A.N: Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed and alerted and favourited, and you all should have by now received a PM from me confessing my gratitude - and if not, you should receive it within the week (my internet connection fails a lot) So please keep reading my story, and favouriting and alerting and most of all reviewing. I just love hearing all your positive feedback on my writing! It really makes me happy =)

Disclaimer: I own natta.

Contact: satansbowtiedottumblrdotcom - replace dot with .

Previously: James and Lily have had their house penetrated by Voldemort and were attacked, resulting in them being in a forty day coma and Harry now possessing a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Sirius is now looking after Harry, with Remus helping out, also. Alice and Frank have been attacked, the Order of the Phoenix is disbanded and James and Lily are now residing in St. Mungo's.

Enjoy =)

It seemed to take an impossible amount of time until 10th December would arrive, and until that date arrived, Remus had to find something to do with his time. A job: to be precise. He passed all his O.W.L and N.E.W.T exams with excellence so he didn't doubt he didn't have the qualifications, it just depended on who would hire a man who would need to take a week off work every month to turn into a killer beast.

He looked at the Daily Prophet each morning for jobs, but he could never seem to find one that would give him the time off he needed and when he did find that odd one, it never paid enough.

That was until Tuesday morning, though.

He sat in his dingy little flat that morning, lukewarm cup of coffee by his side, Daily Prophet open on the blemished kitchen table. He was nursing a sore head and had just taken a potion for it. He read the front page and the articles and the advice columns, did the crosswords and the quiz and until he reached the job section of the paper. He always intently studied that specific page as if he was cramming for one of his exams. And the cramming paid off; near the bottom of the paper was a larger than usual advert.

Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures

New division opening in light of recent events.
Nineteen vacancies.
Owl Amos Diggory.

Amos Diggory was two years older than Remus at Hogwarts and was a Hufflepuff. Amos was Head Boy when Remus started school and Remus remembered - for some unknown reason - opening up to him and crying about his Lycanthropy in his first few months at school. Amos had been sympathetic about it and had been a friend for Remus in his First Year. Would he accept him to work for him now?

Remus didn't stop to think; he grabbed a fresh piece of parchment from the table, quill and pot of black ink and composed his letter to Amos:

Mr. Amos Diggory,
I am writing to enquire upon the job advertisement I saw in the Daily Prophet for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures - the new division, that is. I would very much like to apply for the job if you would let me. I don't know if you remember me from Hogwarts, but if you do, please take my 'condition' into account while choosing my application. Please reply soon.
Remus Lupin.

Remus waited for a reply after he sent his owl off. While he waited, he took a shower, shaved, cleaned his wounds and got dressed. He didn't know what he was planning to do that day and figured he would go and visit James and Lily like he did every day - or perhaps Sirius and Harry; he hadn't seen them since Sunday. Or go into Diagon Alley and purchase some new parchment. But that was a waste of his valuable money, and Merlin knew he didn't have a lot of that which was why he was desperate for the job.

He was preparing to leave the house when the owl arrived, exhausted from the long journey. Remus rushed to open the window for it and grabbed the letter out of its beak. His owl flew into the apartment and nestled into his birdcage and Remus, while opening the letter, locked him in there.

Remus,
Thank you for applying. Yes of course I remember you - you are just what we're looking for down here. Don't worry; you needn't worry about your 'condition'. Come down to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow at one o'clock for your interview. Bring your resume and a cheerful disposition and I'm sure the job will be yours. Don't worry about the interview; it's compulsory.
Amos Diggory.

He felt his heart leap in his throat and his stomach tie into awful knots. He doubted he would hear back from Amos at all - let alone receive a reply almost one hour later asking him to go in for an interview. Remus would have to get his best suit out, he'd have to get his shoes polished - he'd have to get a new tie. Remus began scurrying around looking for his keys and with some galleons in his pocket and optimism in his head, he apparated away to spend some money on him for a change.

...

