The Marauder's Tale [MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, & PRONGS]

XV. Spells and Hexes

"We'll tell Remus as soon as he gets back," James said.

"When will he be here?" Peter asked.

"Anytime now," Sirius said, glancing at his watch. Several months of tracking Remus' habits gave him the ability to predict when his friend would return each month.

"He'll be excited, won't he?" Peter asked.

"I think so," James said. "I'm excited . . . aren't you?"

"Absolutely," Sirius said, his eyes gleaming.

"Yeah," Peter agreed. His voice was a bit more nervous than excited.

"Don't worry, Peter," James said. "We'll help you."

Sirius looked at his watch again. "What's taking him so long?" he exclaimed. "Maybe we should just go to the hospital wing and find him."

"Sirius, we can't do that," James said. "If we show up there, we'll be admitting that we know he's not going home."

"We can't do that to Remus," Peter agreed. "We'd blow his cover."

"All right, all right," Sirius sighed. "It was just a suggestion."

"A suggestion about what?"

"Hey, Olivia," James said, looking up at her. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good," Olivia replied. "Don't forget, we have practice tomorrow night."

"How could I forget?" James grinned. "I think someone has reminded me every single day this week. Derek's out of control!"

"He wants to prove that we're not just lucky," Olivia said. "No one outside the team really has confidence in you and I yet."

"How could they not?" Sirius interrupted. "You guys were incredible!"

Olivia grinned and flushed. "Did you think so?"

"Absolutely!" Sirius grinned. "I can't wait to see you fly again!"

"You don't have long to wait," James said. "Our next match is next week." He looked at Olivia. "And we'll be ready to prove ourselves."

"Definitely," she grinned.

The portrait hole opened, and Kathleen walked in, followed by Remus.

"I have to go talk to Kathleen," Olivia said. "I'll talk to you guys later."

"See you," James said.

"Bye, Olivia!" Sirius called as she walked away.

"She likes you, Sirius" James said.

"Did she say something?" he asked eagerly.

"No, not to me," James confessed.

"You can tell," Peter said. "Haven't you seen how she acts around you?"

"See?" James laughed. "And I'm positive she didn't come over here to tell me about that practice. Like I said, people have been reminding me all week."

Sirius grinned. He was still grinning when Remus sat down with them.

"What's up with him?" he asked, giving Sirius a puzzled look.

"James and I think that Olivia likes him," Peter supplied. "James just broke the news."

Remus laughed. "Earth to Sirius," he called.

Sirius grinned even wider, then looked at his friends. "She likes me."

James sighed. "Snap out of it, Black. We have things to discuss."