I'll Follow You Anywhere

Ch.32: The Date

"You were brave in there," I told her as I looked down once more at her. She smiled to herself and whispered a quiet, "you too." Silence took over between us after that but it was okay, just having her there with me was enough to mend my fragile heart. I could feel the warmth from her hand, which remained next to mine as we walked down the empty hall. Before I knew it we were outside once more, walking towards our parents. We all finally exchanged good-byes and began to go our separate ways.

As Lor reached up to give me a hug, she whispered in my ear, "You'll have to send me a letter to tell me when." Confusion was spread plainly across my face as I let her out of my arms, reluctantly.

"When what?" I asked her, puzzled at what she had said.

"For our date of course," she said, a bright smile dominating over her gentle face. I opened my mouth to say something when I realized that I had nothing to say. Instead I just let a big, goofy smile take over and I nodded. As she turned to follow her dad, she gave me a quick wink, sending my heart crazy.

-32-

"How do I look?" I asked nervously as I loosened my tie again. I glanced at my reflection in James' mirror again, making sure that everything was how it was supposed to look. All I saw when I looked though was a nervous wanker who was way overdressed in a tuxedo. But the place I was taking Lora was fancy and I wanted to look nice. After all, you only get one first date with the girl of your dreams right? If I screwed this up then that was my only chance with her, destroyed by whatever mistake I had made. Another wave of worry washed over me as I sat down on the plush bed behind me.

"Sexy," James replied as he looked over at me. He had been laughing at my nervousness all afternoon, which I found was rather odd because if I remember correctly, he had forgotten how to get dressed on the day of his first date with Lily. "But you look like an idiot with that tie on."

"No he doesn't. He's taking her someone nice; he needs to look nice," Remus cut it. It was his idea that I wore the tie.

"When has he ever worn a tie? Even in Hogwarts he didn't wear ties! I don't even know if he knows how to tie a tie," James exclaimed, walking around the room in an excited manner.

"I know how to tie a tie," I mumbled to myself as I tied my shoes. I glanced at myself in their shiny reflection and saw that the angst that I was feeling on the inside was shown plain across my face. Mentally, I tried to calm myself down, telling myself that she would still be my friend, even if things didn't work out. But now my feelings for Lora were far beyond friendship and I knew that could never go back to being content with that. I could never be able to just talk to her, friend to friend, knowing that I would still be in love with her and that things would never work out with us. If tonight didn't work out, then that was it. I couldn't be friends with Lora any more.

"Sirius, take the tie off, you look like an accountant or something," James snapped at me. I knew he was ready for me to leave so then him and Remus could go and listen to Lily talk about how Lora was before I came to pick her up. Plus James just missed his girlfriend. She had been spending most of the week with Lora.

"Fine. It was choking me anyway," I said as I pulled it off and tossed it onto the bed. Rubbing my neck for a moment, I looked back in the mirror. I looked a bit better. I shook around my hair a bit and unbuttoned the buttons on my jacket until I was finally content with how I looked.

"Sirius, love, isn't it time for you to go pick Lora up?" James' mum called to us from the bottom of the stairs. We all stood there awkwardly for a moment, realizing that our time was up.

"Uh, yeah, I'll go ahead and go," I called to her as I exited the room. Prongs and Moony trailed behind me down wooden stairs and finally onto the carpeted floor. I picked up the daisies I had bought for her earlier in the day, that had, until now, been resting in a clear vase of water, and made my way over to the door.

"Well, wish my luck," I said as I grabbed the keys for my motorcycle (which was a graduation gift from the Potters. James was given a brand new racing broom).

"Oh, you don't need it dear," Mrs. Potter whispered to me kindly as she brushed something off of the front of my jacket. "The two of you will have a lovely time." She looked up at me with one last smile before I opened the door. I muttered my good byes to them and headed outside towards my bike.

It shined brightly in the glow from the setting sun. I buckled on my helmet and held tight to the flowers in one hand as I shoved my key in and revved up the bike. I kicked my foot off the ground and took flight into the quickly darkening sky.

Before I knew it was I was landing in front of the Clense's house. I hadn't been there very often before, mainly because most of the times I was there Lora's parents had been yelling at each other. That was just uncomfortable so Lora normally just came over to the Potter's to hang out.

I pulled up into the driveway and climbed off. I looked up at the large house that let its shadow fall over me. It really was a gorgeous house, with its Victorian detailing and all the porches on both the first and second floor. The circular window in the attic was reflecting the sunset behind me. I noticed while looking up that a pair of green eyes were looking at me out of a second floor bedroom: Lora's room. When Lily saw me she quickly looked away and slammed the curtain shut. I saw her shadow run from the window until it was no longer in my view. I sighed as I walked under the tall, grand trees in the front yard and toward the front porch. The steps creaked underneath of me as I made my way up to the front door, which let the light from the inside of the house pass through it's curtained covered windows.

