Glory |A. Potter|

Thirty-Four

"I will not miss Abott when the apparition classes are over."

Scorpius, Jane and Albus looked over at Ramona as they headed to the Great Hall this Sunday afternoon for their weekly apparition class. The latter spoke with no hesitation.

"Who will?"

"I just hope all of us pass on our first try," Scorpius frowned, "I've heard splitching isn't a pleasant experience."

Jane agreed with him, although she didn't say a word and her priorities weren't exactly the same as their own. While Scorpius's first thought regarded the health of the students, she first thought of the fifteen galleons she would have to give to repeat the examination – money she didn't have at this moment.

"I'm looking forward to getting back my two hours," Albus grumbled, "this is getting bothersome."

"Thankfully all of us can apparate in and out of that hoop so we will succeed," Jane muttered as they entered the Great Hall. Their conversation slowly came to a stop as they entered and out of familiarity, they came to a stop in front of their usual hoops. Chatter slowly died down as they waited with the rest of their classmates and professors for Hannah Abbott to arrive. A while later, she apparated in the Great Hall. Soon, all of them were apparrating in and out of their hoop.

The examination would take place in Hogsmeade in only two short weeks, and Jane was confident she would be able to apparate as asked, anywhere they asked. She had tried hard in all classes to apparate in and out of her hoop as many times as possible to ensure her success when it mattered. Most of her classmates too didn't appear to have an issue with their attempts at apparating, although there were still some that struggled. Jane, however, didn't care much about the progress of her classmates, except perhaps for three people who she wished didn't get splinched during the examination, if at all. For the rest, she thought nothing at all. She had long since stopped comparing herself to most of her classmates – there was no need when there was no competition.

When the class ended she and her friends were some of the first groups to leave the Hall. As it had become normal in these last few days, Ramona soon left in order to spend time with her boyfriend—Louis was getting more and more busy as NEWTs came close and so they used every little break to see each other—while Scorpius, Albus and Jane headed over to the Slytherin common room.

Jane's eyes trailed after Ramona for a moment before she looked away and followed the boys to her common room. It had bothered her at first, to see her best friend leaving so often, repeatedly choosing her boyfriend over her, but with time, she had gotten over it. Instead of being close to Ramona's side the way it had been for the last few years or so, Jane was forced by the circumstances to get close to other people as well. Now, she found herself being close to Albus and Scorpius, almost always spending time with them. She was glad she had ended up being friends with Albus. If she hadn't and their relationship had still been the way it had been the years before, she knew she would either find herself alone or worse, around Annabeth and Charlotte.

The boys' company was one she deeply valued, and she knew the main reason for that was the effort she had put into maintaining her friendship with Albus. She had gotten close to Scorpius easily, but Albus had antagonised her, disliked her for no reason and showed no qualms in saying so even if she was there. To see how far the two of them had come in a span of a few months was pleasant.

The very person Jane had been thinking of, after exchanging a look with Scorpius when he asked her a question and she didn't answer, knocked his shoulder against her own, successfully bringing her out of her thoughts. Jane blinked, eyes wide as she looked over at Albus, her confusion evident by her expression. He raised an eyebrow at her.