Note:

I said at the end of the last chapter that it would be the final chapter in Penny's story, but I forgot about this little scene.

April

"You know what the best thing about fourth year is? No exams," Penny says delightedly as she flips her book closed and basks in the sunshine.

"Ditto for sixth!" Sirius says, holding his hand up for her to high five. She reciprocates and leans her head against his shoulder with a grin.

"You guys can BOTH fuck off!" Parker scowls as he throws his quill down in frustration. He's been attempting to study for OWLs despite the fact that it's late April and the weather is the best it's been in years.

"If you actually plan to accomplish anything, you should probably go to the library," James says reasonably. Parker just squints at him, then looks over at Penny and Sirius grumpily. Penny looks back at him, her eyebrows raised in amusement at his expense.

"What, Banks?" she asks, annoyed with him for staring at her.

"Oh, nothing," Parker says innocently. "Just planning on annoying the three of you to no end next year when you have exams."

Penny just shakes her head at his ridiculous threat.

"Annoying us?! Really? And, pray tell, how will that be different from now?" she asks, letting a smug expression cross her face as she watches him get visibly more annoyed with her. Sirius laughs and she feels the vibrations of it where she leans against him. She looks up at him fondly, then rolls her eyes as she notices he had his stupid sunglasses on.

"Well, aren't these cool," Penny says as she snatches them off his face.

"Hey!" he protests, reaching to snatch them back. She giggles as she holds them out of his reach, and he lunges at her. Their arms tangle together and she purposely brings her face towards his to tease him.

Penny smirks as she watches him glance around her face longingly. Sirius wants to make out with her, she can tell. She's satisfied as she watches him swallow, then he sees the way she's looking at him and rolls his eyes at her.

"You tease!" he whispers in her ear. Penny swats at him indignantly, annoyed that he can tell she's trying to seduce him. Before she can think twice, she takes his sunglasses and throws them as hard as she can into the lake.

"Hey! What the hell!" Sirius yells, scrambling up to look at where they land.

"Oh snap! There goes your reputation!" Penny giggles.

"Do you want me to throw you in the lake?" Sirius threatens.

"Only if you come in with me," Penny responds, making her voice syrupy sweet.

"Jesus Christ. You two should just become a couple. You act enough like one," Parker barks in annoyance, looking between them contemptuously.

"No we don't," Penny mutters, looking at the ground as she feels her face heating up. She probably should have known better than to flirt with Sirius in front of Parker and James. But she wants his attention so much, she can't help it. Sirius turns away from her and completes a summoning charm on his sunglasses, which come splashing out of the water and flying towards him.

"Damn, Prett. You really didn't like that callout, did you? I don't think I've ever seen you speechless," Parker says gleefully.

"Oh, fuck off," Penny snaps at him. She glances at Sirius, frowning slightly as she picks her bag up from the ground.

"I'm going back inside," she mumbles. Parker raises her eyebrows at her.

"I'm not complaining about that," he says, and she flips him off as she stomps away.

X

James watches Sirius as he dries off the sunglasses that Penny just chucked into the lake.

"Mate, remind me to talk to you about something," James says to Sirius, trying to sound casual.

"Why don't you just tell me to leave, then?!" Parker snaps.

"Don't worry about it, Flex," James says.

"You know what?! None of you understand the pressure I'm under right now. I'm going to the library," Parker says icily as he slams his textbook shut and gathers up his notes in a huff. James just watches him without comment. He feels it would be unproductive to mention that, yes, he does understand the pressure of exams, considering he just took his last year.

"What, Prongs?" Sirius snaps once Parker has left. He folds his arms impatiently. James just stares at him for a moment, trying to get a read on the situation.

"It's just - Banks has a point. You do flirt with Prett a lot. And it's a little weird," James says, trying to keep his tone light. He knows Sirius tends to get pissed off whenever anyone brings Penny up.

Sirius doesn't look at him and tosses a stone into the lake as if he couldn't care less about what James is saying.

"You should be careful with that. I think she has a crush on you, and I don't want you to accidentally lead her on," James says, trying to sound nonjudgmental but also trying to get his point across about this delicate subject.

"Yeah, thanks for the insight, mate," Sirius mumbles. He's so weird about Penny. Maybe he has a crush on her, too. James purses his lips together as he formulates a plan.

"Although...she does fight with Banks a lot. Maybe he's the one she has a crush on," James says, trying to nudge Sirius to tell him something. Sirius glares at him.

"Pen doesn't like Banks! Didn't you see them arguing five seconds ago?" Sirius snaps.

"Yeah, but sometimes girls will argue with the guy they like to get a rise out of them," James explains with a shrug. "Plus, they've gotten closer since the whole Prett and Vaughn thing ended."

"No, they haven't."

"They have! And I know he gets a lot of girls since he somehow became a prefect. He takes girls back to that special sex bathroom to hook up," James explains, raising his eyebrows as he gauges Sirius's reaction to all of this.

"They're not hooking up," Sirius says bluntly.

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do!"

"Yeah, right! What proof do you have?" James asks, rolling his eyes.

"Because I'm - I mean, because she's… I just know, okay?" Sirius snaps. James just gives him a long look.

"Indeed. Like I said, you've got to stop flirting with Prett. She clearly likes you, and you LIKE that she likes you. But you've got to let her live her life," James says with a shrug.

"And aren't you supposedly in love with this Hogsmeade girl? So stop being so happy that other girls are flirting with you," he adds. Sirius just stares at him blankly.

Note:

Sorry this was so short. I forgot that I wrote this. Lol.

-Giant Squid