The next day, when Petunia's boyfriend, Vernon Dursley, showed up by the door, Jenna found herself wishing she could use magic outside school.
She was so sad that she was all out of Dungbombs, frustrated that she knew she had lost the chance of dropping one in his room at night.
On Christmas Eve, Jenna and Lily got ready and joined the rest downstairs for a toast and a small party.
Jenna caught the Dursley boy sending nasty glances at her blue hair, muttering something to himself each time, calling her a weirdo. But Jenna couldn't careless, as long as she had her best friend by her side.
After their Christmas toast, Lily played some piano and her parents couldn't have looked prouder, yet Petunia folded her arms and kept rolling her eyes.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans were ever so kind to Jenna. But Petunia and Vernon sure knew how to make the night seem dull.
At the Potter Manor, Mr. and Mrs. Potter threw a big party each year celebrating Christmas; although to Jenna, it was more like a ball, seeing as it was rather formal.
Jenna sighed happily as she laid down in her sleeping bag that night, which was placed near Lily's bed.
By the sound of her breaths, Jenna could tell that Lily had already fallen asleep. But no matter what Jenna did, she couldn't get herself to even close her eyes for a second.
So getting out of her sleeping bag, Jenna walked towards Lily and started shaking her gently by the arm.
"Psst, Lily," she whispered quietly. "Are you awake?"
"I am now," the red-haired girl groaned, yawning as she turned around to face Jenna. "What is it?"
"I can't sleep."
"Bummer," Lily said flatly, closing her eyes again.
"No! Don't go back to sleep!" Jenna huffed, shaking her again. "Let's do something!"
"For the hundredth time," said Lily, not even opening her eyes, "I'm not helping you prank Vernon."
"Ugh, you're no fun," Jenna mumbled grumpily, sitting on the edge of Lily's bed.
Sighing, Lily forced herself to sit up and leaned against her headboard, looking at Jenna tiredly. "Alright, then. What do you wanna do – and no, we can't turn Vernon's voice into a cow. We're not allowed to use magic outside of school."
"What? I didn't say anything!" Jenna shrugged innocently, but by the look Lily gave her, she fell silent.
"We can talk," Lily suggested.
"About what?" Jenna asked wearily.
"Anything," Lily shrugged. "Alice said you talked to Clint. Did he say who it was who jinxed him? It was Potter, wasn't it?"
"Why do you always try to bring up James in conversations?" Jenna raised a brow with a grin. "Even when we're not on a subject related to him in the first place!"
"Oh, please," Lily rolled her eyes, but didn't answer her. "Just tell me about Clint."
"He didn't see who jinxed him, but it wasn't James. I trust my brother; when he says he hasn't done anything, then he really hasn't."
"Then who was it?"
"I have a feeling it had something to do with Sirius."
"Black?" Lily took aback. "How come?"
Jenna gulped, remembering that she hadn't told her friends about her little moment with him.
"He's been acting... weird, lately," was all she said. "Anyway, forget about him. What was that Muggle magazine you wanted to show me?"
"Oh, right!" Lily said brightly, opening the drawer in her nightstand and taking a magazine out with a mischievous smile. "Here. It's got all the famous actors in it; Al Pacino, Marlo Brando–"
"Actors?" Jenna repeated in confusion, getting on the bed next to Lily and leaning against the headboard.
"The ones who play in the movies." Jenna gave her another look. "Oh, come on! I told you about movies just yesterday!"
"Well – they're all very – confusing!" Jenna retorted. "And not to mention their stupid names! Like pheletone and that compooter thing with all its wives..."
"Wires, Jenna," Lily corrected her, giggling.
"Whatever," Jenna shrugged but then grinned, getting under the covers. "Now let's see if these pumpkin-head-men are any hotter than the ones in Witch Weekly magazine."
***
The two girls woke up the next day both passed out on the bed, with a bunch of magazines laying everyone and their hair flying all over the place.
"Ooh! Presents!" Jenna yelped happily, getting out of bed and running downstairs.
"Well, Happy Christmas to you too," Lily said when Jenna was gone and then shaking her head with a smile, she followed her best friend downstairs towards the Christmas tree.
Everyone else seemed to be still asleep as the two girls helped themselves with their gifts.
"Oh, look," said Lily, showing Jenna an envelope. "This one's from Alice." and with that, she started reading it out loud,
Dear Lily and Jenna,
I hope this letter finds you in time for Christmas morning. My parents made sure to get me the fastest owl from Australia's owl office to bring you your presents. I hope you'll like them.
P.S: I also sent one to Frank. Do you think he's going to like the Mimbulus mimbletonia plant? Australia's full of them! Isn't that fascinating?
"Ugh," Lily groaned as she held another letter in her hands.
"What?"
"This one's from your brother."
"James sent you a card?" Jenna asked, sniggering.
"Oh, yeah. He sends one every year," Lily huffed. "And he insists on writing poems on them every time. They're all terrible!"
"What!?" Jenna exclaimed, snatching the card out of Lily's hands and reading it quickly with a smirk.
You are on my mind every hour,
Happy Christmas, Lily-Flower.
"Oh, Jamesy boy..." Jenna smirked to herself, shaking her head. "I will not let you go for this one..."
She then turned to Lily and said, "Next time he doesn't listen to me in Quidditch practices, I'll make sure to bring this up. It's great blackmail material! You don't happen to have the rest he's sent you to lend me, do you?"
"Sure, just remind me later."
"Hang on," Jenna frowned after a pause. "I was joking! You actually kept his letters!?"
Lily didn't say anything and looked away, blushing as she pretended to be busy opening another present.
"Lily-flower!" Jenna gasped dramatically. "You little – you don't hate James like you say you do, do you!?"
But Lily knew exactly how to avoid that question when she came upon a small box with a letter on.
Grinning, she handed it to Jenna. "Looks like you've got an admirer, too."
Frowning in confusion, Jenna took the box from Lily and looked down to see who it was from. But her heart sank when she saw the name –
Sirius Black.