Marlene McKinnon was smoking outside the pub - both literally and metaphorically. The poor bloke beside her on the pavement had nearly fallen over as he leaped into action when she'd asked if anybody around her had a fag and a light she could bum. He'd tripped over the sidewalk, elbowing two other guys out of the way to be the one to offer up his pack and set the cigarette alight.

"Thanks handsome," Marlene said, breathing out the smoke through her nose with a practiced flair. She and Sirius Black had once sat out under the tree on the grounds of Hogwarts and literally practiced it - smoking and cool ways to blow the smoke out that made them look Sophisticated with a capital S. The results had been cool, but looking back at what losers they were to actually practice such a thing made Marlene cringe. Only Sirius Black would ever know she'd once been such a pathetic loser, and only because he'd been right there with her in the trenches.

Her strappy heels clicked on the pavement as she half-danced to the echo of the music reverberating from inside, killing time outside the pub. She glanced at her wrist watch to see she was precisely on time, which, being her, meant that was ten minutes too early for when she wanted to arrive. So she decided to let the poor bugger her sister had set her up with sweat it out for a few minutes more.

He'd be well rewarded for his wait, Marlene thought.

Her jeans tight in the bum and thighs but flared at the knees. Her halter top was skin-toned, covered with tiny embroidered flowers in just the right places to keep everything decent, and short enough in the front so that her belly button showed beneath. Marlene's curly shag hair bounced as she moved.

It was third-date energy she was throwing out there. Not because she wanted the night to go the places that were notorious third-date milestones, but because she needed that confidence boost to make it through the evening.

After all, it had been a year and a half since she'd dated anybody that wasn't Emmaline Vance, and over two since she'd dated a man.

Her stomach knotted itself up as she thought of this.

"Thanks for the cigarette darling," she said, and she dropped the butt and stepped on it with the toe of her heel, patted the guy's cheek, and went inside.

The pub was busy, juke box music playing loud, and there were people dancing. Marlene squished her way through to the bar, where she slid up onto an empty stool, crossing her legs and leaning back against the bar so she was looking over the crowd.

"I'd like a slow screw," she told the bartender with a wink and he laughed and nodded.

"Right away, Miss."

When he returned, she pouted and asked for a cherry garnish, and he gave her two, each speared with more cherries than would normally go on a drink, and she laughed and said, "You're so sweet," which made him blush and made her feel powerful and she turned 'round to watch the room as she ate the cherries from their plastic swizzle sticks.

"What are you doing here?" a voice at her elbow said.

Marlene looked and found herself face to face with Emmaline Vance.

"Em?" she nearly choked on the cherry in her mouth. "I think I'm the one that ought to be asking you that, darling, it's way weirder that YOU are in a place like this than me." She laughed and bit the next cherry off the stick, trying to keep cool even while her heart was shrieking.

For a split second, she entertained the wild idea that Annalee had somehow reached out and coerced Emma into coming 'round to her senses, there was no Sean whatever-name-was from the Ministry. Annalee had fabricated a prospect to get Marlene here to meet up with Emma and then kismet would run it's course and --

"Oh my God, you're on a date, aren't you?" Emma had taken a head-to-foot look at Marlene. She flushed. "Who's the lucky girl? Anyone I know?"

"I doubt very much whether you know him," Marlene said, taking a long sip of her drink - she needed it - struggling to stay cool.

Emma's eyebrows raised. "Oh? A him?" she laughed. "Just your type."

"What?" Marlene said, "Like it matters to you who I date?"

Emmaline shrugged. "I just didn't think you were a coward is all."

Marlene's jaw dropped. She stared at Em, floundering for words.

Clearly this was exactly the reaction Emma had been going for - and she leaned closer, "I was wrong about a lot of things if you think you're going to date a man, though, huh?"

"Excuse me, are you Marlene McKinnon?" The voice came from the opposite side of her and Marlene turned to look. There stood a very plain looking boy with plain brown hair and plain brown eyes, wearing a jumper with a bowtie. The jumper was a bit tight about the middle, and he very much did not look like the sort of bloke that ought to be at a bar with colorful lights and slow screw cocktails. He was much more the quiet pub for dinner and two pints kind of person. He looked precisely the sort of person who would be an accountant for a muggle and so incredibly not Marlene McKinnon's type - and not just because he was a man, either, although that very much did not count in his favor, especially with Emmaline Vance standing right there.

She contemplated saying no she wasn't Marlene, he had the wrong girl, but Emmaline spoke up, "Oh hi, yeah she's Marlene." Emma paused as the bar tender handed her two foaming glasses of beer and she took them both. "I hope you lot hit it off real nice," she said, "See you." And with that, Emma turned and walked away, holding the glasses up so they didn't spill as she maneuvered her way across the pub to a booth in the far corner, where Marlene could see Carly Shaw and a couple other girls from their Hogwarts days waiting.

Well, Marlene thought, you, sir, just got really really really lucky my ex-girlfriend is here.

"Sean?" Marlene asked, then giggled wildly. "Oh my gosh. Annalee said you were cute but she didn't say you were this cute." She sipped her drink, peering over the rim at him.

"Oh I don't know 'bout all that," he said timidly.

Yeah, I don't know about all that, either, buddy, she thought, but a quick glance had confirmed that Emma was staring at her from the booth and Marlene tossed her head back as though Sean had said something terribly funny and she smiled at him.

"It's awful loud this part of the pub," Sean said, trying to be heard over the loud music. "You want to go downstairs and get some dinner?"

"There a downstairs?" Marlene asked. She hadn't been to this particular pub before.

Sean nodded, "Bit more quiet down there."

