Chapter 11.

"Well, I can't say I'm not excited to see you," Lily said as she opened the door.

Sirius immediately swooped her into a hug, holding her just as tightly as she was with him. "Oh please," he replied, rocking them from side to side slightly as he continued to hug her. "You know my loss would devastate you."

"Yeah, I'd have to listen to James complain about it for the rest of my sodding life."

Sirius pulled back, returning the grin she was giving him easily. He watched as Lily looked him completely over, knowing in an instant that she was looking for any sign of injury. "You're alright though?" she asked after a quick inspection, concern flashing through her eyes.

He nodded. "I'm fine." Lily offered him a smile, and though Sirius knew she would never admit to it to his face, the softness spoke volumes about how grateful she was to hear it.

"So then why didn't you send us a bloody owl to tell us you were?" James demanded, joining them in the room. "The least you could do was write."

Sirius clapped his friend on the back, laughing at his reaction. "What, and give away where I was hiding?"

"Well—"

"Not to mention you have a muggle living here. I'm fairly certain she would notice an owl sitting in the kitchen."

"Okay, okay, you've made your point." James led the way towards the kitchen, wrapping an arm around Lily's shoulders along the way. "You don't need to be such a tosser about it."

"So where did Dumbledore send you?" Lily asked, interfering the small spat. "He mentioned that it wasn't a usual assignment, but that was all he said."

Sirius shrugged, turning the corner into the kitchen. "Nowhere fancy. Somewhere in the outskirts of France. There had been reports of unusual activity, but the only thing I saw was a group of them at a pub."

"Who all was there?" James questioned.

"The usual lot," Sirius replied, rummaging through the cupboards for a glass. "Lucius Malfoy's hair is getting longer."

"You know, you always comment on how long his hair is," Lily pointed out. "Are you afraid he's going to end up with better hair than yours?"

"Lil, he just got back," James defended. "Give him a couple of minutes before you two start tearing into each other."

"Oi, I hugged him didn't I?""

"Just a couple more minutes," he assured her, pulling her hand up to his lips to press a quick kiss to it. Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled at her fiancé before turning her attention back towards Sirius. "So, Lucius Malfoy?" James urged him.

Sirius nodded, moving to fill his glass with water. "Narcissa was there with him."

"Oh, right," James said. "He's family now, isn't he?"

Sirius scoffed lightly before taking a drink of his water. "He's not family," he mumbled, keeping his eyes focused downward. He knew the sad stares that would follow what he said, and the last thing he desired was sympathy regarding the people he was related to. Crossing an arm across his chest, he added, "The group was too large for me to do any real damage on my own, and they don't exactly let dogs into pubs, so I hardly picked up anything."

"Wait, were you a dog the entire time?"

Sirius raised his eyes, smirking at James. "That's the prize of choosing an inconspicuous animagus, Prongs."

James went on a tangent regarding their animagus being based on their patronus rather than their choice, but Sirius tuned it out. The flat was much more quiet than it should have been. Based on the time, Beth should have at least been back, let alone pestering him for their past night together. He was admittedly grateful to not have to face her wrath, but her presence was missed.

He had spent the better part of his assignment trying to concoct the words he needed to say to ask for her forgiveness. Their attempt at a date had been absolutely ruined, and though he had tried to place the blame on her, he knew the truth. How he was going to weasel his way out of this mess, he wasn't sure, but he knew he had to speak to her. Whether he cared to admit it or not, he had missed her deeply, almost to the same extent as he had everyone else. The small amount of time they had spent together thus far had made an impression on him, and he found that he genuinely missed her company.

Granted, he also missed the way her face fit so perfectly into his hands as he would lift it slightly to brush—

"—and Beth once told me that deer were some of the greatest creations on Earth, so try to compete with that."

Sirius inclined his head slightly, trying not to show too much of an interest for appearances' sake. "Where is Beth?"

Lily's face lit up with a glee that he hadn't seen her express since James' proposal. "She's on a date with Remus."

Instantly, all thoughts of gently trying to persuade her to go out with him vanished as the shocking truth settled in. "She's what?

