Enter for the Quidditch League Competition - Round 7 - Puddlemere United - Keeper

Prompt: A Date (i.e. First, Blind, Fake)

Word count: 1,364

Warnings: Muggle AU

(I think I'm ready) for something new

"You should go talk to her," James said, making Sirius whip his head around to gawk at him.

"Whaaaaat?" Sirius squeaked out and leaned back in his chair as if wanting to get away from the conversation.

James ignored Sirius's dramatics and went on, "You've been staring at her for the last fifteen minutes without blinking."

"No, I haven't," Sirius replied quickly—maybe too quickly, if James' eyebrows climbing to his hairline like rolling centipedes were any indication. "Shut up, Prongs."

Sirius had never felt this way before. He couldn't explain what it was about the single mum at the table beside theirs. Maybe it was the way her vivid red hair was pulled in a bun on top of her head, or the way her amazing green eyes widened each time she looked at her baby, or even how she bit her oh-so-kissable lips every few seconds. Maybe it was all of those things that attracted him to her. A strange gut feeling he'd never felt before made him want to go up to her. And it scared the living daylights out of him.

"She seems like she needs some help with the baby, so why don't you go over there and help her?" Remus suggested, not looking up from his menu. "Use that fancy education your parents paid for."

Sirius frowned, not wanting to have a discussion about his parents at the moment. "I can't go over there! She'll think I'm a serial killer or something!"

"You're weird but not 'serial killer weird.' Just don't come on too strong. You could ask her if she'd like some help with the baby," Peter piped in.

Sirius was starting to think that maybe his friends were right, but it was James who helped him make a decision.

"Just go!" James smiled before pointing his chin towards the table. "If you don't go, you'll always wonder about it."

Nodding, Sirius decided to finally take the plunge. Taking a deep breath before standing up, Sirius walked towards the redhead's table. He tried to ignore his friends cheering in the background like the wonderful lunatics they were.

Ignoring the pounding of his own heart, Sirius approached the table and smiled at the scene in front of him. The woman was talking in a baby voice to the baby, who he assumed was her son. Meanwhile, the baby was looking at her like she was holding the universe in the palm of her hands. It was freaking adorable and Sirius was tempted to squeal and pinch the baby's chubby cheeks.

"Uhn, hey," Sirius started, cringing on the inside about how uncool he sounded. "I was sitting over there and couldn't stop looking at your table. And I was wondering if you needed any help?"

The woman's green eyes widened slightly. Wait, that sounded a bit rude, didn't it?

"Not that I was implying anything, I just thought you could use some help. Not that you need any help, especially from a strange man you've never seen or met before—not that I'm dangerous or anything," Sirius babbled, unable to stop himself.

The woman kept staring at him.

Sirius' brain had officially deserted him, so he just kept going, "I just thought it would be a nice gesture to come here and offer help, but now that I'm here rambling like a buffoon, I just realised I didn't think this through. I just spooked you, didn't I? Yeah, you probably think I'm a serial killer, even though I'm honestly terrified of blood, spiders, and bloody spiders. Okay, I'm just going to go back to my table now. Sorry to have bothered you."

Sirius tried to retreat to his table with whatever dignity he still had left. Just then, a tiny hand on his sleeve stopped him. He turned his head and found the black-haired baby had grabbed his sleeve and was smiling up at him, revealing his toothless gums.

"Hey, handsome boy, what do you think you're doing?" Sirius asked, taking the hand of the baby and squatting down, smiling all the while.

"Harry likes to play with people," the woman replied, and Sirius was relieved to see she was smiling at him. Maybe she didn't think he was a complete psycho yet. "I'm Lily. And, for the record, I didn't think you were a serial killer."

His face probably turned as red as Lily's hair. At least the shade was beautiful. It would have been a shame if his face turned carmine or even wine-red. As a child, he'd spent too much time hanging around his older cousins, who were all girls, so he knew shades of colours that no straight man would ever know.

He stammered, "I'm Sirius, and I'm really sorry for the word vomit you heard just now. My brain tilts when I'm around a pretty woman."

"You think I'm pretty?" Lily's head cocked to the side, and funnily enough, Harry did the same. It was as if he was judging him for calling his mother pretty instead of gorgeous like Sirius initially wanted.

"Yes, I think you're very pretty," Sirius whispered. Maybe if she wasn't running for the hills yet, that meant she didn't mind his rambling. Pushing his luck, he asked, "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"Please, go ahead. Just a heads up: you may end up with food in your clothes, because Harry has recently decided that it's fun to decorate people with his food." Lily sighed before smiling and kissing Harry's chubby cheek. "But he's so adorable; I can't be mad with him for too long."

"I wouldn't be able to remain angry with such a cute face either," Sirius said and sat down next to Harry's high chair.

The boy, seeing his new friend, laughed and clapped his hands on the table rhythmically. Sirius laughed and put his own hand on top of Harry's. "It's nice to meet you too, Hary.

"I'm surprised you understand what he meant! He doesn't usually act like this around strangers. Especially handsome ones such as yourself." Lily blushed and glanced at Harry, whose head was now bent over Sirius' wrist as he nibbled on the side of Sirius' hand.

Sirius couldn't look at Lily after that, too stunned to speak. Trying not to show how much he loved hearing her compliment him, he grabbed the first thing in front of him, which turned out to be Harry's bottle.

"Look at that, Harry! I think I grabbed your lunch," Sirius said, grabbing the bottle and shaking it. "Want me to feed you?"

"If you somehow get him to drink from his bottle, you'll be my hero." Lily didn't look up from her plate, but Sirius could see she was smiling.

Taking the bottle to Harry was a herculean task, since the boy didn't seem much interested in the bottle the same as he was with the food in front of him, but it took only ten minutes for Sirius to convince Harry to take the bottle. It was almost like he was where Sirius meant to be.

"Thank you for offering to help, Sirius," Lily said when they were almost finished eating their food.

"I think it made for an interesting first date," Sirius said before freezing. "Not that this was a date, I'm not assuming anything, of course. I was just helping you with Harry—who is an adorable baby, even though half of his food is on my shirt and I'm pretty sure it's inside it too—but you're just so pretty and I'm babbling like an idiot again, but you are just so pretty and smart and I fear I'll never stop talking and—"

Lily's finger on his mouth stopped his babble. "This was an interesting first date, yes, but I think the next one we can make it without Harry throwing food on your clothes? And maybe it will be just for adults…"

Sirius smirked and took Lily's hand, squeezing it lightly. "Honestly, I wouldn't mind taking you both out on a date, so, can I have your number?"

It looked like all it took was a little courage and some nudging from his friends, but Sirius was ready to start something new.