The night went on around them, cats in the alley taking shelter for the evening to get some rest, lights and lanterns going off around them as neighbours were preparing for bed, and the streets surrounding James and Renata were blanketed in a silence, making both of them feel like they were the only two people around for the time being. They had yet to move from the spot as Renata's back was still partially pressed against the front door with James standing in front of her. His fingers still made contact with her skin, whether he touched her hand or allowed one finger to trace against her jawline. Both of them knew they had to eventually go inside, but neither one of them dared to be the first one to break the scene.

It was a moment that Renata had been longing for even before she realised her attraction towards James. The sense of safety and comfort that James presented by standing before her was something that felt foreign but at the same time felt so good. She enjoyed the pressure of his body pressed against hers as he had gently pushed her against the door during their kiss. It had nothing to do with the sexual tension, it had to do with the sensation of being wanted in such a way. He wanted to be that close to her that he closed the gap in every way he possibly could at the time.

The way he had kissed her, if it had not been for the support of the door, she probably would have collapsed. She always thought it sounded rather silly in romance novels when a character claimed they were left weak in the knees, but she had the first-hand experience to now understand that it could be considered a true statement. It wasn't just the way he kissed her, it was paired with the way he looked at her before he kissed her. There was such an intensity that she believed every word when he claimed that he wanted to kiss her.

And not to mention, there was something about the way he said it, it was like he was asking permission to kiss her and he wouldn't allow himself to steal one until she confirmed that she was entirely comfortable with it.

That moment in itself was kiss-worthy alone.

The longer the two stood there, not saying anything, just looking at one another, they couldn't help but bring each other back into another kiss and another one after that. It was almost as if they were making up for lost time from all those moments where they had wanted to say or do something but felt too frightened or paranoid to act on it. As long as they were outside no one could interrupt them, no one could bother them, and if they wanted to believe it, no one could judge them.

For that, James and Renata took their time with saying goodnight and since Sirius wasn't coming to the door to check on them or even snoop, they had to assume that he wasn't even aware that they were back yet. Or if he was aware, he wasn't even daring to interrupt them, probably because he knew James or Renata would kill him as they had finally achieved the moment they had been after. They both didn't realise that both of them had confided their true feelings with Sirius and that he was actually the cause of the date, even though they should have put it together, considering he had dressed them up and had been conveniently been available to watch over Harry that evening.

However, at one point, it seemed quite obvious that it was time for them to head inside, even if they didn't want to. Renata let out a yawn, attempting to conceal it as James had gone in for another kiss, but she couldn't help it as she covered her mouth and turned her head away.

"Sorry," she muttered afterwards, " it's just-"

"It's time for bed," James finished for her with a smile, " I understand. I'll go in first, if Sirius is awake, I can ward him off so you can get some sleep."

"You're so brave!" she exclaimed in a mocking tone that made them laugh. "I'll check in on Harry on my way back there, that's if he's asleep in his own bed."

With a plan made, it was time to go inside, however, once again, neither one of them seemed to want to make the first move. James had his hand on the doorknob, Renata had turned to face the door to walk in once it was open, but neither one of them actually moved forward. It was like being back in the kitchen again, James standing behind her and just that feeling of his body pressed up against hers.

Only this time he was sober and their feelings had been acknowledged, much to their relief. Suddenly, she felt his hand move her hair off her shoulder, which exposed her neck to the cool evening air. However, there was a relief as soon as she felt James pressing warm kisses into her skin.

"Mr Potter," she breathed, feeling the sensation of her legs about to give out. She was trying to tell him that they were deviating from the plan to go inside but after the third kiss, she said to hell with it before turning back to him and launching him into another full kiss that he seemed prepared for.

However, their luck had finally run out as the front door swung open, revealing Sirius and Harry in the doorway. They both wore green facial masks, and Sirius' hair was obviously up in a hair net, leaving Renata and James speechless for a second. With James' arms wrapped around her waist, luckily she didn't fall back as the support of the door gave way, but they were both red in the face as they had been caught like teenagers by their parents at the end of a first date.

"Do you two know what time it is?" Sirius asked them, tapping his foot lightly against the ground. "It is nearly one in the morning!"

Renata's eyes widened as she didn't even think the night had carried on so long, it seemed she had definitely lost track of time standing outside. James seemed surprised too as he made the motion to check the watch on his wrist.

