Aria knew that it was typical to be picked up, but then again she wasn't traditional, nor did she care about it. She had told him she'd meet him there, simply because she had to finish paperwork for her previous case. He understood, well he had to, she thought with a smirk.

She waited for him outside, enjoying the summer breeze while she waited. Summer was a good time to be outside and she took full advantage. While she waited, she realized that this dinner was a bit more than she expected. To be fair she would have been fine with a cold sandwich at a coffee shop. She wrinkled her nose at the thought.

'I'm out of touch with this' she thought.

Daedalus had to admit he was nervous. He actually had spelled a hair cut, something he rarely ever does. He left the slight scruff, because otherwise he felt he looked too young. He paced around his room, wondering what he should wear, nothing too formal, but nothing too casual. Then it hit him, he wasn't going out with a normal girl, so normal traditions must not apply. He aptly got dress, wearing jeans and t-shirt and blazer.

Taking leave of his temporary place at his parents, he decided to walk to the restaurant. It was after all a very nice summer night, and they only lived a few blocks away.

He saw her before she saw him, and he was dumbstruck at how great she looked tonight, after all the last time he saw her, she looked as if she lost a fight with an ill tempered troll. As he got closer, he called out "Aria!"

Aria wasn't a very patient person, but the surroundings calmed her down. She wondered briefly why he chose this place, especially since more and more people were entering and giving her a glance over before entering. She didn't really care, but wondered if perhaps she had apparated to the location really early.

She turned around in surprise and let out an involuntary smile as she saw him. He looked sharply dressed and she admitted that he wasn't too hard on the eyes. She noticed his glee, and she took some joy in that.

"Hello" she said smiling. "looking sharp"

Daedalus knew he was a bit late, but he smiled when she regarded him with a cute smile. He didn't want her to be irritated right off the bat. He became even more happy when he saw her give him a one over before she said 'looking sharp'. She looked great.

"You look great yourself," he said with a smile.

There was something about this woman, she seemed really intelligent. She just had a different demeanor, not an ordinary woman.

"Shall we go inside?"

Aria shrugged, and smirked. It was a bit awkward, but she figured most dates were usually like this, a bit awkward. Still, she wasn't in a bad mood, and ignored most of the awkwardness, humor usually seemed to calm everything down.

"Oh I know" she commented with a grin.

At his question, she bit back the smart ass comment that she would usually reply to, and instead decided to be as charming as she possibly could. Being ice cold never really was a good thing to be, plus she automatically respected him, for his job.

"Let's" she said smiling.

Daedalus kinda knew he was being awkward, he hadn't been on a date in a long time, after all. Not a lot of practice with this sort of thing.

They walked into the restaurant, and took a seat at one of the booths near the window. The waitress came over and handed them a couple of menus. After taking their drink order the waitress left. They looked over the food choices for a few minutes, then looked at each other. He wanted to start up a conversation, but wasn't quite sure where to start.
He didn't want to say something stupid, he was a bit nervous.

"So what made you want to become an Auror?" he finally asked, after a rather long silence.

Aria didn't mind the silence, and was completely oblivious to the inner debate in his head. In reality, she was just enjoying it. In previous dates, awkward things would occur, such as playing 'twenty questions' or having them ramble on to cover the silence that surrounded them. All pathetic attempts that had ended up with them getting her door slammed on their face.

She was currently reading the menu, wondering what to get. She had been to this restaurant only twice in her life, and both times when she was a child, a lot had changed since then. For one thing was that she wasn't with family, and was with a man she knew little about. How unlike her really.

His question surprised her, and she placed her menu to the side to face him. She tilted her head surprised at his question, but thought about what to answer.

"Hm...well for one thing, I always did enjoy DADA as a child, and everyone is good at combat in my family. It seemed like the most logical choice after graduating Hogwarts. And you?"

Daedalus was pleased to hear she was good at combat, he hadn't been able to train with anything in some time. His father being an ex-Auror, Daedalus practically grew up learning how to duel, and combat.