As I reached my hand out to knock on the door, I heard heavy footsteps from inside and a female voice yell out in an annoyed tone, "Dad!" Before I knew what was happening, Mr. Clense had opened up the door, smiling at me. He stood in the middle of the doorway, blocking my path, so I assumed that I wasn't just going to be invited in. I looked over his shoulder and saw Lily walking up the stairs, laughing and calling something out to someone up the stairs.

"Hello Sirius," Lora's dad said to me as he stepped out onto the porch and shut the door behind him. Immediately I became tense and my mind began racing, trying to figure out what was going on. His smile seemed plastered on and his eyes seemed to study me as I greeted him quietly back.

"I was hoping I could talk to you before you took my daughter," he said as he motioned for me to take a seat in one of the still, weathered white rocking chairs on the front porch. I sat down in the creaking seat and blushed when I realized that he wasn't going to be taking a seat. Instead, he stood in front of me, leaning against the rail on the porch, watching me silently. I rocked back and forth gently, listening to the loud sounds of the chair. When I realized just how loud they were, I stopped quickly and fiddled with my hands instead.

"Well, Sirius, as may know, you are the first date that Lora's ever been on," I held in a curious look when I heard this. Mainly because I knew that I was not Lora's first date. She had had her first date when she was in her third year and a Hufflepuff named Garth Baddock had taken her out to Madame Puddifoots. I remember it because she had a horribly boring time and faked sick so that she could come back to the Gryffindor tower and play wizard chess with me all afternoon.

"But I want you to be easy on her," he continued. "She's never done this whole dating thing before so she's a little nervous." Hearing this made me feel a ton better since I now knew that I was not the only one nervous about tonight.

I nodded and stood up, turning towards the door when I felt a large hand clamp down on my arm. I turned, surprised by this restraint, and saw her dad pulling me back.

"There's one more thing Sirius," he said to me, lowering his eye sight to the ground. I could see him blushing and I knew now where Lora got her blush from. I stood there rather awkwardly though, waiting for him to continue.

"I don't know what you're thinking tonight will…end with, but let me just tell you that if you are expecting her to…put out in any sort of way, then you are sadly mistaken, Sirius," he said, rushing his words together at the end. I could hear the threat behind his voice as I felt my face heat up in embarrassment. Lora's dad was trying to talk to me about sex?!

"Oh, no sir. All that I plan on happening tonight is me taking Lora out to a nice restaurant for dinner. Then I'm bringing her right back here, sir," I said quickly, my face reddening even more, if possible. He nodded and began walking towards the door. I followed his lead. As I stepped over the threshold, I saw Lily walking down the stairs. She was giggling about something and a little bit of nervousness made its way back into me.

"Hello Sirius," she said as she smiled at me. I greeted her and turned my attention back to the stairs. And then I saw her.

Lora looked the most gorgeous I have ever seen her look.

Her hair was in big, bouncy curls around her shoulders, each curls shininess rivaling her eyes. Lora's big, blue eyes matched her dress, which flowed around her as if it was made for her. It fitted her perfectly in the stomach but flowed out, like water, the farther down it went until it finally stopped at her knees. She held her left hand onto her wrist and bit her lip gently as she looked down at me. Her face was glowing and natural, only maybe a touch of mascara hovering about her eyes. Not that she needed it.

"Hey," she said quietly as she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes looking up into mine. I was speechless for a moment, simply pushing the now somewhat crumpled daisies at her. "Thank you, they're lovely," she said, as she accepted them and smiled.

"I'll just go put them in some water," Lily said as she took them and headed for the kitchen. I noticed her shooting a look at Lora's dad, which made him chuckle as he left Lora and I alone in the foyer. He shot me one last warning look before he left.

"Sorry about him. I swear he thinks I'm just going to run off and get myself pregnant with some random dude one of these days," she said, looking down at her fidgeting hands with a small laugh.

"Don't worry about," I replied, still kind of awe struck at how gorgeous she looked. "You look stunning Lora."

She looked back up at me, her eyes still shining, and smiled. I swear I thought my heart was just going to explode in that second. "Thanks, you look great too," she said, smiling even bigger as she looked me up and down. We both laughed nervously.

"Well, uh, you ready to go?" I asked, reaching for the door handle. She nodded and held onto my arm as we crossed over the threshold together. We made our way down to the bike slowly, savoring each second of the moonlit yard, which was shadowed with the leaves shade. When we finally reached the bike, she let go of my arm and let me help her onto the back. I set my helmet on top of her head gently and climbed onto the front as she buckled the helmet on. As I started up the engine again, I felt her arms slide around my waist and clutch together. I smiled as she leaned in close and rested her chin on my shoulder.

