Title: Potions

Characters: Sirius Black, Penny Singh, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

Pairings: Sirius x Penny

Word Count: 2, 233

AN: Since I adore this one-shot I wanted to publish it even if I already have. I don't have the ego to believe that you'd be disappointed when you realise that this is an old story but I'm sorry if by some chance you are. But I realised that I couldn't fit it into the long fic so I decided to publish it as a one-shot because, yeah, I like it.

Penny Singh, at the age of fourteen years, knew exactly what she was good at and what she was less good at. She was brilliant at Charms. Not so brilliant at Potions. She could probably become good at it. But she didn't want to because she didn't like it.

The Great Hall was bussing with life. There were students on all four tables eating breakfast and talking to each other before it was time for class. Some were still making attempts at waking up with different results. Penny's black hair was pushed back in a ponytail, as it always was before a class in Potions. She had learned the hard way that sometimes liquids would turn into bubbles, they would later burst and the liquid could end up in her hair. She sighed. It had only happened once and although her highlights had remained undamaged that didn't stop her from taking precautions after that.

Six months into their third year Penny's highlights were violet and blue. During the holidays they had been red and green so when school started again she was sick and tired of those colours and decided that it was time for a change. She wore her uniform, as required, but had made slight changes. Her sleeves were folded so that her forearms were uncovered, her tie hung loosely around her neck, her jacket wasn't buttoned and there was a pocket on her white shirt which told everyone that she had bought something else than what the school had asked her to. Sirius was the first person to notice. Slughorn was the second.

"Miss. Singh, are you aware that you are not dressed in accordance with the rules of this school?" Sirius watched the old man as he directed his full attention to Penny.

They had only known each other for two or three months but Sirius knew that Penny had no problems defending herself when needed. She would, as she already had many times and would in the future, prove him right.

"I'm aware." she responded as she sat up straighter in her chair.

Marlene and Emmeline sat on either side of her. The three were an interesting and yet logical combination. Marlene with her blond hair that reached her shoulders, her pale blue eyes and challenging smile had a powerful will and was more observant than most people. She was drawn to enigmas, people who for some reason had something to hide, and she tried to help them in any way she could. Emmeline with black, curly hair and those intense black eyes were determined and always followed her principles. She could argue for herself and her friends whenever the situation demanded her to. Penny with her long hair and dark eyes was rebellious, social, friendly, she was loud, she was quiet, she was intelligent and she was childish. She was an enigma. Just when you thought that you had her figured out another part of Penny appeared, one that no one had seen before.

"Well," Slughorn looked surprised by her response. Or maybe lack thereof. "What are you going to do now that I have pointed it out to you?"

Sirius saw the way Penny pursed her lips.

"I'm not going to change myself to fit your requirements when I'm not breaking any of your rules," she said. James coughed to cover up his laughter but Sirius could see that she heard him, as did everyone else. "Do you have a problem with that sir?"

Slughorn must have realised that the battle was lost. Because he didn't argue with her. But something had changed since then. Penny was not the type to argue for the sake of arguing but if she needed to protect herself, or if her friends needed protecting, she would do what she could. But before and during Potions it was like her fighting spirit left her body even if only for that period of time.

Sirius, also fourteen, liked to think that he had a pretty good idea at what he was good at too. When it came to school Transfiguration had always been his strong side. He was good at Potions too; he just happened to really hate it. Other than that Sirius liked to think that he could read people pretty well. When he sat by the breakfast table, with Penny on the opposite side, he saw how nervous she was. At the age of fourteen Sirius Black was tall and skinny. But in spite of being in the so called awkward stage of his teens no one could deny that he was cute, beautiful even. His hair always seemed to gracefully fall where it was supposed to, his grey eyes sparkled and he smiled as if he knew everything you didn't want him to know.

"So," Sirius said and efficiently caught Penny's attention. "Potions huh."

She groaned and scrunched her face together into a pained facial expression. "Don't even talk about it."

Sirius would have smiled if it hadn't been for the obvious flash of sadness that came across Penny's face. She wasn't bothered by the subject because she was afraid that she would get a bad grade. There was something else hiding underneath the surface and Sirius wanted to find out what that was. To help.

"Is something wrong?"