Remus was terrified he was going to be late, even though he got to the Ministry of Magic half an hour early for his interview. He wore a button up coat, glasses and a black pageboy hat as an attempt to disguise himself from public eye. But there was no need; everyone was too busy rushing around to even notice Remus was there.

He waited at the lift and stepped in with half a dozen other Ministry workers and pressed the number 4.

It stopped at floor one, floor two and floor three until it eventually reached floor four. Remus stepped out with a middle-aged man who went striding down the corridor, almost bashing into Remus. Remus gave him a dirty look and much slower than the former, followed his direction down a stone wall corridor.

He had twenty minutes until his interview was due to start but he had the horrible feeling he had forgotten something. He checked over every item of clothing he had on and even took off his pageboy had as he did so and clutched his briefcase even tighter in his hand. He didn't even have anything in the briefcase, he just thought it made him look more 'professional'. He brushed a finger over his navy blazer, long-sleeved white, button up shirt, black tie, black trousers and black shoes. He had all his clothes on, but he kept feeling like he had forgotten something...

He was so engaged in his own thoughts that he hadn't realised that he was already at, what looked like, Amos Diggory's reception desk. Remus looked around the room: one reception desk in the middle with three chairs to the left, a water fountain next to it and aquarium on the right and behind, a door that led to - what seemed like - Amos Diggory's office.

"If you're looking for the department Mister, it's that way. This is the boss' office."

Behind the reception desk sat a pretty girl with long, light brown hair. She looked no older than seventeen and that she should be in Hogwarts still, and not a receptionist. She sat lounged in her chair, chewing on a quill, legs crossed over each other, turning back and forth on her big, black, leather chair. Remus cleared his throat and ventured over to the girl.

"No, I'm uh - here for the interview."

She nodded her head at one of the smaller, brown, leather chairs. "Wait over there; the boss will be out in a minute."

"Thank you."

Remus sat down, placing the briefcase in between his legs. He looked around the office and then at his watch. Fifteen minutes.

He was suddenly aware that he was being watched, by the pretty receptionist, no less. He pursed his lips and anxiously fiddled with his tie, loosening it under the pressure. She continued watching him, tapping her brightly coloured fingernails on the oak desk.

"Where do I know you from?" She asked.

"Me?" Remus asked, looking around.

"No I was talking to the fish. Yes you! Where do I know you from?"

The young man cleared his throat once more. "I'm - I'm Remus Lupin."

She almost dropped the quill in surprise. She sat upright to attention and leaned forward on her elbows, now staring at him in fascination. "You're the Potters' mate!"

"That's me," he admitted.

"I was in two years below you lot at school then. I remember Lily: Head Girl when I started as Prefect."

"What house were you in?"

"Ravenclaw," she replied. "We were paired up for patrols once, you and me!"

"Really? Oh, what's your name?"

"Lydia Greengrass."

"OH!" Remus gasped. "I remember you - you were Crouch's girl." She blushed at the memory. "Oh, I'm sorry... I should have thought."

Thought what Remus? Thought not to mention her ex-boyfriend just being locked in Azkaban?But she waved it off. "He deserves it after what he did to Frank and Alice; Alice always seemed so... so kind..."

"She was," Remus said. "They all were. All who died."

"I remember James," she said with a grin.

"Oh I'm sure you would."

They both shared a laugh. "And Sirius, too."

"No he's not someone you'll forget in a hurry."

Lydia threw back her bead. "No, sadly I never did fall under his radar."

"Sadly? You're lucky to not have done."

"How so?"

"You must have had friends who dated him?" Lydia nodded. "Well then you remember what he was like: sneaking into girls' dorms, cheating on girls, never being able to hold arelationship with a girl..."

"I thought he and Marlene suited each other."

"So did he," Remus admitted. "He was gutted when she died."

"I'm sure."

Remus stared at her and she stared back. How was he managing to open up to him, but found it difficult to say this sort of stuff to his friends? Lydia smiled back at him and began shuffling through her papers and he stared at her admirably as she hummed the tune to a song Remus didn't know. She walked around the office with an elegant air in her stride. She was tall and slender and wore tight clothes which complimented her figure. Remus smiled to himself; did he really have a crush on a girl he'd had only one conversation with? Well, shewas pretty mesmerizing. His last girlfriend was Felicity Dunphy and that had ended in disaster. But Remus guessed there was something... different about Lydia Greengrass that he just had to find out.