"Yeah, he asked her to dinner a couple of days ago. They've been saying all this stuff like 'the heart wants what it wants,' and 'maybe it's meant to be' all week." Lily smiled victoriously at her fiancé, who was giving her the same smile back. "It couldn't be any more perfect."

"But I fancy her," Sirius said, his mind still racing to wrap around the fact that he was about to lose out on Beth to Remus Lupin. He might have been one of his best friends, but Merlin alive was the man about to be hexed into oblivion. How could he?! He knew all about how he felt! Yes, he had taken a couple of liberties when it came to the events of their date, but that didn't mean that Remus could come in and steal her away while he was gone.

"What do you mean, you fancy her?" James questioned, concern washing over his face. "Since when?"

"Since always, you dolt," Sirius accused. "A blind person could see it. Now you've went and sent Remus on her trail—"

"Because Remus would be good for her," Lily stated. "They get along magnificently. You should see the way they interact with each other."

Sirius rubbed his face with his hands before looking at James. "Where are they?"

James shook his head. "You can't go after her. She's on a date."

Sirius laughed loudly in exasperation. "She was on a date with me not even a week ago."

"The wedding?"

"Yes," Sirius said, pointing his finger at the two of them. "The wedding was a date no matter what she says, but then we went on another one Sunday evening and I messed it up. I've spent this whole trip trying to think up a way to win her back."

"She's not a prize, Sirius," Lily scolded. "She's a human being. She can make her own choices, and right now she's choosing to be on a date with Remus. You can't fight that."

Sirius threw his head back, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. "I want to."

"But you said you messed it up," James noted. "She gave you a chance."

Sirius grabbed his friend by the shoulders, meeting him at eye level. Taking a breath, he thought back to the monologue James had given him once after a particularly bad rejection by Lily. Sirius had begged him to stop the madness, to give her up and move on with his life. The response James had given him had stopped him from ever questioning his interest in her ever again, and Sirius worked hard to pull the words from his memory.

"James," he began, speaking quietly and slowly. "I cannot stop pursuing someone who will not stop entering my mind. I have to chase every opportunity I have and hope that she'll say yes. I will continue to do this until I am sure the chance is gone, so don't try to stop me."

James stared into his eyes, recognition flashing before the emotion went blank. Sirius maintained the eye contact, hoping against all odds that James would give him something, anything. Lily was standing beside him, her arms crossed and her face flared, obviously trying to signal James to dissuade any thoughts he had.

Ignoring her expression, he stared deeper, trying to reach his friend. "James," he whispered, doing his best to dissuade any and all anger he felt at the moment. "Let me try."

James tore his eyes away, looking down at the ground for a moment before glancing towards Lily. Sirius saw her slightly shake her head. He felt himself deflate slightly, knowing that his chances were dwindling. He knew why she was so against it. He didn't exactly have a history of positive interactions with girls. He had thought he could get away with it with Beth too; whoo her into giving up as much as she could offer, then say goodbye when it was time to leave. It had almost worked, too, until his decision to get drunk interfered. Sure, he liked her, but this was his normal procedure.

When she had so brazenly objected to his advances, he'd been put off to say the least. It was what they had arranged, what they had agreed to—or so he thought. She had made it incredibly clear that she wanted nothing to do with him, but he had remembered seeing a tinge of sadness reach her eyes. No tears, no, but disappointment at the way he had been acting was anything but hidden. That face she made had haunted him throughout all of Dumbledore's assignment, and it had taken less than twenty four hours for him to realize that he wanted to do this relationship for real.

Now, the only thing that was standing between him and absolute happiness was Remus Lupin, if he could ever figure out where he was. The absolute nerve of this man. How could he knowingly pursue someone he was so taken with?!

After a moment longer, James met his gaze. "The diner down the street."

"James!" Lily exclaimed, but Sirius ignored her.

"Thank you," he said, offering him a small smile. Immediately, Sirius apparated to the diner, ready to confront his friend.

