prewett

The sun shone brightly down on the few students gathered outside despite the bitter temperatures of late November. Of these students, Jane and Narcissa laid sprawled out, aimlessly cloud gazing. "That one kind of looks like a bird in a spiderweb."

The sudden words from Narcissa caused Jane to look at her with a confused expression. The redhead looked from her friend back to the sky, trying to see what the other girl might have been seeing. She tilted her head off to the side, slowly beginning to shake her head. "What are you talking about? That is clearly a rabbit in a pine tree." She pointed her finger to the sky, continuing, "See? Those are the ears there."

A look of understanding seemed to dawn on Narcissa, the girl slowly nodding. "You know, I kind of can see that..." She fell back into their comfortable silence as she took in the next cloud.

It was minutes before Narcissa spoke again, her voice having a serious edge to it. "Lucius may not finish the year out." Without saying any more, Jane knew what Narcissa was implying, but the topic wasn't something that should be openly talked about, especially not in public with other people nearby.

Jane blew a puff of air past her lips, not bothering to look at the blonde. The war wasn't something the girls often talked about. Neither was naive enough to think they'd end up on the same side if it came down to it, but that was a bridge they didn't want to cross.

So, truly, Jane was aware that Narcissa was implying that Lucius would become an official Death Eater before the school year was over, and thus, would not finish his last year. "And how do you feel about that? Have you talked about it?"

There was another long pause before Narcissa responded. "I... I don't know. It worries me. I know he could die. I also know he has to do it. It leaves us at an impasse." She sighed softly. "And as for talking? Not really. There's not much either of us can do about it. No point."

Jane aggressively sat up, staring over at her friend. "Cissy, you know that's dumb. That boy loves you. So much. Sure, you might not be able to really change it, he should still know how you feel." Neither spoke for a few seconds as they watched a new cloud appear.

Narcissa smiled and voiced, "A hat on a chair." She waved her hand in the general direction of an oddly shaped cloud. Jane's eyes followed the hand motion, nodding in a moot sense of agreement.

Still looking towards the sky, Jane spoke again. "I think you should talk to him. Go to the Room of Requirement or something." She tried to make her voice sound encouraging despite the rather depressing topic that would be discussed. "That way you can actually talk. Not have to worry about..." She looked around and allowed her eyes to land on a group of random sixth and fifth years lingering across the lake.

Narcissa, who had previously been propped up on her elbows, fell back with a soft groan. Her eyes fluttered shut as she thought of her next words carefully. "I know what he's doing without much discussion, obviously. Our families are... Our families. I still can't help but want to be selfish."

If the current discussion was about any other topic, Jane would've laughed at her friend's dramatics. But it was about her fiancé becoming a Death Eater, so she refrained. She moved to be angled toward Narcissa rather than the sky. "It's only human to want to keep yourself and Lucius safe. Don't fault yourself for that. You can't help what you're born into, and it's incredibly hard to break from that."

Jane meant what she said. Despite believing in the opposite as Narcissa's family, it was incredibly hard to break off from the manipulative and dark family that is the Blacks. The fact that Sirius and Andromeda were able to is admirable, but it really isn't feasible for someone like Narcissa. This is especially considering the document promising her to Lucius. She would be well cared for; there's no doubt in Jane's mind.

She also knew that Lucius would protect Narcissa, probably with his life. He only wanted what was best for her and for her to enjoy her life. It was because of that she knew Narcissa would be able to finish her schooling before they even got married despite having been promised to each other many years prior.

"So I'm not horrible?" Narcissa's voice was small as she replies to Jane. She still was on the ground with her eyes closed.

Jane reached over and placed one of her hands on top of Narcissa's. There was a smile on her face as she looked back to the sky. "No, Cissy. You're not horrible. I still think you and Lucius should talk."

Narcissa didn't reply right away. Instead, she focused on sitting back up, leaving her hand underneath Jane's as she did so. Eyes now open, she was back to cloud gazing. "Thanks, Janey. You've always been good to me no matter how much nonsense I'm talking."