"So, what position are you going for?"

Remus was snapped out of his thoughts by Lydia's voice awakening him. He gave a nervous chuckle and said: "Whichever one I get; I don't mind."

"Wow, you must really want to work with creatures then."

"I suppose so; I've always been fascinated by them."

"Really? Me too."

"Probably not as much as me though; I'm practically a beast myself." She laughed at what she thought was a joke. "So what do you like? Let me guess: Mermaids?"

"Merlin no - Centaurs."

"Really?" Remus asked. "Do you like halfs?"

She shrugged and opened the filing cabinet behind her desk and began flicking through various files. "I don't know; I've never really met one - have you met a centaur?"

"Oh yeah, and a werewolf."

Her eyes turned into the size of saucers and slowly (and loudly) closed the drawer. "Really? I've always wanted to meet one."

"Perhaps you can one day."

"Depends on the date."

Remus gave a nervous laugh and ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Yes. Yes I suppose it does."

Just as his nervous laughter died down the same man who barged past Remus in the lift barged past him in the waiting area, arms swinging roughly by his side muttering under his breath. Following him out of the office was Amos Diggory, wearing a pinstripe suit with robes. Amos gave a loud sigh and took from Lydia the Receptionist a cup of hot coffee and sipped it.

"Thank you Greengrass," he said, "come through Remus; I'll be with you in a moment."

Amos walked back into his office and Remus stood up, straightening himself up in an attempt to look smarter. He pushed back his hair and fiddled with the cufflinks on his blazer. He picked up his briefcase and followed Amos into his office.

"Good luck," Lydia called after him.

He'd need it.

...

Harry had started crying so Sirius thought it would be a good idea to take him to The Leaky Cauldron. Of course, like expected, they were flocked by Witches and Wizards and Warlocks alike, trying to get a look or picture of the Boy-Who-Lived (what they were now calling Harry). Sirius kept Harry close to him in a booth at the back so at least no newcustomers would see them so easily unless they were informed by others that they were there. Eventually, Harry and Sirius were left alone - Sirius suspected Tom the Landlord had something to do with it, and he could enjoy his pint of Phoenix and lunch in peace and quiet.

Getting Harry out of the flat seemed to do him some good because he had settled down and was chewing on Sirius' motorbike keys. Sirius hadn't been able to use his motorbike since the attack and longed for when he could use it again. He missed the wind blowing through his hair, the beautiful sights he could see when soaring over England and mostly, drawing attention to himself by the ladies for having a motorbike and making him look 'cool'.

But he loved spending time with Harry even more. Having Harry in his life opened his eyes to new experiences - new ideas. He regretted ever breaking up with a girl because they wanted marriage or children -that was why poor Marlene dumped him so frequently because he was so adamant on the subject. What if I had just said yes? He wondered, just to keep her happy? Would she still be alive? Would we have children by now? Twenty-one-years-old and dead. That was Marlene McKinnon's tragic life story. She longed for children so badly and now she'd never get the opportunity...

The mere thought made Sirius bitter and his blood start boiling in his body. Too young to have died. Too young to not have the children she longed for. But Sirius knew, deep down, that Marlene didn't keep frequently dumping him because he didn't want children and she didn't. There was a much stronger reason than that, and he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Sirius was just finishing his pint and playing with Harry when the familiar face of his best friend came striding through the Leaky Cauldron, not casting a glance at Sirius. Sirius lowered his empty pint glass and called to his friend which caused him to stop, take a few glances around the pub until he spotted Sirius and join him at the table.

"You looked like you were in a hurry," Sirius observed. "Where were you off to?"

"Gringotts," Remus answered. "Sirius, I have some good news to tell you."

"Go on then."

