Muggle studies was definitely one of Jane's favourite classes. And during her second last class of the day she sat beside Kennedy at the table behind Kai and Dante, they had been learning about 'Muggle Geography', as if being wizards and witches impaired their ability to look at a map. But near the end of class Kai had managed to up her spirits by turning the lesson into another session of banter (she refused to call it flirting).
"Are you from France?" He began, grinning, "Because Eiffel for you."
"Are you from Stockholm?" She returned, "Because you're the Swedish boy I've met."
"It's good that we're in the UK, cause I want U, K?"
Jane laughed, biting her lip to think of another, "Have you visited your brother in Australia lately? Because you've met all of my koala-fications."
"This may not be India, but since you're here I think I'm in Lucknow," Kai replied, standing as the end of class was signalled and offering a hand to Jane.
"I Equa-dor you," Jane said, swinging their entwined hands between them. For some reason she had always been comfortable around Kai, and since he had yet to complain about the lack of personal space they left each other she assumed it was mutual. Despite what was often insisted they were just friends, a year before they had spent the summer in the same area.
Jane on vacation with her family had stayed at a hotel run by Kai's mother. During that time both of their respective mother's had made offhanded comments about 'neither of them having steady relationships' and how they were 'practically dating anyhow', so they had shrugged and tried it. Calling each other 'Sweetie', 'Honey', referring to themselves as a couple, going on dates… by the end of the week it was mutually accepted as a horrible idea and never spoken of again. Jane could never think of the taller tanned boy as anything but a friend, a best friend maybe, sometimes even family, but nothing more than platonic. And due to many conversations and comments shared between them she knew Kai agreed.
Still, neither of them could explain the flirting, it was just part of how they communicated.
Fingers snapped in front of her nose and Jane's attention returned to the present, and Kai's amused expression, "Dozing off in the hallway is against the rules, Jane."
She scoffed and rolled her eyes, bumping her shoulder into his arm, sadly the height difference wouldn't allow shoulder-bumping. "Says the lad that slept in the hallway for a week because he was mad at his roommates. Besides," Jane flashed her friend a wink, "I was simply getting lost in your overwhelming presence.
"Maybe we should get a map then," Kai easily returned to their previous banter, "I can't stop getting lost in your eyes."
"Well I only need directions to your heart," Jane replied, raising an eyebrow, "Show me the way?"
"I don't know if I can," Kai explained sadly, "I mean, I'm not drunk, but you've intoxicated me."
"I'd say you look fine, but that's not unusual."
"Does your left eye hurt? You've been looking right all d—"
"Hers might not but if you didn't back off yours will," a much taller more masculine version of Jane threatened, stepping close to the slightly taller boy in a manner that would be intimidating; had the other boy not been Kai he likely would've felt very scared.
Jane groaned, her hand running through her hair, Kai passed her a smirk over her brother's shoulder and she knew it wasn't going to end well. "Mate, I might be a bit out of it after Jane and my," he coughed as if pretending editing his next words, Jane rolled her eyes at the innuendo, "uh, session. But who are you?"
"Jane's brother," James growled, obviously not happy with the implications that Kai enjoyed implying.
"Her brother?" Kai asked, feigning surprise with a grin and he clamped his hand on James' shoulder, "Congratulations! You're going to be an uncle!"
"Kai!"
"Hm?" Kai looked at her with his eyebrows raised before snapping his fingers and shrugging, "Right! I forgot we were keeping it a secret until we eloped!" He turned to James again, "Sorry, Mate."
"We're not friends, Kai," James glowered, spitting out his name like an insult, "And my sister is off-limits to Slytherins."
"Oh for the love of—" Jane grumbled, taking her brother's arm and spinning him to face her, "Your sister can damn well make her own bloody decisions, James. And while you and Kai may not be friends, he and I are, so sod off. And I'm not pregnant!"
Though he showed slight relief that last comment didn't lessen his anger enough, "Jane, he's not a good person—"
"He still has ears," Kai reminded him, raising his hand as if he thought he had been forgotten.
"Kai," Jane stated, a nod to tallest of the trio, "Is a friend. You're going to accept that, whether you want to or not. Just as we discussed Severus, Slytherins are not automatically bad people, James. Back off and leave my friends alone. Understood?"
"I don't understand, Jane. I don't understand how you can be friends with slimy snakes that only judge and pick on other people—"
"Unlike you and your band of misfits?" Jane challenged, "Out of the four of you Remus is the only one half decent, and yet even he doesn't offer an apology after hurting someone's feelings. Together you have ridiculed and judged anyone you felt like, never stopping to notice," Jane took a step forward, her height evenly matching that of her brother but her heels allowing her that much of an advantage as she glared down at him with her last words; "That you are just as bad as the Slytherins that you hate so much."
During her speech Kai had moved to her side and together they walked to their next class without a word.
At the door Kai turned to her with a strange look, "I could've handled it."
Jane raised an eyebrow, "I would've let you, but no one is allowed to hurt my brother. And the truth hurts."
