Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own my dear Padfoot and Prongs. -tear- Moony, too, I do not own, which also upsets me. However, Wormtail, I'm happy to note, is not mine, nor will he ever be. Huzzah. I don't want him. Oh, but dear little Helen is mine, so hands off.

Stage 1: Puppy Love

"No. No. Wormtail, no. Look, watch." James Potter waved his wand in the general direction of his best friend Sirius Black, who promptly started babbling nonsense. James smirked at his friend, who glared back through his babbling but was unable to remove it from himself. Peter Pettigrew, who couldn't seem to master wordless charms no matter what he did, blinked at Sirius, his mouth slightly open, trying to figure out how James had done it. Remus Lupin, the last in their group of friends, was sitting next to the babbling Sirius and working on some homework. He looked up at Sirius, then at James, calmly lifted his wand, and wordlessly removed the curse.

"Stop it, James, I'm trying to concentrate," he said mildly, setting his wand back down and resuming his work.

Sirius, however, leaped up from sitting on the ground and glared at James. "What did you do that for?" he growled.

James shrugged. "I need a subject to demonstrate the proper use of wordless curses, don't I?" He couldn't quite wipe the smirk from his face, though.

A wicked half-smile crept onto the other boy's face, and he lifted his wand. "Oh, demonstrating, are we? Well, why don't I give instructing dear Wormtail a shot?" He waved his wand at James and nothing happened. Sirius scowled.

"Nice demonstration," James snickered.

"You did that on purpose!"

"Of course I did. I'm not going to let you curse me just for the sake of demonstration."

"Then why did you curse me?"

"Because you weren't paying attention."

"Oh, be quiet, the both of you," Remus interrupted, still bent over his work. "Sirius, you weren't paying attention. Get over it. There are no lasting effects."

Sirius rolled his eyes at Remus but didn't argue. It was true that James could've done something far worse than just the Babbling Curse that would have been much less pleasant, but that didn't make it any better that Sirius wasn't able to get his revenge. His eyes scanned around, seeking a less formidable target for his ire than James.

His scowl gave way to an evil grin, and he elbowed James in the ribs, nodding off at an angle. The two sixteen-year-old boys looked over at a solitary figure, bent over papers under a tree. Severus Snape. An identical grin spread on James' face, and the two exchanged a look.

"I think we've found a demonstration subject," James said.

"Shouldn't I practice a little more before we drag over an unwilling target?" Peter asked with the usual whining-cast to his voice.

"Nonsense!" Sirius flexed his fist around his wand. "There will be no trouble keeping him here. Besides, who knows what a badly performed wordless spell would do to him."

"But wouldn't we get in trouble for cursing him? I mean," Peter continued hastily, trying to redeem himself from the slip-up, "wouldn't it be better if I learned how to use wordless spells first? Then we could all curse him simultaneously, and that would be better than badly performed spells, wouldn't it?"

James and Sirius shared a look. James lifted an eyebrow questioningly, and Sirius stared flatly back. James pondered, then shrugged. His eyes suddenly focused off at an angle, though, and he winced. "But Lily's over there."

Sirius glanced over his shoulder. "So? We're practicing. It's homework. How's Evans going to fault you for doing your homework?"

"She might fault me for doing my homework on Snivellus," James replied evenly.

Sirius blew his breath out of his nose irritably and looked about to argue some more when he blinked, leaned around James and stared.

James turned around to see what he was looking at and found the most peculiar sight.

Remus, who moments before had been diligent upon his work, was leaning on one hand, staring dreamily off with a slight, goofy grin on his face and a light pink cast to his cheeks. Peter was focusing on trying to do ... something to a nearby rock (the "something" is unknown, as he was attempting to use wordless incantations, and it wasn't working) so hadn't noticed the peculiar behavior of his friend. James and Sirius stared, gaping at Remus for a moment, trying to take in the fact that Remus was daydreaming. Remus didn't daydream. He would zone out, but that was while working on homework, and he always had a serious expression on his face. That goofy grin was so out of character for him that it was startling.