Remus ordered a drink first then went on to tell Sirius his good news. "Well, two days ago I was reading the Daily Prophet looking for jobs and I came across one for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, run by Amos Diggory - do you remember him?" Sirius nodded. "Okay, well I got a reply from him telling me to go for an interview yesterday at noon and we talked over some things, and now you're looking at the Head of the new sub-division for Animal Rights."

"Whoa - that's fantastic! What do you do?" Sirius gushed.

"Werewolves, Centaurs and creatures like that have a bad reputation for being blood-lusting, don't they? So it's my job to raise awareness that not all creatures are like that and Amos is willing to give me a week off work every month, my excuse being that I have overseas investigation on werewolves to do - isn't that fantastic?"

"Yeah," Sirius replied honestly. "That's really great news!"

"I start next Monday - I'm the Head of this division, I'll be the leader and the manager of this! I'll be going to meetings, people will make coffee for me - I'll even have my own officewith a view of London and everything... Sirius this is just great!"

"It is," Sirius laughed. "Let me by you the drink."

"No, no, no; I have a job now; I can pay for my own."

"How much are they paying you?"

"Three galleons an hour." Sirius' eyes opened widely. "Yeah, I know. I work nine 'til five and that's twenty-four galleons a day! That's more than I even have in my vault at the moment! And do you know what makes this even better? Is that I get to work on something I actually care about; I'll be making life better for myself and for others like me."

"That's really great Moony, honest it is. James and Lily will be so pleased when they hear the news."

"I know!" Remus' drink arrived and he paid the waitress who stuffed the money in her hand and walked off gruffly. "You should really think about getting a job too, Sirius."

"I don't need a job; I have plenty of money inherited."

"Yeah, but that's not going to last forever."

"Moony... You've seen my vault, even if I spend one hundred galleons a day there would still be enough - and extra - for my grandchildren," Remus cast him a sceptical look. "If I even have Grandchildren, that is," he added quickly.

Remus grinned and eyed Harry. "You want children, don't you Padfoot?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous-"

"-Harry's made you broody! You want to be a Father!"

"Keep your voice down Moony," Sirius hissed. "I have a reputation to keep up and so what if I want children now? There's not a crime against it, is there?"

"No," he grinned. "No not at all."

Sirius glared at him. "Shut up and drink your drink."

...

Remus was incredibly nervous for his first day at work. He wore his best dress robes and even got a hair cut for the event. His new job had even made the papers (an article on page four) and he felt under pressure. Sirius brought him a Muggle toy for his office with five swinging silver balls on a pole. Remus had that in his briefcase as well as a picture of him and his parents and a picture of he, Sirius, James and Lily all together, smiling and waving a few weeks after Harry had been born.

He exited the lift onto his floor, and while the other people that got out went either to the right or the left, Remus walked straight on, and felt an air of confidence and importance as he did so. He reached the waiting area where the chairs were on the left and big fish tank on the right and reception desk in the centre. Behind the desk, instead of one door leading to an office like there had been on Tuesday, there were too, and on the door on the right it read: Remus Lupin.

"Ah! Remus!" Amos Diggory was behind him, pacing up to him extending his arm which Remus took and shook. "Big day today then, eh? Nervous?"

"Yes, sir."

"Call me Amos," Amos demanded. "I'll give you some time to settle into your new office and then we'll collect the rest of the team for a brief welcoming meeting down the corridor. Greengrass, make this man a coffee."

"Roger that Mr. Diggory."

Greengrass or Lydia as Remus knew her, spun around on her chair, poured coffee out of the teapot and handed a mug to Remus. "You can bring your own mugs, just use this one for today."

"He's not a fool, Greengrass," Amos scolded unfairly. "Now, I've got a lot of filing I need you to do for me about the new staff members. You'll be working for Mr. Lupin as well and I want you to treat him with the same respect you treat me with."

"Yes sir."

She turned her back on the two men. "Okay, it's nine o'clock now, so meet me in the boardroom at ten. That should give you more than enough time to set up your desk and find your bearings around the office. That okay, Remus?"

"Yes Si - Amos."