It didn't take long to get to the restaurant and before I knew it, Lora was letting go of me and climbing off my bike. Her hair was still perfectly bouncy as she pulled off the helmet and walked with me towards the fancy entrance. When we emerged into the building, the first thing we both saw were strands of lights…thousands of them. All of the lights were about the size of the ones that you put on Christmas trees and they were hung all over the restaurant, overlapping in mid air over tables.

"Woah," I heard Lora mutter. Right when she said that, a tall, slim man in a chic black turtleneck made his way over to us.

"Welcome to zee Garden," he said in a thick French accident. "Do you have a rezervation?"

"Uh, yes," I replied, the lights in the place now burning my retinas a little.

"Well, what eez your name Monsieur?" he said, his voice getting annoyed at my slowness.

"Oh, my name eez, I mean is, Sirius Black," I said, ready to just sit down and eat already. I could feel Lora fidgeting by my side. "I'll be right back, I'm going to the restroom," she whispered in my ear. I nodded and watched her head toward a hallway.

"What did you zay your name waz ageen?" he asked me, without looking up, as he flicked through a large, old, tan book. His brows her pinched together as if he was concentrating on something.

"Er, Sirius Black," I answered, curious as to what the hold up was. There was another couple behind me, waiting eagerly for their turn to be seated.

"You must be miztaken Monsieur, zere eez no Ziriuz Black in zees book," he answered, sneering at me.

"Well I think I would know my own name. Now why don't you just check again and find my reservation so me and my girl can sit down and eat dinner," I replied, glaring at him. I was getting annoyed that they couldn't find my reservation and when Lora got back, I wanted for us to be able and sit down and eat.

The French man gave me a cutting look and muttered something in French under his breath before turning back to the old book that sat on the wooden podium. He flipped through each page, scouring the names for my reservation.

"Nope. No Ziriuz Black leested. Monsieur désolé," he said, smiling mockingly at me. I let my temper take over then.

"Okay look, I made a reservation for two tonight under the name Sirius Black. I even got a confirmation letter confirming me that I had a reservation tonight-"

"Well do you have eet with you Monsieur?"

"No but-"

"Well zen I cannot let you and your leetle friend inzide to eat," he said, now motioning me toward the door. I didn't move though.

"I made a reservation," I growled at him. I felt a small hand rest on my arm and I looked down to see Lora by my side. She looked up at me with a slightly worried expression.

"Is everything okay here?" she asked the man sweetly.

"No, everyzing eez not okay," he replied annoyed. "Your leetle boyfriend here does not have a rezervation."

"Are you sure?" Lor asked him, unmoved by the man stating I was her boyfriend.

"I have never been so sure een my life, Mademoiselle," he bit back, clearly getting annoyed by us.

"Well, could you possibly check again? Maybe you just missed it-"

"Out! Out of this restaurant right this eenstant!" he yelled at us, pointing his fore finger at the door. At this point we had the whole restaurants attention. The couple behind me scooted as close to the wall as possible as Lora and I exited the restaurant, but not before I cut a glaring look at the rude man.

Once we got out onto the quiet street, I realized that there went our dinner. I didn't have a reservation for anywhere else and no decent restaurant would take us last minute.

"Hey, sorry about all of that," I muttered to Lora. When she didn't reply I glanced over at her and saw that she was going through a fit of laughter. Clutching her stomach, she tried to stop her laughter but she couldn't. Soon enough, we were both weak with laughter.

After a few more minutes of laughing, we both sat back down on my bike. "Sirius, don't worry about it. That place was burning my eyes anyway," she replied smiling as she wiped a tear away that had been clinging onto the side of her eye. We both chuckled at this and she told me to get on the back of the bike.

"Why?" I asked as she sat in front.

"I'm going to drive it silly," she responded, pulling the helmet back on top of her curls.

"You're kidding right? You can barely manage a broom. I doubt you can drive a motorcycle that's twice your size."

"Then help me drive it, Sirius," she said, her eyes daring me to say yes.

"Fine," I replied, giving in, "but you have to let me take the handlebars, okay?" She nodded and let me slide my arm by her to put in the key. Once the bike roared to life, I took hold of it and let her push up off the ground.

We rode in the air for a while, not bothering to talk but just enjoying each others presence. I was waiting for her to tell me where to land the bike but she just looked around at the landscape below us, smiling to herself. Occasionally she would look upwards towards the star soaked skies.

After what seemed like hours of just the two of us riding through the sky, not that I mind, she finally motioned for me to land. Much to my surprise, we stopped on a deserted road in the middle of the woods.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Almost there. Now just keep driving straight," she replied, leaning back onto my chest and setting her head in the nook of my neck. I nodded and kept driving, making sure to remind myself to breathe.