"It really is nearly one," he muttered but that caused another thought to pop into his head instantly as he looked up at Sirius with narrowed eyes, " and why is Harry up past midnight, Sirius?"

"Uhh..." Came the response before Renata let out a chuckle and extended her arms out to Harry to hold him. Harry immediately reached out to her with a yawn of his own but a smile as well.

"Come on, Harry," she said, walking inside after Sirius moved out of the way, "let's get you cleaned up and in bed."

She entered the flat and made it a couple of steps down the small foyer before turning to face James. "Goodnight, Mr Potter, " she said to him with a small smile, " sleep well."

"Goodnight, Renata."

As soon as Harry and Renata disappeared around the corner to head towards the bathroom and their bedrooms, James held a lingering smile on his face, until Sirius knocked him in the stomach with a swift backhand. He gripped his stomach with a groan before looking at his best friend with a glare.

"What was that for?!"

Sirius folded his arms over his chest with a shake of his head. " Why is she still calling you 'Mr Potter', hmm? I thought you were going to tell her to call you James."

James suddenly realised that due to the fact that he had been so preoccupied with the idea of kissing her that entire night that he had neglected to confront the one important thing that had been driving him mad. Sirius was right, one of the reasons he had been wanting to go on the dinner date was to tell Renata that she could call him James. Instead, they had shared in the first kiss (and plenty others) with her calling him "Mr Potter."

"Uh, I guess I got distracted," he sighed, " I didn't even think of it until now!"

"Of course you didn't, you sly stag!" Sirius knocked his arm lightly with a grin suddenly appearing. "I heard something against the door earlier and thought it was you two, looked out the window and well, what did I see-"

"So why did you interrupt?!"

Of course, James was only slightly upset because the evening had come to an end when he probably could have spent all night out on the front steps of his home with Renata in his company. However, the smile faded slightly from Sirius' face as he placed his hand on James' shoulder.

"It was the first date, James," Sirius told him, " I can only assume it went really well after what I witnessed for a few seconds. But I just want to make sure that you don't go about things too fast. I don't want you doing anything that you'll regret, you know? I think I know you pretty well and I know sometimes you get caught up in the moment of things. Act first, think later. I just wanted to make sure that you pace yourself in a sense."

He had to admit, maybe not out loud, but he had to admit that Sirius was probably right. He was so caught up in the moment with Renata and how she had made him feel all evening that who knows how far it would have gone in a sense. Obviously, he wasn't going to have sex with her on the front steps of his home, but would have it continued to escalate if neither one of them actually made the notion to say "goodnight?" Would they have been comfortable in the scenario of waking up beside each other with the whole "morning after" scenario?"

One of James' biggest stressors, when it came to his and Lily's relationship looking back on it, was wondering if they had rushed into things too quickly. He was no longer involved in a war, so there was really no need to rush things, even if he enjoyed all the feelings he shared in when he was around Renata. He didn't want to make the same mistakes as before, he wanted to learn from them and move forward.

The idea of taking things slow with Renata sounded more rewarding in his head because he could see just by them taking a while to admit that they had feelings for each other had led to a wonderful evening spent together. He wanted more memories like that, he wanted there to be a build-up to each special moment because it made the experience so much better. So, Sirius interfering wasn't so much of a problem as he thought it was initially.

"I can sense that you really like her, James," Sirius continued, " she means a lot to you and to Harry. I just want to make sure everything works out for the best."

"Yeah, you're right," James finally admitted with the small smile returning, " thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, get in here and tell me everything! I want to know all the details of your date. Start to...well, I already know the ending, but whatever, you can tell me everything that happened before I came out here."

"I'm not going to tell you everything, Sirius, that's personal!"

"What?! You told me everything when it came to your first date back when we were in school!"

James stopped as he walked in, knowing there was truth to Sirius' statement, however, that didn't hold validity to the times they were in currently.

"Exactly, that was back when we were in school," James said, " that was my first date with Lily and even you said it yourself, Renata isn't Lily."

"Well obviously! But that's not what I meant! Don't you use my words against me! James? James! Come back here! Don't walk away from me...don't you go towards your room...don't you close that door! Damn."

While Sirius didn't get the details of the date like he wanted, Renata and James knew what had taken place and it allowed them to get one of the best nights of sleep they had ever experienced in their lives. Renata slept with a hint of a smile on her face, not even aware that during the middle of the night that Harry had climbed into bed with her as he didn't want to sleep alone. Sirius was making weird snoring sounds on the sofa that sounded frightening in the dark as he had decidedly stayed the night. He saw the smile on Renata's face as a bit of moonlight poured into the room and it brought him to smile as he cuddled up to her and pulled the blanket over them.