With a soft chuckle, Jane nodded rather than directly responding to the acknowledgement of her own kindness. Instead she waited until she spotted a cloud, humming, and saying, "A dog."

Content to ignore it if that's what Jane preferred, Narcissa zeroed in on the clouds. "I actually agree with that one... And for once, I'm not just saying that."

Jane pulled her hand away and hit her friend jokingly in the side. "Shut up." Both girls knew she didn't mean it. Quickly glancing over at Narcissa, who had a smile plastered on her face, she thanked her. That was the best response Narcissa would get on the previous topic and both knew it.

"So. The dog? Looks like its coming out of a forest. See?" Narcissa pointed to the side where there was an odd shape of clouds that could be trees? Jane didn't really see it, but she didn't say otherwise, just nodded.

A few more minutes passed between the girls, only interrupted when they heard a bark. Both of the girls immediately found the source of the sound to be a small black dog running out of the tree line. Behind the dog was a deer of some kind, slightly hidden behind a larger tree.

Jane and Narcissa watched closely as the dog approached them and made eye contact with each other. At this point, the dog was a few steps from Jane. "No way we saw that in the clouds," Cissa whispered like that would prevent the dog from hearing or understanding them.

Laughing, Jane reached a hand out to the dog, her hand in a fist so that it wouldn't eat her fingers off. Both girls were looking carefully at the dog as he closed in on Jane's outreached fist. He nuzzled his face against the hand before letting out another short bark and turning to run back to the tree line.

The library was one of the few places that Jane enjoyed in the castle. It had books on any topic she could ever want to research. She didn't necessarily research often, but she loved to know she could should she want to. Still, she appreciated an area dedicated to the quiet and studying required for her to do well in her classes.

She loved her common room, especially when she was with Lily or Penny. Often, none of the three actually talked outside of a question here or there and it was oddly calming to just be in the presence of them. This aside, the library was just top tier. The common room could get loud and annoyingly rowdy, and it wasn't something that could be controlled. The library, however, completely supports the idea of scolding loud individuals and groups.

If Jane could be a librarian dedicated to shushing people and kicking them out if they got too loud for her liking, she would. No doubts about it. That wasn't the case, though. 

Still, she loved the library. At the moment, she was sitting alone, a book on Transfiguration out. She wasn't too keen on the subject. She did well enough, scoring decently on scrolls and exams, but she truly excelled in Potions and Herbology.

This is why she was incredibly grateful when Penny showed up and sat beside her. Having a person nearby helped for not only accountability with her studying but also gave her an extra resource.

For a while, neither girl said anything, both too absorbed in their own assignment. Jane was nearing the end of her chapter in her book when she flipped it on the table and turned to ask Penny a question. "When's the quiz in Transfiguration?" Her voice was quieter than it usually was considering their current location.

Penny glanced up curiously from her scroll. "Monday. I doubt it will be that bad. I wouldn't worry," she answered softly, a note of indifference also present in her voice. Penny was the type of person who had to really and truly study to get average grades, hence why she didn't often care much for the assignments and quizzes. As long as she tried her hardest and put forth her best efforts, she would be content with her scores, as were her parents. She was lucky in that sense.

This wasn't to say that anyone at home would be upset if Jane's grades were anything but outstanding. After all, her brothers, Gideon and Fabian had scraped through schooling. This was a testament that grades often had no reflection of the actual knowledge and talent of a person. Both Gideon and Fabian were incredible wizards with insane skill in dueling. 

Molly's grades tended to be above average, but she didn't seem to care one way or the next what Jane's grades were. This is partially because she was busy running around her sons at home and also because she just wanted her sister to graduate. Still, Jane wanted to impress her. She wanted her siblings to appreciate her dedication. She also secretly hoped her brothers would let her be recruited for The Order if her grades proved her worthy.

Maybe that was wishful thinking; she didn't really know. But if passing this next Transfiguration exam could help get her to this next step? She was going to try her hardest to score well. She focused back on the last page of the chapter, aimlessly playing with the corners of the pages on the right side of the book.

