Glory |A. Potter|

Twenty-Four

A week into the term, classes had picked up once more and the homework seemed never ending. The students had returned to their lives before the Christmas holidays and it was safe to say things were starting to get back to normal – or rather as normal as they could get in a school where the students studied magic.

For Jane, normal meant busy. On the first Saturday of the second term, a while after dinner, specifically, she found herself occupying an armchair in the Slytherin common room, still not dressed in her pyjamas but in the clothes she had worn all day. She was practically curled on the armchair, resting her weight on her legs, her black boots barely peaking underneath her black leggings and her black jumper. She was holding a book at hand and was evidently studying, one hand stabilising the book while the other was raised in the air, bracelets making a discreet noise as she reached to turn a page, the two rings on her fingers almost catching at a ridge of the page. Her hair was brushed behind her back, falling in its regular curls, dark gaze never leaving the text she so closely read.

She had been sitting like that, studying, for about an hour now. Students were steadily leaving the common room and it had been almost half an hour ago when Ramona had wished her goodnight and had retreated to their dormitory. Moments later, she had waved Charlotte and Annabeth goodnight and even Scorpius had come over to let her know he was tired and wouldn't keep her company in the common room this time. The crowd in the common room kept getting less and less and at some point as most people cleared out, her cat, Cleopatra, had come over and had made herself comfortable on the arm of her armchair right next to her. And so she kept studying without being bothered.

It was a while later when from her peripheral vision she caught sight of someone sitting down on the armchair next to her own. She paid them no heed as she kept studying. Until she smelt smoke. Slowly, Jane looked up, soon enough catching sight of Albus sitting beside her, keeping her company. The moment he realised he had her attention, he sent her a slight smile before he looked away and blew the smoke to the ceiling.

"The common room is empty," he informed her, his voice hardly disturbing the silence. Jane looked around the room to confirm his statement as he spoke up once more. "What are you doing?"

"A revision on all we've learnt in Charms this year," she answered him as she brought her gaze to rest on him once more just in time to notice his brows rising in surprise.

"A revision? You have time for that?"

"I make time."

He turned to face her. "You must be tired."

Her shoulders dropped and she let out a deep sigh. Her eyes fell on the book briefly as she nodded before she lifted her head to look him in the eyes once more. "You have no idea. I woke up early in the morning to practice Quidditch with the team. Our second match of the season is near and we are training even harder than before now. Then I had lunch and I've been studying from that moment until it was time for dinner. I completed the homework of the week before I left for dinner and then I had a patrol with Scorpius. Then I took the Charms textbook and made myself comfortable here to do the revision."

Albus shook his head in mild disbelief. "Do you ever take time to relax?"

"Sometimes," she shrugged briefly. For a while, she was quiet, her look faraway even though she was still looking at him. Then, softly, she spoke up. "Can you really produce a Patronus?"

He nodded, "I can."

"Is it really a blackbird?"

He released the cigarette from his lips and blew the smoke out as he answered. "Yes. What does it matter?"

"It's the only charm I've tried to complete and failed."

"That's fine, Jane," he assured her, "most people never manage to get it."