Chapter 22: Boy Talk
After a couple of long days, Jane and Sarah decided to just spend a little time at home, talking about school, the weather, and other events that had been going on.
In the previous days, Jane and Sarah had gone to visit Sarah's side of the family for Christmas and while they were there, Jane got a chance to meet some new people, play some new games, and get a couple presents of her own. One of the presents she had gotten was from Sarah's mother. The present was a knitted quilt with all different shapes, colors, and designs on it. Jane loved it so much that she decided to take it with her when she went back to Hogwarts.
There were some moments over break when Jane missed Hogwarts, especially since Harry wasn't with her. But, Jane put all of those feelings aside and tried, to the best of her ability, to focus on the present and what she was doing at each moment. Sometimes it was easy, but most times, it was difficult, mainly because, Jane felt like she is just getting to know Harry and she didn't want to lose him.
Soon, there were only a couple days left of Jane's wintery wonderland break and before long, she would have to go back to school.
Jane pulled the heavy quilt close and tucked her legs close against her chest, while she started thinking about school again and about Harry. How did the polyjuice potion go? Jane wondered. Did they find out if Malfoy is the heir of Slytherin? Or is it someone else? Jane wanted to know badly, but she had to wait until the first day back at school.
"Is everything okay?" Sarah asked while she walked over to Jane and handed her a cup of hot cocoa with white fluffy marshmallows.
"Thanks for the cocoa," Jane said as she stared into the blazing hot red-orange flames of the fire.
"Jane?" Sarah questioned, her voice raising just a bit.
"Oh, yeah . . . um. Everything's fine," Jane answered, not quite sure what to say.
"Jane." Sarah paused. "I know you too well. Not everything is fine."
There was silence, except for the crackling of the flames that licked at the burning wood in the fire pit.
Sarah was about to ask Jane again, but then Jane gave a small sigh making her shoulders go up and down.
"You know how I am starting to have boy problems, right?" Jane asked Sarah.
Sarah could tell there was some uncertainty in Jane's voice.
"Yeah," Sarah answered leaning back in the dark red chair she was sitting in.
"Well, there's . . . well . . . you see this boy," Jane stated still staring into the blazing flames of the fire pit.
"Go ahead," Sarah said, gently trying to push Jane into talking.
"He has blonde slick hair and he's not in the same house as I am," Jane continued.
Sarah nodded and asked, "What house is he in?"
"Slytherin, but . . . the thing is." Jane paused before continuing. "He hates, no, dislikes Harry, Ron, and Hermione." That's when Jane looked up at Sarah.
"Ah. And you're afraid that if you become friends with this boy, Harry won't love you anymore?" Sarah asked, her eyebrows lifting up.
"Yes, and no. I'm afraid that if I become friends with this boy, Harry will lose trust in me and he will love me less than he did before. I'm also afraid that if I become friends with this boy, I'll get into trouble."
Sarah's eyes widened. "Trouble?" she asked with a look of suspicion. "What makes you think you'll get into trouble with this boy?"
Jane then started to explain the duel in which she and Harry and participated in for Defense Against the Dark Arts class and what spell she had accidentally used because the boy, Draco Malfoy, had mouthed the spell to her.
"Draco didn't actually say it, he just mouthed it and all I did was cast it," Jane tried to explain.
"So, this boy, Draco, never did anything?"
"Yes," Jane agreed.
Sarah stood up and kneeled down by the fire, that was going out. She took the metal poker and started poking at the burnt wood, trying to make the fire warmer.
After she was done, Sarah went over to Jane and knelt down by her, so that their faces were a few feet away from each other.
Jane could smell the scent of hot chocolate from Sarah's breath as she spoke.
"First of all, Jane no matter what you choose to do, I'll always be by your side. No matter what. Second, I have a strong feeling that if you choose to be friends with Draco, Harry will still love you because you're his sister! I know there are probably going to be hardships that you have to go through, but Harry will be there. Lastly, if you somehow do end up in trouble or you're in trouble, just know that I believe in you and to believe in yourself. Self-confidence is the key," Sarah finished before she kissed Jane on the forehead. "Remember, whatever you decide, I'll support you, and if you ever need my advice, please don't be afraid to ask." Sarah then left the room for Jane to resolve her current dilemma with Draco Malfoy.
AN: I don't own Harry Potter. The only characters I own are Jane, Sarah, and any other characters that I made up. (Last edited 3/21/17)