"Good," Amos went in to shake Remus' hand again. "It's good to have you on the team."

"Thanks again for the job Amos, I promise I won't let you down."

"Of course you won't Remus."

Amos left Remus to go into his office. He was given the key from Lydia and unlocked it, revealing a spacious room with a desk by the window with the spectacular promised view of London. He set the coffee and briefcase on the desk and looked around, opening various cupboards and draws, looking to make the place a bit more like home.

He put the two pictures on the desk and was finished unpacking. Then he sat at the desk and looked at the stationary he was given: five quills with three different colour pots of ink and a drawer filled with parchment for writing and folders for storing. He closed the drawer and sat back in his chair, admiring his room. This would do quite nicely.

He left his office and closed the door behind him, putting his keys in his pocket. He gave the empty cup to Lydia who thanked him and Remus went on a private tour of the fourth floor.

On the left corridor it was nothing more than three loud, shared offices with twenty people in each room, one to a desk, busy at work. Remus looked around for a while and moved onto the right hand side of the corridor where there were rooms and rooms of more separate offices on one side of the corridor and boardrooms on the other. Amos was setting up for a meeting in Conference Room C. Remus let him get on with it and returned to his office.

"How are you liking it so far?" Lydia asked when he returned.

"It's great," Remus replied. "I really like it here."

"That's good," she said and got back to work.

...

Remus loved his job, and he must be the only person ever to be able to say that.

He loved working on projects and giving speeches and going to campaigns and protests. He got to travel all around England and even got to go to France one day. But especially, he liked the people he worked with. Amos became a fast friend and Remus got to personally know a lot more people that he was working with, and he especially liked the receptionist Lydia and it seemed, to Remus, that she liked him as well.

Remus must be crazy, but he was sure Lydia felt the same way as he did. She'd make him a cup of coffee every morning and give it to him when he arrived at work with a chocolate biscuit on the side. Then she'd arrive with another cup of coffee for him half an hour later with another biscuit and if he ever needed help with anything she'd be the first person he would go to and she'd stop what she was doing to assist him. She was a very beautiful girl - that was obvious to anyone, and that meant she was out of Remus' league. But it didn't stop him wishing.

"Good morning Mr. Lupin," she'd say every morning without fail.

"Good morning Lydia," Remus would reply. "How are you today?"

"I'm very well thank you Mr. Lupin - how are you?"

"Pleased to be here. Have you got anything for me?"

And then she'd hand him whatever he needed and bring the coffee in after him and they'd both get on with their work. One day though, it was different: he didn't get a 'good morning' from Lydia, but he gave her one anyway.

"Good morning Lydia," he said, "is everything alright?"

She looked up at him and frowned. "No, no not really."

"Tell me what's wrong."

"I don't want to bother you," she said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "you've got a lot of work to do. I don't want to burden you." But never the less, Remus pulled up a chair from the waiting area and sat opposite Lydia at her desk. She smiled and pulled her chair up to him. "My brother's having another baby."

"Well that's a good thing, isn't it?"

"My younger brother," she elaborated. "Now that Isiah - my brother, that is - is married, settled with children and has a proper job, they expect me to do the same thing and won't stop nagging me everyday until I arrive home and announce that I'm engaged and pregnant! I'm just so tired with it all."

"Oh," was all Remus could say.

"Now you regret me telling you, don't you Sir?"

"Of course not," Remus replied. "Everyone has their problems. Just explain to your parents that you're different from your brother and not ready to have children. You're what, twenty now?"

"Nineteen," she corrected.

"You still have twenty years or so to have children and just tell them that. It's your life and you can do what you want with it now that you're an adult. You have a job that you enjoy - do you like it here?" She nodded. "And it's a good job to have too. And if you want my opinion: nineteen is much too early to have children anyway."

She smiled. "Are you married, Sir?"

Remus laughed. "No, not yet."

"Do you want to marry?"

Remus rose from his chair. "Yes, yes I suppose so. But I, like you, have a long time to go until I'm past my expiration date. There's still time."

