Chapter 10.

Sirius had botched their date.

Botched was putting it nicely, actually. Completely, utterly, and entirely ruined, that was a more accurate way to put it.

Beth sighed as she climbed the stairs from her stop. She'd prayed for some interesting, exciting work to do to occupy her mind rather than returning to filing papers; instead, her internship granted her an opportunity to die of boredom and to overthink a wasted night spent with a one Sirius Black. By the end of her shift, she had twelve different things she could have said back to him thought up, all of them insinuating in no uncertain terms where he could spend the rest of eternity.

The nerve of him, she thought, rolling her eyes. I mean honestly, the absolute nerve of him.

She had been entirely overjoyed when James announced that Sirius was leaving for the next several days, thanking anyone she could think of that she wouldn't have to see him. Beth honestly wasn't sure how she would respond if she saw him so soon after the fiasco that occurred. She also wasn't sure that James knew all of the details of what had happened after Caitlin's wedding three nights ago, assuming Sirius had said anything at all. She would honestly be more surprised if he hadn't, knowing he would gladly take an opportunity to spice up a story involving him and a girl. If James was completely oblivious, though, there was no way she was going to be the one to bring it up to him. What would she even say? "Hey James, your friend proved to be a bigger git than we thought?"

That actually had a rather nice ring to it.

The question she'd been thinking all day came back to her head as she turned the corner for James' street: why did she agree to it at all? She could have told him no, could have insisted she was fine sitting down at the table, could have demanded he not accompany her to the wedding in the first place. Everything could have been easily avoided, and instead she'd allowed a big mess of a situation to occur. Maybe there was someone out to get her, someone trying to prove that she was gullible and easy to trick. What fun that would be.

Beth heard laughing as she reached the doorway, finding herself cringing instinctively. Please don't let that be Sirius, please don't let that be Sirius. She wasn't sure how long he was supposed to be gone, though she'd desperately hoped that he'd be smart enough to stay away. Wait, does putting "Sirius" and "smart" in the same sentence count as an oxymoron? Allowing him to use the word "gentleman" to describe himself had certainly turned out to be.

"Beth!" James called the second she walked through the door. "I've got a surprise for you!"

"Better or worse than your wedding invite?" she responded, kicking off her shoes.

"Oh, infinitely better," James promised. "One you'll thank me about for ages to come."

"Especially if we're to be married," a voice she had never heard before said.

She froze at the sound, a smile quickly reaching her face. Dropping her purse and key at the door, she sprinted to the living room, doing her best not to knock anything over. Turning the corner, she saw the tall, slender man standing with his hands in his pockets, a goofy grin emerging underneath his wispy brown hair. She nearly squealed with excitement. "Are you Remus?"

He shrugged, though the grin remained. "I'm Remus."

Beth sighed loudly with relief, walking closer to him. "I've wanted to meet you for such a long time!" she exclaimed, reaching out her hand. "Hi, I'm Beth, and I fully intend on being your best friend."

Remus shook her hand cheerfully and laughed at her enthusiasm. "Oh, how wonderful. I've never had a best friend before."

"Oi," James protested, throwing his hands up. "You have an entire group of friends. What are we, then?"

"You've been alright for the time being," Remus said, still holding onto her hand. "But I know she won't ask for help breaking rules."

Beth looked over at James, who was sitting on the couch next to them. "See, I've already got you beat."

"Although I'd say there wasn't even a fight to beat him in," Remus added.

"We call ourselves the Marauders," James argued. "There isn't a group of mates around that are closer than we are."

"Mickey Mouse has his group of friends," Beth noted.

"Oh, and there's the Rat Pack, you know, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin," Remus joined.

"You're honestly going to tell me that Mickey Mouse is closer with his friends than you are with yours?" James asked Remus.

"You're just mad because you know you'd be Minnie and Lily would be Mickey," Beth stated.

As Remus cackled with laughter, James turned to her, incredulous. "Why is it that you always gang up on me with my best mates?"