"What in Merlin's name is going on here?!" Sirius shouted the second he walked through the door. He didn't even make notice of where the godforsaken couple were sitting until he had stomped entirely through, finally making eye contact with a wide-eyed Beth and an exasperated-looking Remus. Striding over to them, he pointed a finger at Remus. "You!"

"And here I was concerned you weren't doing well," Remus murmured.

"Oh shove off, Lupin," Sirius snarled. He looked over at Beth, despair crowding his face. "What are you doing here with him?"

"I'm eating dinner," Beth commented calmly as she motioned to her plate. Her peacefulness inflamed him, and he felt his resolve slipping as he noticed how at ease she looked.

"I thought we had made an arrangement," he confronted.

"We made a date, and you ruined it," Beth replied, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Then," Remus interjected, "you led me to believe that it was her fault that the date ended badly."

Sirius stared at the two of them, taking a moment to compose himself before continuing. "Okay," he said, throwing his hands up slightly. "So maybe I forgot a couple of details—"

"A couple of details," Remus mumbled under his breath, chuckling slightly. "You left out the entire part where you showed up drunk."

"So, what?" Sirius asked, all of his attempt at calmly trying to win Beth back vanishing as anger began clouding his mind. "You're just going to go on a date with her immediately afterwards and trash talk someone who's always been there for you—"

"We're not on a date."

Sirius whipped his head towards Beth, immediately stopping his sentence and taking in the girl he was fighting for so hard. She simply raised her eyebrows and took a sip of her water, waiting for him to respond. "You're what?" he finally asked, feeling some of the anger disappear as the sentence started to sink in.

"We're not actually on a date," Beth repeated, giving Remus a small smile. "We're doing this to get James and Lily off our backs. It was all his idea."

"Well, you did play along very nicely," Remus added, leaning in on his elbows. "That line you gave, the 'there's only one way to find out what the heart truly wants,' was inspired."

"You had a good one too, though, " Beth noted. "When you said 'I'm sure love will find me when I quit looking,' and James and Lily acted like it wasn't the most cliché response in the books."

Sirius shook his head, glancing at the two sitting in front of him. "So you're not, I mean, you're not—"

Remus sighed. "Honestly, Sirius, you think I'm going to pursue the girl you couldn't quit talking about the day after you met her? What kind of a friend do you take me as?"

Sirius smiled at Beth, who was still giving him raised eyebrows but whose face was slightly softening. Looking towards Remus, he replied, "A rather good one, I suppose."

"A rather good one?" Remus clarified, standing up from his chair. "If I didn't value our friendship so much, you'd have a run for your money with her." Giving Beth a teasing smile, he finished, "Now, your 'rather good' friend is going to take a couple of minutes outside while the two of you work this nonsense out, and when I come back, there better be a general consensus about where the two of you stand. Am I clear?"

Sirius took a step back, eyeing the man in front of him. "What do you mean, am I—"

"Am. I. Clear?" Remus repeated, staring him down with an impressive intensity. Sirius hid a chuckle as he nodded his response back, Beth, in turn, doing the same. "Good."

Beth and Sirius watched him walk out of the restaurant for a moment, impressed by his suddenly firm stance. "He would be a good teacher," Beth said, her eyes still focused on the door he walked out of.

"Yeah, he would," Sirius nodded. Looking back at the girl seated at the table, he took a deep breath. If he wanted this to work, it would have to be crafted and worded in such a way that Cupid himself would be jealous. Motioning to Remus' empty seat, he asked, "Is this seat taken?"

Beth sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Apparently not."

"Great," Sirius said, sitting down across from her.

"Listen, Sirius," Beth immediately began, positioning herself so that she was leaning onto the table. "I don't know what you were thinking showing up to that date drunk, but I won't accept a mediocre apology for it. If you're here to say you want to continue whatever 'friends-with-benefits' bull crap you had concocted in your mind, then you might as well leave now."

"I don't want that," Sirius stated, and he realized in that instant that it was completely true. Emboldened by this revelation, he repeated, "I don't want that."

"Oh?" Beth asked. "Then what do you want?"