"Pull in here," she said after a few minutes. I veered to the left and pulled into a parking lot that was merely lit by a single post lamp and the neon lights that emanated from the small building. Two big golden arches were sitting on an 'Enter' sign near the edge of the road. "Pull around through the drive through." I did as I was told and stopped at a big board with a little red box next to it.

"Welcome to McDonalds. What can I get you today?" I bored voice crackled in the air. I looked around for who ever was speaking, which only made Lora laugh.

"Do you like cheeseburgers?" Lora asked me, turning to do so. I nodded, still wondering who was out there. Much to my surprise though, she leaned toward the box and responded loudly, "Two number sevens, please."

"Is that where the voice came from?" I asked her, shocked. She nodded and giggled a little.

"What would you like to drink with that?" the voice asked, returning once again. This time I could tell that it came from the box.

"Um, do you like Coke?" she asked me, turning once again.

"What's that?" I asked, furrowing my brows together. She smiled and turned back towards the box.

"Two cokes," she replied. I smiled at her as the voice told her the price of our little meal.

"Oh shoot. I don't have any Muggle money," she said quietly as I pulled forward.

A bored looking girl, who had her dirty blonde hair piled into a bun on the top of her head and her McDonalds employee shirt unbuttoned to the point where the drive-thru was probably not a family area, glanced up at us as we drove forward. Her eyes widened when she saw me and a small smile formed on her face.

"Let me take care of this," I whispered in Lora's ear. She looked at me curiously but shrugged it off.

"Here's your food," the girl said as she handed a white bag to us. I grabbed it and winked at her. She repeated the price to Lora, with a rather harsh undertone to her voice, and returned her attention to me.

"Oh man, I'm really but I seem to have forgotten my money," I said to the girl. She let her eyes become sympathetic and said, "Oh, don't worry about it. It's on the house!" I thanked her and we drove off. I could hear Lora laughing in my ear.

I pulled us over to an old picnic table and turned off the bike. I helped Lor climb off and we both sat down and began peeling off the foil that was wrapped around our burgers. We ate in silence for a few moments before she turned to me. Every once in a while one of us would make a remark like 'the burgers good' or 'the Coke is all fizzy' but mainly we just sat in silence.

I looked over at her as I finished chewing my burger and saw that she was already done and was wadding up her foil and putting it back into the bag. She looked over at me and smiled as I did the same with my burgers wrapping. All of a sudden though, she just leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. Warmth immediately spread over my face as I saw there smiling like and idiot.

"Come on, Dad will be wondering where I am if we stay out any later," she said as she stood up and walked the bag over to a trash can. When she walked back over to the bike, she had a big smile on her face as she slid behind me on the motorcycle.

I drove her home in silence, still thinking about the kiss. Time seemed to fly by just as we were through the dark blue sky, only the stars to light our way.

I pulled into her drive way once again, turning the engine off leaving the bare quiet to consume the house-filled street once more. I took her hand as she climbed off of the bike, leaving my shiny black helmet hanging on my handlebars. I didn't drop her hand as we made our way to the front porch. She walked to other side of the porch than where I was earlier, taking a seat on the swinging chair that was mounted from the ceiling of the porch. She patted the empty part of the seat next to her, and once more I was being motioned towards. I sat down, feeling the swing move from my presence, and rested my arm around her shoulder.

"Thank you for tonight Sirius. I had an amazing time," she said softly as she looked over at me.

"Thanks for coming. And I'm glad you had a good time. I did too," I replied gently, rubbing her bare shoulder with my thumb. Her blue eyes shined brightly at me, beckoning me forward.

"Sirius?" she asked as I leaned in an inch.

"Yes?"

"Why did it take you so long?" she asked, looking away towards the empty street, only lit by magical streetlights.

"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled by her sudden question.

"I mean, have you just recently had the idea to date me or have those feelings been there for…longer than that?" she asked, looking up at me again with such intensity that I couldn't look away.

"I've been interested in you for a while now, Lor. I was just…nervous that maybe you wouldn't like me back. And I didn't want to be hurt by hearing that you didn’t like me," I confessed to her. A small smile crept upon her face as she leaned forward to me, resting her hand on my chest.

"How could any girl ever resist you Sirius?" she asked as she pressed her lips gently to mine. I kissed her back, my heart pounding so loudly that I was sure that she could hear it. I let my hand slide to her back and she pressed herself closer to me.

We kissed for a while. Then I walked her back inside and bid her and her father, who was waiting on the couch, goodnight.

As I climbed back onto my bike and headed back towards the Potter's, I realized that even though her dad had to have a sex talk with me, even though the stupid man at the restaurant couldn't find our reservation, and even though I looked like a complete idiot in this tux while she looked drop dead gorgeous, tonight was still the best night of my life.