"Well since my father was an Auror I grew up learning Defense Against the Dark Arts, and once I was old enough to use magic outside school, we dueled all the time. It actually took me a while to actually realize I really wanted to be an Auror, even though it would have been a natural choice. But after backpacking the world and coming across a few dark wizards, it finally hit me, I needed to be an Auror. That's when I finally decided to come back to London, and pursue it."

Right after he finished, the waitress brought them there drinks, and took there order, and then promptly left.

Aria seemed slightly fascinated with his answer, he was hoping it was about his skill in dueling.

Aria was surprised by his comment and placed her elbow on the table, resting her head as he heard his answer. She understood how it usually started in DADA, always finding a spark of interest, something that you're naturally good at then would take over. She was from as similar background as him, which was surprising. It was rare to find someone who was from a family that constantly dueled and she found him to be even more interesting from his origin.

"Funny how it's always starts in DADA" she murmured.

Looking at him, she let out a small smile wondering what to say next. She was rubbish at this whole social thing, but she was trying.

"What made you ask me out?" she asked curiously.

Daedalus really wasn't expecting that kind of question, at least not yet. He actually hadn't thought about it that much, he really didn't even have a reason now that he really did think about it. If he had to pin point it on one thing it would be the fact that she showed, if anything, at least some interest in him. Before he used to drive girls off with ill-timed remarks.

"After the first time we met, and you were wanting your peace and quiet, I left you alone so you could, but even then you watched me scurry to my office. After that you could have easily avoided me the second time when I was in the break room, but you didn't, so I figured, perhaps we had some sort of connection. Whatever that may be."


"Now let me ask you this, why did you accept?"

Aria lifted her brow in surprise as he answered her question. It might not have been the most appropriate question for her to ask, but she was a curious person with a sharp tongue. It hadn't changed in over twenty years and it wouldn't change now.

His question really wasn't that much of a surprise, but she had to figure it out how to answer it. She leaned forward and let out a smirk.

"You caught me interest" she replied chuckling. "Usually I avoid everyone, no one really catches my interest or curiosity, but you did. And when you asked me, well I was like 'why the hell not'."

She couldn't help but add the joke.

"Plus a free meal? Who could resist?"

Daedalus chuckled at her last remark, he likes that she isn't trying to be overly nice. He felt comfortable, and things seemed natural to him. After coming back from his trip, being in London had been boring and uneventful. For the past few weeks he had practically nothing but paperwork at work. Tonight things actually didn't look so bleak. He was finally meeting someone new, and actually on a date with them, someone he was really starting to like..... also he really wanted to duel again, with someone who was good at it.

"I'm glad you said yes, Aria," Daedalus said with a smile, "you have my curiosity too."

"By the way, since both of us are from families that dueled practically there whole life, we should practice together, I'm sure we could learn a few things from one another."

The waitress came by and brought them there food, which looked delicious.

Aria thanked the waitress and murmured a thank you before taking a bite of her meal. She was glad that she ordered the fish, it was something that she enjoyed greatly ever since she had eaten here as a child. Taking a sip of her drink, she chuckled at his suggestion.

This wasn't going spectacular, nor was she going down the drain. That suited her just fine because nothing perfect ended up staying right, and if it was shitty, well she'd be gone. She didn't have the patience nor the kindness for things that were tedious.

"Is this going so bad you want to hex me?" she joked with a lazy smirk. "Shame."

Daedalus was sort of caught of guard at that, maybe he was being a little too forward, and making things awkward.. like he always does.

"I'm sorry, haha, I just got kind of excited that you were raised on dueling." He said with a nervous smirk.

He really didn't want to ruin this date, nor did he want to ruin this friendship.

"Tell me about your recent excursion to Beauxbatons, a good story has got to come from how horrible you looked yesterday," he said with a laugh.

He took a few bites of his pasta, and realized it was a little too hot, it felt as if he burnt his tongue. He quickly grabbed his drink and took a large swig.

