Mischief Managed | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 40

Despite the fact that James and Jenna were going to miss their parents dearly, they were both excited to go back to Hogwarts and see their friends again. They even missed their school, their dorms, the delicious food in the Great Hall, and doing magic in classes even though their lessons were becoming harder and harder as the months went by.

    Although Jenna had a secret reason as to why she was so excited to go back to Hogwarts; she couldn't wait to see Sirius.

     She wanted to personally thank him for the present he had sent her, say how much she loved the candle, and tell him all about the amazing scents that she had smelled. She had lightened the candle up every day of the Christmas break, because she couldn't get enough of it, and she had become very sad when the candle's wax was finished and she couldn't use it anymore.

     Jenna had thought about writing Sirius a letter after receiving the gift, but she thought against it, thinking that it would be more fun to talk with him in person.

     "Write to us often, okay?" said Mr. Potter, hugging the twins goodbye.

     "And please try to cause less trouble at school," said Mrs. Potter, though she was almost certain that they weren't going to listen to her anyway.

    "We'll try," said James, grinning. Mrs. Potter chuckled, taking turns in hugging them.

    With one last wave, James and Jenna made their way toward the Hogwarts Express and boarded the train, looking for their friends. They briefly looked inside the compartments, until James stopped when he spotted Remus sitting alone in one of the compartments, gazing outside the window.

    "Hey, Remus," said James, opening the door to the compartment.

    "Oh hey, guys," said Remus, beaming at the two of them. "Had fun over break?"

    "Yeah." Jenna smiled back at him. "How was yours?"

     "Good." Remus nodded, though the dark circles underneath his eyes were saying otherwise.

    "You sure you don't wanna join us, J.P?" James asked, turning to face his sister.

    "Yeah, it's fine. I'll go and see if my friends have arrived yet or not," said Jenna, and so she waved the two of them goodbye, before walking down the train's corridor.

    She couldn't find Lily, Alice, and Marlene anywhere, guessing that maybe they hadn't arrived yet. Although she still hadn't searched the other half of the train that she stopped when she heard someone calling her.

    "Jenna! Wait up!"

    Turning around at the familiar voice, Jenna saw Sirius walking toward her with a little grin on his face. At his sight, Jenna's smile automatically widened before she could control herself.

    "Hey," she said kindly, her heartbeat slightly picking up speed, "how was the holidays?"

    "Terrible as always." He shrugged coolly, his grin not dropping even for a second. "So... did you get my present?"

    "I did, actually," said Jenna, now biting her inner cheek to prevent herself from smiling any wider, so she wouldn't look like a fool.

    "And? Did you like it?" Sirius questioned, the eagerness obvious in his tone.

    "I did! I actually loved it!" Jenna exclaimed enthusiastically.

    "And what did you smell?" he asked quickly. "By the way... did I tell you that each person smells something different? They smell the thing that they are most attracted to."

    "Yeah, you did mention that in the letter."

    "Yeah..." Sirius nodded, this time looking rather awkward as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Fun fact: it could also be a person. You know... like, if you like your mum a lot, you'll smell her perfume, or her shampoo, or anything that reminds you of her..."

    "Oh yeah, you're right!" Jenna nodded cheerfully in realization. "I did smell a bakery in a village near our house. My mum loves that place!"

    "Cool!" Sirius grinned, though it didn't seem as genuine as before, as he walked a bit closer to her. "So... just out of curiosity... what did you smell?"

    "Well, I smelled rain, cherry blossoms, freshly baked bread, and..." Jenna was trying to recall the fourth scent as Sirius drew neared to her, but she then stopped in her tracks when she smelled it again, right as she was standing near Sirius.

    "And what?" Sirius asked eagerly, no longer smiling as he looked back at her curiously, his eyebrows furrowing.

    "And — um — and that's it," Jenna said curtly, looking away from him.

     "You sure? You mean... nothing else?" Sirius persisted, but Jenna kept shaking her head, avoiding his eyes.

     "Nope," she muttered, feeling the same tingles in her stomach again.

    "Are you okay?" Sirius suddenly asked, catching her off guard as he stared at her more intently than before.

    "Yeah, why?"

    "Well, it's just that your hair turned pink," said Sirius, pointing at her head.

    Feeling the panic surge from within her, Jenna grabbed a strand of her hair and looked down at it, her eyes widening in horror. It had actually turned pink. She tried turning it back to blue, or at least brown, but nothing worked. It remained pink.

    "I — I have to go," Jenna said out-of-the-blue, and before Sirius could react or to stop her, she turned around and rushed down the corridor.

    "Jenna!" Sirius tried calling after her, but she pretended like she couldn't hear him and kept going.

    Her heart was beating louder than ever before, because the realization had suddenly hit her.

    She was starting to like Sirius Black.