This Time - Chapter 3

"So, how excited are you right now on a scale of 1 to Sev if Lily said yes?" Minerva asks.
"It's just a thank you drink, not a date." I say dryly, even though I hope it's the inverse. Both ladies raise one eyebrow at me simultaneously. "It's not a date!" I repeat, a tad more forcefully this time.
"Which is why you're all flustered and have spent the last hour and a bit looking like a high-school sweetheart on her first date trying to decide what to wear." Lily says. It's not a question, it's a fact. I wish I could deny it, but I feel all giddy inside at the prospect of a drink with sexy Sirius Black.
"You think this isn't okay?" I ask.
"You look great dude, but if you want to impress, you'll change." Lily says, looking to Minerva who nods.
"You can have the rest of the day off Lily, so long as you sort him out. I'll call Sev in, he already owes me."
"Thanks Minerva."

Lily hastens to the door, grabbing my arm as she goes. Before I know it, I'm being buffeted by the winds of the streets. Not five minutes after we left Cosmos, Lily's phone buzzes. She looks at it, laughs, then puts it away.
"What?" I ask curiously.
"Nothing, you'll find out soon enough anyway."

The walk home takes much less time than normal due to Lily's sudden power-walking pace. As we reach the apartment, the clock in the city chimes twelve.
"NINE HOURS!" Lily gasps.
"What? To get ready? That won't take long."
She looks at me, that eyebrow rising for the second time today. "Trust me; it's going to take that long."

Surprisingly it does. A bath, intense eyebrow maintenance, three different outfit combinations and even more intense hair maintenance, all totalling six hours somehow, Lily seems content, mostly anyway.
"I'm not really helping the stereotype with all this preparation am I?" I tell her as she circles around me, making minor adjustments.
"You had the worse eyebrows I'd ever seen, and don't get me started on the hair. Now, I'm still not sure about the jeans."
"You've made me try these on four times already!"
"Doesn't mean they're right though does it." A look of serious contemplation crosses her face for a moment, "The desert boots work better I think."
Sighing, I walk into my room, change my shoes and come out again.

FLASH!

Lily's phone snaps a picture. "What was that for?!" I ask, startled.
"Minerva. She texted asking for a photo."
"Great."
A moment passes before Lily's phone buzzes again. "She approves, you're all ready. Well mostly."
"What more do I have to do?"
"Got everything in your wallet?"
"Money, check. Cards, check. Proof of age, just in case, check." I say, listing them off on my fingers.
"Condom?"
"I shan't be needing one."
"Remus I'm ashamed, I thought you of all people would know that it's safest to use protection."
"No not in that sense, in the sense that it's not a date and I definitely will not be getting laid."
"Take one anyway." Lily insists.
"No."
"Just do it." Her tone grows firmer at this.
"Alright fine."

The clock chimes in the distance. 7 o'clock.
"It's ridiculous how long this has taken." I exclaim.
"Ehh, not really. Now, how are you at dancing. I know it's been a while."
"I don't expect to be dancing."
"Remus, Sirius is essentially a university student. I doubt you're going to the more old-timey bars, you'll be going to a club. A club means music. Music means dancing. A lack of skill in dancing means a bad impression."
"I'm not dancing. I don't dance anyway."
"We all know you dance. Remember the Yule Ball when we were at uni?"
"No I don't"
"Liar."
Sighing I look at my phone. It reads 19:05 on the screen. "Oh Lily, look at the time. I've got to go, I promised Minerva I'd sort the last of the paperwork for the new machine."

Before Lily can say a word of protest I'm out the door. I wasn't technically lying, but I had to get out of there. It was just two friends going for a drink, if even that.

I descend the stairs two at a time in the apartment. For some reason I feel in a rush despite having spent the last century on my appearance. I reach the ground floor and have to double take for a moment.

Tonks is on the desk, and... she's crying.
"Hey Tonks, you okay?" I ask, tentatively.
She sniffs for a moment. "It's nothing Remus, nothing."
"Clearly not." I insist.

Tonks and I go back almost as far as Lily and I do. Tonks helped me find accommodation when I left university and find work at a good place. I owe her a deal, so I always do my best to help her out.
"It's just, I've lost something. Something precious."
"What did you lose?"
"A ring. My Mum's engagement ring, she gave it to me before she died in the hopes that I would use it. But It's disappeared somewhere."
"I'll help you look for it. Where do you last remember seeing it."
"My car, the staff room or my room."
"Okay, we'll go look in all those places."

It takes a while, but soon enough the ring is found. Just after Tonks calmed down as well, because as soon as she found it, she burst into tears again.
"Thank you Remus" she sobs into my shirt.
"There there Tonks, it's okay." I say, patting her on the back of her head.
She raises it; a tear still in her eyes... and kisses me.

The silence afterwards is awkward and tangible all at the same time. I don't really know what to say. Tonks looks away.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologise." I say instinctively. My phone buzzes, and looking down at it I see a text from Sirius. It reads 'On my way. 5 mins, see you at the city centre'.

Shit.

The time flew by while I was helping Tonks.
"I have to go."
"Why?" she asks in almost a whisper.
"Meeting someone. No, it's not a date."
"Oh, okay." she says in the same quiet voice.