"It's too easy," she replied. "It's almost like you've personally set up every single situation."

"Well, I won't stand for it," James said, his attempt at being firm coming out more amused. "You do realize you're living in my flat for free for an entire summer, right? What if I decided to kick you out?"

"Well, now I have my husband here," she said, pointing towards Remus. "I'm all set."

"That's another thing," James said, standing up to their level as Remus chuckled. "At what point did Lily or I insinuate that we wanted you two to get married?"

"Oh please, James," Remus argued. "You've been suggesting it to me since the moment we met."

"And you haven't stopped suggesting it to me since we had dinner at your parents'," Beth declared.

James stopped for a moment. "Okay, so I've mentioned it a couple of times. But both of you know what will get me to stop."

Beth looked at Remus, who was giving her the same confused look she had. "We have to get married to get you to stop?"

"Is that why you're marrying Lily?" Remus questioned. "Were your parents just continually asking until you finally proposed?"

"Shove off, you wanker." James mumbled something incoherent under his breath before announcing he was going to get the tea he had made. Beth turned to the man in front of her, taking in the person she had been dying to meet.

"I really am so happy to meet you."

"I'm afraid that this is about all there is to see," he said, looking down at himself. "But, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to meet you, too."

Beth went to sit down on the couch, smiling to herself when Remus took the chair opposite her rather than the empty seat on the couch. If only Sirius had been that generous. "Are you feeling better? I heard you were rather ill a couple of days ago."

"Very much so," Remus assured her. "Thank you for asking."

"Do you know what it is that's making you so sick?" she asked, concern scrunching up her face. "Sirius said that it happens pretty often."

He smiled, chuckling a little bit. "Yes, I know the causes of it. It's quite complicated to go into, though. Just know that I'm fine." Beth went to object, attempting to offer her help in any way, but Remus interjected. "You were at a wedding with Sirius that night, weren't you?"

Beth tried not to roll her eyes. "Yeah. What a fun night that was."

She could tell by the look he gave her that he picked up on her sarcasm. "From what I heard, you seemed to be enjoying yourself."

Beth shot up, facing him directly. "Did he tell you?"

Remus eyed her. "You know Sirius. Do you honestly think that he would have been able to keep that to himself?"

She slightly lowered her voice. "Did he tell you about the wedding or—?"

"Oh no, he told me about the date, too."

"Crap," Beth mumbled, shaking her head. She stole a look towards the kitchen, feeling her heart rate increasing with every moment. "Does James know?"

"Oh no," Remus confirmed. "Sirius isn't the smartest person around, but he knows better than to tell his best mate he snogged the girl living in his flat."

Beth groaned, placing her hands over her face. "How much did he tell you?"

"I was very ill, Beth. I needed a good story to improve my health."

She groaned again, louder this time. "He told you everything?"

Remus shrugged. "More or less. He told me everything that he deemed important, so I'm probably missing some minor—possibly major—details."

"It wasn't my fault," Beth began to protest, but Remus held up his hand.

"Beth, in nearly any situation Sirius is involved in, it's generally his fault if it turns out badly. No one blames you, not even him."

"Why would I be blamed?" Beth asked him. "He's the one who showed up drunk."

Remus leaned forward in his chair. "Wait, he never told me that he showed up drunk."

"Oh," Beth said, acting surprised. "Well there's one of the major details he left out."

Remus rubbed his forehead, hiding a smile on his face. "What did the obnoxious prat do this time?"

"Well, let's see," Beth pretended to ponder. "He drove over here on his bike despite the fact that he was totally inebriated, then got mad at me because I refused to let him drive me anywhere."

"Ah," Remus interrupted. "See, he only told me that you had ruined the plans he had made. He didn't mention why."

"I didn't ruin—he ruined everything! Who gets drunk before a date? During, yes, but before?"

"He gets nervous," Remus quietly added.

"I was nervous too," Beth said, quieting her voice when Remus looked over to the kitchen. "But I took deep, calming breaths, I didn't get intoxicated."