This is what she was doing when Sirius approached her and Penny. Seeing him in her peripheral vision, before he even had a chance to speak, Jane held a flat hand out, asking he stop for a moment.

She managed to quickly finish the last paragraph or so of the chapter before marking the page and shutting the book. Setting it on the table separating her and Penny, she turned back to Sirius, who was rolling on the balls of his feet. Whether this action was done out of boredom or nerves, Jane couldn't tell. "Hi. Sorry." Again, her voice was quiet as she was overly aware of their location.

Sirius grinned at the greeting, for reasons Jane was oblivious to. He stuck his hands in his pockets as he began to talk. "Hey, Jane. What are you reading?" He tried to turn his head slightly to get a good look at the textbook, but he couldn't read the title with how Jane placed the book. He also didn't know nor recognize most of the seventh year textbooks.

Jane turned back to the table to pick the book up and show off the cover. It had a dark purple cover and the title was "Transfiguration: An Advanced History." Once she was sure he'd read the title, she set it back down. "Quiz Monday," she added. "What are you up to?"

Not answering, he held his hand out to her. Instead, he said, "Walk with me?" Seeing her roll her eyes but still start packing her things up, he waited, an expectant look on his face.

As she gathered her two scrolls and book, she stood. Looking to Penny, she said, "See you in the dorm." Penny mumbled something Sirius couldn't decipher. Jane didn't seem worried about whatever it might have been as she nodded and turned back to Sirius.

He reached forward and took her book from her. "Ready?" At her nod, he lead her from the library into the main hall of the first floor. Once in the clear of the stern looking librarian, Sirius let out a sigh of relief. "That amount of quiet is hard for me, you know," he announced much louder than any of his previous words.

Madam Pince wasn't above taking points and giving detentions, so he really wasn't messing around about the situation. Still, Jane gave him a teasing look and said, "Yes, Sirius. I'm incredibly proud of you."

He then threw his one free hand into the air. "Ah, I knew you would be, Janey-"

"Jane," she corrected, swiftly pretending to become annoyed with the Gryffindor. She didn't really care, but it was a little funny to see him react each time.

He just shrugged at her correction. "Okay. Jane. Anyway!" He rounded the corner with an odd amount of speed. Jane continued to follow at his own pace. He slowed when he realized how fast he was going, used to his incredibly fast paced friends.

Sirius shook his head, mostly to himself, as he prepared to continue. "So, I wanted to ask you if you would do me the greatest honor-"

Jane cut him off with a laugh, "I'm afraid to even know where this is going. Should I be worried?" She paused and, more to herself, said, "I should be worried."

Offended, Sirius began to blubber a denial. "What-? Worried? Why?" He stopped entirely for a moment. "Never mind." Walking again, he continued onto what he originally wanted to say. "So, I wanted to know if you would do me the greatest honor," him and Jane exchanged smiles at the dramatic repetition, "of going to Hogsmeade with me this coming weekend."

Raising her eyebrow, Jane gave him a suspicious look. "Really? All that talk for a Hogsmeade trip?" When Sirius looked confused at her teasing, she began to laugh only causing more confusion. She could tell he was about to voice this when she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Yes, Sirius. I will go to Hogsmeade. With you. On Saturday."

He let out a sigh of relief, his shoulders looked like a weight was visibly taken off of them. "Really?" He quickly corrected his excited reaction. "Oh, cool. We can meet in the common room before breakfast? And go down to the Great Hall together." When Jane didn't immediately reply, he continued, "Unless you don't want to do breakfast. Then, we can meet afterwards and-"

She cut him off with a soft laugh. "Breakfast sounds great."

They both stopped walking as the portrait called out, "Password?"

Jane looked away from Sirius to answer, "Marshmallow." The portrait swung open and both walked inside. With a woosh, the portrait was shut. "Saturday morning," Jane picked up, facing Sirius again and reaching to take her book back. "It's a date."

Sirius stood and watched in slight shock as she promptly walked past her fellow Gryffindor's and up the stairs. "Right," he mumbled to himself, "a date."