Potter | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 64

That night soon after dinner, Mrs. Potter tried to send all the kids to bed, and when they started to protest she reasoned, "You need to get up early."

     "But why?" James huffed grumpily. "What was even the point of paying extra to get a private Portkey to the World Cup if we couldn't even sleep in!?"

     "Because your father thinks it would be amusing for you to go and look around the campsite before the match," Mrs. Potter scolded. "Now stop acting like a spoiled brat and go to sleep."

     James went red in the face and smacked Sirius on the arm, who had snorted in laughter.

      To save themselves from further embarrassment, all of them went to their rooms and tried hard to fall asleep, which seemed impossible due to their excitement for tomorrow's match.

That night, James and Sirius were staying in the same room, Peter and Remus in one, Marlene and Alice paired up together and at last, Lily spent the night in Jenna's room.

"So you still haven't forgiven James, huh?" Jenna asked as the two laid down on their two beds, which Mrs. Potter had conjured an extra for Lily.

"Course not," said Lily coldly. "As I'm sure you haven't forgiven Sirius."

Jenna pursed her lips together, looking away and staring awkwardly up at the ceiling.

Lily noticed the silence and didn't really need the answer to that question. "Of course you have," she sighed. "Why am I not surprised."

"Well, what other choice do I have? The boy lives with us now!" Jenna tried to reason.

"To be honest, I really felt sorry for him," said Lily in a sympathetic tone. "No one deserves what he went through."

     And for the first time, it seemed that she really meant it as a silence followed her words.

"Hey, Lil?" said Jenna at last.

"Yeah?"

"I-I've had a chat with Mum days ago, and... well... she said something... I mean, I don't think she's right... but I wanted to ask your opinion on the matter too."

"Okay," said Lily hesitantly. "What is it?"

"It's — it's about Sirius... Mum thinks that he — er — that he kinda — you know — has feelings for me?"

"Sirius?" Lily repeated, chuckling lightly. "I really don't think so, Jen."

"Wh-why not?"

"Well, I — hang on," said Lily hastily, sitting up and looking at Jenna from her bed. "You don't want him to have feelings for you, do you?"

"I — no — of course not." Jenna shook her head briskly.

"If you ask my opinion, I think he's just flirting around." She then offered her a sad smile. "You're my best friend, Jen. I love you like a sister, and I just don't want you to get hurt."

"You think so? Do you really think he's just messing around?" Jenna mused, still staring at the ceiling as she laid on her back. "But — he doesn't do the same with you three."

"Well... I assume he doesn't do the same with me because of Potter, he doesn't flirt with Alice because she's so genuine with him like everybody else that he doesn't see her as anything more than a sister-figure, and Marlene... er..."

"Yes?"

"I — okay, I don't know why not her, but he still plays around with pretty much everyone else."

"Yeah — yeah you're probably right," Jenna nodded to herself, even though she was slightly frowning.

"Well, better go to sleep then," said Lily, sighing as she crawled under her warm blanket. "Goodnight, Jen."

"'Night," Jenna muttered, unable to close her eyes.

But for some reason, she found herself feeling hurt and her heart sank each time she thought back at Lily's words.

***

The next morning, they all got up as soon as they were called down to breakfast and got ready as fast as possible.

      After they were done eating, the eight Gryffindors made their way outside the manor house along with Mr. and Mrs. Potter.

     "Um... what are we waiting for?" Jenna asked when her parents came to a halt in the garden, looking around as if looking for something.

     "We're waiting for you to learn how to be more patient," said Mrs. Potter and Jenna rolled her eyes behind her mother's back.

     But not a minute later, a man Apparated in the middle of the garden, walking towards them with a kettle in his hands.

     "Ah, Mr. Potter, sir," he bowed his head slightly as he reached them. "Mrs. Potter."

     "Hello," Euphemia nodded at the man.

     "Well, here's your Portkey," he said, putting the black kettle down on the grass. "It will go off in four minutes, to be exact."

     "Thank you," Mrs. Potter smiled at him.

     The man then looked around at the children, raising a brow. "They're not all yours, are they?"

     "Nah," Mr. Potter shook a hand and then pointed at James and Jenna, saying, "only those two weirdos over there."

     The twins were too used to these sorts of remarks to care for them, so they just let the matter go as the rest of the group laughed silently.

     "All right, thirty seconds to go," said the man after a few minutes. "Everyone huddle around."

     By that, all ten of them gathered around the Portkey and bent down, putting a finger on the black kettle.

     "Ten seconds," said the man and soon, the kettle started shaking beneath their hands.

     "Three... two... one!"

     On cue, they let out a yelp as they felt themselves being sucked into the space and the world spun around to their eyes.

     But not long after, they hit the ground once again, all falling down except for Mr. and Mrs. Potter, who casually stood on their feet.

     "Well, kids," Mr. Potter smiled, looking around in fascination, "welcome to France."