"Well do you want to get lunch sometime?"

Remus had never been asked out by a girl before; it was normally him asking them out. He had never expected Lydia to actually feel the same way about him that he did. Though his heart was beating rapidly and he was just aching to say yes, he hesitated for a moment before replying: "Sure, where do you want to go?"

"There's a small, Muggle bistro I know just round the corner from here. We could go tomorrow if you'd like. Or we could go for dinner? Dinner sounds better. When do you want to go?"

Remus smiled at her enthusiasm. "Tomorrow at seven o'clock?"

"Oh yes!" She exclaimed with a big smile. "Yes I'll like that very much. This is my address." And she scribbled it down on the back of a business card. "You can come round early for a drink if you like."

"I'll be there for seven; there are things I have to take care of before then."

Remus wasn't sure if his act of nonchalance was working, but he hoped by turning down her early reply would work. "Yes, yes that's fine then. Saves me buying some wine. So... seven then?"

"Seven is great."

...

"So what are you doing tomorrow night Moony? I was thinking about having a guys' night in: play some cards, drink some beer, go to strip clubs - the usual stuff we used to do when James was still about."

Remus and Sirius were in Remus' small flat in London with Harry. Remus had just finished talking about his first week at work when Sirius suggested they go out Friday night to relax Remus from a hard week at work. Remus had to somehow decline Sirius' offer without telling him he was going out on a date.

"I'm busy tomorrow; I have a meeting at seven."

"What about Saturday then?"

"Saturday sounds good."

...

Because Remus couldn't be with Sirius on Friday night, Sirius made his own plans.

He planned to have a few drinks by himself and go to a Muggle club in London for the first time since the attack. Molly and Arthur Weasley had agreed to look after Harry so that Sirius could have a well deserved night off baby-sitting. Sirius lied and said he was going to be spending the evening shopping for Harry and left out the part that he was hoping to score with some fit Muggle bird. Sirius was looking forward to that part. Perhaps he could throw in the information about Harry to play the sympathy card, but whatever the outcome, Sirius was ready to have fun.

...

Remus was nervous for his date with Lydia. He wore his best suit and tie and did his best attempt to cover up the scars on his face with the potion he was meant to be taking but stopped when he was younger. Then he remembered: it didn't work and the taste was rancid.

Quarter to seven came and Remus was pacing up and down his flat, trying to kill time. He didn't want to be too late and he didn't want to be too early. This was his first date in a long time and he didn't want to mess it up; he really liked Lydia.

Then he checked his watch and the big hand turned to seven. That was Remus' cue to apparate to Lydia's.

...

Sirius walked through the streets of London in attempt to find a good bar. In the end he found one near the Leaky Cauldron that he thought would be good. He waited in line for a few minutes until he was admitted entry and was pleased that there was a multitudinous amount of girls dancing together. Sirius grinned and walked to the bar where he spotted, all alone, a very attractive young lady sitting at the bar on the other side. Jackpot.

...

Remus knocked on Lydia's door and immediately she answered and instantly he noticed how beautiful she looked.

The dress that she wore was well fitted and her hair hung loose in brown ringlets. Remus was almost speechless; she looked so different than what she did at the office and Remus' lack of words pleased her, and she smiled, standing to her side.

"I hope there's not a policy at work on taking young secretary's out on dates, Mr. Lupin," she scolded playfully. "Because I won't tell if you don't."

"No - no there's uh - not."It took Remus a moment to realize that he should be speaking to Lydia's face and not her breasts. He hoped she wouldn't notice.

"I can change into something different if it makes you uncomfortable," she noticed.

"No," he replied a little too quickly. "No, no you look beautiful."

"Thank you," she smiled. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"Shall we go then?" He suggested. "Where's the restaurant."

"Take my hand," she commanded. "And I'll show you."

...

At the end of the bar the girl sat undisturbed until Sirius made his way over there. She had already predicted what was going to happen but allowed Sirius to make a move.

"Hey girl, your breasts must be headlights 'cause I can't seem to stop staring."

She looked at him in pure disgust. "Pig."

