Harry's butterbeer spewed from him mouth across the table and onto a very unfortunate Remus, who looked like he was about to kill Sirius. "Excuse me." He said getting up and going towards the men's room.
Harry turned and looked at Sirius. "What?"
"Are you a virgin?" Sirius calmly repeated.
"Why, what has Erin told you?"
"Nothing." He said. "I was just wondering if you could offer any advice."
Harry swallowed. "Uh, no, I'm less experienced than you are."
Sirius laughed. "Ah, come on, I'm not that experienced and I've seen you and Erin together…I won't be mad, come on tell me."
"Erin and I haven't done anything, actually in the future you told us we'd better be on our best behavior."
"Man," Sirius said. "I must have gotten to be responsible when I got old." Sirius said responsible like it was a four-letter word. "So, anyway, you, Erin, night of ecstasy?"
Harry went bright red. "I…uh…I…I mean…"
"Dad, stop grilling Harry for information." Erin said slipping past him into the booth and pushing them apart to sit in between them. "We haven't done anything… really."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked.
"Well…" Erin said not really sure what to say. "You see we haven't made love or anything, but we did do something that was pretty…seventh-heavenish."
"Ah." Sirius said not really understanding, but he could tell Erin and Harry weren't going to answer any more questions about their sex life…or lack thereof. "Don't worry, Harry, she'll stop saying no."
"DAD!" Erin yelled smacking him.
"OW!" He said rubbing his arm. "What I say?"
"I am not the one saying no! Of course, Harry isn't either! We're too young to think about that. Besides, if you're old enough to have sex, you're old enough to accept the consequences and you know I am definitely not ready to be pregnant, so no, we aren't ready for it."
"Fine, fine." Sirius said. "No skin off my back. I was just looking for information."
"What kind of information?" Erin asked suspiciously.
"Basically, what to do." He said and seeing their faces he quickly amended that. "I didn't mean that I don't know what to do…just well…ok, shutting up now."
"Good idea." Remus said sitting back down across from them. "Hogwarts should teach Sex-Ed."
"No kidding." Sirius said. "All the Muggle schools do, so why not Hogwarts?"
"Because they don't want you getting any ideas?" Harry said expressing his view. "Not that you don't already have ideas…but, this would just make them worse."
"It would not." Sirius defended. "I'm a bad influence no matter what they do."
"Truly." Erin said sipping her butterbeer again.
"I know someone else that is." Harry said teasingly.
"Oh you!" Erin said trying to tickle him, but her caught her hands and held her so she couldn't get away. Not that she wanted to. He leaned down and kissed her sweetly. "Mmmm." Erin murmured.
Harry smiled when he pulled away. "I can't think of a better thing to do…" He had to be careful though, he didn't want to kiss her too much or he probably wouldn't stop. "You're beautiful." He whispered.
Erin smiled. "So are you…"
He kissed her again. "I love you."
"Always." Erin said snuggling into him. "And always."
"I'm glad for that." He said holding her to him. "What's next, guys?"
"Getting Remus a date with Eugenia Mulflower." Erin said sneakily.
"Don't even!" Remus said. "I mean it! No! You are not allowed to do anything of the sort!"
"Famous last words." Sirius said. "Oh, Genie!"
"SIRIUS!" Remus practically leapt over the table tackling him…too late.
Genie stood over them blushing and grinning a little. "You wanted something, Sirius?"
"Yeah!" He said from his position on the ground, but Remus slapped his hand over Sirius' mouth.
"No!" Remus said and they were rolling around again.
Genie looked at Harry and Erin. She assumed Harry was James from the way she looked at him. She was amused. "What did he want to ask me?"
"Remus wants to ask you out." Erin said.
"ERIN!" Remus said.
"Ok."
There was silence from the four of them. "Uh, sorry?" Remus said looking up at her.
"Ok." Genie said smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow night at seven. Don't be late!" She called waving back over her shoulder as she walked away.
Remus and Sirius both were lying there on the floor and staring their mouths agape at the retreating girl. She was very pretty. She had shoulder length wavy blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She wore glasses, but that wasn't a bad thing and she apparently liked Remus…so even better. "You are such a wuss." Erin said.