Marlene nodded - let Emma wonder where they were going, she thought - and she slid off the barstool, thankful she'd spellotaped down her skirt, and followed Sean through the crowd to a spiraling staircase that led down into a much quieter level of the pub. She could still hear the music, though it was muffled by the ceiling and there were tables and booths and fairy lights that hung from the ceiling, illuminating walls positively bursting with framed photo graphs of the most eclectic things - the inside of jewelry boxes, old shopping buggies, a hitchhiker on the roadside, some high grasses and flowers, green bottles shining in morning light, a fox running across a yard, a badminton birdie...

Sean pulled out a chair at a table and Marlene went to go to the opposite side to sit and he said, "Oh." She realized he'd pulled the chair out for her and sh flushed.

"Sorry, people actually do that?" she asked, pulling out her own seat and sitting as he sat in the now awkwardly pulled out but not sat in chair.

"I suppose it's gone out of fashion," Sean said, blushing. "My mum always taught me it was polite to do that for a lady. But she's incredibly old fashioned, maybe."

Marlene smiled, "It was sweet. Even if it was old fashioned. And a touch sexist. What did people in the old days think? That a lady is so feeble she can't even pull out a chair?"

"Perhaps more of an indication that I really want you to sit with me?" Sean suggested, looking up.

"Because I should be silent and separated if I'm not invited to sit with a man?" Marlene asked.

"Or maybe because it's an honor to get to sit with you and I'm excited to do it," Sean replied.

"Let me have my feminist moment, Sean," Marlene quipped, though she smiled.

Sean replied, "I'll never pull out the seat again for you, Marlene McKinnon."

"Well that's a point in the direction of you having a chance to not pull it out for me at least, Sean -- sorry I didn't catch your last name."

"Buckner," he answered. "Sean Buckner."

"You come here often, Sean Buckner?"

"They have the most amazing chips here," he answered. "So when I'm cravin' some good chips, I come here." He paused and patted his stomach. "More often than I should, is what I mean." He had a brilliantly thick Irish accent and it amused her to no end.

Marlene laughed, "So not for the all the tipsy girls?"

"Most of the girls you meet in pubs aren't after the same things I am, particularly the tipsy ones." Sean said with a shrug. "But the chips always are in for the commitment. Spend the rest of their lives with ya, the chips do... T'isnt a long relationship, mind. Not the way I eat chips."

Marlene was still holding her drink and she took a sip and put the glass down on the table, plucking the orange slice from the inside. Her fingernails were painted bright red and her fingers were positively covered with rings - all sorts of rings of silver and gold and various stone settings. One was made out of the handle of a baby spoon she'd made herself with a welding charm. She carefully ripped the orange slice in half and offered part to Sean, but he shook his head. She sucked the meat of the fruit off the rind and lay the used up rind on a napkin that was on the table. Sean watched her do the same thing again to the second part of the orange, his eyes following her fingers.

"I'm sorry if I wasn't what you were expectin', I get the idea that Annalee's rather good at exaggeratin' things."

"She's excellent at it, and she can be a real pill, too," Marlene said. She was starting to think Annalee might've set her up with Sean as a joke now. She could never have looked at this boy and thought here is a man my lesbian sister will go straight for, there's no way. He wasn't even someone that Annalee could've thought she'd be interested in when she did think her sister was straight. "I'm sorry she's done this to you. I suppose you were thinking you were going on a nice proper date and instead you get me in my fuck me clothes trying to start a riot..."

"I think your - your clothes are very nice. I think you'd be just as breath taking in pretty much anything you wore."

Marlene laughed. "Next time I'll wear a muumuu."

"You think there may be a next time?" Sean asked.

Marlene scrunched her nose.

"Then I'm ordering two servings of chips to drown my sorrows," Sean said, "At least the chips will be there for me and even if you judge the fervor with which I eat them all, it won't matter for I won't ever have to look you in the eye again."

Marlene laughed. "Alright."

He really did, too, when the barmaid came 'round and gave them menus, Sean ordered two plates of chips and a sandwich. Marlene shook her head, she didn't reckon she wanted to stick around long enough to eat, and figured once Sean's chips had come she'd slip off to the bathroom and leave him to his true love.

"So you work at the Ministry?" Marlene asked, sipping her drink again.

"I do," Sean answered, "Nothing terribly impressive. I'm a copier. The muggles have machines that do what I do. I just waved my wand and duplicate parchments all day."

"That's depressing as fuck."

"Isn't it?" Sean said, shaking his head.

"Do you at least read the papers you copy?"

"I haven't time to usually. Sometimes I'll catch a glimpse of something or other, but it's all boring rubbish anyway mostly. Nothing exciting. They probably have higher-up versions of me that copies exciting paper work. Mostly mine are permits for magical extensions on houses and licenses for magical creatures as pets and the like..."

"That is literally the least sexy job in the world."

"Which is why they put the least sexy bloke in the office, I reckon." He waved at himself.

Marlene had no argument so she didn't speak, she just bit her lips and stared down into her drink.

"What do you do?" he asked.

"I work at Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley. I hem robes. But she lets me mess about a bit with some of the fashion pieces that come in. I've been practicing at embroidering flowers for example." She leaned back, "I made this top."

"You did that? It's very nice."

"Thanks."

"It looks like a garden. Like those flowers that climb up brick walls and wrap themselves about phone poles."

Marlene laughed, "Are you telling me I look like a pole?"

"No," Sean answered. "I'm telling you that you look like the sort who brings beauty into ugly places. I'm tellin' you that you look beautiful."

Marlene looked back down at her drink.

She'd heard that a thousand times - of course she had, she was very beautiful after all, that was just a fact, but he said it differently than most people.

When his chips came out, she didn't ditch him. She stayed sitting across from him, talking.