"Well," he said, chuckling slightly to himself. "Ideally it would involve you and I doing unspeakable things to each other every night—"

Beth reached down for her purse. "Goodbye, Sirius."

"—but in reality," he continued, causing her to pause. "I would ask for your forgiveness for the awful behavior I displayed and for you to try not to hate me."

Sirius watched as her focus immediately intensified, staring into what felt like was his very soul. She sat there motionless for what felt like an eternity, and though Sirius tried to maintain her gaze, he felt himself starting to get nervous under her scrutiny.

"I don't hate you," Beth finally said. "I wish I did, but I don't."

Sirius felt his grin forming the second she started speaking. "You don't?"

"I'm mad at you."

"I can work with mad," he responded almost too quickly. Meeting her smile, he was about to ask her if they could remain friends, already planning a way to win her over, when she interrupted his thoughts.

"I like you, Sirius." She spoke confidently, meeting his eyes directly with a determination that he had yet to see matched. "I think you're clever and funny and obnoxiously handsome, and I think we would work well together. I know James and Lily think differently, but I also know think that we know ourselves better than they know us."

"Wait," he said, motioning with his hand. "Go back to the part where you said I was clever and funny and what?"

"However," Beth said, hiding her smile as best as she could before straightening her face completely, "the way you treated me the other night was not acceptable. I will not allow myself to be treated that way again. If you want another chance, it has to be an all in effort, not some halfhearted make-out session in the coat closet or whatever it was that you had planned. I'm not expecting you to promise me forever, but I'm going to need something more open, honest, and doesn't make me question my choices."

Sirius took in her words, realizing that they had both come to the same conclusion about how to possibly give this another shot. She was right. James and Lily knew nothing about how they worked together. "You're giving me another chance?"

Beth smiled, and sweet Merlin, did he miss that smile. "I'm opening up the opportunity to you. If you don't want it, that's absolutely fine. We'll be friends, and I'll start writing you letters too when I go back to the states, with the understanding of course that I'll be telling everyone about the worst date I ever went on."

"You're giving me another chance," Sirius repeated, stating it rather than questioning it.

Beth eyed him, shyly but directly. "Do you want it?"

Sirius grabbed her hand and cradled it between his two, trying to curb the overwhelming amount of enthusiasm he felt as he spoke. "Beth, will you pretty please with a cherry on top be my girlfriend?"

Beth recoiled slightly, confusing Sirius. "Whoa, wait, girlfriend?"

"Isn't that what you wanted?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

Sirius saw a tinge of red coming to her cheeks, and though he knew it was out of embarrassment, he couldn't help but think how adorable it made her look. "You do realize I'm leaving in two months, right?"

Sirius nodded his head assuredly. "I'm aware."

"And you still want to?"

Laughing, he replied, "Beth, if you're trying to talk me out of this, I don't think it's going to work."

"I'm not trying to—"

"Alright then," he interrupted, knowing he didn't want to get into an argument. "Be my girlfriend for at least two months."

Beth blushed again, biting her lip quickly. "At least?"

"I'm optimistic."

Leaning in to the table more, she asked, "You think you can manage having a girlfriend?"

"Absolutely."

"You think you can manage to not show up to dates drunk?"

Sirius threw up his hands, rolling his eyes before looking back at her. "That was one time."

Beth scoffed. "It was the only time."

Sirius rolled his eyes again, but grabbed a hold of her other hand. "Fine. I won't show up to dates drunk again."

She smiled warmly, moving her thumbs in small circles over the tops of his hands. "And you'll treat me like a girlfriend and not some floozy you're only going to see for the summer?"

"I will treat you so well that James will be ashamed of how he's treating Lily."

She laughed, squeezing his hand tightly. "Then yes."

Sirius froze, her agreement slowly beginning to sink in as a smile crept onto his own face. "Yes?" he asked, needing the verification that he hadn't imagined her response.

Beth nodded, her own smile simply overtaking her face. "Yes."