Remus was still staring. "Maybe, but she just said yes…"
"Yeah, we all heard her." Harry said. "Anyway, congratulations." He raised an eyebrow at Erin though and she shrugged. They weren't changing history, anything they did already happened…or so she hoped.
Erin was lying across her dad's bed as she watched Sirius and Remus prepare for Remus' date that evening. Actually Remus was getting ready and Sirius was basically interfering. "No, Remus! You should wear a t-shirt! You can't get all dressed up for a date! No, not that shirt! The blue one! No the black one! No the red one!" Erin chuckled as she watched them. Remus seemed to be the overused doll and Sirius the overindulgent child. Remus had no idea what he was doing, but he wanted to at least look nice and he definitely did not want Sirius dressing him or to be wearing any of Sirius' clothes. "No, Remus! You can't wear dress pants! You have to wear jeans!"
Erin shifted herself up on the bed and sighed. "Dad, leave him alone. He can dress however he wants."
"But, Erin, I know about dating, he doesn't." Sirius said as if he were talking to someone other than his daughter. Erin raised an eyebrow at him and Sirius looked away.
Erin got up and went over to the various clothes strewn out on the beds. Man, you'd think they were girls with how much clothes they had. Of course Sirius did come from a wealthy family…Erin picked up a long-sleeved button-up shirt that was striped blue and red and a pair of blue jeans. "Wear these." Erin said, a good compromise between the two of them.
Neither of them argued with her and Remus pulled them on. He had been standing there in a pair of boxers and an undershirt. James came in the room. "Hey, it's almost 7, Genie is gonna be wondering where you are, mate."
"Thanks." Remus said tucking in the shirt. "How do I look?"
He was really asking Erin, but Sirius decided to be the smart aleck he always was. "I don't know." He said. "Do you want Genie to take one look at you and want to rip your clothes off?"
"No." Remus said.
"Then, you're there, mate." Sirius said slapping Remus on the shoulder. Remus growled at this, but didn't say anything.
"OK, Dad, that's enough. You look fine." Erin said straightening his shirt and running a brush through the unruly locks of hair. "I should have cut your hair earlier, but we didn't have time." She tried to flatten it as best she could and finally used some water to get to behave. "OK, that's good." Sirius took that opportunity to put something in Remus' pocket. "What's that?"
"Breath mints." Sirius said. "Never know when you need them."
"Thanks so much." Remus said rolling his eyes. Erin knew he was petrified though. He never would have asked Genie out on his own and now, well, he really liked her, but he was still scared. "Am I done now?"
"Yes." Erin said. "Wait! Your lips are a little chappy!" She took her chapstick and opened it. "Lips apart." She said and dabbed his lips with it. It smelled very fruity. "There, you're ready. Go on, do you have the gift?"
Remus held up a small book of poetry he had bought the day before. "Right here."
"Breath mints in your pocket…don't lick your lips too much…don't put your hands in your pockets…you put on extra deodorant right?" Remus rolled his eyes again as he nodded. "Good, just don't sweat too much. Treat her like a lady and if she wants to make-out, well do your best, if we had time I would have showed you how." There was a snort right behind James. "Quiet, Harry." Erin shot at him. "You'll do fine, now have fun and just be yourself."
"Thank you." Remus said shaking his head. Man, who was the godfather here? A smile played around his lips as he thought about it. He left going down the steps of the tower. Genie was a Ravenclaw and he was meeting her in the Entrance Hall.
Xenia came up after a few minutes. "Ok, he's gone. Let's go."
James raised an eyebrow. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing." Sirius and Xenia said at the same time.
"We're spying on Remus." Erin said.
"Oh," James said unconcerned. "Have fun. Lily and I are going to be working on the Transfiguration paper."
"Where's Peter?" Harry asked.
"I don't know." James shrugged. "Haven't seen him." He left the room.
"Ready?" Sirius asked.
"Ready." Erin said as she disappeared.
Xenia and Sirius led the way down the stairs and out of Gryffindor Tower. They high-tailed it to the Entrance Hall and waited at the top of the stairs. They saw Remus walking towards Genie, who stood there wearing a pair of shorts and a pretty blouse. "Told ya." Erin said.
"He would have looked fine in the t-shirt." Sirius whispered back.
"He looks better since they match." Xenia said. "The perfect combination of dressy and casual. Girls know this stuff, hon."
