prewett

Jane and Narcissa sat in the Library, both with multiple books thrown across the table. Both studying for different things, there were books for Transfiguration, Herbology, Potions, and Astronomy.

Honestly, in the midst of their studying, the girls lost track of time. It was dark by the time Lucius found them, a small frown on his face. "It's late," he said sternly and quietly, overly aware of the group of third years watching him as he approached.

He then proceeded to hold up his pocket watch when neither of the girls moved. 9:45. Damn that was late. Curfew was getting close, Jane guesses that's why Lucius came to retrieve them.

The three didn't speak as Jane and Narcissa put their books back and began to leave. They managed three hallways before the split was necessary. Again, Jane stayed quiet as she gave them a small wave.

Once she was confident that they were out of sight, she turned back and made her way to one of the few secret passageways. Her mind was racing far too much to go to sleep just yet. Looking around to make sure the coast was clear, she slipped behind the mirror.

Earlier that day, she had received a letter from Molly telling her that they had to move. This letter had to be delivered through Professor Dumbledore due to the sheer amount of owl interceptions.

That thought alone was enough to freak Jane out. Ergo, no sleep. Besides, it had been a while since she had gone to see Rosmerta outside of a Hogsmeade weekend.

She pushed open the door from the passageway and was quick to shut it behind her. No one would catch her now. At the very least, no one would turn her in now, so she wasn't worried as she walked around from the back of the building into the streets.

Jane walked without much purpose; she wasn't in a rush. She enjoyed the slight chill in the air as she made her way to the Three Broomsticks.

She opened the door, a smile printed on her face, and greeted the woman behind the bar. "Rosmerta, a pleasure as always." She scanned the room and noticed a small group of people that looked to be in their late twenties at one of the four tops. There was a man sitting at the bar, conversing with the barmaid.

"How you doin', Janey? It's been a few weeks, now, hasn't it?" Rosmerta flung a rag onto her shoulder as she got the girl a Butter Beer and placed it beside the man at the bar.

As Jane approached the bar, Rosmerta continued, "I trust you know, Mr. Black, do you?"

Jane sat down with a slight nod. "I do. Thanks." Her tone was slightly sarcastic causing Rosmerta to give her a look which said to be nice. Watching as Rosmerta left for the back room, she turned to see Sirius already looking at her.

She raised her eyebrows and took a sip of her drink. "Yes?" Her tone was harsh, not really knowing what he wanted.

He opened and shut his mouth a few times before saying, "Hi." He immediately cringed at his own stupidity. How was his confidence failing him now? He reached behind the bar to grab the bottle of Fire Whiskey and poured himself another shot.

He took it quickly.

Jane could tell that wasn't even his first considering he already had a shot glass, and he had a dopey grin on his face that only came with a few drinks.

Finally, after what felt like so much longer than it actually was, (well, to Sirius, at least) Jane replied with a "Hello" of her own. "What are you doing down here after ten on a Wednesday?"

He loudly exhaled and poured another shot but didn't take it. "Didn't want to sleep. What about you, Janey?"

She gave him an incredulous look. "Jane. And same. Needed to get out." She took another sip of her Butter Beer, pretending not to notice how Sirius continued to watch her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him take and pour another shot. She was starting to wonder if she should cut him off, but frankly, she didn't think that was any of her business.

Rosmerta then resurfaced from the back room wielding a clipboard. She didn't pay the two students any mind as she began to take inventory. On her second walk by of the two, she stopped and looked at Sirius. "You'll be sure to drink me out of house and home one day, Mr. Black."

It was a joke, Jane was sure, but still mildly concerning. Instead of being offended, Sirius grinned. "Aw, thanks Rosie. You mean it?"

She looked at him with furrowed brows. "Not a good thing," she muttered while topping off Jane's Butter Beer. "So, Janey," she began as she turned to go back to inventory. "How's Molly? Oh, and the baby! How's the baby?"

Jane just smiled and shook her head at Rosmerta's change in conversation. "Molly's well. So is Percy. I miss the lot of them. And Gideon and Fabian, too. You know..." She didn't want to reveal much about her family's current status. It wasn't even Sirius she was worried about confessing to, but she was still overly cautious.

Rosmerta hummed her response. "I understand. Oh! Speaking of your boys, Gideon was in just last week. He left a letter for you... Let me go grab it!" She had started walking towards the stairs to the upstairs unit. Her voice became louder as she was further away and in the stairwell.

Sirius turned to face her again, not that he was looking away very long. "Your family? I-"

Jane gave him a judgmental look. "I'm not talking about them with you." Sirius seemed to take that and just nodded.

They stayed quiet until Rosmerta returned down the stairs with a smile and an envelope. "Here you go, Janey!" She set it down on the bar in front of her. She turned quickly on her heel and went back to the back room with her previously discarded clipboard.

Jane watched Sirius take one more shot with a disapproving look on her face. Before she could say anything regarding his alcohol consumption, Sirius began to talk. "Yeah, I get it. I don't talk about my family either. Not anymore at least."