She got up ready to leave, but Sirius laughed and took hold of her hand. "I'm only kidding – bit of a shit chat up line really, just thought I'd test it out on a beautiful woman, such as yourself. Let me buy you a drink. Please?"

"Alright then," she said reluctantly, climbing onto the stool. "I'll have the same again, please," she said to the bar man.

"I hope you're not too expensive," Sirius joked.

"Aw honey, there's not enough money in the world to buy me."

...

The young couple were settled at a table at the restaurant and their food order was taken: Lydia ordered the seafood linguini and Remus ordered a medium-rare steak. It was a fancy restaurant and no doubt cost a lot of money. This time last month there would have been no possible way Remus could have afforded a meal like this, but now with his good job hecould afford it easily.

"I'm a vegetarian," Lydia informed once the waiter left. "I've never had steak."

"It's good," Remus replied. "If I knew you were a vegetarian I would have ordered fish or something else."

"Nonsense, I don't want you not eating meat in front of me. You could eat as much as you want and I wouldn't care. What's your favourite?"

"All of it," Remus laughed. "I eat meat almost every day - how could you go without it?"

"My Mum's intolerant to it so she never cooks it. I don't really know what I'm missing."

"You can try some of my steak if you'd like to."

She smiled. "I'd like that very much, thank you Remus."

...

She let out a bark of laughter. "So she just fell in the swamp?"

"Well, she didn't exactly fall in; I sort of pushed her!"

The two of them roared with laughter and Sirius ordered another round of drinks. When the pair stopped laughing the girl watched him. "So come on, tell me what your name is."

"Didn't I tell you earlier?" The lady shook her head. "How rude of me! I'm Sirius, Sirius Black."

And her face lit up. "I knew there was something about you that was different to everyone else in here! I should have realised it when you mixed up a sickle with a fifty pence piece coin."

"Are you a Witch?" Sirius asked in an undertone and she nodded. "Really? Did we go to school together? What year did you leave?"

"Nineteen-seventy-two."

Sirius almost coughed out his drink. "You - what house were you in?"

"Slytherin." Not only was this girl a Slytherin, but she was five years older than him. She was twenty-six and he was only twenty-one. "Is that a problem?"

"No, no," he said, wiping his mouth. "No, it's just... you must have gone to school with my cousin Narcissa then."

"Narcissa Black?" She asked. "I lost contact with her after we left Hogwarts. What year did you leave then?"

"Nineteen-seventy-eight."

She laughed again. "I think my age must have shocked you then."

"I didn't think you were that old!"

"I'm not old!" She cried. "But I suppose that is a compliment, isn't it? You were in Slytherin too, right?"

"Gryffindor," he corrected.

"Blimey," she sighed. "It's a small world."

"You still haven't told me your name," Sirius informed.

"You wouldn't have heard of us."

"Try me."

She cleared her throat. "Helena Rosier." But Sirius had heard of her. "Yes, to answer your question, I was just being sarcastic and yes, a group of Aurors have just killed my brother for being a Death Eater. You must have gone to school with him, his name was-"

"-Evan."

"Evan," Helena confirmed. "He was always my least favourite sibling, but I was still devastated when he was killed, and I warned him - I warned him it would happen if he got with the Death Eaters but he wouldn't listen to me. He kept going on and on about how he was making the world a better place for people like us and I remember he left our house one day and just... poof. He disappeared and never came back. I went to the Auror office the next morning to find out what had happened and it was only three days later I was told that they killed him. Do you want to know how long ago my brother was killed, Sirius? Two weeks ago. Two weeks ago and it was his funeral today and here I am, in a Muggle nightclub getting drunk with a handsome stranger!" She was hysterical, but had a good reason to be.

"I lost the love of my life one month ago," Sirius said in an undertone. "And it was my fault."

...

"Tell me more about yourself," Remus demanded.

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

Remus pondered while he cut up some of his steak. Lydia had just tried some but almost spat it out in disgust. "Tell me about you at Hogwarts."