Sirius moved his hands to interlace his fingers with hers, but his hands were the only thing that he could manage to move. His eyes were stuck on the girl, his girlfriend, sitting in front of him. Who would have thought one bad date would lead to this overwhelming amount of happiness?

"Crap," Beth mumbled under her breath, disrupting his happy thoughts. "We forgot something."

"What's that?" Sirius asked, his voice riddled with concern.

"We have to tell James and Lily now."

"Well, they know I'm here," he said. "James was the one who told me where your date was at."

"Yeah, but they didn't know I was fake dating Remus so that I could tell them it didn't work and for-real date you."

"Wait," Sirius said, shaking his head. "All of this was a set up?"

Beth nodded. "We were coming up with ways to make you to apologize the second you walked through the door. I told you it was all his idea."

Sirius' face shifted slightly at the realization. He furrowed his brow. "And I just yelled at him, James, and Lily for the whole mess."

Beth sighed. "Well, what are we going to do?"

"We should probably just go ahead and break up," Sirius offered teasingly, smiling slightly to himself when he saw Beth's eyes twinkle at the response. "That seems to be the only viable option."

"You're right," Beth replied, moving to stand up from her chair. "But we should probably still tell them that we were together, even if it was for such a short time."

Sirius stood up with her and pushed in his chair. "That seems reasonable." Beth smiled at his response (Oh Merlin above, please don't let me ever tire of that smile) and reached her hand out for his, intertwining their fingers together yet again. The look she gave him that followed spoke entirely of newborn infatuation and happiness, and he was struck to the bone in an instant.

"I might have another idea of what we could do before that, though," she commented as they walked towards the exit.

"Oh?"

Beth leaned closer to him, her mouth coming up towards his ear. "We could not go tell them and instead go to the alley right next to here and make out."

Sirius had never dragged someone out of a room so fast in his life.

Summer 1996

"And that's how Sirius and Beth started dating," Remus said, reaching for his cup of slightly colder tea.

Harry nodded slightly to himself. Remus noticed that the boy's features and body had softened significantly since he started talking, though the traces of sadness were still apparent. Remus had a feeling that they would stay there for a while, especially considering how hard he had taken the loss. He would have to talk to Molly before he left about that, though he was certain that a batch of her cookies would significantly help the situation.

"Why didn't he ever mention her?" Harry asked. "I mean, I know I didn't get to spend an immense amount of time with him, but I would have figured that it would have come up eventually."

Remus took in a breath. There were too many details, too many stories to tell, too many painful memories that came as the answer to that question. "A lot changed after he returned from Azkaban," he replied. "You know that."

Harry looked down at his hands, fidgeting with them slightly. "Yeah, I suppose so," he agreed. Remus couldn't help but overhear the dejection ringing in his voice, and felt his heart clench slightly.

He wants answers, a voice rang through his head.

Yes, I know what he wants, Sirius, Remus snapped back. But you didn't want to tell him about her either.

"That can't possibly be it."

Sirius and Harry turned their heads simultaneously to find Hermione standing in the corner of the room. Her arms were folded across her chest, a look of disbelief crossing her face. "You can't possibly start a story with, 'Did you know Sirius almost got married?' and end it with 'a lot changed after he returned from Azkaban'."

"Were you listening the entire time?" Harry questioned.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I've had those extendable ears the twins made on you since the first night you arrived here. Did you honestly think Mrs. Weasley was the only one worried about you?"

"Well, no—"

"In fact," another voice piped in, "I'm pretty sure it was us that suggested Professor Lupin come."

Remus watched as Ron came out from behind the hallway, walking confidently into the living room. Hermione followed him instantly, both of them coming to sit opposite Remus and Harry. Remus felt himself become baffled by their sudden intrusion, asking them, "How long have you been listening?"

"With all due respect," Harry butted in, "I think this qualifies more as eavesdropping."

Hermione ignored Harry's comment completely and faced Remus. "I've been over there since you came in," Hermione casually replied. "Ron came around about the time of the beginning of the wedding."