On the other side of the home, James had taken to cuddling up one of his pillows, a small smile on his face as he slept on. There had been a hint of fear when he had settled down for the evening finally, wondering if he was going to be plagued by nightmares that involved Lily. He remembered back when Renata had started working in the household and he shared of a dream of Lily being upset with him because he had "moved on" so quickly. Even though at the time, James had not moved on and he had done nothing to warrant such a reaction.

However, the image that he painted of Lily in his mind came across as negative due to his own fears.

But that evening, the household was peaceful and everything seemed to settle well into a state of relaxation where James was able to sleep without any nightmares and he didn't even have to use any sleeping draught. That itself was considered a major accomplishment in his eyes, one that he was definitely proud of. He did dream though, not of Lily but where he planned on taking Renata on their second date if she agreed to it.

The images of walking around Hogsmeade and showing her around to the various shops before taking her to the Black Lake so she could witness the mercolony for herself. The scene of Harry splashing about in the water and pointing in the distance at the castle that he would one day attend himself. Of course, in the dream, Sirius and Remus were there as well, on good terms as the sight of Hogwarts brought them to finally bury the hatchet between them. Adelmo was there and he seemed happy in Sirius' company, rather than frightened of judgement.

He could only describe the scene as perfect and he would happy even if it only partially became a reality.

James didn't wake until the next afternoon, well after two o'clock and when he finally opened his eyes and moved around, he could hear the sound of Harry laughing outside of his room. He pushed himself up, ready to apologise for sleeping in so late again, but as he walked out, he saw Renata sitting at the kitchen table, still in her pyjamas with Harry in her lap. She let out a yawn before the sound of his movement caused her to look over her shoulder.

"Good morning," she greeted him softly, " sleep well?"

"Good morning," he said in return, " and yes, I did. I'm sorry I slept in-"

"Oh, there's no need to apologise, Mr Potter," Renata chuckled, " I only woke up within the last half hour myself. Apparently, last night took a lot out of us."

The way of her wording definitely made it sound quite suggestive, even if that wasn't what Renata was going for. Immediately, she realised how it sounded and both of them blushed and looked away for a second to conceal their smiles.

"I meant the excitement," she tried to fix it but she seemed to just make it worse, " no, wait, I meant-"

"I know what you meant," James said with a wink before walking over and kissing the top of Harry's head in greeting. "Is Sirius still here?"

"No, he left after I woke up," Renata answered, " he received an owl from someone and said he had to go somewhere. I didn't even get a chance to ask, sorry, I was a bit busy with Harry because this little one decided to climb into my bed last night."

James let out a dramatic gasp. "Harry, for shame."

His son covered his face but let out a small giggle before peeking through his fingers at him and then over at Renata. They couldn't help but laugh at Harry's little antics as he tended to be quite silly and dramatic on his own.

Definitely, something he picked up from the men around him.

"Have you two eaten anything yet?" James asked, wondering if there was still an opportunity to cook.

"No," she said, " we woke up and I made one silly face at Harry and we've been stuck here ever since. Would you like me to cook something for you?"

"No," he shook his head, " I would like to cook, thank you very much."

"Well, the eggs are over there, I think they might be in need of a good washing."

Harry was able to watch in amusement as James came over to where they were to ruffle Renata's hair, which was already in its own messy state. She laughed and tried to cover her head but it was too late as he was able to get a good shot in that made her hair fall into her face. Harry laughed and called for him to be next, which brought James over to ruffle his hair and then he took to ruffling his own.

"Great, now we all match."

As Renata continued to sit at the table with Harry, she wondered if James was going to bring up anything from last night, such as the fact that they had shared in a kiss or rather, several of them. It was all she could think of as she laid down to sleep the night before and when she had woken up. She was pretty sure she had dreamed about it as well, even if she couldn't really recall her dreams that morning.

But she quickly realised that nothing needed to be said because as James cooked a late breakfast for them, he continued to steal glances in her direction, ones that he thought she didn't notice because he thought she was too busy paying attention to Harry. Maybe they didn't need to discuss it, what was there to be said anyways?

However, she had to admit, she was curious as to how everything was going to progress now that they had experienced their first date and it had been a successful one.

It seemed she was going to have to go with the saying of time would tell.