Even after the last class of the day had let out Jane was tense, emotions thundering just beneath the surface were locked tightly enough to allow her to maintain an impassive expression as she took quick, purposeful strides towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Not to apologize to her brother, no despite her childish want to make everything better; she had done nothing wrong. James would have to suck it up, she would not walk on eggshells around her own damn brother.
No, that wasn't the reason. Kennedy had left her music playing muggle device in the Muggle Studies room and knowing how attached the girl was to the object Jane intended to return it as soon as she could. Still Jane couldn't shake the familiar feeling that something would go wrong once Jane stepped into the room and she may have delayed her path a slight bit.
Come on, Jane, if you don't face them you can't fight them.
A small smile lifted Jane's lips and she stopped to gaze out one of many tall windows, she could easily conjure the familiar face that matched the voice in her mind. His eyes were green, it was what had always stood out to her, dark, dark, green, a few times she had mistaken them for brown or black. If he had been here he would tell her to get off her arse and deal with the problem…
A small sigh escaped her and she shook her head, whispering, "But you're not here are you?"
"If I'm not mistaken, Love, talking to yourself is the first sign of madness."
She hadn't been expecting a reply in the least and it made her jump as she spun around, relaxing slightly at the face and rolling her eyes. "If either of us are mad, Sirius, it's surely you. Hasn't anyone every taught you not to eavesdrop? It's rude."
Sirius Black grinned, shrugging, "Is it really eavesdropping if there's only one person?"
"Not that you aren't wonderfully infuriating," Jane replied, straightening up and nodding her head to the side, "But I've got to return Kennedy's- I don't actually remember what she kept calling it, music device."
"I'll walk with you."
Jane scoffed, raising an eyebrow, resulting in a silent communication between the two that probably went something along the lines of:
Honestly, Black?
Do you have a problem with that?
You're infuriating.
So you've stated.
And ended with Jane giving up and walking away, Sirius quick to catch up. The bickered while they walked until coming to the portrait of The Fat Lady who eyed them and demanded the password. Without a thought that perhaps she should let the actual Gryffindor answer Jane stated, "Crumblepuffs." And they were through.
Sirius' expression was something between concern and confusion when he asked, "How do you know the password?"
To which the Ravenclaw grinned and gave him a wink but no real answer. Her words would've been cut off anyhow as Lily's voice reached them the moment they were in the room.
The redhead stood glaring furiously at James in the middle of the room, everyone else stock still and watching the pair. Jane only caught the ending of whatever tangent Lily had been on with, "—cannot stand you! You're utterly terrible, you do horrible things and yet you expect everyone to love you? Well, James Potter; I do not. I will never care for you and I have no idea how anyone does! And Jane! How she puts up with you is incredible, you've made your sister a liar and a hypocrite!" Jane froze with the room and a choked sound escaped her, quiet enough to only gather Sirius' attention, she didn't manage to compose herself before he saw the betrayal of tears, Jane was never brought up in the tiffs between Lily and James. Never. It was an unspoken rule. No matter what, Lily would never, she would never even reference the female Potter.
…
But she did.
"Those years away were probably heaven compared to dealing with your mistakes," Lily kept going, Jane could have sworn her heart stopped, "Yet everyone knows you don't care for her, if you did you wouldn't act like such a damn - ugh, toerag!" With that Lily spun on her heel and marched up the stairs. While everyone else stayed frozen James' gaze found Jane.
Lily had yelled at him, hurt him worse than she ever had before, and his outlet was standing right in front of him. "What are you looking at, Janey?" James spit out, glaring, "Thinking of more ways to poison Lily against me? Everything was fine while you were away, you know. She didn't yell at me half as much as she does now that you're back. You should've just stayed away. Can't you just leave? God, for someone who's supposed to be smart you're damn stupid sometimes, no one wants you here. Lily hates me thanks to you." James shook his head, "I hate you."
And for once in her life Jane Harriet Potter had no idea what she was to do. For this she had no solution. There was no problem to solve, no riddle to answer, no secret to uncover. She had nothing. Absolutely nothing.
So she steeled her expression, lifted her chin, walked over to Kennedy to hand the girl her device, then turned, and left. Without a clue as to where she was headed she simply walked out, she had intended to confront her brother but… it would seem fate had other plans. She wouldn't run, she wouldn't cry, she wouldn't scream, she wouldn't betray any emotion. Her paces were measured, every action calculated, and still she had no direction.
It was only when a raindrop fell onto her head that she noticed she had left the castle, if she took in her surroundings she would know she was in an unfamiliar part of the forest. She perched on a rock, staring sightlessly into a clear pond while raindrops rippled the surface.
Only one thing dared cross her mind;
I hate you.
Back in the Gryffindor Common Room James was sporting a black eye, an intense sense of guilt, and likely a lot of self-deprecation.
He hadn't meant a word of it, honestly, he just needed to hurt someone the way he hurt inside. And Jane… god, why did it have to be Jane? Anyone else would've been fine but Jane was the only one he knew would truly hold value in his words and—Bloody Hell!
"I'm an absolute idiot," he groaned, dropping his head into his hands.
He heard a scoff from Remus, Sirius actually giving him the kind reply of "No one's gonna argue that, Mate."