"It's something we're trying to break him of, I promise," Remus said. "But before a big event, he typically drinks a glass of something to help him loosen up. The problem is when we aren't around, he forgets to stop at one."

Beth stared ahead at him for a moment, letting his words sink in. "That's the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard."

"You're right, that's why we're trying to break him of it."

"Try harder."

Remus laughed, causing Beth to break out into a smile with him. "So what happened next?" he asked her.

"What are you two talking about?" a voice interjected before she could continue.

The two of them looked up at James, who was coming in with a pot of tea. Beth momentarily froze, unsure how to continue. It wouldn't be the end of the world if James found out, but it wasn't necessarily information she wanted to disclose. She looked towards Remus, her eyes displaying panic, silently asking him for help.

"Beth's telling me about a bad date she once went on," Remus cleverly covered, hardly missing a beat. She released a quiet sigh of relief, giving him a small smile of thanks.

"Oh yeah?" James asked, setting down the tray in front of them. "What happened?"

"So far, the man has shown up drunk," Remus informed him, reaching for a teacup. "He blames her for canceling the plans he'd made despite the fact that her safety was in danger."

Beth laughed. "You're making this sound like a soap opera."

"It sounds like one to me," James said, adding milk to the tea he'd poured. "What happened next?"

Beth took the milk from her friend and added it to her cup. "After he chastised me for a good ten minutes about how I was intentionally trying to ruin the date, he demanded that we still do something despite the fact that I was telling him to just go home. I even offered to do the date on a different night, to give him a chance to redeem himself."

"He didn't take it?" James asked, sipping his tea.

"He did not take it."

"Sounds like a bit of a tosser to me," James mumbled.

Remus looked at Beth, a stoic expression on his face. "He seriously does, Beth."

Beth's eyes grew wide and she gave him a friendly glare. His face remained expressionless, though she could have sworn she saw his eyes twinkle. She hardly bit back her grin, and tried to use the premise of drinking tea to hide her face from James. Luckily, her friend was staring at something on the couch, and did not notice the pink tinge to her face.

"Anyway," she said, throwing one last glare towards Remus for good measure (whose poker face was much better than she would have guessed), "I invited him inside and offered to make some food for the both of us, but everything I suggested wasn't good enough, and once again I was accused of sabotaging the date. By this point, I'm pretty mad, starting to lose my cool a little bit, and he looks at me and says, 'You'd better not act like this on our next date.'"

Remus laughed and covered his face with his hands. James looked at her expectantly. "Did you kill him?" he asked. "Please tell me you killed him."

"Oh, believe me, I wanted to." Beth took a large gulp of her tea before continuing. "But no, I thought that maybe he'd be better once he got some food into him and that I could explain to him that the way he was acting was not okay. We finally decide that cereal will be our big meal, and because I'm an idiot, I asked him to make his own bowl." Beth put down her cup and spread her arms out wide. "Milk went everywhere. He's so drunk, though, that he bursts into tears at the sight. I kid you not, James, I had to use the phrase 'there's no use crying over spilt milk.'"

Remus and James were both laughing now, though Remus was laughing considerably harder than James. She prayed silently that he wouldn't give himself away, and tried to telepathically communicate with her new friend to remember to stay quiet. Remus looked back up at her, still laughing hysterically. "Oh please, tell me there's more," Remus managed to say.

"Oh, there's more." Beth sat back on the couch, cradling her cup of tea in her hand. "I clean up the mess, we eat the cereal in absolute silence—which, to me, was the best part of the night—and we go and sit on the couch. I think, 'oh, this would be a good time to mention that tonight sucked.' He apparently thinks, 'oh, this would be a good time to try to stick my tongue down her throat.'"

"So you killed him then?" James asked.

Beth chuckled and took another sip of her tea. "I punched him so hard that I honestly thought I had for a minute. When he came to, I nearly threw him out the door."

"Did he ever call you to apologize?" Remus asked.

