Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter, enjoy this one!

Blind Date

I'm desperately nervous as mum fiddles with my hair, trying to make its limpness look fashionable and the mousey colour look cute. The wretched blind date is in 30 minutes, and I'm wishing more than ever that I hadn't agreed.

She's shoved me into the most dire clothes imaginable, and has doused me with some disgusting smelling perfume which I can't even pronounce the name of. My face is plastered in makeup and my feet have been stuffed into high heels.

I look and feel terrible as she leads me down the stairs to show off her handiwork to my dad in the living room.

She gives me a firm push inside. "Hey, Ted, look at our Dora, all grown up!" I can even hear the 'finally' she tacks on wordlessly. She doesn't need to say it. She's been dying to dress me up for years.

Dad squints up at me over the newspaper he's reading. His eyes widen slightly. I don't blame him. I look like a drag queen. "Oh- Dora! You look- er- lovely! I- er- yes! Beautiful, darling! And- yes! Lovely!" He blinks again and buries his head back in the paper, the tips of his ears turning red.

I turn and glare at my mum, stalking past her into the corridor.

"Bye dad," I call.

"Bye- darling," he answers, and I open the door wide.

"Thanks a lot for making me do this, mum."

She bites her lip. "Oh, darling, it'll be fine. You go and have a good time, and remember to fall in love," she laughs. "You know where you're going, don't you?"

"For Merlin's sake, mum. It's the Leaky Cauldron, not Australia. Of course I know where I'm going."

"Go on then." She reaches up to peck me on the cheek. "Have a lovely time!"

I slam the door shut and apparate from where I'm stood, landing and falling ungracefully to the floor.

I want to just sit there, in the middle of the road, instead of going on this ridiculous date. I'm actually contemplating it when a hand appears from no where. I look up into the face of… "Remus?"

I take his hand and he yanks me up.

"What are you doing here?" we say simultaneously.

"Oh… I…" I shuffle my feet nervously. "You go first."

"Oh, I'm just here on, er, business. For the Order…"

"I see." I smile anxiously.

"How about you?"

"Oh…" I blush, embarrassed.

"What is it?" He looks me up and down for the first time and his eyes widen too, if only for a second. "Oh- a date?" Does he sound upset? Is there regret in his tone of voice?

"No! No… I'm just… well, it's silly, really."

"What is it? You can tell me."

"Well, my mum noticed I'm sort of… a bit… broody… recently."

"Ah…" He thinks it's his fault. Well, it is- but I don't want him to know it is.

"So she- um- set me up on this, this thing…"

"A thing?"

"Like… well, it's a blind date, to be honest."

He hides a smirk expertly. "Oh, well, do have fun then. I mustn't keep you."

"Oh, no, you must. You see, I really don't want to go on a blind date at all. It's all my mum's idea. In fact- you wouldn't rather- go somewhere else, would you?"

"Dora…"

"Only for a while. It's just I really don't-"

"Dora, I can't. You have a blind date to go on, I have business to attend to. It's better if we go our separate ways tonight."

"Is 'tonight' a euphemism for forever?" It slips out before I can stop it and I instantly regret it.

He closes his eyes, looking pained. "I don't want to start this again. I'll see you later, Dora." He whips out his wand and disappears.

"Damn it!" I say, kicking the door post. Why do I always have to ruin our rare moments together?

I check my watch. Better be going in.

I push open the door slowly and cast my eye around the bar. It's quite busy with late-night drinkers just starting their rounds, so I slip over to Tom.

"Hello, Tonks! How are you?"

"Fine, fine. I'm- er- here for the blind dating?"

"Oh yes! Are you really? I didn't think you'd be the type… Yes, it's in the back room. We're running it separately to the bar area, more romantic, the wife supposed. Just through that door there, dear."

I make my way nervously to the wooden door and slip through it. Inside it's dim with candlelight, and cluttered with small, rounded tables in booths at which several couples are already dining.

I notice Tom's wife, Georgina, and she bustles over. "Tonks, dear, thank goodness you've arrived. Your date arrived very early, and- he's quite- stressed, to put it mildly. He's in the booth in the far corner, over there, yes? I'll bring you a – er- firewhiskey, I think would be best, in a minute, dear." She patted me on the back and bustled away again.

I walk over to the booth and inhale deeply before peering inside it.

Crap. The ugliest man I've ever seen is sipping a large drink noisily through a straw. I make to walk away, when suddenly-

"You there! You're my date! Sit down, now! I've been waiting a very long time for you, lass."

Cursing, I slip into the booth and sit down opposite him, taking in his grotesque appearance. A man with a handlebar moustache below a nose covered in boils glares back at me.

"You ain't what I expected." He grunts.

I glare at him.

