"Honestly, George, you are insufferable."

"Then why are you smiling," the black haired boy challenged with a teasing poke to her stomach.

"Because I'm laughing at you."

"Uh-huh."

"Oh can it, you," Jane grumbled almost slamming the tea cup back onto the table, "This is pointless! It's just tea remnants. What is it going to tell me?"

"Raven, you're thinking too much—"

"That is what I do," she pointed out, grumbling.

George swatted her hand and huffed, "Well, stop."

"I can't just—"

"Jane Harriet Potter!" Jane glared but quietened, George sighed and continued, "Breathe, Raven, in through your nose out through your mouth, close your eyes." Jane followed the instructions she was given and she felt an arm wrap around her waist as George moved to sit right beside her, "Now open your eyes."

Once again Jane was looking at the leaves in her teacup, but this time she could actually see the little picture, "Oh my god, this is –" Jane shook her head and looked to George, "How did you do that?"

"I didn't do anything," George insisted, he kissed her cheek quickly before whispering, "You're worth more than you think, Jane."

When her eyes opened she was in a state of confusion, teal eyes and dark skin replaced the image of a pale green-eyed boy. She blinked, and blinked again, before her mind registered what had happened, she sat up quickly, too quickly. Her vision spun and her stomach churned, but it was gone as quick as it had come.

"Dante," Jane shook her head, forcing a smile and noticing they were in a different part of the common room, "I'm sorry, where were we?"

"Perhaps you should go to the nurse," Dante suggested, a worried look in his eyes.

Jane shook her head, glad they were alone, "No, it's quite alright."

"You fainted, Jane."

"Right," Jane nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat, "It must be almost dinner, we should find the others."

"The others already ate, dinner ended a good ten minutes ago," the dark-haired boy pointed out.

She met his eyes in surprise, it had been almost an hour before dinner when she had blacked out, usually the memories only lasted a few minutes. She stood and nodded again, "It's probably nothing, I haven't been getting much sleep. I'll go rest, get something to eat."

As she headed up the stairs Dante couldn't shake the feeling that she was hiding something. After all, sixteen years of hiding a secret of his own he had gotten quite good at being able to tell when someone wasn't telling the whole truth. But he couldn't very well force her to tell him so, for now at least, he let it drop. Following her advice Dante finally left the common room, heading towards the kitchen, he could have simply called for help, brought her to the nurse himself, or any number of other options. But if he had been in her situation, if it had been a full moon, he would never want attention called to the situation. They had kept in touch for the past three years, letters, visits, they had drifted slightly apart, but he figured it was the same for most of the people she had kept in contact with. Now, even as they had become close friends again during the past week, she always seemed to have some invisible wall up, it was almost impossible to tell. She hadn't changed much, but there was just something.

"Eep!"

Dante scrambled to his feet, he had been so far into his thoughts he hadn't seen the other person until they had walked right into each other, "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright," Dante's eyes snapped to the girl he had accidently knocked over, Dorcus, she gave him a small smile, her voice was quiet, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

He ducked his head, quickly grabbing one of her books from the ground to hand it back to her, "To Kill A Mockingbird."

"Pardon?"

Dante could feel heat rushing to his face and he coughed, "To Kill A Mockingbird, it's a muggle novel my sister lent me once, if you like these types of books you'd likely like it too."

"Oh," Dante could hear Dorcus clear her throat, he bit his lip, she probably thought he was silly reading muggle novels, "Ah, would you happen to…" When Dante looked up Dorcus met his eyes for a fraction of a second before her gaze was on the floor once more, "I mean, if it wouldn't be a trouble, could I perhaps borrow it?"

"Ah—"

"I don't mean to overstep, if it's your sister's then, really –"

"Alright." Dante agreed, licking his lips and clearing his throat again, "In fact I was just going to see if I could nab some food from the kitchens, I missed dinner, but I could grab it for you after?"

"That would be wonderful," Dorcus nodded, a blush slowly forming on her cheeks, "Thank you."

"Alright—I mean, you're welcome." Dante nodded, unsure of what to do he began walking again, stopping when he heard her call,

"Would you like some company?" Dante turned and Dorcus held her books tightly against her chest, she gave him a small smile, "I know I hate to eat alone."

It was Dante's turn to smile, he nodded, "Yes, thank you that would be lovely."

Jane had debated going to bed, but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep, so with the knowledge she had lied to her friend she followed the path to Hagrid's. She could see him working in his garden long before she reached the hut and with a smile she quickly changed directions.

"Good evening, Hagrid," she called, lifting her hand to wave.