Sirius just shook his head. Remus was talking a little and he had given Genie the book. The blonde's face lit up and she hugged Remus, who was, to say the least, shocked. He managed to return the hug and Genie took his hand saying something they couldn't hear, obviously about the book. "What's the book?" Xenia asked.
"It's a book of poetry written by Achatious Longspeer." Erin explained. "He's a wonderful poet and Remus noticed that Genie often checks out the book from the library." They were going down the staircase now, cautiously in case they should come back inside. Sirius reached the door first. "They are getting on the bridge now."
"Let's go." Erin said. "Do you two want to be invisible?"
"Yeah, we'd better." Sirius said. In a moment Erin had turned them invisible and they were off after Remus and Genie.
They silently tiptoed onto the bridge and stopped when they saw that the two had stopped by one of the railings. Genie was sitting and Remus standing next to her. "This is so wonderful, Remus. How did you know I was a fan of Longspeer's?"
Remus blushed a little. "Well, you often check him out of the library." He said. "I have been watching you for a long time…"
Genie smiled. They noticed she wasn't wearing her glasses. She was beautiful, you couldn't always tell that with the large glasses she wore, but she definitely was. She had pulled her long hair back into a braid and you could see her face better. And without her glasses you could see her long eyelashes and her eyes seemed exotic in the way that the lids tipped upwards. It was obvious why Remus was so stricken by her and the fact that she was so smart. She was flushed at the moment and it just added to her countenance. "I have been watching you too." She said a little shyly. "I was hoping you would ask me out for while now."
Remus smiled. "I wanted to, but, well, I'm not the most forthwith young man."
"Go Remus." Sirius said barely above a breath. "He's good."
"I have seen that. I am glad your friend Erin decided to ask me out for you." Genie smiled. "It was nice of her."
"Yeah, Erin's the greatest." Remus said smiling even broader now. "She's like…" he paused a moment. "She's like the sister I never had. We're very close."
"I could see that." Genie said. "From the way you were together." She sighed dreamily and looked out across the space the bridge extended over. "It's such a beautiful night. Don't you think so?"
"Enchanting." Remus said and then, "Of the fair moonlight and the fair moon stretching across the great land, nothing is so fair as the glance from thy eyes into mine…"
Genie looked up. "You have read Draegus…"
Remus smiled a little. "Yes, a favorite of mine." He cleared his throat softly. "But hold, through the mists doth come a shape, the figure of a man, but no…'tis the man-wolf that comes, though his heart doth break for the one he may call his mate…"
Sirius gasped, but not loudly. "What's the ponce doing?" He hissed. "Is he insane?"
"He's quoting Draegus." Erin whispered back.
Genie looked at him a little questioningly. "That is an odd passage." She said slowly. Then she took a look of rage on her face. "This is a sham!"
"What?" Remus said. "No!"
"Yes, you found out! I don't know how you did, but—Oh! Remus, I never thought you would be so spiteful or such a bigot as to do something like this!"
"Genie, no, you misunderstood me!" He said a little desperately.
"Oh, I see it quite fine!" She said. "You found out my uncle is a werewolf! Well, he is one of the most kindest, most gentle men I have ever known! Grow up, Remus!"
"I did." Remus said catching her arm. "The day I was bitten."
Genie stopped and stared at him. "You mean…"
Remus nodded. "I care about you, Genie and I would never keep anything from you, that's why I had to tell you now what I am. I understand if you don't want to see me—" Remus was silenced by Genie throwing her arms around him and kissing him. Remus was a little surprised and he had no idea what he was doing, but instincts are instincts and he didn't mess it up too badly.
"Oh, now what does that remind you of?" Harry chuckled.
"Me." Erin said unashamed. "Is it ok, Mum? Remus, I mean."
"Oh, sure." Xenia said and Erin knew her mother was shrugging. "I couldn't just stop being friends with Remus just because he's a werewolf. They didn't stop liking me because I am a seer. Same thing."
"Not totally." Sirius said. "But, yeah, same principle."
Erin decided that they should leave the two new lovebirds to their own devices and they went and took a walk along the lake. Somehow they lost Xenia and Sirius along their walk, but they weren't too disappointed.
James noticed that no one got back to the common room before 2 AM though, no one knew what the others had done, and no one was about to ask.
