Potter | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 172

After James had left, it took Jenna around an hour to get Lily to calm down by trying to comfort her. When they heard Harry crying from upstairs, Lily was about to get to her feet that Jenna stopped her by placing a hand gently on her shoulder.

      "It's okay," she said softly, smiling, "I'll get him. You get some rest."

      "No, it's fine —" Lily was trying to say, but Jenna had already gotten up from the couch.

      "I've got this!" she called out as she was now going up the stairs to tend to little Harry.

       When she got to the baby's room, Jenna saw Harry laying down in his cradle, his face going red as he cried, his little hands turning into fists.

      "Shh... it's okay..." Jenna whispered with a smile as she held him up, gently rocking him left to right in her arms to get him to sleep. But no matter what she did, he just wouldn't stop crying.

      "You want your mommy, do you?" Jenna muttered, mostly to herself. But just then, an idea popped into her head.

      So with a grin dangling at the edge of her lips, Jenna closed her eyes and focused, turning herself into Lily.

      Upon seeing his mother's familiar green eyes and red hair, Harry immediately stopped crying, staring up at her curiously, as if he couldn't understand what had just happened.

      But moments later, Jenna almost jumped from surprise when she heard a sudden giggle at the door. When she turned around, she saw Lily smiling at her from the doorway.

      "Jen, what are you doing?" she questioned amusingly, walking inside.

      "Sorry." Jenna chuckled. "He wouldn't stop crying. But hey, it worked, didn't it?"

     "It sure did." Lily giggled again as she reached her.

     But then Harry'a expression became even more confused as he stared up at the two women, probably wondering why and how there were two of his mother.

     But Jenna then gave Harry to Lily and transformed back to herself. It didn't take long for the little baby to fall asleep, but eventually, the two women went back downstairs, sitting in the living room in the silence of the house.

      "I don't understand when this all started," Jenna said after a long pause, breaking the eerie silence. "I mean... everything between them was fine, but then next thing I know... they're both against one another."

      "Well, from what Remus said, it all started from two weeks ago, when Remus and Sirius were sent on a mission for the Order," said Lily, staring into the blazing flames of the fireplace. "Death Eaters knew that they were there again and after they escaped, they got into an argument, accusing the other from accidentally letting it slip about their mission."

      Jenna frowned. "Sirius didn't even tell me he had an argument with Remus that night."

      "Yeah..." Lily sighed. "And that argument heated up and they haven't talked ever since. But both of them are sure the other was responsible for being attacked that night."

      "Well, they're both being ridiculous!" Jenna retorted. "Sirius is excusing Remus's condition even though he always loved Remus as a brother and knew him being a werewolf meant nothing! And Remus is holding Sirius's family against him, even though he knows there's nothing in the world that Sirius hates more than his family!"

      "I know, Jen..." Lily whispered sorrowfully, her gaze forward and her eyes full of tears.

Just then, the two of them jumped to their feet with their wands in their hands when they heard the door to the house open. But they let out their breath and relaxed when they realized that it was James.

     Although Jenna tensed up again when she saw Sirius following James inside the living room.

"Hello," James said cheerfully. He then cleared his throat, saying, "Sirius here would like to say something."

But Sirius only looked down awkwardly, avoiding their gaze as he had put his hands in his pockets.

"Padfoot?" James raised a brow at him, folding his arms.

"Er..." Sirius started awkwardly. "I — er — I came to say I'm sorry."

"For...?" said James.

"For hurting you," said Sirius, glancing up at Jenna.

"And...?" said James.

Sirius only glared at him, remaining silent.

"And!?" James said sharply, glaring back even more furiously.

But Sirius only shook his head, his expression completely changing as he frowned angrily. "I'm not apologizing for anything else!"

James looked as if he was about to argue, but Sirius beat him into it as he turned to face Jenna, saying,

"Look, I'm sorry I said those things that hurt you. I'm sorry for accusing you of having other feelings, because I trust you and I love you. And I don't know what got into me. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you."

But even after that, Jenna didn't seem to calm down at his words. And if anything, she looked just as mad as she was before. Because she didn't care about herself. She was mad at both Sirius and Remus for mistrusting one another.

James sighed at Sirius's stubbornness and so turned to face his sister. "Look, J.P... I know he's being a stupid git," James shot a glare sideways at him quickly, "but these aren't good times for fighting. We need to stick with each other. We need to trust one another."

       But Jenna said nothing and only looked away.

      "C'mon, Jen," Lily said softly, looking at her with her kind green eyes. That was Jenna's weakness. She could never say no to Lily.

      "Fine," Jenna finally said, but she looked far from forgiving Sirius yet.

      So without another word, Jenna put on her coat and hugged Lily and James goodbye, wishing them a merry Christmas again and thanking them for having her that night.

      But without waiting for Sirius to catch up with her, Jenna left the house and immediately Apparated back to their own flat.

      As she was taking off her coat on her way to their bedroom, she heard Sirius Apparate outside their house as well and soon followed Jenna inside.

      "So... er... do you want something to eat?" Sirius asked her as she was changing into her night clothes. He then grinned, saying playfully, "I can make you pancakes."

     "No, thank you," Jenna said politely, not even looking back up at him.

      Sirius obviously wasn't expecting her to go back to normal so quickly, after all the hurtful things he had said to her. But he was caught off guard when Jenna took her pillow from the bed and started to make her way out of the bedroom.

      "What are you doing?" Sirius asked, frowning as he followed her out of the room.

      "Sleeping in the living room," Jenna said blankly, placing her pillow on the couch.

       "Are you going to stay mad at me forever?" Sirius questioned.

      "No, not forever." Jenna shrugged casually. "Just until you realize that you're being childish and foolish and stupid for blaming your best friend."

      "It's not just me! He thinks it's me too!"

     "Well, he's being childish and foolish and stupid too!" Jenna retorted, before sighing and shaking her head. "Sirius, please... see reason."

     But Sirius was just was as stubborn as she was, if not more. So Jenna's face tensed up again.

      "Fine. Be that way," she said coldly, laying down on the couch and turning her back on him.