Chapter Four

"She put Flobberworms in my pants!" He moaned to Peter the next morning. They were at Remus's house, because he was too sick to leave.

"You could have been nicer, mate." Remus laughed.

"Give it a rest, Moony." Sirius snapped. He was too peeved for correction.

"His mum told me that I'd have to pay for the broomstick." James said, changing the subject. "It was a Nimbus. It won't be cheap."

"Use the money she gave…" Peter started.

"Do you think she'd pay me after that?" James gave Peter a look.

"Did the boy get hurt?" Peter asked quietly.

"No!" James laughed. "His magic kicked in and protected him or something. If I had to pay for a trip to St. Mungo's…" His voice trailed off.

"Who's going to do the next job for him, then?" Remus said. "She must've fired you." James glared at him.

"Why yes, she did. At first, she said that she didn't want to hire anyone from the club." He spat the word club. "But then she remembered that you said I was the one who knew stuff about Quidditch, and asked me to send over someone…safer." Sirius and Remus gaffawed.

"I'm not doing it." Sirius told him. "I've got enough little girls to worry about."

"I'll do it!" Peter said eagerly.

"Peter, you're a klutz. You'd kill the kid." Remus said bluntly. "I'll do it."

"You want to?" James said fearfully. "I thought you were sane, Moony." Remus rolled his eyes.

"When do I have to be there?"

"Tomorrow."

"Hopefully I feel better by then."

"If not, careful to bite his head off, he's very chatting." James muttered.

"Did you have fun with James the other day?" Remus asked Nathan kindly.

"Yah! Yah! Lots of fun!! Mummy said he was a twit, but I say he's the bestest baby sitter in the world." His mother had left only a second before.

"I see." Remus replied. Today was going to be an awkward day.

"Do you play Quidditch?" Nathan was jumping on the couches.

"No." Remus said, plopping down on the other un attacked sofa. "I don't think your Mum would like to know that you're ruining the furniture."

"You're boring." Nathan told him. He jumped off the couch. "Why can't James baby sit me?" He whined.

"Your mother thought it would be good to switch up." Remus replied boringly. "What do you want to do today?"

"Play on Daddy's broomstick." He said bluntly, zipping around the room. "But it broke." Remus stood up, and followed Nathan, making sure nothing broke.

"Stop following me!" Nathan exclaimed. Remus was taken aback, this was not going well.

"Do you do anything fun?" He asked.

"I read." Remus said, as equally bored with the boy as the boy was with him.

"About Quidditch?"

"I did read one book…"

"Tell me?" He asked. And they went back into the sitting room to hear all about the history of all the great Quidditch teams.

"You're cute." The little girl said when Sirius walked in.

"So I've heard." He replied, trying to erase all memory of his past babysitting experiences.

"But, I already have a boyfriend." She told him.

"Oh." Sirius said. The little girls mother gave him a wave and ran out. Sirius nodded and looked back at the girl. She was looking up at him quizzically.

"I'm sorry." She added, she walked away.

Did she just pity me?

"But Timmy and I have been playing Exploding Snap for a while and he says I'm cute when I win, so I had to kiss him. I hope you'll understand."

Two seconds in the door, and she thinks I'm jealous? Sirius remembered that he had heard the name, Timmy, before, but where?

"I see…" He said, sitting down on the floor.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Melanie asked Sirius. She said it differently than the other two girls had said, lightly, as if it were an everyday question for her to ask.

"No." He told her, picking up the Exploding Snap cards. "Want to play?"

I might actually have fun with this kid. He smiled. She smiled back. Then she burst into tears.

"What?" Sirius asked, taken aback. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Timmy won't be happy to hear that I played Exploding Snap with a single man!" She ran upstairs into her room, sobbing.

What the heck?! Sirius thought.

After this, James told himself, I only have one more job.

At least this kid was allowed to ride a broom.

"So…" He said quietly after a few minutes silence with the little girl. "Your Mum tells me you're a good Quidditch player…" He forced a smile. She merely looked up at him.

"I'm a Seeker, you know…" He added. She didn't say anything. The silence was killing James.

"Want to go out and practice?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Your Mum said you loved Quidditch." James was confused. The little girl's face turned an angry red. James' chair broke.

"Huh, what?" He cried.

"I. Hate. Quidditch!!!!!!!" She screamed, running down the hall to her room. "You're a dumb babysitter!" James was shocked. He followed her and opened the door.

"What do you like to do?" He asked kindly, hoping she wouldn't chuck something at him.

"Potions." She answered, a smile coming up on her face.

No. He thought. She's a little Snivelly.

"My cousin Sev and I…" She started.

No.

"Hey! I'll invite him over! You'll like him."

I doubt it.