"I need to go apologize."
"If you can get her to listen to you," Remus corrected.
"This is all because of whatever happened while she was awa—"
"No." Sirius stated, interrupting his best mate and surprising all three of his roommates, "This isn't because she won't spill her guts about what happened, James. This is about you being a bloody jackass to your sister. You haven't even tried asking her what happened, you just keep trying to plot it out of her. You don't see her as a person, Mate, you haven't acknowledged that she's got her own reasons, her own feelings. You wouldn't try any of that shite on Lily, or Moony, or Wormtail, or Marlene, or Emmeline, or literally anyone else! She's your sister, you should care about her more than anyone else, she's family, Prongs. You're the one always pulling the family card, well you actually have one! And you just made her believe you actually hate her."
James laid his empty hands out and lifted his shoulders, barely noticing the thunder that was steadily approaching, "I don't know what to do."
"Figure it out," Sirius replied shortly, grabbing his coat before swiftly following the path he had watched Jane take only an hour before. Even he knew of her fear of thunderstorms, James hadn't told anyone, but it wasn't hard to see. Whenever lightning struck Jane would tense up, her muscles would tense at the slightest rumble in the clouds, she would always find a way to excuse herself and be alone.
Eventually he gave up on relying on his human side to track down his friend's sis—was that what she still was? Were they friends? Were they –gods for someone that never gave a second thought about a single girl before; Jane managed to screw up his head way too easily. Just as he began debating shifting into his animagus form to better track her, a small cry caught his attention.
"Jane?" He called out as he turned. His approach slowed when the crying stopped abruptly, he listened to the rustle of movement before Jane called back.
"Sirius," her voice was unsteady and that alone was enough to worry the Gryffindor who knew of Jane's wonderful ability to hide her emotions. "Sirius, I-I."
In confusion Sirius hurried forward again, "Jane? What happened?"
He didn't receive an answer as he entered the clearing, first seeing the clear pond as lightning struck close enough to light it up, then the pooling blood beside it. A pale, bloody, bruised, Jane curled against a tree.
Sirius shouted, "Bloody Criss, Jane!" Quickly moving to her side and working to find a way to get her back to the castle.
"My br-a-acelet, Sirius," she mumbled, giving a small yelp when Sirius' hand met her side. He gave a curse and tried again, placing his arms under her knees and behind her shoulders. "Sirius, fi-i-nd m—gods, my bre- br- bracelet, find it."
"A piece of jewellery isn't really my first concern right now, Love," Sirius grumbled, standing and turning back the way he came only to have Jane's hand tighten on his arm with surprising force.
Her voice was strong for the first time since he found her even if it cracked, "Sirius Black, I need that bracelet."
"Oh for the love of-!" Sirius growled, "Fine, I'll come back for it, alright? But you need to see the nurse!" Apparently satisfied Jane nodded, tucking her head into his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his neck to hold herself up as much as she could. "Don't fall asleep, you might have a concussion."
"And how exactly would you suggest I stay awake in this godaw—aieeep!"
Sirius bit back a chuckle at Jane's yelp, the thunder was still loud, and perhaps it was wishful thinking but he could swear the rain was letting up just a bit. "Tell me a story, you know of our adventures during the last three years, what have you been doing?"
"That's not a story you want to hear," Jane mumbled, shaking her head against his arm.
Sirius shrugged, trudging on, a story might make the walk back a bit easier, "Try me."
For a moment the only sound was the pitter-patter of rain, then, with a sigh, Jane spoke, the occasional tremble or stumble messing up a few of her words, "Three years ago I met a boy, he was a damn t-tr-roublemaker. We met when, he tr-ied to jinx, my hot chocolate, I'd had a long train ride, and the f-a-act that I wou-ld be away from my brot—my fam-mil-ily, for a whole year was just setting in. To say I was uni-im-mpres-essed would be the understatement of the year, well, th-that year maybe? Hm," the smallest of laughs escaped her lips, "I told him off, and imm-ediat-ediately his brothers were laughing, gods they were just laughing. At first I thought they were laughing at me, but they were just impressed, appa-apparent-rently not many people stood up for themselves when th-ey-ey were new. They took me in, kept the damn demon-girls off me, and soon George and I were close friends. Honestly, my best friends, during those three years, were the Sullivans, that was their last name. Sometimes it was hard keeping them all stre-strah-straight, much too big of a family, but George, Peony, Peter, and –" her breath caught and for a second she didn't speak, he could feel her shaking and for once wasn't sure if it was just from the cold, "And Mary were they only ones in my year. Peony and Peter of course were very textbook, they were intelligent, but oblivious to so many wonderful things. George and I were often messing around, pranks and such, Mary would join us on occasion…"
Lost in thought Jane trailed off and Sirius cleared his throat. "What happened to the—"
"Ask me the next time you save my life, Black." Jane replied tiredly, yawning. Her exhale of breathe was warm against Sirius' neck and he would deny it having some effect on him. Just as he would deny that her being so close to him was having an effect on him.
He would deny it all, so long as he got to the nurse's office soon.