Glory |A. Potter|

Forty-Five

Jane stayed at home for the next week, made up excuses to not hang out with Albus and Scorpius, attempted to avoid them for as long as possible as she attempted to put some order to her thoughts. The realisation her father existed, that he was very much real, easy to access, after all these years of thinking he had been inadequate for the family her mother wanted, all this time she had known nothing about him, was too much for her to handle at a time like this.

Her mother wouldn't lie. Jane doubted she knew a single name of a witch or wizard and she was certain she had never mentioned Blaise Zabini to her before. It left her only with the option that what she was saying was indeed true, and suddenly, she was thrusted into a reality where her father didn't know she existed, had moved on, made his own family, and had a son only two years younger than her. It didn't seem like the split from her mother had affected him all that much.

Blaise Zabini had everything. He had a well-paying job, lived in a house that could easily be described as a mansion, and from what she had gathered from Antonio, his family was bonded, even if that meant having to eat more apple pies than he would have liked on any normal day. He had a balance in his life. Her appearance would only lead to trouble for him.

The name of his family, even though it had been tainted in the second wizarding war, still held prestige as he and his family tried their best to show things had changed. And they had, because Jane knew Antonio personally and not once had he complained about her blood status or stayed away even though he knew her mother was a muggle. Antonio held no prejudice of the sort and he was proud of his surname still. She feared that if word were to get out that Blaise Zabini had a child out of wedlock, the conservative wizarding community, even at times like these, would talk. Even though he had had no idea Susan had been pregnant when she had broken up with him.

Jane was torn between her wish to finally meet her father properly and reunite with him and the realization she would be probably causing him harm if she talked to him. She didn't know what to do, and even though she had kept herself away from her friends, she knew they were the only ones she needed to talk to at this moment to help her reach a decision.

So she waited for a couple of days more until the set date all four of them—Ramona included after she had finally returned from her summer obligations in France—had decided they would meet in Diagon Alley to buy their school supplies. On the day she was supposed to meet them, Jane couldn't quite stop her nervous fidgeting, managing to ruin her eye-liner twice before she got it right—something practically unheard of for her—and almost put on her left shoe on her right foot on accident before she realised what she had been doing and changed her approach in the last second.

Cleopatra stood witness to her internal panic, Susan somewhere else, to Jane's relief, the cat's golden eyes obviously unimpressed as she watched her get ready. She had to meow a couple of times until Jane remembered she never fed her this morning, and with a couple of apologies, she actually presented her Highness with some food, to which she finally quieted down. After the obligatory reminder of the day that she was indeed a servant of her cat, she reached for her wand, muttered a soft goodbye to her tyrannic companion and twirled on the spot, imagining an alley they had agreed to meet at leading to Diagon Alley.

Albus looked up from where he had been looking at his nails as the telltale sign of someone apparating close by was heard, the crack resounding in the alley. Deep green eyes almost at once caught sight of Jane, dressed in a black pair of shorts and an oversized grey—he was surprised at the colour because it wasn't black—t-shirt per her usual summer style, her make-up in place, once more letting no imperfection be seen, silver hoops on her ears, half of her hair kept away from her face, left to tumble down her back in dark curls. He could have stood there for a lot more time, admiring her beauty, if he wasn't concerned she would catch him and he would be embarrassed, so he cleared his throat and gently called her name.