Glory |A. Potter|

Seventy

The Easter holidays this year were simultaneously the best and the most exhausting holidays in Jane's life. Spending time around the Zabini family was just what she needed to forget about her schoolwork and have fun, but at the same time, she had no choice but to study for her upcoming exams every day, several hours each time. Her only consolation was that Antonio was in a similar position so she didn't feel like she was ignoring her father and Diana. By the time she had to return to Hogwarts, she had come to terms with her guilt over not spending much time with her family. She could only hope the hug she gave Blaise as a form of parting was good enough of a compensation until the moment she saw him again.

She had come to miss her friends during the holidays as well. It had been decided a while into their vacation they wouldn't meet up so they would focus on their studying—although Jane did meet Albus once for about an hour before she returned back home, not that Ramona and Scorpius needed to know that—and now she really wanted to see if their efforts had been successful.

The train ride didn't go quite the way she had predicted, though. Ramona almost lost the train and as a result, it took her a while to find the compartment the three of them had occupied for themselves. Albus, having been kept up on the night before because of his restless sleep, couldn't help but succumb to his exhaustion a while after Ramona joined them, soundlessly falling asleep with his head on Jane's shoulder.

With Albus asleep, the rest attempted to be as quiet as possible. Scorpius stood up once to get some sweets from the trolley lady passing by, breaking the near silence. The other instances when one of them would speak up was when Cleopatra moved around, asking for pets from all of them, until she finally settled on Albus's lap even though he was fast asleep. Jane for a moment wondered whether her cat liked him better than she liked her.

Despite the train ride not turning out the way Jane had expected, she still felt at ease around her friends, as if she no longer missed them. The silence was enough to her, nothing uncomfortable about it. She was almost disappointed when the train reached Hogsmeade and she had to wake Albus up—who had woken up halfway into the ride only to fall back asleep about half an hour later until the end—and they all started talking yet again.

The food in the feast tasted even better now they hadn't tasted it in a couple of weeks and Jane, having not eaten anything except from a light breakfast in the morning, ate more than usual, so much she worried for a moment how she would be able to walk all the way to the Slytherin common room. That thought didn't stop her from eating, though.

By the time they returned to the common room all of them were satisfied and despite the train ride, seemed to be buzzing with energy. The four friends settled at the couches in the Slytherin common room, under the green ebb from the lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Scorpius and Ramona engaged themselves in a rather intense game of chess while Albus and Jane watched from a distance, leaning on each other, hands intertwined. Once in a while, one of them would comment, but more often than not they were silent, only enjoying the other's company, fleeting brushes of fingers against the bare skin of a hand or against ones thigh reassuring of the other's presence next to them.

Scorpius won the game and instantly Ramona sulked, claimed the only reason he had won was because she had been too tired to play properly.

"I'm going to go to bed," she announced as she gathered the chessboard with Scorpius's help. Her gaze fell on Jane and Albus. "Are you guys going to stay?"

"Yeah," Albus nodded slowly, "I slept too much during the ride."

"I'll keep him company for a while," Jane decided as Ramona stood up with a soft utter of a wish for them to have a good night and made her way over to the girls' dormitory. Jane echoed the sentiment, her eyes falling on Scorpius. The boy seemed conflicted, his gaze jumping from Albus to Jane, obviously comfortable leaning against each other on the couch, and the floor, debating on whether to leave them alone or stay for a while longer. Jane made the decision for him. "How's John, Scorpius?"