Beth shook her head. "No, but he did leave town immediately afterwards. I think he might have been scared of me."

Remus took his tea and raised it to his lips. "And what if he does call you again?"

Beth smirked. "Then he'd better have a really good apology ready."

"How long ago was this?" James interrupted. "I feel like this would have been something you would have told me about, and I don't remember you mentioning it at all."

"Did I not tell you?" Beth covered, trying hard not to let any emotion slip. "I would have thought I'd told you, too."

James stared at her for a minute before shaking his head. Beth stole a glance at Remus, who gave her a quick thumbs up to congratulate her on her cover. "Oh well," James said, picking up his tea. "You know the offer to knock him around for you still stands, though I highly doubt I'll be in America any time soon. In the meantime," James said, missing the other glance Beth gave to Remus at the mention of her date living in America. "Why don't you go on a date with someone you know will treat you with all the respect you deserve?"

"Well I'm flattered, James," Beth said, not even trying to contain the grin that escaped. "But you're already engaged."

James stood up, taking his tea with him, and eyed the two sitting down. "Well, maybe there's someone else around here who just happens to be single and perfect for you." Taking a sip of his tea, he wagged his eyebrows before leaving the room.

Beth looked towards Remus, whose eyes were closed and whose fingers were resting on the bridge of his nose. She took in his agitated yet composed stature, liking how he took the moment to calm down rather than to fire back some outrageous comment. It was so unlike the person she'd went on the "date" with, and the change of pace was welcoming. He seemed to fit her personality well, and certainly appeared to be nowhere near as brash as Sirius often was. She thought back to the last couple of weeks, thinking of the different things that had occurred. How different would it have been if she had met Remus first?

"He's not exactly subtle, is he?" Beth asked.

"They've been suggesting things like that for as long as I can remember," Remus mumbled. "I honestly don't remember a time someone wasn't suggesting I needed a wife or a girlfriend or a lover or whatever." He took a deep breath before returning his focus to Beth. "I apologize if they make you feel uncomfortable."

Beth smiled and shook her head. "I'm fine. I've heard my fair share of comments like that from my family. I can take it from a couple of friends."

Remus stared at her a moment, simply smiling softly, and Beth felt her own smile grow. She had no doubt that he would quickly grow to become one of her closest friends, even if it meant the only time they'd ever talk would be this summer. She prayed silently that it would become true, and that her opinion of him wouldn't change as drastically as it had with—

"I'm really sorry for how Sirius treated you. He didn't tell me all that had really happened."

Beth shrugged and took another drink of her tea. "I've honestly been on worse dates."

"Well then, Beth, I hate to tell you this, but you desperately need to raise your standards."

Beth laughed before acting shocked, mockingly placing a hand on her heart. "Why Remus Lupin, you don't even know me."

Remus gave her a side eye, raising an eyebrow for good measure. "Yes, I do." At the look she gave him, he continued, "I've heard more about you in the past couple of weeks than I have the entire time I've known James, and he talked about you all the time in school. I know more about you than you would think."

"Well you have me at a disadvantage, then, because I know virtually nothing about you."

Remus pointed to her. "I'm glad you mentioned that actually, because that brings me to the next thing I have to say."

"Couldn't you have just said it instead of saying you needed to say it?" Beth asked, raising her eyebrows back at him.

"Fine," Remus replied, placing his cup down on the table in front of him. "Beth, go on a date with me."

Beth froze, unsure if she had heard him correctly. "What?"

"See," Remus pointed out, chuckling at her confused expression. "If you'd have waited, you'd of known why I said that, but you were so adamant to get to what I needed to say that—"

"Okay, okay, I get your point." Beth waved her hand, cutting him off. "Explain."

Remus leaned towards her. "I find you quite delightful, and I would love nothing more than to have an opportunity for you to get to know me better. However, I have no desire to seek out a girlfriend, and even if I was, Sirius, whether you like it or not, is entirely taken with you."

Beth nearly slammed her teacup onto the saucer. "He's what?"