Remus stared ahead at his former students, realizing now that they were blocking the view of the window he'd been using when he wanted to avoid eye contact. He quickly glanced around, hoping to find something else to stare at. It was one thing to tell this story to Harry; he was Sirius' godson. It was an entirely different matter to tell two completely uninvolved people about the intimate details of a stranger's life. Suddenly, the need to forget everything about her came back into mind, his instincts running to shut off every memory that came up.

"It's not like Harry wasn't going to tell us later," Ron finished. "Us being here simply takes out the middleman."

Hermione nodded. "Plus it's an interesting story. I don't think anybody knew about this."

"There was a reason for that," Remus mumbled, choosing to stare down at the floor. In his mind, Beth was sitting next to him on a couch, an empty glass of wine standing on the table beside her. Remus squeezed his eyes shut. He'd forgotten all about that night.

"You're going to finish it though, right?" Hermione prodded.

Remus brought his focus back to the people in front of him, smirking slightly to himself at Hermione's beckoning. "I'd forgotten how inquisitive you were."

"We haven't," Ron muttered with a smile, instantly retracting it when Hermione elbowed him in the side. The comment elicited a smile from Harry, though, and the young man's face quickly showed no signs of distress as he watched the two bicker back and forth.

Remus took in the sight, knowing immediately how reminiscent it was of the many times he had sat opposite Sirius and Beth doing the exact same thing. Harry was noticeably more at peace with his friends beside him, obviously enjoying the distraction of life's most recent events through the banter of his friends. Remus had repeatedly put himself in the same situation, using the two's useless—but compelling—arguments over small things to distract himself from the pain of the full moon. He watched as Harry joined in, making some comment about how he wouldn't be surprised to find out that she'd cost them more house points than anyone else. Hermione immediately retaliated, laughing as she threw back a reply, and Remus found himself becoming more at peace.

Don't you go replacing us now, Moony, Sirius scolded him.

Or at least find friends your own age, James added.

"Anyway," Hermione said sharply, looking expectantly towards Remus. "Will you finish it?"

Remus breathed in deeply. "You honestly want to hear the rest of it?" The three of them nodded their heads assuredly. Remus eyed them all, giving them the same stern look he'd given them in his classroom. "You're not just saying that to make me feel important or needed or whatever else Molly told you?"

Ron sat back a little, surprised at his deduction. "You knew my mum was in on this?"

Remus raised his eyebrow. "Are you honestly going to tell me your mother isn't listening in on this conversation as we speak?"

"I am not!" a muffled yell came from upstairs, followed by the scurrying of feet.

Remus smiled to himself and nodded as the other three began to laugh. "Yeah, I thought so."

They all sat in silence for a moment afterwards, Hermione and Ron obviously waiting for him to begin again. Remus remained speechless, however, hoping his silence would diminish the desire to hear the remainder of the story. He probably would have gotten his way, too, had Harry not broken the silence with, "I'd like to hear the rest, too."

Remus turned towards James' son, whose composure was still full of more despair than a boy his age should have. Remus couldn't have denied him even if he wanted to. Sighing reluctantly, he asked, "You would?"

"I would," Harry affirmed, situating himself into a more comfortable position on the sofa, an expectant expression overtaking the previously sad one.

Remus rubbed his hands over his face, allowing the memories, thoughts, and emotions to come back to him. There were so many elements he couldn't tell, didn't know how to tell, or, on principle, wouldn't tell. As they all came flooding back, though, he found himself helpless to it all. The smiles, the laughter, even the heartache, it all lead to who he was today. To omit anything would be to omit a part of himself.

Shifting himself back in time to several years before, he nodded softly. "Okay."

A/N: Hello all! I am floored by your kind words, favorites, and follows. Thank you for following this little story of mine!

Chapter 14 has just been sent to the illustrious nimblescrivener, and guys, let me tell you, it's a game changer for this fic. The whole chapter was her idea actually, so huge snaps to her for getting me out of writer's block.

I will do everything in my power to update soon. Stick with me!

Up next, a budding romance is in the air. I hope you have dental insurance, because it's sweet enough to get a cavity.