"Ah! Jane, jus' the person I wan'ed 'a see. 'Em damn niffles' been diggin' up ma garden again!"

Jane laughed lightly and kneeled on the soft soil, "Of course they have, they think you're hiding gold, not planting potatoes."

"Well they can scram then, 'cause I don' go' 'nything other than the 'taters here," Hagrid grumbled, "Bu' if ya give me a mo I can get ya some tea. 'm sure you came down for something more than talk about plantin'."

"Ever perceptive, Hagrid," the young witch replied, she gave a soft smile to one of the fluffy creatures scampering about, "I came across some strange things while I was away."

She accepted the half-giants offered hand and followed him into the little hut. While he went to fetch the tea she crossed the room to the little cages, lifting one of the creatures from its enclosure and bringing it to the sofa where she sat and set it on her lap.

"I don' know how you ge' those damn things ta calm down like that, Jane," Hagrid mentioned, setting a cup on the table beside her, "Bu' I 'preciate it."

Jane stroked the little beast, it was somewhat a cross between a Nargle and a Niffler, "They didn't choose the life they were given," she lifted her head to meet Hagrid's eyes in understanding, "But they deal with it the same as any of us."

"You were always wise fer yer age," Hagrid sipped his own tea, "bu' it don' take a wizar' ta know somethin' happen to ye out there." Jane didn't reply, it hadn't been a question, she let her attention go back to the creature on her lap, resting her palm on its head to calm its shaking. It was too bad she didn't have someone to calm her own nerves, the tea helped. "Yer gonna do wha's best, Miss Potter, I know tha'. Bu' if ye ever need someone ta talk to, ye got friends. Lots o' them, you know people care 'bout you, right Jane?"

She nodded, more to appease her friend than in the sense she completely believed him, and she knew he could tell but he smiled anyway and they continued with their usual chatter. She gave him a few tips for his garden, he gave her a few hints for charms and arithmacy.

Eventually the sky began to darken and she headed back to the castle with a promise of visiting again soon. She didn't get far when a figure caught her eyes. It wasn't that someone else was out after curfew, or even that she recognized him quickly, it wasn't that he was a Slytherin, or that he didn't have his robe with him and he seemed to be freezing, the only thing that really caught Jane's attention was the Threstral that he was feeding.

"Severus?"

At the sound he spun around, wand at the ready, and Jane's empty hands flew up to show him she meant no harm. When he began to slowly lower his wand she took cautious steps forward, pure curiosity colouring her expression. He watched her approach in silence, only speaking once she was relatively close. Well, snapping, might be more accurate. "What do you want?"

"World peace," Jane joked lightly, not even sure why she had called his name, "A chocolate bar? A nicer brother?" Severus snorted at this, before quickly recomposing himself.

"Are you gonna make fun of me for talking to myself?"

"Why would I do that?"

Snape sneered as if on instinct, "Because you're a Potter."

"And you're a Slytherin," Jane retorted, not a drop of venom in her words. "No one is simply one thing." She tilted her head to the side and turned her gaze to the winged-creature behind the boy, "And it would be rather silly to make fun of someone for talking to themself, if they were in fact not."

The pale, black-haired, Slytherin's glare took a small light of confusion before he followed her line of sight to the Threstrals. When he looked back to her it was in a mix of surprise and wonder, "I'm not the only one who can see them?"

Jane held back a laugh, settling for a kind smile as she walked towards the creature, slowing when she saw the boy tense, she didn't say anything until she could rest her hand on the Threstrals nose. "Far from it," she whispered, turning to make eye contact that Severus quickly averted, "Threstals can only be seen by those that have witnessed death."

At that his eyes snapped to hers, accusing yet curious. Jane watched quietly until he decided which emotion to act on, it seemed like a mixture of both, "You've seen someone die."

"So have you," Jane replied, not offering up anything more.

"Who was it?"

The Ravenclaw raised an eyebrow, "If you so obviously don't trust me, why would I trust you?"

Finally a small smile crept onto Severus' lips, "So Ravenclaws are actually smart."

"And Slytherins are prideful," Jane noted, her thoughts clicking into place, "Which means if you were to tell me, and I you, neither of us would share the information."

Severus's expression curled into a scowl, significantly less fearsome than the prior ones, "And why would I tell you?"

"Because witnessing death isn't something you can shoulder alone," Jane informed him, her voice hardly louder than a whisper, I can't shoulder it alone.

The boy in front of her was silent for some time, Jane couldn't help but wonder if he would simply walk away. Her throat clenched, even now he could tell someone that she had seen someone die, and as always the information would make it's way to James. Severus cleared his throat, nodding, "okay."

this chapter is short but i hope you liked it!