"That was a long time ago... Let's see... The hat was stumped between Ravenclaw and Slytherin but I chose the former. My Dad was really upset when I wasn't in Slytherin, but that didn't last long because Isiah was sorted there a year later. After that I just sort of faded away in my Dad's eyes. Isiah's always been the golden boy and I was always desperate for attention. I was on my second warning at Hogwarts by fifth year and Professor Flitwick thought it would be a good idea to make me Prefect... But then I was stripped of that status when I got caught poisoning my brother's dinner..." Remus stopped eating, but Lydia laughed. "Don't worry; I haven't done it to yours."

Remus laughed and continued his dinner. "Why did you poison his food?"

"Because I hate him."

"I don't have any siblings," Remus said.

"You're lucky."

"I always wanted a little sister."

"I have an older sister and a sister-in-law. You're better without."

"That's what all my friends say," Remus smiled. "So how many do you have?"

"Only a sister and brother and his wife."

"What's their child called?"

"Daphne."

"They must have had her young."

"Persephone gave birth two months after she finished Hogwarts."

"She must be the same age as Harry Potter then."

"I think she might be," Lydia concurred. "I could never give my child such an awful name like Daphne."

"Mine did."

"Remus is a good name," Lydia said, "it's unique. I've never met a Remus before."

"I had an Aunt called Lydia," he informed. "But she died in childbirth."

Lydia gave him a sympathetic smile. "Let's change this conversation now. So how are you finding working with Mr. Diggory?"

...

Helena and Sirius left the club and moved to the Leaky Cauldron where they both sat talking over an expensive bottle of Goblin Gin until they finished the bottle and had to go home.

"I'll walk you home," Sirius suggested.

"It's fine," Helena replied.

"I insist."

She sighed. "Fine, but it's a twenty minute walk away."

"It's a good thing I like walking."

...

Remus paid for dinner and helped Lydia put on her jacket and apparated to the corner of her street. She was secretly embarrassed to have him walk her home because she still lived with her parents, but he insisted that he would do. They walked and talked for ten minutes until they reached her house on the end of the cul-de-sac.

"Thank you for walking me home," she said once they reached her door. "I had a great time."

"So did I," Remus agreed.

...

"Thanks for buying the drinks."

"Don't mention it."

...

"Can we do it again sometime?" Lydia inquired.

"I'd love that."

...

"Want to go out again?" Helena asked.

"Sure if you want."

...

"What about tomorrow night?"

"I can't tomorrow; I promised I'll go out with a friend," Remus apologised. "I'd rather spend time with you again, though."

...

"Tomorrow?"

"Sure," said Sirius.

...

"That's sweet," Lydia said.

She lingered at the doorway and an awkward moment passed between them. Remus wasn't sure if he should kiss her or just let her go inside. He bowed his head, deciding not to kiss her this time. "What about next Friday then? Or lunch one day next week?"

"I'd like that," she smiled.

It was Lydia who made the first move and stepped down and kissed Remus on the cheek.

...

"I'll see you then," Helena said.

She stopped at the doorway and Sirius looked up at her. He didn't know whether to kiss her or not but it was Helena who made the final choice. She grabbed Sirius by the collar of his shirt and kissed him fiercely. He pushed her up against her door and his mouth explored hers, travelling down to her neck and collarbone as she fumbled with the door and her keys to unlock the door and the amorous couple fell into the house.

...

"Good night, Remus," Lydia whispered softly in his ear.

She pulled back and brought her keys out of her bag and unlocked the door and stepped through, watching Remus through the crack as she closed it behind him.

Remus wished the door would never close.

Okay random three of you lovely people who reviewed, here is a shout out (and brief reply) to your review!

SakTheSlytherin: Thanks for the review and here is the chapter you could hardly wait for!
GirlWhoIsANerd: Whoa do you really think so? It's so hard writing canon characters and I don't think I've done them justice, though I'm pleased you think I have! Wow!
jilyshipper16: Like this little story line? Trust me there are more intense story lines to come *spoilers*

Reviews make the earth orbit the moon.