Splinters

Chapter 11

Penelope skipped along the corridors until she was nearly at the courtyard. "Permission slip, Miss Ollivander." Professor McGonagall had caught sight of the girl. 

     "Merlin's beard, where did I put that slip?" Penelope dug through her bag for the piece of parchment. "Accio Permission Form!" 

     The parchment flew to her open hand where she victoriously handed it to Professor McGonagall. It didn't seem to impress the older witch as she motioned for Penelope to go. 

     "I thought you were going to be late," Sirius sighed in relief. He seemed to be jittery and nervous, something Penelope wasn't used to seeing.

     "Good news! I wasn't." Penelope nervously laughed but caught herself. Merlin, what was happening to her?

     James, Peter, and Remus appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "We'll see you two lovebirds later," drawled James. He and Peter made kissy faces at the pair before Remus pulled them away by their jumper hoods.

     "So . . . How was class this morning?"

     "Sirius, it's a Saturday. And we have all our class together," Penelope reminded him. "Are you feeling alright?"

     "Uh, Merlin, I didn't prepare for this question." Sirius rubbed the back of his head. His shoulder length hair moved with his awkward motions, making Penelope laugh. 

     It seemed that she had been wrong before the date, thinking that she was going to be the one to mess everything up. No, he wasn't messing it up, the date just felt more awkward than anything they had ever done before. 

     A body crashed into Penelope yet hands caught her before she fell. Deja vu, she thought back to first year. "Oh, bollocks! I'm sorry!" 

     The girl who crashed into Penelope was apologizing profusely. "It's alright, really!" Penelope reassured her. 

     "Laura, I swear, you are clumsier than me sometimes," a boy said. He held her hand as she blushed madly. "One of the reasons why I love you."

     "Are you Laura? Laura Brooks?" Penelope asked. The girl, Laura, nodded. 

     "I've been that since I was born. I know you're Penelope. When you were in your third year, me in my second year, you loaned me a pair of socks when someone enchanted mine to disappear. 

     Penelope suddenly remembered giving the socks to the now sixth year Hufflepuff girl. "Oh yeah! Merlin, I couldn't believe it when I found that one girl hoarding all the socks from both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor when it was a Ravenclaw who did it."

     "And you're Sirius Black." The boy held his hand out towards the confused Marauder. Sirius shook his hand to avoid the awkwardness. "Jared Raiden. It's nice to meet you."

     The two boys watched as Penelope and Laura chatted away, not even noticing when the two sat down. "I'm keeping you from your data!" Laura exclaimed. "Have fun!" 

     Holding hands, Laura and Jared walked off towards Hogsmead. "Where do you want to go first?" Sirius asked. 

     "Madam Puddifoot's is always a favorite place for dates," Penelope noted. The disgusted look on Sirius's face made Penelope nearly fall over with laughter. "I'm kidding. Goodness, Sirius, do you really think I'd like to go to that place?"

     "I'd like to think better, but you never know. I learned that you hate honey on your rolls yesterday. New things everyday." 

     They strolled down the path that lead to Hogsmead. It was chillier than Penelope thought is was supposed to be. In that moment, she was grateful that Lily had told her to layer as she was definitely the mother of Gryffindor. 

     Looking at the appearing buildings, Penelope didn't see the patch of ice until she had already slipped. Sirius reached out a steadied her with his hands on her right arm. "Is this what I'll be doing for the rest of my life? Catching you because you're so clumsy that you slip on air?" 

     "Rest of our lives?" Penelope asked. Life after Hogwarts hadn't occurred to the girl. It was something she didn't want to think about. 

     "Sure. But we can start with just now," Sirius said. He offered his hand to Penelope, causing her to blush deeply. She took it and Sirius interlocked their fingers. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." 

     "I think, well, maybe just work in my grandpa's shop. Wand making has always been interesting to me and it's something I could really enjoy." Her thoughts wandered to her father. Or at least the broken man who used to push Penelope on the swings at park and play tag with her around the shop. 

     Sirius called her name but she didn't respond. He frowned and turned to look at her. "Penny?" he asked. "Can you hear me?"

     "Wha?" she mumbled. "Oh, sorry. I guess I just zoned out for a minute. So, wanna go to Honeydukes?" 

     "Yeah, let's go do that," Sirius replied. She unconsciously gripped his hand tighter to stay in the moment instead of drifting off. It didn't bother him, instead it made him feel better to know that she felt safe with him. 

     Buzzing around the shop, Penelope bought a good amount of chocolate for Remus, Sugar Quills for James, and Cauldron Cakes for Peter. The boys had a stockpile of candy and pranking supplies while Penelope had her own stock. She partook in a few minor pranks, but mostly stayed out of them. 

     "Did you grab Chocolate Frogs?" Sirius appeared behind her, causing Penelope to jump in fright. 

     "Merlin, don't sneak up on me like that!" 

     "I'm not Merlin," Sirius teased. "I'm Sirius."

     "Sirius about what, love?" Penelope grinned at her joke. A small grin appeared on Sirius's face as he rolled his eyes. 

     "That's it, you have to be stopped. No on makes jokes about my name besides me!" he declared. His chest puffed out until Penelope poked his stomach. Deflating, Sirius shot her an exasperated look. 

     "Why must you be so dramatic? And James makes jokes about your name. Oh, and Peter, Remus, James's parents, Professor McGonagall accidently-" Hands waved in her face and soon covered her mouth. 

     Words were muffed as Penelope glared at Sirius. He removed his hands and let Penelope fix her glasses. "I said, go kiss my-" 

     Sirius quickly placed his hands over her mouth again. "This is a great date." He attempted to mimic Penelope's voice. "Oh I love you Sirius!"

     "Now that is a-"

     "Hush, let me have my moment, Penny."