Glory |A. Potter|

Forty-Eight

It was only a few days later, barely a week before Jane was to start her last year at Hogwarts, that she heard a knock on the door in the morning, while her mother was at work. She had been reading through her Transfiguration textbook, still dressed in her grey pyjamas with the kittens all around it, her thick mane of hair gathered into a loose ponytail, wand to the side, Cleo on her lap, when she heard the knock. She was confused, having expected no one, but she soon thought it would either be Albus, Scorpius or Ramona, as all three of them had arrived at the other's house without a notification before. She headed to the door, her slippers dragging against the floor as she opened the door slightly, only for her eyes to widen.

Blaise Zabini stood at the other side.

"Hi," she squeaked, panic clouding her thoughts as she realised the house wasn't all that tidy and she didn't look all that presentable at the moment. Blaise seemed to sense no worry on her part as he offered her a small, kind smile.

"Good morning, Jane. Am I interrupting something?"

"N-No, not really," she smiled slightly, "what brings you here?"

"I need to show you something and this is the only day I can. I apologise for arriving uninvited, I hadn't planned to appear in your door today. May I come in?"

"Yeah, you can," she murmured as she opened the door wider and let him enter. Quickly, she rushed to her room, missing his amused gaze at the sight of her pyjamas. "I was just reading through my Transfiguration textbook."

Blaise let out a hum as he stayed in the living room. "I will wait for you here to change."

Jane closed the door to her room, sending a wide-eyed look at Cleopatra who only glanced blankly at her before she started taking off her pyjamas and looking for a t-shirt and a pair of shorts to wear. "Where are we going?"

"To Diagon Alley," he replied, "there's something I need to show you."

Jane hummed even though she was frowning at his vague response. Still, though, she tried her best to get ready quickly—got dressed in her usual dark attire, gathered her hair in a bun as well as she could, evaded wearing make-up to not make Blaise wait for any more than he needed to—and once she was ready reached for her wand and quickly left her room to find him standing where she had left him, by the front door.

Blaise's gaze lingered on the left side of her face, on the pale scars seen on her cheekbone, trailing all the way around her eye to her forehead and hiding in her hair, anger flaring up at the reminder of the Professor's irresponsibility before he forced himself to look her in the eyes, not meaning to make her feel uncomfortable by his stare. Instead, he offered her a small smile as he outstretched a hand towards her. Jane took it without missing a beat and so, a moment later, they were apparating away, at a small alley by Diagon Alley. Blaise let go of her hand as they walked ahead, and almost at once, he spoke up.

"Have you decided what you want to do after your graduation, Jane?"

"No," she admitted as she walked a bit quicker to match his strides. "I'm good at most things I take in Hogwarts but there is nothing I like more than the other. I imagine a position in the Ministry would be the best at this point."

"That is so for most witches and wizards," Blaise nodded, "the Ministry offers many positions anyway and not all posts are about politics. Since you are good at most classes, though, don't make rush decisions. You don't have to settle for something if you are unsure as to whether you like it."

"I know," she nodded, "I guess I never really thought of it properly."

"You have time," he assured her.