He sighed and rested his head on one of his hands. He continued, "I'm sure you know the details. Merlin, everyone does. But I have James' mum and dad. And James, Remus, and Peter. I'm set now. I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank James' lot."

Jane, who had been intently listening to him, nodded. "I understand that... It's like a level of appreciation and respect that beforehand you never would have thought you could have." 

For a moment, Sirius just stared at her, a new light in his eyes. "Yes. Yes. That's it..." He paused and took a deep breath. "You know how perfect you are? Like you know that, right Janey?"

Now she just was confused. Where did he get that idea and why was he saying that. "Jane. And Sirius, I'm not perfect? No one is." She shook her head as she finished her words and took a sip of her drink.

Sirius shook his head, disagreeing. "No, I mean it. I've meant that since I met you. You're perfect. Kind. Beautiful." Jane opened her mouth to stop him and he held his hand up. "No. Let me finish. Jane I've fancied you since that first train ride to Hogwarts; when I ran into you on the way to my compartment. And- and you smiled and pat me on the shoulder and wished me luck... Now, I'm finished."

Within seconds of him finishing talking he went to grab the Fire Whiskey bottle. Jane just stood up and smoothly removed the bottle, walking behind the bar to put it away. "That's enough of that for you." 

She removed some money from her pocket and set it down for Rosmerta whenever she would come out for the night. Sirius still kept his eyes on her. "Does that mean you don't fancy me?" His voice sounded full of emotion.

Jane was not opening that can of worms right now, not while Sirius was literally sloshed. She elected to ignore his question and instead motioned for him to get up. "Come on. It's well time that we get back to the dorms."

He got up and began to follow her. She had to admit he quite resembled a dog in that moment, not that she would say that to him. Especially considering he just confessed to apparently liking her for almost six years.

The two made it successfully out of the bar when Sirius tried pulling her in a different direction than she normally goes. Surprisingly, Sirius didn't fight her much when she plainly said, "Sober gets to lead." He just kind of huffed and followed her.

She led him into the door behind the deserted building. The passageway was wide enough to fit them both comfortably beside each other, which was good considering Sirius was at the point where he was using Jane to keep his balance and walk straight.

About halfway through the tunnel, he spoke up again. "Janey, you know I was serious earlier, right? Ha, I'm Sirius. But, uh, I'm not just positively pissed." He tried to turn and face her but he stumbled, using both the wall and Jane to keep himself upright.

She rolled her eyes and continued walking. It took her a few moments to even reply. "We can talk about it later. When you're not, how did you say it? Positively pissed? Yeah."

He got quiet, realizing nothing more would come of the conversation tonight. They got to the end of the tunnel rather quickly after that, and Sirius was the one to get out first. 

The biggest issue came when they had to take the revolving stairs up to get to the Gryffindor tower. It was a struggle, Jane won't lie. She had to physically pull and hold him to make him move or stop depending what stairs they needed to take.

They got up to the painting entrance to their tower soon after and the common room was fully abandoned. Jane inwardly sighed as she realized she couldn't pawn Sirius off on some random bloke in the common room.

She turned them both towards the windy stairs up to the boys' dormitories. Seeing them, he groaned. Obnoxiously. Multiple time.

Once they had gotten closer to the top, he quietly muttered, "I hate stairs." Jane chuckled in response but continued to get him up to his dorm. The door was already cracked and she pushed it open with her spare arm and hauled Sirius in.

James Potter sat in his bed, turned the other direction to face Peter, who was on the floor, and Remus, who sat on Peter's bed. At the sound of the door, all three looked over to see Sirius and Jane.

Seeing the state of his best mate, James shot up to intercept. Jane smiled softly as she handed him off. "He was having trouble with the stairs..."

Sirius, who had just been thrown onto his bed piped up to agree, "Prongs, I officially hate stairs." His words earned a slight chuckle from his friends.

James smiled as he threw a blanket at Sirius, watching as Peter got him some water. "I'm sure you do, Pads." He turned back to Jane. "Thank you." Jane didn't respond as she turned and left to her own dorm.

The other girls in the room weren't awake, which wasn't a shock to Jane. She quite liked her alone time; it was part of the reason why she stayed out late. It gave her time to herself and to think.

This was exactly what she needed after the night she had had. Plopping down onto her bed, she didn't even bother to change her clothes as she recounted the experience to herself.

First, Sirius liked her.

Second, Sirius Black liked her.

Third, Sirius Black had liked her for years.

Now what was a girl supposed to do with that? It wasn't that she didn't find him attractive or anything. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She just doesn't know him well enough to commit to anything. She doesn't know a thing about him or what he likes to make the judgement call.

The longer she laid there, her mind racing with the possible scenarios in this situation, the more she knew she needed to just sleep on it and make it a tomorrow problem, but that was a lot harder than made out to be.

Eventually, she got frustrated with waiting for sleep to take her, so she took the last of her sleeping potion. 

She was out before she could even think the name 'Sirius Black.'