It takes a great deal of willpower, but I turn and leave the apartment block. The clock in the city starts to chime. Shit.

I arrive, panting, in the city centre at around five past. Sirius is standing under a streetlight, looking around. I wasn't the only one to change, and I must say, he really knows how to dress to impress. I can even feel my body begin to react as I walk towards him.
"Hey, sorry I'm late, I had to help a friend sort some stuff."
"It's no problem. So you ready to go?"
"Yeah. As a matter of fact, where are you taking me?"
"It's a surprise."
"Oh really?"
"Yep."
"Now I'm intrigued."

Sirius leads me through the streets of Edinburgh, past Cosmos and into a part of the city I don't really know. Everything around me seems to have gone up a class. The pricetags of the clothes in the window increase massively every shop we pass. Through a small side street then out onto a larger street, then along towards another side street we go. Turning out of this, I'm faced all of a sudden by the open Firth of Forth. Water stretches as far as the eyes can see. A mist hangs over the water, illuminated by the bright light of the full moon. I gasp as the sight reaches my eyes and Sirius grins.
"You never been this way before?"
"Had no reason to. I've been by the harbour but that's about it."
"It's about to get better, I promise."
He leads me along another pathway until we reach the doors of a pub. It's fairly old looking, but is polished, so much so it's in fitting with the designer shops on the other side of the street. Sirius leads me in.

The interior has the rustic feel yet oozes contemporary. It's not particularly busy but looks full of people.
"You approve?" Sirius asks me.
"My god." Is all I can say. I had just seen the specials board and the prices.

Sirius walks over to the man behind the bar, and he then leads us to a table, a reserved table.
"What'll you have to drink?" he asks.
"Bottle of White." Sirius says. The man nods and walks off. "You don't mind white do you? I can't stand the red stuff."
"It's fine by me, I'm not too fond of Red either."
The barman brings over a bottle of white, a couple of glasses then lights the candle between Sirius and I.

I've only just noticed that the music in here is coming from a stand over in the corner. A man and woman are singing together about love. As I watch them, I feel Sirius' eyes watching me.

A couple of menus are brought over, and I peruse the food. They have everything here from Caviar to Fish and Chips. I hope the portions are as big as the prices are.
"What do you think you'll have?" Sirius asks me, taking a sip of wine.
"Take a guess."
"Same as me then."
We both say the same thing at the same time: "Fish and Chips it is."

Sirius laughs and I take my first sip of wine. I hate to think of how much this must cost, because it tastes divine.

A waitress comes over and takes our order. Idle conversation ensues between Sirius and I until the food is brought out.
"So you used to live in Ireland?" I ask.
"Yeah, my mum's side of the family come from there. I must say, I didn't enjoy it much, because we lived in the middle of nowhere. That's the reason I decided to go into film."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. I used to spend my time there, surrounded by empty hills and fields, watching films and wishing I could go to all the places that directors and camera people go."
"Seems like a fair reason. The only reason I did is because it was one of the only things I could do."
"I'm sure you're good at lots of things. You make good coffee, that's something at least."
I ignore his slight joke. "I wanted to go into writing, write some books and some screenplays for different things. I was going to, until I got my exam results and learnt I couldn't write for anything."
"Exams don't mean much, in the long run anyway. You only use them till you go onto something better, like degrees." Sirius says. He rests his hand on mine as he speaks.

I will myself to pull my hand away, but nothing happens. 'It's just a thank you, not a date' I tell myself.
"Thanks by the way, for all this." I say.
"No, I should be thanking you. You're probably the only reason I'll pass my dissertation."
"Still, this is a very big thank you."
"I thought it appropriate, and worth it for you." he tells me.
"Thanks."
"I hope you don't mind my asking, but you are single?"
"Yeah."
"Well, do you want to come out with me again? I mean, this was great but I'd really like there to be a next time."
I smile at him. "I think I could work with that."

Two cracking deserts later, Sirius walks me back to the city centre.
"So, whenever you're next not working, we'll go get breakfast somewhere nice." he says.
"Sure, I'd like that. Just not as fancy as that if you don't mind. I appreciate it, but I know this great local run shop which does the best pancakes."
"Okay." he says again, laughing slightly. "I guess I'll see you pretty soon then."
"Oh, you will." I say. "Text me, okay?"
"Definitely."

All this time we've been moving closer and closer. At his last words, the gap closes and I feel his lips on mine. And I like it.

On the walk back to the apartment, I have more of a spring in my step. Rubeus lets me in, thank god, and I head up the stairs to the apartment. Lily is waiting on the sofa when I come in.
"So, how was it?"
I consider how to answer for a second, before walking towards the bathroom, saying on the way: "I take it back, it was definitely a date."

(Authors Note):

I hope your liking this so far. I'm did a longer chapter (this was originally two) because I'm away this weekend so can't update it. Please review, fav and follow and that stuff, it really helps because I know I'm not writing complete crap.

Fun Fact: The song playing in the pub is the one I got the idea for this from: "This Time" by Monika and Vaidas. It gave me the whole Idea of Sirius asking Remus for a drink and everything kind of snowballing from there.

Next update: probably next monday or tuesday with luck. If not, definitely one by the next weekend.