Aria rolled her eyes at his comment, seemed that her joke wasn't that understood. She shrugged and took a sip of her drink; she wasn't the most social person in the world, and yet there she was trying to keep things light.

"It's fine" she murmured. "if we have time, I'd love to duel with you."

She really didn't mind, after all, it kept her mind sharp, as well as her moves. No one was perfect that they could avoid practicing. And she was curious as to how good he was. Him mentioning the case of Beauxbatons she took a long sip of her wine.

"Oh Beauxbatons, that was hell. Since the castle was destroyed I had to see if there were any traces of the attacker, but it turned out that whoever it was, was smart enough to leave no references. Going through the wreckage, I ended up covered in dirt. Worst of all, I was forced to be in contact with a Dark one member and well, being from France they were aggressive. I ended up having to duel, but before I could get them, they managed to apparate."

She sighed and took a long sip of her drink, dreading how terrible it ended up.

Daedalus listened to her synopsis of what had transpired in France. He was sad that the culprit had escaped, but he couldn't help but chuckle a little bit as a thought came to his head.

"Apparently someone does need a little practice after all," he said sarcastically.

The waitress came back by again and asked if they needed anything. Daedalus ordered another drink, since he had cleared the first one after nearly burning his mouth.

"You know I'm surprised they sent you out there alone, not that they shouldn't trust you or anything, but that being such a big case, and possibly extremely dangerous." He remarked.

Taking a few more bites of his pasta, it was finally at a reasonable temperature. They both ate for a little while before carrying on a conversation.

"Have you ever been to an amusement park?" he asked, "at least that's what muggles call them."

Aria raised her brow and forced herself not to glare at the fact that he insulted her. Yes sarcasm was her tool, her vice of choice, but she didn't really appreciate him questioning her dueling abilities. She couldn't help but snap.

"You weren't there to see it, so don't even think of judging me" she forced herself not to sneer.

She never liked getting criticized over her work; it was the center of her world, what she loved more than anything. That's the reason she never worked with anyone, because she didn't need a pair of judgmental eyes criticizing her every move.

His question surprised her, but she found herself stabbing a piece of her meal and chewed it before taking a sip of her drink and answering his question.

"I don't work with others" she replied immediately. "I don't like working alongside idiots I don't trust, I work alone."

Their dinner was once again covered in silence. She simply picked on her meal, not really having a big appetite. She simply took in the silence and sipped her drink calmly.

"Amusement parks?" she murmured. "Yes, I went to one when younger, never was fond of large groups of people waiting hours for a ride that lasts four minutes."

Daedalus realized he had crossed the line of sarcasm when she snapped about his comment. He meant no disrespect at all, he was certain that whatever hell she faced at Beauxbatons was indeed no laughing matter. He was just trying to make light of the subject. It was at that moment is when he knew that she loved her work, and her prowess as a dueler. He didn't judge her one bit, he respected her, she did things her way and no one had any say otherwise.

"I agree with you there, I went to a place called.. oh goodness what was it... well whatever, it had like twenty or more roller coasters. Of course the largest ones had lines like crazy, and waiting so long for a short thrill. I thought it was still pretty interesting to see what muggles do for fun."

By now he had finished his dinner, and was sipping on some wine. She still seemed a little irritated, and was picking at her food, not really eating anything.

"Aria, I meant no disrespect with my comment earlier, just trying to make fun, I have no doubt what had happened in Beauxbatons was nothing that you could not handle. Things happen that we can not account for. You come across, to me, as the most capable Auror in our department," he said sincerely.

"I really am trying not to ruin the night, I'm just like you, and I'm nervous."

Daedalus finished off his glass of wine, and looked out the window.

Aria raised her brow at him rambling. She wasn't too fond of muggle things, she appreciated the muggle world like one would appreciate an art piece: it was pretty, but looking from afar, no need to touch it. She wasn't that hungry either, it seemed that every time she was done with a case, she needed a few days to gain her appetite back; when on a case she wouldn't eat, not her typical thing to do.

