jane nodded as she hung the first ornament.

"Sarah wanted to know if she could stay the night," she said. "She says her mum and dad are screaming at each other again. I told her she could. Is that okay?"

"Of course. Sarah's always welcome," her father said.

Jane looked towards the stairs briefly and sighed before she went back to decorating.

"Mum's not coming down to help, is she?" Jane asked.

Her father sighed.

"Your mother's not feeling well."

"You said that yesterday," Jane noted. "Maybe she needs a doctor."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Jane."

Jane furrowed her brow as she hung another ornament.

"How come? Whenever I'm sick, you take me to the doctor."

"It's complicated," her father said.

"Is she going to be okay?" Jane asked in a concerned voice. "She got sick last month too, and she didn't go to the doctor then either."

Her father looked at her and forced a smile.

"She's gonna be fine; don't you worry."

Jane shrugged.

"If you say so. She just doesn't seem like herself is all."

Her father patted her on the shoulder and smiled when she looked up at him.

"How about I make you and Sarah some treacle tart?"

Jane grinned and nodded happily.

Jane opened her eyes, halfway hoping to see her father running off to their kitchen, but all she was greeted with was the cold, Scotland landscape outside of the train window. She sighed just a bit and turned away from the window.

In the seat across from her, Sirius was staring at her with a concerned look marking his features. Jane forced a small smile, and Sirius inconspicuously nudged her foot with his in what Jane assumed was his only way of comforting her given their current circumstance. Jane leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes once more, trying to forget about her father.

Jane had been right about the lavish decorations at the Potters'. Apparently, Christmas was Mrs. Potter's favourite holiday, and decorating for it seemed to be her forte. There were beautiful ribbons and lovely wreaths. The Christmas tree was adorned with figurine ornaments that wished Jane a merry Christmas or sung carols as she walked by, and at the very top was a bright, twinkling star that looked as though it had been plucked straight out of the night sky. Non-melting icicles hung from the mantle over the fireplace along with five embroidered stockings.

Jane had smiled when she saw her name on one of the stockings. It was white and gold with a little angel that rustled her wings every now and then as though preparing to take flight.

"Well, go on," Mrs. Potter had told her. "There's a gift inside."

"Before Christmas Day?"

"Mum always puts an early gift in our stockings for when we come home from school. She loves surprises," James told Jane, stuffing his hand into his own stocking.

Jane carefully reached into her stocking and closed her fingers around something soft. She pulled out a bundle of red. Unrolling it, she realised it was a sweater. She smiled.

"I love it," Jane said. "It's so soft."

Mrs. Potter patted her on the shoulder lovingly.

"One hundred percent cashmere with Non-Wrinkling charms," she told Jane. "I thought it'd look darling on you."

"Thank you," Jane said, hugging her. "I'm gonna go put it on for supper."

Mrs. Potter beamed at the thought, and Jane ran up the stairs to her room. When she came back down, she had to stifle a laugh at Sirius and James who were wearing the matching t-shirts they'd gotten in their stockings.

"Well, don't you two look adorable," she said, looking at the golden birds on their shirts. "Band t-shirts?"

"The Phoenix Feathers," James said. "Number one on the charts for two months now."

"I prefer Zeppelin," Jane said.

"And that's probably why you didn't get such an awesome shirt," Sirius noted.

"My sweater is much softer and warmer than your t-shirt," Jane told him.

Sirius shook his head and smiled at her. She had pulled her hair out of its ponytail and adorned it with a red barrette to match her new sweater. The decorative bow on the front of the sweater made Jane herself look like a Christmas present, and Sirius wanted so badly to kiss her smirking lips.

"You all look lovely!" Mrs. Potter said, grinning at the three. "Charles, fetch the camera!"

James rolled his eyes, and Jane laughed. Mrs. Potter pushed the three of them in front of the Christmas tree and snapped a few pictures.

"All right, well, we'll be back for supper," James said, ruffling his hair.

Jane furrowed her brow at him and Sirius.

"Where're you going?"

"Just taking Bonnie for a spin," Sirius said. "I haven't seen her in months!"

Jane rolled her eyes, and Mrs. Potter pursed her lips. James took notice and immediately assured her that they'd be back before supper once more, "ten minutes tops," he'd said. Jane shook her head as she watched them head towards the door.

The boys' ten minute bike ride turned into twenty, then thirty. By the time supper was ready, the only people around the table were Jane and Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Mr. Potter was the only one eating, insisting that the boys had probably lost track of time. Jane pushed her food around her plate with her fork, nervously looking towards the door of the dining room every now and then. Mrs. Potter hadn't even picked up her fork, and she hadn't taken her eyes off the door for some time now; Jane was quite certain that Mrs. Potter hadn't even blinked.

It was going on an hour now, and even Mr. Potter was beginning to worry. By now, they were all just sitting around the table silently, looking at the door hopefully. When the faint roar of an engine could finally be heard, they all ran towards the front door.

Jane ran onto the front porch, glaring at the headlight of the bike as it made its way towards the ground. When they landed, Sirius cut the engine, and Mrs. Potter started in.

"Where have you been? The both of you, get inside right now! You had me worried sick! Didn't know what you'd gotten yourselves into…"

Jane tried to have a stern look on her face, but she was just happy to see them both alive and well.

"Explanation!" Mrs. Potter demanded once they were inside.

Both boys went into their explanation, both speaking rapidly, and Jane could hardly keep up, only picking up a few words such as:

"Wrong turn…Death Eaters…Muggle Police…dark alley…car…flew away…"

James' parents must've been accustomed to their rapid-fire explanations, because both seemed to understand what they were saying just fine, and Mrs. Potter softened only enough to look briefly terrified.

"And what on earth would three Death Eaters want with you two?" Mr. Potter asked. "Did you provoke them?"

"No, we swear! They just appeared out of nowhere!" James said. "I don't know what they wanted!"

Suddenly, it became clear to Jane that James had not yet told his parents about joining Dumbledore's group, and she wondered if that had had anything to do with what had happened tonight. Did their enemies know who was a part of the group? Were they being watched? Stalked like prey?

"I don't want you on that thing after dark anymore!" Mrs. Potter told them. "And you stay around the house when you're on it! You could've been killed."

She pulled the both of them into a crushing hug before grabbing Jane by her arm and pulling her in as well. Jane's face was squished into Mrs. Potter's left shoulder. The wide collar of Mrs. Potter's shirt had shifted, revealing to Jane the bare skin of her shoulder. There on Mrs. Potter's shoulder, barely noticeable to the naked eye were faint, vein-like white lines that looked as though they were made by a lightning strike.

Jane furrowed her brow and wondered what the markings were. However, as they all made their way back toward the dining room and Sirius inconspicuously rubbed shoulders with her, the thought left her mind. She was just thankful that James and Sirius were both safe.