Splinters

Chapter 10

Penelope tapped her quill against the wood desk. "Angel's trumpet, rat spleen, and . . ."

     "Doxy Egg!" Peter yelled. "I got it!"

     Penelope smiled as she spoke, "That you did, Peter. Is the tutoring helping, though?"

     The slightly greasy boy nodded with vigour. In a matter of minutes,  the two had switched between two different subjects, all while Penelope tested Peter on them.

     "And how do you perform transfiguration spells correctly?"

     His face contorted into one of thought as his mind trailed back to their first year at Hogwarts. "t=(w x c)/(v x a) x Z*?"

      "Correct!" Penelope rejoiced. Within the hour, Penelope and Peter had reviewed each subject multiple times. 

     "Ready to head back to the Common Room?" she asked. Peter hesitated as he held his Transfiguration book. 

     "H-How do you ask a g-girl out, Ruffle?" The question stopped Penelope in her tracks. 

     She wracked her brain for a semi-intelligent answer. "Depends on the girl. Mind me askin'?" 

     "Marlene McKinnon." Peter's face turned bright red. 

     "Just do the simplest way of asking. 'Marlene, will you go to Hogsmead with me next weekend?'" Penelope patted his shoulder. "If she says no, don't worry about it. All I ask is that you don't turn into James."

     "I'm awesome, by the way." James smirked as he popped out from behind a bookshelf. 

     Peter jumped at the intrusion. "Where James is, Sirius is soon to follow," Penelope chuckled. 

     A crash sounded through the Hogwarts Library. "I heard my name!" Sirius's voice traveled through the shelves full of books. 

     "We're just talking bad about you," Peter said. James yelped as he disappeared behind a bookcase. 

     "You'll never see your precious Prongsie again," a darker version of Sirius's voice was heard from where James disappeared. 

     "Oh no. What shall we do?" Penelope was full of sarcasm. 

     James was pushed out from behind the bookcase and Sirius soon followed. "You took all the fun out of that," he pouted. 

     Giggling to herself, Penelope walked over to Sirius. She pinched his cheeks as his nose crinkled up in dislike. "You're so adorable when you pout," she cooed. 

     "You should see how adorable I am on a date." Sirius smirked. 

     "I win!" Remus yelled. The two jumped apart as Remus took a seat at the library table. 

     "She hasn't agreed to go on a date with him yet, Moony," James whispered. 

    The light brown haired boy blushed. "Well then, continue, Padfoot," he mumbled. 

     "What I mean is that you-we should go on a date, Penny." Sirius stumbled over his words. 

     There had always been playful flirting between the two but nothing had ever been done about it. Penelope had feared that if she or Sirius acknowledged it, their relationship would fail and their friendship would disappear. 

     "Just one?" Penelope asked. Sirius nodded vigorously. 

     The young Ollivander bit her lip before agreeing to the date. James moved forward and hugged Penelope as well as Sirius. "I win!" Remus continued to rejoice. "Not just because I won the bet, but because-"