Penny looked at him and for a brief moment, maybe for only a few seconds, and Sirius thought he could see her smile faltering. But the moment was over so quickly that he almost believed that he had imagined it all. She shrugged and flicked her ponytail so that she could run her fingers through her hair and shook her head while smiling.

"No," she said and shook her head again. "I just really don't like Potions. It's not… I guess you could say that it's not my best subject."

Sirius nodded. He glanced at Peter who sat on the other side of the table two places to the left from Penny. Potions wasn't his subject either. Granted, not a lot of subjects were Peter's strong side. He had many gifts but academic subjects were not part of them. Both Sirius and James always thought that was the reason that Peter and Penny were told to work together. Slughorn didn't like being outsmarted or outwitted. They had experienced that many times; mostly because they had done something which resulted in them ending up on his bad side.

"You can be my partner." He said with a smile. Penny glanced at Peter. "We'll just swap. Peter will be James' partner and you'll be mine. Please say yes. Besides, you'll be seated further back in the classroom. Slughorn will have to really make an effort to give you a hard time."

There were still traces of hesitation on Penny's face. She nodded towards James who sat next to Sirius. To everyone else it looked like he wasn't listening. His eyes were glued to Marlene who sat next to Penny. They were talking about quidditch and how important it was that they finally beat Slytherin. But Sirius could see that the raven-haired boy listened very closely to what was going on between him and Penny. Ever since the girl had joined their class both James, Remus and Peter hade made hints, both subtle and not so subtle, that Sirius should ask her out. So far, he had ignored them. That didn't mean that the thought didn't strike him every now and again. Sirius put his hand on James' shoulder and quickly was on the receiving end of one of James' famous smiles. His hazel eyes sparkled in a way it only did after he had talked about something that truly mattered to him. In this case, quidditch.

"Can we swap partners for the Potions lesson?" Sirius didn't give James any time to answer before nodding towards Penny. "I'll take Penny and you'll take Peter."

One corner of James' mouth turned upwards into a smile. "Have you even asked Penny if she wants to partner up with you. Maybe she would prefer me?"

For a thirteen-year-old James Potter was an excellent flirt. People who didn't like that part of him believed that it came from a deep-rooted urge that he had to highlight what an amazing person he was. Those who knew him was aware that he did it because he liked making people laugh and in this case because he enjoyed irritating Sirius.

"Well," Penny looked between the two. Sirius could see the internal battle going on inside of her. Just as he was about to say something to save her, Penny leaned forward and smiled. "Obviously it would be an honour to have you as my partner James but I think Peter needs your help more than I do."

James laughed. Loudly and spontaneously. "Good answer my friend. Of course, we can change partner. You two can sit in the back. Maybe then Slughorn and Snape will leave you alone."

Sirius frowned. He knew that Slughorn had been giving Penny some trouble for not following the rules to a tee but he didn't know that Snape were too. The girl in question smiled but there was some hesitation behind it. He wanted to ask her what that was about since James had turned his attention elsewhere but decided against it.

Instead he looked at Penny with a confident smile. "See, I told you he was going to be fine with it."

She laughed. Sirius hadn't told her that he liked the sound of her laughter but the thought entered his mind every time he heard it. Someday he was going to tell her how beautiful it was. "Thanks Sirius."

There were many reasons behind Sirius intense hatred for Potions. He hated it because his family believed it to be an excellent skill and he hated it because Snape loved it. Almost as much as he loved the dark arts, which just so happened also was one of the subjects Sirius hated the most. Not as much as Potions granted but there were plenty of hatred there too. He also truly and intensely hated the classroom where Potions was held. It was dark, there was a certain moisture in the room and Sirius was sure that old liquids had gotten stuck in the walls. He always worried about Remus whom complained about headaches after a lesson on Potions. He explained that his heightened senses made him smell not only the liquids that were currently being brewed but the remains of liquid which had been left behind from earlier classes. They were powerful and never failed to make him feel slightly nauseous. He always looked a little bit green when he left class.

Penny looked green when she walked inside. Lily and Marlene went further up the classroom, their bench was just in front of James and Peter, while Penny glanced to her side and walked towards Sirius.

"Are you ready?" Sirius asked. Penny took a deep breath, Sirius for a moment thought that she looked like she was going to throw up, and nodded. "Good, lets kick Potions ass."

