Glory |A. Potter|

Twelve

The weather at Hogwarts got cold as the time passed and in the middle of October, one needed a coat to venture outside. Hardly anyone did as it usually rained, the transition from the cool and sunny days of September to the windy and rainy days of October hardly noticeable for some students. Jane was one of those students.

She was preoccupied most of the time. The homework she had to complete kept piling up, the choir meetings never stopped and the Quidditch practices only got more regular as the time for the first Quidditch match got closer. Their opponent was going to be Ravenclaw and although no one in the Slytherin team felt as if the task of winning was impossible, practice kept taking place so they wouldn't lose their shape. The patrols as a Prefect hadn't lessened either, taking up even more of her time.

Even though she was preoccupied, however, the situation could have been worse. In classes, she was fortunate enough to work with people that understood her.

In Defence Against the Dark Arts she had Scorpius and the two of them helped each other as best as they could. She had Ramona in Arithmancy and Charms. She had both Ramona and Scorpius in Transfiguration. She had Rose Weasley in Potions that even though she didn't know her, she had proved to be good at working with her and their potions always ended up well. In Care for Magical Creatures, she now had Albus, who had started singing an entirely different tune ever since he had apologised. She had people to help her if she ever needed their aid and it was better than she could have hoped at this point.

Jane was rather busy. There was hardly any free time in her schedule, although she had already known as much when she had started the year. She had expected as such. She had wanted to not have much free time as she found she managed to do what she needed better if she had a plan of what she had to do for the day. This afternoon, though, she had managed to complete her homework beforehand and for a few hours, she had cleared her schedule. It wasn't just a regular day. She had calculated beforehand she would have to make some time.

She left her dormitory a few hours before dinner, not bothering to let Charlotte and Annabeth know where she was going. She stopped by the common room briefly to greet Scorpius and Albus sitting by each other next to the fire and to pet Cleo who was sitting on Scorpius's lap before she left.

Jane was no longer dressed in her school robes from earlier today, her wand in the pocket of her coat, she had taken off her make-up when she had had to go to Quidditch practice. Her hair was down—one of the rare occurrences it was—as she hadn't bothered to set it up in her usual hairdo after having a shower. She didn't mind her appearance at this point. There were other complications in her mind.

She headed straight to the Great Hall. And as she opened the doors and got inside, took in the empty tables of the houses—the hall appearing gigantic with the absense of people—she let her eyes wander to the lone figure sitting on a windowsill, appearing tiny in front of the high windows that stretched up, almost to the ceiling. A thunder was heard in the distance as Jane walked closer with a small frown.

Ramona wasn't looking at her. Her eyes were on the scenery outside the Great Hall, although Jane doubted she could see the view with the heavy rain and the fog that had recently risen. The Black Lake that was close to the castle only made the weather more humid and almost always when it rained, there would be some fog, making Hogwarts appear as if it was one of the haunted castles Jane had heard of as a little girl, when she hadn't known magic existed. Slowly, she sat down beside Ramona.

"There probably aren't many people who seem that depressed on their birthday, you know."

"Haven't you gotten used to it?" Ramona muttered in response, still looking in the distance. "I've been like that in my birthday for years."