"I fort it'd be one o' them blond'ns, like outta the magazines."

Ugh.

"But you'll do, I suppose."

Finally, I find my voice. "Perhaps I will, but I'm afraid, you won't do for me. You see, I was expecting one of those normal people, you know? Not a rude, obnoxious git. Goodbye."

I stand up and bump into Georgina, who's hovering with a firewhiskey. I raise my eyebrows at her. "I can't stay here."

"Oh, Tonks, please, your mum told me to make sure you didn't leave until…" she looks around the room desperately. "Ah yes, we've just had another young man arrive over there. 2nd booth on the right. Go on, dear, I'll take care of this charming fellow."

I sigh and walk slowly to my next date. What a disaster. I can hear Georgina reasoning with Boil Face behind me, who is insisting for his money back.

"Hello," says a voice as I sit down in the booth. I look across at my next date who- actually- isn't too bad.

"Hi."

"Greg."

"Tonks."

"Interesting name."

"Thank you."

"You don't look like the blind date type…"

"Neither do you."

"I lost a bet."

"Ah."

Georgina drops a couple of menus onto the table as she rushes past. I pick one up and open it.

"Your reason?"

"My mother. She can't accept that I'd like to be alone."

"Would you?"

I hesitate.

"You'd rather be alone than with him."

"W-what?" I look up from the menu.

"You're in love with someone, he doesn't love you, so you've promised yourself you'll stay single until he realises he loves you too."

"That's crazy."

"It's true."

I look down at my firewhiskey.

"Whatever."

Georgina comes to take our orders and then disappears again.

"You don't like guys like me, do you?"

"What do you mean, guys like you?"
"Suss out everything about you in less time than you learn their name."

"You haven't sussed everything about me."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. You can't possibly know everything about me."

"Hmm. Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but you must be a Metamorphagous because your current skin tone and eye colour would never be found just together in the genes of a normal person, and your hair is far, far too limp to be really like that, which must mean that your powers are failing because of this guy." He smiled triumphantly.

"You're unreal."

"And, you're an auror, looking at your wand. It looks like a battle wand to me. Also, you're kind of aggressive."

I snort. "Seriously, you're annoying me now."

"Oh, I know. Why don't you take a guess at me now?"

"Fine." I stare at him intently, looking for signs of anything. "Aha! You're married!" I say, noticing a gold ring on his wedding finger.

He looks sadly down at it and twists it round. "Used to be."

"She left and you're still depressed."

"She died and I'm still depressed."

"Oh. S-sorry- I didn't mean…"

"It's fine. Don't worry- you weren't to know."

We sit in awkward silence for a moment, a minute; an hour- time seems to be lost with me at the moment.

"Why did you order Shepherd's Pie?" he asks.

"Comfort food."

"Thought as much. You really don't want to be here, do you?"

"Not at all," I pause and add- "no offence."

"None taken, I'm sure. I'd rather be someplace else too."

"Then leave."

"You wouldn't be offended?"

"Not at all."

"Why don't you leave then, too, if I'm going to go?"

"I can't."

"Why ever not?"

"My dear mother's asked the barmaid to keep an eye on me, make sure I end up falling in love."

He chuckles and scratches his temple. I notice a faint scar that runs horizontally down his neck and disappears beneath his shirt.

"How did you get your scar?"

"Ah… it's nothing."

"Looks like it was painful. Can I see? How long does it go on for? How old is it?" I stop myself abruptly. I've always had an embarrassing obsession with scars- I love the stories they tell.

He runs a finger along it absentmindedly. "It was very painful. It runs all the way down my chest- surely you wouldn't wish upon me the embarrassment of taking off my clothes to show you the extent of it."

I blush. "How did you do it?"

"A slicing charm. Someone whipped their wand the length of my body-practically cutting me in half- but fortunately for me it was only a flesh wound. Deeper in some places than others. I was in St Mungo's for quite a while- it kept getting infected."

"When… who?"

"I got into a bad duel while protecting my wife. There's no need for me to digress who- let's hope he rots in hell," he pauses for a moment, his eyes glazing. He smiles. "Now I find it rather unique- and it's always an exciting story to tell."

"Was that when- your wife?"

"I'm afraid so. She died by getting mixed up in the duel- it was as much my fault as the one that killed her."

"I'm so sorry."

"So am I." He twists the ring on his finger. "Do you want to get out of here?" His blue eyes gleam excitedly.

"What do you mean?"

"Shall we go? Just get out of here?"

"Where to?"

"Doesn't matter. Let's just do it."

Usually I'm all for spontaneity, but there's something about the manic gleam of his eyes that scares me.

He stands and offers a hand. "Come on."

For some reason, I don't even hesitate. There's something about him that makes me reach up and take his hand, and then we're off.