Slughorn began talking the moment the last student had entered the room. The person who had almost been late were being scrutinised but no comment was made. Slughorn was gifted when it came to silently judging people. Then class began for real when the instructions appeared on the board at the front of the classroom. They slowly and methodologically did what they were supposed to do. Sirius noticed out of the corner of his eye that Penny's movements became more sluggish the longer they worked and eventually, when she was going to get something, she had to stop a few times no matter how short or long the distance was.

"You're good at this," Sirius said as he was cutting up some kind of root. He didn't really put much attention to what kind. Maybe he would have if it would have been useful for future pranks but this was just some boring old root. He saw the look of uncertainty on Penny's face. "I'm serious. You're really good at Potions."

Penny laughed and Sirius gave her a questioning look. "Sorry, you said that you were serious. I was this" – she showed a short distance between her fingers – "close to telling you that I'm Penny."

Sirius laughed. "You're hilarious." She whispered something along the lines of don't I know it. "But in all honesty, you are really good at Potions. Why are you so unsure about the subject?"

There it was again. The hesitation. It was the kind of hesitation that Sirius had seen before which made him unsure of what he was supposed to do now. He wanted to ask her exactly what was going through that brilliant mind but at the same time there was something holding him back. Maybe it was the way she bit her lower lip, or the way she subconsciously reached for the end of her ponytail which she could easily reach and began fiddling with her hair. You could learn a lot from people's nervous habits. If one only looked close enough they told you more than words ever could. That was the case here. For a moment, it felt as if the world consisted of only them. All other students were gone while Sirius was trying to decide what to say or what to do. Penny had only been in his life for a few months but she had made an impression and he wanted to help. Just like when he met James there was something drawing him towards Penny and he wanted her in his life.

"Maybe the strong smell is getting to her," a voice Sirius sadly recognised very well said. He looked up from their table and glanced ahead at the boy with greasy black hair, a big nose and pointy eyes which seemed to have the ability to see the thoughts you were desperately trying to hide. "Is that it, Penny?"

Sirius hated the way he said her name. "Turn that ugly face around Snape. And don't talk to her like that."

"Sore subject. Can't she fight her own battles?"

Penny rolled her eyes. Her lips had gone thin and there was an anger there that you rarely saw. Sirius knew that she meant business whenever that look appeared on her otherwise kind face. Because, as he now knew, she wasn't the kind of person to go looking for fights. But if someone wanted to fight her then she wasn't going to lay down on her back and let them win.

"She can and she doesn't appreciate you talking about her as if she's not here," Penny said with venom practically seeping from her voice. Sirius almost wanted to check for burns on Snape. She had that power. Most people needed to say something rude but not Penny. Her voice alone was powerful enough. "As for the strong smell. If you're talking about the stench coming from you then yes, the smell is getting to me."

Sirius nodded. "You heard her. Go back to your chemistry set. Snivellus."

The young boy muttered something under his breath but Sirius didn't bother commenting on it. Penny didn't either. But there was something about the way her eyes widened which made Sirius wonder if she had heard Snape more clearly than he had. He wondered if he was imagining things again but pushed the thought aside the moment Penny looked up at him.

"Thanks for standing up for me," she said and smiled. "I can stand up for myself but sometimes it's nice to not have to take every battle."

"I know you can," Sirius commented with a shrug. "You're a strong person. But you're also my friend and I protect my friends even if I'm sure that they can do it themselves. Like James for example, he can take whatever shit Snape throws at him but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to defend him."

"Are we friends?"

Sirius had been thinking about that for a very long time. Very early on he felt a desire to be Penny's friend. He liked her. He liked the way she stood up for herself, the way she didn't let anyone or anything change her and the warmth that came with her. Penny had the ability to listen to any subject you wanted to talk about and be interested. Meaning that people loved talking to her. But underneath this social exterior there was something else. Sirius wanted to know what that was. He wanted to be her friend. For now.

"Obviously," he said and winked at her. "Now let's get this potion finished so that we can do something fun instead."

"Like what?"

Sirius leaned closer to her ear. "Like prank someone."

"Oh," Penny rolled her eyes and laughed but never the less increased the speed in her movement as much as she could. "Is this why you and James are always done so much earlier than everyone else?"

"Pretty much. The more we dislike something the quicker we do it and then we'll be able to do something more fun," Sirius took a break from stirring the potion which had taken a violently red colour. The right colour. "And let me tell you, we really hate Potions."

The end