"It's fine" she murmured. "Flattery is not needed"

She was serious about her job, and while anyone else would have taken it as a joke, his comment was not something she joked about. She had put years into her job, and she was too stubborn to even think of someone criticizing her. His apologies really were just making her cool down. She had to admit that she herself was a hothead, but then again that's how you survived in the world. By pouncing.

"Stop getting nervous it's just dinner, not a commitment for life" she said shaking her head. "and I'll try not to hex you if you mess it up"

She let out a smile and lifted her glass of wine, hoping to calm him down. Jittery people wasn't something she really enjoyed. If he added more pressure it would make it all the more awkward.

Daedalus was certainly happy to see her cool down a bit. He noticed she still really wasn't eating much, perhaps she just didn't have an appetite still after her mission. He was also relieved to hear that she wasn't upset. He knew he was trying to hard, and needed to back off, he just gets excited when someone shows interest in him.

"If and when we do practice, we may need to vacate a populated area," he said with a chuckle.

"You know, it's beginning to feel a little stuffy in here, how about we go for a walk."

Aria smirked slightly at his comment and shook her head. She cut a small piece of her meal and chewed it. It was a good meal, but her heart wasn't really in it. She really needed to just get her body to go back to her normal clockwork. Instead she picked up her other class, and drank water.

"You really want to duel me don't you" she commented shaking her head. "I don't play well with others you know."

His suggestion surprised her but she put her glass down and shrugged. A walk didn't sound too bad and it did lessen the pressure of being in a place like this.

"Why not" she replied.

Daedalus called the waitress over and requested the check. After a couple of minutes she returned and he paid the bill. With that he and Aria, got up and walked over the exit. He could feel the nice cool air coming in from outside, it felt very inviting and less restricting, and he instantly felt more at ease.

They both walked outside, and started off down the street, it felt good to just walk for awhile.

"So Aria, tell me about your family, what were they like?"

Aria followed behind him enjoying the night air. It was a cool night, maybe because autumn was approaching now. She had no idea where they were heading, but she just walked beside him looking at their surroundings. It was rare for her to have a quiet evening, a moment for her to enjoy what was around her and appreciate it more than anything.

She was surprised by his question about family. She hoped this wouldn't turn out like twenty questions, but she decided to reply as honestly as she could.

"Strong, daring, aggressive, stubborn, level-headed, and with a wicked wit" she replied with a grin. "and they've vicious with a wand"

She was proud of her family, that was clear through her description of them.

"And yours?"

Daedalus couldn't help but notice the fact that she really didn't go into any detail, just a short description. He wondered if he was asking to many questions, he knows that the twenty questions thing is a big turn off, but what else are you to do when you first meet someone? Just hope that they spill the beans about there life? He wasn't the one to go and ask the everyday questions, like what is your favorite book, or color, he was more in depth with his questions, or so he thought.

"Oh my family.. ooooh my family," he said shaking his head, "they are a hectic lot, always something going on. My mother had to stay home and take care of us while my father was always away on missions. Needless to say she was a strong woman, putting up with me and brothers, we had a knack for causing mayhem."

He carried on for a little bit longer, talking about holidays, and the time Albus turned 17, the three of them, Daedalus, Lucas, and Ablus, along with there father took a trip the Alps and dueled for a week.

"After we finished that week, we noticed that we had nearly obliterated half the forest," he laughed.

Aria's lips twitched at his comment. She herself, wasn't much to speak about her family, perhaps it was because many thought it wasn't that interesting. But hearing him talk, she was surprised to learn how family oriented he was, it was nice she supposed. She was never one to really rely on her family, her nannies were the people that she got used to talking to.

She chuckled lightly and shook her head.

"That must have been nice." she commented. "My mother and father are both retired Aurors, now working within the Ministry. All were work oriented, and as long as I can remember, it always was Ellie my nanny that was around me."