The two boys approached Remus and stood on either side of him, looking down at the oblivious werewolf. As they watched, his behavior rapidly became even more unusual. His blush suddenly flamed brightly, and he bent quickly over his work, scribbling something on a piece of parchment with a quill that had run out of ink. James and Sirius exchanged glances. Slowly, his writing stopped, he seemed to pretend to read for a moment, and then he looked back up, leaned on his hand, and stared off dreamily in the same direction.

James and Sirius exchanged another look, this time with mischievous glints in their eyes. The two squatted on either side of Remus, following the line of his gaze.

"What's he looking at?" James asked Sirius. Remus suddenly blushed furiously again and focused down on his work, his eyes darting back and forth across the page far too quickly for him to actually be reading.

"A girl, obviously," Sirius replied, trying to figure out exactly where Remus had been looking.

"Well, yeah, but which one? There's a whole group of girls over there." James frowned thoughtfully over at the group of girls, most of them in either fifth, sixth, or seventh year, some doing work, and others just talking. One of them was doing both: she had a book and a piece of parchment in her lap, but at the moment, her head was up, and she was laughing at something one of her friends had said.

"So, what about it, Moony?" Sirius asked, nudging Remus suggestively. "Who are you looking at?"

"Looking at? Who? Uh, nobody. I'm not looking at anybody." The two friends exchanged looks again. He was definitely in love. Remus didn't stutter.

"Of course you aren't," James said, patting the boy's shoulder reassuringly. "But who were you looking at?"

Remus shot a cool look at James, loaded his quill with ink, and promptly started writing. However, he still blushed slightly. "I'm working, James. Mind your own business."

"Oho! Mind my own business, eh?" James' face lit up devilishly. "That's a dead giveaway that you're in love!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Remus retorted briskly, though the blush became brighter almost instantly.

Peter, who obviously thought the lure of conversation much more appealing than trying to charm a rock, had come over and listened in. Trying to conceal his laughter, he said, "He's looking at Helen Shiring. The girl with the blonde, curly hair with the book in her lap."

Sirius and James looked up at Peter. "How do you know?" Sirius asked inquiringly.

"I was going to the library with him the other day, and when she came around the corner ahead of us, Moony ducked through a doorway. He wouldn't come out until she'd passed," Peter explained.

Remus, through this whole exchange, had bent over his homework so far that he looked to be trying to dive into his book. The back of his neck was bright red, and his friends were sure that there wasn't enough light to actually read anything, much less room to write.

"So," Sirius drawled, stretching leisurely out on the grass and looking over at the girl, who appeared to be working again, "who is this Shiring? I've seen her around, I know. What's her House?"

"She's in Ravenclaw. Sixth year."

"Ravenclaw, huh?" James reached over Remus and pulled his schedule off the pile of papers, consulting it thoughtfully. "We have Potions next block." He could've sworn Remus shrank even more into his book, though it didn't seem possible for him to fold himself any further.

"Excellent!" Sirius grinned over at Remus. "A chance to show off for your love!"

"She's not my love," came Remus' muffled protest.

The other three ignored him. "I wonder what we'll be doing for Slughorn today. Maybe another contest. We could sabotage Snivelly and let Moony win," James suggested.

"Oh, but what if she isn't taking Potions this year?" Peter asked, looking suddenly rather downcast.

"Hm, yes, that could pose a problem." James nudged Remus. "What classes is she taking?"

"Why are you asking me?" Remus practically groaned.

"Because you're the one who's in love with her," Sirius explained, "and you're a workaholic who always does his homework. I bet you know every class she's taking this year, what her career plans are, and what her wand is made of."

Before Remus could continue to attempt to defend himself, the bell rang out across the Hogwarts grounds. "Oh look, time for class," Sirius said gleefully, jumping up and tucking his wand into his robes. "Guess we'll find out, then, huh?" he said to Remus who was quickly shoveling all of his things into his bag, trying to hide his by now brilliant blush, and not looking at his friends. James and Sirius snickered as they retrieved their own bags, and the four of them headed up to the school for Potions.