Glory |A. Potter|

Forty-Three

Before she had realised it, Jane was finding herself standing in the middle of her dormitory, her belongings gathered to a side, Cleopatra rubbing her face at her feet, the room empty of the usual little things that made it familiar. It was time to leave Hogwarts for the summer, until it was time for the last semester.

Annabeth and Charlotte had left a while ago so Jane was alone with Ramona now, waiting for her to get ready before they could leave as well. The group of girls, even though they were living in the same dormitory together for the last six years, was split in two groups, and there was not an ounce of hesitation on Ramona's and Jane's part as they sent Annabeth and Charlotte a withering glare Annabeth returned at once—Charlotte had only meekly looked away—before they left. Jane wasn't particularly displeased at the prospect of not seeing those two again for the next couple of months.

"Done and done!" Ramona exclaimed, bringing Jane to look over only to see her sit down on her bed, a tired smile on her lips as she finally won the battle with her suitcase and managed to close it despite how it was overflowing with clothes. "Let's go! The boys must be waiting for us."

"They must be, we had told them we would have been in the Great Hall fifteen minutes ago," she sent Ramona a pointed look. The girl accused of tardiness huffed.

"It's my last day at school for the year! Am I not allowed to sleep in? I won't be able to lay down on these soft, fluffy beds for months!"

"What a shame," Jane pretended to sympathise with her for a moment before she started rolling her suitcase away. She followed suit to the door and Cleopatra was quick to follow after her. "Come on, now. We better not be late for more than we already are."

Ramona left the bed with a last regretful glance at it and followed Jane to the door. Together, the two friends walked down the corridor that led to the common room, Cleopatra right beside them, dragging herself along the walls as she went. It was as if the cat knew where they were going as she followed them to the Great Hall even though they weren't paying her much mind. Once they had entered, they were quick to reach Scorpius and Albus.

"Finally," Albus grumbled as soon as he saw them, moved his belongings from the seat he had saved beside his own as Scorpius opposite him did the same. Jane sent a smile at both of them as she took the seat beside Scorpius, Cleopatra making a home on her lap as Ramona took the seat beside Albus.

"Stop whining, will you?" she whined herself, completely missing the look of amusement Jane and Scorpius shared. "It's not like we ruined your plans or anything."

"How would you know?" Albus complained. "It's not like you were here to hear my plans."

Jane helped herself to some breakfast, lightly scolded Cleopatra when she attempted to climb on the table and then turned her attention to Scorpius who seeing the interaction between Ramona and Albus, couldn't help but comment on their common characteristics, putting emphasis on their first reaction to anything – whining. Jane laughed, nodded her agreement, added her own thoughts on the matter, and neither of them noticed Albus was looking their way every once in a while.

His gaze was mainly on Jane. He knew it would be a while until he saw her again and after all these days he had spent seeing her every day, the thought of being away from her was disheartening. He couldn't really stop himself from taking in her appearance—he remembered she had worn a pair of black shorts today, barely seen over her oversized plain black t-shirt—long, curly hair reaching her waist, half of it pulled up the way it usually was, those silver hoops she always wore hooked in her ears. Her make-up was flawless, lips painted a lovely bronze colour, cheekbones highlighted, her eye-liner bringing attention to her gaze. She looked perfect.