"We'll get to that, I promise," Remus said, directing her attention back to his comment before. "James and Lily are going to keep insinuating and suggesting that we have to go on at least one outing together until the day we finally do. I say that day comes as soon as possible so that the comments go away. They may not bother you, but frankly I'm tired of it."

"Ah," Beth replied, a smirk coming onto her face. "So you're using me."

"Essentially, yes."

"And you're sure you don't mind kind of looking like a rebound?"

"I could honestly care less about what I bloody look like. I want peace."

Beth laughed, contemplating the idea. "So they would think we were going on a date—"

"—but we'll tell them at the end that we think we're better off as friends," Remus finished.

"Because Sirius is 'entirely taken' with me?"

"Ah, yes, that," Remus said. "I couldn't pursue you even if I wanted to at this state of infatuation. He's miserable over the fact that he messed it up with you."

Beth scoffed. "Yeah, I'm sure he's absolutely devastated."

"He is." Remus said it so confidently and forcefully that Beth knew better than to argue it again. "He's probably going to ask you out again. The question is, what will you say?"

Beth gaped at him. "Are you honestly suggesting I say anything but no?"

"I'm asking," Remus explained, "whether you will give Sirius another chance. I helped him create the plans he had for what was supposed to be your date. He's never put that much energy into planning one. I'm not lying when I say he's entirely taken with you, and the thing is, it's pretty clear to see that you're taken with him yourself."

Beth stared ahead, unsure of what to say back. "I'm still mad at him," she weakly argued.

Remus was having none of it. "I'm mad at him. Wasting an opportunity with someone as lovely as you? I'd never let that go if I were you. So hold it over his head, make him feel awful, make him a weak mess every time he thinks about it, but decide now what you're going to say, because I'm fairly confident he'll ask again. If you let him, he'll treat you right, because he knows that he ruined it the first time. No, he didn't tell me all the details of what happened, but he did keep saying, 'I messed it up, I messed it up.' He'll spend whatever time you have together trying to elicit your forgiveness, and will make sure that you're treated like a queen in all the moments in between."

Beth looked towards Remus, fiddling her hands together as she spoke. "Isn't it kind of backwards to ask me on a date and then tell me that your friend will be wonderful with me?

Remus laughed. "What, they don't do it that way in the states?"

Beth rolled her eyes and shook her head no. After a moment, she looked up at him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Remus replied.

"When you said it was pretty clear that I liked him too, how could you tell?"

He smiled at her. "Because despite all of the rubbish he put you through, not once did you say you hated him for it. You said you'd been on worse dates, which means you've tried to normalize all the events that occurred with him. You're mad at him, but you're not livid, and while I'm certain you have a few choice words you'd like to say to him, you would have included it in the story if you meant them. In conclusion," Remus said, throwing his hands up slightly, "I think you fancy him still. Am I wrong?"

Beth shook her head before she sighed loudly. "Are you going to make me tell you what I decide?"

"No." Remus picked up his cup and took a sip. "I imagine you won't even have an answer until the next time you see him. Until then," Remus stood up, taking his tea with him and talking again in a slightly louder voice, "you can rest assured knowing that you have an amazing date waiting for you say, Friday night?"

"YOU HAVE A DATE WITH REMUS?" James yelled from down the hall, footsteps quickly following it.

Beth quickly glanced at the hallway before meeting Remus' gaze with a smile and a nod. "Friday night," she confirmed.

James burst through the opening, slapping Remus on the back before racing to the telephone. "I HAVE TO CALL LILY!"

A/N: Seem a little out of character? Trust me, I've got a much better explanation for things later on in the story than the pathetic one Remus gave. This whole story strives to be as canon as a fanfiction with a made up character can be, so stick with me!

I hope you all have had, continue to have, or do have the best day imaginable. You all are such amazing, incredible people, and I cherish each and every one of you reading, reviewing, favoriting, or following this story. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Up next, Sirius comes back to find out Beth is out with Remus. Should be an interesting interaction, don't you think?